And welcome back to Infinity! I do not own MCU or Ben 10 (Though, considering how the reboot is looking, I wish I did). Italics are flashbacks, and emphasis (Brackets are telepathy )So as with the previous two chapters this one will indeed divert considerably away from Evermore's original canon, and it will be considerably longer than the last two chapters, so sit back, relax and enjoy the Dream.

Infinity Chapter III

A Shattered Dream Part III

Stonehenge, June 19th, 10:00 EDT

A flash of pink light preceded Ben, Kevin, and Gwen's appearance next to the ancient monument. Ben took in the ancient standing stones for several seconds, before marching forward.

"So where are they?" Ben asked impatiently, his eyes scanning the area suspiciously.

"They should be here," Gwen answered, staring at his worriedly, "Ben do you even have a plan for when we find them?"

"Yeah, we're going to free Charmcaster, recapture Albedo, and then I'm going to put Vilgax down for good," Ben growled, his fists shaking slightly.

"That's not really a plan." Kevin noted, shrugging off the dark look Ben gave him, "Besides you and I both know every time we think Vilgax is down for the count he just comes back, what's going to change this time?"

"This time?" Ben asked, activating the Omnitrix and choosing the first alien he saw. His skin turned a light tan as he grew taller before he was finally replaced with Humungousaur, "I'm not leaving anything up to chance, no spacing, no explosions, no supposedly inescapable prisons, it all ends today."

The others shared a worried look, failing to notice the black-coloration that was filling in the corners of Ben's eyes.

He stomped around for several seconds before suddenly lashing out, nearly demolishing one of the standing stones in his fury.

"Ben!" Gwen cried, glaring up at him, "What's wrong with you?"

Ben blinked, surprised at his own actions, "Sorry I-I just can't let him get away again."

"Don't worry, Tennyson we'll get him." Kevin reassured, staring around at the standing stones, "If we knew exactly where they are. I mean you'd think a twenty-foot tall squid-man would stand out."

Gwen's eyes flashed pink, though with her as well the faintest hint of black appeared at the corner of her eyes, "They're underneath us!"

"What do you mean?" Humungousaur asked, staring down at her surprised.

"I mean they are literally under our feet." Gwen said, her eyes widening slightly, "I can sense Malware's twisted energy deep below ground."

"Stand back." Ben remarked, slapping the Omnitrix symbol on his chest, replacing Humungousaur with Armodrillo, "I'll make us a way down."

"Wait!" Gwen yelled, her eyes still pink as she stared around at the standing stones around them, "There's no need. I think I can open a way down."

"Open a way down how?" Kevin asked, his eyes scanning the monoliths for any detail of alien tech, "I don't see anything reminiscent of a DNA scanner or a recognition system?"

"Correct," Gwen said, her eyes gaining the black tint once again, "The path down is a little more discreet."

Her hands ignited with pink energy. She lifted her arms and began making intricate gestures in the air. For several seconds nothing happened before suddenly the henge erupted into a cacophony of rainbow-colored light. The light began to coalesce around the center of the henge before it snapped outward with an audible crack. That crack was followed by a low rumble as Stonehenge itself began to shift, uprooting the ground around it as the separate standing stones began to realign themselves with each other until they formed a somewhat spiral staircase pattern. The rumbling increased as the stones then began to sink into the ground revealing a complete staircase that led deep into the earth beneath the henge.

"Way to go, babe," Kevin said, catching Gwen as she stumbled slightly.

"Yeah, nice job Gwen." Ben said, transforming back into his normal self, "Let's go."

With that the trio descended the staircase, missing the light at the center of henge suddenly turn an impossibly deep black color.

For the first several minutes the descent was fairly peaceful. Of course, that ended rather quickly when several amalgams detached from the ceiling, taking the heroes by surprise. Gwen managed to turn one into a pile of slag and glowing rock with an impressive blast of pink fire, while Kevin shattered the second's head with a nickel-covered fist courtesy of some change in his pocket. Ben meanwhile dodged backward, transforming as he went his skin becoming crystalline. A second later Diamondhead was standing in his place, and the final amalgam earned itself a crystal shard right through the eye.

