The Enemies of my Enemy are my Friends
A/N: Ben is not in this chapter until the very end. This chapter is more about building the alliance.
Downtown Bellwood, near Mr. Baumann's shop-Kevin's POV
Man do I feel hungry! Revenge always seems to give me an appetite. Luckily there's Mr. Baumann's shop nearby for me to grab a bite to eat. By then, I had calmed myself enough to turn back into my human form. I could hear the wail of the police car sirens as they approached my location. I began to run and soon reached Mr. Baumann's shop.
"Help! Mr. Baumann, they're after me!" I yelled, pounding on the door. There was no response. Hmm, how about the back door? I went out back and tried the door. Not surprisingly, it was locked. Unperturbed, I jimmied the padlock with my special keyhole-shaped arm, and managed to unlock the door. Creeeeak! The door groaned as I slowly swung it open. I heard voices from the room beyond.
"Honey, what was that?" A female voice asked.
"It was probably just the wind. Don't act so paranoid!" Mr. Baumann's cranky voice replied.
"Me? Paranoid? You're the one who always screams at poor Ben!"
"Oh shut-up! The kid deserves it. He's always in way over his head, and that gets me irritated. You ought to know that by now, Sheelane. After all, Ben did crash our anniversary. And that reminds me. I never did give you my present."
"Right, you were about to give me it, but then Vulcanus attacked. So, what is it?"
"It's a secret, but here's a hint. You need these," He told her as he handed her a pair of transitions lenses.
"What is this marvelous human invention?"
"They're called transitions for a reason. They automatically adjust to changing light."
"Wow! That's pretty interesting. So, I wager whatever you got me is really intense. Am I right?"
"I promised I wouldn't spill the beans, but yes."
"Show me this present of yours, please?" She begged.
"Alright. But before I do, you need to wear that eye protection," Mr. Baumann said. She put the glasses on.
"Behold, I present to you the Royal Oak Offshore Baguette Watch!" He cried as he opened the case and showed her the watch.
"Oh Iggy! That's so sweet of you! How much did that thing cost you?"
"I've been saving up from the day we first met," Mr. Baumann said proudly.
"So that was 10.22 years ago. Jesus, how much was it?! I mean, I hope you didn't spend your life savings on it!"
"I did, as a matter of fact. However, it was well worth the effort of seeing you happy."
"Awww. You really shouldn't have. Really, how much was it?"
"Prepare to have your mind blown. This one watch cost me a grand total of $1,250,000."
Alright, that does it! This stupid reunion getting old. Time to crash this party! I sneaked past the living room and waited by the room they were in for the exact moment.
"My lord! What did all that money get you?"
"Let's see. It says here that it comes with a 42mm x 55mm x 12.2mm 18K white gold case set with 456 baguette-cut diamonds (~47.75ct), diamond paved dial, automatic-winding Audemars Piguet Calibre 2325 movement with large seconds, approximately 38 hours of power reserve, and a 18K white gold diamond bracelet."
"Impressive. Thanks so much!"
"Wait, there's more!"
"More?"
"You don't expect me to give you such a beautiful piece of jewelry for nothing, do you?"
"Huh? You humans are strange."
"I want something in return."
"What is it that you want?"
"I want to be with you forever," Mr. Baumann said as he got down on one knee and took Sheelane's hand in his own.
"Iggy, what are you doing?" She cried.
"Sheelane, will you marry me?"
"Oh, this was so sudden I really don't know what to say."
"Just say 'yes'."
"Yes! I want to be with you forever and become your wife."
"Thank you."
"Now, where did you get that watch?"
"Well, it was a rather complicated story that involved, uh, illegal trading?"
"Excuse me?!"
"He went to Jared," I announced as I waltzed through the door.
"Um, thank you young- Hold on! Kevin, how'd you get through that door?"
"What do you mean, Mr. B? I obviously walked through it like a normal human."
"No, I mean, how did you enter the premises without a key? It's after closing time, you know."
"Oh. You know I'm a master lock-picker."
"Right," Mr. Baumann said. "This here is Kevin, former juvenile delinquent and associate of Benjamin," He explained to his confused wife..
"Nice to meet you," Sheelane said.
"Mr. B, I need a place to hide," I explained.
"What do you mean? Who's after you?"
"The police. I blew up a hospital."
"What the deuce, young man!"
"I was angry, ok? Angry at Tennyson for killing my mum!"
"So you blew up a hospital?! What about all the innocent civilians inside?" Sheelane asked, shocked.
"What about them? They're equally as guilty for failing to save my mom," I said bitterly.
"Kevin E. Levin, I can't believe you would do such a heinous thing! No, I cannot harbor such a fugitive from the law. You have to go now and turn yourself in. May God bless all those poor souls you murdered," Mr. Baumann said.
"I won't go anywhere. You can't make me turn myself in!" I cried.
"Yes I can. Kevin, I am placing you under citizen's arrest for the massacre of innocent civilians."
"Oh yeah?" I sneered. "I just blew up a hospital without much of a second thought. What makes you think you can hold me up without me killing you first?"
"I'm not going to argue with you anymore, Kevin. I order you to surrender to me this instant!"
"Did I ever tell you I suck at obeying orders? Especially when those orders are to do something I really don't want to do!" I yelled as I transformed into my ultimate form.
"Sheelane, get behind me now!" Mr. Baumann ordered, trying to protect her.
