Unknown Dimension
A portal opened with Eon stepping out as he entered his own personal base. The floor and walls of this base were completely covered in protective metal plating. Located within the base, were a multitude of containment units, each holding a different version of Ben Tennyson inside. Indeed, it had been like this ever since he had begun his campaign for the last four thousand years to free his people, the Chronians. He had battled Ben Tennyson countless times, with every failure, he would go back in time and try again. This had nearly cost Eon his life. Until one day, he finally achieved victory. Eon transformed Ben Tennyson into a Chronian and then augmented his soul into Ben's body and was reborn anew. To ensure that Ben didn't take control over the body, Eon broke the Omnitrix so he can never transform.
However, this solution to Eon's problem would be only temporary as this new body would one day fail too. Every time his body would reach its limits, he would go to a new universe and obtain another Ben Tennyson. Eon made himself a base where he would keep Ben Tennysons he collected in advance. Some he used them as slaves. Others he used for experiments. Eon's fate became so intertwined with the boy that he started to believe he was Ben Tennyson himself.
"But no longer," Eon muttered to himself as he placed his hand on one of the containment units, "I refuse to be stuck in this infinite cycle. I will transcend to greatness beyond what my people could ever do," The Chronian continued to stare at his reflection as he only saw Tennyson's face staring right back at him, "Then I will deliver paradise across the multiverse. That is my destiny."
Jaya
After escaping from Khyber, the Straw Hats had managed to make it back to their ship without any further delay. They had to leave as soon as possible, because the Marines were going to be right on their tail soon enough. There was just one problem.
"Listen to me! Everyone, listen to me!" shouted Nami, "If we leave the island before the Log Pose is set, we'll have to come right back! After word of that bell spreads, this island will be swarming with pirates and Marines alike! We've still got a day and half to go!"
"You can't seriously be arguing this now! Look!" Cricket shouted before pointing off into the ocean, they saw a nearby ship. It was a strange ship with some sort of monkey theme.
"I called for help. That ship's owned by some friends of mine that have an Eternal Pose set to this island. They're very familiar with dodging the Marines, and they can get us away from here safely if we make it to them, no problem. But that won't matter at all if that Marine ship catches up to us before they get here! I can't be here either, I've got a bounty on my head same as you. I want to see you succeed kids, but we need to leave now. Come back to set the Log Pose later!"
I guess we don't have much of a choice here," Kevin commented.
"It'll work. My friends' Eternal Pose means we can make it back here any time. We'll stick with them at sea until you're ready to come back. I hope you like bananas."
Two Days Later
Nami's words had proven to be true as it was not long after that the area where the giant bell had landed was now swarming with pirates all wanting a piece of the gold but that didn't last long as the Marines arrived soon after and arrested anyone who was in their vicinity while they conducted their investigation. Luckily for the Straw Hats they had managed to stay completely in hiding without issue until the Log Pose had been set.
Montblanc Cricket and his Salvagers bid their new acquaintances a fond farewell and left to do some long-term planning about a life that didn't involve golden bells of any kind.
So it was that another two days after leaving the island, Rook and Usopp sat together working over a single problem: Nami's Clima-Tact.
"Fascinating. So, she really created a thunderstorm with this device?" asked Rook, wonder in his eyes, "How? It does not have anything in it that actually does anything, does it?"
Having built the device himself, Usopp had to interject on a point of order. "Ah, but there are parts that do things in here. Look, here's the heat pump that makes hot and cool air from either end. Here's a water reservoir. This device right here generates static-electricity, and then-"
"Yes, but it must have some sort of power source in order to generate such energy."
"Well, you see… uhhh… Okay, I'm going to be honest here: I have no idea how she does half of the things she does with this. I mean, I didn't build it to make thunderstorms. Most of this was just for distractions, and then I got a bit carried away and started putting party tricks in there too."
"Such tricks do not summon lightning bolts, Usopp." Rook turned to look at the distant navigator. "So, how is she doing it?"
Waving Nami over, the two found that she was quite willing to explain her methods. The only problem was Usopp's own lack of understanding. Eventually giving in to frustration, Nami simplified matters. "Basically, it boils down to this: hot and cold air can be used to manipulate air pressure and humidity. With that, you can affect the weather. That's it."
Rook spun the staff in a single, quick motion. From one end came a ball of vaguely warm air. "You can really perform such actions with such a simple device?"
"Yes. It's just an extension of what I do as a navigator. I know no one else here seems to feel the weather like I do, but it's very straightforward, alright?" Nami crossed her arms and shifted her hips, "You can do a lot with just small differences in temperature and electrical charge."
