Ben's Universe

He was called Agent Six. He'd been trained by master assassins, taken down dictators in third world countries no one had ever heard of (the countries, not the dictators), been one of the key people behind the downfall of the Consortium. He'd taken on Van Kleiss and held his own, fought countless Black Pawns and survived, defeated EVOs twelve times his size, but this Malware had nearly killed him, and it made him angry.

Anger wasn't an emotion that Six felt often. He was normally very calm, cool and collected. He could often see the way out of a situation quicker than anyone else because he could always think clearly. It was a trait he valued, and one that had gotten him out of more than one sticky situation. But, the way Malware had absolutely beaten him... it had gotten to him. He needed revenge, and he needed it now.

The teenager and the old man entered the room again. "My name is Max Tennyson," the old man identified himself, "Magister of this sector of space."

"What's a Magister?"

"It's a rank, equivalent to general. I'm a Plumber."

"So, in this universe, plunging a toilet puts you in the military?"

The teenager slammed his fists down onto the wooden table between them, and his hands began to mimic the texture of the wood. "The Plumbers are an intergalactic defense force, and don't act like you don't know that!"

Six turned his gaze onto the old man, though neither one could tell thanks to the sunglasses he wore. "Tennyson, huh? Just like that kid, Ben?"

The old man's eyes widened in surprise. "Ben? What do you know about Ben?"

"I met him, a few months ago, when he and the Alpha Nanite came crashing into my version of New York. He can vouch for me, if he's here."

The teenager balled his now wooden hands into fists again, ready to punch. "You know darn well he's not here, so stop pullin' this junk!"

"Kevin!" the old man said, a stern-ness to his voice. "He doesn't know where Ben is any more than you or I do." He focused his attention back on Six. "You're from Rex's universe, then."

Six nodded. "I am."

"How'd you get here?"

"This psychopath named Van Kleiss has a multidimensional gateway in his throne room. I borrowed it for a minute after destroying a bunch of robots that were guarding it."

"So, what are you doing here?"

"I needed to find you people, because of the aliens that came from this dimension and turned mine into a warzone stuffed with body bags."

"Aliens?"

"A red and black one with a laser for an arm."

"Malware?" Kevin asked in surprise.

"That's what he said his name was. He was a handful, and he took us down in less than ten minutes. After him came one that called himself Vilgax." That name sent obvious shivers down both of their spines. "I take it he's a problem?"

When the visitor said Vilgax's name, Gwen felt her heart stop. She couldn't—no, wouldn't—believe it. Vilgax couldn't be alive. Vilgax being alive was as much of a contradiction as China being a part of the United States. There was no way it could be true.

Grandpa Max walked into the room, followed by Kevin. None of them spoke for a few minutes, and Gwen knew why: they were all terrified. Vilgax was alive, Ben was missing. Odds were good that he was dead.

Six waited for the old man and the teenager to return, and this time, they were followed by a teenage girl. "So, what's the verdict?"

The girl said, "You're going to take us to your universe, and we're going to help you take it back."

"We'll need back up, full military support. And we'll need to free Holiday and Bobo."

"Who's Bobo?" Kevin asked.

"Bobo Haha. He's a sentient monkey."

The old man scratched his chin. "This is going to be a handful, isn't it?"

"This was a trap!" Jun shouted, stating the obvious.

"What tipped you off?" Rex said sarcastically.

Jun ignored him as she pulled Sakazawa out of the beast's path as it swiped at them. Then she rolled away, trying to split its attention between them. It more than likely would consider her the greater threat, considering what she was. She was right.

"Yes it is, nice of you to notice." Satoru watched the whole scene with a kind of gleeful malice. Again Jun was forced to tumble away as the mouth-for-stomach beast rushed her.

"Damn it," Jun cursed and stood up. The ugly monstrosity was turning to her again.

"Well Jun, what are you waiting for? Fight back." Satoru seemed to know something was staying her hand.

'He's right, I'll need to if I want to make it out of here and help Kazumi.' Jun straightened her back, preparing herself for what was to come. Then she heard Sakazawa yell something and it came through loud and clear. "How many people have you killed?" Slowly Jun let her hands drop. Those were had splintered her nerve and also reminded her of the damn cameras. And then there was the fact she'd again have to turn into a monster. Jun still had yet to get over that. Even after all of this time what she became still horrified her, and indeed as Sakazawa had said, she had killed people. As terrible as it was to do so, she'd killed.

When the beast came at her again Jun only dodged, but she felt the wind as its claws nearly touched her hair. It was getting used to her movements. "Come on Jun, transform. That's what its there for."