"What a noble gesture. However, it was quite foolish of you. You two mortals shall soon be gone, and all for simply disobeying me!"
"Do your worst, Kevin. I'm not afraid of you."
"You should be, for now I shall unleash my rage upon you two!" I screamed.
Bweep bip bip Bweep! The sound of a dozen police car sirens echoed outside of Mr. Baumann's store.
"Kevin E. Levin, come out with your hands up! You are under arrest for mass murder."
"Hmm, looks like you won't have to arrest me after all. The police are here to do it themselves," I laughed.
"You're crazy, Kevin. It's like I don't even know you anymore," Mr. Baumann said.
"No, nobody knows me anymore. I took over Kevin after he let his rage fill his heart."
"So that's where he went. You consumed him!"
"He did that to himself. I cannot make decisions for him. I can merely guide him in the right direction. He ultimately chose this path himself."
"I'm not going to stand by idly while you destroy more innocent lives, Kevin."
"And quite frankly, I don't really care what you think. However, since I'm feeling rather generous, I think I'll let you two escape with your miserable lives while I go smash some police cars."
Mr. Baumann tried to respond, but panic took the best of him. Without a backwards glance, he grabbed his wife and hastily beat a retreat to the back of his convenience store where he slammed the door.
Crash! The SWAT team arrived and began chucking tear-gas through the windows. Billowing green smoke poured into the room. However, I was not affected because I was not human.
"Kevin, surrender now while you still can!" The Police chief called.
"Alright, I give up. You've got me," I said as I came out of the building.
"All right, he's out. Snipers, take him out!"
Oh crap! Ambush! I thought as I rolled to my left, the bullet striking where my head was just a moment ago.
"Playing dirty now, are we?"I asked sarcastically. "Well, two can play at this game!" I took out Ultimate Humungosaur's Gatling guns and started spraying the area with machine-gun fire. Everyone ran for cover behind the SWAT vehicles.
"You cowards!" I screamed as my bullets pinged uselessly off the thick armor plating. "You can't hide forever!"
"We're not hiding, not anymore," the police chief said confidently as he came out of hiding.
"What makes you so confident that you can defeat me?"I sneered.
"Well, if this doesn't work, nothing will. However, I think it'll do the job quite nicely."
"What's this rubbish you speak of? There is absolutely nothing that can penetrate my armor. I'm a tank!"
"Exactly why I have an anti-tank weapon right here! This baby was designed to blow up tanks." He climbed up and aimed the BGM-71 TOW mounted on the vehicle at Kevin.
"Any last words?"
"Yeah, this will never work!"
"We'll see about that! It can penetrate over 800 mm of RHA. Even your thick skin can't withstand a HEAT round." The chief fired the TOW missile at Kevin who didn't even budge. The missile hit Kevin and exploded. A large plume of black smoke appeared.
"Direct hit! He's a goner!"
"I think we did it! That's the end of our nightmare!"
"Hooray for the Bellwood Police Department!"
"I wouldn't be so quick to celebrate if I were you," I grunted.
"Levin?! But how? How did you survive?"
"I told you, my skin cannot be penetrated by conventional means. And since you've had your fun, it's time I had mine!"
"What the hell are you going to do to us?" The police chief asked.
"Burn baby, burn!" I cried as I shot flames out of my flamethrowers and incinerated everyone and everything in my path. A screaming officer ran by while on fire.
"Ahhhhhhh! It burns! It burns!" He screamed as the flames enveloped his body, slowly making its way up. The flames burned away his clothing before charring the skin black. He started to beat at the flames while dancing around in a circle. All of a sudden, he collapsed and died.
"Retreat!" The police chief yelled. All those still alive jumped into their SWAT cars and raced away.
"Next time, don't interfere with me and I won't bother you!" I yelled. Pretty soon, the streets are completely devoid of life, that is until a few minutes later.
Now that the only convenience store above-ground for two miles was destroyed, I had to go look for other places of sustenance. I was so engrossed in thoughts of what I'd do to Ben once I caught him, I almost failed to hear the gunship hovering overhead, coming in for a landing.
Whir-whir-whir-whir-whir-thump!
The forward propeller stopped turning and the entire craft pitched forwards. From inside the cockpit, I could hear the fury in the captain's voice.
"ATTEA! Why are we approaching at such a steep angle?! Have you lost your bloody mind?!" Milleous screamed.
"I don't know what happened! All I did was push this red button over here marked 'landing gear deployment' to deploy the landing gear. "
"You idiot! Red is never for general use!"
"So what did I do?"
You shut off power to the forward rotators!"
"Oh, is that all? That still means we've got the back ones, doesn't it?"
"SHUT UP AND RESTART THE ENGINES, DAMNIT!" Milleous roared.
"Where's the button to do that?" Attea asked sweetly.
"Never mind. Move it, I'm taking over!" The Incursean emperor unceremoniously dumped his daughter onto the floor and took command of the ship himself.
"Let's see. All I've got to do is to push that green button over there to restart the engines, and pull up on the flight control lever all the way. That should level out the craft."
"Need help, daddy?" Attea asked from the floor.
"No! You are more of a hindrance than a help. I should've put you in the stasis pod when I had the chance!"
:"Take that back!"
"Why you ungrateful-no-good-sorry excuse for a daughter…"
"I've had it! This craft is coming down!" Attea swore.
"You're bluffing! You wouldn't dare, not with yourself on it!"
