Welcome to the next chapter in The Ultra 10 Chronicles! In this chapter, Team Ultra finally confronts Alex Animal, and a brutal fight ensues. We've been building up to this fight for a long time now, and I hope it's worth the wait! Let me know how/if you enjoyed it in a review! Next chapter should be out this next Monday, so one week.
There are a few triggers for this chapter. First of all, it is a pretty violent chapter. The entire chapter is the fight scene, and so there are going to be some serious violence. Also, there is a little bit of gore and blood. It begins after the paragraph that reads, "It's just you and me, she said," and continues until the line break, about four more paragraphs.
There are also a number of choice words in the chapter. The first one is in the paragraph after the one that reads, "Very well, Julie said reluctantly..." The second one is in the paragraph after the one that reads, "Let me seen Lynn said..." The third instance is in the paragraph which reads, "Then you shouldn't take on the responsibility..." The last one is in the paragraph after the one that reads, "Doc, I'm heading to the garage..."
There is a soundtrack for this chapter, however it is different than most other soundtracks for the song. Alex and another villain soon to be introduced are two sides of the same deranged coin, the archetype being Batman's Joker. Alex is the obsessive, cruel and vengeful side, while the villain soon to be introduced will be more of the chaotic, insane side.
So, the soundtrack is "Two of a Kind (Joker's Song) by Miracle of Sound. This song, I think, well describes Alex and Ben's rivalry, and how Ben uses pain and suffering to better himself, while Alex uses it to hate the world, and cause more pain. You can listen to it on youtube by going to /watch?v=OovKTBO4aQs
Enjoy the chapter!
The Ultra 10 Chronicles: Volume 2: A Hero Earth Needs
Chapter 39: Showdown
Alex Animal's base
Alex heard the boom of an explosion a ways off. Then a second, and a third. Startled slightly, he quickly adapted to the situation. On his computer monitor, he switched camera feeds until he came on the one that led up to the entrance of his base. He'd equipped it with an infrared camera in order to keep the feeling of the tunnel being as dark and as deserted as possible. Still, it was just too far inside the tunnel to be able to see the intruders, but it wasn't too far off.
"So, you've found my base," Alex muttered to himself. "A little sooner than I'd anticipated, but not soon enough to give you any advantage." Alex switched the camera feed to another one, not too far away from the entrance tunnel. The image was one of several animal cages, each filled with hungry, or irritated, or panicked animals. Some were simply dangerous, while others were outright deadly.
"Come into my house, said the spider to the fly…" At that moment, Alex pressed a button, releasing one of the caged animals. Having only one way out of the room, the rampaging animal charged out, and into the tunnel.
"Do you hear something?" Maddi asked. The group got quiet, trying to listen for anything that she could be talking about.
"Yeah, I do hear something," Agent B122 said. "It sounds like some kind of animal…"
"In the tunnel?" Cooper clarified. "How can that be?"
"Doesn't matter!" Lynn shouted. "There it is!" The party focused on the pathway in front of them. Out of the darkness came a mountain lion, followed by a second cat, and then a third. They looked starved, angry, and vicious. The large cats leaped at the party, pouncing on several of them.
"Steel Girl!" Cooper shouted, as he blasted at the animal which was crouched on her. The energy blast burned through the fur on the animal's haunches. The cat let out a roar of pain mingled with fury, and clawed at Cooper. Off to the side, the PLUMMERs weren't doing much better. One agent had a cat with his jaws around his neck, the protective collar of his suit being the only thing that was keeping him alive. He was clawing and scratching at the mountain lion's face, trying to get it off of him, but the animal's protective fur was making his feeble attacks useless. The mountain lion just bit down harder and scratched at his face with its sharp claws.
