Ben X Chapter 33
Abominatrix Arc
A Long Overdue Argument
Rook's proto-truk flew down into a wide desert canyon, its thrusters kicking up dust and dirt. It flew along the bottom of the canyon coming to a stop near a large cave. The vehicle set down and its four occupants exited. Ben, Rook, Charmcaster, and Kai left the vehicle and surveyed their surroundings. For most of them they had no idea of where they were or what significance the location held. However, looking around it was clear that something had transpired here long ago. Broken bits of weaponry and vehicles lay scattered around on the canyon floor. Esoterica masks laid half buried in the dirt. The walls of the canyon appeared damaged from laser fire. Large boulders which had clearly broken off from the canyon walls, sat motionless by the sides. The group looked at their surroundings with curiosity and confusion, all except for Ben, for who this battlefield was all too familiar. Wordlessly he stepped forward, walking to the large cave in the side of the canyon.
The group walked mostly in silence as there was a clear tension in the air. Ever since leaving Galvan Prime, Kai had been acting, disconcerting. She was clearly glaring daggers into the back of Ben's head the entire ride over. Her face was twisted into an expression of disdain and anger. Her arms were crossed tightly over her chest and her fingers twitched towards her sword with every word that Ben said. Both Rook and Charmcaster were keenly aware of the tension and kept sending nervous glances between each other, Kai, and Ben. The eponymous hero however had taken to mostly ignoring Kai's death stares. He had been on the receiving end of her frustrations many times in the past and was accustomed to her bizarre attitudes and mood swings. In the past he would return her attitude in kind or try to spend time deciphering her riddles to find why exactly she was upset with him. More often than not it was due to some error on his part that he had never considered at the time. Thinking about it made him reminisce unfondly at their cycle of breaking up and making up. However, this time was different. Ben was resolute on ignoring her negative energy. This was neither the time nor place to deal with whatever gripe she had towards him now. He had no clue what her deal was this time but he was sure it was equally as inane and unimportant to their current mission as it had been in the past.
So they continued on through the darkened cavern in relative uncomfortable silence. Both Charmcaster and Rook lit their way, casting uneven shadows of light on the cavern walls. The dripping sound of water falling from stalactites filled their ears alongside their footsteps as they made their way to their ultimate goal. According to Ben this cave was the location of the original seal that held Dagon at bay for over a thousand years. They had come in search of the seal to safeguard it from Eon's machinations. But as they walked further into the cavern it seemed that the Seal was still a far ways off. Trying to lighten the mood somewhat, Rook decided to speak up.
"So Ben," He began nonchalantly. "I was not present for the original resurrection of Dagon. Tell me, what was the battle with him like?" Rook asked. Ben smiled as he recalled the final battle with Dagon those many years ago.
"Yeah, that was actually a couple months before you got here." Ben said aloud. "Well it started when the Esoterica planned to break the seal and unleash Dagon so he could take over. As I'm sure you guys know, Sir George of the Forever Knights originally defeated Dagon like way long ago. So Sir George gathered together the Forever Knights to stop Dagon and his Esoterica. It was actually one of the few times those guys were on the objectively right side." Ben commented with a laugh. "When we got there the battle between the Knights and the Esoterica was in full swing. We tried to help out but both sides ended up attacking us. We met up with Sir George inside this cave where the Seal is located. That was when Vilgax showed up, acting as the Dagon's herald but only so he could trick him into giving him more power. Eventually the Seal weakened enough that Dagon got out. So then we all had to fight him together, unfortunately Sir George didn't make it. But then Vilgax tricked Dagon and stole all his power. So I had to use Ascalon and steal it back. And that's the story of how I pretty much saved the entire universe, again." Ben boasted but his smile faded quickly. "But then Vilgax tried to trick me into using Dagon's power myself. If it weren't for Gwen, Kevin, and Julie… I don't know what I might have done." He trailed off.
"Pfft, here we go about Julie again." Kai muttered under her breath but just audible enough for the group to hear. Ben stopped suddenly in his tracks at her words. So that's what her attitude was about. He paused and turned around at her, a neutral but firm expression on his face as he gazed at Kai who returned his stare with a glare of her own that dared confrontation. Rook and Charmcaster looked between the both of them with expressions of unease. Finally, Ben decided to speak up.
"Is there something you want to say Kai?" He asked. Kai placed her hands on her hips.
"Oh you want to do this now?" She retorted.