Rook nodded his head in acknowledgment. "How interesting."
Satisfied, Nami turned to leave. Then, Rook spoke again. "What if you could do more?"
She stopped. "More?"
"Yes. If you can do that much with just a bit of hot air, I wonder what else you could do with some modifications."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," interrupted Usopp, "Is this some more alien techy stuff?"
"Indeed," mused Rook, "You see my Proto-Tool? It is the most versatile tech in the known universe. I have made some special modifications myself and I believe I can do the same for your Clima-Tact…"
"You want to give it an upgrade with alien tech?" asked Nami, raw disbelief dripping from her face before she grinned, "Let's do it."
The Next Day
The crew first became aware that their day was going to be unusual sometime after they were attacked by a gaggle of gigantic, mischievous sea-monkeys. Now, that kind of thing was really par for the course these days, but after they had been fended off Usopp noticed smoke billowing up from the distant horizon ahead of them. After a bit of worry and confusion, someone thought to ask Robin, who had been up in the crow's nest at the time, if there was something happening.
"Why, yes," she said, "We've been nearing an island for quite some time now."
This prompted a crew resolution to have either Usopp or Rook be the official lookouts for the near future, instead. All that aside, a new island meant new challenges. Since it was impossible for them to leave each island without the guidance of a Log Pose, it was also impossible to completely bypass that island, no matter how dangerous it might be. Regardless of what trouble lay ahead they would need to face it head on, or at the very least slink around until the Log Pose said they could leave.
So it was that the Going Merry weighed anchor at this apparent warzone.
The devastation was astounding. There were bodies, some unconscious, some barely living, and some dead, littered the ground, and the water was dominated by the ruins of a tremendous ship. Flotsam obscured the ocean's surface, and debris caked the nearby shore. It looked like an entire festival had been torn violently to pieces, and its various huts and stands were still smoking.
"Whatever happened here," mused Zoro, watching a still-smoldering pile of debris, "It happened recently."
The rest of the crew could only agree. Everyone was on edge, and some were especially eager to find another spot to land. Eventually, they found a clue hidden among the charred wreckage of what looked to be a makeshift stadium, of sorts. It was a toppled billboard that must have once been thirty feet tall covered in hastily painted letters and markings. It read:
DAVY-BACK FIGHT: CMXXI
GRAND SLAM EDITION
FOXY PIRATES VS. GALACTIC PIRATES
"The Galactic Pirates huh?" Kevin said, "Doesn't take a detective to figure out who those guys might be."
"Shit," muttered Sanji, as Usopp turned suddenly pale, "Well, now we know what happened here."
"I guess this was more aliens," said Nami, "But what in the world is a 'Davy-Back Fight?'"
"You mean you don't know?" replied Usopp.
"No, I don't. What's going on?"
It soon became clear that out of all those present only Sanji, Usopp, and Robin knew the particulars.
"According to legends," Robin lectured, "The Davy-Back Fight originated on an island known only as Pirate's Paradise, and it is a method of competing over human resources. Those who compete- and most pirates consider it mandatory- are forced into games, combat, and other competitions to 'steal' crewmembers from another ship."
"Ugh," said Nami, "That's quite possibly the most useless thing I've ever heard of. Especially for a crew like us. You'd have to be a real bozo to agree to something like that." Frowning for a moment, she turned to Luffy, adding, "Luffy, if you ever enter us in one of those matches, I will make you pay."
"But Nami! It sounds fun!"
"I hate to butt in," said Ben, "but what if you don't want anyone the other team has? You can't just decline?"
Usopp spoke up next, "No, that's just it. There's always something to play for. If you lose a match and no one wants to steal any of your crew, they take your flag away from you. You can't ever use it again! If you refuse, then everyone will think you're cowards. It's nothing but a cruel game played by stupid jerks!"
"That's… right!" interjected a wheezing, pained voice from a nearby pile of rubble, "-and we were the best at it..."
There was a person buried underneath piles of scattered timber. Skin blackened from smoke, bleeding from numerous small wounds, and with several broken bones, the oddly shaped man had clearly had a rough day. At first glance it even looked as though his head itself had been split in two, but it soon became clear that it was actually a combination of a strangely shaped skull and an even stranger haircut. As Chopper worked quickly to tend his wounds, the man told his story.
"The name's… Foxy… Captain of the Foxy Pirates… I've lost everything… Who knew that after only... nine-hundred and twenty measly Davy-Back challenges… I'd finally pick the wrong opponents?" He paused, taking a tortured breath, "They told me... that the man I fought... was just a grunt!"
