And welcome back to Infinity! I do not own MCU or Ben 10. Italics are flashbacks, and emphasis (Brackets are telepathy). Now I bet a few of you are saying, Wait this isn't a time-line? What happened? Did he give up on it? And the answer to that is no! In fact, there is so much info I need to compile I figured instead I would make it a completely separate entity that I will post after fully finishing it...right now I'm working on the events that lead to the second battle of Stalingrad...so yeah this timeline is screwier than ya thought...hell it's screwier than I first thought as well.

But back to the matter at hand, welcome Guys, Gals and Nonbinary Pals to the first Arc of this fic, Under the Dome, let's get started!

Infinity: Under the Dome Chapter VII

Diamonds to Dust

The Dome, Bronx Checkpoint, October 11th 8:00 EDT

Cynthia Sanford clutched her son to her side as they passed through the checkpoint, letting out a relieved breath as for the first time in several months she caught sight of blue sky. Looking back she saw the hooded figure who had protected her and her son. He nodded at her politely before heading back deeper into the Dome. Why he wanted so badly to stay was beyond her, but she would forever be grateful to this 'Crusher' for getting her and her son out of that hell safe.

"Right this way Miss." one of the guards said, giving her a comforting smile. She noticed that several armed guards were eyeing her and her son, though none went out of the way to make themselves appear threatening.

A cursory glance would show that the guards were separated in two camps, those working for SHIELD and a group of career soldiers, freelancers, and military vets financed by General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross, called the Gamma Corp. The tension between the two groups could easily have been cut with a dull butter-knife but Cynthia was too overwhelmed by her situation to take notice.

The guard, dressed in SHIELD combats lead her and her son over to the side, where another, dressed in the grey and green of the Gamma Corp, stood waiting in front of a computer terminal next to what resembled a metal detector.

"Stop here." the SHIELD agent ordered, though his friendly smile cut down on the harsh tone.

Cynthia obeyed, shooting both guards a questioning look, "What is this for?"

"There are a lot of people lost beneath that Dome Miss," the GC guard stated curtly, "We have orders to help catalog those that make it back to us as well as run a routine scan. Names please."

"Cynthia Sanford and Jacob Reece, my son." Cynthia said, her eyes narrowing slightly, "A scan for what?"

The SHIELD Guard spoke up, "Any abnormalities, injuries, or complications caused by time under the Dome. Sorry for the inconvenience Mam, but it is in your best interests and those of your son."

Cynthia looked down at her son, who was watching both guards with barely contained fear, though she could see that exhaustion was getting the best of him. She drew her fingers through his hair softly. They had been through so much already, what could one little scan hurt?

"Alright Miss Sanford, if you would step through the scanner first please." the GC guard asked.

Reluctantly she released Jacob's hand, startling the boy out of his stupor as he clutched for her hand, "Mom?"

"It's okay Jacob, I'm right here," Cynthia assured, stepping back into the scanner, which began to bath her first in a blue, then red, then green light.

The SHIELD agent knelt down next to Jacob and gave him a soothing smile, "It's okay champ, just this scan, then you and your Mom'll get to grab something to eat, and then rest on a real bed. I'm thinking you'd like that right?"

Jacob looked up at him with wide eyes and nodded.

"I thought so." the agent noted genially, "Say, how old are you?"

Jacob looked over at his mother who smiled reassuringly, "Go on."

"I-I'm seven years old." Jacob stated shyly, a smile slowly crossing his face, "But I turn eight next week!"

"Well aren't you lucky eh buddy?" the agent noted, gesturing up at the blue sky, "How's that for an early birthday present?"

"It's great!" Jacob said his excitement getting a laugh from the guard and his mother while the GC member smiled grudgingly, "I...I was really scared in there."

He pointed back at the Dome, looming above them like a near-endless red wall.

"I understand." the SHIELD agent said, "To be honest I would be pretty scared in there too."

"You would?" Jacob asked, his eyes widening slightly.

"Of course." the agent responded, "But you don't have to be afraid anymore alright?"

The GC guard spoke up suddenly, "You're good Miss, now for your son."