The second PLUMMER had managed to fire at the animal before it had pounced on him, leaving a deep bloody wound in the animal's chest, sneering blood all over the agent's suit. Still, the large cat had some fighting spirit in it, and was on top of the agent, trying to bit through his neck. Lynn had drawn her knives, and was trying to help free her agent's from the animals. Finally, the weakened, wounded cat seemingly gave up, and took off towards the exit. Lynn then jumped at the cat that was attacking her other comrade, leaving the third agent to get to his feet himself.
Cooper wound his fist up and jabbed it at the animal, punching the cat's head. Behind him, Maddi climbed to her feet. Seeing the dance of death Cooper was in with the animal, she charged up her wrist cannons and fired them at the animal repeatedly, each shot leaving burned patches of fur and skin on the animal's haunches. Finally, the animal thought that it had had enough, and tried to run for the exit.
The third agent, seeing this, fired his gun at the animal, dropping it with a well-placed shot through the ribs. The three of them rapidly turned their attention to the last remaining cougar, and in a moment, it was dead too. Realizing the situation to be over, they all lowered their assorted weapons and took a breather.
"This… is going to be a bit harder… then I thought," Maddi gasped. Cooper nodded, still trying to regain his breath. Lynn looked at her two agents.
"Thorn, Ellen, you two guard the exit. Who knows how many more animals that psycho has down here. We can't risk having an entire zoo running amuck through the city. Anything you see, shoot to kill. Shoot first, ask questions later, do you understand?"
"Yes sir," the two agents shouted, before heading off towards the exit.
"Are you sure we're going to be alright without them?" Cooper asked. "The more there is of us, the better our odds."
"Those cats caught us off guard. But it won't happen again. We'll be ready for anything Alex throws at us," Lynn said confidently.
"I think my suit is damaged," Maddi said. "My headset is offline." Cooper took a look at it.
"Yeah, it's pretty damaged. You'll need to be careful about taking any more damage, it might not hold up too well," Cooper summarized. Maddi nodded her understanding.
Ben continued sniffing as he made his way through the tunnel. They were going deeper and deeper into the maze, however Ben's nose was leading them directly towards Alex.
"Doc, can you hear us?" Gwen spoke into her communicator.
"Yeah, but the signal is getting pretty weak," Julie's fuzzy voice replied. "There's a lot of interference above your heads."
"I think we are getting close," Gwen reported. "WildMutt seems to be getting a stronger scent then before."
"As soon as you get to a large cavern or room, hold there," Julie said. "We want to coordinate your entrance with Gears and Steel Girl."
"Roger that," Gwen said into her communicator. "Ultra 10, did you get that?" WildMutt stopped sniffing the walls for a moment to look back at her and grin, nodding his head.
"Lucky Girl," Julie asked after a few moments of silence. "It seems that Cooper's team was attacked by some sort of animals. I think they were pumas or something. Just be aware of the possibility of danger-" No sooner had she said the last word, then did the PLUMMER agent that was with them get slammed into by some sort of animal. The animal started clawing away at the agent, who was desperately trying to protect himself from the large animal. Immediately, Ben spun around and attacked the animal. He'd be pretty evenly matched against the bear by himself, however he had Gwen helping with her magic.
"Inferno!" Gwen chanted as flames erupted from her hands. The fire lit up the room for a moment, as it burned the bear. The beast roared in pain as it lumbered away, back into the darkness of the tunnels.
"What happened?" Julie asked through the comm link. "I heard some noise!"
"We just got attacked by a bear," Gwen gasped. "It's gone for now, but these tunnels are proving to be more and more dangerous!"
"That's it, I'm calling you all out of there," Julie said. "We'll have to take Alex down next time, when we're better prepared for whatever is down there!" Gwen shook her head.
"No, we can't do that. He knows we are here, and if we leave, it's just going to be more dangerous next time, no matter how prepared we are," Gwen said. "If we're going to take him down, we need to do it now!" Ben growled his agreement, right as his badge began to flash red, and he detransformed back into his human form. He activated his comm link.
"Lucky Girl is right, if we're gong to take him down, it goes down tonight. We're just going to have to be extra careful."
