I went back to the other Ben10 and a Vampire Rewrite and fixed the dialog; as well as added some new scenes, better stage direction, and better foreshadowing I think you'll all like. That also includes this Rewrite. I'd go back and revisit them if I were you. I've also started YouTubing again, so why not check out what I've been up to there? Finally, the last poll results are displayed at the bottom of the page. Enjoy!
A few days after the Null Void mishap, Ben and his team found a Teleporter Pod in a factory which Kevin was trying to figure out how to work. Why? He loved alien tech. To make sure he got it just right, he used a banana as a test run.
"Anyone else see how badly this is gonna backfire?" Kurumu asked. Don't get her wrong, she began to have faith in Kevin's tech knowledge as she and Moka got the know the guy, but if it was any way he kept his car out of danger...
"Do any of you guys know how to work it? At all?" Asked Moka.
"We've seen it work, but we never tried working one" Gwen said, mentioning the time when they saw a Highbreed use one to escape. Ironically, that was also the day Moka and Kurumu 'dropped in'.
"Gotta start somewhere" stated Kevin, walking towards a control console after strategically placing the banana.
"Ben, tell Kevin this is..." Gwen began, but noticed Ben wasn't next to her anymore. Odd. He was there a second ago when they walked in. She looked back and forth, with Kurumu and Moka noticing and copying the action.
"Where's Ben?" Moka asked. Kurumu was the one to notice the shoulder of a green jacket poking out from behind a large piece of machinery. She cocked an eyebrow. He was no Mizore, that's for sure. It was then the 2 other girls noticed and stared in the same reaction. "Ben? Are you hiding?" Asked Moka. Inner Moka sighed at this. Big bad Ben Tennyson, cowering behind cover from a machine?
Now caught, Ben walked sideways out of his hiding spot. Crap! He was sure no one would find him. He should have asked his snow woman friend for a few pointers before he left. "N-No. Its just... if a fly lands on that banana when it teleports then re-materializes, it'll mutate into a deadly fly monster and, IIIII don't wanna be anywhere near it" Ben explained. The vampire and succubus didn't take offense to this... too much.
"Don't see the big deal. You went to a school full of them" said Kevin, pointing out Ben dealt with deadly monsters before. As he did, he was getting the pod ready by flipping switches on the console and pressing a button to activate the pod itself.
"And sweetie... that's how we met" Kurumu pointed out, adding to Kevin's point with the first 'monster' Ben became around her.
"... that was different" Ben insisted, walking back to the group. As he did, Kevin pressed a larger button, triggering the teleportation mechanism. The banana was brought up to the center of the Teleporter Pod's circle by blue electricity. In a flash... it was gone!
"You did...!" Kurumu began to exclaim, but a second later the banana reappeared out-of-nowhere, looking like it have been burnt. Smoke was coming out of it, then it swelled and exploded in a gooey mess. It was quite disgusting. If that wasn't bad enough, the machine itself began sparking and vibrating! To make matters worse, the console did the exact same thing, preventing Kevin from shutting it down. The machine began glowing...
Ben: EVERYBODY DOWN!
KA-BOOOOOOM!
(AN: Theme song.)
Chapter 7: Undercover + Vampire
The force of the blast not only blasted open the garage-like door behind the Teleporter Pod, it also shattered itself and its pieces fell to the floor. On the side of the room where Ben and his team where, a large wall of green diamond protected the group from harm. Ben had went Hero and changed into Diamondhead in the nick of time. The wall of diamond dropped, revealing everyone was ok. In shock, but ok.
"Everyone alright?" Ben asked after changing back in a flash of light.
"Forget that! What about the Teleporter Pod?!" Said Kevin, running over the tech to check if it was still operational.
"He's fine" Commented both Vampire Ben and Inner Moka, sarcastically. "Asshole" Kurumu muttered. Moka looked unsure herself. At times, Kevin was protective, but he would do stuff like this in the same token.
"Deep down, he's glad we're ok" Gwen said. She, Ben, Moka and Kurumu walked calmly to where Kevin was checking the machine.
"So um... how bad is it?" Moka asked.
"Totally trashed" Kevin said, sadly.
"At least we won't have to worry about fly monsters" said Ben, earning a glance from his cousin and two monster friends. "Just saying" he added.
"Idiot" Inner Moka said.
"I know a kid. Might be able to fix it" said Kevin, which got the group surprised.
"Excuse me?... Kid?" Kurumu repeated, wanting to make sure she heard him clearly. "A kid? Fix alien tech?" Gwen asked.
"He's a super genius with any kind of machinery, human or alien" said Kevin.
"Does he have a dog named Goddard too?" Asked Vampire Ben. Ben just glanced down at the Omnitrix, unamused. "What? I'm serious" Vampire Ben continued, apparently being genuine for once.
"I'll fetch Cooper. He's usually in his lab..." Kevin was saying, but the name he used caught the attention of both Tennyson cousins.
"Cooper?" Asked Ben. "That's his name" said Kevin.
"Pasty, white kid?"
"Yup."
"Blond?" Gwen asked.
"All the time" said Kevin.
"Bad haircut?"
"Everyday."
"Has a crush on Gwen?" Asked Ben, which got him an elbow in the stomach from Gwen. "Ow."