Just as the beast was about to lunge at her again, a crystal pillar erupted from the ground to knock it back. Ben who had now transformed into Diamondhead stood in front of Jun with his left arm formed into a large blade, before the beast could respond; One of Rex's Smack Hands slammed into it's chest, knocking it back.

"Hey, forgot about us?" Diamondhead said.

"Yeah, what are we, chopped liver?" Rex agreed as he was eager for a fight.

As the two heroes continued battling with the beast, Satoru turned to grin at Sakazawa. By this point the man had picked up a metal baseball bat. "You spoiled my fun with that little outburst of yours. She won't transform now." Sakazawa didn't reply. He rushed the boy, swinging with all his might. Satoru easily evaded it though "I was looking forward to watching those three fight before they died."

"You shut up. I don't care; they're as much of a monster as you." He swung again and hit only thin air. In fact the boy was behind him now.

"My, my, you are indeed terribly stupid." Sakazawa turned; ready to swing again the moment he got close enough. "So much like her in a way."

"What do you mean?" Sakazawa demanded, holding back until he at least got an answer.

"I mean you and her are on the same side. Amazing isn't it that you two came into conflict so easily, with no help from me whatsoever. All those people she 'killed' were my own kind, not yours." Sakazawa's eyes widened. "Now," Satoru whistled to catch the transformed beast's attention. "Kill this man first, he's boring me."

The monster turned and charged at Sakazawa, who stood petrified; almost like a deer in head lights. "Hey dude, will you get out of the way!" Rex yelled as he tackled Sakazawa out of the way. That is probably what saved him. Unfortunately, the claws ripped right through the upper torso and left arm of his savior.

Rex screamed and stumbled back, clutching at the wound even though it was too long and deep for him to cover as his nanites quickly went to work healing it. Sakazawa layed there for a few seconds, as if not quite believing what had just happened. Then he leapt up and, with bat in hand, he ran at the cameras he'd set up and struck them down. "I've had enough!"

Satoru's eyes widened. He hadn't expected that. The journalist was quicker on his feet than he'd thought. Then he noticed Jun stand up straight and stare at the beast in front of her. "Thank you, Sakazawa." He heard her say in a faltering voice. It seemed as though she were having to force herself to do this.

Then she transformed, her body growing, skin thickening, and fingers elongating into talons. She'd transformed into a devil beast once again. Roaring in defiance, as if its opponent's change meant nothing, the creature that had once been the bum lashed out. Using the blade-like protrusion on her wrist, she blocked the swing and lashed out with her other hand. In a flash of blue colored light, the energy arching from that wrist sliced it in half. With soft thuds the pieces dropped to the ground.

Sakazawa dropped the bat and pointed the camera strapped to his neck at Jun. He aimed it at her face, focused in and…stopped. The man gazed at her face for a full five seconds to be sure, and then lowered the object in his hands. "Those are tears," Sakazawa said softly. There had been tears streaming down Jun's face, despite her transformation.

"Some threat, huh?" Sakazawa turned to see Ben having turned back to normal, staring at him with a stern look causing the reporter to look down in slight shame.

Satoru meanwhile blinked in surprise. Then he started to giggle. "I must say you've gotten stronger since I last saw you and the two of you are every bit as powerful as Vilgax and Van Kleiss said you were." This statement made Ben and Rex look at the boy with surprise and shock. Satoru then snapped his fingers and two seven foot tall black birds with bulbous yellow eyes and gigantic wingspans landed on either side of him. "Allow me to introduce Kisuke and Makoto, two acquaintances of mine."

Ben, Rex, and Jun readied themselves for another fight. The odds were still in their favor.

"Remember when you get to hell that it is always best to save your trump card for last."

There was a sloshing noise and Satoru was forced to cover his eyes as something was splashed on him and his two compatriots, who were shaking their heads to clear their three eyes each of the liquid. "Well I'm playing mine now," a gruff voice called.

Satoru looked at what covered his hand and his eyes widened. "Gasoline," he whispered when he recognized the smell. Then, before he could react Sakazawa threw an arm around him, holding him in place.

"I'm taking you to hell!" Sakazawa shouted angrily as he produced a lighter in his free hand and lit it. "And when we get there you're apologizing to Yurika!" Then he dropped it.

