Pretty sure this is my first real action scene, so please feel free to provide any comments or criticisms you can to help me improve the ones to come! Also finally bringing the (long awaited) Ben into the story~ (wasn't sure what version of Ben and his alien forms to go with, so I just picked the ones I liked and hoped it worked for the fic. Helpful input is welcome here as well!). This chapter is mostly battle practice/character interaction/plot development, but I hope it's still just as fun as the others have been and I hope you enjoy~!
Time Until the End of the Earth: 4 Days, 18 Hours, 13 Minutes
There were times when Ben wondered if Lord Fuse wasn't simply throwing together fusion monsters in the vague hope that eventually one would come along that was so completely freakish looking that it just grossed out Earth's forces into surrendering. Because if he was, Ben thought, his latest fusion incarnation was certainly succeeding.
The aptly named Creeper King was as much a plant as Ben was a plate of chili fries. A pile of fusion matter with legs, fangs, and vaguely leafy appendages, it leaked green goo constantly and smelled like something long dead. However, that was not the worst of it. Nor, in Ben's opinion, was it the monster's beady red eyes or the way fusion matter saliva dribbled from its always-open jaws.
The worst part of the Creeper Kings, in Ben's not so humble opinion, were their slimy four foot tongues.
One of which he was currently caught in.
"Let go of me, you drooling creep!" Ben, or rather Spidermonkey, squealed, the blue Arachnichimp flailing all six of its limbs against the dripping appendage. The Creeper King that held him roared around its extended tongue, bracing its self on all fours as it attempted to reel in its catch.
"Not so fast, slime ball!"
Spidermonkey stopped his flailing just in time to see a massive orange and silver fist slam down on the Creeper King's tongue, drawing a scream of pain from the fusion. Its grip on the alien monkey released as the much more pressing threat drew its attention.
"Not much fun when you start picking on someone your own size, now is it?" Rex asked, grinning as he pulled back his other fist. His punch caught the Creeper in the jaw, sending it reeling. Two more consecutive hits and Rex released his grip on the fusion's tongue, leaving it to stumble back, dazed by the heavy blows.
"Oh, I'm not done with you yet." Rex's hands shifted, his right smackhand being reabsorbed into his body while the left reformed, his arm changing into a giant projectile launcher.
"That's awesome," Spidermonkey breathed, staring wide eyed at the nanite-weapon.
"Be impressed later," Rex said, looking back as he angled the slamcannon down towards the ground, the rear maw sliding open and projecting into the dirt. "You've got company!"
"What—?" Spidermonkey started to say, but he cut off as his enhanced reflexes kicked in, shooting a sting of webbing into a nearby tree and pulling him to safety just as another fusion monster came crashing down on the spot where he'd just stood.
Snarling in frustration, the fusion turned its head from side to side, trying to figure out where its prey had vanished to. From his position hidden among the trees, Spidermonkey grinned at the monster's expense.
"Where did it go?" he whispered while the fusion, another Creeper King, snorted, its red eyes glowing angrily as it tried to pinpoint the blue monkey. Spidermonkey waited until the fusion was looking in the opposite direction, and then he lunged
"Bonzai!" the Arachnichimp squealed as it sailed from the tree, all six legs spread as he flew towards the Creeper. Spotting him, the fusion spun towards him, the spine along its back rising up as it roared. It reared back, preparing to lash out at the alien with its massive tongue, but Spidermonkey, having already fallen for the same attack once, wasn't about to be caught again.
"Take this!" he screeched, twisting in midair to fire a sheet of webbing at the fusion. The attack caught the monster straight in the jaw, forcing its head back and causing the monster to stumble to the side. Landing in a crouch behind the Creeper King, Spidermonkey quickly swiveled around to face the fusion.
The Creeper King was shaking its head, emitting an enraged, muffled noise as it tried to pry apart jaws now covered in a layer of Arachnichimp web. Reaching up with its front…Spidermonkey was hesitant to call them paws, the fusion's anger only grew as those, too, became stuck. The more the fusion struggled, the more trapped it became, until it was simply forced to lie still, emitting a string of miserable growls.
At least, until an orange saw blade came slashing down, reducing the monster to the fusion matter it had once been.
"And that makes seven," Rex said, his weapon returning to its usual sword blade.
