We apologize for the delayed release; the recent storm on our side of the world kinda made Hell freeze.
There will be two more chapters after this, and then we'll go on break until the Summer.
Despite the fact it was still light out, no one felt safe. And who could blame them?
Think about it. You're a kid with superpowers, able to shapeshift into any alien at will. Now, one of your forms- which you've always been wary of- has suddenly become the subject of your screaming nightmares.
Now, it takes over your body and uses it to ruthlessly beat down a group of villains. Granted, you were unconscious for that part, but secondhand accounts prove to be terrifying. And then said alien pops up in the real world, giving you and your friends a mother of a jump scare before RIPPING OFF ITS SKIN.
So, yeah, they'd all be going to therapy.
Ben was pacing around the sunniest spot in the local park. Ruby watched him with a worried look before she turned back to the group.
"So, I'm gonna have nightmares about that," Kylie said, breaking the silence. "Anyone else agree?"
Yang nodded. "Definitely."
"Somehow getting psychologically tortured by an otherworldly demon sounds better than seeing that thing again," Blake deadpanned.
"What even was that thing?" Weiss demanded to know.
"That was Ghostfreak's true form," Ceres told her. "Ectonurites are in a completely different league from other aliens."
Blake raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
"Scientifically speaking, you can't kill an Ectonurite," Ceres said bluntly. Everyone stared in horror at the thought of another immortal enemy. "I know that sounds horrifying, but it's true. When an Ectonurite's form is destabilized, their body dies, but their consciousness survives within each strand of their DNA. They scatter their 'essence' around their surroundings, and then regrow their form while feeding on whatever they imprinted themselves on."
"That is literally one of the most horrifying things I have ever heard," Rook said with a straight face.
"You look like you really mean it," Kevin said sarcastically.
"Thank you!"
"So, what, they're like Symbiotes?" Ruby asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Even worse. At least Symbiotes leave the body behind. Ben's lucky that he survived," Ceres sighed.
"Wait, if he survived, does that mean..."
"No." Ben grimaced and activated the watch. "I don't know how, but I still have Ghostfreak in the Omnitrix."
"...that is somehow even more terrifying," Ruby stated. "So, now what?"
Ben looked up at the sun, like an idiot. His eyes hurt but he thought it made him look tough. "Easy. Sunlight. You saw how he reacted when he touched the light."
Kevin's eyes lit up in realization. "Black Parade has the same problem. I can't go in the light for too long, or else I'll shrivel up and revert. That's probably a plus since I'm all mutated. But since Zs'Skayr's hand reacted more violently..."
"He's gonna be staying in the shadows for sure," Ceres explained. "And it's gonna be nightfall before we know it, so the faster we find him, the better."
"So, we're splitting up, then?" Yang asked.
"FUCK NO! Haven't you seen a horror movie before? We're staying together!" Ben yelled a bit too loudly. Everyone was caught off guard by his outburst, even Ben. He quickly took a deep breath and calmed down. "I mean, we're gonna be staying together. Just in case he tries to possess one of us."
"...alrighty then," Yang said, tilting her head in confusion.
Ben grimaced, and quickly walked back to the ProtoTruk. The others shared a concerned look.
Something tells me it's less about Ghostfreak and more about our safety, Ruby thought.
For a few hours, the group drove around aimlessly. While everyone else was idle, Ben kept himself busy to stave off the impending panic. He sat in the hidden lab part of the ProtoTruk with a bunch of random tech, using Upgrade to assemble it.
"Need some help making… whatever it is you're working on?" Ceres asked, confused. Whenever Ben built something, it usually exploded within a few seconds of completion. This was the guy who couldn't make EasyMac without wiping out the Rustbucket kitchen back when he was a kid. Though his cooking skills had improved greatly since then, that didn't mean Ceres trusted him alone in the lab.
"A little something for Casper the Unfriendly Douche," Ben explained briefly. He was engrossed in his work, and Ceres found herself proud of him. "It'll come in handy later on."
