Nightmare in Paradise, part II
Ben
"Whoa, whoa, we don't want any trouble," Molly said. She discreetly turned on her communicator device to let Director Steel know what was happening. But the spider-gorilla noticed that, grabbed the device and smashed it.
"Weapons," The gorilla said in a firm voice. The team had no choice other than to hand over their weapons. Ben's watch was on red, they were outnumbered and tired after the fight against the giant shark-worm. Besides, they couldn't escape running through the forest - at least not without risking an attack from another monster.
"Look, we don't want a fight with your people," Molly said. "We're only here looking for… Humans like me… Who are being held prisoner by Vilgaxians… Guys who look like him." She pointed to Tomyx. "We don't want to-"
"Go with us," a spider-orangutan interrupted her.
Some of the spider-gorillas gestured so they could get on their backs. "If you try hurt us, we kill you," one of them said.
The team complied, and, on the back of the spider-apes, Ben, Lucky Girl, Max, Tomyx, Molly and Elliot swung from webs through the jungle.
"This would actually be a fun ride," Ben thought, "If I knew for sure these spider-apes aren't going to kill us later." Exploring a lost island, and finding spider-like apes that could talk… It was one of those things that is both extremely exciting and dangerous at the same time.
He looked at Lucky Girl. She was riding a smaller ape and was a few feet ahead of him. Her dark hair blew behind her. She looked back at him and their eyes met. She looked worried and nervous. Ben wanted to wrap her in a hug and whisper, 'it'll be okay,' until she calmed down; he wanted her but he knew he couldn't have her because she had chosen someone else.
Sometime later, they arrived in what was probably the spider-apes' "city" in the heart of the forest. If there were no spider -apes present there, anyone would say that it was a playground of gigantic proportion for children, with very pretty and rustic tree houses, and rope bridges with wooden planks linking one place to another. The only thing that was sticking out on the environment was a large concrete and metal edifice that could be seen in the center of the city.
As they crossed the city, still riding on the apes, they received a lot of looks from many spider-chimpanzees, orangutans and gorillas from their houses. The younger ones - the kid apes - looked curious with their presence, but the older ones seemed to be frightened of them.
The apes took the agents to a tree house that was bigger than the rest. Sitting on a large wooden chair that resembled a throne and surrounded by a small army of spider-apes in a defensive stance, there was a tall and imposing dark-blue furred spider-gorilla - Ben deduced he was the king of the spider-apes. What really got Ben worried though was the man - no, alien - at the right side of the king.
"Bazard!" Tomyx shouted in surprise. Bazard was an old Vilgaxian, and although skinny and short, he seemed to be a treacherous and cunning individual. He was accompanied by two 'bodyguards' - Vilgaxian soldiers carrying heavy guns.
"Do you see, King Harpor," Bazard said dramatically, while the tentacles on his chin were shaking in excitement, "The threat I have been warning you about is at hand! The humans are coming for you and your people. And they seek to destroy you..."
"That is a lie!" Grandpa Max shouted.
"You can't fool us, human!" Bazard shouted. "Your ships are just waiting nearby. Our spy-drone saw it, just like it saw your team in the jungle."
A small metal object with the shape of a classic UFO flew into King Harpor's 'throne room', and projected images of S.E.C.T's air fleet on the wall of the treehouse.
"No, we are not here to attack apes. We just want to rescue the innocent humans being kept on this island," Molly said. "Which this guy and his fellow Vilgaxians kidnapped." she pointed to Bazard.
"Fortunately, King Harpor knows better than to listen to you, humans." Bazard smirked. "When my fellow Vilgaxians and I arrived here, humans were doing terrible experiments with the apes. But us, Vilgaxians, saved them and freed them. Every ape here knows the Vilgaxians are their friends, and the humans are their enemies."
King Harpor nodded in agreement. "Humans hurt apes. Apes owe freedom to squid-people."
"So listen to me, then," Tomyx said, "I'm a squid-person too and I can tell, Bazard is only using you. He might have freed you, but I have no doubt he will make your people slaves again to serve his master, a megalomaniac tyrant named Vilgax."
"I really wish I could say to you, King Harpor, that we Vilgaxians are all kind and trustworthy, but that's not true. Some of us - like this one called Tomyx - have been led astray. But I'm sure that once we return him to his father - which he disrespectfully called a 'megalomaniac tyrant' - he will be disciplined." Bazard rubbed his hands together.
