And we're back, man-sters and ghouls!
As a side note, any similarities to the episode "T.G.I.S." is purely coincidental. And I have to thank the reader TheGreatGodzilla for giving me this idea. And yes, The Secret Saturdays and Ben 10: Omniverse exist in the same episode. To be honest, I really have nothing else to say, so I shall be shutting up now and allowing you to get on with the chapter!
As always, comment, review, suggest, and request down below!
Onwards!
"Frankie! Behind you!" Rook cried.
"Hah!" Frankie cried as her bolts crackled with electricity, coursing down her shoulders and arms and too her fists where she quickly cupped her hands together and fired off a concentrated blast of energy, blasting the vaguely rat-like animal in the face and sending it flying. "Nice!" Frankie smiled.
"Those lessons with Frankenstrike are really paying off, are they not?" Jinafire grinned as she defended herself with a quick roundhouse kick to the animal's stomach and swish of her tail, sending a small squadron of them flying. "If I may ask, what are these creatures?" the Chinese dragon asked Rook as she back flipped out of harm's way and grabbed a long, lead pipe, twirling it around in her fingers like a bo staff and whacking another of the creatures away from her face.
"They are known as Chupacabras." Rook informed her.
"Are you certain? The Chupacabras back home do not look anything like this." Jinafire replied with slight doubt as she spun the bo staff in front of her and charged forward, sending Chupacabras flying in all directions; Rook fired off his Proto-Tool, nailing several cryptids in their chests and heads before morphing his weapon into a bow and firing off twin arrows to take out several Chupacabras that attempted to attack from above.
"Very certain." Rook told her. "Has anyone seen Ben?"
*KA-BOOM!*
"Never mind." Rook sighed as a fiery explosion rocked the Undertown market place and Badaboom came flying out of the ensuing blast and landed rather painfully on his backside.
"Incoming!" the Bombardian warned as another wave of the Chupacabras came storming over the remains of a destroyed tentacle stand, screeching and howling loudly at the top of their lungs; it was then that Badaboom noticed something strange about the Chupacabras. They were wearing shiny, metallic backpacks or canisters of some sort with hoses hooked up through holes in their skulls that fed into another hose that emerged through the jaws.
"Oh, no." Badaboom groaned as he launched a pair of Minibooms at a small swarm of Chupacabras and sent them flying.
"What? What's wrong, Ben?" Frankie asked as she slammed her palms against the ground and sent a shock wave of electricity through the ground, electrocuting all of the scrappy, little animals within a wide radius.
"The Chupacabras have backpacks!" the Bombardian yelled as a Chupacabra screeched and and latched itself onto his arm, attempting to bite through the tough exterior with its tiny teeth and razor sharp fangs. "That can only mean two things!"
"What ever are you talking about?" Jinafire asked; she thrust her staff upwards, striking a Chupacabra in the throat before whacking it over the head and slamming it into one of its brothers.
"That means-" Badaboom paused as he shook the Chupacabra off of him before firing a Miniboom at it. "Both Dr. Animo and Argost are involved. That, and that we'll be meeting up with the Saturdays again!"
"How, pray tell, is that a bad thing?" Rook wondered as he took out another pair of Chupacabras with his bow.
"That means I have to meet up with Zak's Mom again!" Badaboom cried.
"How is that a bad thing?" Frankie asked.
"Trust me on this one, babe." Badaboom sighed as the Omnitrix timed out and returned him to his original form. "But lets take care of the matter at hand first." he frowned as a trio of Chupacabras rushed him, the hoses slithering out from between their jaws as they prepared to attack and drain him of his life force; he quickly turned to the Omnitrix and cycled through the roster before coming across a suitable transformation and slapping the activation button. His skin changed into a smooth, chrome white that became tougher than his original. He began to shrink down until he just barely reached the ghoul's ankles as his face widened for his expanding mouth. He could feel his organs sloshing about inside him as his bones became slightly softer and more bendable; his lungs expanded until they were the largest organ in his body as his eyes became smaller and turned squinty. His ears vanished, to be replaced by small holes, and even then they were covered by hardened skin that wrapped around his head in a way that resembled headphones. His arms and legs grew shorter as the Omnitrix symbol appeared on his head, finishing the transformation.
"Cover your ears!" Echo Echo warned as he quickly divided himself into six separate clones and sucked in a deep breath; the ghouls and Rook quickly did as the Sonorosian suggested and clapped their hands over their ears before diving behind cover. The clones all sucked in one more breath until their lungs were nearly to the breaking point before they fired it all out.
"Wall of Sound!" they cried at the top of their lungs, screaming as loud as possible as the sheer force of the sound waves pulsed and were hurtled towards the swarm of Chupacabras; the little animals were sent flying, screeching loudly as they were thrown against stalls and rubble before the noise eventually died down. Before anyone else could do anything however, a loud, shrill whistle pierced the air, catching the Chupacabras attention. With loud chatters and screeches, the majority of the scrappy, little creatures hopping ad scampering away at darting speeds while a small group halted; they quickly ripped the backpacks off of their backs and chucked them at Ben and the ghouls before following the rest of their pack, the backpacks exploding into large clouds of smoke and dust, covering their escape.
"Where'd they go?" Frankie wondered, leaning against a stand to catch her breath.
"My guess? Wherever Animo is." Echo Echo grumbed before the Omnitrix timed out and returned Ben to the world.
"While that may indeed be true, we have more important matters at hand." Rook frowned. "Are there any injured?"
"None that I am able to see or smell." Jinafire replied as she cast her makeshift weapon aside.
"That is good." Rook sighed. "We should alert Magister Tennyson about the Chupacabras's appearance before things get worse." he suggested before the Omnitrix suddenly started to beep loudly.
"Hold that thought." Ben raised a finger as he tapped the Omnitrix. "Hello?"
"Ben! We're under attack!" Lilith came from the other end, followed by loud screeches and hisses. "We're trying to protect your parents at all costs but-" Lilith continued before she paused to suddenly cry out and loudly hit something with as much force as possible. "But we're outnumbered! And Bonita, Clawdeen, and Venus are all stone! We need backup! I repeat, we need backup! GAH! Get off of me, you oversized rat!" Lilith screamed before the audio feed cut off.
"Rook! Get Grandpa Max! I have to save my parents!" Ben cried as he slammed a hand down on the waiting activation button of the Omnitrix and was engulfed in a bright, green light. Ben's fingers hardened into sharpened blades as a long, whip-like tail sprouted from the base of his spine and stretched out a couple feet. His toes ripped out of his shoes and melted into four claws, two in front, two in back. The ball of his heel crunched forward, moving under his foot bones and becoming perfectly round and smooth, suddenly separating itself from his foot and held there by his curved toes. Ben felt his skull stretch back into a sharp point and his legs bent backwards. A pointy, black helmet with a slide down mask materialized on his head and a tight, black and green body suit appeared on himself, the Omnitrix appearing on his chest, completing his transformation.
"C'mon, ghouls!" XLR8 cried as he quickly scooped Jinafire and Frankie up in his arms and onto his back before dashing off in a furious, black and blue blur and leaving Rook alone amongst the wreckage of the Undertown marketplace.
"And now I am here." Rook sighed.
Lilith grunted as she whipped her tail and smacked a Chupacabra on the nose, sending it running away. "Come on, Jane! Can't you talk to them!?"
"I've been trying!" Jane cried as she fiddled with the Nemetrix now permanently attached to her wrist before she came across a suitable transformation and slammed a hand down on the activation button, engulfing herself in a blood red light. Her fingers ground and cracked before being forced together into razor, sharp spikes; her feet and toes all melted into into sharp spikes as well as her thighs and arms swelled with muscle and sinew as long, coarse hair started to sprout from her expanding limbs. Her back cracked and ground as it melted into a sharp abdomen with pale,white plating. Jane's eyes flashed a light blue as her jaw jutted outwards, her teeth cracking and grinding into needle-like protrusions. A thick, red, spiked collar formed around her neck with four more leg-like growths forming just behind her collar, completing the transformation.
With a loud, howling screech, the Terroranchula set off after a small swarm of the Chupacabras, quickly rearing up onto her hind legs and spinning a red, energy web from its sharp spikes and ensnaring a group of the diminutive, scraggly cryptids. A Chupacabra squealed loudly and launched itself at Terroranchula, digging its small, sharp claws into its thick abdomen and trying to furiously bite through the tough exoskeleton as the hose that sat inside its mouth slithered out and attempted to attach itself to the massive, predatory arthropod. A loud hiss caught the cryptid's attention and it glanced up just in time to see Lorna with her jaws open wide and her webbed claws clenched tightly just before she slammed into it and tackled it to the ground, quickly wrapping her tail around the little cryptid and throwing it into more of its brothers.
