SOS Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I do not own Ben 10. I'm just having fun. Evil, evil fun.

I have come to the realization that my life is not going to get any less crazy, so I have pushed myself to return to writing. I've been missing it a lot, and am so gratefull to everyone who has reviewed since the last chapter. I will do my best to keep updating, particularly this story, as it is my favourite, and the one I have been missing the most.

The first quote in this chapter is from the webcomic "Terinu". I have probably plugged it before, so I will just give another recommendation to check it out. You will not be disappointed.

Gene Mage: "You may move about my chambers as you please. You will not be fettered nor caged. I give you my word."

Terinu: "You already broke it. This room just means it's a bigger, prettier cage."

Terinu by Peta Hewitt

"Have you ever looked into the future and found nothing there?"

Unknown

Four Years Ago

The massive building loomed up before Ben like a green and black cliff. In another minute he would disappear inside it, and would he ever come back out? The door in front of them opened wide like a gaping, cavernous mouth and Ben halted just outside its shadow. It was not a conscious decision; his feet simply stopped walking, all of his resolve seemingly leached out of him. In front of him, Vilgax took another step, and then stopped as well and turned. His tentacles quivered slightly as though in the beginnings of annoyance, and his burning eyes turned to focus on the yellow-green ones of his captive.

"Come," the alien growled, but again it was an order rather than a command, and Ben's legs did not move, though he thought they might be shaking.

Ben had no words, no thoughts for what he was feeling. It was simply too much. All he knew was that he couldn't bring himself to go through that door, out of the rain and on to whatever torture awaited. He was beyond caring about reprisals. His skin crawled at the thought of what the coming command would feel like, but he didn't have a choice. His legs would not move, and he could not summon the willpower to make them.

He stared miserably back at Vilgax, not quite meeting the alien's gaze, and felt the raindrops collecting gently in his hair. Despite his situation, he still enjoyed the feel of the rain.

Vilgax was waiting. When he saw that Ben wasn't going to move, his red eyes narrowed and his tentacles lashed all at once, and then stilled. Perhaps he realized that continuing to wait would be futile, or maybe he was just tired of it.

"Come," he growled.

Immediately, Ben's frozen legs moved and he walked forward into the shadow, and the arched doorway. There was no other possible action. His feelings had ceased to matter, if they ever had. As he walked, one thought lingered. He should have run when he had the option. Then he would at least have had a moment of freedom.

His hair was still dripping slightly from the rain as he walked. A water droplet was slowly crawling down his jaw line, past his chin and then inched its way down the side of his neck. Ben flinched slightly at the tickling sensation and lifted a hand to wipe it away. His fingers brushed the smooth side of his collar and Ben yanked his hand away as if he'd been burned. How could he possibly have forgotten he was wearing it? Ben inhaled slowly, trying to steady his breathing. He rubbed his hand over the soft material of his new shirt, as though the metal had stained him somehow.

All this time he had continued walking, of course. He had to walk at a brisk pace to keep up with his captor, and so although they passed several doorways, he caught only brief glimpses into the rooms. He had a general impression of stone and moss-like carpets. Large windows looked out onto the jungle, and most of the light seemed to come from these and, oddly, from fireplaces and braziers, or from what looked like oil lamps.

Then the passageway began to slope upward gently, just enough that he could tell they were climbing. Ahead of him, the hallway ended, opening into a large, egg-shaped room, almost like a courtyard. Smooth, sloping walls climbed to the ceiling, and then stopped, leaving about a five meter round circle open to the sky. Ivy trailed around the edges of the opening, and the rain fell gently through, plopping softly into a matching circular basin in the floor.

Ben looked around appreciatively as they entered and his black mood lifted somewhat. This was by far the nicest room he had seen since leaving earth. The walls were decorated with large mosaics, shining tiles in green, blue, black and gold. Six fires burned in long alcoves around the walls, the flames in each a different colour; orange, blue, green, red, purple and almost pure white. Ben only had a moment to marvel at these, as his attention was captured by the three aliens waiting for them in front of the rain basin.

Man, I wish I could turn into one of those things.

They stood roughly nine feet high, and they seemed to be made entirely of plants like wildvine, although their limbs seemed thicker and tougher to Ben. They each had a large, almost flower-like crest around their heads in various shades of orange, red and yellow which made Ben think of a static picture of a fire.

Swampfire, Ben nicknamed the species silently. That was what he would have called himself in this form if he had had the opportunity. Besides, it gave him something to call the new species, as he likely wouldn't be told what they were actually called.

As Vilgax entered the chamber, the three turned to face him, inclining their heads slightly. They each cupped a large, green hand and held it before the middle of their green chests. Within each cupped palm danced a flickering flame.

The thought struck Ben that this was how Vilgax was always treated, at least in whatever places he controlled. It had been the same with the doctor on his ship, and every crewmember they had passed in the corridors. He expected to be shown respect. Maybe that was why he got so angry at Ben's quips, particularly as he seemed to expect Ben to fight for him eventually.

