Welcome back, Ultras to the Ultra 10 Chronicles! This week is Halloween, and (completely coincidentally) this chapter is going to be a little bit of a horror chapter. Nothing too bad, but it is darker than most chapters. So just a little warning for you!

Trigger warnings that apply to this chapter is several accounts of choice language, as well as some horror and gore. The horror is towards the end of the chapter, but starts after the paragraph which reads, "Now it is time..." and continues for the rest of the chapter. (Though there isn't as much horror after nineteen paragraphs.) The starts in the paragraph which reads, "You must give the gift..." and continues for the next six paragraphs.

The first instance of choice language is in the paragraph which reads, "Why do I always have to do the..." The second instance is in the paragraph which reads, "If they want revenge on Ultra 10..." The third instance is in the paragraph which reads, "So I did promise you money..." The fourth instance is in the paragraph after the one which reads, "Now it is time..." The fifth is in the paragraph which after the one which reads, "I said get lost!" And the last two instances are in the last paragraph of the chapter.

I think that the song, "Where Evil Grows" by the Poppy Family is a fitting soundtrack for the chapter. Kind of a creepy, malevolent feeling. You can listen to it on youtube.

Enjoy the chapter!

The Ultra 10 Chronicles: Volume 2: A Hero Earth Needs

Chapter 56: Unwelcome Guests Part 1

The streets of Bellwood

Neb walked with purpose through the night. As the sun had dropped below the horizon, a thick layer of clouds had covered the sky, and it was just now starting to rain. By the looks of it, it was going to be a pretty heavy storm. But he'd learned long ago not to care. The weather would be what it was, there was no changing it. You just had to adapt to the conditions you were presented with.

"Adapt and survive," Neb mumbled to himself as he made his way through the city streets towards the suburbs, all the while checking the street signs to make sure that this reality still resembled his own. So far, it all seemed to match up. Finally, he turned down a street, one that felt so familiar, it was almost creepy. To feel that he'd grown up living on this street, and yet know that this was the first time he'd ever set eyes on it.

"There it is," Neb mumbled as he came on the Tennyson house. He looked at the broken, destroyed, neglected house. "So it happened in this reality too." Neb slowly walked up the driveway, stepping into the house through the destroyed kitchen wall.

It looked so similar, yet there were differences. The color of the paint on the walls for one. The pictures that had hung on the walls, now crushed on the floor. They were different too. Memories from someone that was him, and yet, so very different too. Neb shook his head, reminding himself to stay focused as he walked further into the house and up to his bedroom.

Opening it, he saw a bedroom that was familiar to him. The messy bed in the corner, now covered in ash and dust. Piles of discarded comic books and knick knacks in messy piles all around. Neb made his way over to the bed, and peered under it. Seeing a box, he pulled it out and peered inside.

Some of the contents were eerily familiar to the box of souvenirs he'd kept from his own summer trips with Grandpa Xam. A bottle of his favorite fun spray he'd used to relentlessly torture his dweeb of a cousin. A flyer from a karate convention they'd attended. A Sumo Slammer figure of Kenko he'd won in an arcade. Other items too. Too many to have all been collected over one summer trip.

"I must have been adding to the box over the years," Neb said. "And not all from my summer trip with Newg and Grandpa." He saw a folded-up picture in the corner that caught his eye. Setting the box down on the bed, he pulled out the picture and unfolded it to see. It was a picture from several years back. It was him standing next to another kid. The kid was the same age as he was when the picture was taken, and they looked like they had been friends. But that wasn't what was bothering Neb so much.

"I'm wearing the watch," Neb observed. "So it must have been within the last few years… But who is that?" Neb scrunched his eyes as he peered intensely at the photo, like he could simply will the information on the tip of his tongue to manifest itself into existence. But, no matter how he racked his brain, he simply couldn't find the information he was looking for. Still, he could feel that he was supposed to know who this was.