"Sandra! Carl! Get outta here!" Robecca cried as she blasted a Chupacabra in the face with her rocket boots. "We'll hold 'em off!"
Ben's parents didn't protest as Carl quickly grabbed his wife's hand and pulled her across the front yard to their waiting car on the street, only to be cut off by a small horde of the little, annoying creatures. Before they could pounce on them and drain them of their life force, Avea came charging across the yard with an incredibly ticked off look on her face. Without another thought, she reared up onto her hind legs and smashed a hoof into the nearest Chupacabra's jaw, shattering it as she clenched a fist and slugged another of the cryptids in the throat before giving her broad wings a quick flap and sending the rest of them flying.
"Get on!" she commanded, gesturing to her back.
"Are you-" Carl started before Avea threw him a venomous look that said she would not take no for an answer. With little other choice in the matter, Carl and Sandra quickly mounted the hybrid and held on for dear life as she gave her huge wings a quick flap and took to the air, flapping her wings faster and faster as her legs tucked themselves up under her body in a fashion similar to a bird's. "Just keep in mind I don't let just anyone on my back, got it?" she added as she circled around in the air and landed on the roof of Mr. Baumann's house. "Stay here until the cost is clear." she instructed them as they climbed off and she dove back into the battle.
"Can our son pick 'em, or can our son pick 'em?" Carl chuckled as he and Sandra watched the ghouls fight below; Skelita grabbed her left arm bone and yanked it, bending it at the joint before chucking it into the air and taking out a row of Chupacabras on the roof as the limb spun through the air like a guided boomerang and came to its owner where she quickly proceeded to reattach her arm back into the socket. Terroranchula screeched loudly as she barreled across the yard and set Chupacabras flying in all directions until a loud beeping sound caught her attention and she was engulfed in a bright, red light, returning Jane to the world.
"AHH!" Jane screamed as a Chupacabra came out of nowhere and launched itself at her face, the clawed hose between its fangs slithering out into the air and ready to attach itself to Jane's forward before Robecca rammed her metallic shoulder into it and sent it flying.
"Leave my ghoulfriend alone unless you want to bloody tangle me!" Robecca roared angrily.
"What is she talking about?" Sandra whispered to her husband
"Well . . . I have my suspicions, but lets see where this goes," Carl hummed. "Maybe Ben can explain."
"Speaking of Ben . . ." Sandra pointed to a large dust cloud coming up the street, a loud sonic boom resonating in the air as the source of the strange phenomenon dashed into the front yard, setting two figures down on the ground before it buzzed around the entire yard in a tight circle, going faster and faster and faster until Sandra swore she was seeing the black and blue blur in more than two places at the same time. The strange phenomenon spun tightly around the yard, all of the Chupacabras slowly being dragged towards the epicenter of the swirling vortex created, digging their claws into the dirt and grass, but it was a fruitless attempt.
"En garde!" XLR8 cried as he came to screeching halt. "That's French for 'leave my ghoulfriends alone!'"
"I'm pretty sure Rochelle would be to differ." Gigi smirked as she snapped her fingers and summoned a large cage over a group of fallen Chupacabras, trapping them.
"Don't patronize me in front of the bad guys, G."the Kinceleran sighed. "Even if they probably don't understand a word of what I'm saying."
"That is a definite possibility." Gigi smiled as she summoned several more cages to trap the groups of Chupacabras; any stragglers were swiftly dealt with by an all too eager Whisp and exhausted Nefera.
"You ghouls okay?" XLR8 asked as the Omnitrix timed out and returned Ben to the world where he quickly cracked his sore back.
"Most of us," Robecca sighed sadly as she helped Jane to her feet; the copper girl refused to let Jane out of her grasp as she cast a pitiful look at a stone statue lying across the ground. The statue's legs were sprawled out in front of it with its arms froze above and in front of its face, as if to shield itself from something. It was roughly humanoid in shape with half of its head shaved off and the other half swept across the other side, a ring-shape wound embedded deep into the statue's chest, just above the cleavage.
"They got Venus?" Ben whispered.
"Clawdeen and Bonita, too." Robecca sniffed, rubbing her eyes; Jane gave her a small hug and pecked her on the cheek, a small smile crossing Robecca's lips.
"When I get my hands on Dr. Animo, I am gonna-" Ben was about to say before he caught sight of his parents on Mr. Baumann's roof and decided to refrain from using such foul language. "You get the idea." he mumbled before an utterly gigantic shadow fell over the entire neighborhood. Ben and the ghouls glanced up to see the underbelly of a massive airship with a large, orange, balloon-like structure on top and what seemed an impossibly small cockpit underneath with broad wings and multiple propellers beating against the air. The airship hovered for a few seconds before two, incredibly long ropes were tossed out from either side of the blimp-like aircraft and touched down to the ground, two figures grabbing onto and sliding down them before they even reached the bottom.
The first figure was around the same height as Ben, if not shorter. He had a salt and pepper hair style and what limited skin that could be seen was a light tan in color. He had bright orange eyes and dark freckles on his cheeks, with a black bodysuit covered with orange armor on the rest of his body, a cocky grin on his face as he plummeted through the air on the rope. The second figure was clearly taller than the first and was covered from head to toe in dull, yellow fur with his hands, feet, and face left bare. He had deep, red eyes and two fangs that curved downwards from the upper lip with two tufts of her hair on his head that looked like ears.
"Hey, Ben. Long time, no see." the first person smiled as he touched; the second figure landed with a dull thud! and glared at Ben suspiciously.
"Hey, dude. Glad you made it." Ben allowed a small smile.
"Care to introduce us to your friend, Ben?" Robecca asked.
Ben nodded. "Ghouls, this is Zak Saturday and his pet gorilla-cat, Fiskerton." Ben explained.
Fiskerton growled darkly, cracking his knuckles and slowly stalking over to Ben before a loud cocking noise met his attention. He glanced upwards and whimpered slightly as he saw a large assortment of blasters, guns, lasers, and weapons of mass destruction all pointed directly at him with Whisp in the center of it all, a warning smile on her lips; the Lemurian quickly backed off, and the arsenal disappeared in a flash of black smoke.
"Dude, what was that all about!?" Zak yelped as the normally fierce and very powerful Fiskerton hid behind him like a scared puppy. "And second of all, he's not my pet, he's my brother!"
"Sorry, sorry!" Ben apologized. "It's just been awhile since we've seen each other." he said. "As for Whisp's temper, she was trapped in a lamp for a couple thousand years and kinda lost it."
"But we love her anyways." Nefera sighed as she folded up her collectable blades and clipped the to the side of her belt; she was oblivious to Zak unable to tear his eyes away from her, his tongue lolling out of his mouth as he drooled slightly.
"Dude, I know I had a crush on your Mom at one point, but if you get ideas, I will tear you limb from limb." Ben threatened as Fikserton rose up to his full height and looked like he was about to crush Ben's skull like an egg; Whisp snapped her fingers again, and the massive arsenal appeared in a puff of black smoke once more, neither side backing down until Twyla stepped out of Fiskerton's shadow, startling the Lemurian, and put herself between the two brooding boys.
"Okay, can we act like actually people and talk this out first?" she asked with her usual depressed tone. "I think we might have started off on the wrong foot." The tension hung in the air for a few more seconds before both Ben and Zak relaxed and took a few steps back; Fiskerton stepped back with his adoptive brother as Whisp called off the weapons show, her fingers poised and ready to bring it back should her boyfriend be threatened again.
"Okay, long story short, I ended up in a parallel universe where all those movie monsters and myths and stuff actually exist," Ben explained. "All these wonderful ladies behind you are my ghoulfriends and their daughters."
"And that's the short version?" Zak raised an eyebrow.
"Pretty much." Twyla smiled as she reappeared behind Zak from within his shadow.
"GAH! How is she doing that?" Zak startled. "Is she a cryptid?"
"No, she's a Boogeyman." Ben replied. "Really, the only cryptid ghouls I have with me are Lorna and Lilith, now that I think about it."
"Who?"
"Them." Ben jerked behind him as Lilith pried open one of the cages that held the trapped Chupacabras while Lorna tossed in one of the last ones, slamming the door shut with a crack of her tail. "Daughter of the Loch Ness Monster and Daughter of a Monster Hunter that got turned into a Jersey Devil."
"Do I wanna now how that happened?" Zak asked.
"Probably not," Ben shrugged as more of the ghouls began to gather after finishing off the Chupacabras. "These are Frankie, Nefera, Jane, Robecca, and Avea." he introduced Zak to the respective ghouls.
"What happened to her?" Zak whispered to Ben as he pointed at Frankie, his eyes flickering over to Nefera every few seconds; this did not go unnoticed by Ben.
"She's the Daughter of Frankenstein's Monster," Ben explained. "And seriously dude, stop oggling my ghoulfriend."