Ben, Rex, and Jun watched in horror as all four of them; Sakazawa, Satoru, and the bird men all went up in flames. "Get out of there," She yelled, in another green flash of light, Ben transformed into Water Hazard to put out the flames as Jun dove in, grabbed Sakazawa and hit the air; flying him around to the other side of the house with Ben switching to Jet Ray and Rex using his Boogie Pack to follow right behind her. Once the heroes landed, Jun immediately used her claws to remove his burning garments, and put anything she could out with her wings. "Are you alright?"

It was a stupid question. He was covered in severe burns and his skin had peeled from where she'd ripped off his clothes. "Well, I've been better," He said softly and coughed.

"Aw man dude, those...those are third degree burns! What the heck were you thinking?!" Ben shouted.

"You intended to die from the start, didn't you?" Jun asked, sounding as kindly as she could while transformed. She was very glad he hadn't used that trick on her.

"Maybe I did." Sakazawa gave a smile and winced as she shifted. He wasn't a young man, and his injuries were serious. "Doesn't matter now, does it? I've done what I set out to do, get the bastard that killed my family, and now I'm going to see them soon. The whole thing worked out pretty well for me. Jun opened her mouth to say something, but Sakazawa continued. "Well, it looks like I'm going to have to eat my words. I was wrong about you. The junkyard's not far from here; go and find Kazumi. Go and protect her."

Jun nodded her head and resisted the urge to put her clawed hand on his shoulder. "Thank you Sakazawa."

"Nah, don't thank me. I'm a foolish old man who can't…who can't…" He was starting to fade and Rex helped him lie down. From the moment Jun pulled him out of the flames she knew he was dead. Yet it seemed there was something he felt he needed to say. "Miss Fudo," His voice was weakening as he went. "When I found Kazumi outside of your apartment building she was in tears. She said she wanted to stay with you… and that it was my fault you were throwing her out…I'm sorry."

Jun felt the urge to shout, but resisted it the same way as before. After thinking about it for a moment she just sighed. "It's better this way. It's my fault she got hurt… and at least this way she'll still be safe away from me. When I rescue her," she put an emphasis on 'when'. There was no 'if' where she was concerned. "I'll make sure she's set up well, where I'm far away."

Sakazawa scoffed. "About as safe as my family was. Just because you're not with her doesn't mean she'll be safe. It just means you won't be there to help her should something happen. Considering what I saw back there, if anyone can protect her and keep her safe it's you and you two friends here." With that, and a relieved expression, he laid his head back and closed his eyes. Then with an exhale of air he ceased to move.

Ben lowered his head in sorrow, while it took all of Rex's self control not to break the wall next to him, Jun did the best she could to try and wipe her eyes, despite her talons. Whoever said people look peaceful in death lied their asses off. It was a morbid image of a mannequin than a sleeping person. But the trio couldn't think about that right now. Jun stood up, opened her wings, and took to the air as Ben transformed into Big Chill and Rex built his Sky Slyder in order to fly right after her in pursuit. It was time to do what Jun set out to do, rescue Kazumi.

The Junkyard

Claes watched the girl squirm on the pile of scrap metal he'd laid her down on. He stretched his arms and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. The sounds of her struggle and discomfort were actually getting him excited. It took all his effort not to disobey Satoru's orders, transform, and gut her on the spot. Oh how long it had been since he'd gotten to kill an underage girl. But he'd have his chance soon enough. So Claes waited. He didn't have to wait long.

"Get ready," a voice hissed as a ruffled, brown haired boy with moth's wings protruding from his back alighted on another pile nearby. It was Satoru, but he looked a little worse for wear. His jacket was gone, the rest of his clothing all but destroyed, and Claes could even see burns. 'Ouch,' Burns took slightly longer for beasts considering the heat cauterized the wounds flames make.

"Is it time to kill her yet?" Claes asked, looking eerily hopeful as he indicated Kazumi, who whimpered.

"No you fool," Satoru growled as he walked over to the bound brown haired girl. "The target's still alive, and should be on their way here. Transform and prepare yourself. You can kill those three after you finish with the task at hand."

Claes grinned and let the beast out. Black hair grew all over his body, his face changed to resemble that of a fanged rodent; his ears elongated and formed cones not unlike those of bat ears. Talons grew out of his hands and feet.

Satoru didn't bother to watch however. He needed to hurry if he wanted to play his game and have his fun. The fire had been a nasty trick, but unlike Kisuke and Makoto, such petty human methods wouldn't be the end of him. While Ben, Rex, and Jun were seeing to the human, Satoru had made all haste to reach the junkyard ahead of them.