Cynthia stepped out of the scanner, giving her son a reassuring smile as he stepped forward.

"Just hold still okay champ?" the agent stated, walking over to stand beside the terminal, "Just a few more minutes and then you're scotfree."

Jacob gave another shy smile and stood very still, allowing the multi-colored scanners to cover his body.

"Thank you, for trying to make him feel comfortable," Cynthia said quietly, giving the SHIELD Agent a bright smile.

The agent smiled back cautiously, "No need to thank me, just trying to make him feel safe, you know. We've had a few kids through here before, keeps me up at night thinking about all those people stuck in that hell. I wish I could be doing more than just watching this checkpoint though. I joined SHIELD after the Invasion, wanted to make a difference but you didn't just wait through months of hell to hear me ramble on, sorry."

"No, I…" Cynthia was cut off by a loud series of beeps that caused the agent to bolt forward with his eyes trained on the terminal.

The agent and the GC shared a look, before the former turned to Cynthia, "Miss can you come over here for a second please?"

"What about Ja-" she was cut off by the GC woman, who gave her a stern look, "Don't worry, I'll keep an eye on him."

Jacob watched as his mother walked away with the nice SHIELD man, leaving him alone with this angry lady. Several minutes passed and then he heard his mother crying and yelling. He tried to run to see what was wrong when the angry lady blocked his path.

"Let me see my Mom!" Jacob yelled, trying to dodge around her, only for the GC to consistently block his path.

"It's okay kid," The woman grunted, "Your mom'll be back in a bit."

"But she's crying!" Jacob shouted, the air around him seemingly getting hotter as his frustration and fear grew, "Let me see her!"

"No." was the woman's curt response. Jacob bolted at that, dodging between her legs only for her to reach out and grab a hold of his arm. He pulled with all his strength but couldn't get her to let go.

"Let go of me!" Jacob yelled, the heat around him increasing, "Let me see my Mom! Mom! Mom!"

"Kid it's going to be-" the woman never got to finish her sentence as a wave of force rolled off of Jacob, sending her flying backward her body armor sizzling. Jacob stood there for several seconds terrified, as bright magenta smoke began to pour from his eyes and hands, pooling on the ground around him.

"What the hell is going-put it down Montoya!" the agent yelled, bolting forward just as Jacob's mother screamed. Jacob whirled around and found himself looking down what appeared to be the barrel of a gun.

"Mommy!" Jacob cried, his body bathed in magenta energy, which exploded outward in a blinding flash, leaving his Mother and the guards momentarily blinded. A wave of force followed knocking them all off their feet.

Agent Stewart pushed himself to his feet, blinking black dots out of his eyes as he looked around franticly. Sucking in a gasp, he pushed himself to his feet, staring around at the sight before him.

The Checkpoint was nearly unrecognizable, the scanner was nothing but a pile of ash, the terminals had turned to solid wood including the holo-screen which fluttered in the wind like unimaginably thin paper and for about twenty feet around the pavement had turned into something vaguely resembling liquid glass. Stewart noticed then that several glass foot-prints lead away from the Checkpoint heading back towards the Dome.

Montoya surged to her feet across from him, her eyes filled with awed horror as she took in the scene around them. She gripped the butt of her Icer tightly, and was surprised when it crumpled in her hand, having been transmuted into was resembled wet, pitch-black sand.

Stewart growled under his breath and made towards the Gamma Corp Merc, who glared at him defiantly when a soft tearful voice stopped him short.

"You told us we were safe." Cynthia stated, angry tears pooling in her eyes, "You told my son not to be afraid, and then you chased him back into that hell."

With that, her composure broke and she collapsed, weeping uncontrollably, as the events of the past three months finally overcame her. Agent Stewart clenched his fist, shooting Montoya another writhing glare, and walked over to Miss Sanford. He paused, before placing a cautious hand on Cynthia's shoulder. The bereaved mother looked up at him, anger, sadness, and a faint hope swirling across her eyes.

"I swear to you Miss," Agent Stewart said, his eyes filled with willful conviction, "We will get your son back."

