Welcome to the final chapter for Volume 1 of The Ultra 10 Chronicles! Now don't be too concerned! I've already written a portion of the first chapter of Volume 2, The Hero Earth Needs, which I will include a portion of in an epilogue, immediately after this chapter. Next volume will be the same format as this volume, except that the first chapter will be a summary of this volume, along with some information for any new readers. So if you don't want to read that, skip to chapter two of Volume 2: A Hero Earth Needs when I upload it next week.
As for this chapter, there are a number of trigger warnings that apply. There is a lot of blood and gore, and violence. Ben has a brutal fight, and it is bloody. There are a few instances of choice language. The first instance is in the paragraph starting with, "Time's up, Ben muttered." The second instance is in the paragraph starting with, "I don't have any choice..."
There is a ton of soundtrack music that played at Lukas's funeral scene. I'll list the name and artist, if you want to find it to listen to.
"The World I Know" by Collective Soul, "Sacrifice" by Elton John, "Sad Song" by We The Kings, "Bed of Roses," by Bon Jovi, "Only The Good Die Young" By Billy Joel, and "It's My Life" also by Bon Jovi. This is the soundtrack for the funeral. However, "It's My Life" is also the soundtrack for the rest of the story, as it well conveys Ben's consignment to what he sees as his lot in life.
Enjoy the chapter, and don't forget to read the epilogue!
The Ultra 10 Chronicles: Volume 1: The Beginning of Ultra 10
Chapter 31: Hunting Season
The next afternoon
Ben wore his grandfather's suit. It was ugly, purple, a little too small and hideously outdated. However, his dress was the least that Ben cared about at the moment. Neither did he care about the stuffy room where too many people were crammed inside, and not enough cool air blowing from the vents. And despite the bright lights and the flowers covering almost every table, the room still felt gloomy and dark.
"Dead," Ben thought. "The room feels dead inside." Ben continued through the slow procession line, where everyone paid their last respects. Although it would be easier to see him when the visitors paid their respects. Lukas's parents had insisted on a closed casket funeral. They just couldn't bare seeing their son for the last time in the state he had been found in. Burns up and down his body, bruised and bloodied skin horribly deformed.
Still, all that wasn't the worst part. The lower half of his casket would be lighter than most. His legs had been all but obliterated during the explosion. And to see emptiness where his legs should have been would have been the worst part of it all. And so, a picture sat on top of his closed casket, showing Lukas smiling and full of life.
"The way he should be remembered," Ben thought. He followed the people in front of him up to the casket, standing only a couple of feet away from his best friend, yet he felt so far away. Once again, Ben felt the bitterness rise within himself as he stared at the picture of Lukas. He was supposed to help people. To protect them. Why couldn't he protect his best friend? Ben felt several tears start to well up in his eyes. He stifled a sniffle as he tried not to cry. Ben took a step forward and nearly collapsed, as his legs felt like overcooked spaghetti.
"Ben," a woman's voice softly spoke from behind him. Ben looked back to see Julie there, together with Cooper. She was wearing a neat, if simple, black dress. Cooper stood beside her, looking somewhat awkward. He had combed his usually wild blonde hair and had worn a black suit. Julie came forward to give Ben a hug.
"Ben, there's no need for you to go through this alone," Julie said as she and Cooper escorted Ben from the line over towards some chairs. "We are all feeling the pain of Lukas being gone, and there's strength in that. We can help each other get over this."
"There's no getting over this," Ben said back, in-between sniffles. "There's only moving on."
"We need to leave soon," Cooper said. "We don't want anyone to get any ideas, but we had to come to say goodbye too." Ben nodded. He waived goodbye to them, watching the couple exit the building. After a few more minutes, the funeral program began. A large man in a suit stood up at the front of the room and began giving the eulogy. Some time later, Ben rode with his parents to the cemetery.
Throughout the whole ordeal, Ben found it hard to focus on the words spoken, not when they only knew so little about Lukas. None of them knew his secret life. Not like Ben did. The life that Ben drug him into. The life that ended up taking his life. To everyone else, it looked like a senseless act of terror by a villain looking to strike a blow against a local hero. But to Ben, he knew it was personal. That he was the reason his friend was now dead.
Finally, the ceremony ended, and everyone was invited to throw a clod of dirt on the coffin in the ground. Ben waited his turn, bitterness eating him up inside. He stood up and grabbed a handful of dirt to throw. As he watched the dirt fall from his hand, he made a promise.
"I will find him, Lukas," Ben muttered as the dirt slipped through his fingers. "I will find him, and I'll kill him for you. I promise." Ben turned and sat back down in his seat. After a few more moments, the attendants left to go to their separate homes. The ride to his house seemed to take longer than it usually did.
Although the day was a bright and sunny one, Ben couldn't feel darker or gloomier inside. He didn't talk to his parents when they got home. He just went straight to his room and shut the door behind him. He tore off the suit he wore and tossed it on the floor, not even caring enough to hang it up. Absentmindedly, he changed into shorts and a t-shirt, and turned on the tv, just to occupy his mind with the static. Some time later, he heard a knock on his bedroom door. He didn't even bother to answer. If whoever it was wanted to enter, he didn't care.
