Will Ben defeat Vilgax again? We can only hope. The whole planet is counting on him. And perhaps the galaxy too. The Milky Way, anyway.
Vilgax will probably come back if Ben wins...but it would still be worthwhile to fight him. Don't you think he's destroyed one planet too many?
Besides, he belongs in the Null Void.
I'll also feature Xylene in this chapter.
Ben should consider himself lucky Vilgax hasn't drained ten heroes like he did in Alien Force.
That would make things a lot more difficult.
Chapter 13: Revenge of the Chimerian
Grandpa Max had some distressing news to tell Ben.
News regarding his archenemy.
"Vilgax is here?" asked Ben.
"That explains the chill I felt yesterday..." noted Starfire. Surely she had felt that sensation in her spine for a reason.
"Well, if he wants to fight me again, I'm going to take the fight to him!" exclaimed the boy. He would pound him as many times that it took to teach him a lesson.
Then again, maybe he would never learn. Sometimes his cousin had said that. Not everyone could have an eidetic memory like she did.
He pressed his fists together.
However, Starfire couldn't help but feel worried for Ben.
He was up against one of the most feared villains in the galaxies. There were all sorts of scary stories about Vilgax. And the plumbers were wary to face him and his robots.
Admittedly, Ben claimed that he had faced him before (and had won), but still.
"Won't he...be expecting you?" questioned the alien. They had fought before in the past. Chances are he would be prepared for a future encounter.
Besides, Vilgax was kind of the most feared alien in the galaxy.
Ben thought about this for a moment.
Ben wasn't going to let Vilgax destroy Earth without a fight. It was his home!
And Starfire's too, though it wasn't her original home.
Not to mention everyone who lived there, his parents included.
Meanwhile at the Titans Tower, the alarm went off.
It looked as if they had company...and not the good kind.
Some droids marched towards the four of them.
"Those robots don't look friendly..." noted Cyborg.
The droids opened fire on them.
Quickly, Raven shielded the four of them.
"Thanks, Rae!" exclaimed Beast Boy.
"You're welcome...though I would prefer if you called me Raven instead of calling me Rae." said Raven.
Beast Boy nodded.
She then shapeshifted into a gremlin.
"Why the gremlin?" asked Beast Boy. He was under the impression he would shapeshift into something bigger.
"Let's just say ever since I got new powers I've been studying mythology." answered Raven in a squeaky voice. She had been reading mythology before, but until now it hadn't really been relevant to her life.
The green superhero was tempted to laugh at Raven's voice, but he figured she wouldn't find it funny. And she could be dangerous when she was angry. Just ask her father (well, Raven herself didn't refer to him as such), Trigon the Terrible.
She began to sabotage the robots.
Likewise, Cyborg began to smash them.
Fortunately, their metal hides didn't protect them from his fists...because they were also made of metal.
Beast Boy turned into a rhino and began to plow down the machines.
Robin threw a bomb at the robots.
Luckily, since they were robots (and not sentient ones), he didn't need to hold back against them.
It reminded him of a bit when they fought paint creations in Tokyo.
Still, their sheer number made them feel tired after a while.
But eventually they managed to take them all down.
"Phew! That was a lot of robots!" exclaimed Beast Boy.
Who had the resources to build all those robots anyway?
"I'm part robot myself, yet I'm pooped!" shouted Cyborg.
"I think maybe we should ask Starfire about them." remarked Robin. He didn't know for sure, but they seemed to be alien in nature.
"Yet somehow I still don't feel safe..." noted Raven.
Unfortunately, her hunch turned out to be right.
Suddenly, the four of them found themselves suspended in magic orbs.
"What's going on?" asked Robin.
"It's some sort of magic spell..." explained Raven.
A containment spell, to be precise.
Unfortunately, Raven was feeling worn out after dealing with all those robots. Even she had her limits.
This meant that she couldn't break the spell.
Besides, this spell seemed to be the work of a talented spellcaster. She wasn't sure who it was, but there was something sinister about this mage's magic.
Ourabora smirked and stuck out her forked tongue. Those robots had really come in handy for keeping the heroes occupied while she prepared her spells.
And to make things better she could repair them easily.
Unfortunately, they didn't have pain receptors. Otherwise, she'd have more fun with them.
"Who cast this spell, anyway?" asked Beast Boy.
"That would be I." answered Ourabora.
After capturing the four of them, she brought them back to Vilgax's ship.
The four of them were placed in suspension beams.
"Let us go!" demanded Beast Boy.
"How about no." answered the snake.
"What do you want from us?" asked Cyborg.
