Chapter 15 - Chapter 15

Chapter 15



Tetrax came to. He was trapped under a pile of rock and debris. He couldn’t free himself. Then he recognized a small ray of light. Suddenly, the debris disappeared above him, someone picked up the whole pile. The light blinded the petrosapien, but he saw the contours of his saver.
It was Fourarms.
- Are you okay? – asked the tetramand.
Tetrax touched his left arm, hiding his cracked skin.
- Yeah, I’m fine... He got me... – sighed he.
- I know. I underestimated him as well. I almost defeated him, when Charmcaster showed up... – said Fourarms.
- What about Lantara?
- She’s fainted. But I think she’s okay.
- Right. – replied Tetrax shortly.
- Where were you by the way? You and Lantara showed up in the middle of the battle... – questioned him the tetramand.
- We were having a fighting practice at the park. I thought Gwen told you.
- No she didn’t... – Ben was unable to finish the sentence. The moment came into his mind, when he saw two persons beside Charmcaster. Then he realized. His features distorted as the anger started to blaze in him with renewed intensity.
- Gwen! Nooooooo! – As he shouted he changed back to himself.
- What? What are you doing? – surprised the petrosapien.
- He has Gwen. – answered Ben.
- What are you talking about? You’ve just said you almost defeated him, how could he take Gwen?
- It wasn’t him. Charmcaster appeared and grabbed Kevin, before I could finish him off. But I saw two persons beside her. She have obviously captured Gwen before, when I was fighting with Kevin. – spoke his mind Ben.
- Why would he kidnap Gwen? That doesn’t make sense. – replied Tetrax.
- Because he hates me more than anything else. He knows I’m the only one, who’s able to stop him. Most likely, he wants a trade. My life for Gwen’s. I must go there! I can’t let her down! – exclaimed Ben.
- No you can’t! – Tetrax stood in his way.
- Don’t tell me what to do! I must go!
- I know. But you can’t let Kevin have the omnitrix!
- He almost died by my hands! He’ll have no chance if I surprisingly attack now! – enthused Ben.
- You said, you’ve underestimated him. You still do. What if that’s exactly his plan, he wants you to go there. What if it’s a trap to baffle you to a place where he feels confident and moves freely? Think about it! – said Tetrax.
- I don’t care! I’ll save her no matter what! – yelled Ben.
- That’s very commendable... but foolish! – determined a voice from behind. Both of them turned around and saw Lantara. She continued.
- He’s right, Ben.
- But Gwen’s in danger... – Ben began.
- Yes she is. However, you cannot save her, if you just rampage there. Remember, you have been outnumbered by those aliens before. Even you can’t defeat them. Besides, you don’t know what has Kevin absorbed during the years! Maybe he’ll regenerate, sooner than you think. And he has a lot of supporters, like Charmcaster! Listen to Tetrax! – Lantara touched Ben’s shoulders and looked into his eyes.
He became doubtful.
- I agree with you, Kevin wants a trade. He won’t hurt Gwen, I’m sure. – Tetrax said.
- What if we’re wrong and he tortures her or something? I must go there! – Ben replied.
- You will. But for now, you must have rest to regain your power. That’s the only way you can help her. – Lantara suggested.
Eventually, Ben agreed. The night was already upon them. They found shelter in a former mall, which soon became their headquarters for the next few weeks...

Charmcaster flew through the wooden door of Kevin’s room.
- This is all your fault, Charmcaster! – blamed her Kevin. He was in his combined form, but couldn’t reach his full power, he was only an amalgam of the original ten omnitrix-aliens.
Charmcaster stood up.
- My fault?!
- Yes! You have arrived much later, than planned! – Kevin shouted.
- It’s not my fault that Tennyson have defeated you. I was there in the exact time. You have underestimated Ben. I can’t help it! – replied Charmcaster. She went farther than she ever did.
- Watch your mouth or suffer the consequences! You owe a submission to me, never forget that! – commanded Kevin.
Charmcaster retreated and bowed down.
- I’m sorry, Master!
Kevin reverted to his human form.
- Since you did this the first time, I’ll forgive you this once. But remember! Next time, you won’t be this fortunate!
- Thank you! – smiled Charmcaster gratefully.
- Now, leave me alone. I still need some regeneration. I must be prepared for Benjie’s arrival. – said Kevin.
Charmcaster left him alone.

