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Chapter 19: The Death of Ben Tennyson Part 2
It was times like this Ben wished Jetray was a little faster. He had no idea what fate befell Jimmy and just the thought of something bad happening to him was too much for Ben. Tearing though the night sky he saw a sight that would be burned into his memory forever.
Jimmy's apartment complex was nothing more than a smoldering wreak, body bags and emergency vehicles were all over the place. As Jetray landed he ran to where a small body bag was. To his horror the tag on the foot read: Jimmy Jones. The manta ray alien cried out in sorrow, into the cold night sky.
Later, when all of the chaos had subsided...somewhat...
Ben sat down and cried for who knows how long. Jimmy was innocent of all of this and Vilgax went too far, even for his standards. Soon Manny landed by Ben, and he stopped shedding tears to see his largest friend.
"I never thought one of my enemies would go this far for revenge. Because of the fact I was the one to stop him over and over again, everyone in that building is dead. All because of me" The words Ben said were of a profound sadness, something Manny never thought possible from the Omnitrix wielder. "I was so ready to have things calm down after Diagon's death. To have life be simple, fun and exciting, not this chaotic scramble. If only I could go back to that simpler time..."
A month ago, when Ben gained the True Omnitrix...
Azmuth was going over all the new features of his greatest work ever, with Ben being all ears. But soon after all the other things were said and done Azmuth had one more thing in store.
"As you are aware of, when you first gained the Prototype Omnitrix it changed you clothing to better suit your alien forms. However this feature was locked when it recalibrated, leaving you with the default forms. This carried over to the Ultimatrix, which has proven to a utter failure! Albedo is nothing but a fool for tampering with forces beyond even my understanding and now you're paying the price for his idiocy!"Azmuth calmed down after a calm speech about the Omnitrix went to his issues with Albedo. Clearing his throat he continued on. "Forgive me, Ben. My behavior was unprofessional. Now then, since my Omnitrix has a customization feature I wanted to know if there was anything you wish to change about the appearance of your alien forms"
Ben was thrilled! "Dude, of course I wanna try it out! Gotta go hero in style, right?" as he fidgeted from his excitement. Soon the two were on at their work, making the new Omnitrix as much a part of Ben as his heroic soul.
Ben kept Wildmutt, Stinkfly, Grey Matter, Ripjaws, Ghostfreak, Cannonbolt, Wildvine, UpChuck, Ditto, Way Big, Swampfire, Jetray, Big Chill, Chromastone, Goop, Rath, Water Hazard, Ampfibian, Armordrillo, Terraspin, NRG, Fasttrack, Clockwork, ChamAlien, Eatle, Spitter, Buzzshock and Articguana the same. However there were a few changes to the others, apart from Alien X who couldn't be changed.
Heatblast was now more muscular with raised shoulder armor. Diamondhead was no longer was formed from the purple stones that Chromastone shared with him, as he was now wearing a green striped black shirt with black pants and a belt that was formed from the Omnitrix. XLR8 was muscular and all the white parts were now green. Fourarms now wore a green striped black workman's shirt, with the Omnitrix making a belt, with black pants that went around his ankles and he had spikes on his upper arms and head, with a handlebar mustache. Upgrade now was a mix of black, green and jungle green. Benwolf was redubbed Fangwolf and the outfit he wore was no longer white with black highlights, but black with green highlights. BenMummy was now Wrap Star, and the Omnitrix symbol now was on his belt, freeing up his chest for more attack opinions. BenVictor's name was changed to MagnoStein, the Omnitrix was now on his belt, and his pants now had green where there was dull silver before. Eye Guy had the Omnitrix placed back onto his belt, and his pants were now a more greenish-black. Humungousaur was now wearing black shorts with a sash made from the Omnitrix. Echo Echo had green highlights on his headphones, backpack, hands and feet. Spidermonkey wore a harness made from the Omnitrix. Brainstorm had a loincloth on him and his neckbrace was now more high tech and greener, with black and green stripes on his head. Lodestar gained a mouth that opened and closed when he talks. Nanomech became more tech-based in his design. Shocksquatch had changed a lot, as since Ben was near adulthood he had grown to his adlut form as well, being more slim and taller, with yellow fur and more muscle definition, with black shorts held up by the Omnitrix as a belt. Jury Rigg now wore a aviator suit with goggles. Needless to say Ben was quite pleased with the changes, as was Azmuth.