"I can't help it!" She's so hot!" Zak whispered.
"So was your Mom, but I let that go ages ago." Ben rasped back.
"Fair enough," Zak sighed. "What is she anyway?"
"A mummy, and a very rich one at that." Ben replied as Nefera forcefully pried Whisp's fingers off of her as the later heavily groped her person; Zak quickly turned away, pinching his nose. "I know what your doing, and believe me, it happened to me the first couple of times too. While Whisp's also insane, she's also been heavily deprived of certain . . . pleasures."
"Why was she stuck inside of a lamp anyway?" Zak wondered.
"She and Gigi are genies." Ben answered, pointing towards the two sisters as Gigi dragged Whisp away from Nefera. "Sisters, actually."
"And you're dating both of them?"
"You got something against that?" Ben frowned.
"No, just curious." Zak said quickly; while he may have been powerful as Ben himself, he really did not want to have to face the likes of a To'kustar. "So, who are the others?"
"Spectra, Vandala, and Skelita." Ben answered, nodding with his head towards the two ghosts and skeleton.
"Does this . . . ever creep you out?" Zak whispered to Ben as Vandalla playfully phased down through the ground and reappeared behind Jane, tapping her on the shoulder before pulling a frightening face and startling the jungle girl to change into a rather frightened rabbit that instantly took cover in Robecca's arms.
"Sometimes they get me when they go through walls and stuff." Ben admitted. "But now that we're done with introductions, do you think you can help us? Those Chupaloopa things managed to get three of my ghoulfriends."
"Chupacabras," Zak corrected. "And we'd be more than happy to help, right, Fisk?"
The Lemurian snorted but begrudgingly agreed.
"Alright then." Zak smiled. "We'll grab the trike and head off once we've brought the injured and the Chupacabras up to the airship."
"Oh, that's gonna take a lot of going up and down." Ben sighed as he glanced up at the massive airship overhead while cycling through the roster and selecting Big Chill and slapping down on the activation button, engulfing him in a brilliant, green light. His skin went from being soft and warm to hot and hard as concrete. Rocky bumps formed on his wrists and shins. His shoulders became broad and massive, so large that he had no neck at all; his face face was stuck right in the middle. His mouth became wider and almost forever stuck in a toothy grin. His fingers swelled in size, and Ben could feel a slight tingling sensation at the tips. He felt a strange feeling as his guts all move upward into his chest as a swirling, hot magma center filled their space. His toes melted into one smooth, rounded foot. A pair of black shorts with green stripes appeared on him as the Omnitrix suddenly appeared on his forehead, completing the transformation.
"Gravattack? I guess." the Galilean sighed.
Meanwhile, in a hidden chamber deep within the bowels of Undertown, buried deep within a dank, dark spot that only the Ectonurite inhabitants of Undertown ever went there on a daily basis, a madman continued his work, grumbling obscenities and curses under his breath as he steadily moved the needle up and down on his latest creation; it had the body of a Mississippi Swamp Ape with the head of a Waitoreke and the broad, reptilian wings of a Ropen with a long, Kasai Rex tail and sail on its back. The beast had yet to be reanimated like its waiting brothers and sisters, but the mad doctor had no doubt that it would be equally successful.
A loud, skittering sound caught his attention and paused in his work to look over his shoulder to see dozens of small, nearly hairless bodies scurrying down the steps that led into his lair, rushing underneath the ancient sewer pipes that thrust out into the open air and gushed rotten sewage into the drains beneath them; the madman, despite his somewhat heightened senses was not the least bit offended by the smell as nearly a hundred Chupacabra assembled on stairs, pipes, and any other resting places, waiting for another command to fulfill.
"Ah, you have returned, my pets!" Dr. Animo grinned darkly as he selected a random Chupacabra from the crowd and picked it up in his arms, stroking it like a cat. The canister-like machine that took up the majority of the available space in the wide room reached out with multiple hoses on the end of long arms and attached themselves to the back of the cryptid's backpacks, draining away all of the life force within and storing it inside the machine; a dial on the hulking machinery just barely tilted to the end.
"Just enough." Dr. Animo chuckled as he released the Chupacabra from his grasp. "I'm feel so nostalgic right now, as if I've done this all before!" he smiled to myself. "I mean really, using the Chupacabras to siphon away cryptid, human, and alien life force, it seems like I've done this already. Oh, well. Beggers can't be choosers!" he cackled as he tapped a few buttons and pulled down on a lever, turning on the machine with a loud hum. The massive device hummed and rattled occasionally for a few seconds before it gave a sudden roar and died down, the door on the side hissing open in a cloud of smoke and steam.
"Welcome back once more, Mr; Argost!" Animo grinned toothily.
Standing before him was a gigantic, hulking creature that stood perhaps three to four taller than Animo with majority of it being covered in snow white fur. The left arm was ape-like in appearance with strong, muscular fingers on the pale, pink hand; the right arm belong to the head and neck of a sea serpent-like creature with a fanged maw that smelled suspiciously like smoke as it slowly blinked its eyes and glanced around the room. The torso and legs of the creature were blood red in color and covered in a short layer of hair with cloven hooves and a long, serpent-like tail; a pair of curved horns were jammed into the skull as a pair of black, dragon-like wings stuck out from the broad back and shoulders.
"Ah, greetings and bienvenue." the gigantic collage of body parts drawled before he set his intelligent eyes on Animo.
"DO! YOU! KNOW! WHERE! YOU ARE!?" Dr. Animo yelled each word at the top of his lungs, cupping his hands over his mouth.
"For the last time, I am not deaf!" V.V. Argost snapped angrily, flaring his wings. "So how, pray tell, long did it take for you to bring me back to life this time, Mr. Animo?"
"It has been a highly productive week, Mr. Argost," Animo grinned happily. "With Ben Tennyson gone for several months, I was able to gather almost enough life force before my arrest, and then finish collecting the rest upon my escape. And it's
Dr. Animo to you!" the mad doctor hissed.
"Yes, and I'm sure that came from an accredited university." Argost rolled his eyes. "And before you even ask, I absolutely refuse to work with the likes of you." he added upon seeing the hopeful and calculating look in the madman's eye.
"I'm afraid you don't have much choice in the matter." Animo practically giggled as he slipped something that looked like a crude chest plate and shoulder pads crafted out of kitchen ware. "As you yourself once said, "Cryptids are unpredictable". So, I have had to resort to somewhat rather crude methods to control the likes of you; control you, and I control the cryptids of the world. It's simply really." he grinned wickedly. Dr. Animo turned the large dial that resided on the front of the chest and quickly attached several tubes and hoses to attachments on his glass dome before dark, red energy crackled its way up from the device on his chest and into his brain, his mechanical antennae pulsing with the same red energy madly. The collage of cryptid parts that was V.V. Argost suddenly cried out in agony as his head was consumed in the same red energy, his roars and howls of agony becoming more vigorous and louder by the minute the more he fought against the mad doctor's control. After what seemed hours of struggling, Argost finally gave in and fell to one knee, resting his left arm on his knee and bowing before Animo; the Chupacabras are started to screech and chatter as they all began to bow and praise their master.
A loud hissing caught Dr. Animo's attention, and he turned to see a figure crawl out of the darkness; he had blood red skin and a well muscled, humanoid figure with a row of sharp spikes down its backbone and four, short spider legs growing almost painfully out of its back. It had two claws for toes and more a pair of ragged, purple pants and had a pair of well muscled arms with fleshy spikes and razor sharp talons for fingers. The head was filled with needle-like fangs with four spikes protruding outwards on all the corners of the lips; it had pointed ears and one normal-looking eye while the other was a glowing, blood red in color.
"Ah, Munya. My loyal manservant." Dr. Animo sighed mockingly. "Care to say anything to your previous master?"
The mutant hybrid hissed darkly before stepping out into the main area, falling to one knee and assuming a similar position to his former boss. "All . . . hail . . . Animo." he hissed in a deep, guttural voice, as if he had said the words with great difficulty.
"Mmmnahaha-ahahahahahahahaha!" Dr. Animo cackled. "That's right! All hail Dr. Animo! ALL HAIL! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! And as my first act as the soon to be ruler of this planet, I command you to destroy Ben Tennyson once and for all! Destroy him and his menagerie of monsters! DESTROY THEM ALL!"
The wind whipped through Ben's dark, brown hair as Fiskerton furiously pumped his legs on the massive trike's pedals, keeping at a steady forty miles an hour without even breaking a sweat for the nearly thirty minutes they had been traveling. Ben cast a short glance at the Lemurian next to him, wondering if his DNA resided within the Omnitrix; he seemed intelligent enough, especially considering he apparently knew the inner workings of advanced technology. Fiskerton cuahgt his look and snarled slightly, glaring at him with suspicious eyes as he pedaled the trike along the highway and past a sign that read "Undertown, 2 miles".
