AN: Here we go. Once again, if you haven't watched the anime, be sure to do so before you read this story as this chapter contains references to past episodes. Don't say I didn't warn you. For those of you who have watched it, on to the chapter!
Jun are you alright?" Kazumi's voice cut through the haze that was Jun's mind at that point in time. It was morning, as if the sunlight shining through the windows wasn't a give away, but Jun didn't feel rested at all. After she'd gotten home from the hunt she'd been unable to sleep at all.
"Oh," Jun said with a shake of her head. "Yes, I'm doing fine. I've just got something on my mind. Don't worry about me."
"Are you sure, you look tired? Were you out all night?" Kazumi asked, pressing for answered. She was already dressed in her school uniform, which wasn't a surprise considering she was about five minutes away from leaving for her daily dose of education.
"No I got back later, before morning. I just didn't sleep very well." Again, another half truth.
"You really don't look very good. I mean it Jun. You look like some of my friends from school when they've been out partying. Are you sure you're okay?"
"Yes, Kazumi," Jun replied, a little more firmly…then she switched the topic of conversation. "Have you yet decided where you wanted to eat… to make up for last time."
"Oh, yes!" Kazumi said, immediately grinning. The comment had the desired effect, the young girl had dropped the uncomfortable subject for this new one. "It's a restaurant I heard about at one of the shoots. I think you've been there before though…but still, it'll be fun, right?"
"Yes, it will be Kazumi. You'd best hurry on to school. Do you want me to drive you today, since I don't have a shoot?"
"No, its okay; you can pick me up though, if you like." Jun had to stifle a giggle at her friends non-too subtle hinting.
"Alright, I can do that. Have a good day Kazumi." Jun whispered softly, patting the girl on the back as she made to leave.
"You too," Kazumi said back, already heading out of the door. "Oh, and Jun; please try and get some sleep, you really do look like you might be coming down with something." And with that she was out of the door and on her way.
Meanwhile on the other side of town, Ben and Rex were sitting in an Internet cafe with couple of a cups of coffee with Ben surfing the Internet while Rex looked over. They were searching through the web, apparently there were numerous reports of bizarre murders in going on lately as if the victims were mauled by some wild animal. Could this be the work of Van Kleiss? who was probably already starting to infect people with Nanites, turning them into EVOs. It was then that Rex thought back to how all this insanity happened in the first place.
Flashback
He had once been called a hero. Thanks to the powers granted to him by the nanites, Rex Salazar had saved the world from EVOs on an almost daily basis. Agent Six, Doctor Holiday, Bobo the monkey—they were all imprisoned now, just like him, though they at least got indoor prisons. He was shackled to an archway, and now simply hung there. The cuts in his mouth from where Black Knight's energy mace had hit him were finally healing, though he'd long since stopped bleeding. The whip slashes on his back, however, were another story.
It had been three days since the invaders came. He and Six had been taking care of a disturbance Van Kleiss had stirred up in Los Angeles when the doorway opened up. It reminded him of the one that had first brought Ben Tennyson to Rex's universe, only instead of a kid who turned into different types of aliens, it brought death and destruction. Apparently after his last encounter with Rex, Van Kleiss and the Pack had somehow ended up in Ben's universe after his failed attempt to absorb the Meta Nanite. It was only with Breach pulling Van Kleiss and the rest of the Pack into a portal that they were barely able to escape. It was then that Van Kleiss discovered that his failed attempt at absorbing the Meta Nanite had led to some, rather unexpected, yet greatly favored results. He could now create Nanites and spread them on a whim, and now fortunate indeed as the multiverse itself was now ripe for the pickings.
The first one to come out through looked similar to the alien Ben had called Upgrade, only it was red and black instead of green and black. It's face was frozen in a perpetual smile, though not one that would have put anyone at ease. It's right arm was a cannon, and that's when the chaos ensued. Suddenly, Van Kleiss had been forgotten, and Rex and Six focused their attention on the villian they'd come to know as Malware.
Unfortunately, Malware wasn't the only threat from another dimension. The Mechamorph alone had been a problem. Every build that Rex could make, Malware could replicate a stronger version. Even Six had a hard time keeping up with it, and was constantly being thrown around. Rex was already struggling to stand by the time the second invader arrived. That one was taller than Malware, wearing a breathing aparatus and muscle enhancers. He was known as Vilgax.
Rex built his sword and rushed at Vilgax, only for the alien to draw a sword of his own. Not only was Vilgax naturally stronger, but Rex was winded and weak from Malware's assault. He never stood a chance. Above a crowd of millions and on the televisions of billions, Vilgax held Rex by the neck and declared himself conquerer of this dimension. Even Providence stood no chance against Vilgax's robotic army.
