Disclaimer: All characters and themes are the property of their respective owners.

AN: As I promised here's the backstory on how the final three Dark Horoscopes joined Vilgax, plus JK having to say he's sorry and you'll learn about the Black Zodiac! All this in...

Chapter 18: The death of Ben Tennyson Part 1

During the Guiding Star' first job and before the Dark Capricorn/Libra/Cancer battle...

"OK, first off, why in the hell should we even trust you?" Cash lashed out, the same question first and foremost on the minds of Emily and JT as well. "You're not exactly Mr. Congeniality, now are you?"

"It is true that I have had...issues with your world in the past" Vilgax half admitted. "But I was hoping you would be willing to help me out with a problem our universe is having right now. It's name is Ben Tennyson. He has grown arrogant and foolhardy with the power he has received from Azmuth. I take it you know him best, correct?" as he tried to sweet-talk them into joining his army.

"I know that he was monstrous ego problems. I'm amazed Gwen even puts up with him" Emily bitterly recalled the day Ben webbed her to a building as Spidermonkey. It was not the best way to end their date and even since that day she hated him with all her heart. "If you have anything on Ben that we need to know, now's the time" as she rolled towards him, a doubtful look in her eyes.

Vilgax turned on a viewscreen and to their eyes was a scene of absolute horror: The ruins of Vilgaxia were right there in front of them all. JT was too frightened to look away, as Cash and Emily watched on in terror. There was no life left on the planet at all, the buildings having fallen over and the streets were littered with the bodies of the people that once called Vilgax emperor. The sky was a mix of orange and midnight grey, as dark clouds of smoke burrowed up into the air, as fires raged on unchecked. The scene was too much for even Vilgax to take as he turned it off, tears almost forming in his eyes.

"When Ben stole the Ultimatrix and left me for dead, my people panicked over my believed passing. Tensions were rising until civil war broke out and my people destroyed one another. So far I am the only one of my species left. Later when Ben visited the Flame Keeper's Circle he told me with a cheerful look on his face that my empire, MY WORLD, was gone!" He then showed the three the security footage of Ben saying this to Vilgax while he was trapped in the tank. Soon the looks of horror turned to anger, with Emily barely able to contain her rage.

"I knew it. Ben always was a selfish, egotistic brat, but this is too far, even for him" Emily whispered in a hateful tone. She then looked up at Vilgax as her features softened, unsure what to do now. "We'll help you with Ben, but I don't know how I can do anything that'll matter" She hated being stuck in a wheelchair, not being able to run, swim, even go outside on some days. It was like a prison to Emily and she wanted to be free of it, no matter what the cost. Tears were falling down her gentle checks as she recalled the day that she fell ill and was forced into this wheelchair. No matter how much pity or understanding she got from her classmates, she never truly felt like she belonged there with them.

"I don't wish to see you like this" Vilgax soothingly told her as he wiped away the tears to the best of his ability. "I think I may be able to help you with our problem child" as he opened a case with the last three unclaimed Dark Horoscope Switches.

"Just how are we going to use these to stop Ben?" JT wondered. Vilgax then took the time to show them how to use the powers that these Switches gave them.

Not much later...

Vilgax was quite pleased indeed! Now he had all 12 Switches empowered by the dark emotions of their Switchers! As the three new Zodiarts walked up to him he was as happy as he could possibly right then and there. Now he had all the Switches of the Dark Horoscopes under HIS power! But the children wouldn't learn that until it was too late for them..

Cash was the first to master his new powers. His Dark Leo form was gold and brown as opposed to Kou's more silvery white, but there was a world of difference between the two. His mane hung freely on his head, his teeth were inside his mouth but much sharper, the eyes were jet black, and he wore black jeans with black armor on his shins, chest and forearms, with the Leo constellation on his abs. He shared the bulk of his powers with the first Leo, but his Supernova was not the same as Kou's. When he activated it a ten foot tall statue of a evil-looking warrior woman came out of his chest to attack his enemies. Needless to say he was pleased with his new abilities.