"Very well," Julie said reluctantly from the other side. "Gears's team isn't too far away from their launch point. Once they're in position, I'm going to give the signal, and you both need to rush Alex."
"That damn bear clawed right through my armor," Agent B-52 complained. "Without it, I'm a sitting duck."
"Fine, stay back and cover our rear," Ben ordered him. "Make sure that we don't have any more surprises from behind. Leave Alex to us." The agent nodded.
"Aye, I'll do that," he said.
Agent Lynn pulled her knife from another animal, the last of the wolves that had attacked them. Wiping the blood off in the fur of the dead animal, she stood up and sheathed it, drawing her pistol out again.
"Let's keep going," she said. "We've almost made it to the jump area." Cooper nodded. "Steel Girl, how are you holding up?"
"Those boar really did a number on my legs, and the wolves aren't helping," she said. "Your nanotech is helping, but I don't think I can keep going," she said with a grimace.
"Let me see," Lynn said. Maddi sat down on the ground, her legs spread out in front of her. Lynn shined a flashlight on her legs, inspecting the damage.
"Those damn wolves punctured your leg," she said. "It's going to get infected if you don't get it treated soon."
"I'll just hang back and catch my breath for a bit," Maddi said. "You two keep going."
"Not on my account," Lynn said. "Gears, is it? Take her back to my men at the entrance to the tunnel. I'll radio them so they don't shoot at you. They'll be able to help your friend. I'll move on ahead to the jump zone."
"And leave you alone to fight Alex?" Cooper questioned. "Not a chance, we need all the power we can get to take him down.
"Wolves have bacteria on their teeth. If you don't take her back now, she's going to loose her legs!" Lynn commanded. "Now do what I said!" Cooper nodded and picked Steel Girl up in his arms.
"I'll be back as soon as I can," he said. Lynn nodded.
"Put me down," Maddi said. "I can get there by myself! You should stay to help take Alex down!"
"You heard the lady," Cooper said. "Your legs are at risk here." With that, he jogged down the tunnel with Maddisen in his arms. Lynn continued down the tunnel. That is, until she saw two glowing eyes in the darkness. With slitted pupils, the face was massive, and the mere look at the creature sent chills running down her spine, her natural instinct screaming at her to run away as fast as she could. Still, she steeled herself, and prepared to take down the beast.
"It's just you and me," she said. "And you're going down." The beast slowly crept out of the shadows, a terrifying sense of intelligence behind the tiger's eyes.
"No," the tiger said. "It will soon be just me!" Alex, in an adult bengal tiger form, leaped forward. With the accuracy and deadly force only a human could muster, the tiger batted away Lynn's pistol, which clattered away down the tunnel.
"Gah!" Lynn gasped as she leapt out of the way of the tiger. She spun around and slashed at it with her knife, leaving a long cut across the animal's shoulder. However, in comparison to the tiger's massive size, it looked like little more than a paper cut. Alex slapped her with the backside of his paw, forcing her to the ground. With an angry roar, Alex swiped his clawed paw at her again, tossing the knife away, and bloodying up her arm.
"Yeah!" Lynn shouted in pain. She instinctively drew her injured arm to her chest, gripping the open wound with her good hand. Alex racked his paw across her face, the claws slicing through and peeling her skin like layers off of an onion. She let out another scream of agony, as she dug her face into her arms, protecting herself.
"And now to make you suffer for hurting me," Alex said. He bit down on her waist, using one claw to rip and tear away at her legs. She screamed in pain, her screams echoing through the tunnels.
"Lucky Girl, team 1 has failed," Julie shouted through the comm link. "Alex has moved towards where they should be. It's all up to you and Ben!"
"Got it!" Gwen shouted back. Then to Ben, "Are you ready?" As if on cue, his Omnitrix lit up green, ready for use.
"No holding back," Ben said. "We want to subdue Alex, but if we have to kill him, we have no choice." Gwen nodded. Ben activated the Omnitrix, the faceplate popping up.
