Heaven...the home of divine beings. Now, you may not know this, there are actually many Heavens in this Universe. Honestly, that depends on the number of mythologies you believe in. There is Asgard: home of the Norse deities, like Thor and Odin. There is Swarga: home of the deities from Hindu Mythologies, like Indra, King of Devas. Of course, we also have the Biblical Heaven: home of the Angels and Exorcists.
Each mythology claims they came first into existence, each one claims that their Gods created this Universe and filled it with life and beauty. In short, that's a long story and with each party being very firm in their ideals...it wouldn't be wise to get into a pissing contest with anyone.
The eternal never existed alone, it needs someone to stabilize and protect it, almost for the rest of eternity...almost, since there is no living being that is immortal completely. But we are talking about a world that is accompanied by supernatural beings who are able to live eternally, grow old if they will, but after many centuries of existence in that world they die or are killed.
Humans are referred to as a species that has been here from the beginning, the beginning of every era, but there were already living beings belonging to the supernatural in the world.
Get your facts straight folks. Lucifer was never evil per say, only that he was given a free will, he could choose between good and evil. He became a pure angel, in the emissary of wickedness, one who wanted to be the same as God, but not of kindness and mercy, but of wickedness and of might. There were seventy-two other powerful beings such as him, who decided follow in his footsteps, leading to the creation of a place called Underworld.
Angels: the first beings who were brought into existence by God, to defend his world and fight against evil. Sadly they were also one of his purest creations who chose to carry such evil. They possessed the capacity to forgive, to love, to pray, and many more gifts. Gifts that were enormous In power and enormous in wisdom. Of course, coming rather dangerously closer to surpassing its creator.
Fallen angels: the Angels who fell into the temptation of absolute sin. Their black-wings, the same shade as the night sky. They are cretinous beings and also of great power. They fell from the wing of God by their impure thoughts and deeds before the eyes of all. They were banished from Heaven and now scour the Human World locating Sacred Gears possessors and Devils to slay.
Youkai: malevolent beings as well as mischievous. Beings with animal forms and at the same time human form, a mixture or some form of hybrid in other words. They are beings blessed with incredible power within them, making them capable of unleashing great catastrophes in the human world, as well as in the supernatural world. but they do have a will, and can do what is right, and some do.
Dragons: beings that were NOT a creation of God. Celestial beings, beings extremely powerful and in some case; malevolen, these beings were already born since the beginning of creation. There were stories about the creation of another "being" more powerful than the same merciful God and extremely opposite in nature. A being referred to as Diagon, the Destroyer, the Cerulean Beast of Apocalypse, the True Satan.
God: an omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent being. The "creator" of everyone and everything. But, he was not the only God in this Universe, there were many Gods of many mythologies, even the Dragons were Gods.
Factions: Angels, Fallen Angels and Demons, groups that once fought a great war where most of their race died out.
There are many stories about it, stories so ancient that even those beings who fought in the Great War don't remember them.
The Heaven we currently find ourselves in is the Biblical Heaven, also refered to as Fifth Heaven. A place which sits above the clouds and its inhabitants claim tha it's the most beautiful place in the entire world. Its also called the home of eternal peace and enlightenment. It was also the home of the system created by the Biblical God himself, a powerful mechanism which affected the entire Akuma population. Even uttering the very name of God caused immense pain to the enemy of Biblical Angels, Devils. The holy objects and light were given the ability to harm and even kill Devils. It didn't affect the Angels who fell from their grace though. But it did provide humans a powerful protection against Devils, who appeared to be the mankind's biggest enemy, at that time.
While there were Fallen Angels, they were mostly interested in dealing with the Devils and strongly desired to return to Heaven someday, Instead of the destruction of the humans.
