The Ones Who Bump Back:

Pathos.

Pt. 5.

Chapter Five: The Calm Before.

Upon returning to once more to Anteiku, (Ben addressing it as their unofficial headquarters by this point,) the group was looking over the quarry they had obtained, now joined by Hinami, who was utterly baffled by what she saw. "So…" she said. "You all decided to bring this Hex guy here because…?"

Sure enough, the team had restrained Hex and we're keeping him in the cafe's closet where they kept the ingredients for the coffee, as they tried to figure out what to do with him. The gem they had also obtained from him was naturally kept far out of reach of the beaten sorcerer, laying right in the dining area of the cafe so as not to risk him using it against them. "I'll admit," Danny said, "this does seem like a big jump from point A to point B."

"Well," Ben replied, "we couldn't afford to leave him unattended in the hopes that the authorities would get there in time to take him away, plus in the event he had any traps in that house of his that he could activate by wiggling his tongue, we didn't want to risk staying there. The best option we could think of was bringing him here, so this Chaon guy Annabeth mentioned can bring him to the authorities in the Dark Realm."

"His name is Chiron," Danny said.

"Whatever," Ben shrugged.

The boys left Hex, still unconscious, as they went back to the center of the cafe. Both Moka and Annabeth were sitting at the bar, Moka resting as best as she could. Her hair was still totally pink, but beyond that, Ben felt she just gave off a different aura about herself.

Her features were not that different, save for her face appearing a bit rounder, her eyes were larger, and inversely her chest wasn't as large. But aside from these things, she overall just seemed cuter and less sinister. "How you doing?" Ben asked.

Moka looked at him, showing off another major difference. Her eyes were gray, but a more dull gray as opposed to Annabeth's stormy gray. She smiled at Ben, replying with a nod.

"Yes, I am Ben," she replied, her voice a fair bit higher pitched than her normal tone. "Thank you for your concern. I just need a bit more rest."

"No problem," Ben replied, giving a nod.

"How's Touka?" Danny asked. Annabeth looked at them, before giving a defeated sigh. "She's still resting," she said. "I'll check on her."

She stood up and made her way over to Touka's room. As she did, the guys sat back down at the counter and began pulling out snacks to eat so as to satiate their hunger, with all eyes on the green crystal sitting in the middle. "So," Danny said, "can I be the first to ask just what that thing is?"

"It's called a Philosopher's Stone," Moka replied.

"Philosopher's Stone?" Ben asked. "What's that?"

"More impressive than it sounds, for one thing," Moka replied. "A Philosopher's Stone is said to deliver incredible magical power to anybody that can manage to siphon the energy from it. If a novice magic user uses it, they can become as powerful as the most skilled sorcerer."

"And if a skilled magic user uses it?" Jake asked.

"They can become a god," Moka replied.

"How much juice are we talking here?" Danny asked. "Like, how much magic does that thing contain?"

"Well," Moka replied, looking around the counter. Finally, she picked up the twinkie that Jake had pulled out for a snack. "Let's say this twinkie is the normal amount of magical energy that a common magic possesses in their body."

"Yeah?" Ben prompted.

"According to most accounts," Moka replied, "the magical energy when fueled with a Philosopher's Stone would create a twinkie approximately three-hundred and thirty-three meters long and weighing about ninety-two thousand metric tons."

Danny choked on his coffee upon hearing that, coughing and struggling for breath! "That's a big twinkie," Jake said, eyes wide with admiration and fear. Moka smirked, before snapping the twinkie in half with her fangs.

Ben scootched back on his chair, before leaning his back against the counter. "So what say you, Moka?" he asked. "How do we go about this?"

"I'll make some calls," Moka replied, "and see if we can get this thing somewhere safe. I can't personally deliver it to any officials, but so long as I can get it to a citizen magic user, it should be fine from there."

"Why can't you handle it?" Danny asked.

"While my father has power," Moka replied, "most magic users tend to stay apart from most others in the Dark Realm. Mostly due to being seen as second-class citizens due to being the closest bridge between human and monster."

"Fairy enough," Ben shrugged.

Back with Annabeth, she finished making her way over to Touka's room, opening the door without hesitation. She walked inside, seeing Touka sitting in front of her balcony's door, a wistful expression on her face. Annabeth stepped over and looked at her with a curious face. "Hey," she said.

"Hey," Touka replied after a moment.

"You okay?" Annabeth asked. "You know… after… what happened back at Hex's house."

"More or less," Touka replied. "How about you?"

"I've been worse," Annabeth replied. "Glad you're back to normal."

"Glad to be back," Touka said.

"How much do you remember?" Annabeth asked.

"Not much," Touka replied. "Just… hunger."

"What're you talking about?" Hinami asked. The girls turned, seeing that she had followed Annabeth to Touka's room. She stepped over to the two of them, a hint of concern in her eyes.

"Don't worry about it Hinami," Touka said, sitting up and putting a hand on the younger girl's shoulder. "Why don't you go talk to Danny or Jake? Annabeth and I have to talk about something serious."

"Why can't I listen?" Hinami asked.

"Because this is for adults," Touka replied.

"I'm an adult!" Hinami said stubbornly.

"Sure you are," Touka smirked, patting Hinami on the head. The younger girl scoffed angrily as she stomped away.