"You are really serious about taking Ghostfreak down," Ruby said, leaning her head into the back. "You didn't act like this with Vilgax."
Ben paused briefly. "Well," he drawled, going back to work, "considering Zs'skayr was inside the watch for five years, he probably knows as much about it as me. Maybe even more."
"Ok, everything you say about that freak just makes me even more scared about facing him," Kylie admitted.
"We already have a good idea of how dangerous this guy is," Yang pointed out. "He has to know every single alien inside the Omnitrix. And with his display of violence earlier, I'm betting we aren't even scratching the surface of this guy's full power."
Ben nodded. "Sa-" Something caught his single eye. It was brief, but he saw someone standing in the alleyway, waving at the ProtoTruk. Someone who attacked him, and was the reason Ruby was here in the first place. "STOP THE CAR!"
Rook slammed down on the breaks, causing the car to jolt, but Ben was already out the door. "Ben! Wait!" Ruby ran after him as he barreled down the alleyway. The figure's laughter turned into harsh, creepy snarls as Ben chased him down. He slapped down the Omnitrix symbol on his chest, and shifted to the feral Rath.
"LEMME TELL YA SOMETHING, STRANGE FIGURE THAT I MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE FACED BEFORE!" Rath yelled, frothing at the mouth. "RATH DOESN'T APPRECIATE YOUR CREEPINESS!"
The figure darted into the window of an abandoned building, and Rath paused. For once, the loud behemoth had a rational thought: since Zs'Skayr was creeping around, and this bastard decided to show back up...what was really going on with this whole plot?
"Yo."
Rath screamed and whirled around, seeing Ruby behind him. "Awww, did I scare you?~"
"S-SHUT UP! RATH WAS...DEEP IN INTROSPECTIVE THOUGHT AND YOU KNOCKED RATH OUT OF IT, RUBY ROSE! YOU RUINED RATH'S CONCENTRATION!"
Ruby raised an eyebrow.
"...ok, yeah, you did."
The rest of the group caught up, ready for action. "Where'd he go?" Ceres asked, braces at the ready.
"In there!" Rath growled, barging through the door. "ALRIGHT, SCORPION DUDE! SHOW YOUR FACE BEFORE RATH SHOWS YOU HIS!"
Everyone took that sentence in.
"THAT SOUNDED COOLER IN RATH'S HEAD!"
The group wandered around inside the building, keeping their guard up and not daring to let go of their weapons. Rath was especially focused; he was uncharacteristically quiet as he sniffed the air, using his heightened senses to his advantage.
"Rath can smell something," he announced, pausing. "Smells weird. Kinda...poison-y."
"Good adjective," Rook said sarcastically.
"Hey," Yang piped up. "Is that what I think it is?" She pointed over to a motionless body lying on the ground. Rath snarled as he ran over.
But when he approached the woman, Rath noticed a purple cut across her throat.
"Ben, wait!" Ruby called out. "It's a trap-"
KLANG. Rath's claws quickly blocked Tyrian's sneak attack, clashing blades with him. Tyrian cackled madly as he swung his tail wildly at Rath's head.
"NICE TRY, CRAZY SCORPION DUDE!" Rath declared, blocking the blows with relative ease. "NO ONE CATCHES RATH OFF GUARD-" Something grabbed Rath's feet and pulled him through solid ground, right to the floor below. "AHHHH!"
Tyrian chuckled. "Oh dear, quite the mouth on that one." He turned to face the group behind him, a menacing grin on his face. "Ah, yes. The Rose child and her bunch of nobodies. So we finally meet!"
Ruby could feel sweat dotting her forehead, but she refused to let her nerves best her. There was a horrible aura surrounding Tyrian, and the insanity in his eyes reminded her of The Joker from Batman. She tightened her grip around her weapon and powered through her fear.
"What do you want?" Ruby said, her voice steady.
