HeroVerse
Chapter 11
"Halftime"
The battle on Galvan Prime had left the heroes in a weakened state. The battles fought were long and difficult. Ester, Kevin, and Kim were all spending their night in regeneration tubes, to further the healing process. Everyone slept soundly in the guest quarters of Azmuth's skyscraper dwelling.
All except, for Ben Tennyson.
The Omnitrix-clad hero stood near the large window of Azmuth's lab, looking down at the city, ruined by their battle just hours before. He was dressed in grey pajama pants and a white Sumo Slammer t-shirt. The Galvan and Galvanic Mechamorphs would have the city completely repaired before the sun rose. Perks of being the smartest race in the galaxy, Ben supposed. But that wasn't the point. He was supposed to be the hero. The guy who sent the bad guys packing. Eon had eluded capture by Ben on more than one occasion now. Even defeating his allies only seemed to further Eon's plans, assuming the heroes were right in their assumptions.
"You should be in bed, Benjamin." A voice said.
Ben turned around to see Azmuth, arms crossed behind his back. For such a small figure, Azmuth had an incredible presence. He carried himself with authority and dignity. Even when all was bleak and hopeless, Azmuth had demonstrated incredible calm and collected mannerisms.
"Can't sleep." Ben shook his head. "Too much on my mind."
"Perhaps bouncing your thoughts off the greatest mind in three galaxies would help?" Azmuth approached Ben, observing the construction alongside Ben.
"I thought it was five galaxies?" Ben asked.
"It is, but who's counting?" Azmuth said, then looked up at Ben with a knowing smile.
"Did you…did you just crack a joke?" Ben said in utter amazement.
"Don't be ridiculous, Benjamin." Azmuth waved him off dismissively. "I have far too much self-respect to tell such a simple joke."
Ben shook his head. "Azmuth, I'm worried that I'm going to fail."
"You have failed. You've failed on numerous occasions to finally neutralize threats." Azmuth nodded. "Not just with the current conflict but with countless others. Vilgax. Aggregor. The Forever Knights. The Incurseans."
"Yeah, I get it." Ben sighed.
"Yet you persist, as does the universe." Azmuth nodded to himself. "No matter how many times evil rises up, you rise to meet it. Time and time again you have shown resilience with my device. You've grown a lot from that ten year old child who happened upon the Omnitrix. I know that you have what it takes to stop Eon's plan. Whatever it may be."
"You really think so?" Ben smiled.
"Not really. But if you can't, then who will?" Azmuth threw up his hands and began walking out. "Be the hero, Benjamin Tennyson." Azmuth said before disappearing into the hallway.
Ben smiled to himself. Hell, if the First Thinker thought he could win, then that had to mean something. He crossed his arms, smiling as he pictured the outcome of the efforts of himself and the other heroes.
"How amusing." A familiar modulated voice came from the darkness.
Ben whirled around, smacking the Omnitrix down as he did. In a brief flash of light, Ben was quickly replaced by… "Swampfire!" The moss-covered humanoid emerged, flaming hands at the ready.
In the darkness, the glowing purple armor of Eon gave him away easily. Though Swampfire suspected he had no plans to hide. "Eon! What the hell are you doing here?"
Eon held up a hand dismissively. "I did not come to fight, Tennyson." He crossed his arms behind his back and tilted his head down in thought. "I came to see my greatest adversary one last time, before my ascension."
"Your ascension? So we were right!" Swampfire said. "You're planning on using Dark and Alpha to make yourself even more powerful!"
"What I seek is far too grand to simply be called power, Benjamin." Eon responded. "I seek to be absolute. Power can be overcome. I will not have such a problem."
"Heard it before, freak show." Swampfire lobbed a fireball at Eon.
Eon simply held his hand up, and the fire sputtered out before it even had a chance to reach him. "Please, Benjamin. I'm trying to be civil." Eon sighed. "As incredible as you are, you are far too simple to understood my ambition, my purpose."
"Well then why don't you try explaining it to me then?" Swampfire growled.
"My people are in a dire situation. Locked in time. Perpetually fading away. The very powers we crafted and perfected are our curse that seeks to destroy us." Eon said. "But once I've ascended, I can save my people and all other peoples in the universe."