Present time...
But that was in the past now. Ben had no idea what do now and Manny didn't know how to help him, when Vilgax landed right in front of their shocked faces.
"Such a pity about these people. Some hero you claim to be, Tennyson" he mocked the dying hero, a cruel smile forming on his lips. "Oh, and don't worry about your friends Emily, JT and Cash. They will be my responsibility from now on. I won't worry too much about that. You should be more worried about yourself!" as Dark Sagittarius, Dark Leo and Dark Scorpio walked up to Ben, spoiling for a fight. "AH! my dear friends have come to greet me. But it seems that they no longer like you, Ben. I'd be more mindful of what I would say during my next life, but I doubt what I said would have a chance to sink in. Farewell, Ben 10." As Ben was puzzled by his words Vilgax flew out, leaving both him as well as Manny at the mercy of the final three Dark Horoscopes.
"What did he mean by that? What did he do to you?" Ben begged of them to answer him, that Vilgax only changed their bodies and not their minds. But as with a lot of Vilgax's schemes he would have no such luck this time as when he walked to Emily she punched him right in the eye, sending him onto his butt.
"Save it. We know about the cruel thing you're said about the people of Vilgaxia. You always were so full of yourself, too damn proud to admit you're a utter failure as a human being. Now it's time for you to die." Emily stated, her tone a mix of bitterness, sorrow, and anger. Ben was upset that his friends now wanted to kill him! Not joke about it, as Kevin tends to do, but actually do it! He barely had time to find cover before Dark Sagittarius unleashed a storm of Cosmic Energy arrows at his direction. While the rumble did offer some cover the heat of the arrows burned his jacket, setting it ablaze. Ben was forced to rip it off before it burned more that his back as he selected Swampfire, but before he could counterattack JT struck him with a roundhouse kick, making the alien land on the back of his head.
"I wished it weren't true, that you were the hero everyone believes you to be. But the signs were there, clear as day. I can't let you leave here alive, Ben" Dark Scorpio whispered as he tried to sting Ben, but the enhanced reflexes of Swampfire allowed him to roll away, making the stinger strike the ground instead. "You always were a coward! You never wanted to face your problems by yourself and you're still the same way! I'm sick of it!" Ben never heard JT lose his temper like that before. It frightened him so see such a good friend lash out like this.
"It won't do you any good to beg for mercy. Now we know that Vilgax is the true hero" Dark Leo snarled as he brought his sword over his head, but he was kept from killing Ben by a Big Clap from Manny. "WHY DO YOU INSIST ON HELPING THIS FOOL?! HE IS AS MUCH YOUR ENEMY AS HE IS OURS!" he raged at the four armed Plumber's Kid, but Manny replied by firing all four of his laser guns at the Dark Horoscopes, burning them and forcing them to fall back. Manny then turned to Ben as he reverted to normal form.
"I hate Vilgax as much as the next guy, but C'mon, man! That was cold, telling the poor bastard his world was wreaked like that!" he snapped at Ben, causing him to winch from how loud his voice was. Manny chuckled as he didn't mean to hurt Ben like that. "Sorry, Ben. I know you've been workin' hard on bettering yourself, but I have a terrible time controlling my temper. To be honest I've been acting like a ass too. After Piece died Helen was a total wreak. I should have helped her, but it got to be too much for me" He then hung his head in shame as he told Ben the story of how things fell apart between him and Helen.
Two months ago...
"IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT! IF YOU NEVER GAVE HIM THE IDEA TO USE A ID MASK TO GO ON A DATE THEN HE'D STILL BE ALIVE!" Helen exploded at her partner, he features contorted from all her rage. It was just two weeks since Pierce died and even since then things have been quite bad for Manny and Helen. Lately it seemed that they would fight all the time about everything and Manny was getting sick and tired of it all.
