Hey, been a long time huh...yeah sorry about that but I've been really damn busy as of late with my new job, a sudden dip of interest in this story a renewed interest in an old story that I might post in a few days/weeks and a little thing called Starfinder. But here we are, so as always I do not own MCU or Ben 10. Italics are flashbacks, and emphasis (Brackets are telepathy). Last time we'd left our heroes and their disgruntled marine tag-along just as they entered the Dome, let's catch back up to them, shall we?

Infinity Chapter VIII

Dust to Dust

Unknown Location, Time and Place

Daisy stared up at the red-tinted sky, trying to gauge how long they had been under the dome. To her growing frustration, she found she couldn't even see the sun. Around the group sat the shattered and warped forms of buildings, most of which were coated in thick grey dust.

"Any clue how long we've been walking for?" Daisy asked as Ben scrambled up part of a wrecked wall beside her.

"Friday is telling me we've only been walking for about an hour." Tony supplied, following her gaze skyward.

"I wouldn't put much stock in that." John stated, jumping over a car that had melted into the pavement, "Time doesn't pass the way you expect it to in parts of the Dome, sure we might have only been walking for an hour or, maybe, half the day has gone by without us noticing. I remember the time one squad went missing for two weeks on a routine patrol, we thought something in this hellscape had got them. Turned up out of the blue thinking they'd only been gone three hours."

Blitzwolfer let out a low whistle, while Tony just shook his head, "I've read the reports but is it really all true?"

"Every bit. Whoever caused this has a lot to answer for." John stated angrily, "Terrigen Storms, localized gamma radiation, the time dilation, distorted gravity, streets, and buildings seemingly changing places on a whim, it's a waking nightmare! "

Ben tensed slightly, memories of his arrival flashing before his eyes, "No argument here."

"And that's not even getting into people running around this place." John continued, "Watchdogs, Morlocks, Gammas, and don't even get me started on the things coming out of the Bronx Zoo."

"What are the Watchdogs?" Ben asked, sniffing the air for any trace of Jacob, "And the Morlocks for that matter?"

"The Watchdogs are a paramilitary group that has a special hate in their heart for all superpowered individuals." Daisy offered, grimacing coldly, "They've been a pain in SHIELD's ass for a while now."

"The Morlocks are a bit of a mystery, however." John offered, "All we know is they are directly opposed to the Watchdogs, offering safe-haven and even ferrying out any powered individuals they come across. They aren't particularly fond of SHIELD and they downright hate the Gamma Corp but we haven't had an issue with them, yet."

The quintet walked in silence for a bit before Wasp flitted up to John, a curious glint in her eye.

"So what's your story?" Wasp asked, perching on John's shoulder as their group continued down the shattered street, "Can't really think of many people that would voluntarily walk into a near literal Hell."

"It wouldn't be my first time." Jon responded, his eyes narrowing slightly, his eyes flicking about the surrounding buildings, "Spent three tours of duty in the Middle East."

Daisy walked on beside them listening quietly while one of Ben's ears flicked backward to catch what was being said while the other continued to listen for any incoming dangers.

Jon continued, his expression getting a bit haunted, "I wanted to make a difference, fight the good fight you know, but things got muddy."

Tony looked backward, "Where were you stationed?"

"Afghanistan." John responded, "We were trying to stop the Ten Rings from taking over the region but for every win, they'd get three. I was on a patrol near Gulmira when an enemy patrol hit us using Stark made weapons. I managed to get away with a broken leg and shrapnel lodged in my left shoulder."

The group had stopped, all attention on John as he and Tony stared at each other.

"So there I am, in a medical tent pissed off as all hell, mourning my friends, when I hear that this gaudy red-and-gold something just fell out of the sky over Gulmira and did our work for us." John finished, locking eyes with Tony, "In one day you managed to do more than we had in months."

Tony stayed silent for a couple of seconds, "The man who saved my life was from that village, he died so I could live, and in the end he wasn't the only one. There was this group of soldiers, college-age the lot of them, that saw me as some kind of hero. All because I made things that went boom and they were pointed at the bad guys. They died after that truth changed in less than a second."

"War's hell," they said at the same time. After that, the two fell into step with Wasp repositioned on Daisy's shoulder to their left and Ben walking several steps ahead.

"I hated you for a bit," John stated honestly, shooting Tony a side-eye.

"So did I." Stark remarked honestly, "Drove myself into the ground over it more than once."

"But then I saw what you did during the Invasion." John said, looking over at Janet and Daisy, "All of you, I was in Detroit watching grainy cellphone footage while you were out there risking your lives and, hell, some of you didn't make it out of that fight."

