Chapter 15 – Best Laid Plans
Ledgerdomain
"WAY BIG!"
Ben turned in mid air and landed on his knees on top of a couple of buildings he hoped were empty. The attack from Brozz had left him dazed enough that he lost track of Max and Gwen, and frustrated enough that he wanted to bust out the big guns to deal with the Chamatronian.
Ben knew that using powerful aliens against Brozz ran the risk of him adapting and then possibly copying the abilities, but found it hard to conceive of a way that he could do that to a creature was simply bigger than him. He wouldn't grow to make up the difference, would he?
"Grandpa!" Ben called out. "Gwen!" He looked around the crumbling buildings to see where either of them had landed. He also kept an eye out for Brozz, who had come out of nowhere before and now had vanished once more.
"Ben!" came a quiet voice to Way Big's distant ears. He looked down and scanned the wreckage looking for the source. His eyes quickly locked onto an explosion of rubble following a redhead flinging bolts of magenta light back into the plumes of smoke rising from the falling rocks.
Ben reached down silently and placed his hand down between a row of buildings separating Gwen from what she was firing at. The ground shook with the subtle impact, throwing Gwen off her feet and onto the ground. She looked up and rubbed her butt.
"Thanks, Ben," she said then began looking around. "Grandpa?"
"Over here!" came a gruff voice. Ben kept his hand in place but pointed at a half-caved in building off to Gwen's right. She ran over and began pulling pieces of stone off the sloping pile until she revealed a dark gap in the stone. A gloved hand reached out and Gwen gripped it firmly.
"Grandpa, are you alright?" she asked.
"I've been better, but I'm not seriously hurt," said Max. "Are you kids okay?"
Ben felt a painful strike against the palm of his hand he yelped. The sound echoed through the city like a roar and Gwen covered her ears against the deafening noise.
"I think Way Big has Brozz stymied for the moment," said Gwen. "Let's get you out of there." She raised her hand and giant, extended magenta versions of her arms shot out from her shoulders and entered the dark hole. Once through the solid beams separated into a pair of platforms pressing against the ceiling and floor. "Okay, Ben!"
Ben reached slowly down and used his finger to widen the small hole big enough for Max to crawl out. After he was clear, Gwen dispersed the energy and the rubble collapsed in on itself.
Ben felt an impact against his wrist that hurt even more than the one to his palm. He felt like his hand was almost cut clean off and this time pulled back his hand to rub it gently. Brozz wasted no time throwing a huge boulder at Gwen and Max as soon as Ben's hand was clear.
The rock sailed towards them at an incredible speed, leaving only a second for thought. Gwen acted instinctively and her physical body retreated into her anodite form. A blade of energy extended from her chest in a flash and severed the stone in half then continued onwards toward Brozz. The chamatronian braced himself for the impact but then dodged to the side at the last moment, causing the energy blade to careen off to the side. He watched the attack harmlessly sail past him, then turned in time to see Max's gun leveled at his head.
The charged plasma bolt erupted like thunder from the oversized gun Max was holding and blew Brozz several dozen feet away and into another building which promptly began to collapse.
Max looked at his smoking gun and tossed it aside. The huge pistol had charring along the barrel and all around the chamber. A large crack began at the nose and travelled halfway up the barrel.
"Just one shot?" asked Gwen, looking at the discarded weapon.
"At that setting, yeah," nodded Max.
Ben picked up his foot and placed it down between Brozz and his family. "I'll hold him off, Gwen, you find the way to Nis Virda," he said.
"You sure you'll—" started Gwen but was cut off by an explosion from the building that Brozz had fell into.
"Go!" said Ben urgently, and turned his foot to face where he expected Brozz to come from.
Gwen hesitated one second longer before Max grabbed her shoulder and urged her to move. They turned together and ran off in the direction Ultimate Jetray was flying before.
Ben studied the collapsed building as the pile of rocks shifted and rolled to the side. Brozz lifted himself up out of the debris and stood on top, looking angry.
"Come on, big guy," bragged Ben. "Let's see how well you handle someone who isn't smaller than you."