"As much as I don't want to," Annabeth said, bringing things to attention once more, "I have to ask, how did you turn so quickly? Hex's spell shouldn't have affected you that fast. As harsh as it is to say, you should have been able to fight back harder."

Touka aimed her gaze at the ground. Seeing she wasn't going to reply, Annabeth took a breath. "It's part of what happened earlier," she said, "isn't it? I was right before; you aren't eating properly."

"Why? Why haven't you been eating properly, Touka?" Touka remained quiet, her face making it clear that she was unable to respond. However, she managed to find her words as she looks up at Annabeth. "Maybe," she said, "I'm ashamed."

"I'm ashamed because of what happened before. What caused us to split up. Me killing those guys from the Huntsclan. The fact that it was what caused us to split up… I just couldn't live with myself after that."

"Touka," Annabeth said, "you can't just go starving yourself after that."

"What else did you want me to do!?" Touka asked, standing up to face Annabeth. "I couldn't accept that I had managed to sacrifice two of the only friends that I had! Two of the only people that knew what I was and were able to accept me for it!"

"I know," Annabeth said. "I know. And…And… And I'm… sorry!" she uttered. "I'm sorry that I never bothered trying to talk with you! I'm sorry that I totally cut you off! I'm sorry that I vilified you!"

"It was wrong of me to not give you the benefit of the doubt. While I standby that it wasn't right of you to rip those guys apart like you did, it was also wrong of me to give up on you the way I did. It was wrong. I was wrong."

Touka aimed her eyes at the floor once again. "And…" Touka said. "I can also understand why you were so upset. I know why you were, but I just didn't want to admit it."

"I suppose the reason why is because, I tried making the excuse that was natural for a ghoul like me. That what you saw was who I really am." "But it wasn't you," Annabeth said.

"Of course I know that," Touka said. "I can't stand the idea of killing somebody that has a family and a life out there! But I just… I have been so alone! Like I said, you two are the only ones I know that accepted me as a ghoul and have been my true friends. I just… I was just so scared to lose you and Moka."

"I know Touka," Annabeth replied. "But haven't you been told by somebody that 'you have to take care of yourself before you can take care of anybody else'?"

Touka raised an eyebrow, before a stoic mien overtook her face. "You got talking with Hinami, haven't you?" she asked.

"Of course," Annabeth replied. "That girl is too adorable to ignore."

Touka sighed. Annabeth gave a quick laugh, before she put a hand to her shoulder. "How about," she said, "we agree to give… this, whatever you and I and Moka have here, another chance? And promise to have each other's backs, without having to butcher anybody."

Touka's body tensed up, her eyes wide as she looked at both Moka and Annabeth with a startled expression, before she slowly nodded her head. "I'd like that," she said with a nod. "I'd like that very much."

Annabeth pulled Touka in for a hug, rubbing her back as they were held close. Nearby, Danny and Jake were holding hands close as they looked at the three girls embracing. "It's a kodak moment," Danny said with mock sadness.

Touka freed herself from Annabeth's arms to look at the snickering boys, before growling with anger! "I will kill you!" she shouted, proceeding to chase after the dragon and ghost as they ran from her in fear! Ben casually looked at them run away as he sipped his coffee, Hinami and Moka standing right beside him. Clearly, everyone present had been eavesdropping on them.

Annabeth shook her head as she watched them run away. "Annabeth?" Moka asked. Annabeth looked at her curiously, as the vampire continued.

"I was wondering," she said, "where did you get that meat to calm down Touka before she was freed from Hex's spell?"

Annabeth's face reddened as she found herself unable to meet Moka's look. "Yeah," Ben agreed, "I was wondering the same thing. I mean, while I wasn't paying attention to much of your fight, I did find that meat around her when we were cleaning up. Where did you have that? And, you know, why, considering what it must have been?"

Annabeth took a breath, before looking at them. "Sometimes, when I came to the cafe, I grabbed some meat and would prepare something for Touka. Something like a pork chop or grilled steak type of thing, except... one she could eat."

"So you mean," Ben asked, "you were preparing-?"

"Don't pretend like it wasn't weird for me!" Annabeth said. "Because it was! It was weird and disgusting and I wanted to puke! But I was doing something for a friend. I wanted to give her something like what we have."

"So, while we were resting after the hospital thing, I was just making something for her. I mean, it was out of habit really. I didn't even realize what I was doing until I was already doing it."

"Good thing you did," Ben said, peeking over his shoulder to see Touka having caught Danny and Jake in headlocks! "Or else it would've been a lot harder to keep her at bay until Hex was stopped."

"I know," Annabeth said. "I guess, in my heart, I still wanted to help her out when I suspected she wasn't eating right. To be there for her, but I just didn't know how to settle it."

"And for that," Moka said, "I think we owe Ben a big 'thank you'."

Ben's eyes widened in surprise. "Oh," he said, "you don't have to thank me. It was all you who had to settle it. It was your emotions and your feelings."

"True," Annabeth said, "but we would've never settled it if you hadn't nudged us in the right direction. So, thank you. You really are like the hero I heard you were."

Ben smiled. "Thanks," he said.

"I think we all," Moka said, "need to get some rest."

"That's right," Annabeth said. "We'll get this Philosopher's Stone to a safe place soon, but until then, let's go to bed."

"Hey Touka!" Ben yelled. "Is it alright if we crash here tonight?"