"Sounds like the same guy... but who wouldn't have a crush on Gwen?" Kevin confirmed, also throwing in a small smile towards Gwen. He was gonna have fun with that last bit of information.
"Wait, you already have a boyfriend?" Asked Moka. "And you guys say I'm bad" Kurumu added.
"He's not, my boyfriend" Gwen said. "He helped us out when we were kids, at Fort Knox" Ben said.
Both monster girls reacted upon hearing that, recalling one of the stories Ben told them. "Isn't that when you destroyed Mount Rushmore?" Asked Kurumu.
"... Not on purpose" Ben said. "You should have told us you knew him" he continued, directing this statement to Kevin.
"Didn't exactly come up" said Kevin, walking over to his car. Thankfully unlike all the other times, it wasn't damaged in any way.
"You didn't think a techno-wizard would've been helpful against the DNAliens?" Asked Ben, him and the rest of the group following.
"If your so smart, why didn't you bring it up?" Kevin backfired, which was a fair point, Ben had to admit.
-TIME BREAK-
Kevin drove them all to a house, which was weird because he said Cooper was in a lab. As they walked up to the door, Kevin made a comment abut if Gwen was glad to see her Ex again, with her telling him to zip it. The door was left unlocked, which was another strange thing. Kevin claimed the kid never left his lab for anything, not even his parents.
They went towards a door, leading to a basement, which had computers and snacks all over the place; including dirty clothes and an old pizza box on the floor, with an old slice still inside. The girls found this gross. Kevin wasn't kidding when he said 'never'.
"Something not right. Look for signs of a struggle" Kevin ordered, getting a bad feeling.
"This whole room is a struggle! How can anyone live in this? Like a rat on the street!" Kurumu said. She got a glare from Kevin as a response, and gave a nervous chuckle; as well as 'sorry', realizing Kevin had a similar life.
Ben walked over the pizza box, putting his hand on a desk as leverage, when he felt something under a messy pile of papers. He pulled out a red object that looked like a blow dryer, except it had some flaps around the nozzle. Curious, he pressed the button on the back, the blow dryer whirling to life. It shot some kind of clear, white beam that happened to hit one of the computers monitors. Somehow, this turned the other monitors on and a message played.
On the screens appeared a short, pasty blond boy with blue eyes. He was saying something about if anyone found this recording, but a screech came and it was shown that 3 DNAliens chased the poor boy around his lab, before finally cornering him and teleporting away.
"Poor thing" said Moka. She and Kurumu felt bad for him, he stood no chance against those DNAliens, even though he did try but it was all in vain.
"Gwen, can you track him?" Asked Ben, hoping his cousin could figure out where they took the little guy. Gwen did just that, her eyes and hands glowing as she began sensing his energy.
"Got him. He's pretty far, but I can lead us to him" Gwen said.
"In other words your; attracted to him" Kevin joked, not able to resist the urge to poke fun at her. Admittedly; Kurumu and Moka found that funny. They had to hold back their giggles, but they couldn't stop silly smiles from forming on their faces.
"Can we just go?" Gwen said, not finding the statement funny in the slightest. She'll have to get Kevin back somehow but for now, she stomped off back upstairs and got into the car before anyone else.
-TIME BREAK-
"Los Soledad?" Asked Moka.
"But we were here just last week!" Said Kurumu.
"At least there was a monster to fight then" Kevin added. All of this was true, as the military base was as abandoned as they last saw it and to their knowledge, no DNAliens. If there were any; wouldn't they have come out to all the ruckus that they, Paradox, and the trans-dimensional monster were making while fighting? It didn't make any sense.
"But... I don't get it. I did everything right! The trail lead us here!" Gwen said, looking down at her hands, unsure why this happened. Her mana tracking always worked 100% of the time, but why did it lead them to the middle of nowhere, to a place with no activity no less?
"Well; they say love is blind" Kevin quipped again. Gwen's head snapped in Kevin's direction and stared directly at him, tiresomely. Seriously, was he ever gonna stop tonight, or was this gonna be the new joke for the next week? That's how long 'Mommy Ben' lasted for, but at least they ALL had fun with it (except the main target). The only form of laughter going on now was snickering inside Ben's head, which he winced at.
"Knock it off, Kevin. My powers are telling me Cooper's close by" Gwen insisted.
"Then where the hell is he?" Asked Kurumu. "Maybe something screwed up your powers by accident?" Suggested Moka kindly with a shrug.
"They. DID NOT. Screw up" Gwen said with a hardened tone, though it was mainly because Kevin wouldn't stop annoying her.
Ben walked over to the hole that was still there from the last time, though it appeared it was there from the weathering over the years rather than a dimensional monster smashing through it. "We all make mistakes, Gwen. There's nothing here but..." Ben began to speak now that the annoying snickering stopped, but as he walked inside the hole, he somehow vanished! Gwen and Moka called out Ben's name at the same time in worry, with Kurumu saying 'sweetie' instead. The group ran over to the hole, but didn't see Ben on the other side of it. What the...?
"The hell'd he go?" Asked Kevin. His question was answered when Ben's head reappeared, but the rest of him from the neck down did not. How in the...?
"You guys' have got... to see this" Ben said to them, inviting them inside. Although looking at each other in confusion, the rest of the group followed him.
