HeroVerse

Chapter 7

"Chronia"

A/N: This chapter is gonna be pretty different. It's told from the first person perspective of a different character than our heroes.

My name is Quarzon of Hyuga. I'm the head scientist of Chronia's government. My world is dying.

My people, the Chronians have worked for generations to perfect our abilities. Over the last few hundred years, the people of Chronia have discovered and developed their innate abilities to manipulate reality as we know it. Overpopulation will never be an issue, as we've managed to expand our planet by manipulating its position in space-time. We are able to produce top quality food ten times as fast and efficiently thanks to our abilities to manipulate the genetics of crops and accelerate their growth cycle. We've managed to tap into limitless energy to power our cities. Chronia was a paradise.

Until centuries of playing God caught up with us. Mortals are not meant to control the universe. Manipulating the very forces that shape our reality takes its toll on the mortal body. The Chronians began to fade into dust. The plague that was our abilities began to cultivate fear in our population. Fear generates irrational thinking. Irrational thinking and fear lead to fighting. Fighting leads to war.

Chronia was ravaged by war and destruction. War fought with the very powers that started the war in the first place. My people were dying at an even faster rate. The greatest minds of Chronia, myself included, met in secret. We met in a secret bunker in the very center of the Great Desert of Chronia, buried ten miles under the sands, covered in a time cloak.

"Hyuga has fallen." I said with a heavy heart. "The fools are fighting over and with the very powers that are going to destroy them."

Kronos, the spiritual leader of Chronia, held his hands together in an O-shape. He seemed remarkably calm, all things considered. "We must consider that the damage to our people and planet may very well be irreversible."

"Are you suggesting we just GIVE UP?" Galia, the former priestess of Hyuga said in pure anger. "The city I grew up in and helped build later in life had its atoms scattered all across time and space!" She slammed her fists on the table that we were gathered around.

"We may need to consider drastic options." Chriis, my fellow scientist, said. He held his hand to his chin in deep thought. "Answers to our problems are clearly not with Chronia or its people."

"What do you suggest?" I asked him.

"Quarzon, you remember the super weapon we recently confiscated from the extremists?" Chriis looked to me.

"You don't mean…" I began. My stomach dropped about three stories.

Chriis nodded. "Unfortunately, yes. The Hands of Armageddon."

"Excuse me, but what the hell are The Hands of Armageddon!?" Galia growled, looking between me and Chriis.

"The Hands are a multiversal conduit that would allow the extremists to harvest energy from other universes in order to compensate for the toll of their powers." I explained. "We liberated it because it's use was deemed unethical."

"And how is such a barbaric device supposed to help us?" Kronos asked, a tone of disappointment lining his voice.

"The nature of The Hands allows for many different uses besides its intended one." Chriis began. "Given enough power, it would allow us to travel to other universes. We could send a pioneer to another universe in search of the answers we need."

"The Hands exist in every universe simultaneously, making it the perfect doorway." I said. "We'd just need enough power. One Chronian's abilities would not even be close enough to powering The Hands for this purpose."

"At the same time, even with the powers of several Chronians feeding The Hands, my calculations suggest we'd only be able to safely send one of us." Chriis added.

"Very well!" Galia yelled at the top of her lungs. "Power the device for me and I shall make the voyage!"

"Please, Galia," Kronos held up a hand for silence. "You are far too rash to be Chronia's last hope. I shall be the one to go."

Chriis let out a low laugh. "Don't be foolish, Kronos." He began. "You are but a spiritual leader. Your use of our abilities is far too passive to survive in the great unknown."

I watched as arguing erupted amongst the greatest minds of Chronia. They were no better than the rest. I could feel my anger flaring within. "Enough!" Time energy erupted from me as I let out my anger. "I will be the one to go. I'm the most well-versed in using my abilities outside of purely scientific purposes."

"You?" Galia raised an eyebrow. "Don't make me laugh, Quarzon. You're a joke!"

