Chapter 11: The Dating Game: KND Edition
"It looks like we've got three Junkasaurus Wrecks and five Slaughter Houses on the move. I didn't hear from you, so I figured you must have lost my number! What should I wear for my date with Nigel tonight?"
"I got him fuzzy little cat ears! Just like mine! So kawaii, ne?"
"Commander, we've got a Killdozer heading this way and do you know if Number One is vegan because I totally don't eat murdered animals."
"I'm thinking Nigel and I should start simple, like with a movie or a romantic walk. I am so not rushing into this, but I think it's going to work out really well and we'll be married next spring. Oh, and they're calling for backup over by the garbage dump."
"I've got lots of friends that would settle for going out with you instead of Nigel, so we can all have a double date, okay?"
"You told him I'm a Jedi, right?"
Okay, so maybe Numbers Two and Five had a point about this not being the brightest idea he'd ever cooked up.
"Focus on your targets, people!" Ben bellowed, vainly wishing he'd crawled under a rock and hid instead of responding to Mandy's call. "We're here to fight Fusions, remember?"
He had a headache that had nothing to do with the heat or dust or battle and everything to do with getting idiots to pay attention and, you know, shoot the walking houses that were trying to stomp them into pancakes. It seemed as if every child soldier present was more interested in Nigel Uno's love life as it pertained to them personally than fending off the Fusion attack. Had they all become so jaded that murderous construction equipment wasn't nearly as important as Nigel's favorite color or perfume or food or music, or were they all so desperate for a break in the routine of constant battle and training? Thank god there was a pizza party tonight or half the army was going to have a meltdown, Ben among them.
Reunion Station had turned out to be an unfinished housing development a little past the edge of what Ben would call civilization. Like the outlying areas around Bellwood, it was pretty much a few square miles of desert with scraggly plants, crumbling roads, and abandoned vehicles amidst the shells of half-built houses. A miserable place, but the detritus of a construction site was prime fodder for Fusion Spawns to make their Mechs and monsters.
So that was how he ended up spending Friday morning of his vacation battling the alien love child of a Constructicon and a Dinobot. Right now they didn't have enough boots on the ground to do more than try to hold the rampaging monsters where they were and minimize the damage. He was sorely not in the mood, so he understood the distraction of the people around him even if it did send his annoyance levels up off the scale. What was more, the Omnitrix was copping an attitude and refused to give him any of the aliens he wanted. Brainstorm was hardly his first choice for taking on towering mechanical dinosaurs, and a small herd of green KND troops had shot Goop full of holes before they realized he wasn't an overgrown Fusion Spawn. Spidermonkey was only marginally better than Brainstorm in a pitched fight – he was far better suited to battlefields with lots of vertical surfaces, like a forest. This whole area was too flat for an Arachnichimp to be really effective, and he had a metabolism that would burn out Ben and the Omnitrix if he wasn't cautious, so after a few minutes and gobs of web all over the Junkasaurus Wrecks' knees, he gave up and reverted back to human form.
"Why don't you ever give me Rath when I want him?" demanded Ben, fed up with alien technology. If Azmuth was so smart why didn't this thing work the way it was supposed to? Dexter's stuff never crapped out like this. People gave him weird looks for yelling at his watch, but he'd take the looks over being pestered about The Dating Game: KND Edition.
Luckily they were getting backup at a steady pace. SCAMPERs and aeroships were dropping off fresh troops and supplies. Despite their efforts, the Fusion monsters were making headway and if Ben wasn't mistaken, they were multiplying. Great. It was going to be one of those battles.
He felt a wave of relief when he saw Nigel's SCAMPER arrive. A sense of order seemed to sweep the field when the KND Supreme Leader stepped off the bus and immediately deployed the newly arrived troops. Ben ordered the first wave of ECF and KND troops to fall back. They needed a quick breather before the heat got to be too much.
"What's the situation?" demanded Nigel briskly. A holo projector set up on the fender of the SCAMPER showed foot-high images of Dexter, Mandy, Computress, and Number Two, as well as schematics of the battlefield and their forces.
"Junkasauruses made out of mostly construction vehicles and plumbing, plus half a dozen Slaughter Houses. We wrecked one, but it reformed," reported Ben, panting. Someone handed him a bottle of water and he gladly downed half of it in a shot.