- Enough! – exclaimed Ben.
- We should wait one more week. Just to work out everything perfectly. – suggested Tetrax.
- No! We have waited long enough! She’s probably dying there!
- Don’t let the fury consume your mind again! – said Lantara.
- I’m not furious. I just want to see her again. And kick Kevin’s butt for good. – replied Ben.
- Do you think you’re strong enough to face him once more? – asked Tetrax.
- Yes, I’m in a perfect condition! Those practices proved to be useful after all. – smiled Ben and raised his hand with the omnitrix on it, to give more emphasis to his words.
- All right then. It’s decided. – Lantara said. She saw a green flash, when Ben turned into Xlr8.
- See you at the meeting point! – The windshield closed.
- I’m coming Gwen! – yelled he as he was storming out.

Charmcaster awakened. Her eyes had a purple glowing. She gently touched Kevin’s bare chest. He was sleeping right beside her, in the same bed. Kevin opened his eyes.
- What is it? – He asked. His voice was already wakeful.
- I sense, Ben is on his way here. – Charmcaster replied.
- Are you sure?
- Yes.
- Good. Hmm... I reckon he uses his kineceleran form. But it matters not. He comes from the other side of the continent, it takes more than two hours to get here...even for a fast alien... We can sleep one more hour. – speculated Kevin.
- Shouldn’t we start the preparations right now? What if he arrives earlier? – doubted Charmcaster.
- Trust me, he won’t. Now, sleep. You’ll need the energy. – said Kevin and erotically touched her cheek.

Xlr8 whooshed through the continent. He felt the cold wind all around his skin, but he didn’t care. He was confident, knowing his goal exactly. The run wasn’t exhausting for him at all. He owned his senses and reflexes perfectly. He also knew, when he arrives to his destination, he will finally put an end for this. When he confronts Kevin once again, one of them will die.

Kevin opened his eyes and got up. Charmcaster felt the movement.
- What? – She asked.
- He’s here. – grinned Kevin.

It was dawning already when Xlr8 halted before he entered the Beyond Recovery-City. He collected his thoughts once more and cleared up his mind. All of a sudden, he saw a dark hand, trying to strike him down. He rapidly evaded the blow and ran back a few feet. As the attacker approached him, Ben recognized that it was a large orcbeast. With a green flash, he transformed into Cannonbolt.
- Bring it on, ugly! – yelled he and rolled up. He struck the orcbeast and forced him to the ground. But the beast grabbed and tossed him away. Cannonbolt destroyed a few smaller buildings before he fell down. The dust blurred everything. Cannonbolt evolved from the smoke and hit the beast again. Both fell on the ground, but Cannonbolt crackled a few times. When he was in the air, he turned into Spiderweb. He stretched two of his hands and fired a sticky web to the ruins around him. The web attached to the walls, allowing him to stay in the air. A moment later, he shot a white mass from his other four hands. Before the orcbeast could stand up, he was captured in a cocoon.
Spiderweb used one of his webs as an offshoot to continue his journey. Suddenly, his web was cut, but before he could fell down, he changed into Stinkfly. He looked back and recognized a pyronite. He was bigger and stronger than Heatblast. The pyronite created a huge fire beam but Stinkfly avoided it. Then he shot dozens of fireballs at the lepidopterran. None of them could strike him down. But one of the balls burnt his left wing. He landed on the top of a building, in front of the one, the pyronite stood on. He looked at the smoking wing.
- Hey, that hurts!!! – He exclaimed and spat some goo. There was a huge explosion when it came in contact with a fire beam.
Stinkfly flew up fast; his opponent couldn’t follow his move. He landed behind the aggressive pyronite.
- All right! Joke’s over, loser! – said Stinkfly, turning into Spitter. The pyronite ran towards him to attack, but he was struck down by the large amount of Spitter’s slime. Assuring his victory, Spitter converted into Xlr8. He ran down from the building, to remain undetected.
Suddenly, a purple electric beam went through his body. He collapsed. With a red flash, he turned to Ben. He looked up, and recognized one of his old enemies.
- I’d never thought we’ll see each other, Ben Tennyson! – grinned Doctor Vicktor.
- Oh, you’re the one I’ve just needed. One more problem! – replied Ben.
- But this problem will be your last! Prepare to meet the creator! – yelled Dr. Vicktor and raised his hands. Purple electric discharges flashed as he braced himself to take Ben’s life.
- I’ll say one word or two before that! – shouted Ben and transformed into Fourarms. The green flash blinded Dr. Vicktor for a second, which was enough for the tetramand to punch him on the face.
Dr. Vicktor almost fell off as he retreated. Then he fired a powerful electric beam again. Fourarms thought his thick skin will protect him, but it had no effect on the electricity. It painfully went through his body.
- Aaaaarrrrggh! – roared he. – I don’t have time for this!
Fourarms wanted to punch his opponent again, but dr. Victor grabbed his fist and smiled. He released strong electricity again, which struck the tetramand. He couldn’t take his hand out from dr. Vicktor’s mechanical fist. He used his other three hands to free himself. He hit Dr. Vicktor on the stomach. The evil alien flew back a few feet. Then he created an even more powerful electro beam. Fourarms evaded it with Xlr8’s speed.
- Enough of this foolishness! – shouted he. Before the other beam could reach him, he changed into Buzzshock and consumed all of the energy. But it didn’t disappeared. He formed a green, electric orb in his palms. Then he stretched his hands and fired it back to Dr. Vicktor. It struck him with great intensity. He wasn’t defeated yet, he continued to fire electric beams at Ben. As Buzzshock, he consumed all of them. Suddenly, he had an idea. When the next bema reached him, he became pure, green electricity and merged with the beam. Soon, he got inside Dr. Vicktor and burnt his circuits out. He collapsed. Buzzshock got out and turned into Ben again. He looked around and saw nothing suspicious. All of a sudden, orcbeasts, flouranas, loboans, detrovites and dozens of other creatures appeared from nowhere and surrounded Ben. A vulpimancer wanted to jump on him, but he avoided it with Xlr8’s velocity. He knew from his previous experience, that he was outnumbered and he cannot defeat them all. Then, he recognized a wrecked tank. He smiled, and the omnitrix flashed...