"Public opinion shows that you're the worst received Priestess that Hyuga ever had." I replied. "The only reason you're even here is because all of the other priests have been destroyed."

Galia's eyes began surging with glowing purple energy. She raised her hand to me, it too glowing with the purple energy. "I should strike you down right now, Quarzon."

"And then you'd most likely be dooming us all." I said, calmly.

"Unfortunately, I believe Quarzon is right." Chriis sighed. "He's a natural at using his abilities in a way the rest of just aren't."

Kronos scratched his beard, and sighed. "Very well, Quarzon. But if you're going to do this, at least go prepared."

With a wave of his hand, special Chronian equipment seemed to materialize out of nothing. A durable looking bodysuit complete with gauntlets that had purple circuitry illuminating them. A robe of sorts that covered his arms and fell down to just below his knees. And a helmet with one-way glass that shrouded the wearer's face. The visor was outlined with more purple circuitry.

"Chronian Multiversal Armor." I nodded. "The suit itself and the cloak slow the flow of time around me, making it easier to make jumps in time and space. The gauntlets enhance my abilities and allow me to concentrate my abilities into concentrated blasts. The helmet will allow me to breathe without an atmosphere and it has a built in HUD that helps me physically see spacetime."

"Know it all." Galia scoffed.

"I should be. I helped design the armor." I replied, a note of annoyance with her attitude in my voice.

"Quarzon, the armor hasn't been tested yet." Chriis said, nervously.

"Neither have the Hands for this purpose." I shrugged, a smile on my face. "We don't have that kind of time anymore."

"Very well. Let us proceed to the Hands." Kronos held up his hands, they had a faint purple glow to them. The room seemed to shift and swirl around us as we were teleported. We arrived in a dark hall with columns reaching the thirty foot ceiling. Not just anyone could access this chamber. It was hyperlocked, meaning that it was surrounded by a field of anti-spacetime. Only those with special clearance were able to get in here.

The Hands of Armageddon stood ominously at the far end of the hall. It was attached to the wall with several large cables that restrained its powers. The Hands, if activated, were meant to punch holes into other universes and absorb all of that universe's energy. However, doors open both ways. Instead of pulling something in, we wanted to push something out. Something being me. While my associates approached the hands, I began equipping my armor. As I finished putting on the armor, I felt my power grow and become more refined. The visor worked exactly as intended. With it, I could see alternate scenarios playing out in this room as holograms layered over the real world. I saw a future where Galia killed us all and used the Hands to make herself a god. I saw another where the vault was broken into and the extremists accidentally blow up the entire region of spacetime. I could see countless futures. But every one I viewed ended the same. Chronia's destruction.

I too approached the Hands. I stood side by side with my associates. Fellow great minds of Chronia. I was on a mission to save all of creation. I took a deep breath.

"Do it." I said, my voice oddly modulated by the helmet.

Chriis, Kronos, and Galia held out their hands towards the Hands of Armageddon. Purple energy poured from their bodies and covered the Hands. It began to make whirring noises as it came to life. The sigils on it began to glow with a bright light.

"It's working!" Chriis yelled as wind began to howl.

"Keep going!" Kronos called. "If we let up now, we'll destroy Chronia and this entire universe."

Galia growled and looked at me. "Go, you fool! We will keep the breach open as long as it takes."

A hole in spacetime began to form at the Hands' center, purple and blue energies swirling around it. The pathway to a new universe.

Chriis gave me one last look, and I saw his skin began to wrinkle and pulled tight against his jaw. "If you succeed, Chronia will thrive for eons."

A sudden pull from the portal swept me off my feet. Chronia will thrive for eons. Eons. Eon.

I don't remember much of what happened while I was in the portal. I just remember screaming as I was hurtled randomly through space and time. Next thing I know, I fall flat on my back in a grassy field. I groan from the impact, but manage to stand, dusting myself off. Wherever I am, night has fallen. The sky is dotted with bright, beautiful stars, all centered around a single white moon. I perform a scan with my visor.