"Ben?" A girl's voice came from the other side of the door. "Your parents said you were in your room." Gwen opened the door gingerly and stepped inside. The briefest flash of disgust crossed her countenance as she saw the messy state Ben's room always was in. But just as soon as it appeared, it disappeared.
"Ben, my parents brought over dinner for you and your folks," Gwen said again. Ben still didn't answer.
"Ben, I can't imagine loosing a friend like that," Gwen said. "And although I didn't really know him outside of school, it is still difficult for me too."
"What do you want, Dweeb?" Ben muttered. Gwen bit her lip, trying not to burst out a snarky response.
"I… You're not alone, you know. Just… don't hold it all in. You'll need to talk to someone about it, in order to get over his death," Gwen said carefully.
"Thanks, doctor. I'll remember that," Ben replied. Gwen huffed in annoyance.
"Fine, you want to sulk? Sulk! I'm trying my best to be compassionate," Gwen halfway exploded, halfway sighed. "We may not get along, but you are still my cousin, and I care about you, okay? So I want you to be able to get feeling better eventually." With that, she turned to leave.
"Gwen?" Ben muttered. That one word stopped her, and she turned around to look back at him. "Thanks." Gwen's annoyance lightened a little, as if that is what she had been looking for before she had gotten annoyed.
"Don't mention it…" Gwen smirked. "To anybody… I can't let word get out that I've gone soft on the Doofus." Despite how he felt, Ben couldn't help but crack a smile. Saying her piece, she disappeared down the hallway, presumably to head with her parents back over to her house.
Ben got up off of his bed and peered out his window, seeing Natalie and Frank's car pull out of their driveway and drive down the road. After watching it disappear around the corner, Ben decided to head into the kitchen, to see what Gwen's folks had brought over.
"How are you feeling Ben?" His father asked him, seeing him come out of his room voluntarily for the first time in a while. Ben shrugged.
"Better, I guess," he answered. "What did Aunt Natalie and Uncle Frank bring over?"
"Well you know that Natalie is too classy to get something ordered," Sandra began as she started pulling out the tin-foiled containers. "Looks like it is chicken enchilada and a leafy green salad and Coca-Cola." Ben nodded.
"How long before it's ready?" He asked. "I'm kind of feeling hungry."
"It should only take me a couple of minutes to heat the enchilada in the oven," Sandra said with a bit more energy in her voice, obviously happy about Ben's change in demeanor. "It should be ready in about ten minutes."
"I guess that I'm going to take a shower, then," Ben said, heading back down the hallway.
A little over an hour later, having showered and eaten dinner, Ben got ready to change into his Ultra 10 uniform. Pulling out his suit out of his pocket, he opened it up, feeling the familiar feel of the nano-mech unfolding to cover his entire body. Once it finished, he raised his arm and activated the Omnitrix. A flash of green light later, he emerged as Accelerate and took off out of his window and off into the night.
"Ben?" Julie came in over the comm link. "Have you activated your suit?"
"Yeah, I was actually heading over to Cooper's garage," Ben replied. "I've got an idea on how we can find Doctor Animo."
"That's great," Julie replied. "But we figured your'd want to give it some time before you go out on patrol again."
"Why would I do that?" Ben asked. "Criminals don't sleep."
"Yeah, but we just assumed that you'd want some time before you suited up again. In fact, Cooper's out doing patrol as Morph as we speak," Julie replied.
"I'm feeling better since the funeral," Ben said. "I just want to take down Animo. I guess Cooper can meet us up at your motel." There was a moment of silence before Julie spoke again.
"Ben, are you sure about this?" She asked. "Because we're not in the business of dealing out revenge…"
"It's not revenge, it's justice!" Ben said forcefully. "I'm going to find Animo, and give him what he deserves!"
"Ben, I don't think you're thinking straight," Julie protested. "It sounds like revenge, not justice. Justice would be taking him down, and leaving him for the PLUMMERs to take care of."
"And for what?" Ben shot back, annoyance swelling in his voice. He stopped running as Accelerate as he was more intent on the conversation.
"So that he can escape again? So that he can kill someone else?" Ben argued. "It could be you next time. Or Cooper, or Sam, or Lucky Girl! Heck, it could even be me! I'm not going to let that happen!"
"So what? What are you planning to do to him? Are you planning on killing him?" Julie asked.
"That would be justice…" Ben affirmed. "For what he did to Lukas."
"That's not justice, Ben!" Julie protested. "That's revenge! And revenge isn't going to solve anything!"
"Maybe justice and revenge is the same thing for Animo," Ben said. "Maybe not. But I am going to kill Doctor Animo. I promised him I would."
"Ben, do you hear yourself?" Julie shouted. "You're planning on murdering someone! That's not what a hero does!"
"A hero saves people from monsters," Ben said. "And that's what I'm going to do. If you can't see that, then I guess that we're done."
"Ben!" Julie shouted.
"Goodbye," Ben said as he switched his comm link off. He turned off the tracker built into his gauntlet and turned off his phone. "Animo… As of this moment, you are a dead man walking. And I'm going to be the one to put you in the grave." Ben sped off to search the city for the villain.
"Ben, do you hear yourself?" Julie shouted into her comm link. "You're planning on murdering someone! That's not what a hero does!"