Upon going in... it was snowing? "Snow?" Asked Moka, holding out a hand. Indeed, a flake fell in her hand, so this was real. Thankfully, waters purifying properties are canceled out when frozen, so she wasn't in pain; but still, where did this snow come from? It was a cool night sure, but it wasn't that cold either. And even if it was... why was it only snowing in here?
"But winters not for another...!" Exclaimed Kurumu, about to say the season in question was still months away, but then Ben quickly clamped her mouth shut and gave her the 'shushing' sound. Taking cover behind a large piece of rubble, it was then they noticed that just ahead, DNAliens were going in and out of some kind building that none of them knew what it was. In the distance were 4 towers with odd shapes.
"More of those Weather Control Towers, this can't be good" said Kevin. While the monsters' weren't present for that mission, Ben had told them the story of how they helped out a kid that could turn into a Heatblast a while back, and the mission revolved around one of those same towers. When they asked Ben why the hell DNAliens needed them, Ben couldn't give them an answer for none of them knew either. Everything the DNAliens did seemed to make no sense.
But whatever they were up to this time... Cooper was caught in the middle of it.
"So... are those towers masking the area... somehow?" Asked Moka. She's seen a few DNAliens that used items called ID Masks to 'mask' their true appearance. She figured it must have been the same technology.
"Hardly. They're using a cloaking field... but where would they get a rig powerful enough to cover an entire city?" Said Kevin though despite his knowledge, he too was confused. It took everyone less than 2 seconds to figure out the DNAliens must've have gotten Cooper to build it, most likely by force. But is that the ONLY reason they brought him all the way out here? Because the group also noticed a giant arch-like device that was taller than the Control Towers.
"With the cloaking field up, they can work without anyone seeing them build... whatever that is" Ben said, mentioning the arch-like machine.
"So they're building a Ferris Wheel?" Asked Inner Moka, unimpressed. She was never answered however, mainly because before Outer Moka could repeat it, Gwen told them all to get down. A few DNAliens flew by on some kind of hover-cart. One of them did stop and look in the direction of the rubble the group was hiding behind for a few seconds, but it apparently lost interest and went back on its merry way.
"Gwen? You still got a lock on Cooper?" Asked Ben. Gwen's eyes glowed, tracking Coopers energy. "He's not far from here" she confirmed.
"Got any invisibility voodoo?" Asked Kevin.
"It's not voodoo" Gwen answered.
"That's a no, then" Kevin answered back.
Luckily for them, Kurumu got an idea. Touching the rubble they were behind, she made illusionary copies of each one in a line though a few feet from each other, allowing them to use them for cover to get behind some buildings without being seen. Bad timing, because they were in-between a pair of DNAliens moving some metal bars in one of their hover-carts, and another one that they heard coming from behind. It seemed like they were gonna get caught red-handed, but Gwen thought quickly and lifted them all up with mana to get up on the rooftops quickly, barely evading detection that time.
Gwen starting tracking the 'scent' of Cooper again, leading them to a small building. This building however, had several doors inside, leading to different rooms. "We could yell out hey Cooper" Kevin suggested in a low voice, not being entirely serious.
"Yeah. And have over 10,000 alien squids' on us. Good plan" Kurumu whispered, being equally sarcastic. Gwen lead them all the way to the back of the building to the furthest door.
"Here. Definitely in here" Gwen said, as the aura of Cooper was much stronger now. Ben went to open the door when...
"And if there's 10,000 aliens behind that door? Good plan" Kevin retorted from earlier, also stopping Ben in his tracks. Kurumu grew out her nails on one hand and was most likely gonna strike Kevin out of aggravation, but Moka grabbed her arm and pulled it down, shaking her head at the succubus and giving her a look that said: 'don't you dare'.
Ben became Goop to squeeze himself under the door, and turns into a single eye to look around. Ahead, he saw only 2 DNAliens, but they were ordering a kid that levitated pieces of metal and put them together. It was Cooper! As he was working, he put 2 pieces of what the aliens called "Varsidium", which inadvertently created a high-pitched sound. The 2 DNAlien doubled over, grabbing the side of their heads in pain. Interesting. So loud noises was a weakness for them? Kinda reminded Ben of his tussle with Gin last year.
Cooper saw the Polymorph peek out from the bottom of the door. What kind of alien was that? He didn't have time to think about it since this small distraction broke his mental concentration on the metal he was working with, and they fell to the ground. Needless to say, those DNAliens were mad at Cooper, even though it was clearly an accident. Goop had his Anti-Gravity Projector get into the room quickly through an air vent so he could move his goopy body in front of Cooper to protect him, as earth's gravity renders him immobilize otherwise.
"No roughhousing, children" Goop said. Seeing the intruder, both DNAliens got a ray gun, but Goop knocked them both out at the same time by stretching himself and pushing both aliens together hard.
Hearing the commotion, Kevin punched the door down after absorbing it. He wanted to help save Cooper, of course. Kurumu also took her true form, and leapped in after Kevin did. Was she here to help save Cooper? Yes... though she mainly jumped in out of love for Ben.
"Cavalry's here!" Kevin said, him and Kurumu noticing the 2 DNAliens knocked out on the floor.