Tyrian dramatically put his hand to his chest, as if he were insulted. "You haven't the slightest clue, do you? Oh, how exciting this must be..."
"I want answers; who the hell are you?" Ruby snarled.
"Ohohohoho! Little Rose has thorns!" Tyrian chortled. "My little flower, I'm here to whisk you away with me!"
Yang audibly reloaded her weapon. "And what if she doesn't want to?"
Tyrian stared for a moment with his lips scrunched up before answering. "Well, then I'll just have to take her."
Her friends stood in front of Ruby, weapons ready, as Kevin transformed into LED Clones.
"You'll try and you'll fail," Yang declared, giving Tyrian her most fearsome glare.
Tyrian closed his eyes and inhaled through his nose. His eyes slowly opened, and, with a dark grin, growled a single word.
"GOOD."
Ben rubbed his head in pain. "Ooh, Rath is gonna feel that in the morning," he moaned to himself. He scanned his surroundings; he was in the basement of the abandoned house. The room smelt like sewer water mixed with something metallic. Ben felt he should've known what it really was, but he decided to be ignorant, just in case.
"Welcome, Ben Tennyson."
Rath felt a shiver go down his spine, and he spun around to see Zs'Skayr, floating above him. The bastard was grinning menacingly at him.
"YOU!"
"And goodbye, Ben Tennyson." Zs'Skayr flung himself at Rath, trying to possess him. Much to his shock, he couldn't phase into Ben's flesh. Rath quickly pulled the ghost off of him and threw him into a wall.
"LEMME TELL YA SOMETHING ZS'SKAYR, HIGH ECTO LORD OF THE ECTONURITES! RATH DOESN'T LIKE IT WHEN SOMEONE OTHER THAN RATH TRIES TO CONTROL HIS BODY!" Rath charged at the monster and started stabbing him left and right, but Zs'Skayr simply phased through his hits.
"An angry mind is a cluttered mind," Zs'Skayr rasped. "A calm mind, however..." His chest ripped open to reveal a void of endless teeth. "Is indeed a powerful one indeed." Rath pulled his fist away just before Zs'Skayr's second mouth clamped down on his arm.
Zs'Skayr advanced on Rath, manifesting a scythe out of thin air. He lunged towards him with a powerful strike, but that failed as Rath blocked his attack. He roared in Zs'Skayr's face and tried to headbutt him, only for him to nearly slam his own face into the ground. Rath shook off the confusion and looked around. Zs'Skayr had disappeared, and was probably planning a quick sneak attack now.
"NO FAIR, DISAPPEARING AND STUFF!" Rath whined. "RATH CAN'T DO THAT!"
"Nothing is fair in this universe, Tennyson," Zs'Skayr hissed from all around him. "It is full of things that don't go as you want them to. You should know this, especially with more...recent events."
Rath sharpened his claws in anger.
"Like the myth of Chaos, I arose spontaneously from nothingness. I've been around longer than most species have been alive. I watched the rise and fall of the Vilgaxian empire, I saw the start of the Fulmini conquest, and I've seen the destruction of Incursia."
"What, is Rath supposed to be impressed? Because it just sounds like you're a fossil!"
Zs'Skayr simply cackled. "The longer you live, the more you realize reality is just made of pain, suffering, and emptiness. In this universe, whenever there is light, there are also shadows." Zs'Skayr suddenly popped out of the ground and slashed Rath multiple times in the chest. "AND IN THIS UNIVERSE, I DESERVE WHAT IS TRULY MINE, BOY!"
Rath stumbled back as the Omnitrix flashed red. Zs'Skayr flashed a toothy, twisted smile. "Ahhh, music to my ears..." In a flash of red, Ben was back to being human.
"Game over, Tennyson," Zs'Skayr sneered, floating forward. "YOUR BODY IS MINE!"
"Not so fast, you freak!" Ben quickly reached for something strapped to his side- it looked like a weaponized flashlight. He hit the button on the side and, in an instant, Zs'Skayr was blinded by thousands upon thousands of small LED lights that nearly incinerated him like the sun.