"No one can control that kind of power, Eon." Swampfire declared. "That kind of power concentrated in one body could cause complete chaos across the multiverse! And that ain't happenin'!" Swampfire rushed Eon, fist raised to strike Eon. But right when Swampfire would've struck, Eon phased out.
Swampfire stumbled before stopping. He looked around moments before Eon reappeared behind him. "It won't be so simple to defeat me, Tennyson. I will succeed, for the good of my people." Eon's form began fading away in purple light. "I can be found where this little adventure began." And then he was gone.
The next morning, the heroes all gathered in Azmuth's lab. Azmuth and Max were exchanging words as Ben, Danny, Rex, Jake, Kim, Gwendolyn, Kevin, and Ester arrived. Max turned to them as they approached.
"Kevin, Ester, Kim, I'm glad to see the three of you back in fighting shape." Max nodded.
"Yeah I feel pretty good considering that Alpha freak dropped a building on us." Kevin cranked his shoulder.
"Yeeaaah, sorry about that." Rex shrugged.
"So what's our next move, then?" Kim asked Max. "From what Ben's mentioned, it sounds like Eon is about set with whatever plans he has set."
"That's right." Max nodded. "Based on Eon's words and our own assumptions, it appears that Eon is planning to merge the essences of Dark Phantom and the Alpha Nanite into his being to stabilize his form and abilities, and then further enhance them to god-like levels."
"Yeah that doesn't sound good." Jake shook his head. "But with this team, we can definitely take him down."
"Confidence is one thing," Danny began. "But unless we have a plan, there's no telling what could happen."
"That's where I come in." Rex stepped forward. "I recently had the pain of sharing a headspace with the Alpha Nanite recently. For some reason, he had data files that he copied over from some facility in the Null Void during his stay there."
"The Rooters Base?" Ben guessed.
"I couldn't be sure." Rex shrugged. "But there was one file that seemed to stand out." Rex moved over to a nearby monitor and held out his hands towards it. Blue circuitry flared to life on his arm and began communicating with the computer. "They were schematics for a machine…" Said schematics began popping up on the screen. "Do they mean anything to you guys by chance?"
"Yes, I think they do." Azmuth said as he pulled thoughtfully at his whiskers. "These are schematics for a scrapped Omnimatrix feature. The Fusion Feature."
"You mean like my future self uses?" Ben asked.
"Same concept, I suppose." Azmuth nodded. "This would've been a little less showy, but the same effect would be achieved."
"So Eon probably had access to these files, at least since he came across Alpha." Danny said.
"He can use these schematics to build a specialized Omnitrix-like device to fuse Alpha and Dark into his very DNA, instead of just hosting them, right?" Kevin asked.
"Exactly, Kevin." Max nodded. "Using this device, he will become far more than the sum of his parts. If what we know about Ghosts and Nanites is correct, at least."
"You're right." Danny and Rex said, nearly in unison.
"Eon said he could be found back where this little adventure began." Ben said.
"The museum where we first found the Hands?" Gwendolyn suggested.
"The desert where he emerged the first time?" Ester added.
Danny shook his head. "No…he's going to Amity Park, in my universe."
"That's right…" Ben said. "He attacked you at that mall, thinking he'd be drawing me out. But what's the point in going back to your universe? There's more than substantial tech right here on Galvan Prime that he could use to build the device."
"I don't think it's the tech he's worried about." Danny shook his head. "My universe, more specifically, my Earth, is directly connected to the Ghost Zone. Inside of there, a ghost's abilities are at their full potential."
"So once he fuses with Dark, he's going to the Ghost Zone to amplify his powers even further." Kim shuddered. This was way out of her pay range.
"Well then, we know our plan. Road trip to Danny's universe, and punch Eon's clock! No way in hell we're letting him get away with this plan." Ben smiled. "As long as we get to him before he completes his fusion, we can beat him no problem! His allies have been defeated, he's riding solo at this point."
"Not entirely, we don't know the status of the Huntsman." Jake pointed out.
"Not to mention, Shego and Dr. Drakken as well." Kim added. "Eon might be using Drakken for his 'genius.'"
"If this Drakken is even somewhat of a capable scientist, he should be able to operate the machine." Azmuth noted.