"Uh... not that you needed it" said Kurumu, a bit embarrassed.
Cooper saw both Kevin and Kurumu; and was a bit surprised to see a bluenette with long nails, wings and a tail. What alien was she? But he was more focused on the sight of Gwen. "Gwen. You totally came to my rescu-..." Cooper began to praise Gwen, but then he got his eyes on a certain pink-haired girl. The boy was at a loss for words. Two beautiful girls in his sights was more than enough to render him speechless. Everyone noticed this.
"What. Is he looking at?" Asked Inner Moka with a growl, getting both prideful and defensive, but mainly the former.
"You have GOT to be kidding" Kurumu deadpanned. Why was it everywhere she went, she was always overshadowed by Moka? Can't SOMEONE find her attractive first! Was that too much to ask?! Despite this, the group rejoined Ben (who just pressed his chest plate to change back to normal) next to Cooper.
"So, um... whose your friend?" Cooper asked Gwen in a lovey-dovey voice, obviously referring to Moka. Hearing this, Ben got an odd feeling in his stomach. He was about to poke fun at Gwen, but why did he feel this way all of a sudden?
"Alright. Let's go, lover-boy" said Ben, taking Cooper's wrist and pulling him out of the room.
"Don't get jealous, Tennyson. Who wouldn't get a crush on Moka?" Kevin joked, now having an additional target(s) for his joke. Hearing this, Moka got a small blush, Kurumu rolled her eyes, and Ben never answered back Kevin like he usually does. The group ran out of the building (Kurumu had returned to her human form), with Cooper behind all of them. When they stopped behind a building for a second, Cooper was panting like a dog.
"I... gotta... rest" he wheezed. "Ever think of building a treadmill?" Joked Kevin.
"We can't stay here long, we need to get outside the field before the DNAliens realize Cooper's missing" said Ben, but the only thing Cooper was focused on was Gwen and Moka, who both noticed as Cooper's face did nothing to hide the admiration written all over it.
"His eyes. Are crawling" Inner Moka growled again, which wasn't exactly true. It wasn't like the monsters' from Yokai that would ogle and drool over their body at the mere sight of it, but Cooper seemed to be more interested in her's and Gwen's faces, so his crush was more innocent if anything. It was mostly the pride talking.
"The way you both came storming in there; like how Princess Elena rescued me last week from the Caverns of Unforgiving Dismay!" Cooper said. Moka, Inner Moka, Kurumu, Kevin, Ben, Vampire Ben and Gwen had absolutely no idea what Cooper was going on about. All they could do was stare at him.
"The fuck did he say?" Asked Inner Moka, genuinely not understanding a single word Cooper just said.
"Is this kid simping?" Asked Vampire Ben, feeling the same as Inner Moka. And for once, Ben couldn't argue with his other half's opinion.
"Excuse me?" Asked Gwen.
"Nations of Conquest. The M.M.O.R.P.G I play" Cooper explained. Ben and Kevin understood now, though they were more casual console gamers than anything else.
"Betcha 30 bucks he's a Tier 3 of Pokimane" commented Vampire Ben. Again, Ben could not disagree with him.
"Um... thanks?" Said Moka, unsure what to make of Cooper's statement.
"I'm sorry, can you speak English?" Asked Kurumu, trying not to sound too annoyed, but she felt like Cooper was talking in code. M.M.O.R.P.G? Was that some kind of fancy tech word?
"Massive multiplayer online role-playing game" Cooper explained further.
"Yeah, guys. And your powers include vampirism, witchcraft, and +3 nerd bait" Kevin said to Cooper's main crush and second crush.
"Guys, this is serious. This is the biggest DNAlien construction we've ever seen, and they can work 24/7 as long as this cloaking shield is up" Ben said, trying to get everyone back on track.
"I'm the one they forced to build the cloaking projector. Shutting it down won't be too hard" said Cooper.
"Then that's what were gonna do" said Ben. He couldn't just leave the DNAliens unattended like this, even if they had no idea what they were planning after weeks of battles and stopping they're nefarious schemes.
"Why not just hypnotize them with his infamous Hypno-beam?" Suggested Vampire Ben, but he was ignored.
"We've gotten lucky so far. If we keep this up, they're bound to spot us sooner or later" said Gwen, making a good point. The longer they stay, the bigger the risk of them getting caught.
"How so? We got a walking projector right here" said Kevin, pointing to Kurumu with his thumb.
"Well I can't do it all night!" Kurumu complained.
"That's not a problem either. Before I built the main projector," said Cooper, reaching into his pocket to pull out a small device. "I built a small one first. A prototype." Kurumu and Moka looked in fascination. That was a piece of alien technology, and they were about it use it? That was incredible! "The field it generates should be enough to cover all of us... if we, squeeze real tight" finished Cooper, blushing.
Inner Moka: Oh, give me a break!
Gwen: (rolls eyes) For the love...
Vampire Ben: Your trying too hard, kid.
Getting close together (thankfully not as tight as Cooper claimed), Cooper activated the prototype. With a whirling sound, the group was covered in the cloaking field... strangely, they didn't feel invisible at all. Ben and the monster girls expected to not be able to see themselves, but they still did. Did the prototype malfunction or something? As a DNAlien passed by on one of those hover-carts... it didn't react to they're presence at all! Even though they were clearly in its line of sight!