Avenger's Tower, New York 10:01 EDT

Sitting alone in his sparsely decorated bedroom; Ben Tennyson, was for lack of a better word, anxious. Two weeks had passed since his awakening at the Helicarrier, which was back to full functionality thanks to Stark's quick thinking and liberal usage of the other Avengers powers.

He chuckled softly to himself, The Avengers. A disorganized team of misfits, with metric tons of baggage yet they'd taken to him like fire on oil. For that at least he was thankful, better to have a slightly mangled lifeline then be left floundering in an entirely different universe.

He let out a long sigh at that thought. He'd hopped universes before which honestly should have been a bigger deal than it felt now. However, in the past, he at least had some recognizable faces to go off of, even if the personalities were skewed. Here, there was no Ben, no Gwen, Kevin, Grandpa, Bellwood nor Undertown. No odd familitaries like aliens walking the streets or Plumber agents having coffee with cops in random cafes. For the first time in his life, he was alone, in a place so painfully similar but jarringly different. Mutants, Inhumans, HYDRA, San Fransokyo, SHIELD, Stark Tech, every big change made his head spin. So instead of focusing on the big differences; he'd busied himself with enjoying the small similarities like Mom-and-Pop Diners and noon-day traffic. His 'team-mates' had been worried about his apparent distrust of the world around him, though he'd been able to alleviate their fears with a tried and true method, fake partial amnesia. He'd come up with it all on the spot during an impromptu 'research' session by Dr. Pym, Banner, and Tony Stark at dinner a few nights ago.

"How do your powers work?" Tony had asked suddenly, causing the unexpecting youth to choke on his Big-Belly-Burger. The table had gone silent as everyone turned to look at him.

Choking down his food Ben had tried to play coy, "What do you mean?"

Tony pointed his shoulder at Daisy, who froze a set of pasta filled chopsticks halfway to her mouth, "Tremors said you have incredible control over your powers, which isn't something you would see out of a newly awoken Inhuman or recently Gifted person. That and back after the big fight you mentioned something about being the 'former wielder of the Omnitrix."

Ben sat there for several seconds like a deer in headlights before Janet spoke up, "You don't have to answer if you don't want to Ben."

Ben took another bite of his burger and shook his head. "It's okay, it's just a bit complicated to answer. So uh my memory's a bit fuzzy, as you've noticed, but from what I can remember is that I used to have this alien made machine called the Omnitrix attached to my wrist."

"How did that come to pass?" Hank had asked, the word alien having fully drawn his attention from his food, not that he'd touched it much beforehand anyways.

Ben faked a pensive look, "Can't remember to be honest, but what I do know is it has rarely left my wrist, and that it is or was what allowed me to transform into multiple alien lifeforms."

"So your powers are neither natural or terrestrial is what you're saying?" Banner asked, his eyes locked on Ben.

"Correct." Ben offered, frowning slightly, "I've had it for so long though it almost felt normal to have it clutching my wrist. So when I woke up and it was gone, I freaked out."

"This is all that's left." Ben stated, sedately revealing the green hourglass-shaped brand on the back of his wrist."

"Not exactly." Tony stated nonchalantly, "Friday, can you pull up Simmon's medical files on the Changeling?"

"Of course Boss, give me a moment." the AI responded.

"My medical files?" Ben asked, "Also Changeling? Really?"

"Humor me, on both accounts." the older man joked, as several holograms appeared showing Ben's vitals.

"Notice anything?" Tony asked, pointing at the images with his foot as he crunched down some onion rings.

Ben's eyes had widened, the burger falling from his grip as he saw the lattice of lights and liquid metal that had interwoven through his organs, muscles, and bones.

"It's oddly beautiful." Janet had noted taking it in for the first time as well.

"Yeah." Ben had muttered, a soft smile on his face that he then buried in the remains of his burger.

"So not gone kid." Tony had said, "Internalized."

From there it had turned into technobabble that Ben had quickly tuned out. He still had the Omnitrix, so that was one less thing to worry about though he still couldn't shake the feeling that he was missing something.