"Brag, brag, brag," Spidermonkey said right before, with a few warning beeps and a flash of green light, Ben reappeared on the battlefield.
"No need to be jealous," Rex said, grinning.
"Psh," was Ben's response. "I'm not jealous."
"Oh yeah?" Rex asked as he transformed his arm back into an arm. "And what are you at? Three?"
"So?" Ben asked. Actually, he'd only been able to take out two monsters, his unexpected change into Spidermonkey derailing his competition with his fellow superhero. Not that he was going to remind Rex of that anytime soon.
"So," Rex said, drawing out the word as he crossed his arms over his chest, "you're je—" He'd started to say jealous, when a roar from somewhere in the nearby darkness of the Twisted Forest reminded the pair that they were still in the middle of a battlefield, and that their brief reprieve didn't mean the fight was over.
Trees tumbled in a truly dramatic fashion as another Creeper King burst onto the slimy battleground. Its jaws hung wide open and it thrashed its head side to side, searching for a target to capture in its thick, flailing tongue.
"Disgusting," Ben mumbled, pulling a face.
"Not done yet, are you?" Rex teased. Ben caught the boy's playful look and grinned, hand already going for the device at his wrist.
"Just try and keep up."
Now that was what Rex wanted to hear. Spinning to face the oncoming fusions he hunkered down, nanites pooling into his arm. As soon as the slamcannon finished forming it was in the ground, digging up ammo and firing on the incoming monster.
"Nice shot," Four-arms called as he leapt past Rex, following the stunned Creeper King as it stumbled back into the trees. He chased it back with a series of punches before it managed to regain its footing. Massive tongue slithering out of its dripping lips, it easily scooped up the angry alien and tossed it aside. Four-arms's "Oh crud!" trailed through the air as he thrown across the clearing, trees crumpling under him as he crash landed.
"My turn," Rex said, his cannon shifting back into a pair of massive fists as he lunged at the creeper. With a single, well aimed hit, he sent the creeper flying. He spun, watching the monster's trajectory—
To find himself face-to-face with one of the soldiers under his command. The young kid (who was quite a bit shorter, so was it really face-to-face?) was simply staring up at the older fighter.
"Uh...can I help you?" Rex asked, glancing over the kid's shoulder at the Creeper lying a dozen feet away. It was shaking its head and slowly stumbling to its mismatched feet.
"I have an urgent message from Central Command for Captain Rex and Commander Tennyson." Rex stared at the boy, incredulous.
"Can't it wait?" he asked, "We're kind of in the middle of something—Get down!" he shouted the last bit, tackling the boy to the ground as the Creeper Monster sailed over them, jaws snapping shut over the air where they'd only just been standing. A red blur came flying past as Four-arms tackled the monster, dragging it away from the pair.
The boy, seemingly unfazed by the fact that they were in the middle of a war zone, shook his head.
"Commander Tennyson said it couldn't wait."
"Commander…" Rex blinked, looking over his shoulder at the red alien still stubbornly clinging to his rampaging Creeper. "Oh," he said, realization dawning, "Gwen. Doesn't she realize—" Rex cut himself off as he leapt up, swinging another punch as the Creeper charged him once again, red alien flailing as it clung to the monster's head. The hit sent both fusion and rider sailing off to one side, the monster dropping a few broken teeth as it went, "—that we're in the middle of a battle right now?" The boy's response was a blank look.
"Should I patch her through?" he asked. Rex gaped at the boy. He simply stared back. Rex sighed—he knew defeat when he saw it.
"Yeah, patch her through."
Nodding his satisfaction, the boy pulled a device from his pocket and started pushing buttons. "Commander Tennyson," he said after a moment, "I've patched you through."
"Thanks," Gwen's voice said, coming through the radio in Rex's ear. "Ben, Rex, can you hear me?"
"Loud and clear," said Rex, while a confused 'wha?' sounded from where Four-arms was still fusion-wrangling. He'd since managed to pin the monster's tongue to the ground, and was now wielding a fallen tree like a baseball bat against the fusion.
"Uh, hey Gwen," Four-arms greeted, "what's up?"
"Nothing much," she said, her tone oddly laid back for an urgent battlefield transmission. "Just wanted to give you guys a heads up that we'll be needing Rex for a new mission in a little bit."