Just then the Ultimatrix chirped once and then Ben found himself back in his 16 year old human body again. He looked at his wrist and saw the dial glowing yellow.
"Seriously?" Ben said, exasperated. "Now you're doing this?"
Brozz cackled in a smug laugh as he stomped towards the much smaller Ben.
"Hey, you know, why don't we take a rain check?" said Ben, steeling himself. "I'm not really bigger than you anymore, can we wait until the Ultimatrix lets me go hero again?"
Brozz kept laughing.
"I guess not."
-(X)-
The screams were too much for Kevin to put up with anymore and he clutched his fist tightly. "I'm going in there," he said with a growl.
"You'll get yourself killed," said Julie. "We need to find Ben and Charmcaster."
"Thos people are getting slaughtered by that monster!" said Kevin. "We can't do nothing."
"If you get yourself killed, who will defend us when the spell is being cast?" asked Verdona, putting a gentle hand on Kevin's shoulder. "We don't even know them."
"I don't care," said Kevin, standing. "I won't let them die without a fight."
Verdona smiled kindly. "You're a good kid," she said as if realizing for the first time. "I'll help."
"Stay here," said Kevin to Julie and Ship. "You're still not up to 100%."
"I can help get the people clear," said Julie. "You two can try and stall Adwaita."
Kevin nodded and looked to Verdona. "See what you can do to him, I'll try and get the Alpha Rune off of him, Charmcaster said that's the source of a lot of his power."
After another moment Verdona nodded as well and took to the skies. As she soared up into the air, wisps of energy swirled around her and began to glitter like Amethyst. Kevin touched the stone wall beside them and turned a similar shade of dark gray. Then he leapt over the wall and smacked his hands together, forming a giant mace.
Verdona flew towards Adwaita, reaching him first, and let loose a massive beam of energy with a tip like a barbed arrow. It struck the turtle-like beast square in the chest and knocked him back onto his shell with an earth rumbling crash. Kevin quickly ran through the screaming crowds and fallen buildings to leap up onto his chest to head for the rune. He began slamming his mace-covered hands into the chain that held the Alpha Rune against Adwaita's chest.
Julie leaped through the panic and began directing people away from the area. With Ship's help she was able to pull several people free who had been caught in fallen chunks of building. She helped as many people as she could move away from the battle, but she questioned where she was sending them to. She knew nothing of the geography of this floating city, nor what direction Brozz would eventually come from. She worried that even greater danger await the people she pushed clear of the fight.
Adwaita swatted at Kevin a few times before turning over and picking himself up again. Once he was on his four flippers, Verdona began swirling with energy again. She lifted her arms and was aiming them carefully at Adwaita's head.
That was when the monster looked up and locked his dark eyes squarely on Verdona's anodite form. "No," his voice rumbled from deep within the shell. He rose a flipper and pointed it at the anodite and she froze in midair.
"Verdona!" yelled Kevin as he tried to scale up Adwaita's back to get at the chain again.
Verdona struggled under the sudden force that was keeping her still. "He's... stopping... me..." she struggled to say as her hands struggled to be lifted from her sides.
Kevin ran up Adwaita's back, jumped over his neck and the chain, and began slamming his fists into the back of his head. "Let her go!" he yelled.
"You are all as flies," said Adwaita. He twisted his flipper slightly and Verdona rocketed forward towards Kevin and slammed into him, sending both flying into a nearby house.
Julie bit her lip as smoke billowed out the hole in the roof of the house for several long seconds. Then, Kevin jumped up out of the roof and landed on the street in front. His chest and face looked to be cracked slightly along the dark stone. He turned towards Adwaita and began running. Moments later, Verdona shot up out of the hole in the roof of the house and began chasing him.
"I can't... stop," Verdona struggled as she flew.
"It's alright," yelled Kevin as he pushed himself to go faster. Verdona was rapidly gaining on him all the same. He stared down Adwaita. "I've been down this road before."
Verdona's eyes flared up once and then her hands balled into fists that began glowing brightly. "Look out!" she yelled.