"I've got to use a form that goes all in," Ben switched through several forms until he found the one he was looking for. "Here goes nothing!" He slammed down on the watch, his form being shrouded in a bright green flash for a moment.
"Whampire!" Ben shouted as he assumed the form of the alien-vampire.
"You going to be able to handle yourself out there?" Gwen asked. Ben nodded.
"I can change back if I need to. But this form's rage will come in handy," he said. Just as he did, he heard a scream of pain echo through the tunnels. He looked at Gwen for a moment, before the two of them ran off in the direction of the scream. A moment later, a second scream of pain was heard, followed by a third wail of agony. By the sound of it, someone was being tortured, and it definitely wasn't Alex.
The duo rounded a corner and came upon the scene of the attack. A massive tiger was biting and tearing into a PLUMMER agent, who was on the ground in the fetal position, blood leaking from deep and large wounds all over her.
"Hey ugly!" Ben shouted at Alex, drawing his attention from the half-dead PLUMMER. "It's me you want! So leave her alone!"
"With pleasure," Alex growled, his voice somewhere between a human's hiss and a tiger's growl.
"I'll handle Alex," Ben muttered to Gwen. "You take the PLUMMER towards the exit. Get back here as soon as you can."
"Got it," Gwen said as she sprinted towards Lynn. "Come on, we've got to get you to a hospital."
"Oh, how I've been waiting for this moment," Alex said, pleasure dripping from his voice. His image was all the more fierce with still-warm blood dripping from his maw.
"That makes the two of us," Ben said. A growl in his voice, Alex lunged towards Ben, a roar cutting loose from his mouth. The deafening, terrifying roar paralyzed Ben in fear for a millisecond, which was almost enough to finish him. However, just before it was too late, Ben used the increased reflexes and speed of his vampire's form to sidestep Alex's leap, raking his clawed fingers across his side.
Alex roared in pain and swiped at him with his razor-sharp claws. Ben just narrowly dodged the strike, clawing Alex again. When he pulled back to a safe distance, he could see his hands were wet with the tiger's blood.
"You're fast, perhaps too fast," Alex said in his unnerving animalistic voice. "Computer, progress report!"
"DNA scanner completed," a disembodied voice replied.
"Activate!" Alex growled, as he leapt at Ben. Ben easily dodged it, only to be caught off guard as Alex whipped him with his heavy tail. Suddenly, an energy ray hit Ben, stunning him in place as pain racked throughout his body.
"Agh!" Ben shouted in pain as it felt like the life was being drained out of him.
"DNA absorption complete," the disembodied voice said. The energy ray turned off, ending Ben's intense pain. Exhausted, he dropped to his knees.
"You aren't the only one with access to advanced technology," Alex jeered at his weakened foe. He changed back into his human form before a similar energy ray encompassed him, though it seemed to be without the pain. Ben watched as Alex's human features took on a different look. His skin became pale white, and his fingernails extended into claws.
"Whatever form you take, I can take as well!" Alex cheered. The energy ray turned off, leaving Alex looking like a vampire. His face was covered in wrinkles, like he was hundreds of years old.
"I am as fast as you," Alex sped forward with speed only a vampire could match. He grabbed Ben by the top of his head, picking him up in the air.
"I am as strong as you," Alex threw Ben into the air, rocketing towards the stone ceiling. Smashing against the hard stone, Ben fell to the floor, injured and weak.
"And this bloodlust…" Alex licked his lips. "It is unreal! I could dine on the blood of the entire city!" Ben tried to stand up, only to have his chest raked across by Alex's clawed fingers. Ben cried in pain as he fell back to the floor.
"However, I think that I shall dine on your blood first!"
"Don't," Ben gasped, trying to stand up. "Human blood… will make it permanent…" Alex chuckled.