Frustrated, Neb blew out his breath as he folded the picture up again and placed it into his pocket. He was going to remember eventually who that kid was, and then he'd remember why he was so important. Neb glanced around the room, looking for any other clues into his counterpart's life. However, nothing else stood out to him. Raising his wrist up, he activated the Omnitrix. Slamming down on the face plate, he exploded in a green flash of light. In an instant, he remerged as StinkFly.

"Let's see where my counterpart is," he mumbled to himself in StinkFly's nasally voice as he started spraying the stinky goo all around the room. Walking his way out of the room, he continued spraying the hallways and every room until the entire inside was covered with a thick layer of the stuff. Palming the badge on his chest, he transformed again. In a moment, he was changed into HeatBlast. Snapping his fingers, a single flame lit up on his fingertips. He waited a moment to watch the little flame flicker.

"One little spark can start a forest fire," he muttered to himself, a reminder of the caution Xam hat told him four years ago on their first camping trip of the summer. The little flame fell from his hand, igniting the mess of goo that was sprayed all over the floor and walls. Quickly, the flame grew, growing in heat as it multiplied in size. Within seconds, the flames had spread all around him, licking at the walls as it filled the air with thick, black, acidic smoke.

Taking his leave, Neb walked calmly towards the exit, flames parading him the entire way. As he stepped out of the kitchen onto the yard, he looked back up at the house, watching the flames flickering as they reached the upper floor and burned out of the windows. Distantly, Neb heard the wail of a fire engine. Pressing his badge, Neb returned to his human form as he dashed across the street to watch the show.

A team of fire fighters scrambled out of their truck, turning on the hose and watching it quickly fill with a powerful jet of water. However, StinkFly's goo was oily, and continued to burn despite the fire fighters' best efforts. Within a few minutes, the entire house was engulfed in flames and was coming down. The firefighters had resigned the building to its fate, now simply trying to stop the fire from spreading to the nearby houses.

"Finally!" Neb exclaimed as he saw two armored beings flying through the sky towards the scene. They touched down not far from the fire engine, and Neb seized on his opportunity.

"…Do we know who started the fire?" One of the two asked. The fire fighter they were standing next to shook his head.

"No idea, we just got a call from a neighbor when she saw that it was burning," he replied. "When we got here, there was nobody around the house, and we haven't seen any gas cans or anything inside the house. Whoever started it, they're probably long gone by now…" Neb activated the Omnitrix again, appearing as GrayMatter. Using the alien's small size and quick movement, he snuck up behind the nearest one of the heroes and threw a small tracker onto their suit.

"Thank you Xam for the bugs," Neb whispered as he retreated back into the bushes. A couple of minutes later, the fire died down in the house, in no small part due to StinkFly's goo being burned away. Cops pulled up in their patrol cars to govern the chaos, while everyone else left, including his two super-heroes.

In a flash of red light, he returned again to his human form and walked casually down the street, back towards the convenience store. It had by now began to rain heavily, and thunder occasionally boomed in the distance. After some time walking, Neb came upon the store. Strolling inside, he noticed that both Newg and Xam were inside, eating more of the food that lined much of the shelving.

"Glad to see you here," Neb greeted his grandfather. "I trust that the peasant told you that I would be back?" Xam nodded.

"I see that you've already made yourselves comfortable here," the old man responded. "Wherever here is."

"It certainly isn't a computer simulation," Neb replied. "I visited my counterpart's house just now. His past is similar, but quite different than mine. A computer simulation would have just used my memories rather than come up with something so different."

"So that rules out the Immortal Knights," Xam replied back. "Do you think that we somehow were transferred into a parallel dimension?"

"That's what I think," Neb answered. "However, I still can't tell if our doubles were sent back to take our places, or if we simply were pulled over here."

"Remember that soldier that looked like Nroht?" Newg spoke up. "He made me think that we just got pulled over to their reality. Otherwise, he'd be gone too." Xam nodded.

"Then we'd better find where they are at, and avoid interacting with them," he said. "Doing so would be the fastest way of exposing ourselves as trans-dimensional travelers. And any chance we'd have of getting back home would quickly diminish."

"What happened to Nroht?" Neb asked.