There were mostly seven crucial parts of Heaven and each one served their purpose. This seven regions were called "Heavens", and the Seventh Heaven was rumoured to be the present location of the Sacred Gear system, it was also the location where the God of the Bible was rumoured to reside within Heaven, before his sudden disappearance. Even Angels, the powerful beings who used to reside in Heaven had no idea about his whereabouts. In his absence, his most powerful creation and the strongest Seraph, Michael, took over the system and assumed Heaven's throne. It was rumored that the system was "weaker" then it used to be but it was still powerful enough that the arguably more resourceful Underworld had no idea about it.
But even Michael wasn't completely assured though. It was also possible that some of them knew but they chose to ignore it. Every faction wanted peace now a days, even the Underworld and Fallen Angels. Everyone was mostly tired of the wars and no one wanted a repeat of what happened many years ago.
Unfortunately, the recent events were more than enough to make people worry. There were a few cases of disagreements before, there were even a few cases of two of the three factions having a scuffle with each other. But no one was willing to break the ceasefire which was placed in effect many years ago. It wasn't the only issue people were facing right now though. A few notable things had managed to grab Heaven and the Underworld's attention. Everyone was bothered at learning about the terrorists no one had any idea about existing till now. If terrorists on Human and extra terristrial level can be that dangerous, imagine how dangerous they would be if they were powerful beings like Angels, Devils or even Youkais.
And the worst thing was, no one had any idea about who or what they were. The only thing Heaven, the Underworld, and the Grigory were sure of was that, they wanted nothing but to create havoc everywhere.
Gabriel passed through Fifth Heaven, the home of the Fallen Angels before they fell. It was now filled with research institutes where the Brave Saints were created all those years ago. There were also facilities where the brightest minds of Heaven worked on getting more information about how the sacred gears worked and how they can be used for the betterment of Humanity and Heaven. They even managed to create a few miracles of their own.
Gabriel passed through another gate, entering into the sixth floor of Heaven. It was dubbed as the core of the entire structure of the Holy System which was created in order to keep devils in check. It was also known as Zebel, The place where the Seraphs resided within heaven. As soon as Gabriel entered, she was greeted by the sight of her brother, Michael, the leader of all Angels stood in the heart of the Zebel.
"I assume we still don't have any idea about what's going on!" Michael spoke in a calm tone, his eyes indicating a bit of irritation and displeasure.
"We are trying our best, but it would be safe to say the person we are dealing with is extremely evasive and smart. He/she is also vastly experienced. And if my guess is correct, it must be someone around Satan class strength." Gabriel explained with a serious tone. Her normal warm tone filled with a little bit of Sarcasm.
"Vasco voiced out a possibility about the Old Satan faction being involved but I think they lack the strength to operate right under our noses like that. I have been hearing prayers today, It appears that the Species Shifter had started his work in town!" Michael continued his discussion with his sister as they walked towards the throne room.
"I agree, he is bound to get involved sooner or later! We should do something to aid him. Who knows, he may be the one to crack this case." Gabriel spoke with a smile as she assumed her position in the throne room.
"I am well aware of your interest in the mortal who battled Diagon; however, Let me remind you, Brave Saints are to be those who are strong followers of God's teachings as well as pure of heart. He only fulfils one of those requirements." Michael raised an eyebrow, "besides, I don't think the Red Dragon Emperor wants him involved!"
Her eyes narrowed, "and leave him defenseless? Whoever sent those Sprite Dragons to attack the city escaped both our's and the Devil's attention. If this being is anything like I explained before, the boy would be completely defenseless against them. We are also dealing with the looming threat of Devils contacting him first. You know what his school's name is, Right?"
Michael's questioning demeanor withdrew as he internally acknowledged that she was correct on every front, he nodded understandingly, "it will be a grave situation Indeed, if the Species Shifter gets his hands on powerful beings locked inside Sacred Gears and allies himself with Devils, that won't be good for us. I assume you have a plan to do it without upsetting the Red Dragon Emperor!""
"I do!" Gabriel nodded revealing a glowing orb on her hands.