Friday's voice cut through his musings, "Can all Avengers report to Mission Control, thank you."

Ben shot to his feet and steadily made his way downstairs linking up with Daisy and Hank on the way down.

"What's going on?" Ben asked, getting a noncommittal shrug from Hank, who was too preoccupied tinkering with the latest iteration of his helmet to acknowledge the question.

"Coulson is here to give us a mission briefing." Daisy offered, "I'm not sure for what though."

Ben nodded, as the trio rounded the corner finding the meeting room already occupied by a placidly smiling Coulson, fidgeting Janet, and Banner, who was sipping a cup of tea peacefully.

"We'll get started when Ms. Potts gets back." Coulson offered, as the trio sat down, Hank falling into place next to Jan, Ben sitting by Banner while to his minor annoyance Daisy plopped down beside him, "She had to tear Tony away from his latest toy."

Several minutes later a severely cowed Stark walked in, hair matted with sweat and engine grease hastily wiped on his jeans. Pepper nodded at Coulson and then headed back out giving Tony a pointed look.

"So now that we're all here, let's get started," Coulson said in a tone that made Ben think in another life he would have made the perfect teacher.

A holographic globe of the world appeared along with several classified files and newspaper headings. Several glowing pinpricks of light covered the globe spread from New York to the Outback of Australia.

"As you all know four months ago on the Summer Solstice an unknown entity or entities created the Dome," Coulson stated Ben sat silently watching the others nod. For a split second, he thought about telling the assembled heroes of what had truly transpired but he shook it off. It could wait for a later time, probably after he'd told them of his true origins.

Coulson continued, drawing Ben out of his musing, "We've kept the public focused on the Dome because if they knew the short and long of it, there would be worldwide panic."

"The short and long of it being what exactly?" Janet asked, sitting forward expectantly.

Coulson appeared to put on fifty years as his smile disappeared, "The Dome is just the tip of the iceberg Miss Van Dyne and believe me the deeper SHIELD investigates the worse it gets."

Several video clips appeared on-screen showing several buildings in different states of destruction, red energy reminiscent of the Dome coursing across them.

"A particle accelerator explosion in Central City, Michigan," Coulson stated, pointing at the first video.

"SHIELD-allied supermax prisons across the globe losing all security, leading to one of the largest simultaneous prison breaks in world history."

"The London Museum cracking like an egg due to a localized earthquake." Coulson finished, letting out a long defeated sigh, "It's like we're stuck in a…"

"Waking Nightmare." Ben finished unintentionally, drawing the room's attention, "Right?"

"Exactly," Coulson affirmed.

"Which prisons were taken down?" Banner asked, his eyes glowing green for a millisecond as his hands tensed involuntarily. A sudden tension filled the room, as Tony and Ben inched slowly away from their teammate.

"Thankfully the Cube's still locked tight." Coulson answered, smirking slightly as the tension seemed to immediately evaporate, "As is the Zoo. However, the Vault, Asylum, and Raft report all inmates unaccounted for."

A low grumble went around the table just as Ben interjected, "I'm sorry but can someone tell Mister Missing Memories what all of that meant?"

"They're a series of prisons dealing with different kinds of supervillains." Tony said evenly, "The Cube takes Gammas and Non-Terrestrials, The Zoo is a mutant wildlife sanctuary, the Vault was home to every evil nerd who misused technology, the Asylum was for the clinically insane and possibly rehabilitable and the Raft was for the ones at the very top of SHIELD's shit-list, the big kahunas if you will. That make any sense?"

"A bit yeah." Ben responded, turning back to Coulson, "So are you asking us to focus on catching the escaped inmates?"

"No, SHIELD has most of that well in hand." Coulson said, shaking his hand, "Fury just asked me to give you the full stock of the situation."

"Besides, the Asylum's Gargoyle doesn't want any of us moving in on their turf. Right, Coulson?" Tony joked, leaning back in his chair slightly.

"Yes, they prefer that SHIELD stays out of their business, and for the moment Fury is willing to comply." Coulson agreed, "But back to the matter at hand, there was an occurrence at the Bronx Checkpoint earlier this morning."