"Let's find out, shall we?" She cried as she used her tongue to wreck the engine-restart, landing gear deployment, flight control stick, elevators, and ailerons.
"What the heck did you just do?" Milleous cried as he suddenly found himself at the helm of a now stricken vessel.
"Whoops,"Attea said softly. "Looks like I goofed up and destroyed all your flying control surfaces."
"Arrgh! We're going to die, you bastard!"
"Correction, only you are. I've got my escape pod ready to fire."
"No! I'll take you down with me!" Milleous vowed as he grabbed hold of Attea and refused to let go.
"Daddy, let go of me right now!" Attea whined.
"No! We die together!"
"Never!" She cried as she grabbed her trusty blaster and fried his fingers.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh! I'll get you for that if it's the last thing I do!" The emperor screamed as he sucked on his blistered fingers.
"Looks like you've got an aircraft to save," Attea snickered, and for once she was right. The situation aboard the Incursean gunship was now critical. The ship's GPWS began to squawk.
"BANK ANGLE! INCREASE CLIMB!" A mechanical frog's voice implored Milleous to take drastic measures to save his ship from imminent danger.
"That's what I'm trying to do, but I have no control of this bloody ship!" He roared in frustration.
"I can help, you know," Attea offered.
"You! Get out of my sight now!"
"You can raise the nose of the gunship by increasing thrust."
"Yeah? I've got no control stick to do that since you destroyed it!"
"I meant to the back engine. Virtually all aircraft are designed to fly with an engine out of commission."
"That's only for those human jumbo jets with four engines. We've only got two."
"Ok the. We're royally screwed."
"SINK RATE...PULLS UP! PULL UP! PULL UP!" The frog voice persisted.
Suddenly, all the lights flashed green again.
"Oh goody, power's back! Looks like you didn't totally destroy everything," Milleous commented as he increased thrust to full power and leveled off the gunship. Parachutes deployed and brought the craft down for a safe yet bumpy landing. Emperor Milleous kicked Attea off the ship before disembarking himself. He immediately came over to me.
Kevin E. Levin. Fancy seeing you around here."
"Milleous," I said, my lips curling. "I hope you had a pleasant flight? Judging from that landing, it was almost your last."
"Nonsense. We just had, uhmm, an in flight emergency."
"Involving a rebellious daughter destroying the flight controls?" I asked with a smile.
"How-ho-how'd you know?" Milleous sputtered.
"Just a wild guess. Anyways, what are you doing here?"
"I propose an alliance between the forces of the Incursean Empire and the ex-con turned part of Benjamin Tennyson's team, Kevin E. Levin," Attea said.
"Silence! Not another word out of you!" Her dad ordered. "Um, yeah, what my daughter just said."
"And why would I join this alliance? I mean, I would, but what's in it for me?" I asked.
"Anything you want, I can provide. After all, I am the leader of the mighty Incursean Empire, haha!" Milleous chortled.
"Doesn't mean anything to me. We've beaten you a dozen times already."
"This time, it's different. I've occupied this planet for over a year already, and where's Ben Tennyson to stop me, huh?"
"Hmmm, you do make a good point."
"So, all you have to do is tell us where Ben is, and we'll eliminate him, killing two birds with one stone in the process. I need to get rid of Earth's hero, and you need revenge, or so I am told," Milleous continued.
"How'd you know that?" I asked, turning red.
"You are mad because you believe Tennyson killed you mom, yes? A little birdie told me so."
"All right, but what other gifts are you going to provide besides Tennyson's dead body?"
"Well, I hear your car needs a serious upgrade, so I ordered you a new one."
Ordered? Then it dawned on me.
"You planned this all along, didn't you? You knew I would join your cause so you brought me a car in advance!"
"Not only that, but I also rigged your house with explosives and gasoline to make the explosion bigger."
"You murderer! You killed my mom!" I screamed as I launched myself at him, my body already fully encased in metal. Surprisingly, he let me do so. I socked him in the mouth with a metal fist and smashed his head in with a hammer. Milleous took all of this in silence.
"Fight back!" I screamed as I continued to bash his head in. "Fight back, you coward!" Milleous grabbed me while I was preparing to strike again.
"No, you're wrong," he said quietly. This was so shocking that I stopped trying to kill him.
"How are you still able to talk?" I asked, amazed.
"We Incurseans are born with certain elastic properties, so to speak. We will always return to our original shape after being under stress."
"Well, I guess I'll have to try harder then," I growled as I prepared to sic him.
"You can't, haha. My elastic limit is too high!"
"Well, screw Hooke's law then. I'm going to kill you regardless of what the laws of Physics tell me!"
"Calm down. I didn't kill you mom directly. It was Tennyson after all who ignited the spark that set off the explosion that killed your mother."
"I don't buy this cock and bull story, you lying piece of shit!" I screamed in his ear.
"Perhaps you can be convinced through other means then. I can get you a new girlfriend. You want that, don't you?"
"Enough about a replacement for Gwen! I only care about killing you right now!"
"Ok, ok. I'm sorry."
"Sorry doesn't wake the dead, man."
"Enough of this nonsense! Attea, stun him now!"
"With pleasure," she said as she stepped forward and cocked the blaster.
"No! I will enact my revenge upon thee! Perhaps you may not be able to be deformed, but I can still kill you through decapitation! Say goodbye to your head!" I cried as I transformed by arm into a cleaver and prepared to chop off his head. For the first time, I could sense the fear in Milleous' eyes.