Black Knight was the one to whip him, the one to bloody him as he was shackled to the archway, all the while robots roamed the streets, holding the world in a state of constant martial law. Van Kleiss stood before him once, his hands clasped behind his back, a wicked smile on his face.
How the mighty have fallen, young Rex," he said, in his cultured voice, "so sorry that none of this went the way you wanted it." Rex attempted to speak, but all that came out of his mouth was a sticky wad of blood, which dripped from his mouth to the ground only centimeters from Van Kleiss's feet. In disgust, the villain took a step back and the smile on his face turned into a scowl. "Defiant to the last, I see. I expected no less from you. Your parents did the same."
Van Kleiss grabbed Rex by the chin and held his head upward, so that they were facing one another. "Don't worry, I have personal assurances from Lord Vilgax that you'll be kept alive long enough for me to deal the final blow. Once he's taken over all the dimensions, I shall be given control of this one, and I'll finish the job I started six years ago when I killed your parents." Rex said nothing, and spat another wad of blood out, this time splattering it all over Van Kleiss's coat. "Fine, have it your way. Lord Vilgax and I are off to another dimension, where a another creature even more pitiful than you will be dealt with."
As Van Kleiss walked away, Rex tilted his head up and said, "You're gonna screw him over, aren't you?" Almost as if he was surprised, Van Kleiss turned his head and looked at him out of the corner of his eye. "You betrayed Black Knight the first second you could, and you're gonna do the same to Vilgax, aren't you?"
Van Kleiss smiled and continued walking away. "And I thought you were just a simple, dimwitted 'hero', just like all the rest."
Suddenly a green energy blast slammed into Van Kleiss sending him flying into a wall, Then a couple of green smaller energy beams cut Rex's shackles, freeing him. Rex looked up to see a robotic humanoid floating in front of him. He had a green and white body. He had large cylinders on his arms, near his wrists, that are full of a green energy with dark green bubble-like spheres which constantly. He had a large green hourglass symbol on his chest, his head was a pointed, armored helmet, and had a smaller hourglass symbol on a green and white belt.
"Ben? Is...that you?" Rex muttered weakly.
"Yeah, this is a new one, I call this guy Atomix," Ben said, "But enough about that, we need to get out of here now and get you medical attention before Vilgax's cronies show up."
A portal suddenly opened as Ben carried Rex inside just seconds before an army of drones appeared in the room.
Flashback End.
After they arrived to Ben's world, his cousin Gwen was able to heal most of Rex's injuries, but some of the scars will still remain. It was then that Professor Paradox and Azmuth arrived to warn Ben and Rex that Vilgax had gotten the means to travel and invade into other dimensions through a Tachyon generator that Albedo had stolen from Azmuth's laboratory. With it, The rogue Galvan was able to construct a dimensional gateway device that allowed access to numerous parallel Earths. All ripe for Vilgax to conquer. Now, Vilgax's army was now on their way to conquer another world. This was their last chance, though. The final plan to end the Vilgax's plans. Azmuth and The Plumbers had been gathering what little alien tech that was left on Earth up and bringing it to the bunker. There they used it to build a sort of make shift portal. This portal would allow Ben and Rex go after their enemies and stop them from conquering another world and well as countless others.
Ben sighed and logged off the computer and the two heroes paid for the coffee and Internet connection. Ben and Rex then walked out of the cafe, but something strange caught their eye. What appeared to be a squadron of military vehicles were driving down the street as if a war or a terrorist attack was going on.
"Is that normal in this dimension?" Rex said, looking puzzled.
"No, that's not normal." Ben answered, "Come on, let's check it out. I got a bad feeling about this."
Both Ben and Rex went on to a deserted street where Ben activated the Omnitrix. Then his mind wandered back to the current situation-and Ben realized he and Rex would have to find a place to stay while laying low from Vilgax's prying eyes. That wasn't a problem though, he could just use Diamondhead and sell the crystals that Diamondhead could produce.
Ben slammed down on the core and was consumed by a green flash. When the light faded, he was a semi-armored Velociraptor. He had black wheels on his feet and wore a helmet with a visor, leaving the other features of his head unknown, with the exception of his blue face, green eyes, black lips, and stripes above and on the right side of his eyes. He had five blue stripes on his tail and the Ultimatrix symbol is on his white chest.
"XLR8!" He hissed in a raspy voice that sounded like he had a sore throat. Then with his abilities of manipulating friction, XLR8 took off at 500 miles per hour, leaving a behind a cloud of dust in his wake.
"Hey wait up!" Rex said as he activated his Rex Ride. Which was an orange hover motorbike that Rex can form out of his lower legs. The vehicle can drive over any terrain and can go over 200 mph. Despite lacking wheels, the Rex ride is capable of driving up vertical loops and curves. It had a retractable battering ram instead of an engine block and it can be used like a shield to break through trees and incredibly thick walls. For protection, a black helmet was formed over Rex's head. With it, Rex quickly took off after XLR8.