The group made they're way over to where the main cloaking device was, with Cooper leading the way. One DNAlien was putting a large cord into a large piece of machinery, and other were still flying around in hover-carts.
"So, Coop. The damsel recused you, now you get to be the knight in shinning armor" Kevin joked.
"Someone jealous?" Kurumu 'asked'.
"That's so sweet" Gwen agreed with Kurumu, messing around with Kevin. If he was gonna keep this up, she might as well match his momentum.
"I'm not!" Kevin insisted, which was true. Unlike with Mike Morningstar, he really didn't care Cooper was getting all lovey-dovey with Gwen. His increased volume caught the attention of a DNAlien, which made the group freeze. The alien, not seeing anything amiss, went back to work. The group sighed in relief.
"We're in the Shroud of Shadows, not the Shroud of Silence" Vampire Ben commented.
To make matters worse, the device in Coopers hands began to spark, becoming too for him to hold. He dropped it and after laying in the snow for a few seconds, it blew up. Guess there were some bugs that still needed sorting out. This caught the attention of the same DNAlien, who was walking alongside 2 more.
"Crap" said Kurumu.
"Who are they?" One DNAlien asked.
"They shouldn't be here..." said a second DNAlien, then it noticed Cooper was with him. "They're trying to escape! GET THEM!"
That was all it took to get hundreds of DNAliens upon Ben and his team. Before Kevin could touch anything, two DNAliens ganged up on him and held his arms back. One also grabbed Cooper by his shirt. Ben attempted to activate the Omnitrix, but he to was also grabbed and held back similarly to Kevin.
"Get off him, fish-face!" Yelled Kurumu, taking her true appearance and flying at the duo of DNAliens. To avoid being sliced by her, they had to release Ben and duck. Some DNAliens however, thought ahead and when Kurumu circled back around, they fired laser guns they had with them, forcing Kurumu to pull back. She gritted her teeth. She couldn't use her illusion magic now, members of her own team would get caught in the crossfire! Gwen launched balls of mana at DNAliens, but that only caused more to appear and ran at her.
Ben went to try going Hero again, but was jumped by 3 DNAliens this time. Eventually, Moka was also caught. She struggles, but was ultimately unable to get free due to her sealed state. "BEN!" She called out to her green-clothed friend, reaching her hand out towards him.
"MOKA!" Called out Ben in the same fashion, also reaching for Moka, but the grip of the DNAliens were too tight. "GWEN! A LITTLE HELP HERE!" Ben called to his cousin. Seeing them, Gwen went to knock those DNAliens away, but one jumped her from behind from the rooftop, and several more dogpiled her to hold her back. Seeing Gwen was out, Ben struggled even more. He raised his hand up, and sent it straight down while reaching as far as his fingers would let him to try and grab Moka's hand.
But he missed her palm, and his fingers ended up knocking off...
PING!
Moka's Rosario laid there in the snow for only 2 seconds before the eye opened and...
FLASH!
The release of Moka's monster energy blew the DNAliens holding her off and away, her power exploding into the air. The massive army of DNAliens, having never seen something like this before, stopped what they were doing and looked at the large column of energy erupting from where Moka was standing, feeling a sense of dread as the light from her unsealing shined in the night. It was so strong, it began to fizzle the cloaking device's barrier temporarily, revealing the towers to a trucker that happened to be driving along that night.
Like the trucker and DNAliens, Cooper also looked in shock and awe... what was that light and more importantly: what was happening to Moka?
(AN: Inner Moka's theme.)
When the rosary seal over her breast is removed, Moka's innocent self vanishes, and her inner vampire... awakens. Immediately after the bat swarm; in a silver blur, every DNAlien not currently subduing a member of the team was kicked away either into the air and 100's of feet away, or slid across the snow the same distance (some slamming into objects and/or each other). After finishing her attack, Inner Moka appeared in the center of the leftover group of DNAliens holding back her allies, turning to look at them with her blood-red eyes.
"Man, I wanted to do that" mordanted Vampire Ben, who would've done the same thing Inner Moka did if Ben was trapped any longer, not caring if his friends saw he was a vampire or not. She got to have all the fun...
"If you don't want the same thing to happen to you..." Inner Moka warned the DNAliens using a dark tone, her energy still fresh in the air. Cooper stared at Moka with fascination... she had become a different person right in front of him! Silted eyes, silver-bladed hair, newly shaped curves... it was just like his game! Beautiful, powerful, hardcore. Moka was now almost an exact life-like Princess Elena! She then focused her eyes on him, "That includes you, blonde."
Fearing for they're own safety, the DNAliens released they're hostages and ran off, Inner Moka's speech and power having the desired effect. But with Cooper...
"... amazing... just like Threia Hazelgrimm from Alchemists of the Dusk Sky..." Cooper said, Inner Moka ass-kicking having the opposite effect. Vampire Ben laughed on Coopers choice of words for Inner Moka.
"HAHAHAHAHA! I love this kid!" He said in-between gasps of breath.