"Well you've been giving me death glares this entire time so I guess I've got no choice." Ben responded snarkily. Charmcaster and Rook exchanged glances.
"I think we will just go on ahead." Rook said diplomatically as he led Charmcaster further into the cave. The sorceress cast a worried glance over her shoulder at Kai who continued to glare at Ben before following behind Rook.
"So let's just get this all out in the open. What exactly is the problem now?" He asked. Kai scoffed and flipped her hair, her eyes narrowing at her ex-boyfriend.
"My problem? I'll tell you what my problem is. You lied to me." She said pointing an accusing finger at Ben. "You said there wasn't anything between you two. But then after you woke up from your coma it's been nothing but lovey dovey bullshit between the two of you." Kai said with a wave of her hands. Ben's eyes widened for a split second as he wasn't aware that Kai had picked up on his and Julie's reconciliation. "Oh don't think I didn't notice how you two were hanging all over each other. I don't know how that bitch managed to steal you away but it's really fucked up." She finished.
"Okay first of all, don't bad mouth Julie like that. She didn't do anything wrong. If you want to be angry then be angry at me. Secondly, we broke up already. I'm sorry that me and Julie got together again so soon after it happened but you don't have any ground to stand on." Ben answered firmly.
"Oh I'm plenty mad at you." Kai said sharply. "First you go off and leave me alone for three years, don't bother to tell me any of your problems or what you were planning. Then I find out that you trust that bitch with essentially the road map to go and find you after you didn't even trust me with that info. Then when you get back you essentially ignore me and put me off to go back together with her." She said gesticulating wildly with her arms. "It's no wonder that you're so shit when it comes to women. I feel like I'm the only one willing to put up with your bullshit and even I'm starting to hit my fucking limit." Kai said angrily holding her hand up to indicate her level of tolerance. But now it was Ben's turn to grow angry.
"You think I don't know any of that? Look I know I've fucked up a lot and I'm sorry. That's the best I can say. I'm trying to be better though. And stop talking as if we're ever going to get back together because it's not going to happen." Ben said crossing his arms. Kai scoffed.
"As if I'd ever take you back now after all the shit you put me through." She said folding her arms.
"I don't want you to take me back!" Ben shouted upset. "If anything I feel like you've put me through worse shit than I've done to you." Ben said annoyed. Kai gasped before her expression turned to one of rage, her mouth twisting to a grimace and her eyebrows furrowing.
"Oh that's it." She said before drawing Excalibur from her back. Ben's eyes widened at her extreme reaction. She approached rapidly like a true swordsman. Her sword swung in a swift strike, narrowly missing Ben who had the sense to back up. "You. Piece. Of. Shit!" She said punctuating each word with a swing of her blade. Ben desperately avoided her swings, taken aback by the ferocity in her attacks. "After everything I've done for you? All the time we spent together? Does that mean nothing to you? You're just gonna throw it all away like that? Screw you!" She said continuing to advance on him. Ben narrowly avoided her attacks which grew more furious with each miss. Finally he steeled his resolve and stood firm.
"Enough!" He said as he transformed. In a split second his body turned into Gravattack just as the blade impacted with the rocky exterior of his face. "Ow." He said simply. He raised a hand and lifted Kai off the ground as she floated helplessly in the air. She thrashed and struggled against invisible restraints before flailing her sword arm wildly at him. The blade connected a few more times but was little more than an annoyance to Ben's solid form. With his other arm he ripped the sword from her grip and pinned it to the ground with his gravity powers.
"Kai that's enough!" He said firmly to her. But the young woman continued to thrash and flail and curse him out. "Kai just stop!" He called out with enough anger that the booming rumble of his voice finally gave her pause.
"Do you want to know the real reason why I broke up with you?" He said desperately. Kai could only stare at him open mouthed. "It's because we're not good for each other!" Kai's eyes widened. "We only ever bring out the worst in each other. I know I've done shitty things to lots of people in the past before but I am honestly trying to be better. But I can't do that when I'm with you because we just drag each other back down again. You deserve a chance to be better as much as I do because I know there's good qualities to you. But as long as we're together we're just going to continue to be like we've always been; getting into fights and separating until we eventually we get together and start all over again." Ben explained. Still floating in the air Kai crossed her arms.
"You've always been kind of annoying but I don't see how I've ever done anything wrong to you." Kai said haughtily.