JT was the second to fully learn his. His Dark Scorpio form was more of a brass-copper look than Sarina's, and it was much bulkily than hers, with a golden scorpion on his head. His Supernova was able to turn his lower half into a scorpion-like form, with a demonic stinger at the tail's end, and his lower arms became scorpion claws. His face changes into a more evil form, with razor sharp teeth, a smaller tail on the back of his head, and his eyes could fire acid from them in this form. JT was the most effected by what Vilgax told them, but he never felt comfortable with Ben's attitude before Diagon's attack. More than ever he wanted to put Ben in his place.

Emily was a quick study, but having to relearn how to walk, as well as learning about her new powers made her the last to master her abilities. As Dark Sagittarius she wore black pants, spiked armored boots, a armored chestplate with shoulder pads, a bow on each arm, and a helmet that covered all but her mouth and chin, which was covered in a grey mask. On her abs she wore a griddle that had the Sagittarius constellation on it. The overall look was black with purple and lavender highlights, with purple wings to complete the look. Her Supernova lets her control a whirlwind that she can use as she sees fits.

Vilgax was pleased by how fast they learned their new forms' uses! Plus, since they were Ben's friends, or in Emily's case his ex-girlfriend he would not be able to fully fight back, giving them the edge. But little did he know a young boy was watching him right this moment. When he had recorded enough Jimmy Jones ran out as fast as his little legs could carry him. 'Ben is not going to be happy about this' as horrible thought ran along with his internal monolog.

Later in the evening...

JK was able to dodge a bullet that day during the three on three battle that ended in their favor, but he wasn't sure the next ones would be looking up for them. Ben was on his last legs, with noticeable bags under his eyes, paler skin and greasy hair. Plus his jacket, shirt, jeans and shoes have seen better days, as they were on the verge of falling apart, with large holes in them all and in the cases of the shirt and jeans bloodstained as well. As Ben limped to the dinner table JK felt quite bad for the Plumber. "Hey, Ben-san, are you sure you're able to keep fighting on like this? You look worse every day and we're all worried about you" JK's words held more truth than Ben would like to admit. He didn't like the fact that the KRC was tending to each and every little mishap he got into. It wasn't something Ben was used to, as he kept expecting Gwen and Kevin to rip on him for being careless, stupid, that sort of thing.

But deep down he was grateful for their help. "I'm cool. It's not like Vilgax is going to give up that easily. I'm always on call when it's hero time!" His response was more a croak than a heroic declaration and he knew that he was on his final hours of life. The mood was somber indeed as everyone was crying about the cruel fate that Ben was handed.

Still JK needed to do something important and while now wasn't the best time, it had to be said. "I'm sorry about insulting your hard work, Yuki-san, Erin-san. I should have been more thoughtful of your feelings on the matter. Can you ever forgive me?" he asked, his voice cracking from both his guilt and the stress of Ben dying right in forth of them.

"Of course we do! To be honest we weren't too sure about using the waterbear anyway" Yuki admitted to her younger friend. "I wanted to use a bunny rabbit as out mascot, but Erin wasn't sure that Manny would like that idea" She had to stop as she fought back tears, the thought of this poor boy dying before his time was too much for the normally happy-go-lucky teenage girl.

Erin stood up to finish what Yuki wanted to say. With her blessing she continued. " We both want you to know while we admittedly overreacted to your words, you were a tad harsh about our hard work. But friendship is something that, thanks to Gentaro-san, a thing of true beauty and we are lucky that we all had this brave boy to not only both bring us closer together, but bring to light our faults and help us work on them so that we may become better people. I hope we'll always be friends" as Erin and Yuki hugged their friend, which made JK happy for two reasons: One, because he got to be hugged by two cuter older girls and the more important reason was that despite all that happened during the month their friendship was stronger than ever before and he was forgiven for snapping at them, although he never intended to hurt their feelings. He then hugged them back as the emotions came flooding out.

As the three sat down Manny dinged a spoon against a glass to get everyone's attention. "Since I'm not sure Ben's gonna make it past the week I felt we should let him know just how much he means to us all" His tone was somber and serious, a far cry from his normal rowdy behavior. "Gen, I'll let you go first, since you grew closest to Ben" Gentaro got up from his chair and began to give his speech.