"Are picking anything up?" Frankie asked Zak as he sat on the very edge of the rumbling trike with his arms folded over his chest and a rather serious expression on his face as he effortlessly balanced himself on the edge of the trembling vehicle without ever wavering in the slightest.
"I think," Zak replied, opening his eyes and climbing back inside the vehicle. "It's really faint, but we're definitely heading in the right direction."
"Good." Nefera frowned as she flipped out her collapsible blades and spun them around in her fingers before clipping them to he belt again. "When I'm finished with Animo, the doctors won't know which side to sew his disgusting lips back on."
"That . . . might be a
bit extreme." Ben told her. "But I get first crack at him."
"You must really not like this guy." Zak noted. "Is he your arch nemesis?"
"No, that's Vilgax, Zs'Skayr, Eon, and Maltruant," Ben replied as Fiskerton steered the bike through a tunnel that led to Undertown. "Basically anyone the Plumbers can't take out with minor assistance from me; Animo's normally a B-raked villain, but he just crossed the line."
"What line?" Zak asked with a somewhat nervous tone.
"He attacked my family," Ben frowned darkly. "Both my ghoulfriends and parents were threatened by him, and three of my ghoulfriends were injured in the process; he's gonna pay the price one way or another."
"You sure you aren't taking this a little too far?" Zak asked.
"Maybe." Ben shrugged. "But Robecca and Jane are beside themselves with worry over Venus, Twyla is too scared to leave the house, and Skelita's trying to hold everything together while the others protect my parents from another possible attack."
"Fair point." Zak sighed as they left the tunnel behind and sped out onto the semi-open streets of Undertown, Fiskerton effortlessly steering and driving the trike past and around multiple alien shoppers that got in their way. They sped through the marketplace, passing by a still angry Pakmar as he pushed a vendor cart of sorts while cursing and shaking his fist at Ben, and turned down into the more shady areas of Undertown, slipping down dark alleys and quiet back ways before stopping in a large, abandoned shanty town.
"Anything?" Lorna asked as she, Lilith, Nefera, Frankie, Ben, Zak, and Fiskerton climbed out of the trike and looked around.
"No . . . and that's what worries me." Zak frowned as a cool breeze from the many ventilation shafts that dotted the massive cavern dusted its way amongst the ruins. Ben looked around to see nothing of severe interest before turning to the Omnitrix and cycling through the listings before coming across the alien he desired and slapping the activation button. Deep orange fur sprouted all over his body, as if a bomb filled with hair suddenly exploded inside of him. His lower jaw jutted out as his teeth became sharp and menacing. The wave of fur raced over his face, covering his eyes as they suddenly vanished all together. He could feel his ears disappearing as what felt like gills take their place. In actuality, they were sensitive ears able to pick up the tiniest of sounds. His shoulders and arms swelled as his dull nails became sharp claws. His legs twisted and formed into the hind legs of that of a dog as a thick green color appeared around his neck, the Omnitrix symbol in the middle.
Wildmutt grunted and set his nose to the ground, sniffing carefully and sifting through the numerous scents that plagued the area; he could smell the faint scent of rotting fish and haggis from Lorna and the nearly invisible smell of Frankie as electricity coursed through her. Fiskerton's rich, earthy fur was nearly overwhelming to the Vulpimancer, and Lilith smelled little more of than sweat with a hint of lilac. Nefera's alluring scent of exotic spices and lotions gave a burning sensation to the Vulpimancer's nostrils, but he was able to still pick out the many odors that lingered in the air. It wasn't until a few minutes had passed and Wildmutt had circled the shanty town at least twice did he notice a familiar smell that made his blood run cold.
By the time he had given a loud bellow of warning, it was too late; a large shack comprised mostly of rotting wood and rusty shingles suddenly exploded into shrapnel and splinters as a twisted beast roared and lumbered at the them. The creature had the body of a large, orange furred ape with a writhing tentacle for one arm and a gigantic, crab-like claw for the other with a fifteen foot long tail and a pair of curved horns jutting out of its skull.
"What is that!?" Lilith yelped, back flipping out of the way as the horrific collection of body parts raised up it's crab claw and tried to crush her beneath it.
"Grraaaa-AAAAHHHAAAALLLAAGGH!" Wildmutt bellowed, as if trying to answer her question before he charged at the monster and pounced on it, crushing the hard exoskeleton of its crab arm with his strong jaws. The creature bellowed in pain, the sound resonating through the shanty town as it threw the Vulpimancer off of it and into a shack, obliterating it; the air suddenly filled with more screeches and roars, the ground trembling as three, worm-like creatures were serrated jaws and spiked flippers sewn rather crudely on their sides while several winged beasts appeared in the air, surrounding all of them within seconds.
"Ah, greetings and bienvenue, Ben Tennyson and friends!"
"Oh, no." Zak gulped as he turned his head to the sky to see the plain, white mask that forever haunted his dreams and nightmares. Hovering over him with his broad, dragon-like wings beating the air and his sea serpent arm sampling the air with its long, forked tongue, was none other than V.V. Argost, looking very alive and very well.
"Who is that?" Nefera wondered as she sliced off the tentacle of the first beast befroe using its head as a springboard to launch herself into the air and cut off one of the feathered wings of an attacking creature.
"My arch nemesis, V.V. Argost." Zak frowned as he pulled a weapon hooked up to his back and pointed it up at his worst enemy; the weapon was shaped like a staff and tipped on one end with the foot of a large, bird of prey with razor sharp talons and the end was shaped sort of like a dragon's head with a small switch and few buttons on the side. Zak pressed a button the weapon, and the clawed tip of the weapon fired out on a spring loaded cable and into the air, wrapping around one of Argost's legs and pulling as hard as he could without much success; Wildmutt lumbered up to him and took the weapon from his hands and gave it one quick jerk, pulling the evil cryptid mastermind down towards the ground.
"Show off." Zak smirked as the Vulpimancer gave him back his weapon; Wildmutt shrugged his shoulders before he shoved Zak down to the ground as a stream of red, hot fire flew over their heads from the sea serpent on Argost's arm. The fire was quickly ended when Fiskerton rammed his shoulder into Argost, sending the jet of fire wild and setting fire to the surrounding shanty town, making the situation all the more risky.
"This does not bode well," Lorna gulped as she cracked her tail and smacked an offended monstrosity in the jaw. "Especially for me."
"Whys that?" Frankie asked; the young cadaver clapped her hands together and shot off a beam of concentrated electricity, blasting a cryptid collage in the chest and extending the damage to two others, using the first one as a conductor of sorts.
"We sea creatures dry out easily." Lorna replied with a slight gasp as she snapped her tail again and curled it around the leg of a top heavy cryptid and yanked her tail, tripping it. "Take that, ya howlin dobber!"
"Do I want to know what that means?" Frankie wondered.
"Eh, probably not," Lorna shrugged. "It's probably the least offensive thing we Rots can say."
"I'm afraid to ask what might be worse."
"Trust me, you don't want to know." Lorna shook her head as she sucked in another dry breath; if she didn't get to some water soon, she was bound to pass out before she would die roughly fifteen minutes later as her body used whatever fluid was left to allow her to breath before she succumbed to dehydration and suffocation.
Fiskerton drew back his fist and slugged Argost in the face twice, managing to crack his ever famous mask before the villain curled his prehensile tail around the Lemurian's ankle and threw him to the ground before cracking his tail and sending him flying into the smoldering remains of a house. "While I do enjoy our time together, Zak Saturday, I have more important people to get even with than you."
"What are you talking about?" Zak narrowed his eyes.
"That is for me to know, and for you to find out." Argost grinned darkly before the sea serpent arm blasted out another jet of fire at the ground, creating a curtain of flame between him and his adversaries as he turned tail and ran away with his small army of Frankencryptids following suit.
"Au revoir, Ben Tennyson!" Argost yelled as he vanished.
Zak took several steps back from the wall of fire, shielding his face from the flames as they started eat away at whatever remained of the ramshackle town, surrounding all of them in a curtain crackling flames that edged closer and closer to them. He glanced behind him to see Nfera and Lilith backing towards him with Frankie dragging a nearly limp Lorna as fast as she could before Wildmutt grabbed Frankie by the waist and pulled them away from the flames and to the center as Fiskerton launched himself over the fire and landed in the center as they were all pressed together; the Omnitrix timed out.
"This is not how I wanted to go out," Zak grumbled. "Crushed by a Yeti, drained dry by Nicaraguan Blood Sucking Vines, even nibbled to death by a pack of Bunyips. But not like this."
"That makes two of us." Lilith frowned as the fire edged closer and closer.
"Don't you have some water alien or something?" Zak asked as Fiskerton hauled him up onto his strong shoulders and away from the fire as they were pressed further and further together.