"And that right there is exactly the problem." Ben countered pointing a rocky finger at her. "You don't think that you've done anything to hurt me but you have. The fact that you just tried to attack me with your magic sword over something as simple as an argument proves it." He said.
"That was just right now and only because you're being infuriating." Kai responded unimpressed. Ben groaned.
"What about all those times when we were younger? When we met each other as teens again you were constantly making fun of me and insulting me." Ben pointed out.
"That was teasing you dumbass. It's called flirting." She countered unmoved.
"Belittling someone is not flirting." Ben said with a sigh and exasperated look. It seemed that no matter what he would say, Kai would somehow rationalize it so that she wasn't at fault. "Kai, you've done a lot of hurtful things to me over the years. When you yell at me and hit me, it makes me feel powerless and weak and scared even. That's not healthy for a relationship. Yeah maybe there were times where I really was at fault and didn't do something right but a lot of the times your responses were blown way out of proportion." Ben pleaded. This finally seemed to give Kai pause as she reflected on some of her past actions. Her expression of anger fell from her face to be replaced by one of contemplation. She thought back to all of the time she had spent with Ben before this. All of the arguments and fights they had. Could it really be that some of those were truly instigated just by her? As Kai finally grew quiet and reflective Ben frowned and spoke up a final time.
"Tell me Kai. If I didn't have the Omnitrix, would you even have been interested in me in the first place?" He asked. Kai gasped and immediately opened her mouth to retort but found that the words would not come from her throat. She paused, surprised at her own insight. Her eyes widened in shock as she realized that Ben's words were at least partially true. Ben only frowned deeper. "That's what I thought. When we were kids you were only interested in me because of Blitzwolfer. You said as much to me." He said as Gravattack slowly lowered Kai to the ground. She regained her stance as her feet met the ground and stray tears began to leak from her eyes.
"Kai, I think we both deserve better. I think we both deserve to be with people that will make us happier." He said attempting to place a gentle hand on her shoulder.
Kai, however, turned her body away from him. Ben let the hand drop and gazed at her sadly. Her eyes had gone distant and her face, while upset and tear stained, was placid. Ben struggled to read her, to decipher the thoughts that were doubtlessly running through her mind. But Kai purposely kept herself closed off. Her fist dropped from where it was balled at her chest and she moved with stride to where Excalibur stood poking out of the ground. She grabbed the hilt and pulled the sword free with not so much as a word. Ben gazed after her somberly, still concerned but knowing that this was what was best for both of them. Still, how do you recover from being told you're not a good person? How do you recover from being told that your relationship wasn't what you thought it was? Ben knew he had struggled with that same question when he had first learned of his break up with Julie all those years ago. It had come to a shock to him, even if he didn't let it show at the time. He had tried to distract himself, put it out of his mind, but his deep regrets stayed buried in his heart all this time. Dating had always been… weird for him. Julie had always felt like the one that got away. He considered it a miracle that he had even gotten the chance to apologize to her, much less start over. Looking at Kai now, he wondered what she would do. Would she move forward like he did? Or would she double down like she usually did in their arguments?
However, both of their thoughts were cut off as they heard a large explosion from deeper within the tunnel. Immediately the pair of former lovers put their differences aside for the time being and ran towards the echoing sound. They raced through the dimly lit tunnels with worry and adrenaline fueling their hearts. As they reached the end of the tunnel they paused to survey the scene in front of them. Rook and Charmcaster lay unconscious against either side of the tunnel, their bodies cradled by craters of rock and stone. At the far end, facing an otherwise blank stone wall stood a large round metallic alien. His steel body was dull grey in color while his eyes and face glowed red. The alien form of Maltruant stood facing the large blank wall. Ben and Kai arrived just in time to watch as Eon used the Chronosapien's time powers to reverse time on the wall. Soon a large stone seal began to reform upon the wall. Pieces of stone flew up to take place like a puzzle coming together, the image of an infinity symbol carved proudly on the grey granite. At last as the seal began to finalize its shape, Maltruant-Eon slammed his heavy fist onto the perimeter of the disk. The stone there shattered and cracked and Maltruant-Eon came away with a large piece of the seal clutched in his hand.
"Eon!" Ben called out angrily. The shape shifting villain scowled and turned around to face them.
"Oh well hello there." Maltruant-Eon spoke in a sarcastically cheery tone. "I didn't see you there. I would love to catch up but believe it or not, I don't have time." He said as he thrust his hand out. A beam of red chrono energy fired from his palm aimed straight at the duo. The pair ducked out of the way just in time as the beam sizzled through the air between them, impacting into the wall behind them and turning it to dust.