Ben stared down at the dead amalgam and shuddered slightly, as red and black liquid began to pour from its open jaws, "I still don't understand how they turned Malware into that."

"His mana is even more corrupted then it was originally." Gwen said, bending down next one Kevin had decapitated, "His mind, it's almost gone. All he feels now if hunger and a need to follow Vilgax's orders."

"Let's get moving," Ben remarked, as he shifted back to human. He looked down at the remains of his enemy one last time before continuing down the steps, the others only a pace behind him.

They eventually reached the bottom of the stairs finding a forked path before them. Ben turned to face the others with a grim expression.

"I'll go left, you guys head right, keep in contact with the comms alright." He said, walking off without any further direction. Gwen and Kevin stared after him for several seconds, then headed down their respective tunnel.

Ben walked in silence for what felt like hours until he suddenly found himself in a large open chamber. As he walked in he noticed what looked to be a rather detailed mural that covered most of the opposite wall.

The leftmost side depicted what looked to be seven women, each holding a small stone above their head. The largest was colored a brilliant white and was wreathed in what looked like clouds. To her left was a slightly smaller harsh red figure, who seemed to be surrounded by red ripples, while beside her was a soothing orange figure with a starburst covering her chest, and next to her was a light yellow figure with a starburst around her head. To the right of the white figure was a cold green figure surrounded in tick marks that reminded Ben of a clock, her neighbor was colored a deep blue and was surrounded by stars while the final figure was a lustrous purple that was surrounded by flames.

The next picture showed the women facing off against a group of seven faceless figures, a minuscule green creature, a skeletal being holding a large scythe, a man with great ram horns, a man stepping out of a swirling blue portal, a woman surrounded in pink fire, a giant with bruised purple skin, and an indistinct grey figure who was following the others at a much slower pace.

The next mural depicted the seven new figures victorious each holding a stone in their hands. The green creature held the white stone in his hand, the reaper holding the yellow stone reverently in his skeletal palm, the horned man held the blue stone close to his chest, at the center of the portal sat the green stone, the man nowhere in sight while the pink wreathed woman cupped the red stone in both hands, the giant held the purple stone above his head and the grey figure had pressed the orange stone to his forehead.

The second to last drawing showed the giant suddenly turning against his fellows, grabbing the white stone as well as the purple, his body suddenly becoming wreathed in black.

What followed next could only be explained as war. One that seemed to tear the entire universe in two. At its center the giant and an army of abominations facing off against his former fellows, each at the head of their own army. The final piece of the drawing showed the giant being cast into a deep pit while his fellows stood above, though falling with him was the white stone, a hint of black beginning to overtake it.

The final drawing showed the remaining six going their separate ways, leaving the white gem alone, though it was now wreathed in a dark black, that seemed to be overcoming the white. Above them, all hung a golden gauntlet, that each figure seemed to not be able to look at.

"What is this?" Ben wondered allowed, reaching for his comms, "Hey Gwen, I think you're going to want to see what I just found."

"What is it?" she asked, her voice crackling over the comms.

"It's a mural depicting a group of people fighting over a bunch of rocks." Ben stated flatly, "I don't exactly understand what it all means-"

"Of course you don't." a snide voice remarked causing Ben to freeze, and whirl around to face the intruder. Glaring back him at his own face, though about five years younger with stark white hair.

"I, however, understand the meaning quite well, now that my eyes have been opened to the truth." Albedo remarked, a smug grin plastered across his face.

"Ben, what is it?" Gwen asked.

"It's Albedo he's, Ow!" Ben ripped his comm out of his ear as it began to spark and smolder.

"Oh sorry." Albedo deadpanned, smirking as he put the small remote away, "Did that hurt?"

"What are you doing here Albedo?" Ben asked, his hand twitching towards the Omnitrix, "The last time you worked with Vilgax he hung you out to dry, literally."