"Attea, hurry!" He pleaded. She seemed to be toying with her father though.
"Oww! That was my arm!" He cried as his whole right arm went numb.
"Sorry! Levin isn't giving me a clear shot."
"How could you miss?! He's practically on top of me! Just shoot!"
Attea shot Kevin in the head just as the lad was about to cut the emperor's head off.
"Oh boy, that's going to leave a mark," I muttered as the world swam in and out of focus. My eyelids began to droop downwards. No! Must stay awake to finish mission! Must cut off the head of Milleous! I moved my arm closer to his throat. That's it, just a couple centimeters up! Suddenly my whole body felt like it was made out of lead. My arm dropped. No! Just a few more seconds!
"Time for you to…" I managed before I closed my eyes to the world. The last thing I remember before drifting off was Milleous smiling at me.
"Time for you to go to sleep," he said as he closed my eyelids. The world turned black.
One hour later on Milleous' newly fixed gunship
"Owww! My freakin head!" I groaned as I came around. My whole body ached as well.
"Daddy, he's awake!" Attea said. Milleous came over.
"How are you feeling, Levin? Anything I can get you? Apple juice, grape juice? An all you can eat buffet?" He smirked. I wanted to pound him, pulverize him, grind him up into little pieces, reassemble him, and then destroy him again. I recalled that famous line from The Princess Bride and I wanted to say it to his face and laugh before I killed him. Hello, my name is Kevin E. Levin. You killed my mother. Prepare to die! But for whatever reason, my lips betrayed me.
"No, I only want revenge!" I said.
"Against who?" He asked.
"The accursed Benjamin Tennyson, murderer of my mother!"
"Excellent! We're currently on our way to meet some other allies. Lunch is ready in the dining compartment. I hear you love all-you-can-eat buffets, do you not?"
"Man, you seriously know how to please a man," I yelled as I skipped my way to the dining compartment.
Milleous POV
"Excellent! The indoctrination process was a complete success!" I told Attea.
"What did you do to him?"
"It was elementary, my dear. Just keep repeating what you want them to believe and eventually they'll be believing it."
"It's that simple?"
"Well, combined with a series of mild electric shocks, it has been proven effective, yes."
"So now Levin believes that Ben's killed his mother and he'll get revenge by teaming up with us?"
"I believe so."
Kevin came back.
"Ahh, Levin. Back so soon?"
"I got bored of the food. You only have ten choices and you call this a buffet?!"
"I'm very sorry for the disappointment. I'll make sure the proper punishment is administered where applicable. Keep an eye on the window over there," I said, pointing to the starboard bay window. "You'll be pleasantly surprised, I think." I left the room. A few minutes later, the head chef fell out of the craft to his death thousands of feet below. I re-entered the room.
"So, now you know what happens to those who disobey me," I said as I dusted off my hands.
"Hmm, seems rather harsh, doesn't it?" Levin asked.
"Nonsense! The same punishment goes for anyone out of order in my army."
"What, throwing people out of a moving aircraft?"
"No, death by whatever is most convenient; In this case, it happened to be death by throwing out of moving vehicle. Like I said, this punishment isn't harsh since it is uniformly applied. I could technically be put to death by Attea here, but then again, I haven't done anything illegal, have I?"
"Man, no offense, but you're a total nutcase," Levin said.
"You want to meet the same fate as head chef number 45?" I threatened as I dangled Levin by his fingertips.
"Daddy, wait! He's useful to us!" My precious daughter said.
"Looks like someone cares about you, Levin." I released him.
"I don't care for him," Attea yelled as she blushed beet red. "I have my Bullfrag!"
"Kevin, how would you like Attea to be your new girlfriend?"
"If she wants to, sure. Why not?"
"I do not want him! I want Bullfrag!" She screamed.
"You are seriously testing my patience here. Careful you don't cross the line."
"Never! I will never, ever be caught outside with such an abomination as him under any circumstances, you hear?!"
"You will obey me this instant or I will throw you out as well!" I yelled back.
"Oh yeah? You're so fat I bet you can't pick me up!"
"Why you little…"
"Relax, I'm just joking. Sure I'll be Levin's girlfriend, at least for the moment."
"Where're we headed anyways?" Levin asked.
"We need someone who can open portals to other dimensions. Any help?"
"Blukric and Driba back at the plumber base."
"Thank you. It's time we headed that way."
Old Plumber HQ-third person
"Remember now. You are not to harm them. Just bring them here alive. Understand?" Milleous said.
"Yes, sir," his frog foot soldiers croaked. They hurried off into the base to find the two Galvan.
"Useless soldiers," Milleous grumbled after they were out of earshot, "They are kinda like the B1 battle droids from Star Wars."
"Useless, but oh so much better than doing stuff on your own," Kevin said.
"True, true."
Inside the HQ
"Man, I really want a grasshopper smoothie right about now, Driba," Blukric complained.
"The magister said that we two are in charge of this base while the rest of the plumbers are out dealing with the Incurseans. That means no smoothie breaks!" Driba replied.
"But it's oh so boring! Why are we stuck here while the rest of them are out having all the fun?"
"Is it because they finally realized how incompetent we are so they assigned us desk jobs?"
"Dang it, Driba! You're always stealing my thunder! I'm supposed to be the one to point out our flaws!"
"No, I am as I have the more conscientious brain!"
"You? Don't make me laugh! You failed the exam needed to become a plumber!"