Ben recovered first and still in Gravattack's alien form thrust his own palms out. He centered his energy directly on Maltruant's alien form. An incredible pressure nearly buckled the mechanical alien's knees as he felt intense waves of gravity. Loose debris and stone from above him fell to the ground, crushing him under the rubble. Gravattack let go of his powers and both he and Kai approached cautiously. But the ring of red energy spread out from under the stone debris. Suddenly the pieces of rubble began to float back up into place in the ceiling. Maltruant-Eon emerged with his hands thrust victoriously into the air. He leaped forward, a loud clanging sounding out as he landed. He shot more beams of crimson chrono-energy out at the pair of heroes. Ben and Kai each dodged out of the way.
Kai dodged the laser attacks effortlessly. She flipped and jumped between the beams, marching forward to her enemy. She raised Excalibur high into the air and aimed right at Maltruant-Eon's arm where he grasped the piece of the stone seal. But the alien time-lord was surprisingly quick and he snatched his hand out from the range of her attack. Kai looked up to see the key piece on his head spinning rapidly. The chronosapien smiled wickedly at her before he delivered a series of incredibly fast strikes at her. Each punch hit her with the force of a freight train as the once lumbering metal alien moved at impossibly fast speeds. Kai had no time to react or try to get out of the way of the attacks. She could only be mercilessly thrown about by the punches. Suddenly she felt a great force pull her backwards, as though she was being dragged straight through the air. She was ripped away from Maltruant-Eon and flung backwards. She was caught by a pair of large rocky hands as Gravattack used his powers to rescue her. Ben set Kai back on her feet and lent her a steady hand while she recovered.
"How are you doing?" Gravattack asked concerned. Kai breathed in and tensed as she felt a sharp pain in her chest.
"I think he might have broken a rib. Ugh, so, been better." Kai responded. Gravattack grimaced more than usual.
"It's too bad it's only two on one right now. If Rook and Charmcaster were still up we could take him." Ben lamented.
It was then that Kai actually took notice of the battlefield around them. Her eyes passed over Charmcaster's limp body and she felt her heart freeze for a second. She released her breath as she saw Charmcaster's body shift slightly. She was breathing, and that meant she was still alive. A strange emotion settled in the pit of her stomach as she looked at her friend lying hurt and helpless. But with all of the recent emotional turmoil she had just been through, she could hardly identify the feeling. But Kai shook her thoughts free and steeled her resolve. There would be plenty of time to look after her new best friend after they defeated Eon. Kai gripped her sword tighter and raised it back level.
"You go close. I'll stay far." She offered with little explanation. But Ben nodded, even despite their many years apart and their rocky relationship, they still had a battle bond forged by countless fights together.
Ben rushed for Maltruant Eon, shifting into a comet like form mid charge. Gravattack flexed his powers, drawing loose rocks along with him. Eon's eyes widened as he realized that Ben had essentially summoned a miniature meteor storm that was headed straight for him. He jumped backwards, only to stumble as his unathletic body was unaccustomed to such an action. Ben landed in a crash in the spot where Eon had formerly stood, a crater forming around him. The multitude of rocks and boulders that he had dragged along with him soared past him and shot at Maltruant-Eon. The villain raised his arms to protect himself as the hail of rocks was too vast to dodge. The solid stone projectiles collided into him with dull thuds and metallic clangs. Thankfully, his steely body was defense enough against most of the bullets, but the larger projectiles did throw him off balance and cause him to cry out in pain. Eon scowled with Maltruant's face. He lifted his arms, readying another volley of chrono-lasers to attack with. But he was struck in the face by a blinding and painful laser from afar.
Eon looked up to see where the attack had come from. His gaze landed on Kai who stood with arm outstretched and sword pointed in his direction from a distance. The sword glowed with white energy, the blade seeming to vibrate subtly. She reared backwards and cut through the air, another arc of white magical energy sent flying through the air. Maltruant Eon thrust his palm out and a wave of air rippled from his palm. The arc of energy began to slow further and further, until it moved at a snail's pace. Undeterred, Kai began cutting through the air rapidly, sending more and more of the attacks towards him. But Maltruant used his chrono powers to slow each of the attacks to a crawl until they hung suspended in the air. Eon smiled but his satisfaction did not last long.