"Daylight at night?!" he hissed, convulsing in pain.
"A little something I had Upgrade whip up," Ben explained, grinning. "Ruby showed me a fun little masterpost about guns a while back. Never thought I'd use a vomit gun in my life, but...here I am!" Ben threw the weapon on the ground, keeping it focused on Zs'Skayr. He yelled and hissed as the light continued to burn him, while Tennyson ran back up the stairs and back to regroup with his friends.
Zs'Skayr gave an animalistic snarl as he built up the mental strength to phase into the ground, finding time to recuperate.
Ben flung open the basement door to what was probably the craziest battle he'd seen in a while. The room was wrecked, clothing was torn and everyone was trying to hit Tyrian. Problem was he was just so damn fast, especially when he was attacking Ruby. Whoever wanted her, Tyrian was determined to capture her.
Tyrian's grin grew with each step, closing in on Ruby like a cat to a mouse. His tail was like a whip, stabbing at her and then moving to the side so Ruby couldn't attack it.
Ruby stopped and spun with a slash, forcing Tyrian to block and then leap backwards. He took the opportunity to open fire with his wrist weapons, pelting her with bullets. Kevin rushed in front of her and guarded Ruby from the attacks, and retaliated with his own bullet fire.
Tyrian quickly dodged and jumped at Kevin; Yang and Blake wrapped their wire and ribbon around Tyrian's body and swung him into a wall. Ceres cocked her gauntlets and shot at Tyrian, each shot like a cannonball hitting a brick wall, but he broke free of the trap and dodged each attack with ease. Weiss, Kylie and Rook fired bullets (ice shards in Weiss' case) at the crazed maniac, but he quickly dodged them as well. Tyrian tried to jump into the fray and get back to targeting Ruby, but something held him in place.
"Whoops," Kevin said, grinning. "Did they grab you?"
Tyrian couldn't see them, but he sure as hell felt them; pebble sized LED Clones weighed Tyrian down, much to his annoyance.
"AHAHAHA!" Tyrian laughed. "Hilarious. What a cheap, pathetic move."
"Oh, really?"
Tyrian froze as the clones suddenly jumped on his tail, weighing him down even more. He felt like his back was about to break, his stinger close behind.
But instead of getting upset, Tyrian merely cackled as he fell to the ground.
"Well, that's the end of that," Ruby sighed in relief. "Where's Ghostfreak?"
"Either really disoriented or incinerated." Ben shrugged. "I used a vomit gun on him."
"Awwww, you remembered!" Ruby gushed.
Ben smiled at her before he walked over to Tyrian. His eyes became cold and empty. "Now, Tyrian, was it?"
"At your service~" the bastard hissed.
"Answer me one question," Ben said. "Did you kill Max Tennyson?"
The room suddenly got a lot more tense. Tyrian's small chuckles devolved into roaring laughter.
"PLEASE! IF I DID THE JOB, I WOULD'VE LEFT MORE THAN AN ARM BEHIND! AHAHAHAHAHA!" Tyrian yelled. Ben grit his teeth and kicked the bastard in the face. "You call that a kick?! Put your back into it!"
"Alright, fucker," Kylie muttered as she walked over to Tyrian. "Lights out for you." She slammed her hand in his face, suffocating him with knockout gas. Tyrian coughed and fell to the ground, unconscious.
"I suppose we should take this 'Tyrian' character in," Rook said, walking forward. "What should we do with Zs'Skayr?"
"Eh, trap him in a thermos or something," Ben said dismissively. "Let's just get this over with."
Rook turned to handcuff Tyrian. "I could not agree m-" Rook suddenly paused mid sentence, his body going rigid.
"...you ok, bud?"
Rook's head swiveled quickly, revealing black sclera and pink eyes. "Never better." He grinned as drew the ProtoTool. He fired a quick net shot at Kevin, knocking him to the ground and temporarily taking him out of the fight. He shifted his weapon to its blade form and ran at Ben, swinging wildly. Ruby intercepted the blow and knocked Rook back.