"A hero saves people from monsters," Ben's voice sounded determined and cold. It was a very frightening sound. "And that's what I'm going to do. If you can't see that, then I guess that we're done."
"Ben!" Julie shouted, trying desperately to get his attention, to prevent him from traveling down this road. However, it was no use.
"Goodbye," Ben said. Immediately after, Julie heard the sound of the call end.
"Ben! If you do this, it's impossible to come back!" Julie shouted. "Ben! Don't make this mistake! Ben?" There was no reply. He had ended the call.
"Ben, you're not thinking straight," Julie said to herself as she tried to check the GPS locator built into his gauntlet. However, he had turned them off. Cursing under her breath, Julie picked up her cell phone and called Ben. However, it went straight to voicemail.
"Ben, what are you doing?" She grumbled. Immediately, she used the comm link to call Cooper's communicator.
"Hey, Julie," Cooper's voice came in over the speaker. "What's going on?"
"Ben's lost his mind," Julie sputtered out. "He's determined to find Animo and kill him!"
"No he's not," Cooper replied. "He doesn't have that kind of instinct in him. He's not a killer."
"I'm not joking!" Julie said quickly. "He just told me, right before he shut off his comm link! He's determined to get revenge on Doctor Animo!" That seemed to cause Cooper to believe her.
"Call Lucky Girl," Cooper responded. "I'll try to find him as best as I can. But if she can cast a locator spell, it would speed things up tremendously. Hopefully we can stop him from making this mistake in time!"
"Good idea," Julie replied. She ended the communication with Cooper and immediately connected to Lucky Girl's comm link.
"Hey, Julie," Lucky Girl answered.
"We've got a situation with Ultra 10," Julie quickly said. "I think that he plans on finding Doctor Animo and killing him." Lucky Girl sounded taken aback.
"That doesn't seem like something he'd do," she replied. "Sure he's upset, but that's a far step from murder…"
"He told me he was going to kill him, and that would be "justice" for what he did to Lukas," Julie said.
"So it has to do with his death," Lucky Girl said. "That changes things. Where is he?"
"We don't know. He's turned off his GPS tracker and his cell. So we can't track him. Cooper's out there right now trying to find him."
"But you need me to try to locate him using magic," Lucky Girl put together.
"Yeah, if it's possible."
"I can try, but I'm going to need something of his," Lucky Girl supplied. "The more recently he's been in contact with it, the easier it'll be."
"I'll see what I can do," Julie replied. "There's not really anything of his in my room, or at Cooper's garage. So we might have to get creative to get something of his from his house."
"You do that, meanwhile I'll start with the rest of the ingredients for the spell." With that, Lucky Girl ended the communication, leaving Julie alone in her motel room.
"Great, I need to come up with some way to steal something from Ben's room, And I barely know his parents," Julie grumbled.
Ben flew over the city as GhostFreak. His ability to turn intangible was invaluable in not giving his prey any hint as to where he was, or how close he was. And this form's unique sight was incredibly useful to him too. He could see every person in all of the nearest buildings. He could see their movements and every sound they made. Identifying Animo would be simple, once he was in range. Ben spent several hours, stalking through the streets methodically, listening for any sign of Animo, or one of his mutated birds. If these birds returned back to Animo, then Ben could simply find one, and follow it right back to his prey.
Ben found an alley to detransform in. He landed just as his badge started to flash and beep. He palmed it, reverting back to human before it automatically transformed back.
"Ten minutes to rest," Ben muttered out loud. "Then I'm back in the air." He sat down on the pavement, leaning up against a brick wall and a dumpster and closed his eyes. It was pretty early, probably around two or three in the morning. And Ben was taking his off time to rest. After sitting down, he quickly fell asleep.
Some twenty minutes later, Ben woke up with a start. He looked down at the Omnitrix, seeing it glow green. He stood up and stretched his sore back a bit. Without hesitation he activated the Omnitrix and selected a silhouette.
"I still hate this form," He muttered to himself as he stared at the image on the watch's face. "But there's not anyone more fitted to the job right now than him." He slammed down on the face plate, and was engulfed in a green flash of light.
"GhostFreak!" Ben hissed out in this form's wispy voice. He took off into the sky and continued his search for Animo.
Gwen felt a pit in her stomach. Sure, Animo was horrible, and he needed to go down. But killing him wasn't the answer. Murder never would be the answer to anything. And she knew that murdering Animo would absolutely destroy Ultra 10.
On the one hand, she could contact the PLUMMERs to help her find Ultra, and keep him from going through with the murder. On the other hand, she still wasn't sure how well they could trust the organization. Either they could use Ultra's motivation to start knocking out the villains they couldn't seem to keep confined, or they could decide that Ultra 10 was himself a villain they needed to lock up.
Still, their ability to monitor huge areas would mean that they could find Ultra 10 fairly easily. Animo was spoiling for a fight, so he wouldn't be leaving the city. And Ultra 10 was looking for Animo, so he wouldn't be leaving the city either. Having fifty or so agents scouring the city for Ultra 10 would mean they'd find him in a matter of hours. And that meant that they could keep Ultra from killing Animo.
"I don't like it," Gwen muttered to herself. "There's so much that can go wrong. But I can't let him go through with this…" Gwen took a deep breath, trying to get the courage to do what she was beginning to think she had to do. She rummaged through her bookshelf on her bedroom until she pulled out the communicator that Agent 10 had given her all those months ago. Hesitantly, she turned it on, and pressed the call button.