"I'm not working with Vilgax." Albedo said, pulling off his goggles to reveal solid black eyes, "I'm doing something so much greater than serving that old squid."

"What happened to your eyes?" Ben asked, taking a step back.

"As I said Tennyson, my eyes have been opened." Albedo said, his face suddenly elongating as he rapidly changed into XLR8 and then evolved. His jaw elongated into a fanged mouth, while the large claws grew into one razor-sharp blade, his legs grew larger and the sphere between his toes transformed into a circular blade, while spines erupted along his spine going all the way down his tail which now ended in a lethally sharp needle-thin point.

"Your's are close to opening as well." the doppelganger remarked.

Ben, reaching for his own eyes a question forming on his lips, only for Albedo's body to begin vibrating.

Ben quickly activated the Omnitrix and slammed down the faceplate. His body was enveloped in green light as his body shrunk.

"Jury Rigg!" Ben yelled, before looking down at the Omnitrix, "Really, four years later and you still feel like playing jokes?"

"Perfect," Albedo growled, shooting forward, his blades poised to remove Ben's head.

"Ha!" Kevin laughed, smashing another one of the amalgams aside with a hammer, before bringing it down onto the creature's head, turning it into a mashed pile of metal and Mechamorph, "Man I've missed this. My blood hasn't been running this hot since Valentine's Day!"

"Really?" Gwen snapped, shooting him a deadpanned look. This didn't stop her from turning three other amalgams into piles of melting slag, however.

"What it's not like they're going to tell anyone?" Kevin joked, shattered another amalgam against a wall with a solid punch.

Gwen rolled her eyes, before launching a lightning bolt right past his left ear, causing an amalgam's head to erupt with a violent spatter.

"Whoa!" Kevin yelled, jumping to the side, "Wasn't that a little close?"

"I wasn't aiming at the monster," Gwen said sweetly, before turning a corner. Kevin followed behind, his bravado a bit stunted, only to immediately bump into her.

"Gwen, what's wrong?" Kevin asked, placing a hand on her shoulder. She only shook her head and pointed in front of her. Standing with her back to them was Charmcaster, standing completely still, her head cocked the side as if listening to something.

"Charmcaster!" Gwen hissed, stepping towards her rival cautiously, "Are you alright?"

"Gwen?" Charmcaster asked, not turning around, "Is that you?"

"Yes, we came to get you out of here," Gwen assured, taking another step forward, while Kevin stayed back making sure none of the amalgams would catch them by surprise.

"Is that so?" Charmcaster remarked, turning around to reveal she was holding Hex's staff and her eyes were solid black.

"What happened to you?" Gwen asked, her senses suddenly bombarded on all sides with a malevolent presence that seemed to have taken over Charmcaster's mind.

"She opened my eyes." Charmcaster said reverently, "She's trying to open yours as well."

Charmcaster suddenly leveled the staff at Gwen and fired a blast of energy from it. Gwen managed to dodge out of the way but the unaware Kevin ended up taking the shot in the back. He slammed against the opposite wall with a loud clang. Gwen whirled around to make sure he was okay and was caught unaware as two amalgams dropped from the ceiling separating her from her boyfriend.

She prepared to turn the creatures into a pair of craters when a burst of black energy crashed into her back. She immediately began to feel faint as if she hadn't slept in days. She stumbled slightly, turning to face Charmcaster how had raised the Staff of Ages overhead.

"She beckons." Charmcaster muttered, bringing the staff down against Gwen's head with a sickening crack, knocking her unconscious "And I follow."

She then cast a spell that revealed the bare wall she had been facing was only an illusion and walked through one of the amalgams following close behind with Gwen draped over its misshapen shoulder.

Kevin rolled over, his strength returning and watched in horror as Gwen was carried away, he tried to push himself to his feet and raised a hand after her.

"Gwen!" he yelled, managing to push himself up to his knees.

Charmcaster turned at his yell and gave him a cold smile. She snapped her fingers and turned away as the tunnel behind her began to collapse in on itself.