The tallest of the swampfire aliens lowered its hand, the flame flickering out as it did so, and raised its head.

"Welcome Warlord", it greeted in a deep, rather nasally voice. "All arrangements for your stay here have been completed."

"Good," Vilgax rumbled.

Ben felt a strange sensation, and glanced up in time to see one of the swampfire aliens glancing quickly away. He narrowed his eyes, but looked away as well, focusing instead on the multicoloured fires in their alcoves and the mosaics on the walls, tracing their patterns with his eyes. He doubted he'd be given much time to admire them, and he was correct.

Vilgax was examining a data pad which one of the aliens had given him. After a minute of reading he handed it back and made a dismissive flick with several tentacles. He marched off without another word, and Ben sadly watched the beautiful chamber recede behind them. Ben was a little calmer now; resigned might be a better word. His black thoughts were still swirling, but his feverish burst of energy was gone.

Numbly, Ben followed Vilgax down the corridor, away from the magnificent hall. He tried to keep the image of it in his mind, in case he never saw it again. At least the corridors here were more interesting than those on the ship, and certainly more varied. The thick, carved stone was everywhere, sometimes smooth and plain, sometimes chiselled into regular patterns, and sometimes embedded with other stone, or with the occasional small mural when they came to a larger juncture. It eased his tension somewhat, but he still felt horribly confined. It wasn't as though he could stop and admire, after all. Vilgax kept to a steady pace, seemingly ignoring the small human following behind him. Ben had to walk quickly to keep up with the alien's large strides. Occasionally they passed other swampfire aliens, with variations of height, build or crest colour and shape. These aliens all bowed their heads respectfully to Vilgax as they passed, but Ben felt their eyes on him from behind as he walked away.

Eventually, they halted once again, at an unadorned door of greenish grey stone. The door slid open smoothly at a touch, and Ben was looking into a relatively small room of the same colour with a few shelves and a sleeping berth against one wall. He immediately knew it was to be his room, and felt himself shrinking back slightly. He wanted to cover his ears to block out the immanent command, but knew it wouldn't help. Vilgax looked down at Ben, tentacles flexing slightly.

"Enter, and remain until I return."

At the command, Ben's feet moved. Once he was inside the room, Vilgax slid the door closed again, eyes never leaving his captive. Ben drew a shaky breath, his eyes on the closed door. He didn't bother to check to see whether it was locked; it didn't matter anyway. He felt restless, and his heart felt too tight in his chest. Somehow it was worse to be locked up now, when he knew there was an entire planet outside that he could be exploring. He rubbed at his arms. The skin felt dry and slightly itchy. Maybe he wasn't drinking enough.

There was a door at the far end of the room which lead to what seemed to be his bathroom. There was a toilet similar to the one on the ship, though seemingly made of stone like the walls, a stone water basin with what appeared to be a ceramic tap, and a smaller alcove further back.

He drank from the tap, and then stuck his head into the small room at the back. It was empty, but when he glanced up he noticed that there were small holes on the ceiling and, on a suspicion, fiddled with a ceramic knob on the wall. Water poured from the holes in a warm, even spray and Ben actually smiled. He hadn't thought he would miss showering, but he did. He felt hot and grimy and frustrated. He glanced at the closed door. It was only an illusion of privacy, but at least Vilgax probably wouldn't be back for a little while.

Without giving himself any more time to think about it, Ben slipped off his clothes, leaving them in a crumpled heap of black fabric on the floor. He stepped under the spray and closed his eyes, just letting the warm water run over him. He stayed like that for a minute, just enjoying the water, and then he blinked his eyes open and glanced around the shower stall. Finding a small nozzle, he pushed it until he had a handful of some kind of soapy liquid, which he used to clean his hair and skin. It was glorious, and only the thought that he might not be alone for long forced him to finally turn off the water and step out onto the stone floor. There were some soft, grey cloths on a shelf, which he used to dry himself. Ben was feeling more relaxed, but as he was drying, he heard a footstep outside his door and his heart leaped into his mouth. The footsteps passed, and Ben hurriedly pulled on his clothes, as well as a new pair of underwear from a shelf beside his new bed.

His skin felt better anyway, but now that his shower was finished, Ben was once again out of things to do. He crossed to the door and listened, but there were no more footsteps. At least he could hear when someone was approaching his door. It made him feel slightly better, even though there wasn't much he could do in response.

Sighing, Ben lent against the wall, supporting himself with one hand, only to land on the hard stone floor with a yelp. He sat up in confusion, rubbing at his shoulder and elbow where they had smacked the hard surface. He stood shakily and felt the wall; half expecting it to only be an illusion, but it was solid stone. Yet he remembered reaching out to place his hand on the wall. Maybe he was finally going crazy.

Ben turned from the wall abruptly, shaking off the incident as best he could, but he couldn't get it out of his mind entirely, and when Vilgax returned what seemed about an hour later, it was almost a relief, enough so that Ben was able to force himself to follow again when his captor ordered.