Molly, Elliot, Lucky Girl and Grandpa Max all looked at Tomyx with shock on their faces. Ben was the only one who already knew that fact.
"Vilgax is your father?" Elliot asked.
The young Vilgaxian remained silent, ashamed of himself.
"Do you see that, King Harpor? Tomyx lies even to his friends. It's obvious that his word can't be trusted," Bazard said.
"They are yours," King Harpor said, indicating that Bazard could deal with the S.E.C.T. team the way he wanted. Ben swallowed nervously. Whatever this Vilgaxian had planned for them, it probably wasn't good.
Bazard quickly grabbed Lucky Girl's arm. Ben began to dial his watch in anger. He wasn't going to let that filthy alien touch his partner, and he didn't care if he had to fight his way through hundreds of spider-apes, Vilgaxians and shark-worms, but Molly stopped him.
"No, Ben," she whispered, "We would die fighting them now. Let them take us to where they're keeping the hostages, and then when they're distracted we find a way to escape."
Bazard put something that resembled a metal dog-collar on Lucky Girl's neck.
"This one is an Anodite, King Harpor. These iron restraints will stop her from using her magical powers from now on."
Then Bazard approached Ben. "And this one is in possession of a dangerous device known as the Omnitrix." He put a bracelet on Ben's left arm and the watch went red immediately. "But it won't be a problem anymore."
Ben growled. He was so mad at Bazard, but agent Molly Gunther was right. Fighting at that moment would only get them killed. The safest thing to do would be trying to escape later, or wait for Director Steel and his troops to come rescue them.
"And this one…" Bazard walked towards Tomyx, "Is a very powerful Vilgaxian indeed, but unlike his father Lord Vilgax, Tomyx doesn't have cybernetic implants to leave him completely independent of water. If he stays a long time without being hydrated, his great strength and powers will fade. He just needs to be thrown in a hot cell."
Then Bazard walked in circles around Max, Molly and Elliot. "And these three are just weak humans, harmless without their weapons." Then he stopped. "King Harpor, can your apes help me escort them to the tower?"
"Yes." King Harpor replied, and gestured for his army to follow Bazard.
Inside the concrete building - the only structure on the island that wasn't built on top of trees with wood - Ben realized there were actually very few Vilgaxians there, twenty at most. The spider-apes on that island were hundreds, and if the team could somehow convince them that the Vilgaxians were just using them, it wouldn't be hard to defeat the aliens.
Elliot and Molly were thrown in a normal cell, Tomyx was thrown in a cell with a device that looked like a heater, but much bigger, and Lucky Girl was put in a different cell that resembled a rustic bedroom. Max and Ben, however, weren't put in a cell. They were left 'free', but with the Vilgaxian soldiers pointing their guns straight at them.
Bazard then addressed the spider-apes, "Thank you very much. We will take it from here."
The apes left the building, and then Bazard turned to talk to Max and Ben with a smirk, "There's someone here who wants to see you two."
Being escorted now only by the Vilgaxian soldiers, Ben and Max walked to the end of a corridor into an elevator. The elevator went down instead of up, and soon they saw themselves in an underground laboratory. And surprisingly, there were human scientists walking around the lab.
"So, I'm guessing you good-hearted Vilgaxians didn't exactly free the spider-apes from the humans that were experimenting on them…" Max said with disgust in his voice.
"More like they bought them from me." A man walked towards Max. His long sideburns, badly shaved beard and grim eyes made him look insane, although he was dressed like a scientist. Ben couldn't tell whether he was an old man or not, his receding hairline and long white hair were signs of an aged man, but he looked as strong as any young man. His pale - almost green ish - skin and the yellow sclerae in his eyes made Ben wonder if that man was doing experiments on himself as well… "Hello, Tennyson."
"Animo!" Max growled, his face mask of recognition and anger.
"Doctor Animo for you." He replied, smirking. "Long time no see."
"You know him, gran- Agent Tennyson?" Ben asked, reminding himself that he was Watch Boy, Max's coworker, not Benjamin Tennyson, Max's grandson.
"Yes, he's the definition of mad scientist. He did all sort of illegal experiments on humans and animals alike, with total disregard for life. S.E.C.T. has been after him for years." Then Max addressed Animo again, "I always knew you were insane, Animo, but not dumb. Now you are Vilgax's lackey?"