"I'm working on it!" Ben snapped as he cycled through roster, wondering where the heck Overflow or Water Hazard was. With none of the desired aliens in sight, he settled for Big Chill again and slapped the activation button, the brilliant, green light washing over him and changing his DNA. His skin quickly hardened, fusing together with his bones to form a thick, tough shell that quickly reddened, parts of its turned gray in color. Four of his ribs ripped out his skin and bent in two places, becoming a pair of jointed legs that folded back against his abdomen as green eyes formed on his chest. Spikes that curved backwards appeared on his feet as dozens of barnacles appeared all over his body. His fingers turned into jointed claws as his lips protruded outwards and hardened into a pair of pincer-like mouth parts. His eyes split into another, slitted pair as the skin on the back of his head became loose and saggy before hardening again to form something similar to a hood over Ben's head. The final transformation was the addition of a nozzle-like hole on each of his palms and the Omnitrix on his chest, completing the form.
"Oh, sure. Now I find Water Hazard." the Orishan rolled his eyes before turning to Fikserton. "Think you can give me a lift, big guy?"
The Lemurian grunted and bent down and rested a large hand on the ground as Water Hazard charged at him, stepping a foot onto Fiskerton's waiting palm before he was suddenly launched up into the air above the flames. He then opened the nozzles on the palms of his own hands and sent twin jets of water out, spinning in a tight circle and setting water in all directions to douse the flames as he came back down, tucking himself into a ball and landing in a roll before he popped back up and blasted Lorna with a less pressurized stream of water, rejuvenating her within seconds.
"Oh, thanks, mate." Lorna parted her now drenched red locks. "I don't think I woulda lasted more than a few more minutes."
"No problem." the Orishan nodded as the Omnitrix timed out and returned him to his original form. "But what really concerns me is why Argost kept on saying he was after me when he's
your nemesis." he said to Zak. "I figured he would hold a small grudge against me or something for draining him of his life force and all, but he didn't seem to be after you at all."
Something's up." Lilith frowned, tapping her chin as she flexed her wings. "But what?" she wondered as Zak's right pants leg buzzed and flashed bright orange. The cryptozoologist quirked an eyebrow as he dug into his pocket and pulled out a phone with the Saturday logo on it and flickered it open, his eyes panning over a rapidly written message.
"Attack on the airship, that's what!" Zak exclaimed.
Robecca was doing the equivalent of what a normal person would have called pacing. Instead, she was flying back and forth across a specific stretch of the medical bay floor on her rocket boots, hovering a few inches above the floor as Doc Saturday tapped away at a terminal for a CAT scan that was currently being performed on the statue that had been Venus before the Chupacabras drained her of her life force.
"Nothing." Doc cursed as he banged a fist on the computer and Venus's lifeless statue slid out of the machine. "We've dealt with this threat before, and we've still haven't managed to figure out a cure for a Chupacabra bite."
"So what does that mean?" Robecca asked worriedly.
"It means unless we get really lucky, your friend will be stuck as a lawn ornament forever." Doc shook his head; the doors to the med bay slid open and Drew Saturday came strolling in wheeling a cart of odd vials and bottles filled with strange liquids and gels.
"You still believe that stuff will work?" Doc raised an eyebrow.
"It's worth a shot." Drew shrugged as she took a bottle and uncorked it, pouring the contents on Venus's head.
"At this point, I'll try anything." Robecca shook her head. "You two haven't seen Jane anywhere, have you?"
"I've busy," Doc said without looking away from his computer. "I haven't had time to look for your friend. Besides, how hard can finding a purple skinned girl on an orange airship be?"
"You'd be surprised." Robecca rolled her eyes. As if on cue, Jane dropped down from the rafters in the ceiling behind Drew, arching backwards as the later of the two quickly drew an empty hilt and held it some distance away from Jane's head, a bright, orange blade of orange energy filling the empty space and just barely touching the tip of the jungle girl's nose.
"Why are you sneaking around?" Drew asked suspiciously.
"She just does that, okay?" Robecca put herself between the two of them. "She doesn't feel comfortable in a new place until she's gather information, luv."
"So, she's a spy?" Doc frowned as he turned away from the terminal and raised his right hand, clenching it into a tight fist as it glowed an ominous orange in color.
"No!" Robecca yelled. "Geez, you guys are loonier Rook around meatball subs!"
"Sorry," Doc apologized as he deactivated his Battle Glove. "Our job requires us to always be tense and on our toes."
"Not that I don't appreciate you guys protecting innocent animals, but why go to all the trouble over a bunch of innocent animals?" Jane wondered.
"While they technically are animals, cryptids are far more deadly than your average lions, tigers, and bears."
"Oh, my." Robecca grinned. "Sorry, mates. Couldn't resist."
"Be that as it may, some cryptids posses special abilities and powers, much like Ben's aliens." Doc continued. "While they might not be able to hold a candle to a Chronosapien or To'kustar, they are highly dangerous and unpredictable creatures that could destroy humanity and the world, should they so chose. And a lot of cryptids are not fond of humans whatsoever."
"Oh, I see." Jane hummed. "So, do you ever keep any cryptids up here in the airship with you?"
"Well, we do have Zon and Komodo in addition to Fiskerton." Drew said without looking up from her work. "They're-"
"A pterosaur and mutant komodo dragon." Jane interrupted. "By the way, Komodo says his heat lamp is broken and needs someone to fix it."
"Aren't you a bit old to be playing those kind of games?" Doc asked.
"It's not a game," Jane replied. "I can really talk to animals. I can even turn into them too!"
"Yeah, and I'm Kur himself." Doc rolled his good eye.
"Dear, remember what we talked about?" Drew threw her husband a warning look.
"I'll believe it when I see it." Doc replied, just as the airship gave a sudden shudder and was tossed to one side, sending all of the living occupants in that direction; Venus remained right where she was.
"What was that?" Robecca asked.
"We're under attack." Doc frowned. "And just when I thought we could actually got a full week without being assaulted by some lunatic."
"And who is said lunatic?" Drew asked as she sat up, rubbing her head as the airship righted itself and allowed her husband to crawl over to the nearest computer and bring up the outside security cameras for all to see; a cloud of what looked like gigantic bats with large canisters in the claws were swarm ing all over the airship's outer hull and wings, dropping the canisters onto the roof and engines where they exploded open and released large groups of strange little creatures. Orchestrating the concert of mayhem, was a bizarre man with top half of his head encased in a glass dome with a pair of antennae and wearing a dark green lab coat and a sort of chest plate made out of crude kitchen ware.
"It would appear we have some kind of mad scientist outside with mutant bats of some sort." Doc replied, though utterly confused.
"Oh, ghoul! Not Animo!" Jane cried with exasperation.
"Animo?" Drew cocked an eyebrow.
"A looney mad scientist that likes to experiment on animals." Robecca summed it up when she caught sight of Jane cycling through the limited roster the Nemetrix provided. "Just out of curiosity, how much can this vessel hold?"
"Roughly fifty metric tons," Doc told her. "We could airlift a Mokele mbeme on this thing if we wanted to. Why do you ask?"
"You'll see." Robecca said with a smile on her lips as Jane selected the predator she was looking for and slapped the waiting activation button, engulfing herself in a blood red light. Her shoulders and back swelled with muscle and tissue as her bones grew bigger and bigger with a loud cracked noise. Her spine ground and cracked before splitting into a second pair right above the original, the transformation forcing it up and out from under her skin and into the open air where it quickly hardened into bony plates with two, sharp fins go outwards and another curving back. A long, bony tail whipped out from the base of her spine, muscle and tissue quickly enveloping it before skin and more bony plating covered the top, a spike forming on the end as four more,
Stegosaurus-like spikes sprouted along her tail. Her legs made a sickening, wet sound as they split in two, forming a second pair that quickly bloated with muscle and bigger bones; her toes melted together into two, razor sharp claws as her heels ground and popped out as a third claw. Her body lengthened and became segmented as her arms split into not one, not two, but three pairs whose fingers quickly fused together into two large claws. Her head bulged outwards as razor sharp fangs ripped through her gums and four, bull-like horns grew on either side of her head. The skin around her head turned a blood red as her segmented underbelly turned a light lavender with the back plates turning a dark purple. A long, hollow horn sprouted out from her skull as her nostrils enlarged, completing the transformation as the Nemetrix formed around her neck.
"That's why." Robecca smirked when she caught sight of the Saturday's startled expressions; the massive Tyrannopede that stood before her cast a quick look over itself slumped slightly; Robecca swore that it was cursing under its breath. "Didn't get the one you wanted?" she guessed.
The alien carnivore gave a low growl that the copper girl took as a yes.
"Does this happen often?" Drew asked as she pulled out her Tibetan Fire Sword.