Daisy looked down, clutching her arms to her chest tightly but continued walking.

"I joined up with SHIELD the very next day." John stated, looking around at the others one last time, "You made me believe in heroes again and right now…"

"The world could use a few." Ben finished, nodding his head in agreement.

"Well, that's enough soul-bearing for one day." John stated, snapping back to his professional demeanor, "Because right about now, Jacob's the one in need of heroes."

There it was again, a familiar taste carried on the wind, mudding the trail of his prey. It was growing closer as were the faint hint of voices. A snack before the main meal, good, he'd at least try to savor it before the burning, ravenous hunger came roaring back.

He slunk forwards, what remained of Micheal quite impressed at how easily he scaled the wall, long black claws protruding out of his fingers. He crouched down planning on leaping down upon whatever sorry group fate had sent his way. The Watchdogs, those freaks lead by a man worryingly familiar, the random regular civilian or SHIELD patrol, it didn't matter to him, they were all meat under his salivating fangs.

He peered from the shadows taking stock of his new targets.

A run-of-the-mile SHIELD agent toting a rifle, child's play.

A woman dressed in black kevlar laced suit who's life energy seemed to constantly vibrate, she'd be an interesting one.

A small spark that he couldn't quite pinpoint flitting amongst the group, another oddity he'd enjoy catching.

Then there was a figure clad in grey-and-silver automated armor, whose energy seemed to be directly tied into the energy springing from the light in the center of the suit's chest.

And then there was….

"Tennyson," he growled, the second skin coating his body quivering with fear and rage.

Despite the canine appearance, there was no doubt in his mind that the creature before him was Ben. His mind suddenly felt like it was being pulled in half, what was left of his sensible human side begging to flee, go back to the hunt of their previous prey while the primal feral side screamed to leap down there and eviscerate Tennyson for every transgression Ben had leveled against him. He sat there for several seconds, body trembling with strain before a new scent caught his nose, Gamma.

Climbing higher, clinging to the shadows that hid him from scrutiny, he was able to spot the heaving form of some poor Gamma mutated freak deep in a fitful sleep. His savage mind quickly formed a crude plan, one that would hopefully work for his favor.

"Hold up." Ben stated, scenting the air, his ears twitching alertly, "I think something over to our right just moved, though the snoring to the left is kind of drowning everything else out."

"Snoring?" Wasp asked with a hint of nervousness, "What kind of snoring?"

"It's deep, hitching like there's something stuck in its throat, and oh God, I just caught a whiff of its breath." Ben spluttered, clamping a hand over his nose, "Smells like a rotting dumpster!"

"My scanners aren't picking anything up." Tony stated with a hint of frustration, "Of course they'd crap out at the most important time. Friday, remind me to start working on some new interchangeable armors. Codename: HAZARD."

"Noted," Friday responded, "Just a heads up, it's been eight hours since your last check-in."

"Great."Tony muttered, "Thanks Friday."

"I suggest moving past this area as quietly as we can." John stated, crouching down low to the ground, "That thing is either a Gamma or from the Zoo, either way, they're bad news, especially if taken by surprise."

The others nodded when Daisy spotted something dart across the road ahead of them on all fours.

"Guys I think there is something…"

She was cut off by a high pitched shriek that sounded like a giant bat combined with a dying car. It was answered by a deep bellow similar to an angered bull. That was followed by a loud crashing noise as something massive suddenly raced towards them.

"Get back!" Tony yelled, leaping into the air just as the clothing store to their left exploded, throwing dust and concrete everywhere. A single octopus-like tentacle erupted from the dust followed by a second and then a third, covered in sharp spikes. The creature's egg-shaped body followed soon afterward, one massive green eye perched above a massive fanged mouth that almost split the torso horizontally when opened, all supported by three elephantine legs. The beast let out another foghorn-like bellow, lashing out at the closest of the heroes which so happened to be Ben.

Ben ducked under the first swing, leaping into the air a moment later to avoid a crushing downswing. He barely had time to register the fourth tentacle before it was planted squarely in his back, sending him flying across the street. He managed to sink his claws into the ground slowing his momentum before he crashed into anything. He then charged back into the fight on all fours, sliding under the creature's tripodal legs to aim a vicious slash at it's back. The creature bellowed in pain, striking out at him again only for Ben to dance away.

"Open fire!" John yelled, quickly checking off his rifle's safety before releasing a barrage of bullets. Most bounced off the creature's hide, though a few met their mark. Wasp, Iron Man, and Quake quickly followed suit laying down a rain of energy bolts, repulsor blasts and thrown terrain.