"You still don't get it, do you?" He taunted ben. "I choose what DNA I absorb, and for how long! I can have the benefits with none of the downsides! I am in every way superior to your forms!" Ben felt the rage boil up within himself.
"Why do you do this?" He demanded. "You kill innocents! You want me dead! What is the cause of it all!?" Alex dripped the blood into his mouth, savoring the blood of his foe.
"My father was the only good thing ever to happen to me," he said. "Everything else was horrible. Everyone else was horrible. My own mother even hurt me! All except for my father! And you took him away from me!" Alex sped towards Ben, picking him up and slamming him into the wall.
"You hurt me! You are bad, and I must punish you!" Alex got ready to slam Ben back into the wall, however Ben used the momentum to slip past Alex, slamming him into the wall instead.
"I never killed him!" Ben shouted. He slammed Alex into the wall again, cracking the stone underneath him. "I save people! Not kill them!"
"Then why didn't you save my dad?" Alex shouted back. For the moment, he stopped struggling, fully engaged in his rage. "He was a good man! He helped people! Helpless people! Just like me!" Ben backed up a step.
"I can't save everyone," Ben gasped out angrily. "I try, and I try, and I try. And it is never enough! People still get hurt, and people still die!"
"Then you shouldn't take on the responsibility! Every single innocent that gets hurt under your watch is hell to pay for you!" Alex shouted. "My father's death happened because you failed to be the hero!" Alex turned around. He glared at Ben with pure hatred in his eyes. He lashed out his claws at Ben, struggling to land a blow on him, but Ben was playing defensive now, dodging and sidestepping his attacks.
"I can't beat you in this form," Ben gasped out between dodges. He pressed the Omnitrix badge on his chest, instantly being engulfed in a green light. In a split second, Ben had assumed a new form.
"UpChuck!" Ben shouted, now only about three feet tall, a stark comparison to Alex's vampiric stature of around seven feet. As quickly as he could, Ben opened his mouth, tentacles lashing out and wrapping around several boulders that littered the floor. Swallowing them, UpChuck's belly glowed a greenish-yellow color.
"You can't beat me in this form," Alex spat out. "You can't beat me in any of your forms!" Ben opened his mouth and fired several plasma blasts at Alex. Alex dodged the first two plasma blasts, but stepped right into the third one. It exploded on impact, sending Alex flying backwards into the far wall of the cavern.
"There's more of where that came from," Ben said, as he hurriedly ate several more boulders.
"Computer! Scan DNA!" Alex shouted. Ben tried to dodge the energy ray, but was unable to escape it, getting caught up in it.
"Agh!" Ben cried again, feeling the intense pain of his life getting forcibly pulled out of him.
"Don't fire!" Cooper shouted as he emerged from the tunnel. His arms were well tired out from carrying Maddi in his arms. The two PLUMMER agents looked shocked at him.
"What happened?" One of them asked as Cooper came closer.
"She was attacked by a wolf," Cooper shouted, his voice hoarse. "Her legs are infected and bleeding!" That sprung one of the agents into action.
"Set her down," the agent commanded, reaching into a pouch on her belt and producing a small canister. Cooper did as he was told, gritting his teeth as he heard Maddisen cry out in pain when he laid her down on the cold floor of the bait-n-tackle shop. The agent sprayed the solution over the wounds on her legs, causing Maddi to scream in pain again.
"I need some fishing line," the agent said. "A hook too!" Cooper stood up and scrambled to get the necessary items. Finding what he was looking for, he handed it to the PLUMMER, who immediately threaded the hook, and started to sew up the girl's leg. Finally, Maddi grew silent, her pain finally lulling her into an unconscious state. The agent continued his procedure, until the open wounds that had covered Maddi's legs were all sewn up. The agent reached into his pouch again and pulling out another spray solution.
"This should seal the wounds for the time being," he said, spraying it on Maddi's legs. "But it's not a permanent solution. She needs better medical care."
