CHAPTER 12: Clash

Attea sprinted across the room, blasting or punching any Incursean who was in her way. She desperately looked among the fighting to find Ben's cousin, and soon found her and Rook defending her mother. She changed direction and leaped into the air, delivering a dropkick onto an Incursean that was about to blast Gwendolyn while her back was turned.

"You're welcome, red," she said as Gwendolyn looked at her in surprise.

"Attea?"

Attea looked at her mother, who seemed shocked to see her little girl after spending countless years in stasis. She began to tear up, as did Attea, and when they couldn't take it any more, they hugged each other tightly.

"I never thought I'd see you again!" sniffed Attea.

"Neither did I think I would ever see you again," her mother replied.

"I hate to interrupt this wonderful reunion," said Rook as he blasted two more Incurseans and kicked another, "But I must remind you that we are still in a battle, here."

Attea scowled at Rook, but reluctantly agreed as she separated from her mother.

Then Gwendolyn raised a forcefield over them, leaving the frogs outside to punch or blast at it until it gave.

"That shield's not gonna hold them back for long," said Gwendolyn, "Why are you over here? Why aren't you with Ben?"

"He told me to find you while he fights my daddy. I need your help because daddy most likely has the formula for the Alpha Frog serum and its antidote in the computer, but I can't access them on my own because I'm locked outta the system."

"Got it! Where can we find it?"

"Daddy has his computer installed in his throne."

"You mean the one Ben demolished as he was fighting your dad?"

"Well, luckily, you can access the computer from the armrests, so it should still work."

"Alright, I'm gonna drop the shield on the count of three, so everyone should get ready."

Attea whipped out her pistols while Rook readied his Proto-tool.

"Wait, what about you, mommy?"

"Don't worry, Attea, I may have been in stasis for years, but I still remember my combat training!"

"Alright," said Gwendolyn, "One . . . Two . . . Three!"

The shield dropped. Gwendolyn and Rook immediately blasted a bunch of Incurseans who gathered outside the shield, so she and Attea rushed forward and cut a path through them to the throne. Gwendolyn quickly sat down in the mostly destroyed throne and pressed on the keyboards on the armrests, causing a holographic screen to appear in front of her. While Gwendolyn furiously typed away at the keyboard, Attea looked behind herself and looked for her mom. Attea soon saw her fighting other Incurseans, twisting their arms or delivering a series of punches and kicks that you would normally see a ninja do. Attea couldn't help but smile in admiration of her mother's fighting skills.

"Ugh!"

Attea looked back at Gwendolyn and said, "What's wrong?"

"No matter what I do, I can't gain access without Milleous' password!"

Attea slapped her forehead. "Dang it! How could I forget that? But wait, aren't you supposed to be some kind of computer genius or something?"

"That doesn't mean I can always hack into them with no problems! This password is creating a series of firewalls and encryptions, and the more I type the wrong password, the more firewalls and encryptions it creates!"

Attea was about to ask what they were gonna do, until she suddenly had an idea. "I know exactly who can help us . . ."

Rath was thrust into the wall . . . again. He wedged himself free from the huge dent in the wall and grumbled to himself. Milleous suddenly pinned him to the wall and roared in his face.

"Let me tell ya somethin', giant frog monster that's apparently Emperor Milleous, YOU NEED A BREATH MINT!"

Milleous growled and tossed him aside. "You'e finished, Tennyson! Do ya hear me?!"

"Ha! If ya think Rath is finished, ya don't know nothin'! Rath is gonna pulverize ya into goop and toss ya out the air lock!"

The appoplexian roared a war cry as he charged at Milleous. Milleous tired slamming his fists onto Rath, but he nimbly dodged and punched the frog mutant in the gut twice before delivering a serious uppercut under the jaw. Milleous stumbled back, giving Rath an opportunity to back up and propel himself into him, yelling, "Orion shoulder slam!"

Milleous slammed against the wall but got back up.

"Ha! Ya sure Rath's the one who's finished, frog face?!" Rath pointed and laughed.

"Oh yes!" said Milleous as he gave a malicious grin.

Suddenly, his gigantic tongue lashed out and slammed into Ben, causing him to shoot backward halfway across the room. Milleous leaped into the air and, just as he was about to land on Ben, struck him with his tail and sent him crashing into another wall. Before Ben could recover, Milleous grabbed Ben's hands and pinned him to the wall, sharpened teeth reaching for him. Then Rath kicked Milleous in the face, and while it did not hurt him, it caused him to blink and stagger just a step backward. Rath seized the opportunity and wrenched his hands free, then he punched the mutant in the face and then slashed it with his wrist claw, but Rath shockingly noticed that there wasn't even a scratch on him. Shaking it off, Rath punched him again but Milleous caught the next one and winded his fist as far back as it could go, then as fast as the eye can blink, punched Ben square in the stomach. Ben screamed, then Milleous slammed him into the ground and started beating him over and over.

