Ben X Chapter 47
Rescue Arc
Power Plant
Ben 101 and Jen 10 were posted outside their target, staking out the building. Neither of them were thrilled to be paired with each other. Benjamin was still getting over his outdated notions about women and Jen was still resentful of those notions. But Ben Prime told them he was relying on them personally to rescue his friends, and they both wanted to impress him. The only issue was they disagreed on how to go about it.
"I still say it's more advantageous to disable the building's security and cause a distraction rather than go in guns blazing." Benjamin said in exasperation.
"There you go using big words again." Jen rolled her eyes. "It's just one guy! We can take him easy!" She boasted.
"Our objective isn't to beat the bad guy it's to rescue his captives!" Benjamin retorted.
"Sounds like you're just a coward." Jen shot back with a smirk. Enraged Benjamin turned to her in a huff, about to shout back childishly at her. But then he took a deep breath to calm himself.
"Tell you what, why don't we make it fair? A simple game of rock paper scissors. If I win we do my plan, if you win we do your plan." He offered. Jen considered the offer for a second before smiling.
"You've got yourself a deal." Jen said outstretching her hand. Benjamin clasped his grip with hers and was nearly thrown off balance by the vigorous shaking. The pair threw out their hands on the count of three. However, Jen frowned as she took in the outcome, while Ben smiled smugly.
Gwen was sapped and exhausted. She looked up from inside her glass prison. Encased in the crystal enclosure with meager comforts and barely enough room to lay down from one end to the other. Her captor, Michael Morningstar, better known as Darkstar, better known as a regrettable ex, called her his rose under the glass. The allusions to beauty and the beast were not lost on her. The only difference was that she would give him no sympathy. She had already seen past his lies to the narcisstic soul that laid underneath. His lavish gifts sat in a pile outside her gilded cage, unused and spurned.
She turned to see her co-captive in the cell next to hers. Charmcaster was curled up in a fetal position on the thin cot that Darkstar had provided for them. A crease of worry found its way across her face as she looked at her newfound friend. Her skin was paler than usual and she spent most of her time sleeping. Her gaze drew upwards to the top of the glass dome which secured them. Fastened at the top was the device which passively sapped their mana, leaving the two magic users weakened and helpless. Gwen scowled at the devices, a constant reminder of their imprisonment and torture. What Gwen would give to bust out of this glass cage and turn Darkstar's own device against him. Unfortunately for her hopes and dreams, the object of her ire appeared in front of them at that moment, separated by three inches of bullet proof glass.
"And how are my lovely guests doing this morning?" He asked with fake charm that served only to enrage his captives. His features had returned to their normal handsome state, with flowing gold locks and chiseled chin. A side effect of him leeching their energy day after day. Charmcaster rolled over to face him, summoning the strength to sit up.
"Piss off Darkstar." She said with all the venom and vitriol she could muster. Unlike her mana, she had plenty of that to spare. Gwen had not spoken with Hope about their mutual ex, but it was clear from her interactions with him over the past month that she still harbored hatred for the power leech. Gwen wasn't surprised. From what she knew, Hope had trusted Michael with her true name, and he had gone and betrayed her. That at least, Gwen could relate to.
"Now my dear Charmcaster, there's no need for such foul language wouldn't you agree?" He asked stepping closer to her enclosure. Charmcaster responded silently with a one finger salute. He merely frowned at the gesture before turning to Gwen.
"And lovely Gwendolyn, have you thought any more about my offer?" He asked, voice still dripping with honeyed words and hope. The offer he was referring to of course, was a deal: her freedom in exchange for her subservience. The unspoken part of that agreement was that he would still be draining her of her mana. Gwen had actually considered agreeing to his proposal, if only to earn his trust and backstab him. But Charmcaster had convinced her that such a plan was too risky. If he had caught her in the act he wouldn't hesitate to drain her dry. So instead Gwen had repeatedly turned him down, much to his consternation.
"Sorry Darkstar," She apologized without an ounce of sincerity. "No deal still." All the pretense of politeness fell from Darkstar's face and he grimaced with unrestrained hatred.
