Ben 10 Omniverse fanfiction
10 + 1 Primed
Chapter 4
The Time: in the nick of
The Place: Primus
On the planet Primus, all was still. Floating in a void between dimensions, combined with Eon effectively putting the entire place on lockdown, had more or less put the metaphorical volume control on mute. If a pin dropped, it would echo throughout the world.
And then, metaphorically, a pin dropped.
The convertible swerved as Rook tried to get stop the vehicle. In spite of popular rumor, Primus was not built with the usage of motor vehicles in mind. The car rattled as it went over the uneven terrain, making the arduous job of halting it even more difficult. Rook turned the steering wheel this way and that as he tried to avoid hitting a tree.
"Rook!" Ben yelled as he and Eunice were bounced around in the backseat, "Stop this crazy thing!"
"I am trying!" Rook yelled back. He was too focused on his task to point out that pressing down on the brake pedal did little, and in fact made things worse because of the skidding.
"We're going towards the Codon Stream!" Eunice shrieked.
Rook acted decisively, and twisted the wheel in a bid to turn the car away from the river of green matter. Thinking that they weren't going to stop in time, Ben quickly went to the Omnitrix and turned into Astrodactyl. With the alien's energy whips, he cut the seatbelts holding Rook and Eunice down and quickly pulled the two out of the car. As he carried them away, the jaguar continued down its path of assumed destruction.
Then, just as it reached the edge of the Codon Stream, the car hit a bump, and soared through the air, flipping as it went, until it reached the other side of the river, landing face-down.
Up in the air, Astrodactyl, Rook, and Eunice stared at this.
"Well, uh, don't that beat all." Astrodactyl commented. He landed near where the jaguar was parked and set his friends down. "So… Any idea what to do from here?" Astrodactyl asked, "I know the plan is to beat the bad guy, but I could use some details." There was a flash and he reverted to Ben.
"We need to get to the command center," Eunice said, "Once there…"
Before Eunice got any further, there was a flash of dark purple. Once it faded, Eon stood before the three, his expression like stone. They became even harder when he saw them.
"Ben Tennyson," The chronian growled, "How did you get here? My barrier should have kept you out."
"It kept Paradox out," Ben corrected smugly, "Luckily, some of us can think outside the box."
Rook reached for his Proto-Tool and shifted it to gun mode, trained on Eon. "This is your only warning. Surrender peacefully. If you do not, we will use force."
"Please," Eon smirked, "The only one who has any chance of forcing me to do anything is Paradox, and only in the most egregious of circumstances. The rest of you…" Eon's smile dropped when he saw Eunice. "You! How did you get out?! I just left you-!"
His eyes darting, Eon teleported away in a flash of purple light.
"Any idea what that was about, or is this gonna be one of those, 'You're better off not knowing' things?" Ben asked.
Eunice's mind made the connection. The noise that distracted Eon when she escaped must have been the crash the car made when they arrived here. She wondered if Paradox had purposely arranged that to happen.
But rather than saying that, Eunice said, "We should get going. It won't be long until Eon gets back."
"Where is the command center?" Rook asked, "What is the fastest route?"
Eunice gestured, almost futilely, towards the Codon Stream river. "That way…"
"On it." Ben quickly transformed in Bloxx. In a second, the segmentasapian had formed a bridged across the river, allowing Rook and Eunice to cross. Once they were on the other side, Bloxx retracted the extra pieces of his body and scratched his back. "Next time, wipe your feet, will ya? I think you got some dirt on me…" He then heard the tell-tell sound of someone teleporting in. "We got company!"
Eon appeared before Rook and Eunice, his right hand glowing with black energy. He swung at them, barely grazing Rook as he and Eunice jumped back. His fist hit the ground instead, causing the grass within a one-foot radius to instantly decay. Standing up, the chronian gave Eunice a venomous look.
"I'm surprised you came back," Eon said, then smirked evilly. "However, that does save me the trouble of hunting you down…"
Eon got a blocky fist to the face, knocking him flat on his back. Rook and Eunice looked to Bloxx, who was retracting his extended arm.
"You guys get to the command center!" Bloxx ordered, "Leave the bad guy-beating to me!"
