Hello, ghosts and ghouls! That's right, I'm back with another chapter for all of you undead readers to enjoy!
I've set up a poll for a question given to me by Crofty666. Who do you think is stronger, Phobos or Toepick? Give me your opinions in the poll set up on my profile, and I should have the answer back to you by next chapter!
I have also set up another poll, concerning the lemons of this story. While some people seem to like it or tolerate it, some people find it disturbing or not enjoyable. This is why I have set up a poll on my profile to hear from you guys! Tell me how you feel about the lemons, and I shall do my best to do what's best for everyone in the coming chapters.
Another thing I would like to address are negative comments in the reviews. One review in particular really hurt my feelings, and this is a kind of thing that makes great websites like this no fun for anyone. If you honestly have anything bad to say, consider for a moment how the writer might feel. While I shall respect the author's privacy and not visibly point fingers, please refrain from posting such negative comments that hinder the story instead of helping it.
Another thing to mention is a wonderful writer by the name of Morantis. This writer excells in writing Ever After High, which is good considering that's what my sequel will be. Seriously, check out their stories sometime, they are good! And, I've gotten word that he might be considering a Ben 10/Monster Xover as well!
Honorable mentions aside, feel free to comment, review, suggest, and request down below!
Onwards!
Ben didn't quite know how to feel when he saw the souls of his friends before him. He was ecstatic at having them back, especially since he actually managed to win a deal with the Lord of the Dead himself. But would his friends want to return to the living? Were they happy with being dead and away from the troubles of the world?
He soon found out when Lagoona threw her translucent arms around him, hugging him tightly as Manny finally decided to end the one sided feud between him and Ben and give him the mother of all noogies. Neigthan gave Ben a 'bro-hug', and even Cleo managed to swallow her pride and thank Ben with a bone crushing hug. The other two souls, Howleen and Rochelle, simply looked confused to who Ben might be, but they recognized Frankie and Spectra right away.
Silently, the drifted over to the two ghouls and hugged them both, happy to see a familiar face in the dark, dreary pit of the Underworld.
"Aw, I haven't gotten this choked up since I got a hunk of moussaka caught in my throat!" Hades cracked from the announcer's box, Persephone elbowing him in the ribs for a third time since Ben had come to the Underworld. Hades flinched and rubbed his sore side.
"Ya know, I kinda feel bad for you, Hades," Ben smirked. "I mean, you're going to have to live with the concept that someone, a mortal of all people, beat you at your own game! You know, like, for eternity and-"
"I KNOW!" Hades roared, his entire body flaring up with hot flames. "I know! I know, I got it, I got the concept." he grumbled, his fiery hair turning down to a cool blue in color.
"Now are you just gonna stand there, or are ya gonna get the Hades out of my Underworld?" he asked, disgruntled before he realized what he had just said. "Wow, I just cursed my own name. I mean, who does that, cursing their own name? It should be impossible, and yet it happened and-" he rambled on before he caught sight of his wife's glare.
"If I recall, the deal was that if I won, you would send us home," Ben smirked, his eyes tracing over to Haliey, who was hiding behind Spectra. "Among other things."
"Hmm? Oh, right." Hades pouted, folding his arms over his chest and hunching over with a frown on his face. Persephone ignored him and kindly beckoned for Haliey to come to her, putting on a kind and motherly face. Haliey glanced up nervously at Ben and Spectra, who both nodded their heads reassuringly. The little monster cautiously stepped out from behind her two friends and slowly walked towards Persephone, waiting for things to go horribly wrong.
Other than Hades pouting off to the side however, nothing went wrong. When her heavy feet finally reached Persephone, the Lady of the Dead pulled her into a hug and Haliey could not have been happier. For the first time in half a century, she finally felt loved by someone. And a goddess, no less.
"Are we done here? Because, word of warning, I know all the lawyers," said Hades. "Oh, and Ben, Benjamin, Benny-boy? Any time ya want to crack some skulls, give me a call, could ya do that? I got plenty of 'em to spare."
Ben rolled his eyes. "Sure, sure. Now, about our ride home?" he mentioned as the souls looked at him expectently.
Hades sighed and snapped his fingers. A black chariot with spikes and a face that looked like a skull appeared out of thin air, hooked up to a demonic looking horse with a pair of gigantic bat wings. "And I don't want ta see one scratch on that thing," Hades added. "Took me a couple centuries to buff out after I lent it to Zeus. Last time I do that." he grumbled.
"Thanks, Flame Head. See ya around." Ben smirked as he, Spectra, Frankie, and the rescued souls climbed into the chariot. Hades rolled his eyes and watched as Ben snapped the reins, and the chariot took to the skies, the horse giving a horrifying screech as it flew away.
"Last time I make a deal with a guy with a shape-shifting watch on his wrist," Hades grumbled. Haliey giggled and moved one of her three heads closer to Hades's, sucking in a deep breath and blowing it back out, effectively killing the flames that danced across Hades's skull.
"What, whoa! Is my hair out or something?" he wondered.