"I'll take her," Cooper said. The two agents agreed, and helped Cooper pick up Maddisen, causing her the least bit of discomfort as they could. Cooper's suit opened up the jetpack, and he took off into the night sky.
"Doc, I'm heading to the garage," Cooper said. "Maddisen's hurt badly, and I'm afraid you're going to have to live up to your name."
"Shit," Julie muttered under her breath, even though it still carried through the comm links. "Lucky Girl, that means that it's just up to you and Ultra 10 and the PLUMMERs."
"I'm out of the fight for the time being too," Gwen confessed. "I've got a badly hurt PLUMMER agent with me, Ben's alone taking on Alex."
"This is bad, this is very bad," Julie responded. "You guys are dropping like flies, and we still don't know how dangerous Alex is. As soon as you can, you need to get back in there and help Ben. We can only hope for luck and more PLUMMERs."
Ben sunk to his knees, exhausted and in great pain. He gasped for air, as his lungs, along with the rest of him, felt like it was on fire. He looked up weakly at Alex, just in time to see him return back to his human form. Almost immediately, he was encompassed with an energy ray and he started to change forms again.
Alex shrunk is stature, only now being about four or so feet tall. His belly expanded out, starting to glow, and his mouth widened, as though he were getting more teeth. His arms became stubby, though they were still human, as his legs did the same. He looked like some crazy cross between UpChuck and his own human form.
"Ah, this one has in insatiable hunger," Alex said. "Perfect." He opened his mouth, several tentacles whipping out and bringing boulders and rubble back to him, to be devoured. Alex's stomach glowed with a bright orange hue, before he opened his mouth, firing off several shots of hot, orange plasma. Ben rolled out of the way of the plasma blasts. As he rolled, he slapped the badge of the Omnitrix, instantly being surrounded by a green light.
"Accelerate!" Be shouted as he sped off in one direction, following the sides of the cavern up, and speeding for a time across the ceiling of the room.
"Take that!" Ben shouted as his fist collided into Alex/UpChuck's face. He grunted in pain as he was launched across the room and into the far wall. Accelerate landed on his feet.
"Ready for round two?" Ben taunted.
"You're still too weak to defeat me!" Alex spat out. "Scan his DNA!" Ben dodged the ray that was just too slow to zap him again. A second ray beam narrowly missed him, and then a third. Dodging the painful DNA scanner beam was taking just about all of Ben's effort. Meanwhile, Alex opened his mouth again, his tentacles whipped out, and grabbed hold of some of the broken rocks he'd created. However, as he pulled them back towards him, Ben sped up to him, punching him, forcing him to release the catch. However, the tentacles were sticky, and Accelerate got stuck in it.
"This is bad!" Ben shouted as he tried to free himself, only to get even more tangled up in the tentacles. Suddenly, the scanner ray caught up to him and engulfed, not only Accelerate, but Alex too.
"Agh!" Both of them screamed out in pain. After a few moments, the pain subsided, leaving both Ben and Alex collapsed on the floor, exhausted from the ordeal. Only another moment went by until another ray of light engulfed them both again. Ben felt a strange, tingling sensation all over his body, until the ray of light faded.
Alex was the first to recover, retracting his tentacles back into his mouth and standing up. "What did you do?" He asked, annoyed.
"It's your stupid invention," Ben spat back. He stood up as Accelerate and palmed the badge, the familiar green flash temporarily blinding Alex.
"Gray…Runner?" Ben asked, confused. Rather than transformed into GrayMatter, as he'd intended, he was some strange combination of the two aliens. He had gray skin, with Accelerate's black body armor. His head was bulbous with GrayMatter's eyes, however, his body was still reptilian, like Accelerate's.
"It appears that the DNA scanner absorbed both of our DNA," GrayRunner concluded.
"Shut up!" Alex shouted. He ate several boulders lying around, and his belly began to glow orange again. Seeing the signs, Ben took off, running at Accelerate's speed around the room, avoiding Alex's plasma blasts at ease.