"I don't see why not," Touka replied, still giving Danny and Jake an earful.

"Alright then," Ben said, "why don't you all get some rest while I wait to make sure that Hex gets outta here."

"I'll stay too," Annabeth said. "Chiron will want to talk to me about all this."

"Alrighty," Danny said. "See you all later."

"Sleep well," Moka added.

Later that evening, Ben and Annabeth were sitting at the counter doing whatever they could to keep themselves awake. As the others went to sleep, the Philosopher's Stone was relocated to the top floor to be kept out of the way, while Ben and Annabeth awaited for Chiron to arrive and take Hex away. Annabeth was typing on her laptop while Ben was just sitting next to her, bored out of his skull. His head was leaning against his hand, nearly falling over as he struggled to keep himself awake.

"Why don't you get some rest?" Annabeth asked.

"No," Ben replied. "I gotta make sure Hex is taken care of. Speaking of which, one of us should go check up on him, huh?"

"I'll do it," Annabeth said. "You at least think about getting rest."

"Don't tell me how to live my life," Ben replied snarkily. Annabeth shook her head as she got back up from the counter and walked over to the store room to check up on Hex. As she left, Ben saw the door to the upper level open, as Moka came out, no longer wearing her coat.

"Hey Moka," Ben said. "You have trouble sleeping too?"

Moka gave a nod as she got herself something to drink. "Yeah," she said. "I've had a long day."

"Same here," Ben replied. The two were silent for a moment, merely allowing the calm night atmosphere to settle around them as Moka casually leaned back and got her drink stirred. "Say," she said, "there's something I've been wondering. Where did you get that watch?"

"This thing?" Ben asked. "Well, it's technically the third one I've had. I found the first one, called the Omnitrix, when I was only ten years old, finding it after it crashed down during my summer vacation. It latched onto my wrist, and ever since, I found myself fighting evil with it."

"I see," Moka replied, egging him to go on.

"For awhile," Ben said, "I gave up on the hero thing and put aside my watch. But when I was fifteen, I got back in the game, put back on the Omnitrix, and have been at it ever since. About a year later, I had to destroy it, and it was replaced by a new model called the 'Ultimatrix' that gave me the ability to transform into evolved forms of my aliens. Then almost a year after that, I got a new Omnitrix from the watches' creator, Azmuth, and this is that model."

"I see," Moka said, looking at the watch curiously. "Can I try it out?"

"Sorry," Ben replied, shaking his head. "It's tied into my dna. Only I can use it unless I purposefully disengage it."

"Fair enough," Moka said. "Even still, I can transform too."

"Really?" Ben asked. "Like, into a bat?"

"Well sure," Moka replied, "but with practice, some vampires can shapeshift into other creatures, not just bats."

"Huh," Ben said. "I did not know that."

Moka smiled. "Not many do," she said. "Humans tend to not understand a lot of things about vampires. For example, did you know I can survive in the daylight too?"

"Really?" Ben asked. "Like, you don't blow up or turn to dust?"

"Nope," Moka replied.

"Seriously?" Ben said.

"That's right," Moka replied.

"Please don't tell me you sparkle," Ben said.

"Make a reference to that again," Moka said grimly, "and I might have to bite you."

"So," Ben said, ignoring her prior statement, "what do humans know about vampires that's… real? You know, aside from the blood thing?"

"Well," Moka replied, "you do have the garlic thing, but there are more plants that can hurt us, like you saw during the fight. You also have the staking thing, but specifically with certain types of wood. Decapitation has been said to be effective, but I've heard inconsistent remarks on if it really kills or just deters us. Some metal like iron or silver can also hurt, and you saw that water can hurt us too."

"Boy," Ben said, "no offense, but you have a lot of weaknesses."

"Sure," Moka replied, "but I guess it's only fair. We are the strongest creatures in the Dark Realm-" She suddenly tensed up tightly! Hard enough, in fact, to break the glass she was holding!

"What?" Ben asked. Moka did not reply, as her eyes began tracing everywhere. "What?" Ben asked again.

Moka looked like an agitated animal, fangs bared. "We're not alone," she said.

A few moments prior, as Annabeth entered the store room, she walked to the very back in order to see Hex still contained in his trap. However, she heard him saying something under his breath. "What are you up to?" she asked.

"You shouldn't have stopped what I was doing," Hex said.

"Oh really?" Annabeth asked. "And, pray tell, why was that? You honestly think that we should just trust you with a Philosopher's Stone after all you've already done?"

"I had no intention of keeping that Philosopher's Stone," Hex replied.

Annabeth was taken aback. "What?" she asked.

"I had no intention of keep-" Hex began, before Annabeth cut him off. "I heard you the first time," Annabeth said. "I mean, why didn't you?"

"Tell me, girl," Hex replied, "you assumed that I was responsible for the recent mana incidences, correct? Where people have had their mana infected by some dark force?"

Annabeth was silent. She knew where Hex was going with this, but nodded in reply. Sure enough, his next sentence confirmed her suspicions.

"I was not responsible," Hex replied. "But I summoned the Philosopher's Stone in order to keep it out of the hands of the one who was truly responsible."

Annabeth felt like slamming her head against a wall. She and the others had targeted the wrong guy. And as much as she dreaded asking it because she knew how much time that they had been wasting by dealing with Hex, she knew she had to ask him the truth.