"Might I remind you, so did you!" Driba retorted.
"Oh yeah? Take that! And that!" Blukric began to punch Driba with his puny fists.
"Ha! Blukric, you punch like a girl! I'll show you how to give someone a knuckle sandwich." Driba stuck his entire fist in Blukric's mouth. Blukric took advantage of that fact and chomped down, eliciting a cry of pain from the mouth of Driba.
"Owwwwww! Bite me will you?! Have some of that! And that!" The two Galvan began to pummel each other.
"Warning! Warning! Possibly hostile forces approaching this base!" A computerized voice said.
"Driba, shut the doors." Blukric said. Driba started for the red button on the right.
"No, Driba, you've got it all wrong! It's the green one right next to the red one."
"Quit fooling around Blukric. I can read the labels, and the label clearly says, 'press red button to close all the doors'."
"That's so any enemy who managed to get inside would open the doors instead of closing them when he pressed the red button. It's reverse psychology."
"Common sense would tell you, if you had a brain, which you do not, that read means ' stop' and green means 'go'. Same principle applies here." Driba pressed on the red button. The doors opened half way.
"Driba, you idiot! I told you it was the green one."
"Come out with your hands up! We have you surrounded!"
"Ok the, push the green one if you think you're so smart!" Blukric pushed the green one and the doors opened all the way.
"Now who's the idiot?" Driba asked sarcastically as the Incursean forces rushed in and grabbed both of them.
"We both are," Blukric moaned.
"Come on! We're taking you to the Emperor," the commander of the soldiers said.
"Milleous?"
"Lord Emperor Milleous," the commander corrected.
Milleous was growing quite impatient with his soldiers.
"Those numbskulls! Can't do anything right!" I muttered.
"Numbskull is here and happy to present to you Blukric and Driba, safe and unharmed as you requested, sir."
"Excellent! You all may leave." The soldiers boarded their landing craft and hovered in midair waiting for their emperor to depart, all except one that is.
"Blukric, Driba, I've heard plenty about you two. Building fine devices to help you plumber buddies."
"Well, we aren't helping you!" Driba managed.
"Really? And why not?"
"No sir. I have to agree with Driba on this one, and we hardly ever agree on anything. We shall absolutely, positively, certainly, beyond a shadow of a doubt, definitely refuse to help you in your quest to take over the world!"
"I have no quarrel with the world. I only seek to destroy Ben Tennyson."
"Still not helping you," the Galvan cried.
"What if I said I said I had access to devices that could possible cause you two a great deal of pain?" Milleous asked.
"And believe me, he does actually have these devices," Attea said with a giggle.
"Ok, when you put it that way, I'm going to adjust my previous statement to, most definitely yes!" Blukric said.
"What is it you need help with, your highness?" Driba asked.
"I need a trans-dimensional portal able to skip through dimensions."
"Ahh, like a teleporter, but only bigger and more powerful!"
"Exactly! If you help me, I'll get you two all the grasshopper smoothies you could ever want!"
"Done deal!" Blukric said.
"Blukric, do you realize what we're about to do? We're committing treason by knowingly and openingly providing aid and comfort to the enemy!" Driba said.
"Well, I'm not about to get my hide split open over not helping them. My first philosophy is, always help those who are stronger and seem more of a threat to you."
"What an excellent maxim to have, Blukric! I wish all of my enemies had your common sense," Milleous said.
"Why thank you for that- ow! Driba, what was that for?"
"He's making fun of us cuz we're buffoons!"
"Quit yappin and get me the particle transporter, Driba! Do as the man tells you!" Blukric ordered. Driba came back lugging the transporter.
"This is it?" Milleous asked. "That's the particle transporter?! It's so small!"
"We couldn't build anything bigger since we'd have no way to drag it around," Driba said.
"One person at a time. No carry on items. That's the limit," Blukric added.
"And we are still fine-tuning it. It's kind of unpredictable, you know?"
"Hmm, who should the first test subject be?" Milleous asked with a smile. "Should it be you or you or you?" He asked, looking at Kevin, Attea, and Driba in turn.
"I volunteer in the name of science," a soldier said.
"I wasn't even considering you, but sure! Be my guest!" The soldier stepped onto the machine, Blukric pressed an orange button, the machine groaned, and the soldier disappeared.
"Was it a success?" Milleous asked.
"I'm not really sure. The machine either a) doesn't do anything with a 50% probability, b) goes to where you want to go with a 25% probability, or c) transports you to a random location. Judging by the facts provided here, I'd say either b or c, but leaning towards b," Blukric said.
"I guess we'll never find out, huh?" Attea asked.
"I have a feeling I know where the soldier was sent…" Kevin snickered. "You don't want to know."
Mount Everest
The soldier fell from the portal and landed on the snowy mountain.
"Oh boy, where am I?" He wondered aloud. He began to climb up the mountain. His hands scraped against something flesh-like. It was a human leg, perfectly preserved. Beside the body was a small memorial carved into the rock.
George Mallory
18 June 1886- 8 June 1924
Died while trying to reach the summit of Mt. Everest.
"Great! This is the Himalayas we're talking about! How'd I get here?"
Right beside the memorial was another sign.
Warning
You are at the "Death Zone". Only use your oxygen tanks beyond this point.
DO NOT ATTEMPT WITHOUT OXYGEN
"Where am I supposed to find myself an oxygen tank?"*yawn*
"I feel so tired. I think I'll go to sleep and wake up in a few hours."