Kevin glanced once over his shoulder at his pursuier, then began leaping onto the roofs of buildings to get closer to Adwaita. He glanced back every couple seconds at Verdona as she closed the distance between them. Then, when she was only a few dozen feet away, he threw himself into the air towards Adwaita.
Verdona's fists exploded in magenta light that streaked through the sky toward Kevin. He simply smirked in the response, twisting himself in mid-air, only catching the barest edge of the attack. The stone on his arm exploded into dust revealing his bare skin beneath, but the rest of the energy attack missed him and shot straight into Adwaita.
This time he roared as Adwaita was flung to the side and spun on one flipper before falling to the ground again.
Verdona felt herself gain control again briefly as Adwaita fell. "We have to get out of here," she said quickly. "He's going to take control of me again!"
"We'll never get far enough away," said Kevin, cracking his knuckles and then touching the stone building beside him to get a fresh coating of stone. "We'll just have to hold out until Ben gets here."
Verdona looked anxious as Adwaita rolled around to stand again. "I don't think he'll fall for that one twice."
"Then I'll think of something else," said Kevin. He shook his head. "We can't run now or these people are toast."
Verdona sighed and then tried to summon her reserves to fight Adwaita's powerful Alpha Rune. "It may be too late for them regardless."
"No," said Kevin. "As long as we fight, there is still a chance."
Verdona wished she could easily agree.
-(X)-
In the end, Charmcaster realized making a new stepway to Nis Virda would be easier than locating the missing one from the Door to Anywhere. She knew the concepts and since she was positive that Nis Virda was the center of mana concentration on Ledgerdomain, she didn't have to worry about targeting the stepway. She only worried that when they went through, that they'd end up in the middle of a battle between Brozz and Adwaita.
Instead they ended up in the middle of a battle between Kevin Levin and Adwaita, who was using another Anodite as a weapon against him.
"Grandma!" yelled Sunny as soon as she saw the fight. Her physical body peeled off and she shot off to try and help.
"Wait!" yelled Charmcaster, but was unable to stop the impulsive girl. "Great, now both of them will be lost to the rune."
"I'll see if I can help Levin out," said Phil as he cocked his gun and ran between buildings towards where the fight was raging on.
"Stay out of the way, I'll see if I can find Abara or Cabra," said Charmcaster to Kai.
"I can help!" insisted Kai.
"Fine, whatever!" said Charmcaster as she turned away. "Just don't become a hostage." She pulled a slip of paper out from her pocket and examined the rune etched upon it. Abara had given it to her to signal when they were ready to cast Diaspora, and they were as ready as they were going to be. It seemed to be a simple flare with identifying marker. Anyone equipped with a sympathetic reader would see the sign, anyone else would just see light. It was a simple enough rallying call. She just hoped Adwaita hadn't already destroyed the remains of Archamada.
Holding the paper between her fingers, Charmcaster closed her eyes and activated the spell. The paper flared orange then shot up high above the city and exploded into a brilliant yellow spiral. Charmcaster felt a lump in her throat as she saw it materialize. It was the sign of her father.
"Now what?" asked Kai, who despite her protest was still standing beside Charmcaster.
"Hopefully whatever remains will make their way here," replied Charmcaster.
The ground shook violently and nearly knocked Kai to her feet. "What was that?"
There was a flash of green light and Abara was standing between the two girls. "Nis is collapsing," he said without ceremony.
"What?" shouted Charmcaster.
"Adwaita is consuming the available structural mana to fuel his fight," said Abara. "It's causing the cities to become unstable." He shook his head. "If this goes on for long there will be nothing left to save."
"Did you find anyone?" asked Charmcaster. "I can't control the spell on my own."
"There are some," nodded Abara. "But they are few and far in between. Fewer still now that Adwaita has gone mad."
"What happened?" said Charmcaster.
"Hex," growled Abara. "He tried to broker a deal with Adwaita in exchange for some power. He's an idiot. He never had faith in your plan." He punched a nearby building ineffectually. "Once Adwaita learned what was going on, he was furious, starting killing people in the street, warning them against the Cult of Archamada and the consequences of allying with us."
"Damn it, Uncle," said Charmcaster. "He ended up back on Earth. We left him there."