From the side, an enormously heavy punch collided with his head and sent the shape shifting villain sprawling to the floor. Gravattack sucker punched him as he was distracted by Kai's attacks. He used his gravity powers to increase the force of his punch to insane levels. Maltruant Eon rolled to a stop and saw Gravattack stand above him. His eyes widened as the rocky alien lifted his foot up and stomped down on the chronosapien's midsection. Maltruant Eon grasped at the alien's foot upon his stomach and tried to lift him off. But Ben increased his weight cementing his foot in place and making him impossible to dislodge. The increase in gravity weighed down on Eon like a ton. He was certain if he was in his human form he would have been crushed. As it stood though, he was stuck in place. Eon struggled to lift a hand though, desperate to come up with a trick or plan that would get him out of his situation. But he was quite literally stuck between a rock and a hard place. Suddenly his vision spotted Kai walking up to him from the opposite side. She glared down at him before lifting up her sword.
With a quick downward stroke she severed Maltruant's arm that held the broken seal. Eon screamed in pain, even though the mechanical lifeform had little in the way of nerve endings. Kai reached down to pick up the severed robotic arm. She pried open the fingers to claim the seal for herself. She discarded the limb afterwards and held the seal out to Ben. He took the broken piece of stone and examined it with a cursory glance. He looked back down at Eon with a triumphant smile on his face, while Eon could only scowl back through the limited expressions of a chronosapien face.
"Well Eon, it looks like we've won." Ben gloated. "And you're going to be going away for a long time." He finished. Maltruant Eon chuckled darkly, rising in volume until his laugh echoed amogst the stone walls of the cave.
"That's what you'd like to think, Ben" He answered. Suddenly the key on top of his head began to spin rapidly in a counter clockwise fashion. Soon a sphere of red energy began to envelop everything around them, growing larger and larger until it encompassed the entirety of the cavern. Bits of debris and stone began to move backwards through the air as Maltruant Eon reversed time. The stone flew back into place. Ben and Kai too retraced their steps and actions in exactly the same way. Maltruant Eon watched as their afterimages faded into each other. Even his own body was affected, his severed hand reattaching itself. He felt himself be floated down the timestream, back to the position he was in when this all started. Soon he had rewound time back to the exact moment he had grasped the seal. The key turned to a stop and like a car shifting gears Eon could feel the timestream resume its normal course.
"Eon!" He heard from behind him. Maltruant Eon turned around and smiled as he saw the duo of heroes in the exact same starting positions.
"Oh hello there. I'd love to stay and chat, but believe it or not, I don't have the time." Eon repeated his joke from earlier. But this time, Eon decided to change tactics. He already had the seal, he didn't need to waste time fighting with Ben. With a single hand he palmed the Abominatrix symbol and transformed into Ghostfreak. Now intangible Eon flew upwards through the ceiling to escape.
"No!" Ben yelled and was about to give chase.
"Forget him!" Kai said catching his attention. "We've gotta help our friends!" Kai shouted as she made her way over to Charmcaster. Ben looked solemnly at the spot where Eon disappeared before nodding and running to Rook on the opposite side. When Kai reached Charmcaster and saw her laid out hurt on the ground, her heart froze in her chest. As she saw the girl breathe, she breathed her own sigh of relief. Breathing meant that Charmcaster was still alive, but if she didn't act fast who knew how long that would last? Kai knelt down by the helpless girl and turned her over so that she could look into her face. As Kai gazed on her unconscious expression she felt a mixture of odd sensations and emotions. The first, was a strange pit in her stomach and an ache in her heart that she could not identify given the recent emotional turmoil she had just been through. The second feeling she had, was the odd sense of déjà vu which had told her she had done this before. Together the emotions and feelings left her even more unsettled than the fight she had just had with Ben. But she knew she had to put it out of her mind, Charmcaster needed her, and she wasn't going to let her down.
A/N: So this chapter has been a long time coming. I stated from the very beginning that this story would have Anti-Kai elements. I admit that in writing this story my opinion of her has slightly improved somewhat, but that may just be my attachment to my own version of the character. I know some of my comments about her in this chapter are things that have not happened in canon but I think it wouldn't be too far of a stretch for her character. I still never liked how they paired her and Ben together but again that's just my opinion. I do think that they are too alike in canon to make a good couple, especially with all the arguments they did have in canon. Feel free to leave your comments defending her if you want but I'm likely going to disregard them, my mind's already made up.