"That can only mean one thing," Number Two called, busy flying a SCAMPER. "There's a Fusion there."
Yep, definitely one of those battles.
"Any idea which one?" demanded Mandy.
"No sign of it yet," Ben replied, wiping his mouth on his sleeve. "Dex?"
"Nothing yet," said the redhead, safe and cool in the conference room in DexLabs he'd converted to a war room at Nigel's request. Ben was grateful he was so well removed from the battle. "Whoever spots it first give the alarm. We'll be able to plan when we know what we're up against."
"Fire up The Princess in case we need more fire power."
Dexter fumed, and they all knew he was shooting Mandy's image a foul look. The August X-1, nicknamed The Princess by DeeDee, was the fastest, most heavily armed vessel in his fleet and something of a bone of contention between the ECF Commander and the scientist. Dexter viewed it as a doomsday weapon, Mandy as a taxi. They would never agree, nor did they even try. Ben had the sense not to smile, but he thought Dexter looked adorable when he glowered like that. The tension was broken when a handful of passing girls cooed at Nigel, confusing the Supreme Leader and making him frown.
"Computress, ready the August and her crew, launch on my order only," instructed Dexter, out-maneuvering Mandy even as he complied with her order.
"We'll call if things get too hot," promised Number One. "Number Two, pedal to the metal. Dexter, call the moment you have any more details or get a bead on what we're facing. Commander, we'll be in touch." The images vanished and Nigel scooped up the projector, depositing it in a pocket on his cargo shorts. He turned to Ben. "How are your troops?"
"I ordered them to get a drink and take ten. They should be ready to get back out there. We've got minor injuries - splinters, mostly."
"Good. And you?"
He chugged the last mouthful of water. "All yours, pal."
"Then let's get to work. Dexter is sending Blossom. She'll be a tremendous help when she gets here. In the meantime, give me something I can use, Commander Tennyson!"
Grinning happily, Ben dialed the Omnitrix. "I hope this thing likes you more than me today. Humungausaur!"
He slapped the control down and-
"Big Chill. Oh, man." For a moment the huge blue moth slumped as he hovered in midair, and then muttered, "Okay. I can work with this. Thanks for nothing, Azmuth."
Suddenly their comm units squawked. Nigel activated his immediately.
"Report!"
"It's your Fusion double, Number One," said Dexter, his voice under tight control. "Computress just confirmed his presence north northwest of your location on the outskirts of the site. Be careful. That one is fast even for a Fusion."
Though his dark glasses concealed his eyes for the most part, Ben knew his friend was rattled. Such a move was a deliberate ploy by the Fusions. They were trying to frighten the new Supreme Leader, mocking him. Nigel took a breath and steeled himself, refusing to be ruled by fear.
"Understood," he said to Dexter, forcing a crisp edge to his voice that filled Ben with pride. "Keep us informed if he moves." He looked at Ben with grim determination. "Shall we?"
They plunged into the battle. Ben could tell it was taking every last shred of Nigel's self-control not to rush to the van where the fighting was thickest. It was no longer his place and the price he paid for leadership, so he hung back and directed the order of battle and resisted the instinct to go tearing after the Fusion monsters personally. Briefly Ben wondered if Chad was here, and then a Junkasaurus Wrecks tried to swat him out of the sky with its spiked tail and he snapped into action.
It was amazing what deep freezing could do to metal and wood. Metal shattered. Wood exploded into splinters. Given the proximity of Fusions to fighters, Big Chill had to be cautious with the ice breath and selective with what he froze, but there was no denying the satisfaction of smashing metal limbs. He didn't dare get too involved with the enemy forces to forget their leader. The Fusion Number One was an ugly cuss possessed of incredible speed and the usual ruthlessness and inhuman strength of its kind.
Time lost all meaning as he dove and swooped and fought, phasing in and out of the Fusions, snatching human troops out of the way, darting here and there all about Reunion Station. At first it seemed that for every monster they destroyed another just took its place. That was at first. It wasn't too long before the ante was upped and two or even three monsters replaced the ones they had taken down.
"The Fusion Number One - it's moving," barked Dexter, overriding all comm units.