"Keep him there," insisted Abara. "We don't need his sort of help."
"Are they ready? Archamada?" asked Charmcaster.
Abara produced another slip of paper. "Get somewhere high," he said. "So they can see you. Then activate this rune. That will be the sign to start. They're all in Nis Virda... what's left of it, anyway. They're just waiting on you and the gods."
"Gods?" asked Kai.
"The Anodites," said Charmcaster without looking in Kai's direction.
The ground then shook again, throwing all three off their feet.
"That's going to make keeping the spell stable very hard," said Charmcaster. "Anyway we can reinforce the city's structure?"
"Not without sacrificing people casting the spell," said Abara. "You lose power for control."
"Or one sort of control for another," grumbled Charmcaster.
Kai knelt down in front of Charmcaster and Abara and placed her hands on the stone beneath their feet. "Maybe I can do something," she said, then closed her eyes. She opened her mind to the world around her and tried to feel out the flows of energy.
She immediately became aware of the chaos swirling around her and nearly blacked out from the sensory overload. She tried to calm some of the writhing mana surrounding them and found the energy to be flexible, easily reformed, but hard to keep stationary. She looked further.
Her mind brushed across the 'structure' that Abara had mentioned. There was an energy lattice around every solid object, she realized. It was a cage that bound the mana into a form that could be manipulated by physical beings. It was flimsy, she realized, not a true physical object, just one that had the properties of one. Like the world were made of papier-mâché and contained only air within. Nothing built this way would last, but Kai had no idea how to build an object that would.
She took ahold of that latticework and tried to reinforce it. If she could create something new, she would try to bring more stability to those things that already existed. She pushed and poked around the mana swirling inside the stone floor and encouraged it to join the framing, to add more support beams, as it were. Then she opened her eyes again.
The shaking had stopped and the ground beneath them felt still. "I think that will hold for a while," said Kai. Though she wasn't entirely sure that was true, it was the best she could manage.
Charmcaster stomped her foot once and nodded. "Seems better," she commented. Then she pointed to a tower in the distance. "Can you do it that?"
Kai looked at the giant building that stood nearly half again as tall as the monsterous Adwaita. "I... uh, that's big."
"Can you do it?" insisted Charmcaster.
Kai swallowed. "I'll try."
"Then come on." Charmcaster grabbed Kai by the arm and began flying up into the sky.
-(X)-
It only took two of Brozz's swings at his head almost connecting to convince Ben that he wasn't going to be able to get away from the Chamatronian on foot. He had tried to zig zag, duck behind buildings and jump through windows to slow Brozz down but all it did was give him a collection of cuts and scrapes and leave him milliseconds from death.
"Ben! Duck!" he heard his cousin say.
Ben dove to the ground because he had little other choice, there was no time to question it.
A jagged line of yellow light struck Brozz in the arm and then began snaking around his body, binding him swiftly. He fell with a heavy thud as he struggled to get free from the magic.
Ben looked up to see Gwen and Max running towards him with a woman in a long coat following close behind. He sighed in relief and got back to his feet.
"Took you long enough," he teased when they arrived. Gwen responded with a punch to the arm. "Ow! So, you're Cabra, I assume?"
The woman nodded. "With the walkway destroyed, Abara 'suggested' I stick around in case you ended up here instead of at Nis Virda." She scowled angrily. "I guess he was right."
"How do we get to Nis Virda?" asked Max without taking his eyes off of Brozz. The beast was struggling and the magic was starting to loosen. "Quickly, I hope."
"There is an intact stepway on the south side," said Cabra. "We should be able to use it to cover the distance."
"We need him to come along," said Ben, gesturing to Brozz behind him.
Cabra stared at the villain. "He doesn't seem like such a big deal. Hardly as big as Adwaita."
As if in spite, Brozz snapped through the yellow lines with his arm and swung wildly at the group of heroes. Ben tried to jump in front of the fist but was too slow to prevent Cabra from being punched in the shoulder and sent flying.
Max quickly grabbed Gwen while Ben turned to run as Brozz shrugged off the rest of the binding spell. Gwen leapt into the air and flew ahead to where Cabra landed. The mage was bloodied and groaning but still moving.