"Look Helen! Pierce wanted a life outside of Plumber business and you know it! How was I to know the Forever Knights would attack him like that? You can't lord over him forever, you know!" Manny retorted, causing Helen to fume at the Tetramand.
"I know that he wanted a life outside of what we do, but even if he survived it would have never worked out between those two! But you were always too stubborn to say you're wrong and he paid the price for YOUR stupidity with his life! He was my brother and you just as much killed him as the Knights!" she sobbed. Manny could stand no more of this. He would regret it later, but in anger he slapped Helen to the ground, causing a bruise to form on her left cheek.
"SHUT UP! YOU KNOW I CARED FOR HIM TOO, BUT YOU WERE ALWAYS TOO DAMN BLIND TO SEE THAT! HE WAS LIKE A BROTHER TO ME AND I KNOW AS MUCH AS HE LOVED YOU, HE WANTED TO LIVE HIS LIFE TO ITS FULLEST! NOW I KNOW THAT THE FOREVER KNIGHT THING HAS US ON EDGE, BUT IF YOU DON'T WANT TO FOLLOW MY ORDERS, THEN GET THE HELL OUT OF MY FACE!" Manny then caught himself as he finished screaming at the female raptor alien, and he felt horrible about what he did to her. "Look Helen, I didn't mean that. It's just losing Pierce was just so painful to me as well. Please find it in your heart to forgive me, Helen"
But his apology fell on deaf ears. "Just go. I can't even stand to look at you. Go away and never darken my doorstep again, you monster" Helen's words were filled with venom and it hurt Manny to hear that coming from the girl he loved. Turning away as he was about to leave she snarled "I HATE YOU! LEAVE ME ALONE!" and then sobbed as he left her alone to her thoughts.
Now...
"Wow. That was pretty harsh, dude. So all this time you were avoiding Helen because you couldn't take the pain those memories were causing you. When all of this is over you have to go to her. She needs you more that she lets on. You don't want to do something you'll regret you whole life like I did" Ben calmly told Manny. He was pleased to hear a comforting opinion on his matters with his partner. He would do that for her, IF they can survive the attack from the three Dark Horoscopes.
As they closed in on them Manny started to panic, but Ben was calmer than he normally would be. He welcomed death if it would save his planet from Vilgax's wraith. But to their shock someone knocked them back, giving Ben and Manny breathing room, as the form of Fourze rocketed towards them.
"You didn't think you'd get away that easily. That green flash you when you transform did make it easy for Yuki-chan to track you. We're all sorry about your lost, but you can't do this alone. You need us as much as we need you!" Fourze shot at Ben. Ben was touched that his new friends were always willing to help him out, no matter when and where. Nodding to show he was alright Fourze gave him the thumb's up to show that he would always be his friend, as would the others.
"I gotta admit you guys are smarter than you let on" Ben admitted to the Kamen Rider Club. Ran walked up to where he was and said this to him.
"Age is only part of what makes us wise. It also takes experience and study to make us truly wise in this world. That's what my Aikido teacher taught me. It's also something I wished more people understood" Ran responded. Ben was quite pleased to hear something so kind for this girl. She had been so distant from him he was worried that she hated him. But as it turned out she just needed the time to get to know him better.
JK laughed at the reaction Ben had to what Ran said. "Our Ran's a textbook tsundere, all right" as he placed a arm over her shoulders. To his surprise however she didn't throw him as she normally does.
In fact she was quite OK with this. " It's not the most flattering statement about me, but it is accurate, JK-san" as she gently removed his arm from her person. "Thank you for willing to learn more about me before judging me. It's been so long since I was able to trust an older student like this. You all are truly kind people" When she finished she smiled her brightest smile, which made the group quite happy.
"Our goal is to make sure everyone can be friends. So that we can all trust and love one another and make this world a better place for all" Fourze happily interjected to Ran's earlier statement. But the good cheer would not last as Ben went onto a knee suddenly as he coughed up more blood.