As he was lead through the hallways once again, Ben reflected on how passive he'd become. Granted there wasn't really anything else he could do, but it still bothered him. It wasn't that he'd stopped resisting entirely, but more that his protests now felt so futile. He resisted, but with no hope of success. He sucked in a deep breath and tried to focus on watching the stone corridors they were passing, and on guessing where they might be headed. He truly had no idea what Vilgax's new schedule for him might be, but he was not enormously surprised when they rounded a corner and ended up at another training arena. This one was oval like the fancy room he had seen earlier, and relatively austere, with only minor variations in the carved stone walls. The stone itself was pale green with irregular patches of grey.

As the heavy door rolled shut behind them, Ben felt an unaccountable excitement building in his chest. His first thought upon realizing where they were headed had been to attempt resistance, as that seemed to be the only thing he could do that bothered Vilgax, yet now the thought had vanished. It had been so long since he'd changed! He shifted with impatience and the omnitrix felt warm on his wrist. Doors on the opposite wall slid up to reveal the robots which would be his ostensible opponents and Ben barely gave Vilgax a chance to utter the order before his hand flicked to the omnitrix, deftly twisting the device and then smacking down on the sensor. As he felt his bones rearrange themselves, split and grow, and his muscles swell and stretch to match, Ben felt the closest to joy he had experienced since his abduction. He threw himself forward, red, powerful legs pumping, each of his four arms reaching for the first of the unfortunate robots he had been matched against, and for a few minutes, it didn't even matter why he was fighting.

For a very few minutes.

It was over far too quickly.

When the final robot fell to the floor in a sparking heap, Ben wanted to scream. He was panting, and he noticed that he must have been careless during the fight, because his tough, red skin was littered with cuts and growing bruises. Vilgax seemed to have noticed too.

"Enough!" he snarled. His tentacles were quivering with anger, and normally he would have looked frightening, but Ben was still seeing red from the battle and wanted nothing more than to leap on his abuser and keep pounding until he was nothing but a smear on the ground. But he couldn't. He clenched his four hands.

"No!" he growled back. "I can keep fighting!"

"I said 'enough,' child." Vilgax's voice was quieter, yet somehow even angrier. It seemed to shake some sense into Ben. He bit back his next argument, and his eyes dropped from Vilgax's face. "Now, deactivate the omnitrix." Vilgax ordered. His voice had softened slightly, seemingly accepting Ben's motion as sufficient submission.

Ben's fists clenched tighter. "I don't know how," he growled back, Fourarms' gruff voice coming out more harshly than normal.

Vilgax seemed genuinely surprised. Ben glanced up again to see some of the tension leave his tentacles and those red eyes widen slightly.

"Indeed?" he rasped softly, and then strode forward, closing the distance between himself and his captive, eyes on the green symbol on Ben's chest. Ben watched his approach with dismay and felt his heart twist. Why couldn't Vilgax just let him be until he turned back naturally? It wouldn't be long in all probability. The events were a little blurry, but had a feeling he'd been Fourarms for quite a while. Vilgax reached out and Ben flinched away, but otherwise forced himself to remain still as the claw gently touched the Omnitrix's symbol. Green light flashed and his bones compressed, arms melding together and skin shifting.

When he was human again, Ben's eyes found Vilgax's. The alien was still uncomfortably close, red eyes narrowed at the omnitrix. The proximity reminded Ben of their last interaction in his room on the ship, and Ben felt an involuntary shiver pass through him. He stayed where he was, but kept an eye on his captor for any sudden movements. Whether it did any good or not he was getting out of here if Vilgax tried that again.

"It appears that you need some basic training on how to control this device," Vilgax growled, almost to himself. His eyes returned to Ben's face, making the boy's heart skip a beat, but merely said "You will return to your room for now. Tomorrow I will see what other 'limitations' you posses."

Ben frowned at the implication, but watched the alien move away and toward the door with relief. It seemed he was safe for now. It was only when Vilgax growled for him to follow that Ben remembered the punishment he had taken during the fight. One ankle twinged when he took a step forward. His shoulder ached and his cheek felt swollen. He forced himself to ignore the aches and watched Vilgax as he walked to ensure that the alien didn't notice them.

Only when he was alone again in his new room did he allow himself to collapse onto the bed. In a minute he would go to the sink and soak some of those cloths in cool water to try and sooth his burning ankle. For now he just felt…spent. The restlessness had faded somewhat and he didn't want to move, or think or firm his resolve; he just wanted to forget.

What do you think?

Yes, Crito-Ah is Swampfire's home world, and yes, it has been conquered by Vilgax in this story. I have lots of great ideas for this planet, and you will be seeing some of them, as Ben will be staying here for a little while.

Next part of the story will have more action, I promise. It will also cover a little more time spent, so we might see a little more of a change in Ben by the end.

Thanks for sticking with me for so long! I will see all of you soon!