Welcome to The Ultra 10 Chronicles, Chapter 60: An Old Enemy! Crazy to think that it's been sixty chapters since this story began! As it sits, we're approaching about fifty percent of my original plot, but I've been adding a lot to it since then, so the story still has a lot to tell! And I am so appreciative of all the attention and following that it's gained since it began!
Trigger warnings: There are several instances of choice language in this chapter, as well as some violence. The first instance of language is in the paragraph which reads, "I don't want to fight you..." The second instance is in the paragraph which reads, "Then how did I escape?" THe third instance is in the paragraph following the one which reads, "Ugh, what did they hit me with?" The fourth instance is in the paragraph which reads, "So what about jumpsuit guy over there?" The fifth instance of choice language is in the paragraph which reads, "I'll even take finding a way..." The sixth instance is in the next paragraph, which reads, "We can probably fit..." The seventh instance is in the paragraph following the one which reads, "Obscurus! The Gwen lookalike said..."
The violent situation is where a character gets shot, though it's not too very graphic. It's in the paragraph which begins with, "Take this! The officer he'd left on the floor shouted..." There is a second instance of someone getting shot, though it's even less graphic than the first one. It's in the paragraph which begins with, "That's it! Frida pulled her pistol..."
No soundtrack for this chapter. Just couldn't find a song that really fit the chapter. So that's that.
Enjoy the chapter!
The Ultra 10 Chronicles: Volume 2: A Hero Earth Needs
Chapter 60: An Old Enemy
"Kevin!" Ben shouted, instantly raising his arm again to activate the Omnitrix.
"I said that you don't want to use that watch," Kevin cautioned, taking a step into the darkness.
"Yeah, so that I can't kick your butt again?" Ben challenged. "I'm sure you don't want me to use it! You may have had the better hand then, but I'm much more powerful now!"
"Yeah, I don't want you to use it," Kevin fired back. "And neither do I want to give you another scar." That stopped Ben for a split second. Instantly, the memory flashed through his head, how it had felt feeling the electricity burning its way through his flesh. The rough, calloused scar that still spiderwebbed across his shoulder. And for a moment, Ben felt fear.
Not the fear he felt when watching a scary movie, or the fear he'd felt when he'd fallen from The Spirit Breaker. No, this fear was dread. He dreaded another fight with Kevin, if only because he'd come so close to losing then. Actually losing. And if it hadn't been for the PLUMMERs. For his Grandpa Max. The briefest moment of fear caused Ben to lower his arm slightly. But Kevin saw it, and he reacted to it.
"I don't want to fight you," Kevin said, taking a slight step towards Ben and out of the shadows. "And I don't want to touch that damn watch of yours." His words hit Ben like a two by four.
"Why would you not want it," Ben asked cautiously. "You were all over it last time I saw you… What changed?"
"It's a long story," Kevin breathed out, taking another slight step towards Ben. However, he brought his wrist back up, his off hand hovering over the dial.
"Make it short," Ben said bluntly. "Or I'll make this even shorter." Kevin took a slight step backward before nodding cautiously.
"You probably remember me as a power-crazied bully," Kevin started.
"You were always a power-crazed bully," Ben corrected. "It just got worse after your went insane on that rampage of yours." At hearing the words, a visible grimace spread across Kevin's face, even if he tried to suppress it.
"Fair point," Kevin admitted. "But while I was in the void, I learned that all of that was just a reaction I had to that energy. You see, I can absorb energy, but at a cost to my mind. When I got a taste of that watch's energy, it drove me insane, and I craved more… Something that I didn't have in the void."
"So you're a saint now?" Ben scoffed sarcastically. "I don't buy it. You were a bully before I even got the watch."
"I didn't know the effects of my abilities until I was in the void," Kevin explained. "Even before I touched your watch, I was still stealing energy from every lightbulb or battery I sucked from. It still drove me insane, just not anywhere near as insane as when I zapped your watch." Kevin nodded towards Ben's watch, which he'd rested at his side again.