Gwen helped her up and offered an arm for her to hang onto. "Which way?" she asked.
Cabra groaned again and then pointed south. Gwen nodded, picked her up, and began flying.
Ben and Max tried their best to keep up, hoping the magic slowed Brozz down enough that it would at least be a few seconds before he caught up.
"What's going on with the Ultimatrix?" asked Max as they ran.
"It's in its scanning mode," said Ben. "I guess it finally realized Brozz was a new alien. Terrible timing, really."
Max shook his head. "You get all the luck."
"Good and bad," commiserated Ben.
Max risked a look behind them and then pushed Ben roughly away causing him to crash against alley wall beside him. As a result, a chunk of flying building barely missed hitting him. "Yikes!" said Ben as he scrambled away from the debris.
Max spun on his heels and aimed his pistol upwards a couple stories and began firing over Brozz's head. After a few moments bits of rock and glass began raining down on the street.
The Chamatronian grinned but slowed. "Is this the best two Tennysons can do?" he laughed as he swatted away a few larger chunks. "I can do this all day!"
Ben recovered and ran over to his grandfather. "I can't see Gwen," he said. "They must have gone pretty far ahead." He looked at his wrist and the Ultimatrix's blinking yellow dial. "Come on already!"
"Broke your toy?" asked Brozz as he closed in on them.
"We don't need it for the likes of you," said Max.
Ben looked at his grandfather's stern expression and at Brozz's joyous one. He could see already how this was going to play out, and it wasn't to plan. He swallowed.
"Go," said Ben, standing in front of Max. "Get away. I'll take care of this."
"Ben..." started Max.
"No, please," insisted Ben. "I know you're the Magister, but you're my grandpa too. I've already gone through you dying once already. You don't have to end up like your ancestors did."
"My father didn't lose to Brozz," said Max.
Ben nodded. "Because he left."
Max smiled and put his hand on Ben's shoulder. "I'm proud of you, Ben. But neither of us can do this alone." He pulled out another gun and placed it in Ben's hand. "Together is our only shot."
Ben looked at the gun and shook his head. "Where are you keeping all these weapons?"
Max grinned. "Plumber's secret."
Brozz stomped up in front of the two Plumbers and stared down at them. "How touching. Now you can die together."
Ben and Max looked up at Brozz and simultaneously raised their guns.
"Just try it," said Ben.
-(X)-
Charmcaster stared off the edge of the building and frowned. Adwaita was clearly toying with Kevin, Phil, and Julie while Sunny and Verdona flew around trying to stay out of the Alpha Rune's control. It wasn't a battle, it was like swatting annoying flies. It wouldn't last long.
"You should start," said Abara for perhaps the fifth time.
"Not until Brozz shows up," said Charmcaster. She spied the three stepways at the perimeter of the battle and hoped that one of them would activate soon. "We need to give Ben and Gwen more time."
"If Adwaita notices up here, your whole plan is dead in the water," insisted Abara. "You need to send up the signal."
"No!" shouted Charmcaster. "They're depending on this to take out both of them. I won't let them down." She looked determined. "Not this time."
"Those Earthers are going to get killed!" Abara said pointing down at the fight.
"They've fought things like this before," said Charmcaster. "They'll last until Brozz shows up."
"And if they don't?" said Abara.
"They will."
Abara shook his head and spat angrily.
Kai looked up for a moment but kept her fingers in contact with the top of the building they were on. "Something's happening," she said.
Charmcaster spun and looked at her. "Where?" she said quickly.
Kai motioned with her head towards the northern stepway and Charmcaster looked in that direction. Sure enough the stepway was glowing dimly, indicating an incoming traveler.
"Come on," said Charmcaster quietly.
With a flash, an anodite carrying a woman in a longcoat came shooting out of the opening and arced upward into the sky.
"It's Gwen!" said Charmcaster.
"And Cabra," said Abara. He moved his fingers in the air briefly and send a spark of blue-green light up into the sky briefly. The anodite turned in flight a few moments later and soared up to the edge of the building.