"He took off soon after we landed," Xam answered. "I don't like working with him any longer than we've paid him for. He becomes unreliable very quickly."

"He knows that you're the brains around here," Neb replied. "If he's got any chance of getting back, it'd be through working with you. I don't think that we've got too much to worry about him. He may be no ally, but he's no threat either. You're too valuable." Out of the back, Mot stepped into the main room.

"Excuse me, but it is getting late. This is the time that I usually close my store," he offered weakly. "Of course, you may stay as long as you want, but I should keep to my routine if you want to avoid arousing suspicion."

"Who do you have waiting on you at home?" Newg asked him directly.

"I-I live alone," he responded. "No one but my cat."

"Very good," Neb said. "Take us to your house. We will spend the night there." Mot nodded, heading back into the store office to lock up the place.

Earlier that evening

Thanks for the ride, Max," Cooper thanked the old PLUMMER agent again as the Rust Bucket landed.

"I am just grateful that Vilgax is finally gone for good," Max replied. "We couldn't have done it without your team." Outside, the ramp extended, and the door tried to open up. Sam turned the handle on it, but the stubborn door would not budge.

"It's been acting on the fritz ever since that shock wave hit it," Max apologized. He stood up from his seat and made his way to the door, shoving his weight against it. Finally, it popped open.

"You guys go see how Ultra 10 and Lucky Girl are doing," Max told them. "That girl on your comm link sounded like she was under some serious stress." Cooper nodded, the back of Morph's armor forming into his jetpack. In an instant, both he and Sam were airborne, heading to where Julie had told him that they were. After a few minutes of flying, they landed.

"Thank goodness that you're finally here," Julie greeted them urgently. "Ben's been hit by some shrapnel pretty badly. Gwen and I have pulled them all out, but we need your NanoMech to close up some of the damage to his insides."

"The Mech should already be doing that," Cooper replied confused. "In fact, his cuts should have stopped bleeding by now." Morph's armor peeled away from him, leaving an empty armor suit standing at attention as Cooper walked towards Ben. His eyes lit up blue as he tried to connect to the NanoMech.

"I'm not able to connect to his mech," Cooper said, confused. "It's there, I can feel it. But it feels completely foreign to me."

"What do you mean, foreign?" Gwen accused. "It's your technology!"

"That's what is confusing me," Cooper answered. "I should have no problem connecting to them. But they just aren't responding. It's almost like they're dead or something. I can sense them, but they just aren't responding to me. I'm going to try another frequency…" A few moments passed by in silence.

"No, they're still not responding. Julie, you're going to have to fix him up yourself, I'm afraid that I'm of no use here," Cooper said dejectedly.

"I'm fine…" Ben tried to say, but it ended in a wet cough.

"That's the sound of you slowly drowning in your own blood," Julie told him. "Your lung was hit with one of those shrapnel bits. And I need to patch you up before you drown."

"Perhaps I could help?" Gwen offered. "There are loads of healing spells in my book, I'd just need to find the right one."

"Except that the last time you used your magic to heal, it nearly killed you too," Maddie cut in. "Or was I told wrong about that time Ben was shot?"

"She's right," Sam answered. "We can't risk you going unconscious on top of him."

"That was years ago," Gwen argued. "I'm a lot better of a spell caster then I was back then! I can do it!"

"What do you think, Ben?" Cooper asked the teenager still lying on his side on the cot.

"I trust-" Ben coughed again before steading his breath. "I trust her…"

"Alright, but stop yourself if you feel lightheaded," Julie cautioned her. "If I have to operate on Ben, I can't attend to you if your unconscious." Gwen nodded, taking off her black cat mask so that she could concentrate better.

"Sarcio," Gwen commanded as she pressed her hand to the biggest cut going through Ben's back. A warm light emanated from her hand. She could feel the soft, creamy feel of the healing magic seeping into Ben's body. Like warm, morning sun rays pouring over the beach on a cold morning, the healing magic seemed to breathe health back into Ben's injured frame. But it came at a cost.