"Ben-san, I gotta admit I was acting like a ass when I got here. After seeing how you were before I was so blinded by my anger that I was willing to let my friends get hurt. But after seeing how much you've grown and continue to do so, you became a friend to not only me, but my friends as well." He then swallowed hard, trying to moisten his dry throat and continued. "But although you're not doing well you still wish to help out others and have made all of us welcome in your world. You truly have the soul of a Kamen Rider" By now Gen was crying his eyes out, the final part about to begin. "Saying goodbyes are like fractures of the soul; it hurts for a while, but once it's back together it's stronger than ever before. We're...we're friends. Forever...no matter what" Ben was touched by Gen's word's and finally he felt like they were friends. The both of them got up and did Gentaro's special handshake to show to everyone that now they were more than partners. They were best friends.

Yuki was up next. Batting a lock of hair out of her face she began her part. "Ben-san, when I first came here I was not myself. But after you saved me you took the time to let me heal, both mentally and spiritually as well. You were always willing to help out anyone in need, and you always loved to listen to us when we wish to share our dreams, never judging us and giving us hope that we can make them come true." Yuki was by now having trouble reading as her tears were clouding her vision, but she kept on going. "In fact you still are that kind, loving boy we met that day ago. On behalf of all of us I wish to thank you for saving not only us, but our friendships as well." When she finished Yuki gave Ben a salute of thanks to Ben as did JK and the other former Switchers. Soon Yuki was crying up a storm, as Gentaro stroked her head to try and comfort her. She was thankful she has such wonderful friends, but the fact that one of them was dying was too much for her to take. Erin, Ran, Tojiro and JK were crying as well, the emotional pain being too much for them.

Julie did the final part of their speech. "Ben, when we met during that fateful day I knew you were more that other boys your age. Sure we had some bumps on the way here, but we worked our way though them and grew stronger because of that. I think I speak for everyone here that you have grown up a lot during this time. I wish we had more time together, because I...I...I LOVE YOU! Oh Ben, it hurts too much to think about what's happening to you! Why must it be you and not Albedo?!" She couldn't handle it anymore and tore out of the room in tears, as she fell onto the couch and sobbed.

Ben wanted to go to her, to tell her that things will pick up and that they will have a wonderful future together. But he knew that might never happen now, not with the handywork of Albedo's shoddy work killing him slowly and painfully. As Yuki and Ran went over to try and lift Julie's spirits he got a call from a person he hadn't heard from for some time now. "Y'ello, this is Ben Tennyson speaking. May I ask who's calling?" with a somewhat curt tone in his voice. Soon the caller answered him.

"Ben, it's me, Jimmy! I know you don't like being called during dinner, but I found out something super scary about Vilgax! Come to the computer right away and I'll fill you in on what I found out!" his voice full of panic. Ben knew that Jimmy was trustworthy so he excused himself and went to his room and soon he was on FaceTime with Jimmy.

About ten minutes later...

"OK, so let me get this straight. Vilgax is trying to get people to Switch on these Dark Switches he made from the Horoscope Switches so he can draw upon this...what did you say it was again" Ben loved Jimmy like a little brother, but since he was the one that blabbed about his secret identity he never fully trusted him. Sure he was a big help during that space plant attack, but still what he did was illegal, although he never intended for Ben's life to fall apart like it did.

"I'm telling you, it's really bad! He's trying to gain all the power of the Black Zodiac, the tortured shadowy side of the Light Zodiac!" as he tried to calm himself down, but the words came out faster than Jimmy would have liked. "You're thinking that Vilgax just gave these Switches to random people, but there's a pattern to his madness this time! Each Zodiac sign has a Black Zodiac counterpart. Somehow Vilgax used the last vertices of Diagon's power to empower the Horoscopes Switches so he can get each user to draw upon these dark energies and store them into the Switches, although he never told any of them other than Pysphon. I was able to sneak in from time to time as his base is not too far from where I live, although he knows someone was spying on him by now." Ben was furious and Jimmy knew it.