"Pretty much." Robecca shrugged. "Though this is the first mistransformation on Jane's part. Normally it's Ben."
"Speaking of Ben, where is he?" Doc wondered.
"My best guess? Probably getting into trouble." Robecca shrugged before the door to the medical bay was blown open and a swarm of large, rat-like creatures scampered into the room, screeching loudly. "Speaking of trouble . . ." she added as she activated her rocket boots and shot up into the air as a pair of Chupacabras dove on the spot she had been moments before. Tyrannopede roared and swung her tail, unable to use her size to her advantage as she was forced to hunch over just to comfortably fit inside of the room, and took the majority of the swarm as they poured through the door in wave after wave until they were all virtually surrounded; they stood there in near total silence, with both sides starring the other down, daring them to move when they interrupted by the sound of slow clapping.
"Well, well, well. What have we here?" Dr. Animo purred darkly as he walked into the medical bay with a gigantic bat behind him; the beast was roughly the size of a rhinoceros with an extra pair of eyes underneath its fur and another pair of large ears to hear with and a large mane of dark, brown fur around its neck as it walked on its wings, obeying its master.
"Animo." Robecca frowned, clenching her metallic fists. "Nice entrance."
"You like it? I thought about being all dramatic by bursting through a wall or something, but I thought the slow clapping would really sell it." the mad doctor said.
"I was being sarcastic." Robecca frowned.
"Oh, uh, well . . . so was I!" Animo snapped angrily.
"What you want?" Doc interrupted.
"Oh, nothing less than total world domination," Dr. Animo drawled. "But I can't complete that plan without your complete list of cryptids and their locations."
"You'll never get them, you lunatic." Drew narrowed her eyes and clenched her grip around the hilt of her flaming blade.
"My dear, do we really have to resort to name calling?" Animo feigned pain. "And besides, you don't really have much choice in the matter."
"You and what army?" Doc shot back.
"Oh, you mean other than the mutant bats outside and the Chupacabras currently holding you captive?" Dr. Animo drawled; he loved toying with his enemies and was honestly having a wonderful time doing so. But unlike most other villains, he knew he had to keep it short, since it seemed that the heroes always managed to escape when the bad guys were playing with them and not even really trying.
"We could take either of them easily." Robecca smirked.
"Ah, but could you ever possibly defeat my latest creation?" Dr. Animo asked rhetorically as he snapped his fingers. The massive bat behind him chatter loudly and stepped out into the room and moved to the side of the door as a much larger figure stalked into the room, a loud clopping noise echoing off the hollow walls as an ever familiar mask caught the Saturday's attention.
"Greetings and bienvenue, Secret Saturdays." V.V. Argost chuckled darkly as he caught sight of Doc and Drew's shocked faces; he spread his wings out as far as they would go to make himself look even bigger as his sea serpent arm tasted the air with its tongue and hungrily trained its eyes on the small group. "It has been far too long since we've seen each other."
"Eight months, two weeks, four days, six hours, forty-nine minutes, and ten seconds." Doc frowned. "But who's counting?"
"Oh, I'm wounded!" Argost rolled his eyes sarcastically.
"Stop toying with the enemy and get them already!" Animo snapped.
"Fine, fine. As you wish, Mr. Animo." Argost obeyed.
"That's Dr. Animo!" Animo yelled.
"That's not Argost." Doc said simply, never tearing his gaze away from the mad doctor.
"What are you talking about? Of course it's Argost!" Animo yelled.
"No, it's not." the truth dawned on Drew as well. "Argost would never take orders, especially from the likes of you. If anything, you would be working for him."
"He had a change of heart." Dr. Animo said quickly.
"A change of heart? Argost?" Drew scoffed. "I'd sooner believe pigs could fly."
"He has!" Animo snapped before an idea came to him and he pulled out a small recording device. "Note to self: make pigs fly."
"No he hasn't." Doc frowned. "Now tell us what's really going on or we'll sic this . . ." he trailed off as he cast a look at the gigantic, alien predator that was currently dwarfing him.
"Tyrannopede." Robecca supplemented the word.
"Right." Doc nodded. "We'll sic this Tyrannopede on you."
"That also happens to be my ghoulfriend!" Robecca added.
Animo tapped his chin, as if actually considering their threat. "Ah, yes. I remember her. A rather unstable girl she was; the ability to change in multiple animal species at will, a rather amazing feat."
"See, I told you!" Robecca smiled.
"Not the time, dear," Drew said. "So what'll it be, Mr. Animo? Tyrannopede or truth?"
"It's Dr. Animo! DOCTOR!" Animo practically screamed. "DOCTOR! DOCTOR! DOCTOR! DOCTOR!"
"Yes, and I'm sure that came from an accredited university." Drew rolled her eyes.
"As a matter of fact, it did." Animo said with a cool voice and clenched fists. "And I suppose you might as well know, considering you most likely won't live that long to stop me."
"Yeah, you keep it telling yourself that." Robecca smirked.
"SILENCE!" Animo roared. "Anyways, before I reanimated Mr. Argost, after rescuing his body from the custody of the Red Spots, I placed a neural inhibitor at the base of his neck. It suppresses all movements but automatic ones, allowing me to assume control of Mr. Argost as if he were my puppet; control the Anti-Kur, and I control the cryptids, cementing my rule over the world."
"I don't like Argost as much as the next guy, and even I have to admit that's cruel." Doc said to his wife out of the corner of his mouth.
"You won't get away with this, you lunatic!" Drew snapped.
"Oh, but I think I will." Animo chuckled darkly. "Not even your shape-shifting friend can save you now. And once you are all dead and I have assumed control of the world, I may take Ms. Boolittle as my lovely assistant, maybe even my wife. With a few . . . modifications, of course." he added with a sharp toothed smile; Tyrannopede visible shuddered.
"You touch my ghoulfriend, and I will make your death slow and painful." Robecca threatened, a cloud of steam escaping out of her ears.
"Make that two of us." a deep, whispery voice chimed in as a ghostly figure phased through the floor of the airship with something very large and muscled attached to its feet The figure wavered for a split second before Big Chill appeared out of thin air with his talons on Fiskerton's shoulders, Zak and the ghouls in his strong, furry arms; the Omnitrix timed out seconds later.
"This battle seems a bit unfair." Ben smirked as Fiskerton lowered his precious cargo and clenched his mighty fists, Zak and the ghouls assuming battle positions of their own.
"Yeah! For me!" Animo took a step back. "Attack them, my pets! ATTACK!" he commanded, jamming a finger at Ben, the ghouls, and the Saturdays. Ben quickly turned on the Omnitrix and randomly selected an alien before slapping the activation button and engulfing himself in a bright, green light. He felt the skin around his skull slowly vanish, as if some flesh eating parasite were eating at it. His skull slowly turned upside down as the bones ground and shifted with a sickening sound. The teeth became sharper as new, thicker skin covered his face and his eyes molded into one. His fingers turned into dagger like claws that felt like they could slice through someone's soul. His legs wrapped around each other into a sort of ghostly tail as thick, green chains formed around his neck and wrists. The Omnitrix appeared on his chest, the chains all meeting together at the same spot as a dozen writhing tentacles suddenly spilled forth from Ben's insides. The transformation was complete.
"Ghostfreak? Perfect." the Ectonurite grinned darkly as he cracked his knuckles; Tyrannopede bellowed and swung her tail, taking out a good deal of the Chupacabras surrounding them and allowing the Saturdays to attack without incident as Drew thrust her sword downwards and level at several of the skittering cryptids and sent a jet of red, hot flame at them, scattering the little monsters in all directions as she quickly blocked a jet of fire from Argost's sea serpent arm with the blade. Robecca quickly activated her rocket boots and took to the air, blasting several Chupacabras in their faces with scalding, hot steam and smoke as Nefera unfolded her collapsible blades and dove into the battle, swinging the blades in a wide arc before she stomped her foot down and sent a few Chupacabras flying.
The gigantic, mutant bat reared up on its hind legs and screeched loudly, falling back down onto its wings just in time for Fiskerton to slug it in the jaw and then send it away with a swift kick to the gut. Before the poor, mutant creature could attempt to fight back, Tyrannopede savagely grabbed hold it with her mighty jaws, crushing one wing as she shook her head like a dog and set it flying across the room and towards Doc; the cryptozoologist drew back his right fist and swung it through the air, a large, glowing construct of a hand appearing in midair and striking the creature down to the floor where it lay, no longer able to fight. Lilith stretched her wings as far as they would go and gave them w a swift flap and took to the air for the first time as she soared over the battle, dodging any Chupacabras that jumped up at her before she reached up and grabbed a metal beam, tearing it free with surprising strength. She then dove back down and used her new weapon like a golf club, whacking Chupacabras as they came at her in the jaws and guts, sending them flying in all directions.