Kevin rolled out of the way of the cave-in and found himself surrounded by at least thirty of the amalgams, which collectively let out a rasping hiss.

"Try me," Kevin muttered, both hands turning into large spiked maces.

Ben barely managed to dodge out of the way of Albedo's attack, Jury Rigg's jumper gaining a long thin tear from the incredibly quick slash.

Ben glared up at his doppelganger, who was clearly toying with him, XLR8 could move faster than that in an unevolved state. This form, well he doubted he would only have a tear in his shirt if Albedo had been attacking him in earnest.

"I believe you are at a disadvantage Tennyson." Albedo pointed out, scrapping the long blade along the wall, creating an ear-wrenching screech.

"You sure about that?" Jury Rigg asked with a gleeful smirk. He then punched the Omnitrix symbol and twisted. Four prongs embedded into his stomach, and his entire form was surrounded in a green sphere.

Albedo flash stepped towards him and slashed at the bubble only for the blade to slam against a muscley purple fist. Albedo's eyes widened considerably as another massive fist came out of the sphere and slammed into his body, sending him careening into the opposite wall.

"Ultimate Jury Rigg!" two voices cried out, one deep and reminiscent of a cockney accent, the other high pitched almost feminine with a hint of a posh British lilt.

Albedo shook his head, clearing his blurry vision. He glared at the figure, no figures, across from him with unbridled hate.

Where Jury Rigg once stood two figures had appeared. Albedo's assailant was nearly ten feet tall, with thick purple skin, massive arms, a pitbull-like face with a large misshapen nose and small green eyes. It was dressed in a pair of black overalls, a small green vest, and black fingerless gloves. It stood hunched like a gorilla using its massive forearms to support its body. On its back was a large black basket, in which sat another figure.

It had light pink skin, slightly atrophied arms and legs, an oversized cranium, a thin pointed nose, and large expressive green eyes. It wore a green overcoat, a small black top hat, and white pants. A smooth smile crossed the smaller being's face.

"As you can clearly ascertain," the Brain stated matter-a-factly, "I asked Azmuth, the actual greatest mind in five galaxies mind you, to add the evolution feature to the Omnitrix some time ago. Just in case I ever needed to, how did I put it?

"Go big, go home." the Brawn finished, earning a pat on the head from his partner.

"Yes, very good Brawn." Brain said, a grin crossing his face, "Let's go big shall we?"

"He, he, he." Brawn laughed, standing up to his full height and cracking his knuckles expectantly, "Break time."

"Indeed." Brain said, leaping off of his partner's back as it suddenly charged at Albedo who despite his great speed wasn't prepared for the sudden attack. Brain meanwhile started fiddling with the broken comm, its eyes glowing a dull green.

The Brawn crashed through the wall, tossing Albedo to the ground of the tunnel beyond. Albedo grunted hard before flash stepping out of the next attack. He began flashing back and forth slashing at the Brawn intermittently but not seeming to do more than leave minor scratches rather than the deep cuts he was seeking.

The Brawn let out an irritated roar after missing Albedo for about the fiftieth time and suddenly lashed out shattering the ground beneath them into gravel. Albedo stumbled, narrowly missing a stalactite through the brain. His good luck failed however when the Brawn grabbed hold of UXLR8's tail, ignoring the spines entirely. The behemoth then proceeded to smash Albedo into every available surface. Eventually, it stopped tossing the bloody and nearly unconscious Albedo to the ground, where he transformed back into his human form.

"Admirable job." the Brain said, coming around the corner. He stared down at Albedo for several seconds, "It appears that we are done here, come let us find out companions and stop Vilgax once and for all."

"Okay," Brawn said, picking up his partner with incredible care for a being so strong and placed him in the basket on his back.

The pair managed to make it several minutes before finally finding Kevin under heavy fire from what appeared to be a new form of amalgam, all of which had a large repeater cannon replacing one of their arms.

The duo charged only for the Omnitrix to time out at that moment, sending Ben careening to the ground.