"Uh, Rook? Please tell me you haven't been possessed," Ceres pleaded.
"He's not here~" Zs'Skayr's teasing voice came out of Rook's mouth. With that, everyone else jumped back into action.
Rook's movements were fast, but Ruby was faster. The two collided their blades continuously until Ruby slashed hard enough to knock Rook back into a building wall. He started to get up, his face twisting from malicious glee to something dark and ugly.
Yang threw a powerful haymaker at Rook, who quickly blocked it with his Proto Shield. He tried to strike back, but Yang dodged and countered with a powerful right hook to the gut.
"Hey, keep him in one piece!" Ceres snapped, reloading her weapon. "I like him."
She jumped at Rook, attacking with a stretch kick that fluidly transitioned into an axe kick. Ceres slammed the heel of her foot down on his shield, Rook barely blocking it; Zs'Skayr's faint outline briefly popped out of Rook's body and grabbed Ceres's leg. She gasped as he tossed her at Yang, knocking both of them down. Zs'Skayr retreated back into Rook's body and swapped his weapon to its tonfa form.
"He's playing dirty," Ben growled as he activated the watch.
"Really dirty too," Ruby said, annoyed. "It feels wrong to see tRook fight like this."
"Also, Rook using contractions? Really creepy," Ben added as he slapped down the watch. Purple fur ran up his arm, as two lower arms and a tail sprouted out of his body. "Alright, let's make this quick!" With that, Spidermonkey and Ruby dashed forward.
Rook fired some quick laser fire at the two, but they were too fast for him; Ruby jumped up and slashed her scythe over her head, but Rook quickly blocked with his tonfa and knocked her back.
Ben leapt forward and clung onto Rook. "Sorry about this, buddy!" He unleashed a quick flurry of scratches on him, before finishing it off with a quick backflip off of his chest, landing neatly away from him.
"Nice acrobatics," Ruby appraised.
Ben smiled. "Thanks, I've been practicing."
Blake rushed past them, ready for a quick counterattack. Rook swung at her, but she leapt back, leaving behind a present; a stone statue of herself. Rook's hand got stuck in the middle. Zs'Skayr hissed as he forced himself out of the body, ready to destroy the stone statue with a slash of his wrist.
Of course, Zs'Skayr didn't notice Yang jumping up and knocking him down with a flaming punch. Zs'Skayr, utterly done, decided to take care of some annoyances; he slipped out of Rook's body and tore open his own chest. Tendrils shot out of his body like diseased snakes and wrapped themselves around Blake and Yang, slamming them around the room. He then slammed both of them on the ground before retreating back into Rook's dazed body.
"HEY!" Zs'Skayr looked up; Ben was rushing at him. He did a perfect cartwheel, followed by a quick double-handed ground-slap. However, Rook blocked the attack with his tonfa and kicked Ben in the gut.
"Pathetic," Rook sneered as he prepared to stomp on Ben's head. However, Spidermonkey's tail perked up and shot a ball of web at Rook's face, blinding him.
"Oh, really now?" Ben chuckled as he jumped forward and performed a quick open-handed slap, followed by a spinning back fist with his opposite arm. Rook went flying back into a wall, web still stuck to his face. Ruby swapped her scythe mode for her sniper mode and shot two quick dust bullets into the wall. Vines burst from the bullet holes and wrapped themselves around Rook's arms, restraining him.
Zs'Skayr phased out of Rook's body, unamused. "How disappointing. With how I've seen him perform, I expected better of him." His eye drifted over to Kylie, who was helping Yang and Ceres up. "The girl, however..."
Zs'Skayr made a quick beeline towards Kylie, the girl shivering upon contact. The left side of her body slumped a bit, while her right side aimed her pistol at the others. Weiss quickly jumped in front of the group and plunged her rapier into the ground, causing spikes of ice to erupt and shield the others.