Coulson then went on to describe the events that had transpired, which lead to several of the Avenger's vibrating in their seats.

"Why didn't you lead with that Coulson?" Daisy asked, jabbing a finger at her former mentor aggressively, "This should have taken precedence."

"And I agree but the Director wanted me to explain the entire situation first before getting into the situation revolving around Jacob Reece," Coulson explained, his plain-faced facade slipping slightly.

"But why?" Hank fired back, his eyes flashing angrily, "A seven-year-old boy is lost in the Dome, dealing with powers he doesn't understand and Fury just sits on it?"

"It's the source of Jacob's powers that make it all relevant." Coulson said calmly, a mug shot of a thin man with wild brown hair and glowing magenta eyes appearing next to him, "This man is Owen Reece, aka Molecule Man, a key suspect behind the origin of the Dome and he just happens to be Jacob's father."

"Oh shit." Tony swore, sucking in air through his teeth, "That's not good."

The other Avenger's beside Ben reacted quite the same, Banner breaking the arms of his chair before regaining his composure. Janet's mouth was wide open, while Hank was making a sound like a deflating car tire. Daisy appeared to be actually vibrating as she muttered something vaguely threatening under her breath in Mandarin.

"I take it that is a very bad thing?" Ben asked, once again feeling the fool for his lack of even general knowledge of this world's dilemmas.

"Owen is one of the most powerful Omega Class individuals SHIELD has ever come across." Coulson offered, "He can manipulate the chemical structure of anything around him nearly at a whim. The only reason we ever took him into custody was because he gave himself up."

"And he's out too I take it?" Tony asked, his mind now working in overdrive as he tried to piece together a plan that could even begin to alleviate this impending disaster.

"Personel that managed to get off the Raft say Owen is the only reason they got out." Coulson offered, "He stood in the path of the other inmates until they gave up and fled, and then walked off on his own."

"And now a seven-year-old child, his child, with the powers of a god is running around an already volatile mixture of mutagenic energy scared out of his mind." Banner muttered, "Leave it to Ross and his goons to make a situation twenty times worse."

"Speaking of which Fury doesn't want you, or the Hulk on this OP." Coulson warned, "Instead now that things have cooled down he wants you, Dr. Pym and my Team to investigate the Star labs Particle Accelerator Explosion."

"What's he expecting to find?" Hank asked.

"At this point, even the smallest hint could jump this entire investigation forward." Coulson responded, "SHIELD is floundering at the moment, and the Council wants an answer, any answer."

"And it's our job to find that answer." Tony snarked, "Alright then folks we've got our missions. Tremors, Bumblebee, New Kid you're with me. Greenday, Bugs Life give Wells my best."

"Now if anyone needs me I'll be bolting on my work clothes, I'll meet you," Tony pointed at Ben, Janet, and Daisy, "At the checkpoint. Go, team!"

And without another word he bolted, leaving the remaining heroes in a state of confusion.

"Is that…" Ben began to ask before Banner finished his question for him, "A regular thing? Yes, yes it is."

The Bronx Checkpoint, 11:10 EDT

Daisy let out out a low whistle as she pulled her bike to a stop in front of the massacred checkpoint. Next to her Ben screeched to a stop, his new form looked like a fusion of a raptor and a rally-car racer, a black and green bodysuit covering much of his body except his black taloned hands, blue two-toed feet that wrapped around small black spheres and long blue reptilian tail. His visor slid upwards to reveal black lips, small fangs, and solid green eyes.

"Damn," he muttered, his voice vibrating softly.

Tony landed beside them in full armor, though it wasn't the normal red-and-gold. Instead, it had a more muted coloration of dark grey and muted silver.

"I've seen what Owen could do first hand." Tony stated, scanning the glass footprints leading into the Dome, "He could take a copper pipe and turn it into an adamantium staff, hell, he turned one of my arms to tissue paper with a gesture."

"To think of all that power in the hands of a seven-year-old...it's more than a little frightening," Wasp said, flitting from her position on Daisy's neck.