"I suppose the rules of the Sacred Gear System weren't meant to be broken, but it can be forgiven under the circumstances." Michael chuckled as he leaned back on his royal chair, "I request you though, don't make a habit of breaking the rules. We are called Angels for a reason."
"I never intend to." Gabriel smiled, reassuring her brother, and vanished through the same door she entered moments ago.
Ben Tennyson stood facing a white walled laboratory created and maintained by the Intergalactic Police Organization, also referred as Plumbers throughout the Universe, an organization charged with maintaining peace and order throughout the planets. The research facility itself was pretty high maintenance in nature. It was filled with all sorts of scientific equipment and such, several of them were way above the level of highest human technologies operated, and not many people could properly use them. Not much human people in a sense; however, there was one exception amongst them. Cooper Daniels stood infront of a table, while carrying highly sophisticated surgical instruments in his hands. He was an eccentric blonde who appeared to be in his early twenties, he was fairly healthy and muscular. Appearing several years older than Ben; however, that wasn't reality. Actually, Cooper Daniels was a fifteen year old super genious who had the appearance of a chubby blonde. Last year, Cooper got tired of handling his teenage years and lack of a proper girl friend, using his vast intelligence and technology manipulation abilities, Cooper managed turn himself into his "Current" version.
Ben didn't know about his love life now a days, but he assumed that Cooper must be happy with his hunk build and such. Cooper was blabbering about some sciencey stuff now, which Ben had no idea about. He just talked about science, a very weird kind of science.
The Ultimatrix bearer attempted to cover his nose as the smell coming from winged reptilian creature rudely invaded his nostrils.
"Don't you have something like alien version room spray, this smell is almost killing me, Dude!" Ben spat out angrily, quickly covering his face.
"This is a forensic lab, Buddy. Use a mask, don't you see shows like CSI and stuff? Bro, You should seriously start watching something other than some stupid cartoon!" Cooper sighed, brushing the droplets of sweat from his forehead.
"Sumo Slammers is not a cartoon!" Ben denied vehemently.
"And you ask me why people don't take you seriously!" Cooper remarked, his voice filled with sarcasm. He worked over the corpse Ben had brought for him, Slicing apart its wings and the left part of its brain, Cooper pulled out what appeared to be some sort of mechanical structure attached to thick cables which spread throughout the hound sized creature's body. Cooper had no idea how what was made or what it was exactly. But from his experiences with Alien technology and creation of various surveillance technologies he designed from plumbers, This appeared to be some sort of probe. A prototype created for study and experiment. In short, this creature was half mechanical, half biological.
"Ben, this seems like some form of drone to me." Cooper explained as he extracted a few droplets of blood using a syringe. He paused for a moment, entering the blood in his plumber database. A big error message written in red letters appeared on his screen, indicating that they didn't have any data regarding this subject on their servers.
"What do you mean by that?" Ben questioned dumbfounded.
"The eyes of this being is coated with some sort of glassy surface. I couldn't break it using our standard equipment but seeing its reflective surface, I assume that is some form of lense!" Cooper spoke in a serious tone, "whoever made these creatures just wanted to test them out, study how they would perform!"
"Are you sure its not Animo?" Ben enquired once again, a part of him still doubted about his old nemesis' involvement.
"He is locked up in one of the highest secured facilities!" Cooper replied in a firm tone, "Besides, his experiments have always been traceable. I can personally vouch for that!"
"These things killed people out there Bro, and we can't even find the bastard who did it!" Ben clenched his fists tightly, Getting agitated a bit. "You gotta give me something to work with."
"I am a scientist and a technopath Buddy, not some psychic or terrot card reader. I can analyze things for you, I can perform complex calculations for you, I can help you with futuristic technology; however, what I can't do is give you future predictions! I may be a super genius but even I have my own limits." Cooper patted the Ultimatrix bearer's shoulder, attempting to calm him down. "I gotta warn you though, sooner or later you will be facing a new and powerful enemy, one that may rival even Vilgax. Keep your eyes and ear open!"