The soldier closed his eyes. The cells in his body slowly died due to lack of oxygen. He never woke up again.
Back outside HQ
"So, we have no idea if the soldier made it or not?" Milleous asked.
"Absolutely, positively, not a clue," both Galvan replied.
"You two have failed me for the first and final time. And you do know what happens to failures, don't you?"
"N-N-No. What happens?" Both asked fearfully.
"You will be executed by whatever means is most convenient. And in this case, it's teleporting you two using your own machine until it actually sends you somewhere! I only hope it sends you to wherever that soldier went."
"Daddy isn't that a bit dangerous. I mean, there is a 25% chance of sending them exactly where they want to go," Attea commented.
"Life is a game of chance, my dear," Milleous said philosophically. "I'm bound to get what I want sometime."
"That's Gambler's fallacy right there," Kevin pointed out.
"Screw your opinion, Levin. I didn't ask you!"
"Just saying, just because you've had bad luck over and over again, doesn't mean you're bound to get lucky this time around."
"Well screw your statistics class! The sooner I get these two out of here, the sooner I can go find Eon!"
"No! You just told them our plan!" Attea screamed.
"Shut-up! I'm doing this my way!"
Milleous tied the two Galvan to the transporter and pushed the button.
"Oh how I wish it didn't have to end this way. You two are a hilarious bunch, you really are. But all good things must come to an end."
The machine whirled and shook.
Milleous started to sing.
And now, the end is here
And so I face the final curtain
My friend, I'll say it clear
I'll state my case, of which I'm certain
I've lived a life that's full
I traveled each and ev'ry highway
And more, much more than this, I did it my way
The machine stopped turning, but the two Galvan were still here.
"D'oh!" Milleous exclaimed. "I'll have you this time!" He started the machine again.
Regrets, I've had a few
But then again, too few to mention
I did what I had to do and saw it through without exemption
I planned each charted course, each careful step along the byway
And more, much more than this, I did it my way
And the two Galvan were still there.
"D'oh!"
Yes, there were times, I'm sure you knew
When I bit off more than I could chew
But through it all, when there was doubt
I ate it up and spit it out
I faced it all and I stood tall and did it my way
Somehow the Galvan were still there.
"This isn't possible! The odds are not in your favor! (.50)^3 is .125 or a 12.5% chance! I have a 87.5% chance of succeeding!"
"Yo man, that's only in the long run," Driba said.
"Still defiant? What makes you so sure I won't succeed?"
"We believe in the laws of statistics. And math always triumphs over brute force!"
"Not this time it won't! I'll have you yet!"
I've loved, I've laughed and cried
I've had my fill, my share of losing
And now as tears subside
I find it all so amusing
To think I did all that
And may I say not in a shy way
Oh no, oh no, not me
I did it my way
Blukric and Driba finally disappeared.
"Yes! I did it! I finally did it! I've succeeded in sending those annoying tadpoles to their doom!"
"Either that or you sent them to Ben. No one actually knows, so we can only hope for the best," Kevin said.
"I find your lack of faith in my destructive abilities disturbing."
"So, onwards to Eon," Milleous growled.
Eon however, wasn't as pleased to see Milleous as Milleous was pleased to see him.
"Milleous, what a pleasant surprise. Still out trying to conquer the known universe for the umpteenth time? Gee, I wonder why you haven't succeeded," Eon sneered.
"Make that n+1 times. And it's Lord Emperor Milleous, light of the Incursean Empire, destroyer of galaxies, keeper of the conquest ray, all beings tremble-"
*yawn* "Must your title be so long? I'm getting really bored right now, so if you'd be as kind as to state your business or leave now, it would be much appreciated. I do have to plot how to get my revenge on Tennyson. It's quite tedious how he always manages to make piecemeal of my most fool-proof plans!"
"Tennyson? The Ben Tennyson, wielder of the Omnitrix?" Attea asked.
"Do we know any other Ben Tennysons? That's the whole point of this show isn't it? It's all about Ben, Ben, Ben!" Eon cried.
"You shall not break the fourth-wall in my presence, time-traveler!" Milleous screamed.
"Any way you could stop shouting? My eardrums can't cope with more than 85 dB," Eon complained.
"I'm a leader! I have to shout at my people every day!" Milleous bellowed.
"Out! Out!" Eon cried. Two guards grabbed Milleous and threw him out of the room before locking the door.
"Much better," Eon sighed in relief. "You were saying?"
"We seem to have a common goal in mind. We both want Tennyson out of the equation. However, we know that Tennyson's not in this dimension anymore. We need you to take us to the Frozen universe for a surprise attack," Attea explained.
"As long as you don't double cross me like Vilgax did, I'm on! Destroying that inferior copy of me has been my life's dream."
"I cannot allow you to do that, Eon," Paradox said, appearing out of thin air.
"Paradox! How'd you get in here?"
"You ought to know that by now, Eon. I am you and you are me. We both can jump through dimensions, as I have just done."
"Well, I am the superior you, or is it me?! And you can't stop me!"
"Oh I'm not going to, not this time."
"Hold on, you're just going to give up?" Eon gloated.
"As a matter of fact, yes. I won't have to do much. You opening a portal to another dimension will have devastating effects on the space-time continuum."
"In case you haven't learned, I don't care what happens as long as I get rid of Ben!"