"But magic has rules and limitations," a voice in Gwen's mind reminded her. "Before you cast a spell, you need the stamina to withstand the spell's effect. Some spells will leave you weakened. Other spells can cause a rash, or other side effect. But other spells, if you cast them before you're ready, will drain your pool of mana, and kill you."

"I am ready," Gwen grit to herself. "I can withstand its effect!" Despite her protesting, she still felt her strength draining rapidly from her. Letting go of Ben, she took an uneasy step back.

"Woah," she muttered. Stumbling back again, she bumped into Maddi's wheelchair.

"Easy!" Maddi cautioned her as she steadied Gwen with her hands. As soon as Maddi touched Gwen, she felt a renewal of energy course through her, almost as if Maddi had given her some more energy. It was only very slight, but it was enough for Gwen to notice it.

"You alright?" Cooper asked as Julie inspected the cut Gwen had been covering with her hands. Gwen nodded her head.

"Yeah, I think so. It was a little more draining than I thought is all," she replied.

"Ben's injury looks tons better," Julie announced. "It looks like it has already scabbed over."

"Ugh," Ben groaned. "Whatever that was, can I get another hit of it?"

"Probably not today," Julie answered. A mischievous smile grew across her face as she glanced over to Gwen. "Your crush is a bit exhausted from it." A full-on smile broke over Julie's face, as a teasing aura replaced the tense one that had been lingering only moments before.

"It was only one kiss, alright?" Ben objected loudly, earning another groan of pain from the effort.

"Why did you have to bring that up again?" Gwen asked, her cheeks going as red as her hair. Their mutual embarrassment earning a laugh from both Julie and Cooper.

"Wait, what did I miss?" Sam asked confused. His cluelessness earned an even louder burst of laughter from Julie and Cooper, with even Maddi joining in.

"You guys are the worst!" Ben objected, rolling over onto his back so that he could address the group of them better. "Here I am, lying on my death bed, and you all continue to make fun of me for a mistake I made one time!"

"You're such a drama queen!" Julie shot back. "Gwen just healed you! You'll be fine!" Gwen wasn't sure if it was the bit of energy she'd gotten from Maddi, or if it was because Vilgax was finally gone, or if it was something to do with the magic. But whatever it was, she decided to go against her better judgment, and join in on the fun, if only to make fun of her cousin.

"Oh, so kissing me was a mistake, was it?" She feigned insult.

"Well I didn't know it was you," Ben stumbled over his words, finally looking over at her. His face was nearly as red as hers was, if not even more red.

"But if you did know it was her," Julie prodded. "Then it wouldn't have been a mistake?" At the realization, Ben's face flushed an even darker red.

"Uh… No!" He answered quickly. "That's not what I meant!"

"I'm still confused as to what happened here?" Sam cut in, leading to another bout of laughter from everyone in the room. After a few moments, the laughter died down.

"Well, I guess that we'd better get some rest," Cooper said, breaking the silence.

"Is no one going to tell me what happened?" Sam asked.

"Trust me, Sam," Ben remarked. "You don't want to know about the details…" Just then, a police report came in through Julie's laptop.

"Looks like there's a fire," Julie assessed. "We'd better send someone to check it out."

"Come on, Sam," Cooper gestured towards the teen. "You and I can go check it out. I can let you in on the secret along the way…"

"Uh, no!" Ben protested. "Don't let him in on the secret along the way!"

"Why, Ben?" Gwen asked in a sing-song voice. "Are you embarrassed of what happened?" Her remark earned her a chuckle from Julie and Maddi.

"Umm… Well, I'm surprised that you're not embarrassed to have kissed a total doofus!" He shot her. That stopped Gwen in her tracks.

"Oh, he got you good!" Maddi chuckled.

"Well, I…" Gwen stumbled. "I thought you were a superhero!"

"I am a superhero," Ben smugly replied. "But that doesn't make me not a doofus! And you still haven't denied it!" Gwen just about reached over to slap that smug grin off of his face.