The creature backed up slowly under the persistent barrage but other than small wounds that almost immediately healed and a growing sense of irritation they did little to actually injure the beast. It finally planted itself, a low gurgling shaking the air before it opened its mouth and vomited a mass of rancid green slime at its attackers.

"Oh, that is just utterly disgusting." Wasp quipped, darting out of the way. The others followed suit but this allowed the beast to fully wield its tentacles to their full capacity and it did so with great gusto. It slammed Iron Man aside with one swing, knocking him through the window of another shop, where he slammed through several ransacked jewelry cases before crashing into the counter.

"Ow." Tony deadpanned, pushing himself to his feet, "Definitely going to feel that one in the morning."

"You will be feeling it for several days, boss, maybe a week." Friday noted, "That hit cracked one of your ribs."

"Perfect." Tony snarked, activating his repulsors, "Well, here goes round two."

Meanwhile, the beast had been busy, snatching up John and tossing him like a pop-fly. Quake moved in an instant, forming a bubble of vibrations under him before he could hit the ground.

"Thanks for the save," John muttered, as she rushed up to him.

"No problem." Daisy stated, looking back to where Ben and Wasp were running circles around the creature, aiming the odd claw or sting to keep it distracted from the others, "Now I need you to back up a few feet."

"Why what are y-" John began to ask as he backed up.

Daisy never heard the end of the question as she launched herself into the air with a quake blast, sending her rocketing at the creature. Flipping around in midair she aimed her feet directly at the creature's eye. Slamming into it with the force of a truck, and then releasing a focused quake she leaped back off of the creature as it reeled around, bellowing in pain.

Looking up she noticed a long claw mark along it's back that didn't match Ben's claws. It was leaking deep green blood and appeared to be quite deep.

"It's wounded?" Quake stated in surprise, catching John and the returned Tony's attention, "We're barely doing a tick of damage against this thing…"

"Yet something in here managed to do that," John finished, "Recently, eyes up people, something else is out here."

The others nodded, while Ben had decided enough was enough, looking over at Janet, "Cover your ears."

He planted his feet, his jaw splitting into four pieces, causing Jan to shiver involuntarily as she clamped her hands over her ears.

"AROOOO!" Blitzwolfer cried, a deafening sonic howl escaping his body, pushing the creature off its feet, slamming it into the building. It began to push against the force of the howl, seemingly unaffected by the sound itself. The others quickly joined Ben, opening fire with their respective weapons and powers, peppering the creature until a cloud of smoke surrounded it's impressive form.

Ben stopped howling and went down on one knee, sucking in great lungfuls of air.

"Is-is it down?" he coughed, getting up to one knee. As if in answer the creature suddenly emerged from the smoke, collapsing to the ground with a low pained groan. It's tentacles squirmed pitifully on the ground, it's damaged eye half-closed, it's breathing slow.

"I'd say yes." John stated calmly but coldly, raising his rifle, aiming at the creature's eye, "But not out."

"What are you doing?" Wasp demanded, staring him down, "It's done fighting."

"For now, but it'll get up again later, you saw how much trouble this thing gave us." John stated, clearly unhappy with what he felt had to be done, "Think about if a regular civilian came through here looking for shelter, it would tear them apart."

Wasp looked around at the others, all of whom seemed to accept John's analysis but hated that it had to happen. Ben shook his head aggressively but found he couldn't find his voice.

John raised his rifle again and the world seemed to slow down for Ben, a small indistinguishable voice in his mind saying three words, "Mutated. Human. Pain."

"No!" he roared, moving like lightning, catching the barrel of John's gun and pointing it skyward causing the shot to miss high.

"It's-it's a person!" Ben coughed, stumbling forward, crouching down next to the poor figure.

"What?!" John stated, a mixture of shock and horror overcoming him, "You mean this was, my God I almost…"

Daisy and Wasp stood there stunned, while Tony walked forward, angrily mumbling at his suit.

"Come on damn you." Tony stated, "I built you to be resistant to all kinds of radiation, can you at least work with me here!"

There was a quiet beep and suddenly the scanners came back on, scanning the fallen slowly breathing form.

"Friday, what are we looking at here?" Tony asked projecting an image of the creature's internal workings for the assembled heroes.

"According to my files, with some help from Dr. Banner's dissertations, this seems to be a fairly extreme form of Gamma Irradiation." Friday offered, "I don't think he can turn back from this form."

"So he's stuck like this?" Wasp asked, hugging herself slightly

"I am afraid so Jan," Friday responded a hint of sadness coloring her speech.