"You'd be surprised." Ben stated cryptically, his eyes traveling along the monitor turned into a blossoming cherry tree, "Everyone thinks absolute power corrupts absolutely but I'm not sure that's true."

"What do you mean?" Daisy asked, eyeing him suspiciously.

"Well I turned out fine didn't I?" Ben said, giving her a soft smile before disappearing in a blur as he raced to find Agent Stewart and Corporal Montoya.

Daisy watched him go and once again she found herself wondering just who exactly Tony had invited to the Team. She was grateful for Ben saving her life but she couldn't shake the feeling that there was something off about him, not speaking of the blatant lies about his origin, which the Director and Coulson had quickly pulled apart after she had delivered them her testimony.

He was an enigma, an utter unknown, and his unfamiliarity with even some of the smallest everyday things just raised even more questions. Fitz had bet her that he actually was some form of alien cyborg that used his human guise to make the others more comfortable around him, all a part of some clever ruse or invasion plan. Daisy had scoffed at the wild accusation but after seeing how comfortable he was in any form he took she couldn't help but wonder.

After several minutes of silent investigation, Ben had returned, once again human with Agent Stewart and Corporal Montoya in tow. The former was a tall, slightly imposing man of African-American descent, with kind dark brown eyes, military length black hair dressed in blue-and-white SHIELD combats.

The later was a woman of average height, with long black hair tied in a tight ponytail, lightly tanned skin, harsh brown eyes dressed in the green-and-grey combats of the Gamma Corp.

"Agent Johnson." Stewart said, reaching out a hand which she took gladly, "Nice to see you again, though I have to say your friend here gave us a bit of a scare."

Ben smirked playfully. He was dressed incredibly casually for someone going on a deadly mission in hell on Earth, in a dark green leather jacket, a black and white shirt, khakis, and brown hiking boots. He was a ghost after all, so there was no need to protect any kind of secret identity.

"Can you tell us what exactly happened here?" Tony asked, his faceplate popping open as he walked over.

"Well, like the report says this mother and her child just stumbled out of the Dome. I think they had some help since I saw someone retreating back in as I approached." Agent Stewart explained. "They made it to the checkpoint and then everything went to hell."

He shot a writhing glare at Montoya who picked up the thread, "We scanned the mother, a one Cynthia Sanford, and she came back clear. Then we scanned Jacob Reece...and well he came back positive for an active mutation."

"I took the mother aside to explain the situation," Stewart stated, "Said that everything would be fine in the end her child was just going to need to be evaluated and added into our databanks. She started crying and was about to tell me something when I heard Jacob calling out for help. I turned the corner and the next thing I saw was Montoya drawing her weapon on a terrified seven-year-old kid!"

Montoya sneered and yelled back, "He knocked me clear off my feet and turned the pavement to glass! I was trying to neutralize the situation before it got worse!"

"He was a scared little kid!" Stewart yelled, "And you pulling your weapon just escalated the situation!"

"That scared little kid nuked our checkpoint!" Montoya fired back, "You were a Marine, you should understand in war there are situ-"

Stewart moved in an instant, his right fist slamming viciously across Montoya's cheek before Daisy intervened quaking them away from each other.

"That's enough! Daisy yelled, stepping between them, placing a hand on each of their chests, "I understand that tensions are high right now, but this won't solve anything."

"Yes, Mam." the former-soldiers stated calmly as they straightened up, Montoya clutching her bruised cheek.

"Well now that we've got that out of our systems, Friday and I have coordinated Jacob's clearest path back into the Dome." Tony stated, "But the deeper in we go the more my scanners will get scrambled so we'll need another way of tracking him."

"I've got that covered," Ben stated confidently.

"I'm going with you," Stewart said placing a hand on Daisy's arm.

"That isn't necessary, we can handle ourselves." Wasp said, a small smirk playing across her lips, "We're pretty badass after all."

"That's not it Miss." Stewart stated seriously, "I made a promise to that boy's mother to get him back and I plan on keeping that promise."

The Avengers shared a questioning look before Tony broke the tensions, "The more the merrier I say! Grab whatever gear you need and meet us back here."