Kevin, who just clobbered two other frogs, saw Ben getting pulverized.

"Hang on, Ben!" he yelled as he rushed at them, forming his hands into balls with spikes.

Kevin jumped onto Milleous' back and whacked his eyes, making the mutant howl in pain and angrily clutch his eyes, sometimes even hitting the ground in frustration. Kevin immediately got down and helped Ben to his feet, then quickly helped him walk over to a section of wall where Milleous couldn't see them and hid behind it.

When Milleous recovered from his second eye injury, he furiously looked around himself, growling and roaring in search of his prey.

"WHERE ARE YOU, TENNYSON?!" he bellowed, "I'M NOT DONE WITH YOU, YET! COME BACK OUT AND FACE ME!"

Milleous roared and leaped around the room, knocking and pushing over his own soldiers in search for Ben.

"Ugh . . . let me tell ya somethin' . . . Kevin . . . E . . . Levin . . . Rath . . . didn't need . . . your help!" groaned the tiger alien.

"You're welcome," Kevin rolled his eyes.

In a flash of green light, Rath transformed back into Ben.

"You alright, Tennyson?"

"Yeah, I think so. I mean, my head is pounding but I think Rath's endurability took most of the beating."

"So, how are we gonna take that thing out? He's built like a tank!"

"I don't know! I threw one of my strongest aliens at him and it barely scratched him!"

"What about Atomix?"

"No way! We're inside the bridge of a spaceship! One atomic blast and it we'd be floating around in space!"

"Well, I don't hear you comin' up with any better ideas!"

"We have to keep him busy until Attea and Gwendolyn find the antidote!"

Ben thought to himself for a moment, then his eyes suddenly widened. "I got it!"

"Got what?"

"Let me worry about it, you just lure Milleous back here!"

"What? Are you crazy, man? Don't you remember the beating he gave you two minutes ago?"

"Now's not the time, Kevin, just trust me!"

Kevin sighed and said, "Alright, but you better have something good dialed in!" Kevin was about to leave, but he turned back and said, "Hey, Tennyson, in case I get beaten to a pulp because of your crazy plan, I wanted to ask . . . if you'd be my best man."

Ben blinked in surprise. "What? Does that mean . . ."

Kevin reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, black box that normally carry a ring.

"You got the ring?! When did that happen?!"

"I got it just before Grandpa Max called us. Gwendolyn and Rook's arrival down the block from the store almost ruined the surprise, but I was able to climb out through the back window."

"Wow, Kevin, I . . . I don't know what to say!"

"Say you'll be there at the altar when I marry your cousin," he grinned.

With that, Kevin shoved the box back into his pocket and rushed toward the mutant, who was rampaging through his troops.

Ben stared at the omnitrix, hearing Kevin yell, "Hey, frog breath! Over here!"

Ben activated the dial and scrolled through the aliens until he found the one he was looking for. "Man, I hope this works!"

While she was waiting for Attea, Gwendolyn did her best to hack through the password regardless of the consequences, but nothing she tried worked.

Suddenly, Gwendolyn heard a thump and looked down to see Raff lying on the ground. Attea stood above him wearing a smug look.

Raff shifted onto his back and said, "Gah! Whatever it is, I won't do it!"

Attea pulled out her pistols and pointed them at him. "Oh, yes, you are! I got the upper hand, here, Raffy!"

"Go ahead! Take your best shot! I'm not afraid of you anymore, you spoiled brat!"

Gwendolyn got up from the chair and lifted Raff by the collar of his robe. "Listen, we don't have time for this! Give me the password to Milleous' computer or I'm feeding you to Milleous!"

As Raff and Gwendolyn argued, Attea suddenly widened her eyes and looked down at her pistols. Spoiled brat! Attea recalled how Raff led the rebellion against her, and how eagerly they all participated. Spoiled brat! She remembered how she treated Ben when he was trying to help her, how she treated everyone she ever knew. Maybe that's why my people got rid of me for my daddy!

Attea looked at Gwendolyn and said, "Gwendolyn, stop!"

Gwendolyn looked at her in confusion until Attea said, "I'll handle this."

She dropped Raff, who stood back up and dusted himself. "So, what are you going to do, Attea? Torture me? Threaten to shoot me if I don't tell you exactly what you want to know in three seconds? Nothing will make me talk!"

But to the surprise of Raff, she put her pistols back in their pockets. "No. Not this time." She walked closer to Raff and said, "Look, Raff, I know I've always . . . been kinda harsh to you all these years, but I want . . . to apologize."