"The Gamma Corp would shoot him on sight no questions asked." John stated, rubbing the back of his head anxiously, "Hell, I almost shot him, I almost killed a civilian!"

"But you didn't," Daisy stated evenly.

"That doesn't make it better," John stated, looking down at himself angrily.

Meanwhile, Ben had been crouched down next to the creature, whispering to it softly, "It's okay, we'll find you help. I promise."

His eye swiveled to face him, a low gurgling voice escaping, "Why always hurt?"

"I'm sorry." Ben stated, slightly taken aback that he could understand it, "We-we didn't know."

"Ben are you, Ben look out!" Quake cried, punching a quake at something above his head.

Snapping to attention he looked up to see one of Albedo's amalgams crouched upon the creature's body, though it looked different. It was more bestial, with organic-looking fangs, and bright golden markings in-place of the singular red eye. Crouched on all fours it was staring at him with such a sense of hatred and hunger that it caused him to take a step back.

"Tennyson." the amalgam rasped, before launching at him at full force. It grabbed him by the throat and tossed him backward so forcefully he slammed into a wall on the opposite side of the street.

Blinking the stars from his eyes he watched at it quickly and brutally took John and Daisy to the ground, backhanded a shrunken Wasp into a nearby upturned car, and punched Tony backward several feet. It's head then turned at an almost unnatural angle and looked at him, a long black tongue coming out to caress its lips. Darting under Tony's wild grab it raced forwards and leaped, landing right before Ben.

He tried to open up his mouth to release another sonic howl only for the amalgam to grab him by the muzzle and slammed him to the ground, before leaping on top of him and holding him down by the throat.

"Got you." the amalgam rasped, "Finally got you."

Ben struggled against the amalgam's grip, his eyes burning with a cold fury mixed with confusion, "You sure about that?"

He quickly unhinged his jaw and howled, blasting the amalgams head back. It screamed and he watched in wonder as the second skin of the amalgam pulled back revealing a familiar grey-skinned noseless face.

"Darkstar?!" Ben cried in surprise.

"I am going to slaughter you!" Darkstar cried, the second skin reattaching itself, "But before you die I'm going to tell you one thing. Darkstar is dead! I am Ravager."

"He might be dead, but you sure as hell talk just like him." a new voice stated, as a length of iron chains suddenly wrapped around Micheal. Ben watched as the creature was pulled off of him and was drawn through the air to be slammed through a remaining pillar in front of a destroyed bank.

Ravager snarled, aggressively leaping to its feet only to freeze, staring down not only the Avengers and John but a collection of men in women in ragged clothes lead by a tall man dressed in a desiccated black hoody, his face obscured by the hood, a small wrecking ball clenched in his hand.

The Amalgam looked around angrily, before flipping behind the hall. Several of the ragged individuals made to follow him only to stop at the hooded man's gesture.

"Not now, we'll track down that scumlord later, right now we've got people to take care of."

The assembled figures nodded, several walking past the confused heroes to check on the downed Gamma Mutant, while the hooded gentleman and several followers stalked towards them. Ben pushed himself to his feet, waving off one of the concerned individuals with a distinctly catlike appearance under her hood.

"Thanks for the save, Mr.?" Tony asked, looking over the hooded figure in his companions.

"Crusher." the figure said gruffly, though Ben froze recognizing his voice almost immediately.

"Mr. Crusher, well thank you for the save." Tony stated, "We're the Aven-."

"I know who you are." Crusher stated, evenly looking them all over, "I also know that SHIELD sent you in here looking for a one Jacob Reece."

"And how would you know that?" John asked, a warning look on his face.

"Because I was the one who helped Jake and his Mom get out of here." Crusher countered, his tone ice-cold, "And one of my people spotted him reentering the Dome."

"So you can help us?" Daisy asked, "We're trying to get him back, back to safety."

"Helping you remains to be seen." Crusher stated gruffly, "After all, the last time we trusted SHIELD with one of our own you just chased him back in."

"You'll help us." Ben stated, transforming back to human, "Because in the long run, we need each other."

Crusher froze on seeing Ben's face, but quickly regained composure, "You've got a point."

He turned and shouted to his followers, "Wheels up in five minutes Morlocks! Brick, Clay I want that Gamma loaded up on the transport truck and brought to Elixir as soon as we get back home. Inferno, your truck gets the Shield Agent plus the Avengers except, him."

He pointed at Ben, "That one's coming with me. Let's move people."

The assembled Morlocks nodded, as two of the larger individuals bent down and picked up the Gamma almost effortlessly while a younger man gestured for the Avengers to follow after him.