"Why are we standing here listening to Eon argue with Paradox? Get him!" Attea cried. Kevin tackled Eon because he thought Attea meant to get Eon. Attea shot at Paradox, but Paradox disappeared.
"Get off of me, human!" Eon growled as he ripped Kevin off of himself.
"Sorry. I couldn't tell the two of you apart."
"So, we're all set? Eon, you're on board with this alliance?"
"Just signal me when you guys are ready. I'll be there."
Attea and Kevin left to go collect Milleous.
"So Eon agreed?"
"Yup! So we can go kick Tennyson now?"
"No, I have one last secret weapon to harness."
"What is it?" Kevin asked curiously.
"It's not an object, it's a person.
"And who is this person?"
"The new Forever King Hans, or as you may know him, Prince Hans of the Southern Isles."
"Hold on, Prince Hans is actually a Forever Knight?"
"How else do you explain his elusive history, and the fact that he's so good in combat?"
"I don't know. He's got mad skills?"
"Disney's been lying to you and you've fallen for it. Until now! The only possible explanation for Hans being so mysterious and having such finesse in combat is that he is secretly a Forever Knight, and not only a Forever Knight, actually a Forever King."
"Hold on, I thought Chadwick was the last Forever King."
"Our sources indicate that Hans killed Chadwick after he failed to bring back Excalibur," Attea said. "Hans then took the throne from Chadwick and installed himself as leader of the Forever Knights."
"Yeah? Even if what you said is true, the Forever Knights are a joke now. They've been a joke ever since we defeated the Daigon."
"Not anymore. Hans has been busy reforming the organization from the bottom up, and now it is more formidable than ever. But don't take my word for it, see for yourself!"
Forever Knight Castle
Roaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaar!
"Dragon approaching, approximately one mile from here!" A soldier cried.
"Find those anti-tank cannons we've been storing and alert the king," the commander said calmly.
"Yes sir!" The soldier ran to go alert the king to the danger.
A legion of soldiers went down to find the batteries needed to combat the beast. They brought up an assortment of anti-tank weapons and multiple rocket launchers.
"Alright men. We've got to stall this beast for as long as possible." The soldiers loaded their weapons.
"Fire!"
The Pak 36 opened fire. The dragon caught the shell and flung it back destroying the gun and blowing a gaping hole in the wall.
"Rats! We've got to try something bigger!" The commander cursed. "Fire the Pak 43!"
This should do it. We can get over 200 mm of armor penetration at a range of over 2 km.
When the gun fired, the recoil blew yet another hole in the wall. The shell hit the dragon, exploded, and sent shrapnel deep into the skin. The wounded dragon cried out in pain and breathed some fire that melted a quarter of the wall, sending half the soldiers plummeting to their deaths.
"That's it! Fire the Katyushsas!"
Forty-eight rockets launched with a terrible droning sound towards the dragon. However, this dragon was magical and put up a force field to deflect the attack.
"What in tarnation!" The commander cried as he witnessed his own rockets flying back towards him.
"Sir, you might want to duck," his soldiers advised him.
"Have no fear for King Hans is here!" Hans cried as he hurried up to the wall wielding Excalibur.
"My King, you've arrived a bit too late, I'm afraid. We're all about to perish at the hands of a berserk dragon!"
"Nonsense! I wield Excalibur, a weapon like no other!"
"No offense, sire, but how do you expect to beat a dragon with a puny sword?"
"Watch and learn."
Hans stood directly in front of the rockets that were heading towards him.
"What are you doing, sire! Have you lost your mind?!"
"No, I am merely saving all of our lives." Hans said calmly.
As the rockets reached him, Hans breathed deeply and thought of what his master had taught him all those years before. Inner peace, inner peace
Hans closed his eyes and swung Excalibur- first to the right, then to the left. The first rocket split in two without exploding. The warhead fell at his feet. For the second one, he held the sword in front of him and let the rocket split itself apart as it came at him. Over and over, Han repeated these actions, weaving his sword left, right, to the front, up, and down in beautiful, graceful arcs, cutting every last rocket to smithereens.
"?" The dragon was now scared. It had never seen such an impressive display of swordsmanship in its life. Even now, it turned to flee.
"Not so fast you horrible beast! I say come back here and fight!" The dragon ignored him a continued to gain altitude.
"You shall never be out of range of Excalibur!" Hans swore, and with superhuman strength, he flung the sword at the dragon. At that precise moment, the dragon turned back to mock Hans for his failure to kill it, and that's when the blade struck home, lodging in the heart of the great beast. The mortally wounded dragon fell back to earth with an almighty crash.
"And now for the coup de grâce," Hans cried. The sword moved of its own accord and cut off the dragon's head, ending its suffering.
"Now Excalibur, return to me!"
The sword flew back into Hans' hand from a distance of two kilometers, and he sheathed it.
"That was amazing, my lord! Who gave you that training?"
"I'm not at liberty to say. Let's just say I know someone who knows someone with awesome skills."
"Urgent message from one Lord Emperor Milleous of the Incursean Empire for you, sire" A soldier said, thrusting a letter into Hans' hands.