"That should do it." Whisp sighed wearily, falling back onto one of the hospital beds to rest. Gigi nodded and lay back in her own bed, gazing upon the six bodies that lay motionless on the other hospital beds. The first body was none other than Cleo herself; she had changed over the years, adding at least half a foot to her height. Her fair skin had dulled over the years without sunlight, and the bright rhinestone under her eye had apparently been torn off during a battle, leaving a deep scar under her eye. She looked less like Cleo without her makeup, which she had stopped using over the years. She wore a tight leather outfit that showed off her curves and wore a scabbard on her back that held her prized swords. She wore armor on her wrists and shins, a golden colored chest plate covering her chest.
The second was Manny, the bed nearly collapsing under his weight. He wore a massive chest plate and armored pants on his gigantic body. Spiked pads sat on his shoulders, a large battle ax lying on the floor next to his bed. The minotaur had grown in the past years, becoming the biggest operative the rebellion had had over the years.
Next to him lay Neigthan's body, looking even paler than before. His ribcage shirt had been replaced by a dark red and blue chest plate with a sash of throwing knives over his chest. He still wore his black pants and colorful boots, the spikes now elongated for better damage and battle use. His hair had been turned into a multicolored Mohawk, his horn now a dull blue after being without use over the years. A chain was wrapped his waist, a large anchor tied to the other end.
The fourth bed contained Rochelle's body, and it had taken quite a lot of cement to repair her body. In doing so, the Grant sisters gave her a few upgrades; a bigger wing span to hopefully give her some flight, as well as the addition of a spiked tail. Her pale pink and blue hair had been reduced to a short cut that barely touched her shoulders; that way there a lesser risk of it being a hazard during a fight. Several new piercings had come to be put into her wing-shaped ears, and several new spikes had been added to her physic; one interesting fact about gargoyles was that their bodies could be modified and improved, as long as they plenty of cement and stone to work with.
The fifth bed held Howleen's body, and she had changed dramatically over the years. Her wild, pink hair had been reduced to style similar to Rochelle's, and her ears now had several notches that hadn't been there before. Unlike her sister, she had taken on a costume similar to that of a ninja's, dressed from head to toe in black. On her chest, over her heart, was the Omnitrix symbol behind the Monster High skull, an image that was slowly starting to catch on around the base, especially ever since she was killed; a pair of guns lay on the floor beside her and a double row of throwing stars lay over her chest.
The final body was the most difficult to repair. It had taken hours to repair the broken bones and torn muscle, and even longer to create new limbs entirely. Her blue scales were dry and slightly cracked from lack of moisture and her new limbs sticking out at odd angles from lack of use. She was wearing an outfit similar what she usually wore back at Monster High; black leather jacket over a dark blue shirt with a brown strap of knives and a pair of black pants and dark blue combat boots. Her Orishan gauntlets now lay on the floor; the weapons had been modified by Ghoulia so that they drew moisture from the air and condensed it into the deadly water attacks they had become known for.
Gigi blinked her eyes upon hearing a noise coming from the hallway and sat up to watch Ben, Spectra, Frankie, and six pale figures walk in through the doors, the living members of the group bickering.
"That is the last time we let you drive Hades's chariot, Ben," Frankie grumbled, rubbing her sore skull.
"Hey, I know how to drive a car, but chariots being drawn by demon horses are another thing," Ben argued. "I just hope Hades doesn't find out."
"Kinda hard to miss a scratch that big, Ben." Spectra sighed, cracking her aching back. Ben sighed and sat down on the edge of Gigi's bed as the six souls drifted over to their respective bodies; Spectra and Frankie opted to sit down on the last empty hospital bed, Frankie collapsing onto her back from exhaustion.
"So, uh, how do we do this?" Ben asked awkwardly; the six souls hadn't said, or were unable to, say a single thing since they had been summoned by Hades. Gigi sighed and climbed out of her bed, Whisp following her movements as they walked over to stand in front of the six beds, Gigi taking the first three and Whisp taking the last. The Grant sisters then simultaneously closed their eyes and clapped their hands in front of their face, holding them there as they silently chanted words before bobbing their heads in unison. A blinding flash of light filled the room, followed by a loud bang! Silence soon came afterward.
"Did it work?" Ben asked as he opened his eyes to find Gigi and Whisp passed out on the floor of the med bay. Ben quickly hopped off the hospital bed and scooped Gigi up in his arms, placing her on the bed before doing the same with Whisp.
"What happened?" he asked as Gigi came to.
"Raising the dead takes a lot out of us," Gigi replied. "Especially now that we can't function without the other. You now have six wishes left." she added.
"Six? I only used one!" Ben exclaimed.
Whisp moaned and sat up, rubbing her sore head. "For every person we resurrected, you used up one wish." she explained.
Ben was about to protest when he heard shifting coming from behind him. He turned to see the six bodies slowly moving about, Lagoona's movements a bit more stiff and less fluid than the others; having most of your body recently replaced could do that to a monster. Ben watched as the six bodies slowly sat up and looked at their surroundings before realizing where they were. With stiff limbs, as if not quite used to walking and moving again, they stood up and stretched, testing their bodies.
