HeroVerse

Chapter 2

"Heroes United Again"

"Blegh, avocado and strawberries?" Danny gagged and spit out the smoothy.

"Yeeeeaaah, the mystery smoothy can be a gamble sometimes." Ben laughed as Danny wiped his tongue clean with a napkin.

"Yuck, thanks for the warning." Danny said, with a slightly annoyed tone. But he couldn't help but laugh at the ridiculous smoothy flavor. "So you come here all the time?"

"Often enough that the owners had to take out a "Ben 10 insurance plan" to keep the place running." Ben said with a laugh.

Danny couldn't tell if he was joking or not. "So you've been doing this for ten years now?"

"I had a bit of a break between the ages of 11 and 15, but yeah." Ben explained. "Ten years ago a pod dropped from space and the first Omnitrix attached itself to my wrist." Ben raised the Omnitrix. "I've gone through a couple models but they all got the job done. You though, you're telling me your parents discovered an entire dimension by building a portal in their basement?"

"Yep, it's called the Ghost Zone." Danny explained. "I accidentally turned the portal on while I was inside and bonded with a lifetime's worth of ecto-energy."

"That's pretty cool." Ben said. "I've got a couple ghostly aliens myself. I'm sure sooner or later you'll see them in action."

At that moment, a portal ripped open just above the and a figure was thrown through into the building. The building practically exploded from the force. A figure sped out of the crumbling building faster than the eye could see. Ben, in his 'XLR8' form, was carrying two teenagers dressed in uniforms. In a flash of green light, Ben returned to normal.

"Get somewhere safe. Go!" Ben waved them off.

Danny was impressed. Somehow, Ben had reacted to the situation in the blink of an eye and managed to get anyone inside to safety.

"Luckily, it's a slow day for business. No on else was inside." Ben explained to Danny.

The two approached the rubble as the dust settled. As they approached, another figure descended from the portal. The second figure was a fiery humanoid figure with glowing white embers where its eyes should be. Ben recognized this being all too well.

"Uh, who's that guy?" Danny pointed at the figure, raising an eyebrow.

"That's Alpha, a nanomechanical being from another universe." Ben glared up at Alpha. "But…if that's Alpha…then that first guy…!" Ben ran over to the rubble and began desperately searching for the figure who crashed into the .

"Well well, Benjamin Tennyson. It's been a long time." Alpha said, it's voice echoing in all directions. "Now I can get my vengeance on both of my enemies."

"I don't think so, ya nano-mecha-whatever!" Danny yelled up at Alpha. "I'm Going Ghost!" A white ring of light washed over Danny, transforming him into the heroic Danny Phantom!

Danny flew up at Alpha, firing an ecto-beam at the nanite. Alpha waved its hand in front of it, producing a shield that deflected Danny's blast. Danny phased through the shield and tackled Alpha. Alpha grabbed Danny by the waist and hurled him away. Danny crashed into the billboard, embedded into it. Danny growled, and rushed towards Alpha again, his eyes flaring with ecto-energy.

Ben pushed aside some rubble to find a Hispanic boy, about his age, coming to after the impact. He sat up, holding his head in his hand.

"Rex!" Ben said, grabbing the boy by the shoulders. "Are you okay? What's going on? How's Alpha free?"

Rex groaned. "Oi, keep it down. Can't ya see a guy's trying to catch some Z's?" Rex looked up to see a familiar face. "Ben! How'd you get here?"

"I'm the one asking you." Ben said. "You're in my world. And you brought an old friend."

"Yeah, long story." Rex sighed. He looked up to see Danny and Alpha clashing in the air. "Friend of yours?"

"Yeah, he's from another universe too." Ben laughed. "It's becoming a little too common recently."

"Gotcha. Guess we both have some catching up to do." Rex said. "But maybe later."

"Yeah, for now, it's hero time!" Ben activated the Omnitrix.

Rex's legs suddenly exploded with machinery, as they turned into giant mechanical versions of themselves. The pistons in his legs pushed off, launching him into the air towards Alpha. His legs returned to normal as his arms morphed into giant mecha fists. Rex punched Alpha, sending him toppling away. His mecha fists demorphed as a heli-pack formed on Rex's back.

"Hi there." Rex greeted Danny. "Rex, Generator Rex." He waved.

"Danny Phantom. I'm assuming this is one of your bad guys?" Danny asked.

"Technically one of Ben's too." Rex shrugged. "Be careful, he can copy and enhance any technology he touches."