Eon got up, and received another extended punch, this time to the gut. Eunice and Rook nodded and took off into the woods. Because he was focusing on Eon, Bloxx didn't notice that Rook seemed to be lagging…
Eon, for his part, didn't get up again and simply teleported. He reappeared directly Bloxx, fist glowing with aging power. Having heard the sound of the teleport, Bloxx was already moving when Eon reached for the segmentasapian. Bloxx extended an arm towards a tree and pulled himself away, and Eon's energized palm connected with a closer tree. Bloxx watched in horror as the tree withered away on the spot, going through thousands of years within seconds.
That's right, I can't let him touch me, Bloxx thought, and an idea came to him. Tapping the Omnitrix, he transformed himself into Clockwork. "I'm going to clean your clock, Eon!" After all, do as Romans when in Rome, and fight fire with fire, right? Clockwork's Omnitrix began to glow as he prepared to fire his time beam.
But Eon simply smirked. The only action he took as the beam fired was to let his arms hang limply by his side. There was a bright flash of light as the ray struck him dead-on…
"Bulls-eye!" Clockwork yelled, pumping his arm.
…But when the light faded, Eon was still there, unharmed. If anything, he looked excited.
"What?!" Clockwork gasped, "But, how-?!"
"Let's just say that the time I've spent here…" Eon held up his hand, it beginning to glow. "…Has proven to be a wise investment."
Clockwork took a step back. Sure hope Rook and Eunice and making more progress than I am…
With Eunice leading the way, she and Rook made their way across Primus towards the command center. They made good time, and luckily Eon hadn't changed the password for the entrance. Entering the facility, Eunice led Rook towards the center. There, Rook stopped in awe at the hideous black tree that had taken root.
"Is that the-" Rook paused to breath, "- source of Eon's clone pods?"
"Yes, but we'll deal with that later. First,we need to help Ben with Eon," Eunice said, "Watch my back while I work."
"What are you doing?" Rook asked.
"When the Codon Stream needs fresh samples of DNA for the Omnitrix, we send out robotic insects called Voliticus Biopsis," Eunice explained, "I'm going to program them to attack Eon."
Rook nodded and took out his Proto-Tool. With him standing guard, Eunice resumed her work on the console from earlier. Luckily, she was almost finished when Eon's powers had sent her into the Middle Ages.
"Initiating Volticus Biopsis Attack Protocol…" Eunice pulled down a lever on the computer. "…Now."
A klaxon sounded, and the air became filled with the sound of hundreds of flapping wings. The sound of wings faded as the Voliticus Biopsis' apparently flew off.
Nodding in satisfaction, Eunice turned to Rook. "Now we need to deal with that tree…" She gasped.
Rook looked…different. His features seemed worn, and around his chin and upper lip were the early stages of a beard.
"Do not be alarmed." Rook said. He gave a slight cough.
"Rook, what-?" Then Eunice recalled Eon's earlier attack. "You're getting older!"
"I assumed that was the case," Rook admitted, "However, I am certain that my condition can be reversed by Professor Paradox…" His gazed turned towards Eon's tree. "…Assuming we can accomplish our mission."
"You still have not told me what that is," Rook pointed out, "Is there a way to keep Eon from utilizing Primus' power?"
Eunice didn't answer at first. Then, she said, "Eon's using the Codon Stream to enhance his abilities. So, the only way to beat him…we have to destroy the Codon Stream."
Back in the wilds of Primus, Ben and Eon's fight had intensified. Several trees had been knocked down, and large rock formations were crumbled. In order to better protect himself from Eon's 'aging touch', Ben transformed in NRG. The prypiatosapian-B's containment suit offered a measure of protection, provided that Eon could not touch that spot for too long. But NRG was not willing to allow the chronian to close. For the most part, NRG shot out heat-beams from his visor, forcing Eon on the defensive. The villain kept teleporting and jumping to avoid being zapped. In the off-chance that Eon got in close enough, NRG was ready to deliver an armored punch.
But something felt off to NRG. He had managed to land a few powerful hits on Eon, but the chronian kept coming. He showed no signs of injury or exhaustion. But NRG was starting to get tired, and he knew that it was only a matter of time until the Omnitrix ran out of power and turned him into a human.