"Your ability to absorb DNA, and then replicate it must have been beamed into myself, which is why the transformation is only halfway complete," GrayMatter's intelligent mind reasoned.
"Stand still and die!" Alex shouted again. He resorted back into human, and immediately tried to change back into his vampiric form.
"Now's my chance," Ben shouted. With a little effort, he focused on another form. Without the flash of light, the parts of GrayMatter melted away, being replaced with pale white skin and fangs in his mouth.
Gwen stumbled along the tunnel, Lynn's arm over her shoulder, and blood spilling from multiple cuts. She'd used her magic to try to slow the bleeding, and cover the wounds, but it was still bad. And Lynn, despite how much pain she should have been in, was just barely holding on. Finally, they began ascending up to the tunnel's entrance. Suddenly, a shot rang out. Whoever was at the entrance was not too excited about getting visitors.
"Don't fire!" Gwen shouted. "I've got an injured PLUMMER!" Only a moment of silence passed before one of the guards shouted back.
"Bring her up here!" The agent said. "We've called for a transport!" Gwen took a breath and moved up the tunnel, to see two PLUMMER agents standing there. Upon seeing her, or more accurately, Lynn, both of them came running down to help Gwen to evacuate her.
"What happened?" The female agent asked.
"Not sure, but Alex attacked her," Gwen said. "I've gotta go back down there!"
"Good luck," the other agent said. "We're pulling more bodies out than ones we're trying to take down. We've got to take Lynn to the hospital, but more PLUMMERs are on their way. Stay a minute until they get here." Gwen shook her head.
"No can do. Send them down the moment they get here. But I'm going to save my friend!" She stood up and charged back down the tunnel, back towards Alex's lair.
"QuickBite!" Ben shouted. Just as Alex was finishing his own transformation, Ben rushed him, punching him powerfully with his knuckles. Alex went flying across the cavern. However, Ben was still part Accelerate, and he used his speed to zoom past Alex, and catch him in his hand. Ben slammed Alex into the ground, and punched his face, and then again, and again.
Alex took the beating, too stunned or in too much pain to focus on finishing his transformation. Ben picked up the kid and threw him into the ceiling, watching the guy fall back down, landing on the hard floor.
"You bombed my house!" Ben wailed on Alex.
"You hurt my parents!" Ben punched him again. "You killed Lukas!" Ben slammed his fists into Alex, who was now in a crater in the ground. Ben picked Alex up, pulling him close enough to glare at him in the eyes.
"Family is off limits. Do what you want to me. But if you want to stay alive, do not come after my family. I will not leave you breathing next time." With that, Ben slammed Alex back into the floor. Letting go, he heard Alex groan in pain, resorting back from his vampire form into his human one. Ben heard someone run into the room, and he spun around to see who it was. Lucky Girl stood there, shocked by the scene she saw.
"Ben? Are you alright?" She cautiously asked. Ben nodded his head and pressed the badge on his shoulder. At first, nothing happened. However, Ben felt exhaustion pour over his body again, and his vampiric traits seemed to melt off of him, returning him into being Accelerate again. He slapped the Omnitrix badge again, and in a green flash of light, he was in his human form again.
"I guess that it's not permanent," Ben sighed, more relief flooding his mind than the obvious amounts he showed. He looked down at Alex, who still had a look of shock and pain plastered over his face.
"Remember what I said?" Ben asked him, looking down into the crater. Slowly and painfully, Alex nodded his head, a whisper of pain escaping his lips. "Good. See that you remember it." Ben stepped away from the crater. However, his knees buckled underneath him, and he stumbled. Gwen quickly rushed forward, catching him before he face planted.
"You don't look so good," she muttered.
"I don't feel so good," he replied. Gwen couldn't help a smile from cracking over her face.
"Doofus," she chuckled. She laid him down on the ground, trying to help him be as comfortable as he could be. Then she sat down beside him.
"So, what now?" She asked. "The rest of the team is busy. We can't just leave Alex down here."