"You snuck in by YOURSELF?! How stupid are you?! You have no idea how lucky you are right now! Vilgax is dangerous, Jimmy! Please tell me you'll never, EVER, do something like this again!" Ben raged at the younger boy. Jimmy was more than a bit shaken by Ben's outburst, but he knew he had a valid point.

"Sorry Ben. So, here's the info I was able to find on the Black Zodiac:

Aries's BZ version is The Selfish King. People who have this sign are greedy and prone to arrogance. It's represented by Marduk. The selfish king rules in order to receive all victories for himself. Driscoll was the best suited to be Dark Aries as he embodies these traits.

Taurus' is The Slain Demon. People who have this BZ sign are filled with malice and tend to be braggarts. It's represented by Kingu, who was slain by Marduk according to Babylonian myth used his blood to make the first humans. The Slain Demon inflates the truth to gain the upper hand. That fits Zombozo to a tee.

Gemini's is The Viper. They tend to kill with words as well as venom. They're sociopaths and love watching people die slow, painful deaths. That can only be one person: Will Harange!

Cancer has The Snake as its BZ sign. Deceit and treachery are its calling cards. While often underestimated the belly crawling snake takes advantage of others, then during their weakest moments crushes the life from them. Argit fits the profile of the Snake quite well.

Leo is The Lady of Battle. It's represented by the Queen of Satan herself, Lakhamu, warrior goddess of evil! If provoked they can be murderous and they tend to be rather prideful of themselves. Cash is the one best suited to be Dark Leo. I'm sorry, Ben.

Virgo is The Whirlwind. Their fury is directed at all who stand in their way. They destroy out of ignorant will towards all who stand in their way. They also suffer from aggravation and tend to be hypocritical. Charmcaster is a Whirlwind or from what you IM me about, was.

Libra is The Ravening Dog, who represents 666 itself. Accusative as well as insane they attack first and ask questions later or not at all. Psyphon's totally that way.

Scorpio is The Scorpion Man. Suspicious and deadly, their sting can cause a tortuous death. Sinful and abusive they like to attack at the weakest moments they can find and hold grudges like you wouldn't believe! JT is the one who best embodies the Scorpion Man.

Sagittarius has The Hurricane as its Black Zodiac sign. Will Withhold their emotions until they erupt, then they will blindly destroy everything around them! Their hearts are filled with hated toward those they fell wronged them in the past and they're destructive and lacking moral conscience of their darker actions. Be careful Ben, Emily's the Hurricane we're after.

Capricorn has The Fish Man for its BZ counterpart. They draw power from others and their cunning allows them to get close enough to do so at will. They're dangerously powerful and cunning and have leeches as their representative. Aggregor is our Fish Man, or was since he bit the big one.

Aquarius is The Horned Beast. The Horned Beast is abusive and controlling to those dear to him. The horned beast only shows the side of his personality to gain complete control of his minion. Multiple personalities used to manipulate. They're manipulative and confusing like you wouldn't believe! I'd say Darkstar's the best suited for the Horned Best, right?

Finally, Pisces is The Weapon! Blinded by anger, they will attack when their way no longer works. They're narrow-minded and suffer from impulsiveness. Overlord was the best Weapon Vilgax could ask for"

Ben was stunned. Here they all thought Vilgax was picking people at random, but there's a pattern now! Worse Emily, Cash and JT are in terrible danger right now! He had to get the others and save them, both from Vilgax as well as themselves! "Jimmy, stay here. We're on our way over so don't go out until-"

Ben never got to finish his order. A explosion rocked Jimmy's side and then the screen went black. Ben hollered at Jimmy to answer, but in his heart he knew the truth: Vilgax had found out about his little outings and had silenced him with extreme prejudice.

Ben buried his face in his hands and sobbed. It's bad enough that Vilgax was killing off his old foes, but Jimmy and his apartment as well? This was too much, a nightmare he wished he could wake from and start a new day. But Ben knew that Vilgax had gone too far gone to even bother to save. Soon a though went into his mind and although it did frighten him he knew it had to be done.

He must kill Vilgax once and for all.

Special thanks must be made to zodiacsignsastrology for their Black Zodiac article. As always feel free to review this story in the review section!