"The void had no electricity, so my battery ran dry pretty quick, and I could see how much of an absolute jerk I'd been, that I have always been," Kevin let that hang in the air for a moment to let it sink in. "But it's like a drug, I crave the energy. If you used that watch near me, I don't know if I could resist… It's too powerful, too tempting. I might give in, and go insane again. And I hate that version of me."
"What makes you think that I would believe you?" Ben contested.
"Because you're a hero," Kevin shot back with a sly grin. "And that's what heroes do. They help people."
"I think that you're beyond help," Ben replied. "You're a criminal, who deserves to spend the rest of his life in the Null Void!"
"Then at least listen to what I have to say first," Kevin said. "Some guy that has a vendetta with you busted me out of the void."
"I'm done with this," Ben shot back. "I'm putting you back in the Null Void. The easy way, or the hard way!"
"And he busted out some shape changer named Alex as well," Kevin said. Again, Ben froze.
"You're lying," Ben said forcefully. "There's no way that Alex has escaped. The PLUMMERs are the only ones that can access that dimension!"
"Then how did I escape?" Kevin shot back. "I'm telling you, man that someone broke us both out, and they're hellbent on killing you!"
"Even if I believed you," Ben replied. "Why would you help me? You said it yourself, I'd better remember my enemies…"
"Because as much as I hate you," Kevin responded. "I know that I deserved to get thrown into that void. And now that I'm out of there, I don't want to make the same stupid mistakes that got me thrown in there to begin with." He stepped forward, extending his arm out to Ben. "So allow me to do something good for once, and let me help you take them down." Ben eyed his hand cautiously before eventually shaking his hand.
"The moment I see you take a step out of line," Ben began.
"You'll send me back to the void," Kevin finished. "The hard way, yeah, I get it, Tennyson."
"So what can you tell me about this guy who broke you out?" Ben asked as the two teenagers turned to make their way back towards the gas station.
"He looks like you, like exactly like you. And there were two of them," Kevin replied. "Some girl with him with burning red hair that could cast magic."
"Are you trying to say that Lucky Girl and I broke you out of the Null Void, teamed up with Alex to kill ourselves?" Ben scoffed sarcastically.
"I'm just telling you what I saw," Kevin said. "I don't really understand it all myself. But I think that we've got a city in chaos to address first." Ben and to give him that.
"Alright, we're taking the patients back to Bellwood Psychiatric Hospital, you remember where that is?" Ben asked, getting down to business.
"I think so," Kevin nodded.
"Take them there, and drop them in the lobby. I've got people to take it from there. And no killing," Ben instructed him.
"Who do you think I am, some murderer?" Kevin asked. "I told you, I'm trying to do things different this time around!"
"Yeah, I'll believe it when I see it," Ben bit back. With that, Kevin ran off into the dark of the streets, leaving Ben alone as he came on were he had left his father. He was still unconscious on the pavement, though a black eye had sprung up around his left eye. Ben activated the Omnitrix, disappearing in a flash of emerald light.
"StinkFly!" Ben shouted as he emerged from the light as the Lepidopterran. He sprayed goo from his eyes, encasing Carl in a cocoon of the sticky stuff. Then, taking off into the sky, he carried Carl back towards the hospital.
"I hope he's not hurt too badly," Ellie commented when she saw Ben drop Carl off in the lobby.
"He'll be fine," Ben breathed out. "He had a gun, so there wasn't much of a choice about knocking him out. But that's not the worst of it." Ellie turned her attention to Ben.
"If my source is to be believed, and I'm still not sure he can be," Ben remarked. "Then Alex is back out of the Null Void. And he's teamed up with some folks that look like Lucky Girl and I."
"How is that possible?" Ellie asked, to which Ben only shrugged his insect shoulders.
"Until we find out more about these two mystery folks, we've got to check who each other are before we let our guard down. Ask me or Gwen something that only the real one knows."
"Like what?" Ellie replied. "We don't know what other versions of you know?"
"Then it'll have to be something recent, like a code word," Ben answered. He looked around for an idea. "Mine will be 'hospital.' You'll have to come up with one for Gwen when you see her next. But I've got to go find Julie and let her in the know."
"Why not use the communicators?" Ellie asked.