"If Julie weren't still fixing you up, I'd slap that smile off of your face!" Gwen shouted, still with a jovial tone behind the outrage.

"Alright, you two," Julie finally broke them up. "Let's contact Ellie, and then get some sleep. It's getting late."

"Alright," the two would-be twins said at the same time, finally letting the topic go. Julie activated her comm link.

"Ellie, are you there?" She asked into the device. "We're alright after the fight with the squid. Just trying to check in with you."

"Yeah, I hear you," Ellie's voice sounded over the comm link. "Just got Bree back to PLUMMER Headquarters and to their medical bay."

"How is she?" Julie asked through the comm link.

"She's going to be alright," Ellie answered. "She was pretty hurt when I found her in Vilgax's throne room. But the PLUMMERs that took her said that there's no doubt about her making it."

"And what about the PLUMMERs?" Julie asked. "How are they?"

"Not trying to kill us, if that's what you're asking," Ellie answered. "They just about all look up to Max. And if we're cool with him, then we're cool with them. At least for the time being."

"That's a relief to hear," Julie replied back. "I hated us fighting them."

"I'm going to go visit Bree for a bit," Ellie said. "I'll be sure to call you first thing tomorrow."

"Talk to you tomorrow then," Julie ended the communication.

Mot's convenience store, several days later

"The other day when I investigated my counterpart's house, I ran across this picture," Neb pulled the crumpled up picture out of his pocket and handed it to Xam. He, Newg and Xam were in the office in the back of Mot's store having a meeting.

"What about it?" Xam asked, studying the image. "It looks like one of your counterpart's friends…"

"Do you know who the other guy is?" Neb asked.

"No, I don't recognize him at all," Xam responded, handing the picture back to Neb and leaning back against the wall.

"I can't get it out of my head that I'm supposed to know him," Neb replied. "And yet, I don't know who he is either."

"He does look familiar," Newg cut in. "Maybe he just has one of those faces?"

"No, that's not it either," Neb said. "He's someone important to my counterpart. And yet, he wasn't on Vilgax's ship with the rest of my counterpart's team when we showed up here." Neb sighed annoyed. "I just can't shake this feeling of deja vous."

"Well, what else have you found out about our counterparts?" Xam asked, changing the subject.

"I seem to be some sort of a superhero, along with Newg," Neb replied. "I was able to put one of your trackers on a couple of their team members, though it wasn't on my counterpart, nor on Newg's."

"What did you find from that?" Newg asked. Neb pressed a button on his Omnitrix, which opened up a holographic image of the city. With his free hand, Neb pointed to a building that was in the eastern half of the city.

"This is where they seem to hang around a lot," Neb explained. "It could be their base of operations."

"You don't know?" Xam asked. Neb shook his head.

"Not for sure," Neb answered. "I haven't wanted to risk it with my counterpart running around there. I could run into him and blow our cover here." Neb closed the holographic projection and looked directly at his grandpa.

"That's why I'm telling you this. I need you to check it out. As far as I've been able to tell, your counterpart is not closely affiliated with the supers. You could check it out, and no one would be the wiser."

"Why do I always have to do the shitty jobs?" Xam asked.

"Because I am the leader of the Syndicate," Neb answered. "So you do what I tell you to do." Xam sighed.

"Fine," he said with an edge in his voice. "But when we get back to our own dimension, I want full control of the FIXERs. None of your overseeing over the organization."

"It's a deal," Neb agreed. "But until we get back, you do as I say." Xam nodded.

"I'll scope it out tonight, after dark." Mot came over from behind the counter.

"What are you planning to do to your counterparts?" He asked timidly.

"I haven't decided yet," Neb responded. "They'll have to be taken out of the scene sooner than later, but we can't play our cards too soon." He breathed a thoughtful breath before continuing.

"Mot, you and Newg will go downtown tonight and look for some trouble," Neb finally decided. "Tell whatever low-lifes you come across that there's a new player in town. Someone who will take this Ultra 10 off the streets. I'm sure they'll want in on taking down the punk who's been scaring them straight for years now."