Stewart nodded, brushing past Montoya as he walked away, who just mutely glared after him before turning back towards them.

"I'm guessing you're not coming with us?" Ben asked, a bit of distaste entering his voice.

"Someone's got to hold this place together." Montoya snarked unpleasantly, marching away without another word.

"What an unpleasant woman." Wasp stated evenly, watching her walk away "So what's the play, Ben?"

Ben didn't say anything at first as he closed his eyes, before his form suddenly changed, thick grey fur growing over his body as he shot up a foot. In his place stood what could only be described as a werewolf dressed in green and black biker gear.

"This is." Ben stated, his voice a thick growl, "Say hello to Blitzwolfer, once Tony loses his scanners I'll take point. This guy's sense of smell is impeccable, not the best I have but he's better at conversation than the other. Case in point, I think that Montoya woman was wearing your brand of perfume Wasp."

"So maybe she's not that unpleasant." Wasp joked, just as Stewart appeared wearing a bulletproof vest and holding a large dual barreled rifle.

"Ready to go," John stated, though he started slightly at the appearance of Ben's new form.

"Alright then folks, let's get a move on." Tony stated, "Fido and I'll take point once we go in, but be careful we have no clue what to expect under there."

The that the quintet set out, taking one last look at the blue sky above before entering the crimson tinted light of the Dome.

Elsewhere

This kill had been messier than the others, not that he really cared anymore. These 'Watchdogs' had shot at him first, calling him an 'inhuman freak'. They were partially right, he wasn't a freak but every day he lost more and more of the little humanity he'd had to begin with. He marveled at his appearance in a nearby puddle of water, marveling at the red-and-black second skin that had grown over his left arm and much of the left side of his face. His teeth were slowly sharpening into fangs; but where once he would have been disgusted by this change he reveled in it.

Michael Morningstar had always been a predator, in more ways than one, and now he finally looked and truly felt the part. No one under this Dome was safe from him, and his appetite was increasing and diversifying by the day. As the poor desiccated and dismembered bodies of the seven Watchdogs that had found him had quickly discovered. The only ones to escape his wrath were the beasts that poured from the deserted Zoo every time he tried to reach the gem inside. They were too strong and too numerous to take alone, not yet anyway.

The hunger was the only downside, one that refused to go away no matter how much he drank of others. Michael's head turned and looked toward the south, scenting the air, almost against his will, with a long, sinuous black tongue. There is was again, more energy and power than he had ever dreamed of. More than even Lovely Gwen or Charmcaster had to offer, and it was slowly but surely headed right towards him.

"Good." he rasped, and animalistic escaping him as he licked his lips once again. He slowly crept into the darkness, heading for his next meal...perhaps this one would actually sate him.

And so ends Chapter One of the Under the Dome Arc. Next time a fight with an unexpected enemy, an interesting twist of fate, and Ben reunites with an old friend. Those with a keen eye and even those without will notice several bold-faced tidbits that will prove fully that this Marvel Universe isn't the mainstream, the MCU, or even one that has been touched upon before. Ben has entered into a world that will get progressively wilder and more than a tad wackier as time progresses.

So yeah Nightmare/Gwen really did a number on the world, and she isn't anywhere near done yet. A little clue, she hit all of those places for a reason. One that will be revealed within good time.

As for Ben not just easily transitioning into this world. Well, I've read too many fics that use that trope myself and figured to take the opposite approach. Yes, I know Ben's hopped universe's before, but each time more or less it was the same world with just one thing or another twisted differently. In this case, he's entering a world where, he, his family, his friends, and even his hometown never existed...the wider cosmos, however, might be quite familiar...bits of it at least.

I had a bit where Ben explained his feelings about his fellow Avenger's but I think I'll save that till a later date. I'm planning on putting the Full Warped Timeline out soonish, though fair warning it may contain a spoiler or two for the future of this story.

Sorry this took so long, but hey life got really chaotic for a bit there, things are better now and hopefully, I'll be able to write more but you never know. Shoot me any questions, comments, or criticism you wish I'm open to em all. VerBeek Signing Off!