Quake looked back at Ben who gave her a confused shrug and a thumbs-up noting that he'd be fine.

"Nice to see you again Tennyson," Crusher said, pulling his hood back to reveal a bald head, hard blackish-brown eyes, and a prominent scared chin.

"Good to see you to Levin," Ben stated, clapping his best friend warmly on the back, who soon returned the favor.

"That was odd." Daisy voiced as they trundled along in the back of a pickup truck that had been converted into a form of troop transport. John appeared to have nodded off while Wasp was busy up front chatting up the driver.

"What was? The creepy crawling thing appearing out of nowhere to assault Ben or a random group of Morlocks, lead by a guy with a shitty alias showing up to save him?" Tony asked sarcastically, "Were you going to say both, because it's definitely both right?"

"Both." Quake responded, looking over at Tony with a serious expression, "They all knew each other, you could tell by the body language and the way this "Crusher's" mood changed not a minute after spotting him."

"Just another mystery surrounding dear Mister Tennyson." Tony snarked, pulling his helmet off and opening a small holographic screen.

"That's all he is Tony." Daisy stated, "One big mystery, are you sure it was a wise idea letting him join the Avengers?"

"Was it a good idea?" Tony pondered, tapping his chin, "No, but it was either this or let him wipe the floor with everything Old Nick could throw at him before Banner finally took him down. And that would mean he'd be pissed off at us, locked up where ever Fury is placing folks now, refusing to answer any of our questions."

"However, we get him on the Team, gain his trust, then he might just come off and tell us the truth about him, that "Omnitrix" of his and whatever he knows about the Dome." Tony remarked, "And of course Fury still gets to know what he wants to know, just on my terms."

"But what if he doesn't want to tell us the truth." Daisy countered.

"Don't worry Daisy." Tony stated, with a cryptic smirk, "It'll all come out eventually."

He refitted his helmet and smirked quietly to himself as the bug he'd placed on Ben started playing audio.

"I can't believe I found you, man." Ben stated, a genuine smile crossing his face for one of the first times since arriving, "Well, almost all of you."

"Ha, ha." Kevin snarked, rubbing his bald head, "Make fun of the bald guy. It just won't grow back man, I don't know what to tell you. Besides like you're one to talk man, what happened to your eyes man?"

"What do you mean?" Ben asked, touching the skin under his eyes confused.

"They were glowing, like bright emerald green, and you-dude where's your watch?" Kevin asked, startled.

"It's a long story." Ben stated, with a hint of reservation, "The short version, I still have my powers, though they take a bigger strain on me than they used to."

"Yeah, mine changed too thanks to this Dome." Kevin stated with a slight smirk, "Not that I'm complaining though."

"So how exactly did you become the big boss of a gang of mutants?" Ben asked, nodding back towards the small caravan following their truck.

"I'm not the big boss, I'm one of the big bosses." Kevin explained, "Calypso and Porter have been doing this kind of stuff a lot longer than I have but the Dome that was a new challenge. One that I excelled at meeting."

"What do you mean?" Ben asked, looking over at him.

"This place Ben, it's like the Null Void brought to Earth." Kevin stated, his eyes narrowing, "And whoever did this is going to pay for it. Gwen's lost in here and I won't rest until I found her."

Ben suddenly felt a sudden rush of guilt and sadness, "Kevin, about Gwen…"

"Hold on to that." Kevin stated, nodding forward, "We're here."

Ben looked out the window to see a large tunnel approaching them. As they dipped into the earth the red light disappeared and was replaced with warm gold light.

They exited the tunnel several minutes later into a large cavern seemingly constructed out of old subway tunnels. Dozens of shanty houses had been built, with people milling around, several of which looked up at the caravan with a look of resigned hope.

"Welcome to the Morlock's Safe Haven. " Kevin stated, "Dust Town."

And that's the end. Sorry, this took so long.. Next time revelations, rescues, and retribution! So here enters Ravager and Kevin back in Ben's new life. Kevin is largely unaware of what caused the Dome but he does know more about the Marvel World thanks to his time talking with the Morlocks and the powered individuals they save. He has a bit of a bone to pick with SHIELD though he respects the Avengers from word of mouth alone it will remain to be seen what interactions he will have with them after becoming more friendly with the Team. Ravager is a creation of my own fusing the worst aspects of Michael Morningstar(which is almost all of them) with the ravenous hunger of one of Marvel's more chaotic bloodthirsty villains. So shoot any comments, concerns, or questions my way this has been VerBeek Signing off!