Danny nodded. "Good to know. Let's kick his butt!"

Ben scrolled through several aliens, before picking the perfect one. He slammed down the Omnitrix and was cloaked in a green flash. "Spidermonkey!" Ben-Spidermonkey, a four-armed blue monkey alien, cried out. Ben-Spidermonkey fired a web from his tail, wrapping around the airborne Alpha. He tugged on his web, pulling the Alpha nanite down and slamming it into the ground.

Danny and Rex both landed beside Ben-Spidermonkey, surrounding the bound Alpha. "I think it's time we took you out for good." Ben-Spidermonkey said.

Ben-Spidermonkey slapped the Omnitrix, cloaked in a green flash of light. "Feedback!"

"What the?" Danny looked at the spot where they had bound Alpha. "He's gone!"

"Wait what?!" Rex looked all around them. "How did he escape!?"

Ben-Feedback sighed, and in a flash of green light, returned to human form. "One second he was there, the next he's gone." Ben crossed his arms. "Smells like Eon."

"Eon?" Rex asked.

"A time-traveling psychopath from my side of the street." Ben explained. "He's been stirring up trouble lately."

"Yeah, he attacked me in my universe too." Danny explained.

"Well, if this Eon guy really did say Alpha, then he must be planning some major trouble." Rex said. "Looks like we need to team up again, Ben." Rex offered his fist to Ben.

Ben returned it with his own, bumping them together. "Never expected to be making a team of the multiverse's best heroes." Ben laughed. "This should be a blast!"

Alpha fell through a swirling purple portal in a dimly lit room, it seemed to be a laboratory of some sort. "What is this place? Who has brought me here?" Alpha looked around, his hands turning into bigger, denser claws.

"Tsk tsk, you shouldn't be hostile towards me," Eon's voice echoed. "After all, I'm the one who rescued you from those brats." Eon stepped out from the shadows.

Following him was a man a little taller than Eon. He had snow-white skin and glowing red eyes. His ears and teeth were pointed, and where his hair should be, were flowing black flames. Dark Phantom, Danny Phantom's evil future self. "The Alpha Nanite, is it? Eon has brought you here because we have a common goal."

"Originally, I planned to gather the multiverse's greatest villains in an attempt to destroy Ben Tennyson." Eon began to explain. "But it appears by gathering you, I have tipped him off, and he has incidentally began gathering his own team."

"So, Eon took the opportunity to snatch you from the timestream." Dark explained. "Just in time it seems, as our enemies were seconds away from obliterating you."

"You underestimate me, ectoplasmic beast." Alpha growled, even in his monotone voice. "My full capabilities would be more than a match for even those three."

"But you aren't AT your full capabilities, are you?" Eon smirked.

Alpha grunted.

"That's what I thought. I'm offering you an alliance, one that could be beneficial to all of us." Eon gestured to the three of them. "Alpha, you seek the Omega Nanite. Dark seeks to restore himself to his full form as well as his timeline. I simply seek to destroy Ben Tennyson. Individually, we have all failed. But together, we could achieve our goals and rule our respective universes."

"Your proposition is interesting, Eon. However, according to my calculations, it will take more than the three of us to defeat those three." Alpha pointed out.

"Oh we are aware of our possible defeat." Dark replied. "Eon has already located the next universe we must visit to gather the remainder of our team."

"Then…what are we waiting for?" Alpha asked.

"A diversion." Eon said. "If I leave this pocket of time for an extended period of time, my enemies can track me."

"Then I have a proposition." Alpha said. "I will travel to the universe you have mentioned. To cover my tracks, I suggest sending Dark Phantom to Ben Tennyson's universe to cause chaos and wreak havoc, long enough for me to gather the allies we need."

"Hmm," Eon scratched his chin. "That's a perfect idea, actually. There's something in Ben Tennyson's universe that I need retrieved, anyways."

"Then by all means, allow me to retrieve it and show those cretins that we will be a force to reckon with." Dark smirked.

"Very well." Eon raised his hands, displaying two holograms, one to Alpha, and one to Dark. "These are your targets. I will be uploading the information to data bands to take with you to help you identify and locate them." The holograms sputtered out. "Well then, make sure to pick up your data band and leave when you're ready. Alpha, be sure to give Dark time to begin his mission before you begin yours."

"Very well." Alpha nodded.

Eon outstretched his arm, opening up two swirling portals of purple time energy.

Dark and Alpha both stepped through to begin their missions.