To the Forever King Hans,
We've never met before, I think, but I have heard of you, and you have no doubt heard about me too. I am Lord Emperor Milleous, light of the Incursean Empire, destroyer of galaxies, keeper of the conquest ray, yada, yada. I wish to congratulate you on your recent accession to the throne as the new Forever King. I'm sure that we can get along quite splendidly if we can agree on one common goal. I know you hate Benjamin Kirby Tennyson or you wouldn't be part of the Forever Knights. I hate this punk too, so I propose we form an alliance to wipe Tennyson out...permanently. Other members include Eon, and ex-Ben's team member Kevin E. Levin (Don't worry, I brainwashed him so he's on our side). If you're interested, just wave your hands and we'll come to pick you up!
Hoping you will join,
(Crest of the Incursean Empire)
Lord Emperor Milleous
P.S: I intercepted your recent letter to Disney regarding your role in their upcoming movie Frozen. I'm pleased to announce that they've accepted you to play yourself in the movie!
Oh boy, I'll look like a complete idiot in front of everybody! Hans thought before he started to wave his hands frantically in the air.
"Sir, can I get you anything? You look like you're in distress," The commander looked concerned. "Fetch the lord a glass of water!"
"Aye!" A soldier hurried away to get some water for the king.
"What? No, I'm fine. I just need to leave for a little while."
"Why, my lord?"
"Oh, just some business involving Ben Tennyson. Don't kill each other while I'm gone, will you?"
"Yes, your highness."
On board Milleous' flagship
"Wow! That was some incredible skill man," Kevin exclaimed.
"Now you know I wasn't lying when I told you about Hans," Milleous said triumphantly.
"Daddy, I think Hans is waving at us."
"Is he now?" To the pilot he said, "Go in to pick him up."
"Sir, near the wall?"
"Yes, near the wall! Now go!"
"There is no wall."
"You know what I mean!"
The pilot hovered near the wall.
On the Castle Wall
"Hostile aircraft hmm? Open fire!" The commander screamed.
The soldiers started blasting Milleous' ship with their laser lances.
On board Milleous' ship
Ping! Ping! Ping!
"Sir, we're under fire by hostiles! Shall we engage?" The pilot asked.
"No. Hail them over a loudspeaker."
"Attention hostile forces! This is Lord Emperor Milleous' flagship. Keep firing and you will be faced with the wrath of the awesome Incursean Armada!"
"Oh you're hopeless," Milleous said, elbowing the pilot aside and taking control of the mike.
"Hello, is there a Forever King Hans around here? I, Lord Emperor Milleous would like to talk to you."
"It is I, King Hans," a tall and rather handsome guy spoke up.
"Well, come on in. The tea's getting cold."
Hans climbed into the ship and the ship flew away.
"I'm glad we could finally meet in person, Hans. Sugar?"
"No thanks. I don't normally drink tea. And it is a great pleasure to meet you too."
"So I hear you want to join our little alliance?"
"Only for the purpose of destroying Ben Tennyson. You see, the Knights have a policy of not cooperating with, how can I put this delicately? Ah yes, alien scum."
"What did you just say?" Milleous said threateningly.
"You sir are alien scum, though you are not as bad as some of the others."
"Well you're a human. Therefore you are earthling scum according to me."
"Whatever. We call you some offensive name; you retaliate by calling us an offensive name. This endless bickering gets us nowhere, agreed?"
"Aye. But it is fun to think about."
"You will find, however, that I am pragmatic, willing to compromise on certain issues. That is why I am joining this alliance. Moving on, is there some kind of treaty I'm supposed to sign, or is this only through oral communication?"
"Ahh yes. Here you go. Sign your name under Eon's and above Kevin's."
Milleous handed Hans the treaty which Hans signed.
"Excellent! Now we're all set!"
"Hello Milleous" Eon said, suddenly warping into the ship.
"You could have given us some notice you know."
"Yeah, well you were kind of rude, so I thought it would be nice to return the favor."
"This is Eon, the time walker?" Hans asked.
"The evil time walker," Eon snapped. "I do not wish to be associated with the goody-goody Paradox."
"And this is my daughter Attea. Say hi to everyone, Attea."
"Yo. What's up?"
"And finally we have Kevin E. Levin."
"Hey peoples. How you doin?"
"Funny. Last time I recall, we were on opposite sides," Hans noted.
"Yup. That was before all this craziness happened."
"So, what do you say we have a toast?"
"We ain't got no wine, daddy. You drank it all."
"I did? Whatever. Death to Tennyson!"
"Death to Tennyson!"
"Motion to rename this team?" Kevin asked.
"Motion granted."
"Let's call this team, the Nemesis Four"
"An excellent choice," all the villains said.
"Onward to Ben Tennyson's future graveyard!" Milleous cried.
Meanwhile back at the Kingdom of Arendelle…
"Driba, where are we?"
"The land of Frozen I believe."
"We have to warn Ben!"
"Right! Do you know where his bedroom is?"
"No idea, not a clue, nada."
Ben just happened to walk out of his room.
"Ben! Down here! We've got some urgent news!"
"Blukric? Driba? What are you guys doing out here?" Ben asked.
"We were sent here as a result of our fail, I mean successful, particle transporter. You see, we were captured by Milleous and he wanted us to find a way into this universe so he could kill you."
"Only, our machine kept failing, so he finally got mad at us and strapped us into our own machine."
"And that's how we got sent here after around five tries," Driba finished.
"Ben, Milleous is in the process of assembling a dream team to take you down."
"Actually, he's just finished the dream team. They're on their way right now," Paradox said."
"Oh great. More bad news," Ben groaned.
"That's not all, Ben. Kevin's with them this time."
So, how'd you like this latest chapter? R&R please!