"You kids take a breather," a strong masculine voice said from the entrance to the cavern. Gwen spun her head around, spotting Agent 10 standing there. He was quickly flanked by additional agents. "We'll take it from here." Gwen smiled, recognizing the PLUMMER agent that they'd worked with the most over the years.
"Thanks," she said. She stood up and helped Ben to his feet. She slung his arm over her neck and helped him walk towards the exit.
"We should be thanking you two," Agent 10 said. Several PLUMMER agents ran over to the crater, spotting Alex still lying in the middle of it. He was still groaning in pain. "It turns out that the whole plan failed miserably, and it's only because you took Alex on alone that we're able to lock him up."
"Where are you sending him?" Ben asked, however, it sounded more like a groan of pain.
"To a pocket dimension, called the Null Void," Agent 10 said. "It'll keep him out of trouble, at least for Earth." Ben nodded. They continued their way up and out of the cavern. By the time they had emerged from the closet entrance, Ben had regained most of his strength back.
"Thanks for coming back," he muttered to Gwen. She nodded.
"What are friends for?" Ben smiled at her response.
"I guess that we'd better get back to the garage," he said. "Do you think you can teleport us?" Gwen nodded.
"It'll take me a minute to cast the spell, but it's no problem."
A/N:
That's it for the chapter. What did you think? Alex is finally defeated and headed off to the Null Void. But is this the last time we see of him? Anyone have any idea who is the other villain that's coming up soon? Got any critiques or projections? You know what to do! And don't forget to favorite and follow the story! Thanks for reading, and have an awesome day!
Review Responses:
Debaruncy12: Dude, another cool chapter. The Bwen pairing is really turning out to be good. And man, is Ben mature... He never really broke down, either after Lukas' death or now... If only Derrick J. Wyatt learned from you... Hope the final fight comes soon... Holding my breath for it... Kudos!
Hey, dude! Thanks for the compliment! It's crazy to be compared to Derrick J. Wyatt, but thank you! I wouldn't say that I'm anywhere close to big leaguers like Wyatt or McDuffie, but I'm so appreciative of the attention these chronicles are getting! I hope you enjoyed Ben's show-down with Alex!
Amanny: Amazing chapter! I'm glad Ben and Gwen have finally talked to each other and are now friends. I say they're desicion will last one year. PLUMMERs and Team Ultra 10 are only tolerating each other to capture Alex, but I feel like they can work this out.
Thanks for the review, Amanny! Yeah, the PLUMMERs and Team Ultra aren't exactly best buds, but things can only get better from here, right? (Snickering...) Ultimately, they will learn to trust each other, but it's going to take some time, and some ups and downs.
uchihaNaruto247: It's great to see an update from you again man. Nice little scene with Cooper going out of his way to drive Ben, it's him either subconsciously or consciously going out of his comfort zone even more in order to support the team.
Glad that Ben and Gwen are now officially friends, how long they'll just be friends? Idk, but it'll be interesting to see how things turn out. I think this situation will smooth out the situation between team ULTRA and the PLUMBERS, they'll see how well they work together. Or at least I hope so. It wouldn't be good for Ben to make enemies with them at all, he'd have to watch his back every minute or something.
Hey, Uchiha! Glad that you enjoyed the last chapter! I hope this one did not disappoint! As for Cooper, I was't sure if anyone was going to catch onto that little detail, so good job! Yes, Cooper is learning to trust his friends more than before, and putting himself out on the line for them is definitely a part of that! Fortunately, (or unfortunately, however you see it,) this upcoming arc is going to really stretch Cooper, as well as the rest of the team, nearly to the breaking point, and their friendship is going to be essential to get through it!
As for the PLUMMERs, like I said to Amanny, there's a lot of trust and heartbreak coming up before the PLUMMERs and Team Ultra are going to be able to fully trust each other. But more than that, and I'm going to have to keep my lips sealed! Thanks for the review!