"And how are you going to do that?" Mot asked.

"If they want revenge on Ultra 10, the PLUMMERs, Hell, even the cops, then tell them to be at Ross Park at midnight," Neb replied. "And I will give them the tools to take over the city."

"And if they think you're full of crap? Or just not interested?" Mot asked.

"Tell them to come anyway," Neb answered. "Tell them that I'll be walking around alone with ten million dollars." Mot nodded.

"As you command, sir," he said. With that, Neb stood up from his chair and walked out of the office in the back of the convenience store, heading for the front door. Raising his wrist, he activated the Omnitrix, exploding in a flash of green light. In an instant, he was JetRay.

"Remember, midnight at Ross Park," he called back over his shoulder. With a flap of his wings, he was airborne, and soaring up into the sky. He flapped again, traveling incredibly fast as he zoomed over the buildings. He was going to have to pull off his bank heist far away from Bellwood. He still couldn't risk drawing the attention of Ultra 10, or his team of superheroes.

"Fort Knox, here I come," he muttered to himself.

Several hours later, outside of Fort Knox

Neb landed several buildings over from the massive complex that was Fort Knox. Palming the Omnitrix badge on his chest, he transformed into another alien, one that would be able to get inside and out with relative ease. In a flash of light, he was BigChill.

"Time for the heist," Neb said to himself. Using his intangibility, Neb floated through the building, passing guards and security cameras with indifferent ease. Finally, he came on the main vault. Passing into the gigantic safe, he saw the store of gold, silver and platinum bullion. There was also large pallets of bills waiting to be packaged and sent to dozens of banks across the nation. By the door, there were two heavily armed soldiers who looked like they meant business.

"Hey dudes," Neb said as he became visible again. "You guys need to chill out!" With that, he blew his icy breath on them, freezing them amid their shock at seeing him literally visualize in front of them. In an instant, both men were frozen solid, a thick layer of ice encasing them. With a smile, Neb pushed over one of the soldiers, hearing the ice-bound soldier shatter on the concrete floor.

With a flap of his phantom wings, Neb flew over to the pallet of bills and breathed on them, freezing them into one giant ice cube. Picking it up, Neb immediately heard an alarm go off. Glancing around, he saw a security camera in the corner of the room. Dropping the frozen cash back onto the pallet, he formed an icicle in his hand and threw it at the security camera, destroying it. However, the alarm had already gone off, and he could hear the distant shouting of guards outside the safe.

Picking up the frozen cash again, Neb became intangible again, this time with the cash, and sank down through the floor, just as the safe door swung open and a dozen heavily armed guards stormed in. Chuckling to himself, Neb reached up and touched the surface of the floor above him, spreading ice out all across it. He could feel the ice contacting their combat boots and freezing them in place instantly. Sure it'd give them nothing more than frostbite in their feet, but Neb relished in hearing their surprised cries turn into painful shouts.

Floating out of the complex, Neb continued to cary the cash until he was a good distance away from the complex before he became tangible again. He was going to have to let his Omnitrix recharge before he could make the trip back to Bellwood, especially if he was going to cary the cash the entire way. He decided to use his watch again, transforming into WildVine and growing a protective seed pod around the cash. Reverting back into his human form, Neb sat down under the nearest tree, listening to the sirens blaring in the distance.

"What a beautiful sound that is," Neb said to himself. "Too bad I can't be closer to hear it clearer…"

Later that night, back in Bellwood

Neb made his way towards Ross Park. Setting down the seed pod full of cash, he landed in the park, and detransformed from JetRay.

"Late, as usual," Newg remarked as she walked up to him, Mot trailing behind.

"Do you know how far Fort Knox is?" Neb shot back.

"There's a dozen banks around here you could have hit," Newg fired right back. "Why did you have to choose Fort Knox?"

"Reason number one, it was far away from Ultra 10. Reason number two, I wanted to test this world's technology. And it was pathetically primitive," Neb responded.