Kevin followed every moment of the battle from his room, in the highest skyscraper. But, after his last transformation, Ben have disappeared from his eyes. His visage carefully examined the area to find him. Then, he heard an explosion from below.
- What was that? – asked Charmcaster from behind.
- Clever! – mumbled Kevin.
- What’s that?
- You can have a guess! It’s Tennyson! He’s inside!
- How can he...- Charmcaster began.
- Lower levels! Go down and stop him! I’m not ready yet! – shouted Kevin.
Charmcaster sighed, and then chanted a spell. She phased through the floor to get down as fast as she could.

Some kind of a powerful weapon suddenly bombed a large hole in the walls of the highest skyscraper. A futuristic battle vehicle rolled inside. It was Upgrade, merged with a tank. It had bigger and thicker white caterpillars, a huge laser cannon and bazookas all around its dome shaped tower. Charmcaster arrived just in time to face Ben.
- You’re a fool to come here! This is the place of your demise! - exclaimed she, floating in the air.
- I don’t think so! You’re toast! – replied Upgrade and fired a blue laser. It didn’t strike Charmcaster, but cut a wide hole into the ceiling. He fired another laser. The witch avoided that one as well. Then, she counterattacked with explosive eggs. But Upgrade was too tough to be defeated that easily. He shot futuristic rockets at her. Charmcaster’s reacted with big iron rings, she used them as a shield. She mumbled some spells and some kind of liquid came out of her palms. Upgrade didn’t know what it is, but he sensed, it’ll damage him. He unmerged in the last moment. The liquid covered the tank. It turned out it was a powerful acid. It destroyed the metal body of the tank in a few seconds. Upgrade turned into his original shape, and fired a plasma beam. Charmcaster didn’t expect that, the beam struck her down.
The mechomorph reverted to Ben.
- I told you! Give up when you still can! – said he as he slowly walked to Charmcaster.
- Never! – hissed the witch and struck Ben with a purple energy beam, coming out of her hand. He hit the walls and then fell down.
Charmcaster stood up and approached Ben, but the omnitrix flashed...
- I shall not be stopped! - yelled Cannonbolt and rolled up. He tried to strike the witch, but he missed her. Then he attacked from another direction. This time he was closer. Because of his moves, the dust began to swirl. Charmcaster only saw a shadow attacking from different directions.
- Show yourself, Tennyson! – She shouted.
- I’m right here! – answered a deep voice behind her. When she looked back, she only saw a yellow ball, which struck her down.
- I won’t say it again! Stay down! You’ve delayed me long enough! – exclaimed Cannonbolt.
- I must protect him! – replied Charmcaster. She was floating in the air already.
- You’ve asked for it! – warned her Cannonbolt and changed into Brainstorm. When the witch fired more lasers at him, he created a green force field to protect himself. Then he focused on the thick pillars, behind her. The green aura surrounded the pillars, as they slowly moved out of their places and headed to Charmcaster. A spell gave extra force to her; she could cut them into pieces.
- You’ll need more to go through me! – laughed she. Brainstorm just smiled. The ceiling above Charmcaster flawed. She looked up in surprise. Brainstorm slowly floated out of the room. The first bigger piece of the ceiling fell down. Soon hundreds of others followed it. Charmcaster realized it’s over.
- Tennysoooonnn!!! – roared she, before the debris buried her alive...