Throwing a punch and missing as Eon teleported out of the way, NRG began to pant. "Don't you ever run down? Why aren't you getting tired?" Then he noticed. Sticking out of Eon's arms were several prongs. He had seen similar thing before, namely on Vilgax when the warlord had first attacked him as a child. "Wait…what are those things?"
Eon smirked. "Just a special enhancement I made to myself. They transfer the Codon Stream's energy into me whenever I require, granting me endless vitality. In other words…" His smirk grew. "…I can keep this up all day. Not that Primus has days anymore," He added as an afterthought, "Or nights, either, since it's separate from normal time now."
"Well, I can…" NRG was cut off by the sound of the Omnitrix beeping. In a flash, he turned back into a human. "…Run out of power at the worst possible moment…"
Eon advanced, his hand glowing. Ben scrambled to put some distance between himself and the villain, but tripped over a stray tree branch. In a moment, Eon was standing over him. Ben racked his brain for a solution. His first idea was to hit Eon with a stick, but the only one available was the branch he was currently sitting on. The next best thing was to continue moving away, but Eon pressed his foot down on Ben's leg to prevent that.
"After all this time…" Eon said, "…it ends now."
Eon slowly reached down, but then stopped. Frowning, he looked up. There was a faint buzzing in the air, it was steadily getting louder by the second. Confused, Ben looked around as best he could from his spot in the grass. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a large, buzzing cloud coming their way.
Wait, clouds don't buzz. Ben noted.
Eon barely had time to cry out as about every Voliticus Biopsis swarmed onto him, pushing him off of Ben. Our hero stood up and brushed himself off, staring at the spectacle. Volticus Biopsis flew around Eon, jabbing at him with their sampling needles. Eon swung at them furiously, using some kind of laser-sword, but for every one Biopsis the chronian managed to cleave in two, two more would take their place. It would almost be comical, had the situation been so serious. In any case, Ben began to fiddle with the Omnitrix, hoping that in doing so he would speed up the charge time. Sitting on the sidelines wasn't his style, and whatever the plan was for the Voliticus Biopsis, it wouldn't hold Eon down for long.
To Ben's satisfaction, the light on the Omnitrix's dial changed from red to green. Pushing the dial down, Ben altered his DNA from human to kinetician.
"Clear a path, men, uh, machines!" XLR8 ordered.
The Voliticus Biopsis' did so, giving a good view of Eon. The chronian looked truly scuffed. There were scratches all over his armor, the glass from his helmet was chipped and cracked in places, and his coat had tears and holes in it everywhere. Eon himself had an expression of frenzied malice on his face, clutching his energy sword so tightly it might have snapped.
XLR8 shot forward, and delivered a high-speed punch that sent Eon flying several yards, tumbling across the ground until his trajectory was interrupted by a tree. Eon hit the plant of Primus with so much force that a patch of bark on the other side flew off. As Eon slumped down, the Voliticus Biopsis buzzed around, waiting for the villain to make the first move.
XLR8 pumped his fist. "Got him!" His elation was cut short by a beeping. Pushing on the Omnitrix, XLR8 asked, "Hello? Rook?"
"Ben, have Voliticus Biopsis arrived?"
"Have they ever!" XLR8 confirmed, and then noticed something was off about his partner's voice. "You okay? You sound weird…"
"It is just a little fatigue," Rook replied, though XLR8 had a gut feeling that was a lie. "Listen, we have come up with a way to stop Eon's plan. Try to keep him detained as long as possible."
"No problem, buddy," XLR8 assured, turning back to where Eon was. "I've got him right where I want…" There was a blank space where Eon should have been lying. "Oh man!"
Back at the command center, Rook and Eunice were hard at work. The clone-tree Eon had made now had several large clamps attached to it, which were wired to a large device with a laser cannon jutting from its side. This machine was a DNA analysis/eraser projector, one of Primus' many tools for keeping the Codon Stream pure. It was currently being modified to eliminate the source of Eon's vile clones.
While Rook double-checked the connections, Eunice typed in commands on its console, adjusting the power so that it was just right. If the DNA erasure-beam was too strong, there was a good chance that it would erase a lot more than just a single tree.
"Rook, the DNA purifier is energized," Eunice announced, "Are the Isolation-clips firmly connected?"