"He's the smartest idiot I've ever met." Kim shrugged. "That's most certainly what Eon has in mind for him. Shego's just there for muscle."
"Don't forget the Huntsclan, Eon has command over them." Jake reminded the group.
"So some ninjas, a green energy lady, and a stupid scientist, at the very least." Danny counted. "Not to mention, Eon himself."
"The odds are a lot more manageable." Ben said reassuringly. "Eon's heavy hitters have been taken out. The remaining enemies don't stand a chance without them."
"Alright then, we're ready." Kevin smirked, punching his fist into his open palm.
Ben grimaced for a second. "No."
"No? What do you mean no?" Kevin's smile quickly faded.
"Kevin, Gwendolyn, Ester, you guys aren't coming." Ben shook his head.
"Ben, why?" Gwendolyn asked, concern on her face.
"This is probably our most dangerous mission yet." Ben said, very seriously. "As much as we need to hit Eon hard here, it'd be stupid to send in everyone. If something happens to me, there won't be anyone besides you guys to protect this universe."
Ester frowned thoughtfully, then approached her boyfriend. "You'll be careful though, right?"
Ben took Ester's hands in his own. "Of course I will, careful's my middle name." He kissed the half-Kraaho girl. It was brief, but sweet.
Ester pulled away and looked deep into Ben's eyes, then nodded. "Okay then, we'll stay."
"We will." Gwendolyn nodded. She trusted her cousin. If he wanted them to stay, just in case the worst happened, she didn't see a reason to fight him on it.
"Ugh, Tennyson, why do you have to be so difficult?!" Kevin threw up his hands as he approached Ben. Kevin wrapped one muscular arm around Ben's neck and buried his fist into Ben's hair. "Don't you dare die on us. Or I'll kick your ass."
"I wouldn't have it any other way." Ben smiled.
"If this little demonstation of emotion is over, we'll move forward with the final attack on Eon." Azmuth said. He pulled out a small remote and pressed a button. The floor in the center of the lab opened up as some sort of machine rose. In its center was a hollow circle with flashing lights lining it. "Daniel, I'll need to scan you to find your universe's vibrational frequency."
"Oh, uh sure." Danny said. Danny approached Azmuth, who brought out a small pen-like instrument. He pressed a button on its side and a green light washed over Danny.
"There we are." Azmuth proceeded to the large machine, plugging his pen-like device into it. In the hollow circle, a swirling vortex sparked to life, kicking up a light breeze. "This should take you directly to the city you mentioned, Daniel. Whenever you are all ready, step through."
"Let's do this guys!" Jake cheered as he jumped through the portal.
"Vamanos, mi amigos!" Rex added before following Jake.
"Let's hope this doesn't go horribly wrong." Kim shook her head as she stepped through.
Danny smiled. He was going home. He stepped through the portal without a word.
Ben approached the portal, turning back to his friends and family. Ester rushed over and wrapped her arms around her boyfriend several times over. She pulled him into a deep kiss, before looking deep into his eyes.
"Come back to me, hero boy." Ester said softly.
"Please, I'll be back before you know it." Ben smiled a toothy grin.
Ester released him as Gwendolyn approached. Gwendolyn and Ben just looked at each other for what seemed like an eternity. "…be careful, doofus." Gwendolyn hugged Ben hard, but he didn't complain. He hugged his cousin back just as hard.
"I'll see ya soon, dweeb." Ben said quietly, so only she could here. Gwendolyn released him as Kevin approached.
"Deck that time-travelling bastard for me." Kevin extended his fist towards Ben.
Ben answered it with his own, bumping their fists together.
Finally, Grandpa Max approached. Gwendolyn motioned for the others to step aside. "I can't tell you how proud I am of the man you've become in the last eleven years. Xylene may have sent that watch to me, but no one could have used it better than you, Benjamin."
Ben smiled, his mouth wavering slightly as tears formed in his eyes. He tackled Max with a big hug, which Max happily answered in kind. Ben leaned into his grandfather and hugged him for a long time. "I'll be back soon, Grandpa."
Ben stepped away from his grandfather, turning to the swirling portal. He jumped through in an instant, his voice echoing…
"It's Hero Time!"