Kylie's bullets barely passed through the pillars before she inevitably ran out of bullets. Zs'Skayr hissed as he tried to force Kylie to produce some gas, but couldn't.
"What on Earth is going on?" he wheezed, his body weakening. Suddenly, the left half of Kylie's body grabbed her right arm and forced it down.
"Get...out of...my body!" she spoke, mustering all the free will she could.
"Impossible," Zs'Skayr yelled. "I should have full control over you!"
"Funny, huh?" Kylie suddenly picked up her arm and slapped her right cheek.
"Have you no dignity, child?!"
"Bold of you to assume...I had any...in the first place!" Kylie kept on slapping her face with her hand.
"What's going on out there?" Weiss asked as Ben hopped onto the ceiling.
"Zs'Skayr is forcing Kylie to...slap her face." Ben blinked. "Ok, what?"
"At least she received some mercy," Rook groaned as Yang and Blake helped tear him down from the wall.
The slapping match went on for a while, until Zs'Skayr gained full control over Kylie's body. "Now, let's produce some mustard gas and leave them all to su-" Kylie suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned to see Kevin, a menacing glint in his eye.
"Get out of my sister's body," he growled as his hand caught fire. He forced his hand forward, forcing Zs'Skayr to leave Kylie's body and float out in the open. Kevin quickly shifted his hand back to normal and caught Kylie as she fell to the ground.
"Knew that was gonna scare you out of her," Kevin drawled as he helped his sister stand up.
What I need is good enough bait, Zs'Skayr thought to himself, before he turned to the spikes of ice. And thankfully, I know the perfect victim...Zs'Skayr's hands lit up a pink color, and the room started to warp and morph. The high Ecto Lord had activated his telekinesis (what Ben referred to as "poltergeisting"). Pieces of ice broke apart, and the room started to spin, as if someone had trapped a tornado inside. People were picked up into the storm and spun around the room.
Spidermonkey stuck one of his webs onto a stable wall and tried to grab ahold of his friends. Ruby was the first to link up with him, and that's when Zs'Skayr decided to make his move; he flew towards her and tried to force his way inside of her-
"RUBY!" Ben yelled.
-and suddenly, Zs'Skayr flew back after an explosion of light. The room stopped spinning, and everything picked up by the maelstrom dropped to the ground. Zs'Skayr merely floated there, holding his burnt hand.
"...uh, what just happened?" Ruby asked warily.
"I-impossible! You're human! No living being can resist my overshadowing!" Zs'Skayr shouted.
"I...I think it was because of my Aura!" Ruby rationalized. "Think about it! Rook got possessed because he didn't have any. Kylie was able to kinda resist because she has a weaker form of Aura. I have it entirely, so I'm safe!"
"There's something," Ceres said, grinning. She turned to Zs'Skayr, her hands lit up with blue flames. "What, you gonna possess me now too?"
"Sunlight literally runs through your veins," Zs'Skayr snarled. "It appears I've run out of options..." His single eye drifted over to the still unconscious Tyrian. "Evidently not," he crowed. He dove into the ground and emerged next to Tyrian. Zs'Skayr 'tested the waters' by sticking a finger in the psychopath's skin. His finger was unharmed, and Zs'Skayr gave a fanged grin.
"What do you know? You can't use Aura in your sleep," he chuckled, sending shivers down everyone's spines. Zs'Skayr dove into Tyrian's body, and he instantly shot up. His grin was as dark and evil as Tyrian's, but the way his teeth glinted in the darkness just made it seem worse.
"I have a personal belief," Zs'Skayr enunciated. "There are two times in which you can feel truly blessed. As much I ramble on about the universe being unfair, there are two distinct times you can truly feel like you've been gifted."
"And when is that?" Ben asked, raising an eyebrow.