Lagoona slowly blinked her eyes and turned to gaze at Ben, opening her mouth to say something, anything; all that came out was low moan. She clasped her hands around her throat, as it hurt beyond belief. Manny and Neigthan were getting use to their legs again, holding onto the sides of their beds for balance. Cleo was struggling to use her fingers, wincing when they went into odd and slightly painful positions. Rochelle attempted to stand and promptly fell to the floor, shaking it slightly under her stone body. Only Howleen, who had somehow managed to disappear in all the ruckus, seemed to have full control of her body once more.
"Thank . . . you." Lagoona finally managed to croak.
Ben smiled. "No problem, Lagoona. It's what I do."
The sea monster was about to say more when the entire room was plunged into pitch black darkness, drawing out panicked yells of shock and surprise from the monsters in the med bay. Ben quickly turned on the Omnitrix, but instead of selecting an alien and activating the transformation sequence, he kept the hologram up; the room filled with a soft green glow as the door to Ghoulia's lab slammed open and the zombie genius herself walked out.
"Aaiiiiiiiii-eeeeeeeeyyaaahh?" she moaned.
"No, I don't know why we lost power, Ghoulia," Frankie replied. "Maybe we blew a fuse?"
"Attention, everyone," Twyla's voice came out over the intercom. "Remain calm and stick together while we try to fix the problem. On an unrelated note, will Ben Tennyson, Jane Boolittle, Jinafire Long, Ghoulia Yelps, Spectra Vondergeist, and Manny Taur report to my office? Thank you."
"How did she-" Ben started before his eyes caught sight of the security camera jammed in the corner of the room. "Oh. Right."
Twyla sighed and rubbed her aching temples. Running an operation like the Rebellion was a tough job, and few ever actually understood how hard it was. Some days she felt like she was going to explode, suddenly break down in front of her troops, and go on a rampage, consumed by the Thing that lurked within her. It terrified her plaguing her with nightmares whenever she tried to get some sleep. A low hum resonated throughout the entire base as the back up generator kicked in, using their emergency power to coat the whole base in the deep red of the emergency lights.
There then came sudden noise from the door that led to her office/living quarters. Twyla looked up to see a large dome in the metal door, two more appearing above and next to it before the door was fully knocked free from its rim and onto the floor with a large bang! Jinafire, Jane, Ghoulia, Spectra, Manny, and Rath stepped into the room, forming a half circle around Twyla as she spoke.
"Ben, why did you knock down my door?" Twyla sighed.
"Lemme tell ya somethin' Twyla, Glorious Leader of the Immortal Rebellion! Rath tell door to open, and door refuse! Rath taught a lesson it will never forget!"
"In other words, the door refused to open due to not having enough power." Jinafire translated calmly.
Twyla nodded before continuing, ignoring the pulsing red lights overhead. "It seems someone has broken into our power core and delivered near maximum damage to the core. We're running on emergency power, and only essential systems are being used, such as the security cameras and intercoms; Ghoulia, I'm going to need you to try and get the power core back online."
Ghoulia moaned and gave a salute before skittering out of the Twyla's office and down the hall, towards her lab to pick up the necessary tools.
"What about us?" Jane asked.
Twyla sighed and went on. "I've some terrible news. Jackson's on the loose."
Only Manny actually seemed to know what was going on, and even then the minotaur seemed thoroughly worried. "Um, what's wrong with Jackson?" Spectra asked.
"He's infected," Twyla began with a sigh. "When Zs'Skayr took over the Earth, all non-monster organisms were infected and turned into his horrible army. And because Jackson is a Monster/Normie hybrid, his mutant DNA makes him . . . unstable."
"What do you mean by 'unstable'?" Jinafire inquired.
"I mean, whenever he Jackson isn't Holt, he becomes a twisted monster," Twyla explained. "We had to lock him away in his own private cell with loud music playing 24/7 just to keep him from going beast on us. The power cut the music, and now Jackson's out."
"I thought even if Jackson went crazy the cell would hold him?" Manny snorted.
"That's what worries me," Twyla sighed. "He didn't escape: he was let lose."
"Someone let Music Man out? Not cool!" Rath bellowed.
"Yes," Twyla said, slightly confused. "And we unfortunately know who it was." Without another word, Twyla pulled out a device similar to a phone from her pocket and tapped a few buttons before holding the screen up for everyone else to see as they crowded around the screen. It was slightly blurry, clearly taken from a security camera during the chaos. A figure was standing right in the middle of the frame, standing right before a door that was clearly not meant to be open; the being had rotund, black and gray body with four stocky limbs. Several pistons could be seen sticking up out of its back and a large, windup key-like protrusion stuck out of its head.
"Clock Man!? Rath is gonna smash him!" Rath roared.
"Maltruant is lose in the base? Oh, this is not good." Jane whimpered nervously.
"No, no it isn't," Twyla sighed. "And I'm pretty sure Maltruant cut the power and set Jackson loose as a diversion."
"The question is, a diversion for what?" Jinafire mused.
"That's what I want you to find out. Ben, Jinafire, and Spectra, I want you to go after Maltruant. Stop him at all costs and try to restrain him for questioning. Manny, Jane, you two and me are going after Jackson. We want to try and restrain him at all costs, got it?"