Rook nodded. "Yes, they are," He said, and winced slightly. It felt as if he had aged another few years in the time it took for Eunice and him to set up the equipment. "You may fire when ready."
"Roger. Get out of the way, I'm activating the purifier." Eunice said, and pulled a large switch down on the machine.
As the lights of the cannon began to glow, Rook quickly put as much distance between himself and tree. A beam shot out from the cannon, and it struck the tree in the center. Rook noted that the effect was much different from when Clockwork hit the clone-pods with his time-beam; there, the target was simply aged to the point of disintegration. In this case, the tree was being shrunk down sucked into the clamps, its essence being siphoned back into the machine. After two minutes, the process ended, leaving only a small hole where the tree was.
Eunice checked the readings the DNA handler's computer showed. "…Good. It looks like the extermination was complete." She announced, "Now we just need to target the Codon Stream."
"Are you sure this is the correct method?" Rook asked. He felt his beard and realized that it had gotten longer.
"…Yes. We can't allow Eon to utilize the DNA reserves for his purposes again," Eunice paused, "Even though we destroyed his clone tree, and even if we disrupt his connection to Primus' lifeforce, he can still redo everything later on. The Omnitrix doesn't need the Codon Stream anymore, s-so this is the best course of action…"
Rook was not entirely convinced. While the logic and argument was sound, there was this strange sense that something more was at work. Ben defined such sensations as 'feeling it in your gut'. He also noticed that Eunice's hands shook slightly when she spoke.
"…If you insist," Rook said at last, "You are the authority here, but I…"
Before Rook could finish, however, metal walls slammed down over all of the entrances. Both Rook and Eunice looked around, trying to see what was causing the disturbance. There was a crash, this time coming from the command center's master controls. They looked to see none other than Eon standing over the console, his fist smashed into buttons.
"That stunt with the bugs was in poor taste," Eon growled, "And destroying the fruits of my labor, even more so."
Eon teleported, and reappeared directly behind Eunice. The Unitrix-human tried to get away, but Eon grabbed her by the shoulder and lifted her up. Eunice gasped in pain as she felt her bones beginning to give under the pressure. Rook fired his Proto-Tool, but Eon blocked the shots with his laser-saw. Seeing how long-range combat was useless, the revonnahgander ran towards Eon. However, his rapidly-aging body took that moment to suddenly develop arthritis, and Rook slipped and fell, pain coursing through his left leg.
Eon sneered malevolently at the fallen Plumber, and turned his attention back at Eunice. He said, "Hoping to erase the entire Codon Stream, were you? I'm surprised you even considered it. After all, this planet and its resources are all that is left for you. The only home you have left…"
As Eon's words washed over her, Eunice tearfully realized that he was right. While she put up a strong front for Rook, she knew that the destruction of the Codon Stream would break her. Deep down, she felt that it was the only reason she was allowed to exist, to safeguard the DNA reserves. Otherwise, there would be no reason for Azmuth not to put her back into storage. And preserving it had become a part of her, as much as her human DNA had been.
As a tear prepared to fall, Big Chill flew in through the walls. Opening his maw, he exhaled a blast of freezing air, encasing most of Eon in a block of ice. The only part of Eon that was untouched was the arm holding Eunice, which let go of her in shock.
"Sorry I'm late!" Big Chill yelled, landing on the floor. Helping Eunice up, he said, "I let him out of my sight for a second and he got away. Where's Rook?"
"I…require assistance as well." Rook's voice called out.
Big Chill looked over and blanched. Rook was now the spitting image of his father. And though they did not show very well underneath his fur, he also had a few extra wrinkles.
"Whoa, Rook! What the heck happened to you? You look like you aged…" Big Chill then remembered about Eon's new powers. "Oh, right. Eon."
Big Chill reverted, and Ben and Eunice helped Rook up. By now the revonnahgander was starting become hunched over as he entered his golden years.
"Okay, this is bad." Ben muttered, looking around. The entire facility was sealed, the Voliticus Biopsis were now deactived, and with the controls broken, it wasn't likely either of those would be fixed. He could try to interface with the computers directly as Upgrade, but it wasn't likely Eon would allow him to do that. The ice surrounding the villain was starting to crack.