"Ben-san! Hold on, we're on our way" Yuki cried out as she ran towards the prone form of Ben. He tried to tell her he was doing fine, but his body was telling them the truth: Ben didn't have long to live. "Oh, Gen-chan, what are we going to do? I don't want him to die. Please save him" as she did her puppy dog face. Fourze wasted no time and brought up the Medical Switch, using its power to summon the Medical Module. But no matter what he tried Ben showed no sign of improving. Yuki then started to cry, as Fourze held onto her as rocked her gently as she sobbed. "He's been so kind to us. He doesn't deserve to die",Yuki cried, as Fourze hugged her.
Erin and Tojiro were upset too, as Benn had proven himself over and over about how serious he is about his hero duties. As she looked up into the night sky she pleated, "If there's anyone out there who can help Ben, please, save him!" as she looked up at the star above in hopes that something will save their friend, as did Tojio, JK, Ran and Yuki. It hurt Fourze to see his friends like this. He wished that there was something he could do for Ben. But there was nothing he can do.
Meanwhile, in Earth's orbit...
A purple streak of light tore though the atmospheric layer of Earth. It's only thought was this: 'Hang on Ben. I'm on my way'
Back on Earth...
The KRC wished that the Zodiarts would leave them alone so they could help Ben. But the Dark Horoscopes would give no quarter to the troubled heroes. "If you're done whining about that brat Ben, then get out of our way!" Dark Sagittarius snapped at them, sending them back to reality. "Tell us why he is so important to you all. He's the reason the people of Vilgaxia are dead! Their blood is on his hands!" as she swung her arms out to the sides in fury.
Gentaro could take no more of this. "Vilgax abandoned his people in their time of need. He has killed countless innocent lives in his pursuit of power! He is not your friend at all!" he rebutted. "Friends should care about one another and support their friendship with trust, love, loyalty and understanding. Ben understands that better than anyone. He knows now that what he said was hurtful, but he's willing to make things right. If you can't see that, then you're not his friends at all!" Fourze was close to tears himself. He wasn't sure if his words reached them.
But they did. Emily was taken aback by what Fourze said to them and took a moment to think about what they were about to do. Then she replied, "You're right. Vilgax did attack Earth so many times and Ben always defended it, and he almost never asked for anything in return. I'll admit I always felt like a odd one out due to my disability, so I was desperate to gain any chance to walk again. I hope you can accept out apology, Mr. Fourze" as she extended her hand to shake his.
But Vilgax would have none of that. "How is it you can befriend people so easily?! No matter, I took the time to make sure these Dark Horoscope Zodiarts follow my orders, even until death!" Vilgax then pressed a button on his armored gantlet, sending radio signals that only Emily, Cash and JT could hear. Soon they were in utter pain as Vilgax brainwashed them into becoming berserkers, to the horror of everyone present.
"You are a total bastard! I can't believe you would do this to human beings!" Tojiro shouted in a uproar. " What gives you the right to hurt us like this?"
"EVERYTHING!" Vilgax exploded. "Ben took every chance I had to gain ultimate power. He defeated me over and over, plus he left me for dead. I had to suffer the idiocy of the Flame Keepers, and being a slave to their stupid god, Diagon! I earned the right to this, child! You have no right to tell me otherwise!"
JK went in to defend his friend. "Tojiro-kun has every right to say these things. You claim to be a great ruler, but you're more of a coward than I am" as he flashed him a somewhat cocky smile. That sent Vilgax over the edge.
"KILL THEM! KILL THEM ALL!" It took only these words from Vilgax to spring the Dark Horoscopes to action, D. Sagittarius fighting Ben, D. Leo battling Manny and D. Scorpio taking on Fourze.
"Emily, snap out of it! I know you're a good person!" But Ben's pleads were ignored by the rampaging Dark Sagittarius, as she fired off arrow after arrow of Cosmic Energy power fire. Ben went Heatblast to absorb the fiery arrows, but so far she had the advantage over him. She leapt up onto the buildings nearby and wall jumped up towards the rooftops, with Ben following her as they traded blows on the way there, both badly burning the other. But when they got up she gained the upper hand and heelkicked Heatblast down onto a roof, causing him to skid to a painful halt on his back.