"So… who is responsible?" she asked.

However, before Hex could reply, there was a strange noise heard just outside the room. A scuttling noise almost akin to some creature crawling around nearby. Like something was scuttling to and fro along the walls, and the ceiling.

Annabeth listened closely, as she reached for the dagger she had in the back of her pants. That is, until a force broke through the wall directly behind her and wrapped around her neck! Annabeth coughed and gagged as she aimed her dagger at the hand which had grabbed her!

Annabeth spun back around, only for two more arms to break through the floor and grabbed her legs! Annabeth gaped for a moment, before she was pulled straight through the floor! Screaming.

Back upstairs, Danny was awoken by a foul smell that caused him to gag! "Oh man," he said. "What is it today with the awful smells?"

He was laying in the middle of Touka's living room, makeshift bedding having been designed for himself, Moka, and Jake as they lay on the floor. He delivered a kick toward Jake, who he'd presumed was the cause of the smell! The dragon groaned in pain as Danny had kicked him, sitting up in annoyance!

"Yo, what was that for?" he demanded.

"You got dragon breath or what?" Danny asked. "Quit stinking things up!"

Before Jake could respond, a scuttling noise was heard around the walls. The two looked around curiously, wondering just where that noise had come from. Only for it to persist, more scurrying, crawling sounds getting their attention.

They both stood up and looked around for the source. "Uh…" Danny said. "What is that?"

"I have no idea," Jake replied simply.

Touka swung open her bedroom door next, stepping out and walking over to the two with a fierce resolve. "Uh, Touka?" Danny asked. "Do you-?"

"I know," Touka replied. "I can smell them. Something's here."

"What?" Jake asked.

"Something… inhuman," Touka replied. "I can't quite pinpoint it. It smells human, but there's something not right about it."

"What do you think it is?" Danny asked.

"If it was Hex's doing," Touka replied, "I'm sure Ben or Annabeth would've warned us. I have a feeling something else is responsible for this."

The next moment, there was a sound that struck the sliding glass door that lead to the balcony! They all turned, seeing a hand had smacked against the glass, before sliding across to the right side, dragging a trail of black behind it! The hand vanished and more scurrying was heard!

The three were all wide-eyed and somewhat horrified by what they had just seen. "Okay," Jake said, "I don't know where Moka went, but I'd really like it if we had our vampire back!"

"Let's get downstairs," Touka said. "The others need to know about this!"

"And by that," Danny said, "she means she wants the safety of the vampire too!"

They all ran for the door, only for a hand to shove its way right through it, reaching and clawing for them angrily! A snarling, growling noise was heard on the other side, causing the three to step back! The glass suffered next, another figure having returned to the door and began busting through!

Danny and Jake transformed, as Touka pulled out her Ukaku Kagune! "No," she said. "Not in my house. Literally, in my house!"

She sent out a wave of blades that knocked the creature back before they could even see what it was! She turned back to the front door, and knocked it off its hinges in an attempt to stab the creature on the other side! "Out! Now!" Touka ordered.

Before the boys could comply, Jake was grabbed by a creature! He yelped in surprise as he was thrown off his feet, rolling right off the balcony and heading to the ground! Danny and Touka looked, finding the creature was a hunched over, humanoid shape! But to their horror, they soon recognized what the creature was, as more began crawling in from the balcony, on the walls, or the ceiling!

It was one of the patients from the hospital! One of the humans, who was now even more zombified looking as they roared and snarled at them! Black tar was leaking from their mouth or eyes or even the pores in their skin as it continued growling like a wild beast!

The same condition was even visible on all the others as well!

"T-Touka?" Danny asked.

"I know," Touka replied. "I know Danny." She hardened her Kagune, and used it as a battering ram as she lead the way out of the balcony and jumped off, Danny grabbing her hand and flying away! Jake had recovered as well, and began flying alongside them, out of reach of the zombies!

"So," Jake said, "guessing that Hex… didn't do this?"

"I think so," Danny replied. "Ergo, we screwed up."

Back at the cafe itself, Ben and Moka both jumped to the ceiling as the front door was blown off its hinges! Much like what the others had experienced just a moment ago, zombie looking patients from the hospital crawled in from the ceiling or floor like animals! Ben hastily transformed into Four Arms just as a group of zombies dogpiled him! Moka instinctively reared back a kick and positively punted one zombie hard enough to knock down a dozen more like bowling pins! Despite those zombies clearly out of commission, there were just as many that took their place!

"Guys!" Annabeth yelled, exiting the store room, looking disheveled and with a fierce cut on her forehead! "We messed up! Hex isn't-! Oh my gods!"

She excited just in time to see Four Arms break free from the pile of zombies and begin tossing or punching them all aside! He knew that he couldn't try hard enough to hurt them, but he also didn't know what else to do considering that something foul was clearly possessing them! So, he decided that his best option at the moment was going ham on the victims turned monsters!

Just as one leapt at him like a wild cat, Annabeth dropkicked it aside and proceeded to follow up by slamming her sword in the side of another's head with the flat edge of the blade! "I don't suppose," Annabeth said, "either of you happen to know where these things came from?"

"Not a clue," Moka replied, appearing to be stuck in a loop, beating down dozens of zombies only to have just as many come at her next!

"We need a way to find just where they came from!" Four Arms said. "Figure out who, or what, is controlling them!"