"Really," Ben muttered at the Omnitrix, looking up at the assembled amalgams, half of which were now pointing their blasters at him.

An energy blast nearly took Ben's head off as he leaped over a collapsed stone column. Ducking behind it, he breathed in deeply before glancing to his side where Kevin sat his stone covered face a hard grimace. They were trapped in a dead-end stone tunnel, deep underground, with at least fifty amalgams blasting away at their position.

"You really did it this time Tennyson," Kevin muttered, flinching as a laser-bolt grazed the stone next to his head.

"Seriously?" Ben fired back, scrolling through his choice of aliens.

"Yes, you suggested going in guns blazing." Kevin remarked, jabbing his finger over his shoulder at the swarming amalgams charging towards them, "And like usual, we are up the creek! Gwen's captured, your running on empty and I've got nothing but stone to absorb without risking getting riddled with holes!"

Ben made to retort when an amalgam smashed through the pillar they were hiding behind, slamming them both to the ground. Another leaped onto Kevin and began pummeling him mercilessly while the original grabbed Ben by the neck and slammed him into a pillar.

His vision immediately blurred, though he managed to make out the metallic fist coming towards his face just before everything went black.

The amalgams stopped their assault almost immediately as the bloodied and bruised Albedo limped around the corner, his face set in a determined scowl.

"Bring them." he spat, his black eyes burning with unbridled contempt.

Beneath Stonehenge, June 21st, 23:01 EDT

Ben woke up slowly, his vision cloudy and his head aching. Where was he? How much time had passed? He looked around, catching sight of Gwen and Kevin, who were also glaring around at their location with trepidation. All of their arms were chained above their heads, though both Gwen and Kevin's shone with dark energy. They were in a massive cave, and at the very center was a pedestal seeming made of pure obsidian. Kneeling before it was a massive cloaked figure, who looked up when they felt Ben's eyes upon them.

"Tennyson." a cold voice croaked, "You finally awaken."

"Vilgax," Ben growled, glaring up at the once-powerful warlord. Vilgax looked more like a hermit then a feared ruler, a long black cloak hung over his body, though Ben could clearly make out the scarred and pitted armor beneath. Vilgax's face was a mess of scars, several of his tentacles even ending in charred stumps. However, the massive quivering tentacle that had replaced his right arm caught most of his attention. That and the fact that just like Albedo, Vilgax's eyes had changed to a dark soulless black, though they still glinted with the searing hot hatred then Ben had grown accustomed to.

"Today is that last time we will be seeing each other Tennyson." Vilgax remarked, looming over the chained hero, "In this life or the next."

Ben sneered up at his oldest enemy, "I doubt I'd be seeing much of you in the afterlife anyway."

"Always so brave, ever prepared with some witty remark." Vilgax muttered, "And yet even you will falter before Her."

"Her who?" Ben spat.

"She who pulled me from the void, she who remade Malware into not just my armor, but the most loyal servant I could have hoped for, she who brought me Albedo and set me on the path of the young spell weaver. She who will finally allow me to achieve my Dream."

"How poetic." Ben remarked sarcastically, "But you still haven't told me who she is."

"Oh, do not worry you shall meet her soon enough," Vilgax remarked, cryptically, "But first she must be appeased."

He then marched towards Gwen looming over her, "Turn into your other form."

"Why would I do that!" Gwen yelled, glaring up at the alien.

"Because, if you don't," Vilgax whispered menacingly, pointing at Kevin with his good hand, "Your mate will die."

As if on cue, Albedo appeared next to Kevin in his evolved Kincerelean form, his blade positioned across Kevin's throat.

"Don't." Kevin remarked, smirking at Albedo, "They're bluffing."

"I never bluff." Vilgax remarked, not bothering to turn around to look at him, his eyes locked on Gwen's face, "And I do not like to repeat myself. Take your other form!"

"Don't listen, Gwen!" Kevin and Ben yelled simultaneously, only for both to suddenly earn long cuts across their faces, before Albedo reappeared next to Kevin placing his blade back across the chained man's throat.