'I forgot about those,' Kazumi thought to herself as she looked into her school bag. She'd just pulled her bento out for lunch and realized the tape and pictures Sakazawa had given her days ago were still in her bag. She'd seen them every time she'd opened it to take something out or put it back in, but she still hadn't looked at them; especially with all that had been going on recently between her and Jun.
The girl looked from side to side to make sure no one in the cafeteria was nearby the pulled out the thin envelope that Sakazawa claimed contained pictures she'd be interested in. Now was as good a time as any to look at them, considering none of her school friends were nearby at this point in time and she may very well forget later.
Moving her lunch to the side and placing the envelope directly on the table Kazumi made herself a temporary work space. Then she opened the package, trying to be as quiet as she could while doing so, and pulled out the pictures.
Kazumi was willing to bet these also had something to do with this whole 'monster' business Sakazawa seemed so obsessed with. And though part of her didn't want to get involved in any of this, and she'd even told Sakazawa so, the other part was curious…if only slightly.
The moment Kazumi turned the pictures over to have a look at them she had to stifle a gasp. In the picture was Jun, and two other people Kazumi recognized. One of them was the blond, almost male looking woman that she'd met at the restaurant. The second one was a man dressed in a suit with a black frock coat on. He was well groomed and the girl had no difficulty in recognizing him as well.
Where had Sakazawa gotten this? Kazumi wondered, not for the first or last time, if the man had been stalking Jun. After all, hadn't her guardian complained that someone had been 'watching' her not so long ago? In fact she'd even accused Kazumi of being the one, though she'd apologized afterward… though not after completely freaking out. She'd seen something outside the window and ran off, though not before telling Kazumi to lock all of the doors and windows, and make sure not to let anyone in.
Of course the girl had looked out of the window to see what had so frightened Jun, but had seen nothing out of the ordinary. Yet she complied with Fudo's wishes, after all it was her house and she was living there… and besides, she didn't want to give any more reason for Jun to be mad at her. Having her idol yell at her in that manner had terrified her, and she wasn't looking to repeat it any time soon.
Kazumi flipped to the second picture, making sure the first one was placed flat on the table, in case someone in the cafeteria were to come up to her and see it. The last thing she wanted right now was an interrogation. She'd already had her fill of that after everyone and their grandmother asking for the 'inside scoop' on what had happened the night her parents died. Of course she'd always given out the same story. 'She hadn't been able to get a good look at the perpetrator, and had passed out at the sight of her mother's body.
Unfortunately, she didn't believe her own story. Contrary to what she'd told the police, she'd gotten a very good look at what was in her house. It had seemed to be a giant, multi-limbed rat, with protruding teeth and a laughing skull atop its back… then there was the second one; the one she always thought of in her nightmares as 'the devil'.
True, by the way its body looked, Kazumi guessed it was female, or at least had a more feminine figure than masculine. But it so resembled what she'd been told the 'devil' was supposed to look like, that she couldn't think of it in any other way. It was barely seconds after seeing this second one that Kazumi had passed out.
The next picture in the stack was Jun, with nothing but a very thin blanket on. At first Kazumi thought it must be a picture from a shoot, but then realized who else was there. Again it was the blond woman Jun had referred to as 'Asuka'.
Flipping to the third picture, Kazumi wasn't surprised to see it was one of the three from the previous pictures, the man to be specific. What was surprising was the fact he was parked in front of Jun's apartment building in a very snazzy looking car.
The fourth picture was obviously taken in a morgue. It was the body of a well toned, short haired girl...who's entire lower body was gone. Scrawled on the picture in pen was the name Aoi Kurosaki. Without very much effort Kazumi recognized the name. It was one Jun had whispered while on the phone. When asked about her, Jun said nothing.
The next picture was of a woman with almost purple hair. It was the model Jun had been competing again, and who'd sent Jun a gift not long before she disappeared from the modeling business. She was also the one she'd told Jun was talking behind her back. Off the top of her head Kazumi couldn't even remember her name.
"Hey Kazumi, what are you doing sitting here all alone," In an instant the pictures were in the envelope and back in her bag. Then Kazumi looked up and greeted the two girls who'd just finished getting their lunches, both of whom were friends of hers.
Even though Kazumi talked animatedly to them for the rest of lunch, her mind wasn't on the conversation. Instead it was on the pictures…both the ones she'd seen…and what she might find when she looked at the rest.
AN: Next chapter is where we have our heroes meet up with the Devil Lady, let's hope they don't kill each other and we'll see more of what the villains are up too. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I'll see you next time.