"Our doubles could have access to them, we don't know. They could be aliens, or a result of magic or something," he said. "The safest way is to tell them in person." With that, he took off into the sky. "Our Gwen should still be bringing in patients, but we can't afford to simply assume that is the case. Make sure she's the real one before you talk to her." With that, he disappeared into the night sky.
Ellie worked to peel the sticky goo off of Carl in order to get him moved into one of the cells. Making her way back towards the lobby, she heard a voice come over her comm link.
"Hey, Ellie, I've got another patient for you," Gwen's voice came over the communicator's speaker.
"Wait a moment in the lobby for me," Ellie answered. Then, after a moment to think about it, "Just to make sure that they don't get loose again."
"Alright, I'm waiting," Gwen responded, prompting Ellie to hurry back to the lobby. As soon as she entered the room, she saw Lucky Girl standing over two scared-looking residents.
"Think that you can handle it from here?" Gwen asked, to which Ellie nodded.
"Answer a question for me," she asked. "What class did I meet you in?"
"What?" Gwen blurted out, completely thrown off by the question.
"What class in school did I meet you in?" Ellie asked again, her voice slightly wavering.
"Ellie, we don't have time for nonsense trivia," Gwen replied. "I've got to get back out there."
"Just answer the question," Ellie raised her voice, making it clear how serious she was. "Please…" Gwen sighed.
"It was in karate class, remember?" Gwen answered. Then, she got a concerned look on her face. "You do remember, right? You didn't hit your head or loose your memory or something, right?" Ellie sighed in relief at the confirmation.
"Yeah, I remember," she admitted. "But I got some problematic news from Ben." At the mention of her cousin, Gwen got a flash of fierceness in her eyes.
"Where is he? Is he alright?" She said quickly, her voice raised almost into a shout.
"He's fine, but our problems keep getting worse and worse tonight," Ellie explained. "It seems that Alex Animal is back from the Null Void, and he's teamed up with a look-alike to you and Ben. Which is why the questions, I had to make sure that it was actually you." At the explanation, Gwen relaxed slightly, though the look of concern on her face only grew deeper.
"Ben didn't know if they have access to our communicators, but after Alex Animal, it probably isn't long before they get access either way. So he said that we should probably come up with a code word to be able to tell the difference between you and Ben from them." Gwen nodded.
"Makes sense," she said. "Alright then, my code word is going to be 'rose.'" Gwen looked at Ellie before saying the next thought on her mind. "Did Ben say how he came across this information?"
"He said that someone told him, but he didn't say who, just that he might not be able to be trusted fully," Ellie supplied.
"I'll have to ask him when I see him next," Gwen sighed. "He might know where our doubles can be found, and what exactly their motivations are. Thanks, Ellie." Ellie nodded, taking the two patients from Gwen.
"Julie did say a few minutes ago that the PLUMMERs are finally back on the streets to help us, as well as Cooper and Sam. So it shouldn't be too much longer before the city is back under control."
Just outside Zombozo's circus trailer
Zombozo made his way out of the circus tent and back towards his trailer. He was quite angry, as the show had been canceled tonight due to a jailbreak from some psychiatric hospital in town.
"Too dangerous, they say," Zombozo complained as he walked across the parking lot. "People could get hurt, they say! What about my dinner?" At that moment, Zombozo saw the flashing lights of two police cars parked in front of his trailer. Grumbling to himself, he made his way up to the trailer.
"What's the big deal, blocking off my trailer like this?" Zombozo shouted as he approached, intentionally causing a ruckus. In front of him, there were two police officers, and a man in a jumpsuit of some kind. The first officer was a large, strong-built man with wide shoulders and a buzzed head. He looked like he could win just about any fight he came across without even breaking a sweat.
The other officer was a slender woman with her frizzy hair in braids. If the first officer was the muscle, then she looked to be the brains. The other man looked like some blue-collar worker of some sort, like an electrician or a garbage man. He was lengthy and thin, but not entirely unintelligent looking. He had a few strands of black hair that still covered his head in a greasy comb-over.
"That's the guy," the third guy in a jumpsuit said upon seeing Zombozo. "That's the guy I saw haul off the bag of ashes. Took it out of the trailer and right to the dumpster and threw it in, all the while talking to it, or himself."