"What?"

Attea breathed before she could make a snarky remark at his surprise. "You heard me," she replied calmly, "I'm sorry. I didn't realize it until Tennyson here treated me so nicely when I was on the run. He helped me realize that I was acting like a total jerk my whole life, and that I needed to change that. And I see now that it wasn't only my attitude that made you dethrone me, but it was also because of how I led this empire. I was . . . am clearly unfit to be your empress, but right now, my daddy isn't either."

"What are you talking about? Milleous is more fit to lead your people than you are!"

"Are you kidding me? Look at him!"

Raff looked up at the mutant, who was chasing after Kevin. Milleous slammed into more of his troops and even picked one up and tossed him aside.

"What kind of emperor would inject himself with something outlawed by our ancestors?" asked Attea, "I know you hate me, and you have every right to be, but if we don't stop daddy, he will destroy us all. Those frogs out there may have betrayed me, but I'm not willing to let them die like this! Please, Raff! Help us! After that, you'll never have to see me again!"

Raff stared at Attea, then looked back at Milleous and the destruction he was causing. He squeezed his eyes and gritted his teeth, but finally said, "Here, let me do it."

Raff moved past Gwendolyn and sat in the chair, making the holographic screen appear once more. He quickly typed on the keyboards and immediately gained access. "Alright, it'll take me a minute to find your father's copy of the formula, but I'll have it in no time."

Attea walked to the side of the throne and put a hand on his shoulder, smiling. "Thank you."

"I must say, Attea, I never thought I would live to see the day where you finally grow up." He looked up at her. "Maybe you are worthy of leading our people after all."

Attea couldn't help but smile widely as Raff returned to work.

"You better have a good plan, Tennyson!" yelled Kevin as he sprinted back to Ben's hiding spot, Milleous hot on his heels.

Suddenly, Milleous' large tongue smacked into Kevin and knocked him into the hiding spot, except he didn't see Ben there.

Milleous grabbed Kevin in his gigantic hand and growled, "Where's Tennyson?!"

"Hey, I don't know, man! The guy's unpredictable! That's why I mostly stop paying attention to his plans!"

Milleous roared and lifted Kevin higher. "TELL ME WHERE HE IS OR I'LL SWALLOW YOU WHOLE!"

As Milleous brought Kevin closer to his gaping jaws, his eyes suddenly widened and he dropped Kevin. Then he collapsed onto the floor, with Kevin barely managing to dodge it. That's when he saw Grey Matter climb off the back of Milleous' neck.

"Hephaestan Neuro Grip," he said proudly with his hands on his hips, "Useful for subduing all manner of prey."

"Hey, Ben! Get over here!" yelled Attea.

Kevin immediately picked Ben up and rushed him to the trio at the throne. That's when he saw Rook and Attea's mother struggling to hold their own against a large group of Incurseans. "Don't worry, I got this! Just focus on getting that frog cure!"

Then Kevin rushed off to help them.

"What's the assessment of the situation? And why is Raff helping us?" asked Grey Matter.

"I'll explain later," said Gwendolyn.

"We found the copy of the formula," said Raff, "But unfortunately, Milleous never made an antidote. Apparently, he never planned on changing back. In fact, it looks like he added his own notes and chemicals into the formula, so I'm not even sure if making a cure is possible!"

Ben thought for a moment, and then said, "Don't worry! I have an idea!"

He slapped the omnitrix symbol on his back and immediately transformed into Gutrot.

"Alright, now let me take a look at those notes!" said Ben.

Raff adjusted the screen to turn toward Ben, who started looking them over.

"Hmm, hmm, uh huh, okay . . ." he muttered to himself.

Suddenly, Attea heard groaning, so she looked where her father lay and noticed he was beginning to stir. "Uh, Ben? I hate to rush ya, but could ya please hurry it up?"

"Hey, quiet! I'm almost done!" After muttering to himself some more, he said, "Alright, I got it! I recognize these chemicals and I think I can whip up an antidote."

"Um, how are ya gonna do that?"

"Trust me, you don't really wanna know."

Then Ben ran over to Milleous, the chemicals in his stomach swirling and combining. When he finally reached the mutant, he stretched out his arms and said, "Alright, froggy! Time for your medicine!"

With that, Gutrot unleashed a gigantic green cloud of gas that engulfed Milleous. Ben could hear screaming and coughing, along with signs of struggle on the ground. After a few minutes, all was quiet.

"Alright, I think it work . . ."

Ben didn't even finish his sentence as he felt a huge punch that sent him flying back to the others. As Gwendolyn and Attea helped him up, they looked horrified as Milleous emerged from the gas cloud, still in the same mutated form as before.