Manny was having no better luck with Dark Leo. "You'd think you would learn your lesson from the last time you played with alien tech, Cash!" But his retort was not answered as Dark Leo slashed into his flesh, while making sure he could not counterattack. But Manny would not give up and slammed all four hands onto Cash's head. The blow did little damage to the lion Zodiart as he fired back with a lion's roar shockwave, making him crash into a building.
Fourze had just enough time to gesture the other Kamen Rider Club members to get to safety. Just when they were able to get inside, they saw that they were lucky enough to dodge Dark Sagittarius's arrow storm. Before she could fire off a second one Heatblast tackled her down and they continued their fight .Fourze breathed in a sigh of relief, but Dark Scorpio was soon upon him, lashing out madly with his clawed hands and tail. Gen placed the Fire Switch into the Driver to become Fire States, but JT was able to jump away from his flamethrower blasts like they were nothing. Dark Scorpio then tried to dive bomb Fourze with his claws, trying to gore the Rider, but his attack failed thanks to the Areo Switch, as the Module it summons allowed Fourze to high jump his way out of the attack's way, causing JT to become stuck on the ground below.
As he fought to free himself JT grunted and groaned like a animal. Soon he was free and angry enough to become his dreadful Supernova form, knocking Fourze away like a ping pong ball. As Fourze tried to get up Dark Scorpio lash out like a wild animal, bringing both his claws and Stinger down in a mad attempt to kill the Kamen Rider, who could do nothing but roll away from him, the attack just baring missing him.
Of course Vilgax knew that the others were helpless without the aid of their friends, so he took the time to knock down the door that kept them from the battle and closed in on them. Yuki recoiled in fear as he walked towards them, as Ran and Tojiro looked at him with hate in their eyes. Erin was the only one able to speak at that moment, since JK was curled into a ball in fear at that moment. "What part of 'We're not part of your insane quest anymore' did you not understand?" she crisply asked of the alien warlord.
Vilgax just smiled and open a box with the Dark Horoscope Switches for Gemini, Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces. "Is anyone ever not a part of my plans? I know you all missed the power you had from these Switches. Swear undying loyalty to me, rejoin my army and perhaps I will spare your friend's lives" But the answers he got was not the ones he was expecting.
Yuki was first to answer Vilgax. As she swallowed hard she told him this:"It's true that I love space so much. Going to space has been my dream even since I heard these voices calling out to me. I want to go with my friends to greet them kindly, and to share our love with the difference aliens out there. But I want them to be proud of me and what I can do on my own, not with being forced to become a monster to prove my point. I want everyone to see the real me" as she brought her hands together. "I wish to remain myself and become friends with everyone! That's the lesson Gentaro-chan taught all of us!"
Tojiro came up next. "I always loved rock and roll. Ever since I could hold onto a guitar I wanted to share my love of music with everyone. But your Switch forced out a dark side of myself I didn't want to know about. I became willing to hurt others, just so I can get people to love the things I do. But thanks to my good friends I saw the light. Now I know I have to work hard and always strive to better myself, as that's the only way I can share my love of music with the world without hurting anyone. I don't need your 'gifts' now or ever! I'm goin' to be a damn fine rocker and you can't stop me! ROCK N ROLL FOREVER, MAN!"
Erin was the third to share her thoughts with Vilgax. "I was lucky to have a astronaut as a father, even though he never went into space. He is a kind man, with much talent in his field. But he never got to go into space since they thought someone more charismatic would be better suited to go. Ever since that day I never thought much of those who were always so cheerful and joking around all the time. That why went I met Yuki-chan I didn't really like her all that much. But soon I got to know that she shared my passion for space and then we got to know each other better. She also taught me a important lesson that I needed to know. It's not just talent that gets you your dreams. You must be kind and understanding and have a sense of humor, so that when things go wrong you can bounce back from them and become a stronger person for it, something my father never really learned to do." She then placed Yuki's hand in hers as she closed them together in friendship, then turning her face back to Vilgax. "That is why I cannot take back the Switch in good reason. I wish to achieve my goal fairly and without your help" she boldly told him with a stony look in her face.