"Split head! Split head!" shouted Luffy, apparently in great distress, "Don't talk! You've got to conserve your strength!"
"I'm going to pretend… I didn't hear that comment about my head… *cough*... I survived by slowing my heart and lungs... so they thought I had died, but... now..." his arm shot up, and, with a gasp of agony he cried out, "You must avenge me! Kill those Galactic Pirates, then get back my money, and then return it right here! To - uh- bury with me!" Then, Foxy's eyes closed, and his arm dropped lifelessly to his side, "Snow… why is it so cold now…? So cold… Blehhhhhh..."
"Split head! Don't die! Split head! SPLIT HEAD!" Each time Luffy called his name, Foxy jerked on the ground, which was making Chopper's job as medic somewhat difficult.
"Luffy! He needs to stay still! He'll be fine! Just because he went 'bleh' doesn't mean he's really dead!"
Ben and Kevin were watching this scene with puzzled expressions. "You know, I don't think I've ever never seen anyone who looks that weird before… well any human at least," Ben muttered to his friend, "Do you think he's a mutant or something?"
"I guess… there are an awful lot of weird-looking people out here, though…" Kevin replied.
"Damn it!" shouted Luffy, "I'm gonna beat the crap out of those jerks for what they did to him!"
Eventually, Chopper had helped the most wounded victims to his satisfaction, and it came time for the Straw-Hats to make a decision. Wherever they were, Foxy's attackers were gone. Should they search the island to find them? Though the discussion went back and forth, eventually Tetrax made his position clear.
"It's not going to be pretty if we find them, true," he said, "But there are two things that I think are certain. First, this island is small, so if they are still here after all then we will run into them. Second, if they're the ones who find us rather than the other way around, it'll be painful to say the least. Still, I don't think they're here at all anymore. We should have seen their ship if they were."
So, now they traveled in a group across the island, examining the strange flora and fauna with its rather unusual adaptations as they went. Despite the danger, the feeling of excitement from this new island permeated the air.
"Usopp! Chopper! Look at that stretched out goat! It must be fifteen feet long!" shouted Luffy.
"Whoa! You're right," shouted Usopp, "Look over there! Is that a deer? Its antlers are twice as tall as it is! Chopper, will yours get that big?"
"What? I don't know that! And I'm a reindeer, not a plain deer!" Frowning, Chopper paused to look around. Everything on this island seemed long or tall, somehow. The trees themselves were sparse, but extremely tall. Wasn't that strange? He'd thought trees grew tall to compete and get more sunlight. It was then that a loud ringing sound broke the reindeer out of his thoughts.
From out of nowhere, multiple white portals suddenly appeared around the Straw Hats as they all tensed up, ready for a fight.
A figure emerged from the portal to reveal an enemy that the Alien Force all recognized, causing them to narrow their eyes once he was fully revealed. It was a man in silver high tech armor with a red cape and three horns on the helmet.
"Greetings, Tennyson. It has been quite some time, hasn't it?" Driscoll said in a feign polite tone.
"Not long enough to forget your ugly mug, Driscoll." Ben glared.
"Hey! Where you the one who beat up Split Head?!" Luffy demanded.
"If you're referring to that arrogant fool me and my associates recently bested." Driscoll answered. "Then yes. That one had quite the rude awakening."
"So where are your pals?" Kevin questioned. "We know you teamed up with Vilgax, and all those guys."
Driscoll chuckled in amusement. "So, you figured it out? Yes. I have allied myself with your enemies; what is the phrase people often say? The enemy of my enemy is my friend? After all, you children took everything from me; decimating the Forever Knights and leaving me with next to nothing."
"Glad to hear it." Gwen said.
"You deserve worse." Ben glared at the Forever King.
"Ironic, as that was actually the best thing you ever did for me." Driscoll revealed. "You've opened my eyes to almost infinite possibilities and given me such a grand opportunity. Allow me to show you the result of said opportunity."
Suddenly, Gwen gave a gasp as her mana sense went off. "Everyone move!" She warned as a barrage of missiles and lasers fired out from another portal that opened up, forcing the Straw Hats to scatter as Gwen, Julie, and Tetrax once again used their respective shields to block the crew members closet to them before they looked to the ones who fired the missiles and lasers.
Out of one portal walked out the mad scientist; Dr. Animo, and he appeared to be wearing a headband around his forehead. "Now that was quite the entrance, don't you think?" Animo said as he tugged on the leash to pull out something else that wasn't human.