"Get ready!" said Gwen as she dropped Cabra off on the roof. "He's coming." She landed and looked around briefly. "How do we power the spell?"
Charmcaster held up the paper with the rune on it. "When the spell is cast you'll see a sigil that looks like a bullseye. Just pour all your mana into it. The more the merrier. It's not a very efficient spell, but it'll work if we have enough power." She looked down at the battle. "You'll have to get your family to join in."
Gwen nodded and moved to fly down towards the battle.
"Watch out for the Alpha Rune!" said Charmcaster quickly. "It can control you."
Gwen leapt off the building and sped downwards towards her grandmother and cousin.
Charmcaster looked back towards the glowing stepway. "How far behind were they?" she asked.
Cabra nodded. "Not far, they were... well, I'm not sure how to explain it."
"What do you mean?" asked Abara. "They who?"
The stepway flared up again and a human figure rolled through. He looked older and rounder than Ben, and Charmcaster presumed it was Max. He took in his position briefly then ran to the side out of the path of the stepway just before it flared again.
This time a hulking lizard stormed through, its face covered in something tacky and orange, while a smaller boy was clinging to the lower back of the beast as it charged. Brozz was clawing at whatever was covering his face while Ben was occasionally yanking on his spine to change his direcftion.
"He's riding him," said Charmcaster with a dumbfounded expression.
"He's HERE," said Abara roughly. "That's what you wanted. Start the spell."
"They should be closer—" started Charmcaster.
"No time," said Abara. "Just do it!"
"I we don't catch them both in the spell—"
"We can't let him rampage any longer!" shouted Abara. "Cast the spell!"
Charmcaster grimaced and then threw the paper up in the air and activated the rune placed upon it. It sent up a purple symbol that looked like an upside lowercase 'e'. It glowed briefly and brightly and hopefully every Archamada member left could see.
Leaving only a few seconds after the sign faded for people to prepare, Charmcaster raised her hands and began the motion for Diaspora. As she traced out the initial pattern her hands glowed brightly, feeding energy into the pattern of lights forming above her head.
Abara and Cabra positioned themselves on either side of her and began their own casting to augment the spell that Charmcaster was doing. Their hands formed threads of golden light that traced up through Charmcaster's spell and wove around it, making it bigger, brighter, and more complex.
Suddenly there was a flood of force that washed over the whole group and caused Charmcaster to momentarily falter. She corrected herself swiftly and then spared a look down at the fight below.
Adwaita wasn't even paying attention to Kevin anymore even though the Osmosian was still striking him in the chest. Instead, he was staring up at Charmcaster and sending out waves of distorted light out from the Alpha Rune.
"He's trying to shut the spell down," said Abara. Then he grunted. "The Alpha Rune is stealing our mana."
"Let me try something," said Kai. She closed her eyes again and then slid her hands further apart on the roof. As she did, a transparent half-bowl began to grow out from the edges of the roof and curve upwards to stand between the mages and Adwaita, but stopped short of getting in the way of the spell or the glowing weave work above them. "How's that?"
"Better," said Cabra, letting out a breath of air.
More golden light began cresting up over the sides of the building and joining in with Cabra and Abara's contributions. Dozens of threads of yellow light were now gently floating up from places across Nis Virda and heading towards the pattern. As each thread touched the spell, it fused it in place and caused it to glow an even brighter yellow.
A rumbling shook the building from below.
"Kai..." said Charmcaster as she tried to keep the spell stable.
"I'm working on it," said Kai. "It feels like he's attacking the foundation!" She moved her fingers once more. "I don't know if I can keep us upright if he demolishes the floors beneath us."
"Try!" said Abara.
Kai nodded as her brow furrowed. The building shook again.
Charmcaster looked back down to see what Adwaita was going to do next. That's when she caught sight of Ben, still riding a blinded Brozz, come charging into the open battlegrounds below.
"Hey Brozz!" Ben was shouting. "I've got a friend you've just got to be introduced to."
Without slowing down, Ben yanked on Brozz's neck and caused him to charge straight into Adwaita's lower flippers. The large turtle twisted on its other foot and topped backwards onto his shell. Brozz collapsed onto the floor sending Ben flying head over heels into the ground.