Big Chill shot straight up in the air to get a decent view of the battlefield. "What direction?"
"South southwest," called the scientist. "Right towards Number One's location."
He twisted, trying to get his bearings. The moment of distraction was almost fatal.
WHAM!
The huge, clawed limb smashed into the Necrofriggian from behind, knocking him out of the air. He crashed through the roof of an abandoned house a moment before the Junkasaurus Wrecks tried to tear the building down on top of him. The impact jarred him back into human form and he lay there stunned and aching.
"Ben!"
Dexter. He was monitoring the battle. He must have known Ben was in his bug-on-a-windshield mode. His voice was frantic, and Ben pushed himself upright.
"Ben! Get up! Get out of there! Nigel needs you!"
Not to mention the whole building coming down around his ears thing. He knew at this point Nigel was just a cover for what Dexter wanted and needed - namely, for Ben to be safe - but he couldn't say as much over the radios.
"Ben!"
He staggered out the unfinished garage just as the Junkasaurus came through the roof.
"M'good, Dex," he muttered, stumbling to the relative shelter of a few stunted trees. The Junakasaurus Wrecks was a particularly stupid one – it had been chasing a gigantic blue bug and it was determined to catch one, so Ben went ignored as it dismembered the half-built house in search of its prey.
"Where is it, Dex?" he asked, his voice sounding thick and almost slurred. Despite the need to get further away, Ben slid to his knees, leaning heavily against the trunk of a tree and hanging his aching head.
"It's heading straight through the battle towards Number One's position. You may be able to see it. I've already dispatched the August."
See? Not yet. Hear? Definitely. He dragged his attention towards the disturbance. A cloud of dust was spreading out, moving at incredible speed across the development, flattening anything in its path. Screams of fear and pain rose up at the thickest point of the fight as something forced its way through the ranks of KND and ECF fighters. Like a shot out of a cannon, the Fusion Number One barreled through their defenses, keyed in on its human counterpart. Monsters and Fusion Spawn followed in its wake as it charged, splitting the small army. Ben dialed the Omnitrix, desperate for anything.
"Jetray!"
Finally something useful. He ignored a surge of Aerophibian-equivalent nausea and he leaped to the air just as Blossom arrived. They met over the center of the battlefield as the Fusion Number One drove a wedge straight towards the Supreme Leader.
"Stop those Fusion monsters!" ordered the Jetray. "I've got Nigel!"
"On it!" She nodded and dove right into the fight. Seeing the leader of the Powerpuff Girls in action, Ben blessed Chemical X a thousand times over as he twisted midair and rocketed towards the spot he'd left Nigel not half an hour earlier.
It was chaos. Fusion Spawns were everywhere, joining and splitting as they tried to make it past the rings of defenders. Null-Void guns filled the air with their high-pitched whines and bolts of blinding-bright energy. He caught a quick glimpse of Nigel giving orders and adding his own firepower to the fight. Jetfire opened up, shooting lasers from his eyes and tail. The energy he produced was too much for the Spawns, and a huge swath of them was incinerated, filling the air with greenish smoke that burned the soldiers' eyes and throats. He struck again and again, trying to buy their side some time until the air was so thick with smoke he couldn't pick his targets out anymore.
Then he turned on the closest Junkasaurus Wrecks, a lumbering beast made of cars and ancient excavation equipment and steel drums. It was moments away from the Supreme Leader's position. Putting Jetray's super speed to use, he smashed through it at its weakest points – its joints. He chopped its knees from beneath it, sending it crashing backwards for Blossom to finish off. The red-haired girl paused, looking past him.
"Nigel!" she screamed, pointing.
Ben whipped around and was moving before he even knew what he was getting himself into. Fear gripped his alien heart as he saw the one-on-one struggle. The Fusion had reached Nigel.