"I'm nobody's lackey, Tennyson. The Vilgaxians are my sponsors, helping me to do my 'art' with their advanced technology and providing me plenty of test subjects." Animo pointed to other cells in back of the lab, the innocent people that Eric Edwards - and other human followers of Vilgax - had been kidnapping were being held there. "My new friends are helping me achieve huge breakthroughs."
"They are trying to take over the world! This is your world too!" Max shouted.
"A world that labeled me a criminal and never recognized my genius! If the Vilgaxians do take over the world, at least they will get rid of S.E.C.T. and I won't have to worry about being hunted by the likes of you ever again!" Dr. Animo growled.
"S.E.C.T. is coming here. This will end badly for all of you," Max said, looking at Animo, Bazard and the Vilgaxian soldiers.
"I hope your friends rush to your rescue, agent," Bazard said with a dark grin. "Why do you think we told our human collaborators about this island? We have been expecting a visit from S.E.C.T for some time now. Dr. Animo's Root Sharks and Arachnichimps will give them our regards."
"You're going to use Animo's creations to fight your war for you," Max realized their plan.
"Yes, indeed. The Vilgaxian army can rest while S.E.C.T take huge losses." Bazard said. "We will leave S.E.C.T.'s troops for our pets to deal with. Of course, we're ready to leave here as soon as they arrive."
Ben realized that's why there were so few Vilgaxians there… The island WAS a trap.
"I asked them to bring you to me for a reason, Tennyson…" Animo then punched Max in the face. "Ah, I feel so much better now. You can take him back to his cell, for him to hear the screams of his friends being butchered by my creations. That's the best punishment I can think of."
"You son of a…" Then Max stopped, looking at Ben. He always had taught Ben not to swear and he wasn't going to swear in front of him, even in this sort of situation.
Two Vilgaxian soldiers took Max back to the elevator. But two others kept holding Ben there.
"And now you, boy, the Vilgaxians were kind enough to provide me their research on the Omnitrix, and I have been developing a machine to harness its power for some time. Now, I will finally be able to use it." Animo suddenly laughed maniacally. He really was a mad scientist.
Ben was taken to a 'room' that looked like a big and dark lair, and he was attached to some weird machine. Ben heard a strange but familiar noise, and realized there was a shark-worm - the thing Animo called a root shark - crawling in the ground, not very distant from them.
"There is one of those creatures here!" Ben shouted, "It's going to kill us!"
"Don't worry, boy, I have telepathic control over it," Animo said, grinning. "Well, actually, do worry. But not about my pet."
Animo turned on the machine, and Ben felt a huge pain throughout his entire body. It was like a knife had pierced through his body. Swarms and waves of electricity vibrated through him and his snow-like hair stood up above his head. His vision went black for a while before he opened his eyes again. The pain was increasing horribly. An ear-splitting scream escaped his throat and Animo laughed in the pleasure of seeing the young boy suffer.
There was some kind of laser cannon connected to the machine Ben was attached to. It turned on, lighting up the room, and it fired an energy beam that directly hit the root shark nearby. Wrapped around a bright green light, the shark-worm started to grow in size . . . until it was ten times bigger than before.
Dr. Animo laughed maniacally again, "Meet the ULTIMATE Root Shark!"
Ben was almost unconscious with all the pain, but looked at Animo's new creation in pure horror. If Director Steel and his troops were to try to invade the island, that hideous beast would certainly kill dozens of good agents. Maybe even Steel.
"Can you make more of it?" Bazard asked, rubbing his hands together in glee. His spy-drone flew around the lair, capturing images of the gigantic creature.
"Unfortunately, not today. Not that I care about him, but the boy can't take this anymore. And since you told me the watch and the wielder are fused and trying to remove the watch using brute force might damage it, we will have to wait until he's recovered to do it again. But I'm sure I will find a way to safely take the watch off the kid eventually and we won't have this problem anymore."
Ben had no doubt that the 'safe' way Dr. Animo was speaking of was meant to be safe to guarantee the watch's integrity, not safe for Ben's health.
Two Vilgaxians soldiers carried Ben - literally carried, since Ben could barely walk - back to the elevator and then to a cell. At least, the cell was actually more like a bedroom, with beds, water, and a bathroom - although Ben was sure the comfort was not out of concern for him, but to guarantee a better recovery so they could use him for more sinister experiments later. Lucky Girl was there too, which brought a weak smile to Ben's face - but also an intense worry. That cell-bedroom could be the place they were keeping their 'special test subjects'... that could mean they would eventually try to harness Lucky Girl's magic in the same painful way they were harnessing Ben's watch's power...