"PLUMMER HQ, this is Lucky Girl," Gwen spoke into the device. "Ultra 10 is hunting for Animo, and I have reason to believe that he is looking for blood. I would like to request help in finding him. I can talk him out of it, I just need help finding him immediately."
"Acknowledged," The agent from the other end said. "However if Ultra 10 is intent on killing Doctor Animo, then he is a danger to anyone trying to stop him. We will dispatch agents to search for him, but we will be forced to use deadly force to subdue him."
"No, I just need help finding him," Lucky Girl argued back into the communicator. "I can stop him, I just need to get to him!"
"Ultra 10 has now become a threat to the peace and law of the land, and he will be subdued by PLUMMER agents. This is now a PLUMMER matter," the agent replied. "Your interference may threaten your standing with the agency." With that, the agent ended the transmission.
"No!" Gwen almost shouted. "You can't do that!" Angrily, she threw the communicator on the ground. It bounced harmlessly on the carpeted floor.
"Obliterate!" Gwen shouted, and watched the communicator explode. "Now I have to find him before those stupid agents do!" She pulled her mask on, and slipped out her window, out into the night. Landing gracefully on the grass, she took off into the night, intent on finding Ultra before the PLUMMERs found him, and before he found Doctor Animo.
"First place to check would be Ross Park," Lucky Girl panted as she ran. "If he's going to hunker down anywhere, I think that would be it!" Gwen activated her comm link bracelet on her wrist.
"Julie, change of plans," Gwen spoke even before Julie had acknowledged her calling. "I don't have time to cast a location spell on Ultra 10. The PLUMMERs are searching for him too. I'm going to need you to monitor the surveillance grid for him. We have to find him before the PLUMMERs do."
"Alright," Julie replied, not even asking how the PLUMMERs knew, for which Gwen was relieved. "I'll let you know if I get any glance of him."
"Thanks," Gwen ended the call. Within a few minutes, she was at Ross Park, and she ran her way through the trees towards their training area. Nothing.
"Okay, so he's not here. That must mean he's out looking for Animo," Gwen thought out. "If I were him, I'd use a form that could fly to cover the most ground. That means either StinkFly, HeatBlast, or the ghost one. HeatBlast is too easy to detect. He'd want a form that doesn't give Animo the heads up." Gwen took a moment to catch her breath and calm down her racing heart.
"So that leaves StinkFly or the ghost. StinkFly would be good during the day, but at night it would be harder to distinguish between Animo and anyone else. So that means that he's probably going to be the ghost," Gwen continued her thoughts.
"If he's the ghost, then he'd want somewhere he could his abilities the best. So close buildings to hear the most amount of people. Probably means that he's downtown somewhere." Gwen started to run out of the park and towards the downtown part of Bellwood.
Max's Plumbing Supplies, PLUMMER headquarters
"Get suited up!" Agent 01 shouted into the intercoms. "I want the entire squad out searching for Ultra 10 within five minutes!" He slammed the mouthpiece down.
"Clyde," Agent 10 addressed his superior. "What are you doing? I'm assigned over Bellwood."
"This is a high-level threat, Max" Agent 01 said. "As such, Agent Alpha assigned me to take him down."
"Listen, I've worked with Lucky Girl and Ultra 10. If Ultra is really trying to kill him, he's not thinking straight. And Lucky Girl will be able to talk him out of going through with it. I know it!"
"I don't care about whatever kind of reputation you've built with these want-to-be heroes!" Clyde shouted at Max. "Ultra 10 has become a dangerous liability, and it is my call. And I said that we have to take him out before he become too powerful to control!"
"Listen to yourself!" Max shouted back. "You make him sound like he's one of your agents! A liability? Control him? We are a government agency! An American government agency! Ultra 10 is not an agent! You don't get to control him, or decide whether he's useful or not!"
"Agent 10, you are to suit up, and lead your team in hunting for Ultra 10. If you find him, you are to eliminate him. If you hesitate, even for one second, there will be consequences. Now carry out my orders! That is all!" Clyde shouted at Max before he turned away from him, fiddling with some reports on his control consul.
"You are wrong about him," Max replied coldly. "I hope you learn that soon, sir." The last word came out of his mouth like venom. He saluted and turned to go suit up. Clyde stopped fiddling with the reports on his consul.
"I hope I am too, for his sake," he muttered. "But you have no idea the responsibility I'm carrying. I can't afford to make a mistake…"
Max hurried down towards the transport vehicles were waiting, ready to go in a moment's notice. He grabbed a helmet off of a hook on the wall and slipped it over his head. The helmet linked with his suit, granting him the permissions he enjoyed, as well as the customizations he'd installed into his suit. Max quickly climbed onto the nearest transport, the vehicle rolling out as soon as he was onboard.
"Team, I am your commander, and you answer to me," max addressed his team. "We have been ordered to find Ultra 10 and subdue him. Deadly force is granted. However, you will use it ONLY if you cannot subdue him with non-lethal force. Any and all accountability for this action I will take on myself. Your job is to follow my orders."
"Sir, yes sir!" All of the agents replied in unison.