"Yo, who 'dis fool?" An angry voice burst out from behind Newg. "You said we'd get some serious chunk of change! So where's the cash?" Neb peered past Newg at the small rabble of gangsters and thugs that had been brought by the promise of easy money.

"So I did promise you money," Neb responded. "And here it is!" With that, he picked up a stick and gave the seed pod a hard whack, cracking the shell. Hundreds of bills spilled from the inside.

"Yo, he ain't trippin'!" The guy shouted as they ran towards the cash. Neb smiled as he activated the Omnitrix, cycling through the different forms he had until he came on one that he rarely used. Slamming down the faceplate, he exploded again in a flash of green light. Using his demonic powers, Neb rose into the air.

"Now it is time to feast!" Whampire said as he flew at the nearest thug who was still engrossed in grabbing up the cash. Grabbing his chest, his claws digging into the man's skin, Neb lifted him into the air.

"Hey, what the hell are you?" The now terrified thug cried. His scream startled the other thugs, who glanced up at what was happening.

"I am your worst nightmare!" Neb shouted as he dug his fangs into the man's neck.

"What is that?" One guy screamed. Neb dropped the lifeless corpse he'd just drained onto the pile of cash, terrifying the group. The man's lifeless face stared up at them, a look of terror still emblazoned on his face. Almost at once, the group tried to scatter, nearly tripping over each other as they scrambled to get away.

"Immobilus!" Newg shouted, paralyzing their legs in place.

Terrified, Mot watched as Whampire made his way around the group, feasting on their blood one at a time while the remainder screamed for help or tried to beg to be spared.

Feeling that his feet had not been bound by Newg's spell, Mot carefully stepped back, trying not to draw attention to himself.

"This is like something out of a horror show," he whispered to himself. Taking another sep back, he bumped into something. No, someone. Slowly turning his head, he saw Newg.

"No, not from a horror show," she whispered. "From your nightmares." She grabbed his wrists, keeping him from running as Neb finished the last of the group. Wiping the last bit of blood from his fangs, he approached Mot and Newg.

"Please! Please, don't kill me," Mot pleaded as Neb strode closer. "I've done everything you've asked of me!" Neb came close to his face, close enough for him to smell the blood on Neb's breath. He raised a clawed hand up to Mot's face, Mot turning his face to the side in terror, expecting to die any minute. But Neb just ran his bloody hand down the side of his face, savoring his terror.

"It is true, you've served me well," Neb said maliciously. "And for that, you have my gratitude. But you must do one final task for me."

"W-what is it?" Mot whimpered. Behind him, the first victim of Neb's feast rose to his feet, his previously dark skin now pale white. Slowly, the other victims started to rise, also pale white, with blood stains still on their necks.

"You must give the gift of life to my new army," Neb said. "Then they will obey me." With that, Newg let go of Mot's wrists. Mot looked at Neb confused.

"What?" He whimpered. But Neb quickly grabbed his shirt and threw him at the group of vampires.

"Taste of human blood, my soldiers!" Neb shouted as they attacked the old man. "Become mine, and mine alone!" Mot screamed as the vampires tore into him, splattering his blood on the grass. In only a matter of moments, he was silent as the horde continued to bite and tare at him.

"Now I have my army," Neb gloated as Newg smiled at him. He turned to address his followers. "We will keep your numbers small, for the time being. No hunting. If we are to hope to take down my counterpart, then we must be organized and disciplined. We will keep our little group of heroes so busy with criminal activity that they won't even know that we're here until it is too late. Now, go home and wait for my summons." The group dispersed, leaving only a mangled bloody corpse behind as what was left of Mot.

"What a waste," Neb said, looking at him. "He's probably too far gone for his body to heal." With that, Neb transformed into FourArms and picked up the cash, bringing it with him and Newg, back to Mot's convenience store.

Several minutes after they'd left, the flesh slowly began to grow back over Mot's mutilated body. Slowly, the exposed bones grew flesh, which sealed up his chest, and eventually formed skin over top. Almost an hour after Neb had left, Mot's eyes flickered open. His skin had grown back pale white and he looked emaciated, like a walking skeleton. Stumbling around, he made his way out of the park and down the street. In the distance, he saw a circus tent. One that had come into town during Vilgax's invasion.