"Need…" Four-arms trailed off as he swung, the hit splattering the fusion back into goo. "You know, it's not like we're using him here or anything," he said.
"I know, I know," Gwen said. "Don't worry, we'll send someone to take over for him."
Rex frowned, glancing at the kid who'd showed up so suddenly with news of Gwen's call. He'd said it was "urgent." Rex wondered now if the fact that Gwen wasn't saying the same thing meant that the kid had simply been over reacting.
For some reason, Rex doubted it.
"I guess I can handle a new mission right now," he said, earning a confused look from Four-arms. He returned it with a pointed look, one he hoped said I'll explain later.
"Oh good," Gwen said. "Think you guys can wrap things up soon?"
"How soon?" Rex asked. He watched as Four-arms hefted his tree bat, turning to look at the newest trio of fusion monsters that had emerged from the trees.
"About an hour," Gwen said. Rex faltered, looking up at Four-arms. The red alien glanced to the approaching monsters and back.
"An hour?" Four-arms repeated.
"Yeah," Gwen said. "Think you guys can do it?"
That did the trick. Rex felt his expression shift, his own determination reflected in Four-arms's yellow eyes as his arms shifted, the smackhands vanishing, replaced with a massive sword.
"Gwen," he said, a grin on his face, "Consider your challenge accepted."
"Wow," Rex said, shielding his eyes as he looked skyward, "when your cousin says something'll arrive in an hour, she means an hour." He had to yell to be heard over the roar that filled the air.
"You're telling me," Ben agreed.
The two teens were standing at the edge of a wide clearing, observing the small transporter—a DexLabs invention—as it was guided in by a half dozen kids in what looked like self-made headsets, sitting in front of an equally homespun looking bank of computers. Two more kids stood out in the clearing, waving little red flags in a complex series of patters than Rex was sure had to be doing more to confuse the pilots than help them.
The rest of the clearing was a flurry of activity, young soldiers scurrying this way and that as they worked to finish securing the land they had recently regained from Fuse. They were organizing teams with the local S.A.C.T. agents to begin containing the fusion matter spilled about and sending out patrols to finish up the smattering of fusion monsters still lurking within the dark woods.
A few of the soldiers stopped what they were doing to look up, their interest piqued by the unexpected visitor dropping into their midst. Curious guesses were bandied about—More troops coming to back them up; Not likely, the ship's too small; Maybe we're going home early; Bet it's a commander visiting, better look sharp—but no one hovered long enough to see for sure, not willing to be that guy, the one who made the whole company look bad because he wasted a few moments gawking.
The wind kicked up by the ship's thrusters sent a few soldiers scrambling, their supplies toppling as the transport made its final decent. Despite all the wind and noise, its final landing wasn't much—the faintest of jolts as the ship touched down on four tiny struts, a dainty landing that wrapped up a chaotic approach.
"Kind of like Dexter," Rex joked as the engines died down, allowing them to speak at normal volumes once more. "Lots of posturing, but no real impact." Ben grinned, picturing the diminutive scientist, specifically his reaction to something gone awry—lots of ranting and large wrench waving, but very little violence to follow. For the most part, anyway.
"You should see Dexter's battle robot," Ben said. "It's got all the impact Dexter needs."
"Dexter has a battle robot?" Rex asked. Ben nodded, grinning. Rex stared at him, his disbelief written across his face. "Now this is something I've got to see to believe."
"Ben talking about the A he finally got in history again?"
Rex wasn't quite sure how Ben managed to look both annoyed and elated as he turned to face the dark haired boy walking towards them, who happened to be dragging a smaller boy along behind him, but he was none the less impressed.
"What can I say?" Ben said with a shrug, "It's a riveting story."
"Yeah, yeah," the boy said, who Rex belatedly recognized as one of Ben's friends, Commander Levin. "Captain," the Commander added, nodding in greeting to Rex.
"Commander," Rex greeted in return. The teen grimaced at the use of his title.
"Call me Kevin," he said. Rex smothered a grin—Kevin's response had been identical to Ben's the first time he and Rex had met.