"Team 1 will be deployed on Bearing Street. Team 2 will be deployed on Terrance Street. Team 3 will be deployed on Mulberry Street. Team 4 will be deployed on Jackson Road" Max instructed. "Each agent will act alone to maximize our radius, but stay in radio range of your team leader. Team leaders will report to me. I want us to have covered this quadrant of the city in thirty minutes. Report to the rendezvous area on your HUD map for redeployment. Any questions?" There was a brief moment of silence.
"I repeat, your duty is to follow my orders. I will account for any discrepancies between my orders and command. That is all!" Max commanded his team of agents. In a moment, his vehicle pulled up on Terrance Street. Screeching to a stop, the doors opened up, and the agents piled out, quickly running to cover the adjacent streets.
Downtown Bellwood, just over an hour later
Ben continued sweeping the streets for any sign of Doctor Animo. He had picked up on several pigeons that didn't sound to be the right proportion. Like they were mutated, but not enough to be easily apparent. Enough to act as spies for Animo. However, for someone hearing for any sounds at all, it wasn't hard for Ben to pick up on them. Taking it as a sign of Animo's proximity, Ben continued on, looking for his prey. Finally, Ben saw someone walking with a strange gait, like he was part animal, trying to pass as a human.
"Got you," Ben muttered in GhostFreak's unnatural, chilling voice. He swooped down, raking his claws through the doctor's back.
"Ahh!" Animo shouted as Ben felt his claws tear through the old man's flesh, ripping away skin and muscle, spraying blood. GhostFreak turned around, ready for another pass. Animo shot a beam of light from his helmet at him, burning a semi-circle through his side as he dodged to avoid getting hit full on. GhostFreak's limited regenerative abilities started to heal the wound as Ben prepared for another attack. Turning intangible, Ben sunk through the ground, moving almost directly below Animo.
"Where'd you go, you little pipsqueak?" Animo shouted. Ben reached his arm out of the ground, grabbing Animo by the face and pulling him into the hard pavement, and running it along the surface for a foot or two.
"Right here!" He shouted as he hard a painful cry escape his enemy. Ben floated up out of the ground, turning tangible again. He picked up the doctor and threw him into the air, watching him thud into a nearby wall. "And I'm ready to finish you for good!" Doctor Animo shook his head, trying to overcome the headache forming. He looked really beat up, blood dripping from his torn up face. His shirt was quickly reddening from the back and the front, as it became soaked in blood.
"Stand up and face me like a man!" Ben shouted at the doctor. "I want to you to look at me when I kill you! To see your pain, like the pain Lukas felt when you killed him!"
"Foolish boy," Animo replied as he struggled to his feet. "You think that a simple incendiary bomb was all that I would bring to the table when fighting you?"
"I don't care! Your life ends here!" Ben shouted as he rushed at Animo, ready to rip his heart out with his claws. Animo straightened up, revealing a canister he was hiding in his hand. Twisting it, grenade emitted a bright flash of light, blinding Animo, but burning Ben.
"What is this?" GhostFreak shouted as he phased through the ground. He felt as though he was on fire. And regardless of his regenerative ability, he still felt like it was burning away at him.
"A simple flash-grenade," Animo said with pleasure in his voice. "You're not so tough when your form's weakness is so easily exploited!" Animo threw down the grenade, running away from the scene. "Now to find somewhere where I can fight on equal grounds! And I think the Bellwood Zoo will do nicely!"
Ben tried to emerge from the ground, but was repealed when his claws burned. The flash grenade seemed to be more of a flare, with a continuous burn. He moved a dozen feet away and tried to reemerge again, only to be burned again.
"Now this is a problem," GhostFreak muttered. I can't emerge in this form. Ben decided to search underground for a sewer, or a parking garage, or somewhere with air for him to change form. Not able to hear anything underground, GhostFreak searched blindly for a few moments. Finally, he ran into a building foundation. Phasing through, he entered the basement, which he used to turn into FourArms.
"Alright! Now let's get out there!" He shouted as he jumped through several floors until he was ground level. Looking through one of the windows, he could see where the flash grenade was still burning. Charging forward, he broke through the wall of the building and out into the alleyway they had been fighting in. Immediately, FourArms stomped out the grenade, extinguishing the light and allowing him to see again.
"Now where did the coward go?" Ben shouted as he glanced around. He thought he saw some movement in one direction of the alleyway, and so he charged towards it.
"It's pointless, Animo!" Ben shouted as he leapt forwards. "I'm going to kill you, and there's nothing you can do about it! You had better give up! I might even be inclined to show some mercy when I kill you!" To his threats, Ben got no answer. He continued forward, eventually able to see the figure of Doctor Animo in the darkness.
"Gotcha!" Ben shouted as he quickened his pace. Right as he was about to reach his prey, he was sidelined by a lion. The huge beast knocked the wind out of Ben, forcing him to the ground. As Ben struggled for breath, the mutated lion tried to bite at his throat as his extra clawed paws pinned FourArms to the ground.
"Get off me!" Ben grunted as he lifted the animal up and tossed it to the side, into one of the exhibit cages. Temporarily free of the creature, Ben stood up and turned to face the beast, who was also recovered from the toss. The lion lunged at Ben, who caught it and slammed it into the ground, cracking the pavement with the force.