"I see, if that's the way you want it to be, I'm afraid I must punish you once again." He said menacingly. Darkstar stepped away from the glass enclosures and towards a device jutting out from the floor. A metal pillar with two handles perched atop, connected to the floor by nuts and bolts. Several large cables slithered across the floor and up to the machines at the top of their cages. Darkstar gripped the handles, activating the apparatus and beginning to siphon their energy. Gwen and Charmcaster grimaced and moaned in agony as their mana was forcibly drained from them. The energy being sucked into the siphons and down the cables into Darkstar himself, who simply laughed gleefully as it rejuvenated him.
Even after daily repeats of this torture it never got any easier. She felt her very life energy forcibly ripped from her body. It was a sensation that she could hardly describe. Like pins and needles across your skin, only it came from the inside. Her only saving grace was that Darkstar needed them alive to continue draining them, so he never pushed them too close to the limit. Oftentimes she and Hope would take turns, whenever they knew the other to be drained. Offering themselves up to Darkstar's ire and frustration, diverting his attention. Unfortunately today they both seemed to be on the dinner plate.
But just as quickly as their torture started, it ended with a sputtering of the machine. Darkstar hardly had time to question what ocurred before lights began to go off all across the power plant. Alarms began blaring across the plant, and all three of the room's occupants looked around befuddled. Darkstar stepped away from the machine, he was unable to draw on their mana anyway, and looked around at the various sensors. His eyes widened as he interpreted the readouts. Something had gone wrong, and he was utterly baffled by what it could be.
"It appears an issue has arisen that needs my attention." Darkstar said turning away from his captives. "But don't worry my dears, I'll be back to finish our session later. Hahaha." He laughed cruelly as he left the pair of sorceresses behind him. They slowly recovered from their ordeal over the next several minutes. As they laid back on their cots, Hope spoke up from her cell.
"Guess we're pretty lucky huh? Power going out like that right in the middle of his little feeding session." She observed thankfully. But Gwen narrowed her eyes. It seemed too convenient of a coincidence for her.
"I'm not so sure luck had anything to do with it." She responded suspicious.
Before Hope could question her on what she meant the pair of them turned their heads. A sudden whooshing noise sounded out all around the room. Their eyes could see only a fast moving blue and black blur moving in front of them. Suddenly the blur stopped in front of their glass cages and they beheld the figure of XLR8. They were so shocked by the alien's sudden appearance that they hardly had time to register the newcomer. But the alien figure cut them off just as quickly as it had arrived.
"There you two are! Finally found you!" The alien spoke in a remarkably feminine voice. It was then that Gwen noticed something different about the alien in front of her. Her job as ambassador to the galaxy at large meant Gwen had dealt with many different alien species. As such, she had gotten remarkably good at identifying alien genders, even if those differences were fairly subtle. Although she had not met many Kinecelarans herself, she could at least tell that the one in front of her was female. And it wasn't the form of Helen Wheels as the newcomer was too tall. Which begged the question of the identity of their mystery rescuer. But while she thought all this over the alien in question had already found the controls to their prison and released them. The glass domes lifted up into the air freeing them, and the pair of magic users could hardly wait for them to lift all the way into the air before crawling to liberation.
"Not that I'm unappreciative, but who exactly are you?" Gwen asked puzzled.
"Oh! Sorry, forgot to introduce myself. I'm Jen!" The Kinecelaran gestured to herself with her pointed claws. Gwen blinked, still completely baffled.
"I'm sorry but that doesn't really answer my question." She said. Suddenly the trio could hear a buzzing sound emanating from above them. They turned their heads skyward to see a Megawatt appear from the electrical wiring on the ceiling.
"Ugh, isn't it obvious? We're alternate universe versions of Ben 10. And I thought you were supposed to be the smart one in this universe." The little electrical alien said. Gwen was so surprised that she let the remark about her intelligence slide. She looked to the aliens in front of her and finally noted the Omnitrix symbols on them. But something was different, the colors were slightly off.