"I presume Professor Paradox could restore me," Rook said, recalling what he read about Ben's first encounter with the time walker. "However, our immediate concern should be neutralizing whatever Eon is using to keep the professor out."
As Rook was talking, Eon's body, still encased in its frozen container, began to vibrate as waves of purple energy began to emit from it. His lone free arm shook, its muscles tightening underneath his armor. This was quickly noticed by the three.
"Ohhh snap!" Ben cried, and went for the Omnitrix. As he punched in commands, he began to mutter, "Gimme Clockwork, gimme Clockwork, gimme Clockwork!"
Ben slammed down on the Omnitrix's dial, and his body flashed green as it took on a round, metallic shape. As the emerald light subsided, the chronosapian form of Clockwork stood in its place. Without bothering to do anything else, the Omnitrix on Clockwork's belly began to shine as he powered up his own aging ray. The beam shot forth and as it reached Eon the entire room was illuminated by a blinding light. When the light faded, there was no trace of Eon or the ice.
"Bullseye!" Clockwork crowed, pumping his fist. There was a brief flash, and he reverted back to human form. "Well, Eon's toast. That's what I call mission accomplish. Victory smoothies are on…" Ben stopped, and frowned, concerned. "…Guys? Where's Paradox? He usually shows up after we save the day."
Rook, now old enough to be a grandfather, said, "Perhaps the time-barrier and Eon is not connected. In that case, perhaps what we can use the planet's monitoring system and…Ugh!"
Clutching his heart, Rook began to fall over, but was caught by Eunice and Ben. The revonnahgander's breathing quickened, and his wrinkles were becoming so pronounced that even his fur could not hide them, and said fur was beginning to fall out. His hands became gnarled, looking more like old sticks with flesh draped on. It was a terrifying sight, one that Ben could look away from.
"Ben, his aging is getting worse!" Eunice exclaimed in realization.
Ben's heart began to pound and his mind raced as he tried to figure something out. The only one who could fix Rook was Paradox, but as long as whatever Eon used to bar the time walker was still activated, they couldn't enlist his help. And with Rook's condition what it was, they couldn't take the time to go searching. They needed a solution now.
"Did you guys find what Eon was making his clones with?" Ben asked as he and Eunice laid Rook down. The revonnahgander had passed out.
"Yes, it was the first thing we did here," Eunice replied, "I don't understand, with both the source and Eon gone, there shouldn't be any trace of him left on Primus to keep Paradox out. They only way that could be is…" She stopped talking as fear took hold within.
Ben got it. He looked over to where Eon had been. Usually, anything hit by Clockwork's time beam was reduced to ashes, but at present there was nothing there. No sign that anything had been there…
"…Unless Eon's not destroyed, just teleported." Ben finished. He quickly went to his Omnitrix and began to turn the dial.
"Ben, what are you going to do?" Eunice asked, "It would take a miracle to fix this."
"You're right," Ben replied, not taking his eyes off of the selection of aliens he had available. "We need to beat Eon and save Rook, and we can't do one without sacrificing the other. Heck, at this point we'd be lucky just to do one." He finally found the alien he was looking for. Ben sighed, and made a silent prayer. What he was about to do was the epitome of long shots. "But if all we can do is rely on luck…"
Ben slammed the dial down and transformed. When the green light faded, a statuesque figure stood in Ben's place; Its entire body looked like a clear night sky, full of shining stares in the distance. Three horns protruded from its bald head, and in the center of its chest was the Omnitrix. Its eyes were pure green.
Alien X
Eunice stared, her panic briefly forgotten as she looked on in wonder. She had never seen a Celestialsapian before, having one right before her was more than a bit awe-inspiring. But when Alien X didn't move or speak, she began to get worried.
"Ben…?" she started, when she heard a noise behind her. Looking, she saw something that caused that panic to come back with a vengeance.
"Playtime's over." Eon snarled, and advanced.
Ben would never know where Azmuth had gotten a DNA sample for a celestialsapian. The old galvan scientist had never told him. All Ben could figure was that Professor Paradox had been probably been involved, seeing as the timewalker was the one who hid the keys to finding the celestialsapian's breeding grounds.