"Does this mean Rath gets to punch Clock Man?" Rath asked.
"Yes, yes it does." Twyla said, rolling her eyes.
"Aw, yeah! Rath's happy!"
"So, uh, how long have you been able to, uh, do . . . ya know . . ." Manny trailed off as he, Twyla, and a lion with purple colored fur stalked down a hallway, the red light of the emergency lights blaring overhead in a constant, pulsing rhythm.
"I actually only found about it about a couple days ago," Twyla said quietly. "I assume she's had it for a couple of weeks and has been practicing. Although that would explain the damage to the Mess Hall, now that I think about it . . ."
Her thoughts were shaken from her when a loud noise came from down the hallway, followed by frightened screams and the sound of a fight. The trio dashed forward, skidding to a halt to look down the hallway to find a scene of destruction. Bodies of soldiers littered the hallway, covered in wounds but seeming to still be alive. Panels from the walls had been torn free and wires were ripped out of the ceiling, the lights broken and smashed as they hung from above. The doors on the end of the hallway were torn free from their ridges, crushed and with a hole the size of a beach ball punched right through them.
"Something tells me Jackson was here." was all Manny managed to say.
"Oh, you think? Whatever gave you that idea?" Twyla asked sarcastically. Without another word, she ran down the hall, pulling out her guns and hopping over the bodies of her fallen soldiers as the lion ran after her. With a sigh, Manny took his battle ax in hand and charged after her, following the sounds of savage snarling and gunfire. Yelling a battle cry, Manny turned to the right and swung his ax downward, just in time to block a swipe from razor sharp claws. A loud roar met his ears as Jane slammed into the beast that had attacked Manny and tackled it to the ground; Manny was finally able to get a good view of it.
The creature was either incredibly hideous or incredibly horrific, possibly even a sick, twisted combination of the two. A mop of long, messy, grimy hair sat on the creature's head, covering most of the face, except for the mouth. The mouth was a cage of sharp and crooked teeth that jutted out upwards and over the cracked and bloody lips. The remains of a shred sweater vest under a red motorcycle jacket hung loosely around the creature's hulking body. The limps were heavily muscled and the swelled fingers ended in cankered and split claws. As if that wasn't freakish enough, an extra set of limbs had messily burst out from under the original's, the left one being a twisted arm and the right one a clawed leg. A reptilian tail sprouted out from the base of the spine, sipping out from a apir of ripped purple, vertically striped pants with flames on the legs. Spikes popped out of the elbows and back, multiple hoops and piercings in the eyebrows and pointed ears. But what terrified Manny the most were the eyes that he could see beneath the heavy hair.
They were fiery red, full of white hot rage that seemed to radiate off of the creature in heavy, relentless waves that screamed death. They were soulless, piercing right into Manny's body and promising horrific and messy torture methods that screamed pain; Manny barely had time to dodge Jane's body as it flew over his head. With a yell, Manny swung his ax downward, not quite believing that the hideous monster before him once was the pitiful nerd that he used to pick on.
Jackson roared and swung two of his fists at Manny, socking him straight in the gut and sending him into the far wall. Twyla let lose with her guns, oozing purple dots sprouting all over Jackson's dark blue back. The monster bellowed and swiped at Twyla with its tail, knocking her into the wall where she slid down and didn't move. Manny snorted and climbed to his feet, throwing his battle ax over his shoulder, the weapon completely useless against a monster of such power. With a loud bellow, Manny charged forward, slamming into Jackson and catching him in the chest, ramming him into the far wall and pulling away to find dark, purple blood dripping from his horns.
Jackson snorted and grabbed Manny by one of his horns, lifting up his full weight and slamming him into the floor once, twice, three times before the minotaur stayed down. Without even looking up, Jackson threw up a fist, hitting the vicious, violet colored cobra in the face and sending its limp body to the ground. With a savage howl, Jackson looked over his work and took off down the hallway, snarling and bellowing as his massive hands and feet slammed into the floor.
Ben, Jinafire, and Spectra rushed down the hall, ignoring the pulsing red lights that blinked on and off overhead. With the power out, the doors that stood in front of them would constantly block their path, but these were quickly taken of with a massive kick from Jinafire; Ben made a mental note to never get on the dragon's bad side. The trio ran down another hallway, completely blind and oblivious to where Maltruant might be heading.
"Iris, any sign of him?" Ben called into the Omnitrix.
"Sector . . . C8 . . . elevator . . ." came Iris's voice, her voice scratching and tired sounding after not being used in years. Ben felt sorry for the cyclops, but now was not the time. With the instructions in mind, they turned down the previously mentioned hallway, only to nearly run head first into a very sturdy door. Spectra simply phased through to the other side, but no matter how many times Jinafire kicked the door, always getter fiercer and harder with each blow, the door didn't budge; it was as if it were made of the toughest material in all of existence.
"Let me try," Ben said after Jinafire nearly collapsed from such a waste of her energy. The dragon nodded and sat down on the floor, closing her eyes and assuming the lotus position as she relaxed and meditated; Ben didn't question it and merely turned on the Omnitrix, selecting a random alien and hoping for the best.