Coming around the back of the tent, he saw a clown sitting on a box, looking like he was preparing for the show. He seemed to catch a glimpse of someone approaching him.

"Sorry, buddy, but I'm not interest in whatever drug you're selling," the clown said, not looking up from tying his oversized shoes. "I don't have any money for you, and even if I did, my act is up in just a couple of minutes." Ignoring him, Mot stumbled forward, closer to the clown. He could smell the blood pulsing through his veins. His heartbeat pounded in his ears. It was already driving him insane with thirst.

"I said get lost!" The clown finally looked at Mot, annoyance in his eyes. Finally coming into the relative light from the tent, he saw Mot and screamed in fright. Mot fell on him, trying to bite him. His teeth scraped the clown's neck, and he could feel the warm blood for an instant before the clown shoved him away.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" He cried indignantly. Mot tried again to bite at him, but the clown punched him in his gut hard, sending Mot to the dirt. Mot licked his teeth, where a single drop of blood had remained.

"What is your problem?" The clown asked, pulling out his silk handkerchief to wipe away at the cut. From inside the tent, the announcer began talking.

"And now for the greatest clown this side of silly! The Crowned Prince of Chuckles! The rib tickler himself! Tony Zamboni the Clown!" The clown frowned, annoyed at Mot before turning and rushing into the tent to preform his act.

"If you love laughter, then this is the place to be!" He shouted. "You know, my teachers always said I would never amount to anything more than a class clown… But now I'm a classy clown!" He whipped out a bouquet of flowers from his sleeve, and took a bow, much to the laughter of the audience.

"And if you thought that was good, wait until you see what else I have up my sleeves!" Zomboni shouted as he rolled up his sleeves, showing his bare arms. With a flick of his wrist, the flowers disappeared in a puff of smoke and confetti.

Outside, Mot felt more vigor enter his emaciated body as he stood up on his feet. Along with the strength, a foreign fury overcame him.

"I am going to kill that little bastard!" He muttered to himself. "And his little bitch too!" He stumbled his way back towards his convenience store, back towards where he knew Neb would still be.

A/N:

Alright, that'll do for the chapter. What were your thoughts about it? What is Neb and Newg planning? What is going to happen to poor Mot? Neb is already proving to be a serious threat, and the team isn't even aware of them yet. But that is going to quickly change. Any theories on why Cooper couldn't connect technopathically to his NanoMech inside of Ben? Any other ideas, thoughts, questions or critiques? You know what to do! I look forward to your feedback!

Thanks for reading! Have yourselves a spooky, but fun Halloween, and I'll talk to y'all soon!

Review Responses:

Ushindi: Sorry for not review previous chapter, I was pretty busy with my life. Neb, Newg, Xam and Nroht are very interesting and different. For now they will try to know more about this dimension they are in and if they do like it they might stay. Also seems to me Neb isn't a good hero considering how he threatened and is insulting Tom who is now Mot.

I uploaded twice in a week, so don't even worry about it! Yes, there are several things that are very different in Neb's dimension. It's not quite a mirror dimension, nor is it an opposite one. For one, they use Denarii rather than dollars. For others, the PLUMMERs are called the FIXERs. And, as we saw briefly in this chapter, Lukas never existed, at least, not in relation to Neb. Although there's some kind of cross-dimensional static that is affecting how Neb feels about him. Thanks for the review!

Kingpizzathe3: Visitors from the multiverse sounds interesting. As always I am looking forward to the next chapter.

Thanks, Kingpizzathe3! I hope you enjoyed the chapter! More fast paced chapters incoming!

yraj2004: Ah, the dimensional numb-chucks... Just a question, does Neb have the same Aliens as Ben?

Thanks for the review! For the most part, yes. However, in the original ten, Neb never had GhostFreak, as his species doesn't exist in Neb's dimension. In replacement, he has SpiderMonkey. But, other than that, yes.