The waves of force – which had been blunted by Kai's barrier – now stopped entirely.
"This is it!" yelled Charmcaster. "It's time!" She turned her fingers and aimed the center of the weaving down the edge of the building and at the pile of Brozz and Adwaita below. "GWEN!"
One of the flying anodites then turned and flew straight towards Charmcaster. A moment later the other two followed suit and they all soared behind the pattern and took up positions equidistant from one another.
Gwen then dropped her hands to her sides and her head glowed brightly before a huge beam of magenta light erupted from her chest and struck the center of the pattern. The lights seemed to flex and strain against one another at first, then, gradually, the magenta color overtook the yellow light and began filling the concentric circles.
Verdona and Sunny quickly did the same and added their own slightly differently tinted light to the pattern until it was bulging with energy.
Charmcaster slowly cupped her hands together and held them down towards Adiwata and Brozz. With a sigh, she quickly flung her hands apart and shouted.
DIASPORA!
-(X)-
Kevin grabbed Ben by the collar and yanked him away before the gigantic purple blast exploded onto Brozz and Adwaita. The force of magical energies still blew them both backwards off their feet and they scrambled to take cover behind some rubble.
"Ben, are you alright?" asked Julie as she crept over to them.
"Julie!" said Ben and quickly reached over to hug her. "Thank goodness you're alright."
Julie winced from the hug. "A little worse for wear, actually, but Ship protected me."
Beside her, the small mechamorph cheerfully jumped. "Shiiip!" it said.
"Good boy," said Ben.
"Guys," Kevin said as he looked over their shelter.
Julie and Ben peeked over and watched. The magenta spell was raining on the two monsters with the force of niagra falls, but still, Brozz was shifting under its force and trying to stand. Adwaita, however, despite his larger size, seemed to be faring worse, and was roaring out as he flailed. A few of his random swings hit Brozz and caused him to collapse onto his hands and knees again, but moments later, he'd be trying to stand.
After nearly a minute of the powerful force, Ben began to see the small motes of blue light appear around Brozz and Adwaita. They would start dim then grow brightly before breaking off and floating away from the spell and into the mana flows above. Each time a blue mote of light flew away it became just a little harder to see the two through the spell.
"Geeze, it literally is causing them to disintegrate," said Kevin, a little uneasily.
"It's working faster on Adwaita than Brozz," said Julie.
Ben nodded. "But it IS working." Then Brozz succeeded in getting to his feet, though for the moment he just stood there. "Somewhat."
Brozz slowly took a step towards the edge of the spell.
Kevin stood. "He's trying to get out." He moved to step over the rubble but Ben grabbed him.
"Are you crazy?" Ben said. "You step into there and you'll disintegrate too!"
Kevin hesitated. "We can't let him get out."
"He's moving too slow, he's not going anywhere," assured Ben. As he spoke, Brozz stumbled again and landed on his hands and knees beside Adwaita.
There was a loud roar again from the spell and the three looked to see Adwaita clutching to the Alpha Rune on his chest as it started to turn black.
"Um, you don't think destroying the Alpha Rune might be a bad thing, do you?" asked Julie.
Adwaita's flipper suddenly lurched upward and grabbed Brozz, pulling him up and onto his chest.
"STOP THEM," came Adwaita's growl. "BEFORE ITS—"
Then Adwaita roared again as the Alpha Rune turned completely black. As it did, the disintegration rapidly sped up and a flood of blue particles of light appeared before dispersing out of the spell and into the sky. When the lights were gone, only Brozz remained, on his hands and knees, with the Alpha Rune lying on the ground in front of him.
"Okay, this was a bad idea," said Kevin. "Tell them to stop." He pointed up at the building.
"How?" shouted Ben. "I can barely hear you two over the sound of that spell." He looked at Ship.
Julie was ahead of him though. "Come on!" she shouted to Ship and stood to allow the power armor to form around her. She leapt up into the sky and Ship formed a pair of jets around her ankles to fly her up the side of the building. A moment later she vanished over the edge of the roof.