Ran was the last to go. " I never cared for bullies all that much. After my upper classmen tormented Haru so much that he was so sad, I closed my heart to everyone else and began to hate my older classmates. But I was smothering Haru with my need to protect him and I made him feel weak, perhaps more so than the bullies themselves. But thanks to the Kamen Rider Club I learned to reopen my heart to others and I was able to save my friend from himself. Soon after I made many new friends and gain a stronger bond with Haru-kun. Then when you kidnapped us and turned us into monsters my heart sank. I was being forced to become something I hated: a bully. But once again the Kamen Rider Club saved me as well as my friends as well." Soon after she said these things to Vilgax she pointed at him with a angry glare. "I wish to stay as I am, a human who loves and cherishes her friendships! I doubt you even know about that or cared about friendship at all, for that matter" she declared.
Their word brought new courage to JK, as he uncurled himself and joined them in their defiance of Vilgax and his false promises of power. "We will never join you, squid face! The Kamen Rider Club stays together, no matter what happens!" JK shouted at Vilgax.
Then all five of them did the "Uchuu Kita" pose and catchphrase that Gentaro loves so dearly. This was too much for Vilgax to tolerate.
"SPACE IS ALWAYS HERE, YOU STUPID HUMANS! IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO SERVE ME, THEN YOU CAN DIE BY MY MIGHTY HAND!" as he fired off a Ruby Ray at them. The poor KRC was too scared to move away from the blast, as they feared the worst was going to happen to them. But the laser never reached them at all. Something blocked the killing blow from reaching them. "What is this? Who dares to defy the rule of Vilgax?" he angrily demanded.
To the shock of everyone there a woman of about 60-ish stood in Vilgax's way. She wore a purple business suit and had her hair in a short style that hung freely in the wind. But the odd thing about her was she held up a purple energy shield like it was nothing at all.
"Who are you and what connects you to Ben Tennyson?!" Vilgax demanded of the odd woman. She just smiled and shook her head at his childish outburst.
"You don't need to know my name, but you do need to know this" Her eyes grew harsh and gained a purplish-pink glow to them. "Stay away from my grandson, you damn monster"
A few seconds later...
The night's calm was shattered by the howls of Vilgax, as he soared though the air in pain, as his body burned with mystical fire, the nine other Dark Horoscope Switches following close by, burning as well. Soon he flew out of Bellwood and out of sight as he crashed into the ruins of Los Soledad.
A few more seconds later...
Everyone was stunned by the power this woman wielded. They were shocked that she held more power than even a Kamen Rider, perhaps more than Kuuga! Soon she turned to the frightened group as her eyes returned to normal. "Don't worry, kiddos. I won't hurt you. It's just I could see that Vilgax is playing around with things he shouldn't be. Diagon's power being the main thing. I couldn't just leave this planet to fall under the Dark One's rule again, so I came back. I'm glad you were able to become friends with my grandson so quickly. But this thing about him dying is something you don't quite understand all that well" she told the group in a gentle tone, with a whimsical undertone to her statement.
The KRC wasn't sure just what this woman was going on about. But she knew ahead of time that they wouldn't know. After all they are guests here in this dimension.
"I know you're not from around here. You can't fool a fully trained Anodite that easily. I can sense your mana is not the same as everyone else's. But don't worry, I won't hurt any of you." She then placed her hands on her hips and continued on. "Now then you're all wondering why I know about Ben's little problem right now. It's simple really" Her face faulted as this was not a memory she wanted to recall. "It's because I've dealt with this before"
Be here next time for the exciting conclusion of Ben's battle with the Dark Horoscopes! But there's still the matter of Vilgax and the powers of Diagon and the Black Zodiac falling under his control! Can Ben, Gen, Manny and the Kamen Rider Club stop Vilgax or is everyone DOOMED? Plus what does Verdona know about Ben's issues? Could she have the answer to everyone's questions?
Let me know what you all thought of this story so far in the review section. I'm always looking for ways to improve myself! Until then fare thee well and I'll see you next time!