Now free, Ben tried his Omnitrix for the 3rd time before any of the DNAliens returned. While they were afraid of Inner Moka, that didn't mean they wouldn't get reinforcements. He was about to go XLR8 to assist his vampiric friend with ground combat or Jetray for aerial support with the succubus, when he saw a hole in a wall where a DNAlien flew into courtesy of Inner Moka. Inside, was more of that yellow metal... what was it called again? Varsidium?
Ben's brain just hatched an idea. He became Echo-Echo instead. "Kevin. Absorb that Varsidium" he said.
Kevin looked and saw the metal. He could definitely use it, but why that? It wasn't as strong as normal metal; plus it was expensive. "Any particular reason why?" He asked, doing what Echo-Echo suggested. As he asked that, more DNAliens started showing up, more also armed with weapons. Just then, Echo-Echo jumped on Kevin's back and held onto his head to support himself. "HEY!"
"GWEN! HIT KEVIN!" Called Echo-Echo
"Excuse me?!" Asked Kevin.
Gwen, wanting to get Kevin back anyway, did exactly as the Sonorosian said, and tossed a disc of mana into Kevin's back. While this didn't hurt Kevin too badly, it made his body vibrate and using that vibration, Echo-Echo released a sonic scream, making all the DNAliens that just arrived grab the sides of their heads in agonizing pain while screeching in distress. With the aliens down, Echo-Echo stopping screaming.
Seeing this, everyone was surprised aside from Cooper. Kurumu flew down next to a still-shaking Kevin. "How did you...?" She was asking.
"I'll explain later!" Promised Echo-Echo. With no more time to waste, the entire group made a run (flight in Kurumu's case) for it. "Where is the projector?" Echo-Echo asked Cooper.
"It's a straight shot from here, where their building that arch!" Cooper said.
"What is that arch for anyway?" Echo-Echo asked, looking ahead at the arch. It really was huge... but what was it for?
"They wouldn't tell me, just to build a cloaking projector and stuff" Cooper said.
"And did have to hit me so hard?" Kevin asked Gwen.
"I did. I really did" said Gwen with a smile on her face.
The group kept running as more DNAliens came out-of-nowhere from behind, as well as the buildings along the path, running as fast as they could to catch the interlopers. Doing a quick 180, Kurumu used her illusion magic to manipulate same metal bars left behind a few inactive hover-carts to come to life and warp around small groups of DNAliens, as well as flying at them and kicking them down since there wasn't much of the metal to utilize.
Some more DNAliens appeared from both sides ahead of the group, which Inner Moka made short work of them using her speed and power. "The things I do for you..." she muttered in a low voice before going after another small horde. While she was impressed Ben figured out their weakness... would it hurt him to have used XLR8 to help her with crowd control instead?
More DNAliens appeared from the front, armed with laser guns. Gwen figured she'd take care of this. With Cooper behind her, she fired balls of mana at some of the DNAliens and knocking them off their feet. While she was doing that, another DNAlien tried jumping Cooper from the roof to take him hostage...
POW! CRASH!
Inner Moka came to the rescue this time, sending that DNAlien into a building. Of course she knew these things were part human, but she reduced the power of her kicks so they won't in pain... too much.
"Watch your back" she said dryly, also appearing in front of Cooper, giving him a good view of her behind since he was short. Paralyzed, he couldn't look away. Inner Moka felt a pair of eyes on her, and sure enough saw Cooper after turning her neck a bit. "What are you looking at?" She growled with her energy flaring, demanding an answer. Cooper, both amazed and shocked by Inner Moka's display of power (and her temper), couldn't respond. Inner Moka's eyes seemed to pierce right into his soul.
She would have taught him his place by kicking him into the stratosphere if Gwen didn't put up a mana wall between them. "Let's not and say he knows his place. Stay behind me, Cooper" she said, attempting to reason with the proud vampire before she hurt someone innocent, and getting that innocent person as far away from said vampire as possible before she went off.
Cooper folded his hands to together, almost swooning. "Just like when Princess..."
Gwen cut him off. "And DON'T talk."
When the team was about a few yards away, a huge horde of DNAliens came swarming out of nowhere, laser guns and all. Even with Kurumu swooping down and Inner Moka kicking them across the abandoned complex, there was way too many of them! Gwen had to put up a mana wall to protect herself and everyone from laser fire.
"Kevin. Give me a boost" said Echo-Echo.
"Terrific..." Kevin groaned, raising Echo-Echo above his head. He hoped the discomfort would fade away quickly...
"Another blast, Gwen... a BIG one!" Said Echo-Echo. "Nrgh! Kinda busy right now!" His cousin answered, still blocking the incoming barrage.
Inner Moka appeared from behind. "Hold still..."
BAM!
With a kick, she made Kevin vibrate for days, also denting his back. The expression on his face was worse than when Gwen hit him. Taking advantage of it, Echo-Echo was able to summon a huge storm of sounds waves that was higher pitched than the last one. It was so strong, snow fell from building like small avalanches, all objects vibrated except the giant arch, and even Ben's own team was affected. Kurumu had to grab her ears and land as slowly as possible. When it was finally done, not a single DNAlien was moving, but all of the teams ears wouldn't stop ringing.
"Are we done?... Please say yes" moaned Kevin, having enough of being a walking bell tower. He was also the only one who couldn't hold his ears since his had no control of his boy due to the Varsidium, and he also holding Echo-Echo.