"Where am I?" I ask no one inparticular. After processing the scan, the visor displays all the information I need. "Earth-52?" I put a finger to the chin of my helmet. "Interesting."

Then it dawned on me. It had worked! The Hands had done exactly what was needed. I managed to jump into another universe. I couldn't help but laugh in celebration. I didn't allow myself to celebrate for too long. I had work to do. I needed to find a way for my people to survive. I didn't know what that solution would entail, or if there was a solution at all. Nevertheless, I had to try. I wish I had known what this journey would have in store for me.

It's been many millenia since that fateful day I arrived on Earth-52. Since then I'd performed several jumps through several different universes, using each universe's version of the Hands. No matter how far or wide I travelled, I never saw another Chronian or even a hint at their existence. But like the other Chronians before me, I too fell victim to the very nature of the Hands. My body has become scarred and emaciated. My fingers have turned black, moments away from crumbling into dust.

I arrived on Earth-RAT, and as soon as I'd arrived, I realized this universe was the last jump my body could make. Another jump would destroy me. I had to find some sort of answer or even a clue. Something I could send back to Chronia…if there even was a Chronia anymore.

I found myself walking through a small shopping district of a town called Bellwood. It was the dead of night. I was hungry. I was tired. I was angry. I let out a roar of anger, unleashing a wave of time energy all around me. Glass shattered. Machines exploded.

That's when my salvation arrived.

"Dude, what's with all the noise?" Someone called before something hard hit the back of my helmet.

I whipped around, my hands swirling with time energy as I prepared to defend myself. But what I saw was unexpected, to say the least. It was a boy, who couldn't be more than ten years old. He had brown hair, and wore a white shirt with a black stripe down the middle. I cocked my head to the side, and then powered down my hands.

"People are trying to sleep, guy." He taunted. "Couldn't you wait until tomorrow to go on a rampage?"

I just stared at the boy, baffled by his boldness.

"Looks like Ben Tennyson is gonna have to knock some sense into you. It's Hero Time!" The boy fiddled with some sort of device on his wrist, it glowed with a green hourglass shape. As he messed with it, a dial seemed to pop up. He slapped the dial back down, and a green flash of light engulfed him.

When the light died down, the boy had been replaced by a man of molten material and a flaming head. This "Ben Tennyson", as he'd called himself, had transformed into a Pyronite.

"Interesting." I mumbled to myself.

"Uhhh, this is the part where you tell me your name, what your evil intentions are…yadda yadda?" Ben Tennyson said. "You know, you fight me, I fight you, one of us goes home happy. You have done this before haven't you?" Ben Tennyson in his Pyronite form, began to generate a fire ball in his hand.

I just continued to stare, trying to understand how he'd performed such a feat without the abilities of a Chronian.

"Okay, I'll start. I'm Heatblast!" He bellowed as he lobbed a fireball at me. It hit me right in the chest, the resulting explosion causing me to crash through a window into a nearby store. "And you were just leaving!"

Stunned from the blast, I managed to pick myself up. Just in time to see "Heatblast" flying towards me like a rocket. On pure reflex, I threw out a containment field, wrapping my adversary in an isolated field of space.

"What…is…this?" I could hear his struggling voice say, distorted through the field.

I clenched my fist, causing the field to implode on itself and send Heatblast flying. Heatblast crashed into a wall, lighting a disposal bin on fire.

That's when I heard sirens. Local law enforcement. Evidently the excitement had drawn the attention of the authorities. Two police vehicles skidded to a stop about twenty feet away from myself and Ben Tennyson. Two men in uniform exited the vehicles and ran toward us both, primitive firearms in hand.

"Alright, nobody move!" One of the men said.

"I got this under control, officers." Ben Tennyson waved them dismissively.

I refused to be interrupted. I needed to study this boy just a little while longer. Over my countless years hopping across universes, I'd learned a few things I could do with my abilities. My hands glowed dimly with energy. On the rooftops, several humanoids in cloaks began to form out of nothing. They wore helmets like mine. They flipped off of the rooftops, letting out vicious growls as they swarmed the police officers.