"Great plan," Annabeth said, having the hardest time keeping zombies at bay! "But how do we do that?"

Four Arms did not reply, merely continuing to knock aside zombies! He knew that by transforming into somebody like Big Chill or Ghostfreak he could easily phase around the zombies and get away. But that would mean leaving Annabeth and Moka behind. And he refused to do that.

While he didn't doubt their power, he knew that they were in a very difficult situation. They were forcing back antide of zombies that were circling the building like sharks and sounding like they were crawling along the walls or ceiling, not to mention that for every zombie they knocked down , they just got right back up after two minutes. Not to mention that while Moka was nearly as powerful as he was, she was still recovering from the battle with Hex, and Annabeth on the other hand, while strong by human standards, did not have any special abilities to aid her in a fight like the others did. If Ben risked leaving them behind, they would have a much harder time fighting off these monsters.

For now, he had to worry about protecting the Philosopher's Stone and ensuring his friends were unharmed and just hope that the others were figuring out the situation and could find a way to bring assistance.

Touka was really hating this day. First, she got roped into an investigation by somebody she had cut ties with. Second, she got into a three-way argument with both the people she cut ties with. Third, she was turned into a ravenous monster by some asshole sorcerer.

At least she was able to make amends with both Annabeth and Moka, but now she had an even worse situation going on with how she ended up being attacked by psychotic zombies that chased her out of her own home! Not to mention now she ended up being knocked out of the air by another zombie! Yeah, as Danny was hovering in midair with Touka hanging by his arms, one of the zombies that they spotted crawling along the walls of Anteiku leapt over and slammed into them!

Danny fell from the air, clutching hard onto Touka's arms to ensure he didn't drop her! Unfortunately, this left him unable to turn intangible, as the zombie tossed him right into the windows to the top floor of the building! Danny was the first to recover as Touka merely continued wallowing in her own pain, his green eyes falling upon the Philosopher's Stone that they had kept in there.

"Well," Danny said, "how convenient that we end up with this thing. Doesn't take a genius to figure out these things are after the stone, right?"

"Sure enough," Touka said, still laying on her back. "And I have a feeling that thing threw us in here on purpose."

Jake's screaming voice was heard next, the two sitting straight up in time to see him fly right through the broken window, slamming against the wall on the opposite end of the room, totally covered in zombies! The Philosopher's Stone was knocked over by their flight too. Upon the American Dragon getting blown from the air, more zombies crawled in next!

"Danny!" Touka said, getting to her feet and summoning the Ukaku! "Help Jake and get out of here! Get the Philosopher's Stone to safety! And get Hinami up and out of here too!"

"But-!" Jake said, but Touka socked him in the gut! "I am not arguing with you!" Touka said. "Get out of here! Now!"

Touka proceeded to rush forward, slamming the electrical flame of her Kagune against the different zombies, creating almost a wall of flames that cut them off from moving further inside! Danny was hesitant at first, but complied with her orders and went to help Jake!

The American Dragon was practically being pinned to the floor by clawing and bitings from the zombies, black goo leaking all over him! Danny fired off beams from his fingers that knocked each zombie off its feet, before he grabbed Jake by a wing and threw him out the door!

"Danny! What're you-!?" Jake said, before Danny cut him off. "We have to go!" he said, now carrying the Philosopher's Stone over his shoulder. "She said we have to go get this and Hinami out of here! So we do!"

"But what about her?" Jake asked. Danny shoved the Philosopher's Stone into Jake's chest! "You get them out," Danny said. "I'll help her. I'm not leaving her behind."

"But, are you sure?" Jake asked.

"I am," Danny replied. "We'll be right behind you."

Jake nodded, running as fast as his legs could carry him, as Danny went back into the store room! Touka was still fighting off as many zombies as she could, but one or two was still able to cut through and punch her hard enough to nearly break her limbs! Beams of Ecto-Energy shot out and knocked over more zombies, as Danny forced his way back inside!

"Danny!" Touka roared. "I told you to-!" Danny forced a hand over her mouth, freezing it shut with ice, as he pushed her back and proceeded to create a massive wall of ice, trapping the zombies inside! "You're welcome," Danny replied, grabbing Touka's wrist and running out with her, just as the ice began cracking and breaking.

Back downstairs, Ben was not having as much luck. The storm of zombies proved to be too much for him and the girls to handle! The increased strength of the patients turned zombies was too much for Ben to handle, even as Four Arms, up against such incredible odds! However, there was something even worse about it.

"Are we… having… fun yet?" Moka asked, knocking down more zombies! In her current state, still recovering from her previous battle, she was seriously running low on energy!

"Are you kidding?" Annabeth asked, not faring much better! "I'm having the time of my life!"

"Just let me get room!" Four Arms said. He shoved off a row of zombies, as he reached for the Omnitrix logo on his chest! Unfortunately, zombies pounced on him the moment he tried, grabbing his wrist and holding it back! It was almost as if they knew that what he was trying to do!

Four Arms continued trying to move the zombies off of him so he could transform, but the patients continued holding him back! Moka tried to run in for help, only for several zombies to hold her back! Annabeth tried to help out herself, but the zombies grabbed her own arms and caused her to drop her weapons!

As the trio continued to struggle, suddenly, a wave of blackness overtook the entire room! The three felt what energy they had get totally drained out of their bodies! The three fell to their knees as they nearly fell unconscious from their energy being sapped away!