"What is this bozo on about?" Zombozo asked the two cops, gesturing to the third man. "And why are you all in my trailer?"
"This trailer is now the scene of a crime," the male officer said, matter-of-factly. "And you're our primary suspect."
"What are you talking about?" Zombozo questioned.
"Mr. Fenton here says that he saw you discard a trash-bag full of ash this evening," the female officer explained. "Said that you were acting rather odd about it. When he called in, we thought that you might be one of the escaped psychiatric patients from Bellwood Psychiatric."
"Well I'm not from there," Zombozo explained. "I travel with the circus here."
"Well, we checked the trash bin anyway, and found human ash in the bag Mr. Fenton claimed to see you throw away. Which means that we're taking you in for questioning," the male officer grunted, pulling out his handcuffs. "You can come down to the station the easy way, or the hard way."
"This is ridiculous," Zombozo protested, shoving his way between the female officer and Mr. Fenton, trying to get to his door.
"The hard way it is, then," the male officer said as he slammed Zombozo into the thin trailer door, breaking it open. Zombozo fell onto the ground with the officer on top of him. As they landed, a small cloud of the ash was kicked up into the air, making them all cough.
"Get off of me!" Zombozo shouted as he rolled over and attempted to shove the officer off of him. If it weren't for the ash that made him cough, Zombozo wouldn't have had a chance against him. Grabbing a handful of the ash, Zombozo threw it into the faces of the two officers and the other man.
"Agh!" They all shouted as they fell back, trying to rub it from their eyes or coughing from it.
"I'll show you what happens when someone messes with me!" Zombozo shouted as he spun around the male officer, placing his lips at the base of his skull and inhaling deeply. The officer seemed to fold in on himself as his life drained from him. His skin turned pale white as he withered. But Zombozo had to stop before he was finished with him. Otherwise, the other two individuals might recover from the ash.
Standing up, he grabbed the female officer by the neck, and did the same to Mr. Fenton, lifting them both into the air by their necks. Inhaling deeply, he began to suck their life energies from them, watching them struggle as their skin turned pale white and their bodies withered, just like the other officer before them. With each moment, Zombozo could feel their spirits nourishing him, filling him with strength and vitality.
"Take this!" The officer he'd left on the floor shouted as he unholstered his gun and shot at Zombozo's head. The bullet passed through his head, stopping him from continuing. Zombozo dropped the two people he'd been feasting on and slumped to the ground, unconscious. The officer holding the gun in his trembling hands saw that his partner and Mr. Fenton didn't get up off of the floor, or even cough. They looked to all the world to be dead. And he didn't feel much more alive.
It was all he could muster to unholster his pistol and fire it. It was exhausting, like he had been drained of all of his energy. Dropping the pistol, he quickly fell unconscious as well.
Several minutes later, Zombozo opened his eyes. He was lying on the floor of his trailer, and his head hurt incredibly bad.
"Ugh, what did they hit me with?" Zombozo asked to no one in particular. As he sat up. He reached up to his head, feeling the hole where the bullet had passed through. "The fool actually shot me!" He looked at the unmoving officer that had shot him, his pistol only inches away from his face where he'd dropped it.
"Stupid piece of shit!" Zombozo shouted as he kicked him hard in the belly.
"Ugh!" The officer grunted in response.
"Ah, you're still alive," Zombozo acknowledged. "I was so full from you and your friends, that I couldn't even smell the life still left inside of you!" He picked the officer up by the hair, holding him at arm's length.
"Agh," the officer grunted, grabbing for Zombozo's hand. He scratched and tried to make Zombozo let go, but to no avail. "Please! Let me go!"
"Now why would I let a tasty snack like you go, hmm?" Zombozo asked, savoring in the man's fear. He brought the officer's head close to him, smelling him deeply to savor the scent.
"Yuck!" Zombozo exclaimed, thrusting the officer away, being echoed by the officer's sudden grunts of pain. "You smell dead already!" He threw the officer away, slamming him into the far wall of the trailer. "Perhaps your friends will smell more alive…" Zombozo stepped closer to the female officer, picking her up by her braided hair and giving her a sniff. After a similar reaction, he smelled Mr. Fenton, not even bothering on picking him up.