"I'm going to have to put you down, kitty cat!" Ben shouted as he slammed his fist into the animal. Then another and another as he continued to wail on the poor lion. In a moment, the creature was dead, and Ben ceased to punch it. His fists were covered in gore, and blood was splattered all over his chest and face.
"Doctor Animo!" Ben shouted. "I'm going to kill you!" Ben walked over to one of the wrought-iron fences that gated in the exhibits and wrenched one of the bars loose. It had been decoratively been formed into a spear on top, which Ben was intent on using it for just that. He wrenched off another one, carrying two spears in his four arms. Banging the iron spears on the fences as he walked past them, he searched for the Doctor.
"Animo! Come out and meet your death with dignity!" Ben shouted as he grew impatient. Suddenly, Ben saw movement out from the corner of his eyes. Turning towards it, he was a huge elephant with four tusks run at him, trumpeting its trunk as if a charge call.
"Come to die!" Ben shouted as he rammed one spear deep into the elephant. The massive beast collapsed onto him, smothering Ben in several tonnes of flesh and blood. Despite his strength, FourArms was struggling to lift the elephant off of him. Several mutant Silverback Gorillas came over to pummel him if he tried to escape. Ben palmed the Omnitrix, disappearing in a flash of green light.
"DiamondHead!" Ben shouted as he formed his arms into swords and began to slice away at the elephant to free himself. A gorilla attacked him, to which Ben shot several crystal shards at him. The gorilla's mutated hide was too tough for the shards to pierce, but the force of them still pushed the creature back a foot or two.
Forgetting about freeing himself for a moment, Ben slammed his hands into the pavement, growing a crystalline barricade between him and the gorillas. Immediately after it appeared, the gorillas started slamming into it, trying to crack or break it.
"Gotta work fast," Ben muttered as he continued to butcher the elephant. It took him only a few moments to free his legs from the elephant's carcass. He stood up, almost completely covered in blood from head to toe. Just as he stood, a slam in the barricade produced large crack, running the entire length of the crystal.
"Time's up," Ben muttered as the barricade shattered into a thousand small crystals, falling down around him. The gorilla that shattered the barricade was met by a furious, bloody, walking razor blade form hell. In a moment, Ben had sliced through the gorilla, leaving him in multiple pieces in the pavement. He made short work out of the other two gorillas.
"Animo!" Ben shouted as he shook the last of the gore from his bladed arm. "Quit fighting like a coward and face me like a man!" Just then, Ben's Omnitrix started to flash and beep, reverting himself to his human form. In a flash of light, Ben stood there, knee deep in the bloodied carcasses of several animals, and covered head to toe in blood. The gore oozed through his suit, soaking his clothes underneath. His helmet, smashed in from the elephant's charge was dripping blood into his face.
"I know who you are," Doctor Animo's voice came from the darkness like something from a horror story. "My loyal birds throughout the city have been spying on you and your team for some time! I know who your friends are! I know your identity, Ben Tennyson!"
"Your knowledge can't save you!" Ben shouted back, wiping his mask off from the blood. "I will kill you for what you did to Lukas!" Ben picked up a shard of crystal from his barricade, wielding it like a knife. He started to creep through the exhibits, looking for Animo.
Lucky Girl's perspective, half an hour before
Gwen flew through the streets of Bellwood, using the Charm of Telekinesis. She scanned the different alleyways, looking for Ben, or worse, any sign of a fight. She couldn't be able to tell if it were with Animo or with the PLUMMERs, and she wasn't sure which one she'd prefer. So she was scanning the area as quickly as she could, to cover the biggest amount of land as she could. Finally, she spotted, down one alley, cracks in the pavement, and a section of a wall blown out. Gwen floated down into the alley to check it out a little closer.
"Please be recent," Gwen muttered as she looked over the scene. There were several cracks in the pavement, what looked to be a smashed flare and the wall out of the nearest building was blown out, like something large had charged out of it. She also saw bits of blood splattered around on the pavement.
"Looks like FourArms or DiamondHead fought someone here," Gwen muttered. "If it were PLUMMERs, there'd be a whole lot more destruction. Animo probably would have tried to get somewhere he could use his large animals. So that would mean…" Gwen looked down the alleyway that lead across Cowley Street. And right towards the zoo.
"That's where they went," Gwen gasped. The Charm of Telekinesis lit up as she took off into the sky, flying into the zoo. "Don't be dead, Ultra 10, and don't kill him either…" After a moment, Gwen could hear someone shouting, though it was too distant and open for her to hear exactly what. Then she heard a voice that made her heart jump up into her throat.
"…Kill you for what you did to Lukas!" She heard Ultra 10 shout.
"No!" She shouted as she sped forward.
"If you do, then I will have won!" Animo said as he emerged from the shadows. His once-white shirt was a mix of red and brown, from the fresh and dried blood that had thoroughly soaked through it. Animo's face was still bleeding, as was his back. The man looked like he was barely able to walk. The terrible image was matched by Ben's own countenance, blood stained from his head to his toe, half-crazed and holding a large shard of blood-stained crystal in his hand.
"No, when I kill you, I will have won! And you will be dead, like you should have been a long time ago!" The Omnitrix flashed green, casting a sickening color through the red blood. Dropping the shard, Ben raised his wrist and activated the Omnitrix, vanishing in a flash of light, and emerging as DiamondHead.