But whenever Ben transformed into Alien X, he would feel an enormous rush of power…followed by a sinking spell of helplessness. For whenever he became Alien X, he was no longer one person…but three. Alien X's mind was splintered into three voices- With Ben acting as the voice of reason -and the only way to get Alien X to do anything, be it as grand as rebuilding the universe, or something as simple as moving, Ben would have to get the two additional personalities it came with to cooperate. The only time Ben had been successful in such an endeavor was when the Anihilaarg had destroyed the universe, and even then it took quite a bit of pleading. Ben had hoped to never find himself asking favors from those two again…
…But there he was, floating in an endless black void, with two giant, green faces staring down on him; the stony, perpetually frowning Bellicus, the voice of rage and aggression, and the warm and gentle Serena, voice of love and compassion.
"Oh, look who it is," Bellicus snorted sarcastically, "Ben Tennyson. What is it now? Someone have a cold and you want to use our immense, cosmic power to erase the snot from existence?"
"Now, Bellicus, don't be that way," Serena chided, and said to Ben, "How are you doing, Benjamin? Have you been well?"
"Look, Serena, Bellicus," Ben began, trying to keep his voice steady. "You should both know what's going on right now. I need to use Alien X's powers to fix it. Now," When he got no response, Ben tried to put on a winning smile. "Please?"
The reply was as smooth and subtle as a bullet. "Motion denied."
Ben was sorely tempted to tear out his hair. "But my friend Rook is about to die of old age!"
"Ben, lesser beings die of old age all of the time," Serena said gently, "It's all part of the cycle of life."
"But he's not even thirty!" Ben burst out, and tried to calm himself. Tantrums were likely to make the negotiations worse than they were now. He turned to Bellicus and tried a different tack. "Bellicus, Eon is using clones to change history. Are you comfortable with some 'lesser being' tampering with the natural order? To try and put himself above Alien X?"
Bellicus gave a dismissive harrumph. "No mere chronian could be as powerful as a celestialsapian. Anyway, time-travelers have been screwing around with history for as long as the universe has existed. It all works out in the end."
It was like talking to a brick wall. Ben wasn't sure how to get Alien X to help out when a sharp scream echoed throughout the mindscape. The three of them looked around in confusion.
"What was that?" Bellicus demanded.
The answer came when the form of Eunice suddenly appeared, looking incredibly shocked, both literally and figuratively. Her eyes were wide, her entire body was rigid, and she had her arms out as if pushing against a wall.
"Eunice?" Ben asked, and floated over to the unimatrix-human.
"Ohhh, great!" Bellicus grumbled, "First the time walker and now Ben's 'lady of the week'! Why don't we just invite everyone in the blasted omniverse here?!"
Ignoring the voice of aggression, Ben took Eunice's shoulder and shook her slightly. That managed to snap Eunice out of her stupor. She looked everywhere in stunned wonder.
"Ben, Why- Way- What happened?" she asked, sounding a bit frantic. "Where am I?"
"You're inside Alien X," Ben explained, "Sorta…anyway, how did you get here? What's going on?"
"Eon," Eunice answered, still looking about. "He came back from wherever he went when Clockwork zapped him. When you didn't respond to my voice, I got desperate and tried to copy Alien X's powers…then this happened."
"Copy Alien X?" Ben repeated, "Are you crazy?!" Copying Eon's chronian powers had sent her back to the Middle Ages by accident. There would be no way to tell what could have happened if Eunice absorbed a celestialsapian's.
"She's not the only one." Bellicus said, looking deeply vexed.
Serena, though more sympathetic, also had a stern look in her eyes. "Our powers aren't meant to be trifled with, dearie."
Ben was quick to put himself to between the giant faces and Eunice. "Hey, get off her case. At least she's trying to help, unlike you selfish jerks!"
"SELFISH!" Bellicus bellowed, "We're selfish!? What about you?!"
"What about me?" Ben demanded, unafraid. He knew that unless there was an agreement, Bellicus was powerless to do anything but get angry. Not that it was much comfort for his ears…
"He has a point," Serena replied, "You only show up when you want something, Ben."
"What?" Ben exclaimed, "I only use- try to use- you guys to help people!"