"Argost is mine!" Zak declared.
"And mine!" Ghostfreak chimed in as he pushed away from the ground and rushed the collage of cryptid parts that was Argost as Zak charged from below him, whipping out The Claw and flicking the switch, firing off the sharp talons and wrapping it around the jaws of Argost's sea serpent mouth. "Keep him busy while I take care of something!" the Ectonurite rasped to Zak as he phased through Argost's body; he was surprised, to say the least, to find that Argost's mind never struggled against him as he effortlessly moved through his body before he finally found a small, disk-shaped device at the base of the mutant Yeti's neck. One swift movement of Ghostfreak's hand, and the device was little more than tiny particles of dust to be worried about at a later date as he phased back out through the villainous cryptid and hovered in the air as Argost blinked and gave his limbs a few stretches before a dark smile crossed his face.
"I'm free! FREE!" he cackled. "And as my first act of freedom, I shall spare Zak Saturday for the moment so that I may take care of certain douleur dans le cul."
"Was that even English?" Ghostfreak wondered.
"It was French, you insolent dolt." Argost frowned. "But you are the least of my problems, for the moment." Without another word, Argost yanked his arm free of the The Claw and charged at Dr. Animo, his head lowered and his sharp horns ready to gore the mad doctor.
"Save me, my pets! Protect your master!" Animo cried, shielding his face with his hands; several Chupacabras swarmed to protect Animo, their claws raised and their jaws open wide with the metallic hoses slithering out, ready to drain the misshapen monster of its life force and reduce it to nothing more than a dead body. Argost however, was not about to let the scrawny cryptids stop him from his goal and sent them scattering in all directions with a quick burst of flame from his left arm. With no one to protect him, Animo resorted to fleeing as fast as he could, only to be cut off by one very ticked off Ectonurite as he phased through the floor; Animo whirled around to see Argost bearing down on him, his fingers flexing heavily as if he were imagining the madman's skull between them. A move to his left, and he was cut off by the Saturdays and Fikserton, none of them looking happy; an escape attempt to his right was blocked by the ghouls and one seriously annoyed Tyrannopede.
"Ya got nowhere to run, ya bassa." Lorna frowned as she balled her hands into fists.
"That's what you think!" Animo grinned wickedly as he rested his finger tips on his head, the antennae crackling with blood energy before Komodo suddenly materialized out of thin air behind him and pounced on him, tearing off his antennae with one quick snap of his jaws.
"NOT AGAIN!" Animo cried as the Chupacabras paused in their assault upon the heroes and Argost, shaking their heads and flexing their arms and legs as if they were just getting use to controlling them on their own once more. "Oh, dear." Animo gulped as the Chupacabras turned their attention to him, narrowing their small eyes and snarling before they all moved as one and rushed at the mad doctor, tackling him to the floor and biting and clawing him as he screamed in agony on the floor; no one made a move to help him.
"Not what I was going for, but this works just as well." Argost shrugged, his expression blank and unwavering as his tail silently slithered across the floor of the medical bay and quietly curled around Zak's ankle. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have some unfinished business to take care of." he smirked darkly as he pulled his tail tight and tripped Zak down onto the floor; before anyone could help him, Argost had him thrown over his shoulder and had turned around on his hoof, charging away from the large group and through the wall of the airship and out into the open air.
"I really have had enjoyed our time together, but I have a schedule to keep! Ta-ta!" Argost called over his shoulder as he flapped his wings and soared away from the airship as everyone rushed over the hole to try and shoot him down; Drew clenched her grip tight and leveled the Fire Sword at the collage of cryptid parts, blasting a jet of cool, blue fire from the very tip and striking Argost between the wings, sending both him and Zak falling out of the sky.
"My baby!" Drew cried, shoving herself to the front before Fiskerton roughly pushed her out of the way and dove out of the hole and after Zak, grabbing his surrogate brothers shoulder as he fell and pulling him in tightly to his chest, curling himself up into a ball as they fell. "Both my babies!" Drew screamed. "Even Fisk can't survive that fall!"
"I'm on it!" Ghostfreak cried as he slapped the Omnitrix on his chest and was engulfed in a green light. His wrists bloated to the size of basketballs, his fingers reduced to black claws as the blubber from his hands traveled up the length of his arms, expanding and growing and swelling to massive proportions on his shoulders. His belly suddenly exploded outwards, and it would have been funny had he not had bullets shooting straight at him. His legs became short and stubby, his toes becoming bony and sharp, reduced to claws like his fingers had been. Hard plating began to pile itself up on his shoulders and his expanding hips, his entire back becoming covered in the durable armor that could withstand almost anything. His head became round like a beach ball before muscles and skin melted his face into his chest, his neck disappearing altogether. Black stripes and coloring formed over his pure white body, the armor turning yellowing as it formed on the back of his hands and shoulders. The final transformations were the sudden flexibility of his spine and the addition of the Omnitrix on his chest, a little ways below his wide mouth.
"Frankie! Charge me!" Cannonbolt yelled as he curled up on himself and began to roll in place as fast as he could; Frankie nodded and clapped her hands together, rubbing them up and down as fast as she could and building up a static charge throughout her body until her black and white streaked hair was standing up in all directions and electricity crackled along her arms and bolts. She ran up to the armored sphere that was Cannonbolt and was blasted backwards as the Arburian Pelarota shot off like a guided missile through the hole in the wall, forcing everyone to dive to the floor just to avoid being run over.
"Cannonball!" Cannonbolt bellowed as he plummeted through the air towards Fiskerton; the Lemurian spared an annoyed glance at him as he hugged Zak tighter, his eyes widening as the Arburian Pelarota unfolded himself and scooped Fiskerton and Zak up in his large arms before curling back up again and shutting himself up tight as he fell faster and faster through the air until he finally landed with a loud crash! in the road below, leaving behind a gigantic crater that stretched across the entire street; the various passengers of the airship peered out through the hole in the wall, angst and uncertainty plaguing their faces as they waited for the dust to clear.
With a pained grunt, Cannonbolt uncurled and let all four of his limbs all limp to the ground, an exhausted sigh escaping his lips as Fiskerton cracked open an eye and relaxed, uncurling his own body and letting a dazed Zak flop out onto his furry chest, the three of them utterly exhausted.
"Yes! They're alive!" Nefera cried happily.
"But they won't remain alive for long if we don't move." Doc frowned darkly as his good eye caught sight of Argost dive bombing down towards the unwary trio.
"How fast can we land?" Robecca asked urgently.
:Not fast enough." Drew shook her head.
"Screw it!" Lilith yelled from behind them. Everyone turned to see Lilith climbing up Tyrannopede's armored side and onto her neck just behind her head. Before anyone, even the massive, alien carnivore could stop her, she jammed her foot into the soft skin behind her skull-like head as hard as she could. Tyrannopede bellowed and charged forward, crashing into the Saturdays and ghouls and going right through the wall of the airship and out into the open air.
"Not your best idea, Lilith!" Lorna screamed as she tumbled.
"It's not finished yet!" Lilith yelled over the roar of the wind rushing past. "Now everyone grab hold of Jane!"
"Lilith, this is crazy!" Frankie yelled.
"Do you have a faster, better idea!?" Lilith yelled. "Now grab onto Jane if you want to live!" she snapped; no one argued and quickly latched onto any available part of Tyrannopede's body, be it her back, face, an arm, one of her legs, or even her tail. "Hang on!"
"It's not like we can do anything else!" Doc yelled as he hung onto one of the Tyrannopede's horns as tight as he could.
"Wa-hoo!" Lilith cried.
"I don't think she really cares." Drew frowned. "Prepare for impact!" she added seconds later out of sheer fright as they all tensed up at the last second just before they crashed into the ground next to Cannonbolt, Fikserton, and Zak, creating an even bigger crater than the later; the Nemetrix and Omnitrix timed out seconds later in flashes of green and red.
"Oh, everything hurts . . ." Jane moaned as she lay in the center of crater.
"Are you okay?" Robecca asked worriedly, bending down and helping Jane up into a sitting position.
"I-I'm fine," Jane shook her head. "Everything is sore and swelling, but I'll live."
"Should I get you some ice, luv?"
"Stop Argost first." Jane groaned. "Then maybe . . ." she added before going limp.
"Well, that was . . . dramatic." Drew remarked.
"Says the woman who screamed 'My babies' at the top of her lungs." Nefera scoffed.
"Ghouls? We have more important matters than that now!" Lorna yelled, pointing a finger upwards as Argost descended from the air and landed on top of a parked car.
"Bonjour, Doc and Drew Saturday." Argost frowned. "Wonderful marksman ship, my dear. I would be impressed if I didn't have the urge to destroy you and your son."