By the time the process was done, they looked up to see a dark figure make their way in from the front door, the zombies moving away to let them go. The figure was wearing a cloak over their body, only aspects of them being shown, including metal gauntlets and boots, over a dark blue and black uniform.

"Well, well, well, Benjy," the figure said in a silky voice, with a slight metallic edge to it. "It appears that you've done a great deal of work for me. And look at you, you even made a few new little friends from it too."

Ben felt his heart rate increase, able to recognize the figure's voice. But as they got closer, he could also see a familiar helmet being hidden beneath the hood of the cloak. "Michael?" he asked.

"No, Benjy," he replied. "How many times must I tell you? I am what you made me. I am Darkstar."

"How…?" Four Arms asked. "You're the one who caused all this?"

"Of course," Darkstar replied. "I mean, mana victims? Isn't it blatantly obvious, Benjy? In fact, I'm just the slightest bit offended that you didn't figure this out sooner."

"But how?" Four Arms asked. "You've never been capable of doing something like this before. You've never been able to control people."

"Ah, Benjy," Darkstar said, removing his cape, "you don't know it, but I have this." Sure enough, underneath his cloak, clipped to his collar, was the familiar red token that was the Keystone of Bezel.

"The Keystone," he said, "which amplified my powers tenfold. But at the price of my hunger becoming positively insatiable. Even if I totally absorbed the mana of thousands, I may not be satiated. That's why I confronted Hex with the desire to steal a Philosopher's Stone, so I could absorb the power from it."

"I had hoped with our common history when it comes to that heinous woman, Charmcaster, he might show me how to find one with the promise of vengeance on her. He failed, obviously. It appears that even with her treachery, he is still weakened by his 'love' for her. So I had you take it for me."

"You knew, then," Annabeth said. "You knew that we would go after him, thinking he was the one responsible. I must admit, I'm impressed you knew we would do that."

"Of course," Darkstar replied. "I knew that one way or another, Benjy would discover that I had taken the Keystone from his cousin and would just presume that the old man was the one who took it, considering he was the last one who tried to use it."

"But how?" Four Arms asked. "How did you get the Keystone? I thought that Gwen had it!"

"Well that's the thing," Darkstar said. "You know how I could once hypnotize simple girls. But while I can not naturally do so in my… current condition, I still had the means to whip up a charm. A bit of incubus blood and a little sob story for good measure, and your lovely cousin was practically putty in my hands."

"You sick motherf-!" Ben began to yell, before Darkstar merely absorbed more energy from him, causing him to transform back into human form after losing enough power!

"Let him go!" Moka said desperately. "Leave him alone!"

Darkstar looked at her curiously, a slight tilt in his head. "Ah," he said, kneeling down in front of her and looking at her with fondness. "Vampires, such mongrel creatures that manage to convey such natural beauty."

"Better to be a mongrel than a troglodyte!" Moka said, spitting on his helmet! Darkstar was unaffected, as he merely stood back up and wiped the spit off his helmet.

"All the same," he said, "I thank you for your work. Hex knew the risks involved in leaving me unchecked, and knew I would find the means to seize the Philosopher's Stone. So I merely just waited until he grabbed it for me, and just sat back and watched you take it from him."

On cue, a few zombies dragged Hex from the store room and dropped him off at Darkstar's feet, where the older sorcerer looked up in disgust at the figure looming over him. "I don't appreciate being manipulated, Morningstar," Hex said.

"You brought this on yourself, old man," Darkstar said. "You could have fought beside me, but now you shall merely be crushed under my heel."

He held a hand out to Hex, causing the man to convulse in pain against his bonds, before he dropped unconscious! Darkstar held up a crackling fist, chuckling to himself. "Now with all the pieces in place, I shall absorb the power of the stone next, and become all-powerful!"

"And that's all I needed to hear!" a new voice said. Darkstar looked curiously around for a second, before Danny appeared out of the ground, uppercutting him straight to the ceiling!

Touka came rushing in next, batting down as many zombies as she could! She reached the hostages and freed them in seconds! "Thanks guys!" Ben said. "But how did you know we were in trouble?"

"You're not the only ones who were attacked," Touka replied.

"We got a similar hit upstairs," Danny replied, continuing to grapple with Darkstar. "A bunch of these guys were crawling around outside! We managed to shake them off, while Jake took Hinami and the Philosopher's Stone to safety."

"Then that means," Ben added, "we just gotta take down these guys fast as we can!"

Back with Danny, he was continuing to slug Darkstar across the room before he had him pinned up against the wall! "Jeez," Danny said, "you're really not as impressive as I was hoping dude. Maybe we should rename you from 'Darkstar' to 'Dumbstar'."

Danny fired off an energy beam to Darkstar, only for the villain to hold up a hand and absorb it instantaneously! Danny was taken aback, before he was nailed in the chest by an attack that drained his energy! He fell to his knees, feeling like half his battery had been drained in just that one hit!

"You talk as much as Ben," Dartkstar said, standing upright. "And you're equally as arrogant. No wonder you're working together."

He fired more energy at Danny, blasting the ghost boy backwards! However, a jet of fire cut him off in the next moment! He looked up in time for Swampfire to nearly punch him right in the face! However, Darkstar caught the hit at the last moment!