"Nice going, Moka! Now I can't hear shit!" Complained Kurumu, which was a bit of an exaggeration. Did her ears hurt? Absolutely. But nothing she couldn't recover from. As she uncovered her ears; for once, Inner Moka couldn't disagree with the succubus. Maybe she kicked him a bit too hard.
"I kinda got a headache too..." Vampire Ben groaned.
After a struggle, for more reasons than one, the team finally got up to the main cloaking projector. Just in time too, for Echo-Echo's symbol began beeping red before changing back into Ben. Kevin also shed his armor, seeing as it was no longer needed. "This thing it?" Asked Kurumu. To her, it actually looked like a bigger version of Cooper's prototype that got busted earlier.
"It is" Cooper confirmed.
"Good" said Inner Moka, as she went to kick and destroy the cloaking device, wanting to finish this 'mission' and go home already. Once she did however, she noticed the location she struck somehow triggered an odd reaction. The impacted spot took on a blue hue, with ripple effects from the struck location. It appeared somewhat similar to the Anti Magilink Field from some popular anime in Japan that has been going on for quite a long while... about witches or something, which was actually a show Yukari liked and talked about constantly.
Inner Moka couldn't be bothered to think of the name at the moment.
"You won't be able to break through that" said Cooper, causing Inner Moka to look back with a face that said: watch me. Inner Moka kicked again, and again, and again and again and again, striking harder and faster each time. But no matter how hard she tried, the force field stayed active, seemingly immune to her strength. Even when Kurumu assisted (much to Inner Moka's chagrin), it STILL wasn't enough. "It has to be dismantled from the inside, I can do that" Cooper said as Kurumu and Inner Moka gasped for breath.
"That would've... been nice... to know" Kurumu said in-between breaths.
"Then do your thing, Coop" said Kevin.
While both girls hated to admit it, they weren't gonna be much use against alien tech, seeing they knew VERY little about it. The entire group watched Cooper approach the machine with a hand outstretched. While Ben, Gwen, and Kevin knew what he could do; it was Kurumu and Inner Moka whom stared in confusion. What was he doing? As he closed his eyes to concentrate, he stood there... then gasped. "What's wrong?" Ben asked him.
What Cooper saw... confused and scared, yet also intrigued him.
First, he saw some kind of missiles being loaded into chambers. Then the head of a DNAlien without a host jumping at him. After that, some kind of mechanism for... something. It looked like a giant rock with glowing cords/tentacles. Next was an army of DNAliens coming out of a hiding spot, more DNAliens operating a machine, DNAliens again, a pair of Highbreeds' activating that same mechanism by placing they're hands on it. Finally; Cooper saw a large army of battleships, a castle-like building in the middle of nowhere with kids in matching uniforms surrounded by a large blood-red lake... and the Earth itself exploding into millions of tiny pieces.
Shocked at what he saw, trying to make sense of it, Cooper shook his head and lowered his hand.
"Er, you ok kid?" Asked Kurumu.
"What's the matter?" Gwen asked.
"Can you destroy this thing or not?" Asked Inner Moka, impatiently.
"... I saw... equations... machines... another planet... and a school, I think?" Cooper said, not too sure himself what this experience was about. This had never happened to him before, at least not to this extent.
"Figure it out later! Crash the cloak!" Ordered Ben, not wanting to waste anymore time. Did he want to know what the vision Cooper saw was about? Right now, no. They've spent too much time here as it is, and need to get a move on before more DNAliens show up or worse, they bring some Highbreed officers with them.
Nodding, Cooper complied and tried again. His eyes glowing with power. This caused the machine to vibrate and rumble before lifted off the ground by an unseen force. Both Kurumu and Inner Moka were shocked to see this. Was THAT the kid doing this?! Suddenly; the giant projector began to come apart in a swirling mess of metal, cords, pipes, sheets, nuts, bots... you name it. Both monsters didn't think something like this was possible, was this human a half-alien or something? When Cooper was down, he released whatever power he was using, and the parts fell to the ground due to gravity.
"Gwen!" Ben's next order was. Doing just that, Gwen created a giant rectangle of mana, and swung it down like a hammer, destroying all the parts used on the cloak so it couldn't be rebuilt.
"Done! Now we just gotta..." said Gwen, but that's when laser fire came at them. It was more DNAliens, the largest swarm of the night!
Both Inner Moka and Kurumu took the initiative and engaged the swarm. Kurumu used her illusion power to make the walls of nearby houses shift into large hands and grab handfuls of DNAliens, either tossing them away or at more DNAliens. She of course, also flew into some and sliced away or kick them down. Inner Moka, like before, used her speed and power to send them packing.
"GET MOVING!" Inner Moka said.
"START THE CAR! WE'LL CATCH UP!" Said Kurumu.
"You heard them! Let's go!" Kevin said, not having to be told twice. He and the rest of the team booked it as fast as they're feet could carry them while the 2 monsters' kept the numbers of the DNAliens down, but this wasn't gonna work forever. They were cutting it VERY close! "Should park closer to town next time" he continued while they were running from laser fire. Once he, Ben, Gwen and Cooper were on board; Kevin inserted the keys, started the engine, shifted the gear and with the tires screeching and exhaust smoking, off they drove into the night.