When the boy came to a stop it was directly next to Kazumi." Hello little girl." It was an odd statement , considering Kazumi was in high school and Satoru looked like he was 10, but she wasn't in a position to argue the point. "Do you know why you're here?" The girl shook her head. Her hands were tied and she was gagged, so her responses were rather limited. "Let's talk." Satoru smiled and pulled the gag out of her mouth.

"Who are you people?" Kazumi cried the moment she was able to speak. Then she saw Claes' new state and she screamed.

"I think you realize now without me having to answer that question. "You've seen our kind before, haven't you? In fact a good many times more than once."

"You're… the things that killed my parents." Kazumi was trembling with fear, all the while staring at Claes, who was barring his teeth menacingly at her.

"In a way yes, we are. But the real one at fault for that has yet to arrive. We're all around you Kazumi Takiura, yes I know your name. We're old friends Jun and I." Somehow Kazumi wasn't comforted by that thought.

In her mind she was frantically trying to work things out. She'd just seen a man turn into a monster, obviously the same kind that Sakazawa had been so obsessed with and even she'd seen on occasion. These were the same type of monsters that had killed her parents. She was terrified.

"Well since our guest of honor has yet to arrive lets have a little chat. You're here because of one thing and one thing only. Do you know why your parents died?" Kazumi shook her head. "Should have known you wouldn't be told; maybe I should start with what we are. They teach you in that school of yours, right? So you should know the Theories of Evolution, more importantly the rule of survival of the fittest. Let's go deeper than that, what happens when things cease to change?" There was no answer. Sharply, Satoru kicked Kazumi in the ribs, causing her to cry out. "Tell me what happens!"

"They die," She said through clenched teeth, but she didn't cry. She wasn't going to cry just because she'd been hit.

"Very good, you're a bright girl aren't you?" Satoru checked the skyline again before continuing. "You know the evolution of mankind has virtually stopped. Meaning, could it be true, we're going to die out. Fortunately not all of us have ceased to evolved; that's what we are Kazumi. We're evolution. Of course that does mean the lesser species must die off, but that's life."

"Is that why you monsters killed my parents?!" Kazumi half asked, half yelled. Satoru didn't seem the least bit phased by her words. He'd been expecting her to say something of the sort.

"In an indirect way I guess, but that's not really the reason. There's a much more specific reason for why your family had to die, and why you almost died with them. Come on, that's only one guess down. Try again."

"I don't know okay." Kazumi didn't know what the boy's game was and she didn't want to play it. Whatever it was; this whole thing was just sick.

Satoru sighed in an almost satirical way. "Fine, be a party pooper. I'll still get to enjoy the look on your face when you learn the truth anyhow. Have you by any chance ever wondered just where your friend Jun goes when she's not with you, and not at work, in fact when she won't even so much as tell you what she's doing?"

Kazumi opened her mouth and then closed it. She had wondered on just that on so many occasions she couldn't count them all. The boy must have realized this for his grin widened, somehow becoming more and more unseemly by the second. She didn't realize what this had to do with her parents though. How was this all tied together?

"I also happen to know that a man by the name of Sakazawa has been sending you pictures of her, on what she does and who she's with on her 'new job', I believe that was how she described it to you right?"

"How do you know about that?" Kazumi was of course referring to the 'new job' comment since no one else had been around, but that wasn't the only thing. This boy knew things he shouldn't.

"If a magician tells you how his tricks work then it isn't magic anymore. Now where was I…oh yes, Jun Fudo; how could I forget such a beautiful young woman. And to think, she could have definitely been my type. Still, no use crying over spilt milk."

"What do you mean?" Kazumi was just full of questions by this point. The boy seemed to be trying to make a point, yet bounce around it without touching upon the core of the matter.

"I mean just that. But since you don't seem to get it I'll be more blunt; you see my kind on a daily basis. We can be anyone anywhere, now does it ring a bell?" Kazumi didn't answer. "In fact you live with one of us; the very one who is responsible for your parent's deaths." At first it didn't register what he was saying. Then Kazumi's eyes widened. "And speak of the devil, pun not intended, here she is now."

Kazumi turned and looked in the same direction Satoru was now and saw it. At first the object flying towards them wasn't at all clear, but as it drew nearer she was able to make it out. It was the same devil-like one she'd seen before. The same one at her house the night her parents were killed. 'No,' Kazumi mentally screamed as tears started to well up in her eyes. She could only say one thing though, one single word. "Jun."

AN: Well now, it seems that Kazumi finally knows Jun's biggest secret while Gwen, Kevin, Max, and Agent Six are now working together to free Rex's universe from Vilgax's rule. It looks like things are slowly coming to a head. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and I'll see you at the next one.