"Oh don't mind Benjamin, he's still kind of a fuddy-duddy. But we're working on it, aren't we?" Jen said with a pointed look. Benjamin sighed, and Gwen didn't think she had ever seen a Megawatt with a frown on it's face, they usually wore manic smiles.
"Yes, yes. Now we should hurry, I don't think the fuses I blew will keep your captor occupied for more than a few minutes." The Megawatt spoke.
"You would be correct in that assumption." Darkstar's voice echoed from behind them. The quartet of heroes were shocked by the villain's appearance. "Well now, this is certainly interesting. I didn't realize their were other Omnitrix users out there." He mused
"Let us go Darkstar! You're outnumbered now." Charmcaster said defiantly. Gwen glanced over nervously at her friend, noting the hint of tiredness in her voice that she desperately tried to hide. If Charmcaster was feeling anything like how Gwen was, she knew the other sorceress must be drained and exhausted. A month of Darkstar leeching their mana from them left them in poor condition. Even with the two new Omnitrix users on their side Gwen wasn't sure if they could take a fully powered Darkstar in their current state. She could only hope that Darkstar would be intimidated enough by the bluff to let them go. Unfortunately, she also knew that Michael Morningstar was not one to so easily relinquish his toys.
"Outnumbered perhaps, but not outclassed." He said confidently. "With all the energy I've absorbed from the two of you I'm more powerful than ever." To prove his point he held up a glowing sphere of golden energy in his right hand.
"Can we please switch to my plan now and kick his butt?" Jen spoke up earnestly to her counterpart. Benjamin considered the situation with an expression that again was out of place on a Nosedeenian face.
"You two get out of here. We'll hold him off." Benjamin finally said to the pair of magic users as he floated down level with Jen.
"No way. I can still fight." Charmcaster raised her fists in defiance but the shaking of her limbs gave her away. Gwen put a hand on her shoulder, drawing her attention.
"We're no good in our current state. We should escape while we can." Gwen reasoned with her. For a moment Hope wanted to protest, but her eyes took in Gwen's own haggard appearance as well as the sheer amount of energy that Darkstar wielded. She knew Gwen was of course right again. Reluctantly she nodded and the pair turned to escape.
"Where do you think you're going? I will not let any of you leave." Darkstar said summoning even more energy to his hands.
"Oh yeah? Well we're not letting you, uh, let them… not leave!" Jen said in a stuttering halting manner.
"Real smooth." Benjamin chided her.
"Oh shut up you." Without another word Jen pressed on her Omnitrix symbol, transitioning from XLR8 to a familiar frog like alien that held a suspicious resemblance to one Princess Attea. With an enormous leap Jen's Bullfrag form landed a kick to Darkstar's chest before he could react. The enormous power of her leg muscles sent him flying backwards into a wall with a thud and a grunt. Gwen and Charmcaster seized the moment and took the opportunity to escape past him.
"No!" He called out sending an errant blast of energy in their direction. But from his slumped position, his aim was off and the beam flew over their heads. He stood up only to have a round house kick delivered straight into the side of his head by Bullfrag-Jen. He stumbled but held his balance. Only now his attention and ire was fully drawn towards the Omnitrix user in front of him, forgetting his two captives who were long gone by now. With a war cry he shot twin blasts of golden energy at his opponent. But the frog like alien nimbly dodged them with a series of backflips and a self assured smirk. Now even more upset he began throwing powerful bolts at Jen, who dodged each with impressive agility. Each missed bomb exploded the ground around him in a shower of dust and sound. Yet no matter how he might try he could not hit his target. The nimble amphibian alien jumped and flipped around, taunting him between acrobatic feats as she hung off walls and machinery.
"Enough!" Darkstar finally shouted as he summoned an enormous ball of energy larger than any he had before. With two hands he launched the ball into the ground where it detonated in an explosion that rocked the building. A shockwave emanated from its center, catching Jen and throwing her backwards. Her body was thrown against a wall like a ragdoll as she collapsed limply from the force of the blast. She struggled to stand and recover when she was hit by another smaller blast from Darkstar who stalked forward to her. He kicked at her limp body, the alien form coughing as the boot connected with her ribcage. He was about to blast her again before he was shocked from behind.