The KND's knees were bloody as if he'd been thrown down, and his gun was missing. He strained to stay upright, gripping his doppleganger by the wrists as his Fusion used its greater strength to force Nigel back. His boots dug into the soft, dusty ground, gouging the earth as he refused to step down. Tireless and unrelenting, it was toying with him, letting him wear himself out in what for it was a useless struggle, but for Nigel a fight for his life. Suddenly Nigel twisted both arms to the side, unbalancing the Fusion and using his momentum to land a terrific roundhouse kick on the thing's midsection. The Fusion staggered, then swung, striking Nigel a glancing backhand blow even as it laid hold of his sweater. It yanked him in close, one hand tightening around the KND's throat. The Fusion had no mouth with which to smile, but its twisted pleasure was evident as it tightened its grip, moving slowly to prolong the torture and its enjoyment.
Jetray put on a burst of speed as the Fusion raised its fist. One blow at this range could easily kill Nigel, and they were too close together to open up with any lasers. He was still seconds away when suddenly out of the surrounding Bedlam a dark form moved between Ben and the Fusion Number One. In a rush of dust and wind, Jetray barely halted in midair to avoid crashing with an armored fighter on a hover board. The newcomer drove the board right into the Fusion at full speed, knocking the green creature away and freeing Number One. For a moment Nigel's savior struggled to keep balanced before getting lost in the smoke and confusion.
Nigel hit the ground, scrambling for his Null-Void as the Fusion surged to its feet. It whipped around, fury written in every line of its being at being denied the pleasure of killing its counterpart.
"Fire!" Number One screamed hoarsely, and in a single motion all the surrounding troops – Ben included - laid into the Fusion. Overwhelmed by so much concentrated Null-Void energy, the Fusion exploded in a stinky rain of burned Fusion Matter and acrid smoke and frustrated anger.
Instantly the tide of battle turned. Without a leader to direct their half of the conflict and renew their supply of monsters, the Fusions were on their own. The arrival of the August with its many guns gave them all fresh energy, and between Blossom, the August, Ben, and the boots on the ground, they made short work of the remaining Fusions.
When the battle was whittled down to sniping the few remaining Fusion Spawns, Ben landed and transformed a few feet from Nigel's command post. Still a little dazed and in need of water and some pain killers, Ben plopped down on the steps into Nigel's SCAMPER and hung his head as the cleanup began.
"Here – you need this," said a familiar voice, and he looked up as Number Two handed him a bottle of water. Ben hadn't seen him arrive, but judging by the amount of dust clinging to him, he'd been here for a while.
"Thanks," he said. "You okay?"
"Yeah. You?"
He needed to call Dexter, even though his boyfriend would know the battle was over. The redhead would be happier for hear it from Ben himself. "I need a vacation from my vacation. How's Nige?"
"I'll do," said an English accent and Nigel plopped down on the step right below Ben's with a groan. He was winded and dirty and bruised and there was blood on his legs and face, but he was alive. Hoagie fetched him some water as well.
"That was too close," chided Number Two, his concern evident as he looked at Nigel's scraped knees.
"Agreed."
"I'll get Seventy-Seven. Stay here."
As Hoagie scurried off to fetch the doctor, Number One leaned back heavily against Ben's leg, letting himself relax. "That was disturbing."
"Yeah, that Fusion murder/suicide thing they all want to pull is pretty freaky."
"Do you know who it was that saved me? I just saw armor and a hover board."
Ben shrugged, but he'd recognized that hover board even from a distance. He knew there was only one like it and where it had come from – Dexter's laboratory. At the moment, he could think of only one person he would have entrusted it to in a crisis. Aloud he said,
"No idea. Maybe they'll come forward tonight."
"Tonight?" wondered Nigel, pushing his sunglasses back into place.
"Pizza party, dude," reminded Ben, giving the younger man a pointed look. Nigel opened his mouth to protest, but Ben cut him off. "Whatever you're about to say you have to do, you've got minions for that, O Supreme Leader. You have a date tonight, buster."
"This is hardly the time -"
"This is exactly the time." He bent low against his knees to look at his friend. "You're rattled. I get that. Been there, done that. You need to get your mind off of things, if only for a night. You need this."
"I don't want to do anything tonight."
"Then don't. Sit and talk and relax."
"Why didn't I stop you Monday?"
"Because you trust me. Trust me now." He stretched out a leg to claw the holo projector out of his pocket and held out the small device for his friend. "Here. Very important. You need to watch this before the pizza party. Watch it alone, too."
Suspiciously, Nigel took the disk. "Why alone?"
"You'll understand when you see it."