"Oh, you gotta be kidding me." Ben Tennyson sighed.

The creatures went to work, brutalizing the officers, who hopelessly tried to defend themselves.

"Ooookay, maybe I don't have this under control." Ben Tennyson said, a bit unsure of himself. Then he seemed to switch gears as he let out a roar as he unleashed a wave of flame that separated my creatures from the men. He jumped in between the men and my creatures, ready to fight.

"Come on now, don't be shy." He shrugged.

My creatures attacked, but it was clear they were no match for the Heatblast persona of Ben Tennyson. Heatblast made quick work of my creatures without throwing a single fireball. As they went down, my creatures disappeared in a blink of light. I approached as he defeated the last monster.

"That was awesome!" Heatblast said, throwing his arms up in excitement. Then he turned his attention to me.

I'd seen what I wanted, and now it was time to go. I prepared to teleport myself to a safe location.

"Okay lightbulb head, let's rumble!" Heatblast let out another roar as he shot a column of flames at me.

I desperately tried to teleport myself away. Sparks flew and I felt energy swirling around me. The flames exploded outward as I managed to get myself away. I was hurt, but I would live to fight another day.

I found myself teleported to the inner workings of a nearby clocktower. I could still see the boy-turned-Pyronite down in the town below. I could see the emblem on his chest flashing red before he shifted back into his human form.

That device on that boy's wrist was the key to my salvation. If I could sync my DNA with that device, I'd be able to transfer my consciousness into an exact replica of myself. The boy and I fought again a few days later, this time he'd used a Petrosapien transformation. I'm not sure if he'd figured out my time based abilities would be useless on him, or if it was just dumb luck, but he stalled me long enough to escape. That night, the boy made the foolish mistake of attempting to confront me alone. His grandfather, Max Tennyson, and his cousin, Gwen Tennyson, tried to convince him to leave before my arrival, but it was no use.

I erupted the molecules surrounding their vehicle, causing it to explode into the sky as my time monsters ambushed and secured them. I approached, and with a snap of my fingers, they were lulled into an unconscious state.

The Hands of Armageddon in this universe were not too hard to find. This universe's police force, known as the Plumbers, had apparently tracked it down and had it secured under the city. That's where I brought the Tennysons, so they could witness my rebirth.

It didn't take long for the Tennysons to awaken. I had them chained to pillars close enough to the Hands. I patiently waited while they came to, crossing my arms behind my back and standing in front of the Hands.

"Thank you for making your acquisition, so easy, Benjamin." I told him. "You don't know how much this means to me."

"Why don't you untie me so I can kick your glowing butt?" Ben spat, struggling against the chains.

"Oh, but I don't wish to fight." I replied. "I'm not a warrior. I'm a scientist. And I want to perform an experiment with that device on your wrist."

"You'll never get your hands on the Omnitrix." Max growled. He lunged at me, but the chains held him in place.

"The Omnitrix? What an appropriate name. An all-encompassing matrix." I said simply. I approached Ben.

He struggled against his chains, desperately trying to get as far as he could from me. Due to the chains and their placement, he couldn't go far. I grabbed his arm hard. Countless years of wandering from universe to universe had led to this. I could use the Omnitrix's power to restore myself and my people. I could use the Hands of Armageddon to harvest the energy I needed. That was my plan. That was my goal.

Wasn't it?

With my free hand, I activated the dial of the Omnitrix. Immediately on contact, the Omnitrix shifted from green to purple, and emitted a blank screen. I began to turn the dial as I manually entered my specific DNA sequence. He wouldn't just become any Chronian. He would become me. I would be him. I would be whole. As I continued to calibrate the Omnitrix, a silhouette slowly started to appear. My silhouette.

"Ben don't worry we're going to get you out of there!" Gwen cried to her cousin.

It was futile. I had finished entering the DNA sequence. All there was left to do was push down the dial.

"Wait…don't…" Ben said.