"Do it, Or you will watch him die," Vilgax warned his cold eyes burrowing into hers.

Gwen stayed silent for several seconds, seconds which Vilgax took as a refusal. He nodded at Albedo who raised his blade to drew back his blade to remove Kevin's head.

"Stop!" Gwen cried, her skin peeling away to reveal her true form. Glowing pink tears tracked down her face, "Please."

Albedo lowered his blade, while Vilgax reached out surprisingly gently and wiped one of her tears from her face. Then just as quickly Albeo raced forward cutting a small line across Gwen's face, earning a cry of pain.

"You son of a bitch!" Kevin roared, straining against his bonds.

Vilgax meanwhile ignored his outburst and turned towards Charmcaster who until this point had stood unnoticed by the trapped heroes, "Bring Her here."

Charmcaster nodded and stepped towards the pedestal, the others joining her, Albedo smearing the blood of the three heroes on the surface of the pedestal while Vilgax did the same with the tear.

"There is a legend," Vilgax began sensing the confusion of the imprisoned heroes, "Of a being who will grant you wildest wish and make real your craziest dream. My Dream has always been the end of you Tennyson and thanks to you I have found Her."

At that moment Charmcaster reached into her pack and when she drew her hand back out it was wreathed in a fathomless black light. Then almost reverently she held her hand above the pedestal and opened her clenched fist. Out of it fell a perfectly ovoid gemstone, blacker than anything the assembled heroes had ever seen. It let out a light chiming noise as it made contact with the pedestal. Then silence filled the cave as everyone seemed to hold their breath.

The silence was cut off by a sudden and violent fit of laughter that startled even Vilgax. He whirled around fuming as Ben continued to laugh unabated.

"The big and dangerous 'She' is a stone?!" Ben asked, trying to regain composure, mirth filled tears pouring down his cheeks, "God, spacing you must have done even more damage then I thought!"

"You dare mock her!" Charmcaster yelled, leveling her Uncle's staff at him. Albedo kept from yelling but he looked equally upset at Ben's flippant remarks.

"So Vilgax went nutty and he decided to brainwash the both of you," Ben remarked, smirking at the clearly fuming villains.

"You saw the murals yourself, Tennyson." Vilgax remarked, undaunted by his taunts, "And soon enough you will know the truth."

"Yeah about that." Ben remarked, his smirk suddenly gaining a hard edge, "Did you really think I came here without a backup plan?"

He then opened his hand to reveal the comm that the Brain half of Ultimate Jury Rigg had been fiddling with while his other half beat Albedo into the dirt, or stone as would have it. He had managed to turn the comm into a beacon, which he pressed.

"Surprise," Ben remarked, as Plumbers began teleporting in all around the cave. An orange blaster bolt suddenly fired from higher up shattering Ben's restraints. Ben fell to the ground a broad smile crossing his face.

"You see, Gwen," Ben began to explain, pointing at his cousin as she too was released, "Figured out that Malware was linked directly to your brain meaning anything he heard or saw, you heard or saw. So we flubbed the details of the mission a bit. Instead of Rook just going to warn Grandpa Max, he was going to wait for our signal and then come in with the Plumbers, guns blazing.

He shot a salute at Rook who stood above them on a perch alongside several other Plumbers. Rook saluted back and then launched one last bolt freeing Kevin from his restraints.

"So in short," Ben remarked, activating the Omnitrix, "It's Hero Time!"

And cliff hanger. Sorry, sorry but hey I can say that most definitely the next chapter will be the end of the prologue. Which indeed means that Ben will be in the Marvel universe by the end. So feel free to guess who those people depicted in the mural are, some should be pretty obvious but others well...they're a bit more mysterious. The name of the story itself is a bit of a giveaway. Also, make sure to hit up the poll I created to see who will be Ben's romantic interest, the results have been quite...unexpected shall we say. I might be taking a short break to catch up on my Young Justice story but don't worry it will definitely not be a hiatus. VerBeek signing off!