A green light encased him, changing his DNA as the Omnitrix did its work (Ben could swear he heard dramatic music playing from somewhere, but shrugged it off at being stressed). His fingers quickly fused together into razor sharp points as his wrists and arms became wider and harder, like semi-flattened blades. A small, pentagon-shaped notch appeared in the inside of his arm just before the joint, a sharp blade popping out at the elbow. His skin turned a tough red, the points and blades turning a bright white as black lines etched themselves across Ben's arms. His arms became thinner the rest of the way up as muscles piled themselves into the shoulders and chest region. His feet morphed into sharp points similar to his hands, sharp blades popping out on his knee caps as more black lines appeared on his body. His face split into three, rounded horns, each of his two now entirely green eyes sitting on a horn as the Omnitrix appeared between them on the third. The final piece of the transformation was the addition of a pair of black briefs, green and white belt, a green strap vest and a pair of green shoulder pads.
"Who's this guy?" the alien pondered as he glanced himself over. "Ah, no matter! Time to for a beat down!" With a sudden movement, the alien jabbed its pointed blades forward, watching in amazement as they punctured right through the door with ease to the other side. The only problem was that his pointed hands could only make small holes in the heavy metal of the door; by the time he made a hole big enough for them to climb through, Maltruant would be long gone. Furious, the quick alien swiped his blades across the door in anger, watching as cut marks were etched deeply into the door and watching, stunned, when the door gave a groan and collapsed in pieces on the floor.
"A very useful transformation, no doubt." Jinafire noted. "What will you call it?"
"Sushi Slicer?" the alien tried.
"Ugh. Your razor edged wit never ceases to amuse me." Skurd grumbled sarcastically from the alien's forehead.
"Razredge it is!" the alien cried happily before dashing down the hallway in a black and red blur. Jinafire raced after him, easily keeping pace with him; while Razredge was fast, he was nowhere close to being as fast as XLR8 or Fasttrack, but he could easily outrace most of Ben's other aliens. Spectra had long since disappeared, most likely confronting Maltruant at the source and stalling him. Razredge could only hope.
They soon came across the hallway Iris had directed them to and found themselves right in the middle of a not very epic shoot out. Maltruant, in all of hideous, metal glory, stood directly in front of an elevator leading into the bowels of the base, shooting red balls of energy at Spectra, who swooped and twirled through the air with ease. Razredge watched with increasing worry as the balls of bubbling red energy crashed into the surrounding walls, quickly aging them into dust.
"Beth Tennyson! So nice of you to join us." Maltruant growled upon noticing Razredge.
"Um, dude? I'm a guy. And it's Ben Tennyson, thank you very much." Razredge corrected him.
"Silence, you vermin!"
"It's time to clean your clock, Maltruant!" Razredge yelled, jabbing a blade at the rogue Chronosapien.
"Oi. I somehow remember your quips being much better than this." Maltruant sighed with annoyance.
"No, they've always been that bad. Trust me," Skurd sighed.
"Quiet, you." Razredge growled before zipping forward, furiously pumping his arms and leaping into the air, aiming all four of his major points at the Chronosapein. Maltruant sighed and merely raised his hands, spinning the protrusion on his head backwards and slowing down the time stream to a total stop, Razredge frozen in midair just a few inches away from Maltruant's face. Spectra was suspended in time, stuck with half her body in the ceiling and the other half just barely dodging another blast of torturous red energy and Jinafire was frozen on the spot, her arms splayed out behind her her as she leaned forward at an impossible angle to run forward with as little air resistance as possible.
"Oh, it is almost too easy!" Maltruant chuckled. "Even after lying in the shadows for so little, I am unbeatable!" he cackled. Without another word or otherwise, he turned around and punched in the code for the elevator to open, having hacked into the system long ago and retrieving most of the necessary data. The elevator doors slid open without fault and Maltruant stepped in, chuckling darkly to himself as the doors began to close and he released his grip on the time line; even an insane villain like him respected the laws of time and space to the breaking point. If it were held any longer, the time line would have surely collapsed with him in it, and that was not something he wanted to happen.
Razredge watched with annoyance in his eyes as the elevator doors slid shut just before his face slapped straight into the doors, sliding down with a pained moan. Jinafire jerked to a stop before she met the same fate, helping Razredge up as he and Skurd rubbed their sore heads.
"We have to follow him." Razredge said stubbornly.
"Indeed. Perhaps you could put your new form to good use and get us inside the elevator shaft?" Jinafire suggested. The alien nodded and sliced both arms in an 'X' motion over the doors, watching with satisfaction as they fell to the floor in pieces. With a happy cheer, Razredge jumped out into the darkness of the elevator shaft, being careful to avoid slicing through the cord that held the box in place. With a roll of her eyes, Jinafire copied his movements and grabbed the elevator rope for support, twisting and spinning her way down into the darkness as Spectra followed them into the bowels of the base.