"Come now, Benjy," Darkstar said. "We played this same song and dance once before. You know how it ends."

Using his free hand, he blasted Swampfire right in the chest! He was blown away and fell to the floor, his energy getting drained from his system! But just then, the wall of fire had begun to die out, and Moka jumped right through it, kicking Darkstar right into the wall!

Swampfire picked himself back up, rubbing his shoulder. "Yeah, well," he said, "I wasn't working with a vampire the last time, Michael."

The others grouped up around him, having beaten all the zombies, who were left moaning or crawling around on the ground. "So," Swampfire added, "it looks like you're outnumbered now. What's your move?"

Darkstar stood tall and held out a hand. Just when everyone expected him to fire off another beam of energy, he rose his hand upward, as if he were picking something up. That's when all the zombies that had just been beaten picked themselves back up and surrounded the group!

"What was that about being outnumbered?" Darkstar asked smugly. As the zombies descended upon the group once again, Darkstar just looked on and laughed! "Oh, how I love this Keystone! While those who I'd completely drained last time transformed into mindless zombies, with this Keystone, I can now control them! The hypnotism I had purely on women before can now be amplified to have those who I've drained bend to my every whim!"

Swampfire knocked aside some zombies as he charged to Darkstar, transforming into Ultimate form at the last moment! However, Darkstar merely aimed his hand at the ground and created an explosion that sent the evolved Methanosian back! "While I would love to stay and watch," Darkstar said, "I overheard what you said before about one of your friends taking the Philosopher's Stone away. So I must be off. Farewell, Benjy." With a mighty leap, he shot right through the floor of the building!

"No!" Ultimate Swampfire yelled. He knocked aside several zombies with a single backhand, before running up to the hole that Darkstar had flown through!

"We got this!" Danny said, blasting away zombies with an energy slice! "Go take care of that Darth Vader ripoff!"

Ultimate Swampfire nodded in reply, before transforming to pursue! Outside, Jake was flying down the streets as fast as he could, carrying Hinami on his back, with the Philosopher's Stone in his hands. Unfortunately, a blast from Darkstar hit him and knocked them to the ground! Jake shook his head as he pushed himself back up, Hinami moaning in pain as she lay on the ground.

Jake instantly leapt over and shielded her with his body, just as Darkstar fired more draining energy at him! Jake was able to fend off the pain for a moment, as he felt his power leave him slowly but surely! Darkstar merely walked over to him confidently.

"Such a poor show," he said. "And here I was hoping the American Dragon would be a little bit stronger." He finally shot a blast of energy that blew Jake down the street, scoffing at the easy manner in which he defeated him.

His eyes fell upon Hinami, who had sat back up, but was trembling in fear as she looked at Darkstar. "Now sit there, ghoul," he said. "Or else I may have to hurt you too."

Darkstar walked over to the Philosopher's Stone, holding his hands out to it. However, Jake flew over and slammed him to the ground! "No you don't!" the dragon yelled. He knocked Darkstar into the air with his tail, before slashing across his helmet with a claw!

Darkstar was not impeded however, as he merely socked Jake in the gut, before firing another energy blast that sent Jake to his knees! He then grabbed Jake by the neck, and began draining more of his energy, enough to totally revert him back to his human form! "I don't appreciate your annoyance, dragon," Darkstar said. "Now stay out of my way."

He tossed Jake to the ground, before resuming his walk to the Philosopher's Stone. Suddenly, he held out a hand, firing a beam of dark energy into the sky! He caught Ben, who had transformed into Stinkfly, causing him to drop to the ground! He too transformed into human form, before colliding with the pavement on the road, Darkstar cutting off his attack.

"Honestly Benjy," Darkstar said, "your efforts are futile. With the Keystone, I can drain all of you dry within seconds. And once I obtain the Philosopher's Stone, I will be unstoppable."

Ben struggled to stand, looking at Darkstar with contempt. "Not gonna happen," he said. "I'll stop you. Like I always do."

"Ah, yes," Darkstar said. "But tell me, Benjy, how do you intend to do that this time? For you have never stopped me alone. You've always had your irksome cousin with you to back you up, and even Levin whenever he was being useful. But now you're all alone and I've finally outsmarted that cousin of yours. The only help you have now are a few mongrel creatures that are nothing more than parasites to me."

"A bit hypocritical of you," Ben said, "calling them 'parasites' Michael."

Darkstar merely rolled his eyes, before firing off another beam of energy! Ben quickly rolled to the side, before he and Jake tackled Darkstar in the gut! Darkstar brought down his fists on the back of both their necks, before sweeping them away with his arms! He backhanded Jake to the ground, before grabbing Ben by the throat and holding him up in the air!

Darkstar continued draining Ben's energy from his physical contact, causing Ben's skin to pale and leave him looking sickly weak! But even with this, he began to punch Ben in the face numerous times, bending his nose out of shape and causing blood to begin to pour out of it, a black eye also starting to form over his right eye, with more bruises forming around his face! He tried reaching for the Omnitrix, but he couldn't manage it in the frequency of Darkstar's attacks! Darkstar finally tossed Ben to the ground, where he bounced across the road and nearly scream at the flaring pain in his gut!

Jake got up to try and help, but Darkstar merely punched him down as well, before picking him up and tossing him hard enough into a car to bend the side of it! "Both of you are insects," Darkstar said. "Neither of you have what it takes to stop me."