"The first is when the endless cycle of suffering comes to an end. I have control of my life - and body - once more. When you first put on that watch so many years ago, I actually panicked because I was stuck in an endless cycle of being used over and over again, given an embarrassing pet name that was my 'heroic moniker'. However, over time, I recovered, with emotions changing...and my mind growing. Learning about Omnitrix, talking about you, your colleagues, and the buttons to push to get you mad. I would take over your body occasionally for short moments, all to communicate with allies and associates. Through pure mental energy I was able to turn my despair around. And this makes me incredibly proud to be where I am..."
"...and the second?"
The villain flashed his toothy grin. "And the second...IS WHEN YOU LOOK DOWN AT SOMEONE IN UTTER DESPAIR!"
Tyrian's body rushed forward, violently attacking them. With Zs'Skayr's unhinged mind and Tyrian's killer instinct, the two were a match made in Hell. He started by taking out the first line of Kylie, Weiss, and Blake with a flurry of slashes so fast they couldn't counterattack. With the angles he was bending his arms at...it was inhuman on so many levels.
Kevin stepped up as Bashmouth and tried to fight back; he swung his giant fists around, but Tyrian's body gracefully shifted around them, and he struck back with a battle style that only a ragdoll could achieve. Kevin eventually got a hold of the bastard; he hoisted Tyrian up by his collar slammed him onto the ground and delivered a devastating punch to the face-
Or, it would have been devastating, had Zs'skayr not turned intangible. Tyrian's face contorted into a maddening grin, and he kicked Kevin in the chest. He stumbled back as Tyrian flipped onto a wall and propelled himself off of it, slashing Kevin's chest.
Kevin grasped the wound in pain, and Tyrian flicked the blood off his blade. "Pathetic display."
"Shall we give him a show?" Doppler chimed in as roots ran up Kevin's arms.
"Yes." Kevin smirked. "Let's."
Tyrian and Kevin ran at each other; Kevin unleashed a blind flurry of heavy punches that just made Tyrian laugh. "Blind, unplanned attacks?! How far gone are you!?"
"Oh, please," Kevin scoffed as he jumped back. "I'm not that stupid. You apparently are, though."
And that's when Tyrian noticed he was covered in seeds. Kevin snapped his fingers; the seeds suddenly exploded, launching Tyrian into Yang's range. She unfurled her arm wire and tangled Tyrian up.
Yang swung Tyrian around for a few seconds before she sent him flying into Ceres's area. Her eyes glinted as her palms lit up. "What was that thing you were saying about despair earlier?" She smirked.
And then Tyrian vanished into thin air. Ceres dared not to let her guard down-
Unfortunately, she wasn't his target.
Ben could barely react as Tyrian reappeared in front of him and began slashing and hacking his blades into his fur. Ben screamed as he was forced to kneel, unable to defend himself. Tyrian stomped on his tail and forced him to look up.
"Your life ends here, Ben Tennyson! Show me your despair as you fall-"
SLASH.
Zs'Skayr and Tyrian screamed in pain as Ruby stood over them, stone faced. Zs'Skayr forced himself out of Tyrian's body. Ben regained focus, realizing what had happened.
Ruby had cut the stinger off from the rest of Tyrian's tail. It bounced, purple liquid pooling where it once was. Tyrian reeled back and cried out from sheer agony. Standing, he whirled around to face Ruby, infuriated.
"YOU BITCH!" he screeched. He took a step forward but faltered, off balance.
"I think now would be a good time to meet with our associate, wouldn't it, Tyrian?" Zs'Skayr hissed as he grabbed the man. He shot all parties involved a baleful glare before they phased through the ground.
Tyrian, utterly distraught, cradled his cut tail in his hand. "She'll forgive you," he repeated. "She'll forgive you..."
Ben reverted back to human and collapsed on the floor. His body and arms were covered in cuts and scrapes.
"I...need...a medic," Ben coughed weakly.
"On it," Ceres said, already dialing Ari and some back up on her communicator.
Ben awkwardly rubbed the bandages on his arms. It was probably the worst time to realize how itchy they were.