"Go on, change into one of your forms," Animo taunted. "It won't help at all. You see, when you became a hero, you set out to stop people like me. Thiefs, burglars, mad scientists… murderers." He said the last word with a twinkle in his eye. Ben shouted in anger as he lunged forward, picking Animo up in one hand. His other hand transformed into a sharp spike, which he held precariously close to Animo's face.
"And it is my mission to destroy you. So you see," Animo continued with his monologue. "If you kill me, you will murder me as a defenseless old man. You will become the murderer, which means that I will have destroyed the hero, Ultra 10!" Just at that moment, Lucky Girl ran up to the scene, seeing the position the two were in.
"Ultra 10!" She shouted. "Don't kill him! You're better than this!"
"Oh, but he has no choice," Doctor Animo replied with glee. "You see, I know his identity! If he were to let me go, then the cat is out of the bag! I'll tell everyone! All of his enemies will know who he is, and no one close to him will be safe! They all will be targets, waiting for the moment some villain will end their life, just to get at Ultra 10 here!" Doctor Animo smiled with his crooked teeth.
"So you see, if you kill me, I will have won! And if you don't, you forfeit the lives of everyone close to you! Who knows, maybe your own! Oh how much fun that would be to watch!" Doctor Animo stared directly into DiamondHead's eyes. "So what will it be? You have me in your hands, and now I'm looking directly at you. Are you going to kill me? Watch me die?"
All of a sudden, Ben wasn't sure if he could kill the old man. The old man felt pathetic and weak in his hand. And although he absolutely hated him, he wasn't sure if he could keep his promise to Lukas. But if he didn't kill Animo, he was consigning Lukas's fate to everyone he knew.
To his parents, and Grandpa Max. To Gwen and her parents. Lukas's family, Sam and Cooper and Julie. They would all be at risk. And with a constant, and very public target on their backs, it would just be a matter of time before some bad guy got lucky and ended their lives. He would know that it happened because he didn't have the guts to end it right here. To stop the secret from getting out. He couldn't have all of their deaths be on his count. Ben took a deep breath.
"Perhaps, you will have won," Ben spoke slowly. "But at least you won't be there to enjoy your victory…"
"Ultra, no!" Lucky Girl shouted. "You can't kill him!"
"I don't have any choice," Bun replied, a slight quiver in his voice. "This piece of shit has stolen the choice from me. I kill him, or I kill everyone I care about."
"So you've made your decision," Animo said. A sickening smile grew across his face, exposing his rotten and crooked teeth. "Know that the hero, Ultra 10, murdered his nemesis in cold blood."
"Ultra! Don't!" Lucky Girl shouted again.
"I'm sorry, Lucky Girl," Ben muttered. He drew back his free hand, ready to plunge it into his nemesis.
"Strike me! And become what I've become!" Animo shouted. "I have destroyed… Ahh!" Animo shouted in pain. Startled, Ben dropped the doctor, watching the electricity course across his body. Animo jerked and spasmed in pain, as he was electrocuted. In an instant, he was dead, lying motionless on the pavement.
"I… I didn't…" Ben stuttered. His watch powered out, transforming him into his blood-soaked human form. He stood motionless himself, staring in shock at the body of Doctor Animo. "How?" Tears started to fill Ben's eyes as he sunk to his knees. All of his anger and wrath were quickly transforming themselves into tears. Ben started to sob there, frustration, anger, wrath, fury, confusion and relief all mixing together.
"Ultra," Lucky Girl gasped as she clobbered him in a tight hug. "It's alright, you didn't kill him." Ultra broke down in her arms, not even caring that he was crying in front of a girl.
"I was going to do it," Ben sobbed. "I was going to kill him…"
"No, you thought you were," Lucky Girl replied between tears of relief herself. "He thought he had you." After a good time crying, the two finally got a hold of themselves.
"How?" Ben asked, wiping the tears stains from his still-bloody eyes. "How did he die then?"
"I don't know," Lucky Girl replied. She wiped some of Ben's blood off of her own cheeks. "I don't know how it happened, but it wasn't you. You're not a murderer." Ben nodded, still sniffling from crying.
"Yeah, you're right. There's always another way…" He took a steading breath. "I need something from you…"
"What," Lucky Girl replied.
"I need you to promise me, that you'll never let me become one," Ben said. "I can't let Doctor Animo win. I can't become a murderer like him. Promise me that you'll stop me, whatever it takes."
"Ultra, you-" Lucky Girl replied.
"If I ever become murderous, like I was today," Ben said, staring Lucky Girl in the eyes. "Promise me that you'll kill me, before I sink that low."
"Ultra, no! I can't… You can't… You wouldn't sink that low," Lucky Girl stuttered. "You wouldn't…" Both her and Ben heard the sound of many people running, all towards where they were.
"The PLUMMERs! There're here to kill you!" Gwen gasped. "You have to get out of here!"
"Promise me," Ben said as he activated his Omnitrix, changing into Accelerate. In an instant, he shot off, disappearing from sight.
"I…" Gwen couldn't finish the sentence. "I don't know if I can…" She was quickly surrounded by multiple PLUMMER agents.