"All of you! You smell like you're dead already! I can't devour such a disgusting meal!" Zombozo shouted. "You're all of no use to me! Out!"
"You did this to us," the officer said, finally standing up from where he'd been thrown by Zombozo. "You turned us into freaks!"
"If you ask me, you were already freaks," Zombozo muttered. "Now you just look like ones. Now away with you!"
"We can't go out like this," the female officer growled angrily. "They'll shoot us before they even look at us!"
"What do you want me to do about it?" Zombozo grumbled. "If you'd just let me finish, you'd all be dead right now, and you wouldn't have to worry about people shooting at you… unlike myself!"
"You're coming with us," the officer commanded, picking up his pistol. "And you're going to stick with us until we find a way to look normal again!"
"Or what, you'll shoot me?" Zombozo laughed. "Wrong-o! You already tried that, and it didn't work! We got ourselves a real thumb-skull over here!"
"It may not kill you," he replied, aiming the pistol squarely at Zombozo's forehead. "But how would you like to feel that pain every waking moment?" That made Zombozo gulp.
"Alright, alright, you've made your point," Zombozo relented. "Now put the gun down before you hurt somebody." He brushed the pistol away. After a moment of hesitance, the officer holstered his gun.
"So what about jumpsuit guy over there?" Zombozo asked, jabbing a thumb at the third pale-skinned being that was still on the floor. "You and Miss Dreadlocks over there are staying around, but can we find somewhere to dump his useless ass?"
"He stays with us," the female officer said without a hint of humor in her voice. "And if you call me that again, I'll shoot you myself. My name's Wiggins! Frida Wiggins!"
"Ooo," Zombozo remarked. "Frightful Wiggins… Oh, I know! FrightWig! You know, because of her hair!"
"That's it," Frida pulled her pistol out and pointed it at Zombozo's head. "Say goodnight!" With a bang, Zombozo slumped to the floor.
"Careful of where you shoot that thing, Wiggins!" The other officer shouted.
"Take it easy, it wasn't even pointed at you," she said as she holstered the pistol again. "If it gives me a few minutes of reprieve from his mouth going on and on, then it was well worth it." She looked down at the other man still on the floor.
"What do we do with Mr. Fenton?" She asked.
"He stays with us," her partner said. "Until we can find a way to get changed back to normal."
"I'll even take finding a way to get rid of this clown-shit, Zombozo," Frida remarked.
"We can probably fit that in," he said. "No one's going to miss this son-of-a-bitch anyway."
"Oh wow!" Zombozo exclaimed as he stood up off of the floor. "We are definitely going to have to work on your attitude if we are going to be best buddies!"
"Keep your mouth shut, and we won't have a problem," Frida threatened him again.
"Is it just me, or does she wear the pants in this partnership, ThumbSkull?" Zombozo muttered to the other officer. "Kidding! I'm only kidding… mostly. But that's neither here nor there! You two must be starving! And I can only imagine that our little friend on the ground there is hungry too! Pick him up, ThumbSkull, dinner is on me!"
"What do you mean, dinner?" Frida asked him.
"I mean to eat, Toots," Zombozo replied as ThumbSkull picked up Mr. Fenton. "You see, we're sort of like vampires. Not the kind with a Romanian accent that sucks blood all day and says, 'Blah, blah blah,' no, I'm some kind of an emotional vampire, and you three are now like me! So let's go find someone having the time of their lives, and suck them dry!"
"You're delusional," ThumbSkull replied.
"Oh, that's hurtful," Zombozo faked injury. "Insane, maybe, but not delusional. I can assure you that I am more lucid than I have ever been! Now I'm going to eat wether you're coming or not." He turned to head out the door. "Healing myself from being shot twice has really drained me!"
"We're the ones calling the shots around here," Wiggins breathed out. "We'll decide whether or not we eat."
"Well I'm eating, and you can shoot me if you want," Zombozo glanced over his shoulder at her. "Whoops, you already did that, didn't you?" Then with a cackle, he continued his way out of the trailer.