"Exactly!" Bellicus retorted, and began to speak in a nasally tone. "'I want to fix a dam and stop a flood' 'I want to save the Earth from being blown up' 'I want to reassemble the universe!' It's always what you want!"
Ben had a really nasty retort, with some added commentary on hypocrites, when Eunice floated around him to speak with Bellicus and Serena.
"Excuse me, but what exactly do you want?" she asked politely. The situation was at its worst, but somehow she figured that a shouting contest wasn't going to solve anything. "Perhaps we could work something out?"
"Oh, that's easy enough," Serena said, "We want to deliberate." At Eunice's confused expression, she continued to say, "We've been discussing various things, Bellicus and I, for a very long time. But with only two voices we can never come to a vote on anything. We thought that with Ben we could accomplish something, but…"
"But Ben refuses to cooperate!" Bellicus finished.
"I can't spend my time refereeing you two when there are people who need a hero," Ben shot back.
"Why don't we compromise?" Eunice suggested, "If you help us with Eon and Primus, Ben could put some time in to help deliberate?"
Serena and Bellicus exchanged looks.
"That sounds like a good deal." Serena pointed out, "Motion to stop Eon's plot in exchange for Ben Tennyson's time to deliberate non business?"
"How much business?" Ben asked, not believing that it was that easy. He didn't like the idea
"All of it." Bellicus answered.
"Whoa! No way!" Ben yelled, waving his arms. "I can't spend my entire life with you guys! I'll give you two hours."
"All right," Serena amended, "Two hours per day until all business is done."
"That's still too long," Ben insisted, "Two hours per day for a week." There was no telling how long it would take for them to resolve every little dispute. For all Ben knew it would take forever.
"That's not nearly long enough to get anything done," Bellicus said, "Two hours per day for a year."
"Two hours for a month," Ben amended. After a moment of silence, he asked, "Do I hear a second?"
Bellicus and Serena exchanged looks. No words were said, but sometimes a glance was all that was needed. Looking back at Ben, they said, "Motion carried!"
Ben and Eunice exhaled, even though there was no breathing in the mindscape.
"You can leave now," Bellicus said to Eunice, "We don't need a third, eh, fourth wheel snooping while we work."
"It's nothing personal," Serena assured, "But it's rather awkward this way."
"But what are you going to do, exactly?" Eunice asked.
"Duh, we're going to get rid of Eon's Paradox-blocker and send Primus back to our universe." Ben answered, "That should tilt the odds in our favor."
"No, we're not." Bellicus said.
"What?!"
"It won't fit."
"Won't fit?" Ben repeated, flabbergasted. "But there's tons of empty space in, well, space. I'm sure we can stick it somewhere!"
"But the universe has moved on, Ben," Serena explained, "There's just simply no place for it."
"Oh, don't be a prima donna," Bellicus snorted, "We already have something else in mind. Now will you do us a favor and leave?" This was directed at Eunice. "This 'you-being-here' is getting on my nerves!"
"But-" Eunice began when she found herself fading away.
"It'll be okay, Eunice!" Ben called out to her vanishing form, "I'm pretty sure everything's going to be okay!" Turning back to Bellicus and Serena, he asked, "If we're not sending Primus back to the universe, what are we going to do with it? We can't just leave it like this, Eon might try to use it to conquer history again!"
"Don't worry, we're not going to leave it here," Serena explained cheerfully, "We'll put it someplace where no one can get to it?"
"Just shut up and let the experts work," Bellicus said before Ben could query, "We know what we're doing."
Eunice fell back in spread eagle, dizzily looking up at Alien X's still form. Behind her, Eon smirked. He had been a bit worried when Eunice had touched the celestialsapian, but when it became apparent that the unimatrix didn't copy anything, that worry was instantly supplanted by smug confidence. His only fear was that Eunice might be able to use Alien X's powers as her own. He knew for a fact that Alien X would be incapable of doing anything until its multiple personalities agreed on something. And really, what were the odds that something like that would happen?
"Looks like Alien X was a bit too much for you," He taunted, and raised a hand. It began to glow. "But don't worry. What you experienced in that instance will be nothing compared to what I have in store…"
That's when Alien X's eyes flashed. Its voices then echoed all around the chamber as it spoke.
"Motion Carried! We will remove Primus and stop Eon!"