Darkstar turned around to find the Megawatt floating in midair, hands extended outward with sparks dancing along his fingertips. Darkstar scowled at the nuisance before firing back with his own attack. But Ben 101's smaller form allowed him to easily dodge the incoming strikes. He flew close into Darkstar's guard zapping him with volts of electricity. The spritely alien's attacks threw Morningstar off guard and distracted him away from his other opponent. He swatted at the air around him as Megawatt flitted above him. However Benjamin frowned in consternation, despite his efforts it seemed that his zaps were doing nothing more than annoying Darkstar who retaliated with even more force. Eventually he managed to adapt to the Megawatt's attacks, his body absorbing the electricity as soon as it hit him. Benjamin's frown deepened as Darkstar absorbed a particularly large jolt of electricty from him, looking back with a self-satisfied smirk.
"You really chose the wrong form to fight me in." He taunted. "I absorb energy, if anything you're just giving me a snack." Ben 101 seemed to contemplate Darkstar's words before looking around him at their surroundings. Although he couldn't tell, a thousand thoughts were racing through his mind. Suddenly the little alien flew away and Darkstar could only watch him confused. "Running away are we? What about your little friend here?" Darkstar turned to threaten Jen who still was recovering from the swift kick to her ribs. But the glowing sphere did little to deter the Megawatt from his search, leading to Darkstar re-evaluating whether they were actually allies. But Benjamin only smiled back down at him as he hovered over a bundle of cables.
"You've got the wrong idea." Benjamin enlightened his opponent. "I'm not running away, I'm merely switching my target." The little battery like alien began charging up electricity, his eyes sparking with power. "You see, I thought about why you're stationed here in this power plant. What could someone like Eon need this place for? I figure he's using this place to power his forcefield outside." Darkstar's eyes widened as he realized the threat that this diminutive alien suddenly posed. "I wonder what would happen if I do this." Megawatt touched his hands to one of the generators, electricity spreading over the machine like a net, overloading the apparatus and causing it to begin smoking and whirring. Alarms once again began blaring throughout the power plant and Darkstar scowled.
He floated up into the air, speeding after Ben 101 and driving him away from the machine as he assessed the damage. But soon after the Megawatt flashed into the cables, travelling along them as a surge of electricity. Darkstar could only watch helplessly as he began short circuiting most of the generators, either overloading them with electricity or sucking them dry. Darkstar followed behind him, desperately attempting to siphon the creature out of the machines with his powers. But it was like he was playing a game of whack-a-mole. Everytime he reached where Megawatt popped up, he would go back into the wires and pop up somewhere else. Their game of chase continued like that for some time, with Benjamin even giving into his alien's natural sense of mischief and taunting his opponent. But his luck could not last forever. Eventually Darkstar predicted where he would show up next and caught the living battery in his hands.
"Finally got you!" He said with malice as he squeezed the alien tight. Benjamin struggled to escape from the vice grip. He even resorted to discharging his electricity which could kill a normal human at this distance. But unfortunately for him Darkstar was not ordinary and he soaked up the electricity like a sponge. Benjamin eventually felt himself running low on power, the fatigue setting in as Darkstar drained more and more power from him. Darkstar smiled wickedly as he continued to drain him of his power, feeling it strengthen him even more.
Suddenly he was shocked into releasing his grip, not by any electricity, but by a wet slimy weight that smacked into the side of his head. Benjamin fell to the ground caught in mid-air by Jen who retracted her long tongue back into her mouth. Darkstar scowled down at her in a mixture of disgust, annoyance and fury as Jen cradled Benjamin's small alien form. He looked up at his savior and noted the calm yet defiant expression on her face as she held him protectively.