"Don't move!" An agent shouted as she was bathed in light from their flashlights.
"Lucky Girl! Are you alright?" Agent 10 exclaimed as he saw her kneeling there on the pavement, blood staining her suit all over.
"Yeah," Gwen got out between her sobs. "Yeah, I'm alright."
"Agent 10!" An old man powerfully strode forward. He looked like he had served in one too many wars. His skin was wrinkled and scarred. Still, he held an aura around him that kept anyone from daring to question his authority. "What is the situation?"
"Alpha!" Agent 10 exclaimed, saluting.
"At ease," the old man said annoyedly, as though he was too impatient for him to respond. "What is the situation here?"
"Sir, we found evidence of a battle between Ultra 10 and Doctor Animo. A blood trail and other destruction led us here to the Bellwood Zoo. Mangled and butchered mutated animals evidence-"
"Don't bore me with the minutia," Alpha demanded. "What is the status of the mission?"
"Animo's dead corpse gives us cause to believe that Ultra 10 killed him," Agent 01 interrupted.
"He didn't do it!" Lucky Girl cried out. "He wanted to, but he didn't! He didn't murder him!"
"Agent? Who is this, and why is she here?" Alpha demanded.
"This is Lucky Girl," Agent 10 said. "She's an ally of Ultra 10."
"Partner," Lucky Girl corrected. "We work as a team."
"If you are his partner," Alpha responded. "Then it's possible that you would cover for him. Meaning that you are an unreliable source to argue his involvement."
"Alpha," An agent saluted before continuing. "Doctor Animo's skin is badly burned underneath the blood. Signs that he died bu electrocution, not from loss of blood. Although he is badly injured, his injuries are not the cause of death. A remote-activated bug placed on his coat is the cause of death!"
"See?" Gwen responded to Alpha, letting the word hang in the air. "He didn't kill him!" Alpha looked very angry for a moment before he opened his mouth to speak.
"Call off the manhunt for Ultra 10. He has not been directly linked to the crime we were led to believe. With no active leads, we're dropping the search for him." As if the words were bitter, Alpha spat them out before turning away and walking back out of the zoo. "Agent 10? You are in command of your team again. I'm heading to Headquarters. Agent 01? Follow me!"
"Yes sir! Thank you, sir!" Agent 10 saluted as Agent 01 turned to follow Alpha back to Headquarters.
"Who was that?" Gwen asked.
"That's Alpha," Agent 10 replied. "He's no one you want to get tangled up with, and it's probably best you forgot about him." Gwen nodded.
"So what now? Is Ultra 10 going to be alright?" She asked.
"We're not looking for him, so he's safe to stop running. But I'd suggest that he take some time to talk about what he's been through. Being that close to murder can do some strange things to a person's mind." Agent slipped his guns into its holsters.
"Alright, team! Time to clear out for the clean-up crew! Move out!" The agents gave out a mixed response of salutes, nods and shouts of "Yes sir!" as they as all left to load up in their transport vehicles. In a moment, Gwen was flying away too, back into the cool air of the night.
"Julie," Lucky Girl spoke into her communicator. "I found Ultra before he killed Animo, and stopped him."
"Thank goodness!" Julie breathed a sigh of relief from the other line.
"He was in a pretty bad shape though," Lucky Girl said. "Both mentally and physically. Although I don't think that he's so angry. He was covered in blood though. He's going to need somewhere to clean up before he heads home."
"I'll try to contact him," Julie said. "Cooper's more than willing to help him, especially after he's struggled too." Julie took a deep breath.
"Thanks, Lucky Girl," Julie said. "You really helped us this time."
"Its…" Gwen stuttered, unsure if she was sure about the words she were about to say. "Can you keep a secret?"
"That's kinda the business we're in," Julie replied. "But even from Ultra? Sure."
"My name is Gwen," she said. "I figure that if I were to go berserk, I would need someone who knew me, who could stop me from making a mistake. Like what Ultra almost did tonight."
"Gwen," Julie spoke through the comm link. "It's nice to finally know you." Gwen smiled, as it felt good that someone else finally knew who she was.
"But, please don't tell anyone else," Gwen pleaded. "I don't think that I'm ready for everyone to know who I am yet."
"Of course," Julie said. "This is between us, until you tell someone else yourself."
A/N:
That is it for the chapter, and this volume! What were your thoughts? What did you think about Ben's fight with Animo? What would have done in Ben's place? Would you kill Animo, or stick to the hero ideal? Just a reminder, Chapter 1 and 2 of Volume 2: A Hero Earth Needs will be up by Monday next week! Also, this week, any reviews on this volume will be in the review response section of Chapter 2, Volume 2. Starting next week, Reviews to this volume I will *try* to respond to directly in a private message. If you want it in the review response sections going forward, even if it is for this volume, you'll need to post it on that volume, the prologue being a good place for them! Sorry about the inconvenience, but I just don't want to keep updating this volume without adding any more content. I just don't want to annoy or get anyone's hopes up that are still following this volume.
I think that's about it! Please be sure to go over and like and follow The Ultra 10 Chronicles: Volume 2: A Hero Earth Needs! Thanks for reading and have an awesome day!
-BrownTownGrayDay
Review Responses:
Hmmm... None? That's sad...