After what seemed hours of falling into nothingness with nothing but the cable of the elevator car and elevator doors that appeared every couple hundred to keep their minds sane, the three finally landed on the elevator box's roof with a low thump! Razredge made short work of the roof and hopped inside the car before dashing out the doors, followed quickly by Spectra and Jinafire. They were now in an expansive room that was about the size of a soccer field, the ceiling high above them. Numerous crates ranging in sizes from microwaves to elephants were stacked up against the walls, forming tightly packed walls of a maze made of shelves stocked with broken or unwanted items and inventions. Dim lights hung overhead, providing a suitable amount of light for everyone to see in, the near darkness lighting up when the Omnitrix timed out and reverted Razredge back into Ben.
"What is this place?" Ben wondered quietly.
"Storage . . . Anihilaarg . . ." Iris's voice wheezed over the Omnitrix.
"What the- where did the Anihilaarg come from!?" Ben exclaimed, his voice echoing through the expansive room as Jinafire and Spectra simultaneously clapped their hands over his mouth.
"Zs'Skayr somehow managed to get his hands on one, but we confiscated it during a raid," Twyla's quiet voice came over the Omnitrix as the ghouls released their hold on Ben. "Why is so important?"
"Because it's a bomb capable of wiping out an entire universe!" Ben hissed. "One push of the button, and boom! Good-bye universe!"
Twyla was silent for a moment before speaking. "Get that Anihilaarg at all costs. I don't care if you kill the fuckin' bastard in the process, but do not let him get his hands on that thing. Do I make myself clear?" she asked in a steely voice that chilled Ben to the bone and made him forget about her foul words.
"Yes, ma'am!" Ben said quickly, snapping up straight and saluting, despite Twyla not being there.
"Good. We'll try to contain Jackson up here. Whoever gets done with their job first can help the other. Twyla out." were the Booegy girl's last words before signing off.
"Come back here you big lizard!" Manny bellowed.
"Technically he's just a mutant monster/Normie hybrid," Twyla corrected him, quietly cursed under her breath as she chased after Jackson, her guns clutched tightly in her white knuckles. The beast had eluded and managed to wipe the floor with them at every turn for the past hour, and it was not something Twyla was happy about. Somewhere, behind those soulless eyes and tough exterior, was the mind of a very smart being, calculating their moves before they even made them and knowing exactly how to stop them dead in their tracks.
Barely even thinking, the Rebellion leader spouted off another round of foul language when she came across the fourth blockade they had come across within the hour. Jackson was smart, she would give him that, using whatever material there was lying around to form an impassable wall of garbage and rubble that frustrated Twyla and forced her, Jane, and Manny to reroute themselves to find Jackson. If it wasn't from the constant feed of the cameras, which Jackson never seemed to find or notice, they would have lost him long ago in the labyrinth of the base.
"Jane, get into the air ducts." Twyla demanded. The jungle girl obeyed without argument, tearing off a vent opening and shifting back into the violet scaled cobra, quickly slithering through the duct and following the scent of Jackson. Manny and Twyla meanwhile, took a left at the blockade, following Iris's instructions to catch up with Jackson.
"Sector . . . C10 . . ." came Iris's sore voice from Twyla's ear piece.
"Wait. Sector C10? That's getting pretty close to where Ben is," Twyla quietly mused, a plan forming in her head that could and hopefully would kill two birds with one stone.
"What's the plan, boss?" Manny panted, leaning against his ax for support, exhasuted.
For the first time since they began this mad chase, Twyla smiled. "Corral him. Steer him towards the elevator shaft. With luck, he'll head down to storage where Ben is. Did you catch that Iris?" she explained to the minotaur, asking the last part to Iris.
"Closing off . . . sectors . . . C1-C7 . . ." Iris mumbled.
Twyla barely heard her as she dashed down the hallway, the hope of saving her precious base from as much damage as possible powering her forward as Manny huffed and puffed to keep up. The emergency lights continued to blare overhead, amongst a tangle of wires that dangled down like vines in a high tech jungle. Twyla heard a low hiss from coming from within the walls, most likely Jane as she tracked and tried to keep up with Jackson. A loud noise, like heavy fists and feet pounding against a heavily armored door echoed throughout the base as Jackson's savage roars accompanied them in a frightening rhythm. Twyla turned down another hallway, Manny on her tail, to see Jackson in shove match with a violet tinted polar bear, the massive carnivore towering over him and matching him for size and strength as the two pushed against each other, neither backing down from the other.
Twyla remained silent, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a handful of tranquilizer darts, their butts decorated with brightly colored yellow feathers. She quickly uncapped one of her guns and pulled out the energy cartridge that gave the weapon its devastating ammo and slipped the darts inside, quietly clipping it shut and pulling the weapon up to her eye as she aimed. Manny came up behind her, remaining silent as he tried to keep his large bulk out of sight, Twyla moving the gun back and forth as Jane and Jackson wrestled.
She pulled the trigger.
The world seemed to suddenly go into slow motion as the dart shot through the air, spinning in a corkscrew as it aimed right at the exposed flesh of Jackson's shoulder. The shot looked perfect, unable to possibly miss; even if it did, the dart would simply sink elsewhere into the monster's flesh and deliver the anesthetics needed. Twyla watched with confidence until she caught Jackson's fire filled eye. She gasped and shouted out a warning, but it was too late. Jackson quickly leaned back, purposely faulting in his strength so that Jane would slip into range of the dart, Twyla helpless to watch as the dart sunk deep into Jane's fur as she bellowed at the sharp pain. Jackson grinned a toothy smile and regained his power, shoving Jane off of him and into the far wall where she stayed down, breathing heavily as the anesthetics coursed through her veins, the massive muscles and fur slowly disappearing in favor of Jane's pale, violet skin; Ben was not going to be happy about this.