"Enough!" Darkstar shouted coming back down to the ground. "I have had enough of both of you!" He said as he began firing orbs of power at them. Jen hopped out of the way, depositing a drained Benjamin behind cover before she nimbly made her way over to Darkstar, still dodging his projectiles along the way. Using Bullfrag's superior agility she manuevered close up inside Darkstar's guard where she proceeded to pummel him. The energy leech was taken by surprise as he suffered a series of punches and kicks that left him reeling. Jen pressed her advantage, silent and serious, never pausing in her assault. Benjamin watched her onslaught from behind cover as he took a moment to recover his strength. But Jen's fierce fighting style was not enough as Darkstar eventually caught her arm in his grip. He began to drain her strength immediately and along with it her will to fight. Darkstar fed on her greedily, sucking in her strength as with each passing moment it became harder and harder for Jen to extricate herself from his grip.
Jen looked into the maniac's eyes, fear starting to take root in her mind as she saw nothing but greed reflected there. She had no doubt in her mind that Darkstar would drain her dry if given the chance, and she feared he was rapidly approaching that end. But to both her and Darkstar's surprise something changed. Darkstar looked behind him to see a new alien had grabbed hold of him from behind. Feedback stood with his hands gripping Darkstar's shoulders and his two long antennae whipping above him.
"I think it's time you get a taste of your own medicine." Benjamin spoke through Feedback's voice. Darkstar's eyes widened in shock as he felt a change in the flow of energy. Feedback used his antennae to connect to both him and Jen. Then he began reversing the energy flow. Now instead of Darkstar draining the power from Jen, the power was being sucked out of him and back to Jen. Darkstar began to panic, desperately trying to escape from the clutches of the alien. But Benjamin held him firm, staring at him with his single cyclopic eye.
"No! No! Not again!" He shouted in desperation as all of the energy that he had spent the last month gathering began to flow from his body. Darkstar could feel his skin to shrivel and his hair begin to fall away. He screamed in desperation as Feedback sucked away all of his ill gotten energy. Finally Darkstar collapsed as his body was drained of power. He curled into a fetal position and whimpered pitifully on the ground. Jen stood up and smiled at Feedback who returned the gesture in kind, before the pair of them left the defeated villain behind.
Outside, Gwen and Charmcaster had managed to find cover in the nearby forest where they took time to gather their strength. They had been waiting for at least fifteen minutes for their rescuers to emerge from their former prison. Yet they hadn't seen hide or hair of them. They both agreed that if the pair didn't emerge soon, one of them would have to go back in and see if they could help, a prospect both of them hoped wouldn't be needed. Thankfully it seemed fate would be on their side as they spotted a pair of teenagers running towards them from the direction of the power plant. Gwen nearly stared in shock at just how similar the two humans resembled Ben. Yet at the same time they were vastly different, both for different reasons.
"That was amazing!" the girl, Jen, said with her arms raised in the air. "The way you sucked all his energy out of him and just left him there crying! Man that was brilliant!" Jen complimented Ben 101.
"I wouldn't have been able to do it if you hadn't weakened him first!" Benjamin complimented back with equal enthusiasm. "The way you jumped around avoiding his blasts, talk about amazing. And then the way you got him with those punches and kicks! I've never seen anyone fight like that, it was astounding!" The pair sung praises to each other as they approached the clearing that Gwen and Charmcaster were hid in. Both seemingly too caught up in each other's performances to notice the sorceresses they rescued.
"Hey!" Charmcaster said grabbing the two teen's attentions. "Glad you two are all buddy buddy now but maybe we might want to get out of here before back up shows?" The two teens had the sense to look sheepish before agreeing with her. The group of four set off into the night, with the two hero teens leading them to the agreed upon rendezvous point.
A/N: It's been a minute since the last update. I want to thank those of you who have been leaving consistent reviews as well as thank anyone who has been consistently reading the story. I've finally got my buffer up to around 2ish chapters. Also in case you can't tell we are approaching the end of the story. Not sure how many chapters that's going to take but I figured I'd let people know because as of right now, I don't really have an end to the story in mind. I feel like it shouldn't be as simple as Ben beats the bad guy. So if you have suggestions or ideas leave a comment and let me know and I may consider them. Till next time.