"Oh, and ThumbSkull? It would probably be easier if you woke up Putrid-smell. He's been awake for a while now, he's just been waiting for us to leave." At that, Mr. Fenton dropped the act, standing up on his own.
"How did you know?" He asked.
"Call it a killer sense of intuition," Zombozo called out. "Now are you coming or not?" Frida looked at her partner, who shrugged.
"I guess that we'll follow him," she said. "At least for the time being." He nodded, and the three freaks followed Zombozo out into the night.
Suburbs of Bellwood, near to Cooper's house, several hours later
Cooper flew over the city, the dawn already breaking over the city. It had been an exhausting night, and the entire team was exhausted. Julie had warned him about what Ben and Gwen's possible doubles, and he was going to need some of his old tools if he was going to find a way to track them down.
Landing just outside his old house, he walked up the driveway, noticing the obvious lack of care that the last few months had wrought on the neighborhood. Most of the people had simply crammed into their cars and taken off, looking for a safer city to live in. The few people who hadn't had boarded up their houses, turning them into makeshift bunkers. Although there were still police, and it was getting safer and safer every day, it still hadn't done much to coax people into living like they had before Vilgax had shown up.
"Well, safer every day, until last night," Cooper thought to himself, even though the crisis had passed. With help from the police and the PLUMMERs, all of the psychiatric patients had been rounded up and taken back to the hospital. And the police had reestablished order over the other random acts of chaos that had erupted. Fire, burglary, or just general lawless action. But they hadn't been able to find either Alex Animal or the supposed doppelgängers. But that didn't mean that they weren't taking the possibility seriously.
Cooper reached for the door leading into his garage, noticing that the sensor didn't go off. Either it's back-up battery had finally run dry, or because it had been tampered with. Instantly cautious, he slowly cracked the door open slightly. There was a light on inside, as well as the sound of movement. Someone was inside his garage, going through all of his high-tech equipment. And whoever it was, it was a serious threat.
"Doc, this is Morph," Cooper whispered into his communicator. "Someone has broken into my garage, and has access to my tech."
"I'll send Sam and Ellie your way," Julie replied. "Don't do anything rash." Cooper ended the communication, and cracked the door open a little more, just enough to peer inside. But he couldn't see anyone inside, nor could he hear anything. Cautiously, he cracked the door open a little more to see the inside of the garage a little more, taking a step closer into the room.
"Pyro!" A female shouted, a fireball slamming into Cooper from his blindspot. His armor protected him from the flames, but the force of the fireball sent him down on his butt. A flash of green light briefly lit up the dim garage. When it was gone, a figure that Cooper recognized stood before him.
"Ben, it's me!" Cooper shouted before WildVine threw his seedpods at him, exploding when they landed all around him.
"I'm not Ben!" WildVine shouted through the explosion. Gwen, who was standing next to WildVine, stretched forth her hands, which were glowing with mana.
"Immobilus!" She shouted, freezing Cooper's suit in place. Cooper struggled against the spell, his suit's NanoMech straining to move against her mana.
"Stop it!" He shouted, "We're friends!" Then it dawned on him what Ben had said. He wasn't Ben.
"The lookalikes!" He grunted, still trying to fight against Gwen's spell.
"They already know about us?" The one that looked like Ben said out loud. "Then we can't risk letting him go!"
"He could have useful information for us," the Gwen lookalike remarked. "We should take him with us." The Ben lookalike shook his head.
"No, he'd just be another liability. We got the information here that we need. We should dispose of him."
"But Neb," she protested, before Neb raised his hand to silence her.
"Don't try me," he warned her. "My plan has been going smoothly, and I don't need you to screw it up now!" The distraction briefly weakened the spell binding him, and Cooper instantly jumped on it. Powering up and firing his wrist cannons, he finally felt the spell break.
"Gah!" Cooper shouted as he broke his bands. The strain of the spell breaking made the Gwen lookalike fall on the floor, overwhelmed from the strain.
"You're the lookalikes we've been searching for!" Cooper shouted as he fired his energy cannons at WildVine. The energy bolts dissipated on WildVine's vine-like skin, sending electric currants coursing over his body. Neb shouted in pain, writhing from the electric shock.