"Threaten her all you want, Argost, but your fight is with me!" Zak frowned as he staggered to his feet and climbed off of Fiskerton's chest; the Lemurian climbed off of Ben and offered a large hand to help him up, a kind smirk on his face for once.
"Very well." Argost huffed, folding his wings over him like a cape. "Once I have ended your meager existence, they will be next; I long to feel their bones crushed under my fists."
Zak frowned and pulled out The Claw from its location behind his back, narrowing his bright, orange eyes as he charged right at Argost, pumping his arms back and forth before he flicked the switch on the weapon, firing off the taloned end and hooking it around Argost's Yeti arm and pressed another button on The Claw, sending a jolt of electricity through the spring loaded cable; Argost howled in agony and yanked his arm back, hauling Zak along with him and whacking him in the head with his sea-serpent arm, sending him flying. The villainous Yeti pulled back on The Claw and yanked Zak along with it, slugging him in the face again and repeating the process, beating Zak senseless like a ping-pong paddle for several minutes before the cable finally snapped and sent Zak flying into a parked car, shattering the windows and setting off the car alarm.
"Zak!" Drew cried before narrowing her eyes and sending another jet of cool, blue flame at Argost; the cryptid quickly folded its wings over his body and shielded himself from the blaster before Doc rushed at him and slugged him the jaw with his Battle Glove several times before Argost grabbed him by the head with his sea-serpent arm and threw him down the round where he bounced on the pavement a few times before stopping.
"Dude, you okay?" Ben asked as he and Fiskerton rushed over to him; Drew rushed at Argost and swung her flaming blade several times in her attempt to behead her son's arch enemy while Frankie clapped her hands together and sent a blast of concentrated electricity at Argost, succeeding in frying the evil cryptid where he stood and dazing him long enough for Lorna to trip him with her tail.
"Oh, fine." Zak groaned, rubbing his sore skull. "Ugh, if we can just drain Argost of his energy again . . ."
"I could turn into Feedback again." Ben suggested before Fiskerton grunted something.
"You're right, Fisk. Argost will probably see it coming." Zak mused; Robecca gave Argost a quick uppercut to the jaw before blasting him in the face with her rocket boots as Nefera attempted to slice off Argost's wings with a quick motion of her sword, only to be knocked away by a whip of the cryptid's tail.
"I might have an idea." Ben frowned, tapping his chin. "But we'll need a distraction."
"But what?" Zak wondered.
"It might work, it might not, but it's our best shot." Ben reassured him. "Hopefully she'll be up for it." he added as he ran down the street and back towards the two craters that pockmarked the road, sliding down the side of the biggest crater and towards the center. He bent down and carefully poked Jane as she lay there, oblivious to the world as Ben gently shook her awake.
"Uhhhmmm? What?" she mumbled.
"Jane, we need you to distract Argost long enough for me to drain him of his energy." Ben explained. "Can you do that?"
"I can try." she stiffened as she leaned on Ben and climbed to her feet, rubbing her aching skull as they climbed out of the hole. Once they were on the lip of the crater, Jane turned to the Nemetrix and cycled through the roster before she found a suitable transformation and pressed the watch face, engulfing herself in a blood red light and changing her DNA. Her arms began to swell with muscles as hard, rock-like material began to appear on her thin frame, slowly making its way up her arms and shoulders before its way down her legs with a loud cracking noise. Her legs ground and moaned in protest before suddenly splitting into another pair, her bones breaking in one more place to make four, jointed legs as rock covered slowly, large spikes growing outwards from her bumpy skin. Her back swelled as the rock and muscle built up, her jaw bulging outwards as her teeth disappeared to be replaced by rocky daggers. A large, grinding noise filled the air as a massive, rhino-like horn grew from her forehead and her arms swelled, her fingers fusing together into hard, rocky tips as the Nemetrix appeared around her neck, completing the transformation.
With a low growl, Crabdozer took a step forward on her wobbly legs and nearly fell before regaining her composure and took a few more cautious steps forward before she was sure that she was sure she wasn't go to fall over and barreled down at Argost, lowering her horn as her rocky bulk rocked the city block, her stone feet pounding the pavement. She rammed her horn into Argost and sent him flying into a car, pausing to catch her breath as Argost pulled himself up and grabbed the vehicle in his sea-serpent arm and tossed it at the Crabdozer, nailing her in the face; the massive predator fell to the ground with a loud boom! and lay still.
"This patchwork body does come in handy," Argost chuckled darkly as he sent another blast of fire at the heroes to hold them at bay. "What more could I want?"
"How about eyes in the back of your head?" Ben smirked as he slapped the waiting activation button on the Omnitrix, engulfing himself in a brilliant, green light and changing his DNA. The changes began almost immediately, starting his skin becoming a dark, midnight black that raced up his arms and legs and covered his face. His eyes widened into large almonds before melting together into a single, green orb. His teeth became sharp his toes all ground together into two claws. He felt an itching sensation at the base of his spine, and craned his head to watch a long, elastic-like tail stretch out behind him, a growth forming on the end that resembled a forked plug. His fingertips become hard and metallic, becoming cube shaped as muscles piled themselves on his arms and chest. Two long antennae suddenly shot out from his skull, unrolling behind him like dreadlocks as forked plugs formed on their ends. His chest and torso turned a dark shade of green as the Omnitrix appeared on his chest and a sharp, tingling feeling could be felt in his fingers.
"ARAAGH! NOT AGAIN!" Argost bellowed as the Conductoid jammed his two antennae into Argost's chest and his tail into the throat of the sea-serpent arm, siphoning off the energy coursing through Argost's body.
"Uh, yes again!" Zak smirked as he climbed to his feet. "Just goes to show that no one, and I no one, messes with the Saturdays!"
"Or Ben 10 and his ghouls!" Feedback added with his ever familiar, trademark grin as Argost became weaker and weaker by the second, dropping to his knees and attempting to support himself with his Yeti arm as he withered in pain.
"This . . . isn't over!" Argost gasped. "I . . . shall have . . . my revenge!"
"I doubt that, dude." Feedback grinned a toothy smile. "It ain't over until we say it's over!"
"And as a mummy of royalty, I declare this over!" Nefera announced loudly.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Argost wailed as his eyes became lifeless and devoid of any emotion; his body went limp and slumped to the ground, dead.
"Oh, yeah! He shoots, he scores!" Feedback cheered.
"Are you sure this will work?" Doc wondered.
"It's not like we have a better choice." Feedback sighed; Jane lay curled up in his arms, asleep against the Conductoid's chest, utterly exhausted. Without a better idea to work with, Feedback plugged in one of his antennae into each of his petrified ghouls, jamming his long extensions into the wounds made by the Chupacabras that were currently chasing after Komodo and Zon somewhere in the hold. The Conductoid close his single eye and sent a portion of the life force he had drained from Argost into the lifeless statues of ghoulfriends, increasing the power as a loud cracking noise echoed through the room, cracks and splinters forming all along the paralyzed forms until they suddenly exploded, the rock pieces fading away into dust as the individual ghouls all sat up and stretched their aching muscles, blinking their eyes as they were utterly confused about where they were.
"Where are we?" Bonita wondered, stretching her wings.
"It's a long story, ghoul." Frankie smiled.
"If you say so." Clawdeen yawned.
"Well, dude, it's been awesome seeing you again." Feedback grinned. shifting Jane around in his arms to shake Zak's hand.
"You too, man." Zak smirked. "If you're ever in the neighborhood, drop in at anytime."
"Seeing as how you travel all around the world, that might be a bit difficult." Feedback rolled his eye. "But I just might have to take you up on that offer. he added before a loud beeping met his attention. He looked down at the blinking Omnitrix on his chest and tapped it with a plugged finger. "Hello?"
"Ben? You there?" Grandpa Max's voice came from the other end.
"Yeah, what's up?" Feedback asked.
"We've got a situation up here," Max explained. "We've caught a stowaway aboard Vandalla's ship. She wants to make her walk the plank."
"What's that mean?" Feedback wondered.
"Vandalla wants to shove her out into the void of space." Max replied.
"Her?"
"The stowaway keeps on claiming that she knows you and the ghouls and demands that she be released." Grandpa Max added.
"Who's the stowaway?" Feedback wondered.
"Some 'Toralei Stripe' or other. You know her?" Grandpa Max asked.
"Unfortunately," Feedback frowned. "Alright, don't let Vandalla have her way. But when we get back, I want Toralei in a holding cell until I can talk to her."
"That we can do." Grandpa Max promised. "See you in a few, kiddo."
And there we go!
Alright, raise your head if any of you saw Toralei appearing at the end. None, maybe one person? Yeah, I thought so.
Anyways, that's it for now. I won't be updating this for a little bit as I have been slacking off on my other story all too often and need to catch up on it. Once that's done however, expect another update!
As always, comment, review, suggest, and request down below!
Hasta Luego!