"Sure," Rex said. He them motioned to the boy Kevin was carting along, who had continued to talk to Kevin even as the older boy pointedly ignored him, spewing reasons for why he was the perfect candidate for the "super secret awesome mission" the Kevin was apparently about to undertake. "So uh, who's your friend?"
"Oh, right," Kevin said, looking down at the boy as if he'd only just remembered he was with him. He lifted the boy bodily from the ground by the back of his shirt, earning a surprised 'whoa!' from the kid, and then set him down in front of Ben. "This is Zak," he said, nudging the kid forward. "He's Rex's replacement."
Zak, who had only moments earlier been overflowing with stuff to say, now fell silent as he stared up at the two teens standing before him. He looked as if his face couldn't decide on an expression to wear, admiration, uncertainty, and affected cool all warring for a position.
"So," Ben said, giving Zak a moment to pick an emotion to go with, "what's this oh so urgent mission of Gwen's?" Even though his tone was playful, Ben's expression was tense—despite Gwen attempting to suggest otherwise during her brief contact with the boys, Ben knew that any mission requiring pulling a high ranking officer from the middle of a battle field without warning wasn't something to take lightly.
"Sorry Ben," Kevin said, "its top secret."
Code for, "this isn't really the time or place, but when I get back I'm going to brag forever, and then I might actually tell you what the mission was about."
Ben was not surprised by this response in the slightest while Rex, not yet versed in the intricacies of the teenaged alien hero language, simply grew all the more excited.
"So when do we leave?" he asked.
"You ready to go?" Kevin asked back. Rex nodded. "Then right now. Blossom's waiting in the transport for us."
That gave Rex pause. Himself, an alien-human hybrid, and the leader of the Powerpuff Girls? That sure was a lot of fire power. Glancing at Ben, Rex was a little pleased to see that the boy's expression hinted to him thinking the same thing. Kevin shrugged, and then motioned to the transport.
"Come on," he said, turning and starting towards the ship, its engines already beginning to power back up, "Places to go, people to see, fusion monsters to pummel."
Rex spared one more look back at Ben, who wished the pair a quick 'good luck'.
And as he headed for the DexLabs transport he found himself wondering, not for the first time, about this whole 'fighting a war' thing, and what exactly it was he was getting himself into.
Ben stared after the transport ship, waiting until after it had disappeared over the trees before he turned his attention back to the black and white haired boy Kevin had left him with. He'd heard plenty of second-hand accounts of the boy's abilities, having never seen them for himself, and he knew better than to discount the young hero because of his age—he'd been the same age, maybe even younger, when he'd stumbled across the omnitrix for the first time.
Zak, aware that he was being given a mental sizing-up by his higher ranking companion, finally settled on a look of indifference, hoping to convey that he was in no way intimidated by the older boy (and hopefully hide the fact that he was barely keeping a lid on the impulse to ask for an autograph). Ben, intimately familiar with the move Zak was attempting to pull, wasn't fooled in the least.
Deciding that the worst course of action to take with his newest soldier would be to leave him with nothing to do, thus leaving openings for unexpected chaos to brew, Ben threw on a grin and prepared to hand the boy his first task of the day. Zak, sensing impending responsibilities heading his way, unconsciously straightened.
"Well Zak, since Rex is gone, I'm going to need you to take on his tasks for the day. I'm putting you in charge of one of the fusion matter containment crews, crew number three—they're taking care of the area just to the south of us. How does that sound?"
Ben was surprised, but not entirely displeased, when Zak's response failed to be filled with childish excitement. Rather, he found himself fixed with a narrow eyed look.
"Why do I get the feeling this is going to be a lot less fun than you're trying to make it sound?" Zak asked. Ben snorted, letting the bright grin fall from his face.
"Because it will be," he admitted. "Now go and meet up with your crew, they're already waiting for you at your designated site. The S.A.C.T. agent there can get you started." Zak looked surprised at how easily Ben was handing him command.
"What about you?" he asked, "What are you going to be doing?" Ben sighed, handing Zak Rex's communicator, the teen having relinquished it once the fighting was finished.
"I will be with containment crew one," Ben said, deflating at the thought of it. Zak frowned.
"How come everyone else gets to go off on this awesome mission, while we have to clean up fusion goo?" he asked.
"And that," Ben said, pointing at Zak, "is probably the smartest question I've heard all day."