Ben and Kevin looked quickly back and forth from Brozz, who was slowly reaching forward, to the top of the building where the spell was pouring down from.
Kevin shook his head. "We're too late."
Ben stared as Brozz grabbed the blackened Alpha Rune. As soon as he touched its surface there was a sudden stillness for two seconds and then the rune broke apart into a snake that suddenly reared up and bit Brozz's arm before burrowing under his skin. Brozz clenched his muscles and cried out as black runes began appearing all over his scales forming a network of lines that all converged on his face leading into two black pits where his eyes used to be. His skin rippled as he writhed in what seemed to be pain.
Then there was a flash of silver light and a shockwave exploded outwards throwing Ben and Kevin into the air and toppling over all the buildings around them including the one the spell casters were on. The building slowly tipped and then began breaking apart as it fell, destroying other buildings it landed on and throwing piles of rubble in all directions including onto where Kevin and Ben were thrown. It took only an instant and they were covered in darkness.
-(X)-
Using the light of the yellow dial of the Ultimatrix, Ben dug himself up to the surface and managed to find the magenta lights of the mana flows again. He felt like he'd been locked in a clothes dryer for a half hour. He'd been toppled, thrown, raked against the rough rocks, and was utterly exhausted.
When he finally looked around, however, that seemed like nothing.
The city was almost entirely gone. Nis Virda had been city the size of San Jose at the start of the battle and now it was a pile of stone and dust that stetched as far as Ben could see. He wasn't even sure where he was in relation to the stepways or where the battle had taken place. He could have been thrown miles or was at the same place, it would be impossible to tell.
And crouched in the center of the destruction was Brozz, now covered in black and glowing silver runes across his body. His eyes were two shining purple orbs emitting light from deep within his sockets. The Alpha Rune had completely remade him.
Ben tried to walk but ended up limping towards his enemy. He got a dozen steps forward before falling and tumbling down a slope of jagged rocks, tearing up the skin along his shins and forearms.
Brozz looked at him as Ben came to a stop and lifted his head.
"Are you it?" asked Brozz, calmly. "The last? No more Tennyson Plumbers?"
Ben looked around at the vista of rubble. No signs of any life remained. "Yeah," he said. "Just me."
"Then I will enjoy this," said Brozz.
"And then what?" asked Ben. "Two centuries of revenge for what? What do you do next?"
Brozz looked around slowly. He raised one hand and slowly made a fist causing the landscape to distort and shift at the flick of his wrist. "It seems I can do anything I want next." He relaxed his hand and the rubble returned to its original piles of rock.
"I finally understand," said Brozz. "Magic. Nobody I've stolen from really understood it. Even the time walker didn't comprehend it, though he had come to accept it. It truly is the soul of life."
"You can understand that but still want revenge?" asked Ben, desperately.
"Of course," smiled Brozz. "One must have priorities."
Ben hung his head and breathed out.
"Come on," said Brozz. He curled his finger towards Ben and the stone beneath Tennyson's feet shifted and lurched forward, flying towards Brozz.
Ben found himself a few feet from Brozz, standing on a stone platform protruding at an angle from the dust. He tried to hold himself tall but his body ached.
Brozz leaned in toward Ben. "Ready for the end?"
Ben swallowed, then licked his lips and dug deep into his soul and tried to find the very best insult he knew.
"Brozz, I—" started Ben, but he was interrupted by a chirp at his wrist. He looked down to see the dial had returned to green and was slowly pulsing light. Raising his arm, he tapped on the dial. It began to speak.
"Presence of Chamatronian DNA Confirmed. Disabling Master Lock. Evolution mode available."
Ben frowned. "Evolution mode?"
The dial rose up on its own and quickly spun through hundreds of aliens before settling on ... a human. In fact, it looked at lot like Ben himself, except there was a glowing light in center of the holographic figure's chest.
Ben's eyes slowly rose up from the hologram to look at Brozz. He seemed, oddly, amused.
"Oh, go ahead," said Brozz. "It's not like anything you've done has ever been more than nuisance. Let's have a final battle."
Ben smiled weakly. "It's your funeral."
Then he slapped the dial.