"As if this life of mystery and danger isn't enough, a new layer of danger keeps adding itself on the top of eveverything!" Ben let out a groan as he shook his head and clenched his teeth and fists, he asked out of curiosity, "did you find anything about the new transformation I recently got? The one who could do sort of cool things with water and looks mostly human. It's kinda powerful and has this weird feel, though I feel like it was natural, almost like I have felt it my entire life but just haven't noticed it!" Ben said the last part with slight confusion.
"Negative, the Extranet has no information regarding it!" Cooper responded negatively.
"That's impossible! The Extranet has data of every Alien being that ever existed in this galaxy and others!" Ben denied dumbfounded, unable to believe what Cooper just said to him.
"Remember the first lesson Max taught us, in our line there is no word such as impossible!" Cooper spoke while entering the data of another test tube which contained Ben's new transformation's blood. The prodigy thought it would be a good idea for a test subject. He quickly took out something from his pocket, handing it over to Ben. The Ultimatrix wielder blinked in amusement, taking a good look at what was in his palms. The object appeared to be inside transparent plastic which the police used to gather evidence. The inside was covered with blood, there was no doubt about it. There were three layers filled with blood, Each of them being in a different color.
"You can't open the seal, Ben. You are a free lance agent working for plumbers, you are not a fully fledged badge yet. You will be held in contempt for stealing the evidence if you do that!" Cooper warned, stopping Ben who was about to open the folder.
"Are you for real Man? You are just as old as me!" Ben let out a groan, putting the object back on the surgical table.
"I have finished thirteen multiple Ph.D.s last year, while you barely finished your highschool last year!" Cooper chuckled, making Ben scowl in response. The Species Shifter rolled his eyes in irritation, Cooper was getting smug now a days. Maybe he should let Kevin have his way with him, or Manny would suffice too; however, his eyes suddenly went to the object he was recently forced to put down.
What the hell was that?
"I know what you are thinking, Ben. It is blood but that's not just blood!"
"I know it's covered in blood…I'm asking what it is?" Ben pressed further. He was starting to run out of his patience right now.
"It's a very powerful compound made on the basis of neogenics, the science of rewriting the genetic code of a being alive or dead. The composition appears to be quite strong, that nearly corroded through my techno-gloves and that's why I was forced to put this in a taedanite reinforced transparent case. The formula itself is oddly similar to something we found in London last year...
"You mean my clash with Chadwick and the Forever Knights?" Ben asked out of curiosity.
"The formula resembles what we found in Chadwick's mutated blood, so I can safely say this it's a variation of the formula which transformed him into a scary looking monster..." Cooper explained as his eyes glowed with a golden aura. Using his technopathic abilities, he activated all the computers inside the room at once. Ben blinked as various charts and blue prints started flashing through multiple screens. The pages changing so fast that Ben could barely keep up with them.
Man! Ben really wished Grey Matter could learn to do that someday.
"I hear a but coming Bro..."
"It's somehow more upgraded and more stable!" Cooper commented, "this is beyond the level of someone like Animo. It's the work of some super genius. I can tell you that much for sure!"
Ben gulped, and he had thought that this would be one of his old timers with a useless villainous scheme. If the enemy had been some normal guy, he could've just overpowered them with the Ultimatrix's no time out upgrade.
But now…
Ben clenched his fist.
There was no going back.
If those misfits came to wreak havoc upon the city once again, he will be prepared and no matter how powerful or smart the mastermind behind all this was, he will find a way to beat the baddie in the end, he always did. He was a superhero afterall.
Taking a long breath, Ben activated his Ultimatrix. He needed to travel through half of the globe and reach his aunt's home before everyone wakes up. He also needed to finish his sleep in limited hours and get ready to wrestle with the highschool once again. After shuffling through several familiar faces, Ben stopped as he reached the crimson manta ray alien. With a yawn, he pressed the faceplate of the highly sophisticated Galvan machinery.