I saw the fear in his eyes, but I reassured him. "Don't be afraid. I'm going to make you into a god."

I pressed down the dial and stepped back as purple energy consumed and transformed his body. Ben grew to the size of an adult, same height as me. His hair was black and slicked back, just as mine had once been. He had all the same features as me. Same eyes. Same jawline. Same nose. Everything. He wore my cloak, armor, and gauntlets. He was only missing the helmet. The Omnitrix symbol was positioned like a belt buckle on his waist.

With his newfound strength, Ben broke free of his bonds, standing ominously before myself and his family. I stood behind him, studying him. He was better than I could've imagined. I could feel his power. He was much stronger than I had been in my prime.

"Thank you…Benjamin." I said. I could feel my body turning into dust. But at the same time, my perception seemed to slowly change to his. All my senses were replaced with his. No…it was the other way around.

My old body crumbled to dust. There was nothing left but my helmet. I walked over to it and picked it up and fastened it to my head.

"Perfect." I smiled. "Eon has been born anew." That was my name, right? I was Eon.

My encounter with the remaining Tennysons was nothing spectacular. Although Max Tennyson had managed to free himself and sabotage the Hands so they would no longer be able to transfer the energy as I wanted. I would only be able to use it to jump to the next universe. In my anger, I aged Max to dust. As I did so, I remember a certain feeling of sorrow. I'd killed my own grandfather. No, it was Benjamin's grandfather. Wasn't it? Who was I? Ben? Eon?

Gwen managed to get away. I never saw her again. I don't know what happened to her. I just left. I used the Hands to perform the jump to the next universe. Over the next several thousand years, I continued my quest. But eventually, this body began to grow weak as well.

I knew I would have to continue to harvest Omnitrix users in order to survive. Creation has a shockingly accurate sense of humor. Every single Omnitrix user I ever came across was an alternate Ben Tennyson. He and I would become entwined across the multiverse. I'd become so integrated into the constant of Ben Tennyson, I couldn't tell the difference between he and I anymore.

I began to capture Ben 10's in advance, so I wouldn't have to expend so much effort in my more vulnerable state. Soon I had a surplus of Ben Tennysons stored away in my old lab, which was now adrift in time. Anytime I was nearing my current body's demise, I just returned to my lab, and released a Ben 10. I'd preprogrammed all of their Omnitrixes to transform them into me a few moments after they were released from their storing pod.

Death was no longer an obstacle.

During my travels, I eventually encountered a Ben 10 that was different than the rest. I'd soon learn that this Ben Tennyson was known as "Ben Prime" by Time Walkers like myself. He was the most powerful Ben Tennyson, with the most achievements, the most victories, the most powerful Omnitrix. He'd become my greatest adversary.

"So you've been fighting Ben Tennyson for many millenia, then?" Alpha asked to confirm.

"Yes, but I've come to realize that even with an Omnitrix-enhanced body, I'm still not powerful enough to achieve my goal." I said to the Alpha Nanite. Alpha was a miracle of human science from Earth-042310, and an integral piece of my plans. They all were. Dark Phantom. Alpha. Animo. The Huntsman. And a few others I'd yet to gather. Together they would serve the ultimate purpose. It was only a matter of time.

"So, now that you've rejuvenated, what do we do now?" Alpha asked.

"We continue the plan." I replied. "Ben Tennyson and his allies have captured Dark. But we have a bargaining chip of our own."

If Alpha was capable of emotion, I'm sure it'd be smiling.

"Now's your chance to extract information from Rex Salazar. See what he knows and what other use he can be." I told the Nanite.

"And then I will extract the Omega Nanite and become whole again." It nodded.

"As you wish, so long as you complete your assignment."

The Alpha Nanite disappeared, and I called up a holographic monitor. It displayed an image of Rex Salazar. He was bound and beaten. His blue and white shirt was in shreds and his goggles lay in a broken heap next to him. The Alpha Nanite materialized in from of him.

I smiled as Rex Salazar screamed.