Eon blinked. "What?"
And then, one by one, everything began to go horribly wrong. First, Eunice vanished, followed by Rook. Then, the floor underneath Alien X's feet faded away as well, the transparency spreading out until it covered the facility, and probably all of Primus.
"Wait! What's going on!?" Eon yelled, but received no answer, for Alien X was disappearing as well. "NO!"
Ben opened his eyes. He was no longer standing in Primus' command center. Instead, he was seated in the back of the jaguar. In the seat next to him was Eunice, also showing signs of waking up. In the front of the car was Professor Paradox and Rook (Who was now young again), the Plumber seated behind the wheel and the time walker riding shotgun. Looking around, Ben saw that they were now parked in a drive-in movie theater, with an advertisement for the next summer feature being played.
"…So the joke is that it's not particularly important where the coconuts came from," Paradox was saying when he noticed the kids in the back were conscious. "Ahh, Ben! Eunice! How are you? Feeling well-rested?"
"What…happened?" Eunice asked, shaking her head. "How did we get here?"
"I confess that I do not know," Rook explained, "I was unconscious for the latter part of the mission. When I came to, the professor had already restored my age to its proper state. He said that you had neutralized Eon and allowed him to bring us back to the normal time stream."
"And we're in a drive-on because…?" Ben asked.
"Well, I thought we should do something to celebrate," Paradox explained cheerfully, "By defeating Eon, you've retroactively prevented him from polluting history and saved the universe."
Ben rested his hands behind his head. "All in a day's work."
Paradox smiled at Ben's devil-may-care attitude. He then said, "Oh, drat, I forgot to get popcorn. Rook, why don't you help me? I'll need an extra hand carrying it all."
"How much do you think we'll-" Rook began when both he and Paradox vanished.
A moment of silence passed as Ben and Eunice allowed what had happened to sink in. Then, Eunice asked, "Ben, what exactly did Alien X do? With Primus, I mean."
"Well, we couldn't, sorta, put it back into the universe," Ben explained, "But we couldn't just leave it there. What if Eon or some other supervillain tried to use it to conquer the universe? So, Alien X put it someplace where no one could get to it."
Ben reached down and picked up something that had been lying at his feet. It was a clear glass bottle, the size of a wine bottle. It looked like it was full of mist. Handling it carefully, he passed it over to Eunice. Eunice looked into it, and she saw, though her vision was partially obscured by the mist, was a small sphere.
"Is that…Primus?" She asked, awed.
"I think it'd look pretty good on a mantle somewhere," Ben said, "Is this okay?"
Eunice set the bottle down and looked Ben in the eye. "It's perfect…but I don't really know what I'm supposed to do, now. No one remembers me, right?"
"Personally, I don't see that as much of a problem," Ben remarked, "You didn't know that many people before the universe…uh, changed. And this way, Azmuth won't try to put you in storage now, because he doesn't remember."
"That's a plus." Eunice giggled. While she respected the galvan scientist who built the Unitrix, Azmuth was not someone who went out of his way to make friends. The fact that Azmuth had originally wanted to turn her off and tuck her away somewhere was something Eunice would never forget either.
"And there's a whole city of aliens living under Bellwood now," Ben went on, "We can get you set up there pretty easily."
"Thank you." Eunice replied, smiling warmly. It was hard to stay depressed in the face of Ben's idealism. You could do it, but it took some effort.
"So, uh," Ben leaned back, trying to look casual. "Now that we've saved the universe and all…are we still on for that date?"
Eunice laughed slightly and took Ben's hand. "Ben, I think we are on that date."
The two found themselves lost in each other's eyes, before leaning in…
…and as he floated around an empty white void, Eon was livid. Once again, (Or was it for the first time? Disrupted time lines made keeping your facts straight tricky) he had lost while on the brink of success. And with no Primus to tap into, it would be even harder to escape what should have been the perfect hiding place. Not only had Ben Tennyson and Paradox beaten him, but they made him a prisoner in his own stronghold. But it wouldn't be forever. All Eon had to do was wait for the continuum to weaken again, and he would be free…
I will get out from this, Ben Tennyson, Timewalker, Eon thought venomously, And when I do, your time will be up!
The End
(?)