Knowing Vilgax, it couldn't be anything good.
"To be honest, what I really want is your companion Starfire. But I'm going to be enjoying your company, I can tell you that." said the snake sorceress.
"Huh?" inquired Beast Boy.
Robin didn't like the sound of that.
Ourabora pressed a button, and Cyborg was zapped.
"Aaahhhh!" exclaimed the teenage boy as the electricity entered his body. Unfortunately, it was extra painful for him because he was half-robot...which may be the reason why she chose to target him.
"I could do this all day." remarked the snake.
"I hope she doesn't..." answered Beast Boy.
"Are you sure they know where the girl is?" asked Psyphon. There was a possibility that they didn't know. Maybe they should go to her homeworld instead.
"To be honest, it doesn't really matter to me." answered the snake.
Psyphon was confused.
"You're doing this for fun?" asked the pale-skinned lackey of Vilgax.
"Pretty much." answered Ourabora. She liked hearing them scream.
"You're not afraid of Vilgax?" inquired the white alien.
"Let me make myself clear. I'm not serving Vilgax out of any fear towards him. I'm not doing it for money. And I'm certainly not doing it out of loyalty. Though Vilgax does pay pretty well, I must admit. I'm doing it because it's fun." said the snake alien.
"You are?" asked Psyphon.
The serpent nodded.
Vilgax's lapdog began to feel afraid of Ourabora.
Perhaps she was just as scary as Vilgax himself was. After all, she did doom her home planet. Psyphon probably couldn't do that even if Vilgax told him to do so. He just wasn't that kind of person.
Although, though Ourabora was comparable with Vilagx, she tended to express her emotions more than he did. She was more...gleeful in her cruelty.
Suddenly, they heard an alarm going off.
It seemed they had intruders.
"It's Ben Tennyson, isn't it?" pondered Vilgax.
He always showed up to thwart his evil schemes.
How he hated that boy.
Ourabora nodded.
Who would have thought that a young boy liked Ben Tennyson would end up becoming one of the greatest intergalactic superheroes?
Personally she wondered what he would taste like.
She imagined he had an exciting flavor.
Perhaps when Vilgax was done with him, she would be allowed to consume him.
Well, while it was unfortunate that Ben Tennyson had shown up to thwart him once again, at least now he had a chance to steal the Omnitrix from the boy.
He decided he would deal with himself, though he did gain a new ally recently.
Robots wouldn't cut it against the boy that could transform into aliens with superhuman strength.
Ben and Starfire boarded the spaceship.
They searched for their friends.
However, they weren't sure where they were.
The spaceship was kind of spacious.
Vilgax most likely made it large intentionally to make it look intimidating...which worked.
Luckily, Ben knew his surroundings somewhat.
Starfire found herself facing Psyphon.
He was surprised to see her.
She threw starbolts at him.
But as one would imagine, the coward was quick on his feet.
He quickly ducked so that the starbolts didn't hit him.
He then fired beams at Starfire, but she was fast enough to avoid them.
It seemed the two were deadlocked.
She considered using the Omnitrix, but the moment she attempted to use it, Psyphon went down on his knees and groveled at her feet.
It was a surprising experience.
Starfire figured that she wouldn't use it against him. She found that her foe was surprisingly pitiable.
It wasn't long before Psyphon had surrendered...because a stray star bolt had hit him in the chest.
He had a low tolerance for pain. Perhaps he was lucky he wasn't being tortured by Ourabora.
Well, maybe she could have the plumbers pass judgement down on him.
Ourabora noticed the scraps of several robots that had been destroyed by Ben and Starfire.
It occurred to her that perhaps Vilgax was losing.
"It looks like things are going south...well, I'd best take my leave." spoke the snake alien.
She escaped using an escape pod.
Ben decided to transform into Fourarms.
It seemed as good of an alien to deal with Vilgax as any.
However, even Tetramands happened to fear Vilgax's strength...which was saying a lot.
Sure enough, Vilgax was waiting for him.
"You never give up on trying to conquer the galaxies, don't you?" asked Ben.
"I'd have a much easier time if it weren't you meddling in my affairs." answered Vilgax.
"We all know how this is going to play out." answered the boy.
"Aren't we confident?" answered the conqueror.
Well, he would wipe that cocky smile off of his face soon enough.
Vilgax swung an energy saber at Ben.
Ben ducked underneath it.
He then attempted to punch him in the face.
Ben punched Vilgax in retaliation.
The alien then pulled out a laser gun and then began shooting at Ben.
This time, he successfully hit him.
"Oww!" exclaimed the Tetramand.