And just like that, a brilliant display of bright, emerald lights engulfed his body.
From his bed, Ben looked at the late night sky. The darkness was very unsettling and disconcerning and it often told him that opaqueness was a bad sign. It was not just about the night, Ben thought about his life in general, it was getting to be too much gloom and doom for this time of year. He decided against not paying much heed to it. Brooding wasn't his style and it made him kinda boring.
But Ben wasn't afraid of the dark. He just preferred the sun to be out most of the time, especially when he was depressed and alone.
Closing his eyes, Ben snuggled into his bed, and went into a peaceful sleep. A pure white magic circle suddenly appeared next to the young Tennyson's bed, and a silhouette emerged from the circle. The silhouette brightened, revealing Gabriel, the sister of Michael, who was the leader of the Angels.
Gabriel quietly walked over to the bed which contained the protector of the planet. She tilted her head as she gazed upon the Ultimatrix wielder.
"He really looks so fragile and little!"
She glanced at the splendid species shifting device which allowed him to perform many legendary feats in the short span of six and a half years. Even going so far as defeating and sealing up beings such as Diagon the Destroyer, a being which could rival the powers of Great Red, the True Red Dragon Emperor, a being more powerful than Gods and Monsters from every known mythology. With having his species shifting abilities and his pure heart which thrived to protect the others, the young Tennyson was going to grow into a force to be reckoned with soon enough.
Without wasting any more time, she took out a glowing orb from her pocket. The ball of light illuminated the entire room with a golden aura. Shifting it in her left hand gently, she shoved the glowing orb deep inside Ben's chest. A pure white magical circle engulfed the bed as the Ultimatrix wielder started squirming in pain, his entire body starting to drench with sweat. He moved back and forth multiple times, still not waking up from his slumber. His body vibrated, twitched, and recoiled in various manners, as if he was having a panic attack; however, despite everything that transpired, Ben didn't wake up, he didn't even blink for crying out loud. Finally, after what it seemed like hours, his body finally reached a stable position and everything went back to normal.
Gabriel tilted her head as she placed her hand on Ben's cheek, rubbing it gently. "Sleep well Child, even with the gift from the distant stars and the gift from Heaven, your path isn't going to be an easy one. You have a very glorious and vulnerable destiny ahead of you. I wish you all the luck in this world, Ben Tennyson!"
The Angel sighed and lowered her head to kiss Ben on his forehead. The snowy-white magic circle appeared from under her, and she vanished in thin air, disappearing the same way she appeared before. Unbeknownst to both her and the sleeping Tennyson, the Ultimatrix vibrated violently for a moment before settling down.
A glowing hologram which was surrounded by a bright green background appeared on the top of the Ultimatrix's faceplate, revealing an athletic white winged individual with a seven pronged halo who also wore greek clothing that resembled what one may think a philosopher might where. The familiar robotic voice, which was feminine in nature, resounded throughout the quiet guestroom of the Hyoudou residence.
"DNA scan successful, new transformation available for use!"
Ben woke up to a familiar ceiling. He blinked the sleep out of his eyes slowly, the simple motion taking an enormous amount of effort for something so small.
He groaned, feeling his entire body aching, and sat up on his bed, his whole being protesting at against his decision to do so.
The blanket fell off him, and he looked down to see himself clad in one of his more favored shirts, though he was also still wearing the pants he wore from the night before. He was surprisingly clean, a lot of the dust and grime of the previous night wiped away. A new morning had came and Ben realized that even for a teen superhero like him such a time a day would go by so quickly. He turned and let his feet rest on the cool floor of his room, taking a few seconds to take in the feeling of it all. He sighed and quickly made his way towards the bathroom .
He stood underneath the shower of hot water for nearly half an hour, mostly not doing anything apart from laying his head against the wall and letting the water run over him. He closed his eyes, remembering the events of the previous night. Haunted by the images of security guards getting devoured by the Dragon-like creatures and the people he couldn't save.