Hearing the car drive off, Inner Moka kicked the ground, making a small shock wave to disbalance the DNAliens. With them distracted, both she and Kurumu took off running/flying after the fleeing car. By the time the DNAliens got to the edge of the complex, the interlopers were far down the street, out of range of their laser guns.
"Their getting away!" Said one DNAlien.
"Organize transport for pursuit!" Said another DNAlien.
"No... let them go..." said a new voice, coming from behind them. It was a Highbreed officer whom was stationed here, having been notified by all the commotion, but too late to do anything about it. "The project at hand is too important. We can't afford anymore delays... not when we're so close..." he continued, watching for himself as the trespassing vermin scurried off like frightened mice. "... get the back-up projector online. Now."
-TIME BREAK-
As Kevin's car drove miles and miles away from Los Soledad, he finally slowed down to park on the side of the road. When they got out of the car, Inner Moka and Kurumu had showed up.
"Everyone alright?" Asked Kevin.
When Kevin asked this, Cooper happened to look in the direction where they came from. "They're not chasing us?" He asked, as that seemed odd. The DNAliens tried everything in their power to stop them, yet they won't try to silence them by giving chase?
"Why not? We trashed their hive" said Kurumu, agreeing with Cooper. It didn't make sense why those freaks would let them go free after all the damage they caused.
"They don't need too" said Kevin.
"They use those ID Mask thingys' anyway. Anyone who goes there would just see normal humans walking around in an abandoned ghost town" Inner Moka added.
"We still don't know what they really want, or what they're doing in Los Soledad... Cooper? Can we count on...?" Ben said, then started to ask if Cooper would be up for helping them, but noticed him going starry-eyed at a certain Anodite and vampire.
"Whatever you need..." Cooper cooed.
"OH, THAT'S I-!" Inner Moka said, not really ticked off by Coopers stares, but Gwen put up a mana wall in between them before she could move... though Gwen could relate to the vampire to some degree. Ben and Kevin smiled at this, which both girls immediately noticed and glared at them.
Gwen: Not...
Inner Moka: A word.
The group eventually got back on the road and headed back to Bellwood. They dropped Cooper off at his home, and went they're separate ways. Gwen heading home herself, Kevin going wherever it was he goes, and Ben and the 2 monsters' getting back to the Tennyson residence. Even though they came home late, Sandra and Carl didn't hold it against them this time, figuring they were out doing hero stuff. As Ben laid in his bed, staring up at the ceiling with his arms behind his head... one thing was for sure...
Someday... they'll have to go back...
-TIME BREAK-
Back at Los Soledad a few hours later, the trucker who saw that immense beam of light and large towers earlier had called the local sheriff to report what he saw. When they got to the abandoned complex, their were 3 workers in hardhats working to repair the holes in the walls. 2 were dressed in grey shirts, and the 3rd was dressed in red, meaning he must be in charge. The Sheriff asked for documents, just to make sure not only everything was ok... but also LEGAL, to which the workers happily offered without delay.
"Hmm... deed to the land... resumes... construction permits... everything looks shipshape" said the Sheriff after going through all the papers the workers provided on a clipboard. Everything checked out, he even called the company itself and they confirmed all this was true. Seemed like nothing out of the ordinary... plus, there were no 'towers' here at all, just a rundown city in the middle of nowhere that hasn't been used since the 50's. A another false alarm, not to his surprise...
"I swear, Sheriff! I know what I saw! There was a giant beam'a light, then a bunch'a huge towers and..." the trucker tried to explain, sure what he saw was real.
"Must be the desert playing tricks on you," assured the red-shirted worker. "We've been out here for months and as you can see, we haven't even gotten that far" he continued, then gestured behind him. There were no towers in sight.
"Sorry to bother you, sir... still don't know who'd wanna build a mall in the middle of nowhere" said the Sheriff, apologizing for this misunderstanding and handing the clipboard back.
"Yes, you'll find our company is very ambitious and forward-thinking, Sheriff. Some day... this will be where everything's happening" said the worker.
"... well, alright then. Have a good night" said the Sheriff, going back into his car with the trucker going back into his own truck. As the trucker started the engine to drive off, he couldn't help but think, maybe he DID just imagine it. The Sheriff also started his own car, and happened to look out the window to see the worker waving kindly at him, which he returned with a smile and drove off himself. As both humans left and off into the night themselves...
The workers dropped the act, and tore at their faces, revealing that they were 2 DNAliens and the Highbreed wearing ID Masks. "Continue to work. The time of cleansing... is nearly at hand" said the Highbreed, ducking a bit to go inside the hole in the wall with the 2 DNAliens following him. As they did; the same ripple effect when Ben walked through triggered, showing they had gotten the new projector up and running, as the chapter closes on a shot of the arch and towers in the distance...
As said above, the poll results for the Zelda game Ben and the others will be trapped in are in, and they are...
...
...
...
...
...
...
Breath of the Wild: 20
Twilight Princess: 17
Ocarina of Time: 14
Phantom Hourglass: 7
Other: 4
At first, Twilight Princess was in first place and held that position for a long time. While I'm ok with doing a Breath of the Wild version, I also had many plans with Twilight Princess. Aw well, can't win them all.