Kevin heard Charmcaster’s scream in his mind. He knew she was defeated; he prepared himself to face his most dangerous opponent once more...

Ben stopped for a moment and glanced back. He felt a bit of remorse inside himself for killing Charmcaster. Then he thought there are some things that he isn’t very proud of. However, he also knew only Kevin is responsible for what he have became during the years. Kevin’s the one to blame, he killed his grandfather. Ben knew this time; he’ll make him pay for good. But first, he have to save Gwen. Only when he puts her in safety, only then he’ll be able to finish Kevin off once and for all.
He came to a junction and didn’t know which of the four ways he should choose. Then, he had an idea. He was still Brainstorm; he could try to locate Gwen telepathically. He focused...
Gwen, Gwen, can you hear me? It’s me, Ben!

He received no respond.
Gwen, can you hear me? Send me a thought if you can!

There was still no answer. He continued.
Gwen where are you? Send me a thought if you can hear me in your mind!

Suddenly, Gwen’s weak voice echoed in Brainstorm’s mind.
Ben, is that you?

Yes. I’m here to save you!

You shouldn’t have come here. Kevin awaits you...

Gwen...Gwen, listen! You got to tell me where are you!

I don’t know, it’s dark and cold in here! Gwen began to cry.
Okay. Everything’s going to be all right! Just focus on me, Gwen! I’ll find you!

Hurry!

Brainstorm looked around in the corridor. He recognized a tetramand sentinel turning to his direction. He began to ran to Brainstorm to attack him. At first, Ben wanted to change alien form to fight, but he realized, he might lose the telepathic contact with Gwen. When the tetramand almost approached him, his eyes started to glow.
You’ve seen nothing. You will continue your patrol the other way.

The sentinel obeyed and slowly walked away.

A green aura ripped the door of Gwen’s cell apart. The omnitrix flashed as Ben reverted to his original shape. He stepped into the darkness.
- Gwen are you in here? – asked he.
Nobody answered.
- Gwen?
He used Wildmutt’s heat vision to locate Gwen. Soon, he recognized a heat sign. He sniffed.
- Wait, something’s wrong...
He returned to his normal vision. He saw a strange, glowing structure in the dark. It reminded him of Heatblast’s hand... Ben sniffed again.
Two red eyes evolved from the blackness. Then he heard Gwen’s voice.
- I told you... You shouldn’t have come here! – By the end of the sentence, the voice changed into someone else’s.
Ben flinched. Then, he realized...
Suddenly, the curtains moved up from the windows, letting the light in. Ben recognized Kevin’s features. He was a full-grown amalgam of the original ten omnitrix-aliens.
- It took you long enough to figure it out. – Kevin grinned.
Ben felt the fury’s blaze in his heart, but he remained calm.
- What is this place? Where’s Gwen? – asked he. But he already knew his plans are all washed away.
- You have much bigger problems now, than your cousin does! – exclaimed Kevin.
- You wanna play dirty, ha? I’m in! Let’s settle this once and for all! – shouted Ben and transformed into Fourarms.
- Muhahahaha! You’re gonna regret saying that! – laughed Kevin devilishly.
They began to run towards each other. Both of them jumped into the air and raised their fists...
The final battle of Ben and Kevin has just begun...

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