"Taste your own medicine!" The Gwen lookalike shouted as she stood up from the floor. "Fulmen!" At her word, an electric bolt arced from her fingertips through the air and into Cooper's chest, instantly damaging his NanoMech. They fizzed and sparked as Cooper collapsed on the floor, the stiffness of the seizing mech making it all but impossible for him to move for a moment.
"Let's get out of here!" Neb shouted as the two made their way past Cooper, and out the door. But as they crossed the threshold, Cooper's NanoMech began to respond again.
"Get back here!" He shouted as he climbed to his feet.
"Obscurus!" The Gwen lookalike said, causing both her and WildVine to vanish. Cooper lost sight of them, as he stumbled out of the door. The dim light from the smoke-filled dawn cast a hazy glare that worked even more to their escape. Cooper knew that he'd lost them.
"Damn it!" He shouted in frustration. He activated the comm link built into his gauntlet. "Julie, I ran into Ben and Gwen's lookalikes. They were in my garage going through my stuff. They jumped me and escaped."
"Are you alright?" Julie's worried voice asked.
"Yeah," Cooper breathed out. "My suit probably needs some extensive repairs though, and my garage isn't safe to even visit anymore. We need to move everything onto The Spirit-Breaker and have that be the new base."
"Are the PLUMMERs going to let us do that?" Julie asked.
"If they have a problem with it, they're going to have to live with it," Cooper replied. "They've got their secretive bases, and we need one that we can be safe in. I don't really see any other options."
"I'll bring it up for a vote for the team to decide," Julie replied. "But I think that you're right. My place has been attacked, your place has been attacked, Ben's place has been attacked. We need somewhere we can set up our base."
A/N:
That's it for the chapter. What were your thoughts? Several chapters ago, when Tony Zamboni found the green slime, it was indeed the slime from Vilgax's medical pod that he was using to heal himself of his injuries. Its properties, designed for Vilgax's physiology, partially healed both Tony and his brother after being infected with the vampire bite, but also mutated their DNA. And, as we see in this chapter, that mutated DNA is what is making Zombozo and the Circus Freak Trio so different from Whampire. But, that aside, what did you think of the Circus Freak Trio's origin? How about Kevin's story of redemption, is he lying to avoid fighting Ben, or is he sincere about wanting to do good? What do you think that Neb and Newg were doing in Cooper's garage? Their confrontation is coming up, and it's going to be a brutal fight. Neb, Newg, Xam and Alex on one side, and Team Ultra on the other. Is Kevin going to help, or is he going to sit on the sidelines and watch? Or perhaps he's going to try to use the opportunity to disappear, and avoid possibly getting sent back to the Null Void but the PLUMMERs? Let me know your theories in a review, and don't forget to favorite and follow while you're at it!
Thanks for reading, and have an awesome day!
Review Responses:
Kingpizzathe3: I enjoyed the chapter and although shit hit the fan in your life, you made an effort and posted a good chapter, and that is worth bonus points in my book. So thanks for the chapter and good luck with life.
Thanks for the review, and the well wishes, Kingpizzathe3! Sometimes I wonder how often people read the chapter headings, as I mostly feel like it's the same stuff every chapter. I think that my life is starting to calm down again, so I hope to continue posting quality chapters every Monday.
Ushindi: I'm quite surprised Neb and Newg broke out Alex, but it's a good surprise so I'm excited for Ben vs Alex rematch. Kevin will definitely resist his urge to get more and more energy, he might be an anti-hero like you said. If he wasn't, he would have accepted Neb's offer to kill Ben. At this rate if the voice keeps on bugging him, then he will snap like a wild animal.
Oh, someone's been tying together certain trends in the chapters! That is an excellent projection, and if that's not the whole pie, then you definitely got a big piece of it! Yeah, Ben is beginning to hit his breaking point with the voice in his head, his violence, and what he is feeling is the futurity of fighting. Let's see what he decides to do about it!
As for Neb's team, he's learned quite a few lessons in his own dimension, and he is playing extremely cautiously. But he is ultimately still a version of Ben, who is on occasion rash and overconfident. So we shall see the fight in either this next chapter, or the one after it! Thanks for the review!