"You will stay here for now, but if S.E.C.T. arrives, we will leave," Bazard said, as his soldiers brought Ben into the cell-bedroom.
"BEN!" Lucky Girl screamed, horrified at his weakened state, "What did you do to him, you monster?!" She shouted in anger and tried to attack Bazard, but without her powers, she was easily contained by the Vilgaxian soldiers.
"Nothing that we aren't planning on doing to you too in the future, Anodite." Bazard grinned, and locked the metal door, leaving the two teenagers alone.
"Don't worry, babe," Ben croaked weakly, "I'm fine."
"Fine?!" Lucky Girl screamed, "You look like a ghost, Ben!"
"I'm fine," Ben repeated. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He was still lying down on the floor of the cell and he could smell Lucky Girl's strawberry shampoo, her face very close to his.
"Oh, Ben," he heard her whisper in his ear, "I'm sorry," he felt something wet land on his cheek and he opened his eyes to see her crying. "I'm so sorry."
"For what?" Ben asked incredulously. She hadn't done anything wrong.
"For everything," she replied. He started to stand up, but as soon as he put weight on his legs, he collapsed. Lucky Girl grabbed him and helped him up. She took him to one of the beds and made him lay there. She sat on the floor near the bed so that her face was on the same level as his.
"You never did anything to me," Ben whispered, looking into her beautiful violet eyes. She shook her head sadly.
"You should get some rest," she whispered and he nodded. She walked to the other side of the room and laid on her bed too.
Ben slowly drifted to sleep. He woke up sometime later with the sound of her sobbing.
"I was supposed to keep him safe." He heard her whispering. The worried look on her face reminded him of his cousin Gwen, who always looked at him the same way whenever he got hurt. Right before scolding him, of course.
Ben was glad Gwen wasn't there. This time, he could actually die and he wouldn't bear to see her face masked in worry as well. But he was also sad, because he would probably never see her face again at all.
"Oh, did I wake you? Sorry…" Lucky Girl realized his eyes were open now.
"Come on, we have to find a way out of this place," Ben announced firmly. "We need to warn Director Steel of the threat, and I have a family to go back to."
Lucky Girl smiled, happy with his determination. And then she did something that surprised Ben. She stood up from her bed, approached him, and kissed him on the cheek. Ben's heart raced and he felt dizzy. Lucky Girl had kissed him on the cheek!
"I'm glad you're not willing to give up, Ben…" and then the smile vanished from her face, "But I've been looking for a way out of this cell while you were sleeping and I couldn't find any."
"Well, Lucky Girl, do you still have your luck or is it being suppressed by this collar along with the rest of your powers?" Ben asked, arching an eyebrow.
"Well, to be honest, my luck is not a natural power. It comes from the Charm of Luck and Probability, which is well hidden in my grandma's house. I was the last person to touch the amulet, so I think I was supposed to be permanently lucky at least until somebody else gets their hands on it. But I'm not feeling lucky right now. If I were, my partner wouldn't get hurt," Lucky Girl answered with a weak smile.
Suddenly, the metal door opened, and a spider-chimpanzee entered the bedroom. Ben vaguely remembered seeing this same chimpanzee in the meeting they had with King Harpor before, although most of them looked too similar for the boy to really distinguish between them.
His presence there was weird. The agents were supposed to be under the watch of the Vilgaxians, not the spider-apes'. The spider-chimpanzee looked frightened, and there was no sign of any squid-faced soldiers with him.
"C-can you do magic?" He asked, stuttering, looking at Lucky Girl.
"Yes, if this collar is removed, which I can't do without a key," She said, a little confused. "Why do you want to know? Who are you?"
"My name Moriz. My wife very sick. You cure her. In return, me help you escape." The chimpanzee raised one of his six hands, with a key hanging on his finger. Ben guessed Moriz was probably desperate to do something crazy like this, since the spider-apes thought of humans as their enemies.
Ben and Lucky Girl stepped out of the cell, and saw two Vilgaxian soldiers lying unconscious on the floor.
"How did you-"
Moriz pointed to two empty food plates on the floor. "I bring them food. Food to sleep this time."
Then the eight-eyed chimpanzee turned to Ben and Lucky Girl, "You help me or not?"
Ben looked at Lucky Girl and said with a smirk, "What were you just saying about not feeling lucky?"
To be continued...