There was always someone, there was always someone who got left behind. He couldn't save his Grandfather from the Highbreed, he couldn't save Pierce Wheels from the Forever Knights' purge...no matter how much he tried, he always kept coming short in that regard. He was the bearer of one of the most powerful ultra modern technologies to ever exist, even for Galvans, the smartest species in the entire universe.
Everything just went to Hell so quickly, he could barely catch up. Hell, even now he was still reeling from it all. He slid into some comfortable clothes, and slowly walked downstairs. As Ben reached the dining table, he saw the events of the previous night being played on the television set. First was the attack of the Dragon-like beings, which introduced the Alien Superhero to the Japanese media. The next however, was the mostly chewed out three disfigured bodies. Ben immediately dropped his spoon on the ground, his appetite dying within a moment.
'Its not my fault! ' Ben reminded himself in his mind, 'i-it's n-n-not my fault!"
"That damned Alien freak, sasn't wreaking havoc on America enough for him, now he came here too! If I was face to face with him I'd slap him. Hello Ben dear." She then hugged Ben and kissed him on the cheek.
Ben felt strange hugging a woman who wanted to slap him; meanwhile, a still sleepy Nanami bounced on the floor, performing some sort of Judo moves. Ben ruffled her already messy hair, getting an inaudible sleepy greeting in return. She poked Ben's legs and spoke out with a smile.
"Onii-chan! Dwaddy taught me how to kwick." The little girl giggled and tried to jump in the air, only to roll over the floor in the clumsy display. Ben was quick in helping her get up.
"Woah! Don't over exert yourself, Kiddo!" Ben reprimanded her in concern.
"Don't worry Onii-chan! I am not some dandy in distress!" The little girl grinned with pride, making Ben chuckle a bit.
"It's damsel, not dandy!" Ben corrected her. The little girl huffed in annoyance, voicing out her displeasure with a pout, appearing to be like an angry rabbit once again.
"I like dandy more, damsel is more girly!"
Ben rolled away his eyes with a little smile on his face, he knew It wouldn't be wise to engage in an argument with a little child, especially a cute one like Nanami. In the end, he decided to address the elephant in the room.
"So Aunt Sachiko, you really don't like the Alien Superhero?" Ben asked out of curiosity.
"Of course not," Sachiko spoke with a heavy frown, "how could I like some freak who brings nothing but havoc and destruction wherever he goes? That's disgraceful!"
Getting criticized by Will Harrangue was one thing but hearing such things from his family members made him feel a bit sick.
"I disagree with you here, Honey. He must be pretty good at what he does. I saw the video of the squid monster he defeated, that was scary. He is trying to help others, sometimes there is destruction of property and such, but I guess that's just a by product of dealing with a greater danger!" Issei spoke out with an encouraging smile.
"Honey, don't change the subject!" Sachiko spoke with a hint of affection in her voice, "you still didn't tell us what you think of him?"
"That's a complicated question. I have never met him so I can't really judge him right now, however, if I were to meet him, I would like to tell him to stay alert and be careful out there. This is a strange world and it is in a constant battle of good vs evil, things never remain the same." Issei concluded in a rather earnest tone.
Ben gave a nod inwardly. He can't afford to take things granted the way he used to be. It was time to get serious. Ben Tennyson was born to be a hero. He was supposed to be an intergalectic police officer: a protector of unparalleled skill. The blood of Maxwell Tennyson and the device on his wrist made sure of that.
He may have taken things for granted when he was a child, however, things were different now and he will never let anyone die on his watch, never again. No matter what price he had to pay for it, someday he will be the hero everyone needed him to become, a hero who could save everyone.
Someday, he will achieve what he was destined to become. Someday he will become Ben 10,000.
A true hero.
A/N And done with this chapter. I am right now working on chapter 6 and hope to post it soon, so I really don't have time to say anything.
Please review and have a nice day.