"Hey, um, Ben? Are you there?" Twyla caled for her lover over her com as Jackson barreled down the hallway opposite of her and towards the elevator; Ben still hadn't answered.
"Ben's currently in pain now. He will have to call you back," Spectra's voice came into her ear. "Should I can take a message?"
"Jackson is on his way down! Get away from the elevator. I repeat, get away from the elevator unless you want to be attack by a 500 lb monkey!"
"Oh, so now he's a monkey," Manny grumbled from behind her. "Make up your mind!"
Twyla ignored him and gave chase after Jackson, shouting death threats and disturbing torture methods that chilled Manny to the bone as he dashed after her. Sometimes, he worried for his leader's mental state. Sometimes.
"Oh, my aching head," Ben moaned as he climbed to his feet, rubbing his sore head. "Who knew a fat metal clock could pack a punch?"
"I am not fat! I'm big boned!" Maltruant roared, firing another round of energy balls of his hands that Ben just barely missing by ducking to the ground and crawling away behind the relative safety of a large crate.
"You don't even have bones!" Ben taunted from his hiding spot; Jinafire interrupted whatever insult Maltruant was going to say back by suddenly diving down from the ceiling and executing a quick round house kick to the Chronosapien's head piece. A loud sound, like a large bell being rung, echoed through the storage chamber as Maltruant tried to move again, stunned.
"You stupid genius!" Skurd suddenly exclaimed.
"What was that for? I didn't even do anything yet!" Ben argued.
"Exactly, you dimwitted buffoon!" Skurd continued. "That oversized clock doesn't have any bones because he's made entirely of metal!"
"And your point is?"
Skurd sighed and said some incoherent things under his breath as he accessed the Omnitrix, much to Ben's protests, and cycled through the available aliens, coming across the one he needed and pushing down with all of his tiny might on the activation button, a bright green light washing over Ben as the Omnitrix changed his DNA. The first and most noticeable part of the transformation began when the skin suddenly melted off of Ben's skull, the bare muscle and tissue solidifying and turning into a hard, metallic sheen as Ben's head suddenly separated from his body, a forked eyebrow-like crest forming above his green eyes as the transformation continued. His shoulders pinched upwards, forming large points and then an arch as his head floated between them, held in place by some of magnetic field. His skin turned a durable, metallic black with yellow lines and spots as his fingers fused together into large pincers, his frame shooting upwards until it was about ten feet tall. His feet fused together into two large claws, a tingling sensation at the end of his pincers suddenly becoming aware to him as the Omnitrix and Skurd appeared on his chest, completing the transformation.
"Lodestar? I have haven't used this guy in forever!" the Biosovortian exclaimed happily.
"That's because you condemn yourself to use the same forms over and over again instead of thinking clearly," Skurd mumbled before mocking Ben in a high pitched voice. "Oh, look! I'm Ben Tennyson! I'll just hit everything with my giant alien fists instead of thinking things through! Big and strong is always the way to go!"
"Nice one," Lodestar growled, restraining every urge in his metallic body to squish the Slimebiote.
"Thank you, thank you! I also do-GAH!" Skurd cried as the crate they were hiding behind suddenly disintegrated into a pile of dust, spare parts clattering loudly on the floor.
"Aha! Prepare to meet your doom, Tennyson!" Maltruant cried triumphantly.
"Yeah, yeah. Been there done that." Lodestar said with a yawn, raising his pincers and focusing, the metal parts before him rising into the air as he messed around with the magnetic field and thrust his hands forward, sending the parts flying at Maltruant and striking him in the arm and chest before he aged the rest to dust.
"And now for you," the Chronosapien growled, at the end of his rope.
"Yeah. I don't think so." the Biosovortian said nonchalantly, raising his hands, pointing them at Maltruant, and sending out a large magnetic pulse. The rogue Chronosapien cried out in sudden agony as dents began to appear on his body, as if invisible hammers were pounding away at his heavy skin and slowly breaking away at his insides. A loud groaning filled the air as Maltruant and the heavy iron support beams overhead slowly began to crunch and bend in on themselves.
"Ben! Stop before you collapse the whole base down on us!" Jinafire warned as she struck Maltruant on the head again before back flipping out of range; Spectra hung up near the safety of the ceiling as Lodestar reluctantly released most of his hold on the magnetic field and instead opted to force Maltruant up into the air before throwing him to the other side of the storage room with a loud clang!
"Well, that takes care of that," the alien said, dusting off his claws just as a loud crash! came from the elevator shaft as the elevator box was crushed to bits under a heavy weight. A loud roar filled the air as Jackson leaped out from the alcove, straight at Lodestar, his maw wide open and show casing his large teeth. Thinking quickly, Lodestar resurrected a magnetic field around himself, forming a sort of dome that Jackson smacked into, sliding to the ground before he climbed to his feet and began to beat his might fists against the force field.