"Now if you please." As he said this, he walked towards the Philosopher's Stone once again. But even now, he felt something grab his ankle and hold him back. He looked down to see Ben holding onto him, his face mangled and broken, but still looking on in defiance.

"You must be joking," Darkstar said. He easily kicked off Ben's hand, before proceeding to stomp on Ben's back over and over and over again! All Ben could do in his weakened state was cry out in pain as he felt Darkstar continue to grind him into the dirt!

Nearby, Hinami watched on, totally petrified! Tears were streaming down her face, terrified by the villain that was more than likely wanting to kill her! But beyond that, she began to feel very, very angry.

Ben and the others were Touka's friends, and she wanted them to be her friends too. Ben was funny and kind, he showed that as she watched him, willing to help the girls out in their situation and act as a leader. He didn't even care that Touka and Hinami were ghouls. So watching Darkstar beat him down like that, was enough to make her filled with fury.

"Stop it!" she yelled. From out of nowhere, her own Kagune burst from her back and swarmed towards Darkstar! The first was a pair of Rinkaku Kagune, a pair that looked like flexible red spines that each stabbed through Darkstar's shoulders!

Darkstar screamed in pain as blood gushed from his wounds! He was pulled towards her, as her second Kagune, the Koukaku Kagune burst from her back like a pair of giant flower petals, and smashed Darkstar in a painful sandwich! And the entire time as she did this, she was screaming!

"Don't hurt my friends!" she yelled. "Why can't you just leave them alone! Stop hurting them! I hate you!"

As her assault continued, a wave of blackness flowed from Darkstar, up her Kagune, and eventually hit her too! She moaned for a second, before dropping down, her energy drained in a second! Her Kagune fell limp, as Darkstar staggered to his feet. He walked forward, fists clenched.

"You little beast," he said. "Vile creature. Thinking you can lay a limb on me…"

As Ben watched him bring up a fist, clearly ready to backhand her, Ben himself was filled with astronomical rage! He finally pressed down on the Omnitrix, transforming into Rath! He leapt forward and grabbed Darkstar's wrist, breaking it in a moment from the force of how hard he clenched!

"Let me tell you something, Michael Morningstar," Rath said, as threatening as he's ever been heard before, "you lay a hand on her, and you will have no mercy from me."

He jammed a talon into one of the wounds formed by Hinami, causing Darkstar to cry out in even more pain! Darkstar fell to his knees as Rath continued to loom over him! "Tell me something, Michael Morningstar," Rath said. "Do you got anything to say now!?"

"Ye...yes," Darkstar replied. "Did you really think you were winning? Because, I don't know if you can recall, but I can use my powers from a distance."

Before Rath could stop him, Darkstar shot a beam towards the Philosopher's Stone, the energy transfer enough to scorch Rath's side and have him cry out in pain! Great light shone from the energy, as Darkstar held up his other hand and shot Rath clean off his feet! He rolled across the ground, transforming back into human form!

"Incredible!" Darkstar said. "This power is truly incredible! And that is only from a fraction of its true power! With the full strength of the Philosopher's Stone flowing through me, I shall be unstoppable!"

He held out his hands to the Philosopher's Stone, pulling the rest of its power right into his body! A blinding light overtook everything, as Ben felt nothing but numbness in his body! When he opened his eyes, it was as if the sun had come out there was so much light in the middle of the street.

As he turned around, however, he found it was not the sun, but Darkstar himself. He had removed his helmet, revealing the golden membrane that had formed over his body that glowed a bright light, with his hair having grown long and standing upward as it crackled with power, and even his eyes had become pure spotlights! As he looked over himself, he laughed maniacally!

"Finally. Darkstar, reigns supreme!"

A/N: This one took a bit longer to finish than I had thought. However, I wanted to portray this as best as I could, but now I'm satisfied with it.

For starters, we get Annabeth and Moka finally making amends. The two had been at it since the start, and now they're finally able to make amends and come together. Believe it or not, I had the idea of Annabeth preparing meat for Touka way earlier. I know it might seem messed up, but it was one of those things where I did my best to rationalize it and explain her relationship with Touka. Initially, I was going to have her buy and prepare the "meat" on her own time, but I didn't think it would fit with Annabeth's character, and would make more sense if she did it at Anteiku.

We also have a bit more vampire lore here. I did my best to establish the vampire weaknesses upfront so as not to worry much about explaining them leader, using Ben as the way in which to establish the rules and regulations of the vampires in here. I didn't so much as follow Rosario+Vampire lore here as much as I did try going for more grounded vampire reality based on what most accounts report, hence why staking, which as far as I recall does not kill them in Rosario+Vampire, is reported to work, or why decapitation is possible. Yeah, I don't exactly know whether or not that one should count considering it's not really a popular reference.

But finally, the big one. The one who is truly responsible for all this was not Hex, but rather the other Ben 10 villain, Darkstar. I hope that the twist worked enough. Not so much to be a jarring transition, but at least makes enough sense so as not to come totally out of left field, either! I've always loved Darkstar, there's just something about him I really like (mostly in Alien Force). So, I knew I wanted him to be the big bad of the opening act!

Not much else to say. I hope you enjoyed reading, leave any suggestions for different characters or possible scenarios you want to see in the future. And until next time, I'll see you all later!