That laser pistol really stung.
But it seemed he was alright. Tetramands were a hardy race...though he would have an easier time fighting him if he were a female Tetramand.
Ben punched Vilgax again.
This time, he sent him into a wall.
As he did so, he left behind a dent.
"Ugh..." murmured the squid man.
It appeared he had lost again.
How he hated losing to the boy.
He was going to have to come up with a better scheme next time.
Now that Vilgax was weakened, Ben decided to
Vilgax screamed as he was sent to the Null Void once again.
"Hopefully he'll stay there this time." remarked Ben. He was getting tired of him escaping.
"We managed to send Vilgax to the Null Void, and apprehend Psyphon, but Ourabora escaped." explained Starfire. Unfortunately, she didn't know where Ourabora had gone.
Psyphon did not resist arrest, which didn't surprise her. It seemed that he would rather surrender than fight some plumbers.
Well, it looked like Psyphon wouldn't be going to the Null Void...unlike Vilgax.
"It looks like I managed to save the day...again!" exclaimed Ben.
"Don't forget that I helped." answered Starfire.
"Oh, right. I guess we saved the day!" cheered the boy.
"We shouldn't be celebrating just yet. There's still one loose thread we need to deal with." warned Raven.
Personally, Xylene was concerned with her escape, though she was glad that Vilgax was in the Null Void once again. That was where he belonged.
"She escaped? That's a problem." remarked Xylene.
If she was still on the loose, she could very well release Vilgax from the Null Void. Perhaps she knew a spell that could open up a portal. That was not something that anyone was looking forward to.
If he gets out, he could destroy Earth.
"We're going to have to hunt her down." noted Robin.
If only they knew where she had gone.
She could be on another planet for all they knew.
"Leave that to me." said Max.
"You sure about this, grandpa?" inquired Ben. This sounded like a very dangerous mission. And he could sense the malice in Ourabora's heart.
"I won't be going in alone." explained the plumber. To be honest, he thought that would be too dangerous.
"You won't?" asked Gwen.
"I'll be bringing my men with me..." spoke Max. Perhaps three men would be enough for the job. That way it would be four against one.
"Good idea..." nodded Starfire. The more, the merrier.
Fortunately, the plumbers managed to track down Ourabora's location.
Ironically enough, the cavern's entrance resembled that of a serpent.
Did she know that they were coming for her? She wasn't hiding too well.
Max was starting to wonder if this was some sort of trap. Perhaps she wanted them to enter the cavern so that she could finish them off at her leisure.
Perhaps he should approach the cavern with caution. You couldn't be too careful in this line of work.
However, Max's three men went in before the veteran plumber could do so himself.
Seemed they were in a bit of a hurry.
"Wait for me! I'm not as young as I used to!" exclaimed the old man. Though even in his old age, he had done some pretty impressive things.
Unfortunately, they couldn't hear him at this point.
Max sighed.
To be honest, he wished that the plumbers wouldn't go in so quickly. He wasn't even sure if the cavern was illuminated. Considering Ourabora was a snake alien, perhaps she detected her prey through heat.
Well, he might as well go into the cavern. Maybe if was lucky he could catch up with the plumbers.
He did just that.
But not before bringing a flashlight.
"Can't be too careful." remarked the veteran plumber.
However, as he entered the cave, he detected heavy amounts of corrodium.
It looked as if he was going to need protective gear.
Otherwise he could end up mutating into a monster.
In Ben's case, he could probably transform into Ghostfreak. But since his transformations were typically temporary, maybe he shouldn't go on the mission.
Him transforming into a monster was not something that he wished to think about.
While he was at it. he could use a weapon that could shoot beams that could counteract its effects.
He wasn't sure why Ourabora was gathering corrodium, but it couldn't be anything good.
Max remembered the time that Ghostfreak had decided to gather some. He could have very well turned the entire planet inside out.
It would be best to stop the operation here and now.
In the next chapter, Grandpa Max is going after Ourabora. We don't want her rescuing Vilgax from the Null Void, now would we? It'd be best for everyone if he stayed there.
I could have had Starfire use the Omnitrix against Psyphon but let's face it, he's kind of wimpy.
Granted, he'll probably escape eventually...but it'd better if it happened later than sooner.
It's going to be a frightful mission though. You're probably already expecting that. Ourabora might be scarier than Zombozo, who appeared in this fanfic not too long ago. Kind of saying something, don't you think?
I figured why not give Max a turn to shine instead of Ben for a change. He won't be fighting Vilgax though because that would be too much for him. So, he's going to be fighting Ourabora.