"They'll heal in about one to two weeks," Ari told him. "Don't do anything too reckless now, ok?"
Ben nodded. "Gotcha." Ari walked away and Ben looked up to see the rest of the teams being examined. Zs'Skayr had proven himself to be a formidable enemy, judging by the battle scars he left behind. Yang and Blake were getting a quick scan to make sure Zs'Skayr hadn't broken anything. Weiss was checking in on Kylie's face. Rook was lying in a stretcher, probably from all the pain Zs'Skayr put him through. Ceres, meanwhile, just looked so, so tired.
Ben couldn't blame her.
"Well," Ruby said, walking over to him. She had a bandage on her cheek and few bandages on her hand. "He was...certainly something."
"I honestly haven't faced an opponent like that since Vilgax," Ben sighed. "And I defeated him on the first go."
"Why didn't you just use Heatblast and incinerate him?" Ruby asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Judging by how cruel he is," Ben answered tiredly, "I'm guessing he would've used one of my teammates as a human shield. Or Revonnahgander shield, in Rook's case."
"So, what now?"
Ben shivered. "For now, we just have to live in fear."
Ruby paused, before she joined Ben on the bench. "You feeling better?"
"...a little."
"One day at a time, right?"
Ben gave a small smile. "Yeah. One day at a time."
Zs'Skayr stuck his head out of alleyway. Elias would be here any minute now. His most loyal servant deserved to meet his master; just not in such an abject way.
When Zs'Skayr thought of meeting with Elias, he pictured greeting him while he was possessing Ben's defeated and mangled body. It would be a perfect gift, and a bit twisted, considering how Elias successfully killed Max Tennyson.
But now, he was left empty handed.
And stuck with the dejected Tyrian. He cradled his tail, trying his best to keep his composure, but he was literally seconds away from breaking down.
Zs'Skayr didn't enjoy Tyrian's insistent sniveling. For someone who fought so valiantly, Zs'Skayr was nothing but disappointed with Tyrian's reaction to loss. But this was to be expected. The powerful always judged the weak, and Tyrian was certainly one of the weakest.
Pink lightning struck the ground, and Elias appeared instantly. He bowed before the spectre in respect.
"Master Zs'Skayr," he greeted him.
Zs'Skayr put his hand on Elias's head. "Ah, yes. My loyal servant. I thank you for freeing me. I take it you are enjoying your new powers?"
"I have indulged in them a bit," Elias admitted. "But nothing too crazy."
"Of course. You should've accompanied me to face Tennyson earlier..." Zs'Skayr motioned over to the crying Tyrian. "This one proved to be...a deficiency, in the end."
Tyrian's mind nearly broke hearing that. He needed to take his rage out on something, anything-
Someone passed by the alleyway, and Tyrian didn't think twice; he opened his weapons and leaped atop the person. He slashed at them repeatedly, tears streaming down his face. His wails gradually turned into dark, horrified laughter as he vented his grief into the innocent bystander.
"How embarrassing," Zs'Skayr sneered. "You allow rage to cloud your mind."
Tyrian's neck snapped to face him. "As if you haven't faced such emotions before?"
Zs'Skayr chuckled. "Within my mind there is one simple thought. To be victorious and rule! That is all I need to feel satisfaction! How I do it doesn't matter! No matter how you struggle, there are always limits to what a human can do. I, however, intend to remain on top."
"Wise words, my master," Elias said. "Shall we return to the queen, then? She was most eager to meet you."
"Of course," Zs'Skayr said, before he paused. "But leave him behind. Failures like him don't deserve the easy way home."
Tyrian's face contorted in pain as Zs'Skayr teleported away with Elias. And that's when it really, truly happened. Tyrian's fists clenched as he stood up, uncharacteristically calm.
"When I see him...when I see those brats again..." Tyrian cackled. "I'M GONNA PAINT THE WHOLE DAMN WORLD RED!" He laughed through the pain, and began his journey home.