"Looks like someone got hit one too many times with the ugly stick," Lodestar joked nervously as Jackson seemed t5o angrier and his blows became more heavy. Eventually he would break through the force field and attack Lodestar, and he wouldn't be able to do anything against the muscled mass of raw fury and muscle. Just when it seemed the Biosovortian was doomed, a wave of fire came up behind Jackson, washing over him and drawing his attention back to Jinafire and Spectra; the flames couldn't do a thing against Jackson's tough skin, but it certainly distracted him long enough for Lodestar to drop the magnetic field and command a stray metal pipe to whack him upside the head. The pipe came in for another blow, but was caught in Jackson's mighty hand. The mutant easily twisted and tied the pipe into a knot before chucking it back at Lodestar and knocking his head out from between his shoulders, embedding it into the wall behind him!
"I've heard of losing your head, but this is ridiculous!" he cracked nervously. "Now I know how Bloodgood feels. Hey, I'm over here!" he called to his body as it stumbled about mindlessly, somehow searching for his head; perhaps it functioned on a bundle of nerves that were evolved enough to act as a second brain in a pinch, but it certainly wasn't smart enough to find its head.
"Why even bother, dear boy? You're the part that has the ears!" Skurd called back, gripping the Omnitrix tightly as Lodestar's body tripped over a pile of rubble.
Spectra, meanwhile, had drawn out her katana blades and trying with every fiber of her being to land a single blow on Jackson, but the twisted mutant was simply too fast, blocking every attempt she made. Nothing she through at him could turn the tide against the raw rage and power that surged through his body. With a loud scream, she dived down from the air and swiped her swords in a completely unorthodox style, desperate to land a single blow on him as he dodged and ducked under every attack before delivering a swift upper cut to her jaw; had she had bones, they would have been broken as she soared through the air and crash landed into a stack of crates, phasing right through them and out the other side where she stayed down for the moment being.
"Hit him already! Hey, I'm over here! No, over here!" Lodestar called out to Jinafire, yelling instructions to his body despite the fact it didn't seem able to hear him.
Jinafire sighed and closed her eyes, sucking in a deep breath and calming her nerves. She pushed out all distracting thoughts and suppressed her emotions and feelings; she silenced her frayed nerves, her slight fear of Jackson as he stared her down, the feeling her heart got whenever she saw Ben fight. She pushed all of these down inside and finally opened her passionless eyes to stare at Jackson, meeting his furious glare with a blank expression. Without a word, she bent her legs and arched her back a little, drawing a fist behind her head and thrusting her hand forward and making the 'come at me' signal with her hand and the tiniest of smirks on her face.
With a loud bellow, Jackson drummed his chest and rushed forward, his footsteps thundering against the concrete as Jinafire remained still, not even twitching a muscle as Jackson got closer and closer. Finally, when it seemed she would be flattened like a pancake, she swiftly moved to the side just as Jackson ran past and leaped into the air, doing a quick somersault before landing on his back, driving her heel into a pressure point between his shoulder blades; Jackson howled and threw her off of him, moving more slowly than before as his breaths became quick and ragged. He whirled around and pawed the floor like a bull, snorting through his nostrils as Jinafire taunted him once more.
Like clockwork, Jackson surged forward, desperate to flatten the young dragon that annoyed him so. And again, she moved out of the side and onto his back, striking more pressure points as he came for a third round. Jinafire sucked in a deep breath and calmed her jittery nerves as Jackson charged again, being smart enough not to fall for the same move twice; Jinafire knew this. As the twisted monster barreled down at her, she quickly dropped to the floor and slid underneath Jackson's bulk, striking him in the belly, chest, collarbone, and neck before popping back up and remaining perfectly still as Jackson slowed to a halt behind her and then dropped to the ground, unconscious.
"Okay, that is the coolest thing I have ever seen!" Lodestar cheered as his body finally found his head and moved it back between his arched shoulder blades.
"Yes. Yes it was." Jinafire said with a smile.
"Enjoy your victory while you can, Tennyson!" a thick voice with a heavy German accent roared. The Biosovortian and dragon whirled around to a triumphant, and slightly damaged, Maltruant standing between the shelves of unused items, holding a small box in his metal fingers and grinning like a mad man. "For I have the Anilihaarg within my grasp! Your doom is assured!" he cackled madly as a blood red portal opened up behind him and stepped inside without another thought, quickly closing it before Lodestar and Jinafire could race after him. The silence that followed was tense.
"We are so screwed." Lodestar gulped as the Omnitrix timed out and reverted him back to his human form. The sound of screaming metal met their ears and they turned to see Twyla and Manny dropping down the elevator shaft, relaxing slightly when they saw Jackson's unconscious form.
"What'd we miss?" Twyla asked.
And there we go! Another chapter, another new alien! Once more, I did not come up with the idea for Razredge kjmarch on Deviantart. You should really check out his work sometime. Guess which aliens will be added into the story!
As always, comment, review, suggest, and request below and I shall try to meet all of your demands before this story is over!
Hasta Luego!