Most of the Straw Hats looked in a mixture of disgust and confusion at the creature Animo had, while Ben, Gwen, and Kevin had looks of shock, borderline horror as they recognized it. It had the ape-like body of a yeti, including its right arm, with mechanical parts all over its chest, and what appeared to be a steam-punk engine for a stomach. Its right arm appeared to be some kind of serpent head that looked an awful like the Loch Ness Monster. It even had a red tail with horns, feet, and bat-like wings of the Jersey devil. The creature also appeared to be rabid and uncontrollable as it snarled at crew, the only thing that appeared to be holding it back was the collar around its neck.
"No, my creation! Not yet." Animo told the creature, almost like he was scolding a pet.
"Uh… what the hell is that…?" Usopp gulped.
"That's… that's V.V. Argost… or the body that Animo made for him!" Ben exclaimed. "But I thought…"
Driscoll gave a small chuckle as he explained it. "A little bit before our group made contact with him, Argost's minions, the Nagas, had used the music from the Flute of Gilgamesh in an attempt to transfer his mind and Anti-Kur powers into a cloned Yeti body that one of his contacts had procured. I imagine it was a bit of a gamble, but it seemed to have work. Now this body is without a mind, and little more than a savage monster." He referred to the snarling creature that Animo had restrained.
To say the Straw Hats were horrified would have been an understatement. "Okay, that is… wrong on so many levels!" Nami cringed in disgust.
"Ugh, tell me about it." A new and familiar female voice spoke up, which belonged to a woman with short red spiky hair, pale skin, black lipstick wearing an alien tech suit that was primarily black and came with a head guard and red shoulder pads with skull emblem on her chest that stepped out from the ship behind Driscoll, with three others. "I swear that guy is just plain creepy."
"If he gets the job done, I don't care what he does." A familiar clown said.
"Indeed, the results are all that's desired." A humanoid that greatly resembled Frankenstein's Monster, except he was a little more cyborg-like also said. His robotic parts were dark brown. His right eye was small, purple, and had no pupil, while his left eye was bigger, had a scar, a pupil, and was round. The lower parts of his arms were a little lighter than the rest of his body and he only wore brown pants and black shoes plus a blue furred cloak around his neck and bandages that were wrapped around his chest, arms, and legs.
The next one was a robot that resembled that of a ninja wearing crimson-red armor with a utility belt and a shoulder pad on its right shoulder with the Forever Knight's logo on it. It had a red v-shaped eye and had two swords on its back.
"Zombozo." Ben said.
"Rojo." Gwen glared.
"Dr. Viktor!" Kevin exclaimed.
That wasn't the end of it as even more foes stepped out from each portal. A man wearing brown armor with a yellow kangaroo silhouette. He had a black belt with dark brown pockets, and yellow gloves. He also had a black cap with red eyes and a capital, yellow K. His belt clip formed a K in a frame, in reference to his name the Kangaroo Kommando. The next one was a humanoid grey rhinoceros with orange glowing eyes, dark grey fingers and toes, and red and black nearly impenetrable looking armor. Then there was a giant humanoid insect, with a green exoskeleton, yellow eyes on stalks, antennae, a pair of extra arms, and wings on his back. Finally, the last one to emerge was what appeared to giant purple blob like alien.
"Aah! So many monsters!" Chopper screamed in fright.
"Wait… hold on a minute… I thought…" Ben stuttered.
"Did you honestly believe I settled with a simple team?" Driscoll asked as the Forever Ninja, Rojo, Animo, Viktor, Zombozo, Kane North, Exo-Skull, Clancy, and Logan Frame, along with the Cryptid Hybrid-Argost body, all stood beside him. "Unlike you children, we've taken it even further. we did not just choose to ally with each other simply because we shared a common foe, nor was it based off each of our tumultuous history with each of you. Each of us had connections, knew many people, and as a result, the Order was formed from a grand union of most, if not all, of your enemies."
"Your crew is most impressive." Viktor told the Straw Hats. "But, unfortunately for you, our ranks are well over one hundred!"
None of the Straw Hats had expected a bomb like that to be dropped. Even Robin was surprised.
"Did he say… over a hundred?!" Julie exclaimed.
"No freaking way…" Kevin questioned.
"Shit...this is bad," Sanji grimaced.
"While you fools played around, being pirates, we've amassed an army unlike anything either of our worlds have ever seen!" Animo exclaimed.
"Advancements in science, magic, and even a union of the two, combined in ways that you cannot believe!" Viktor also added.
"We are the Order!" Driscoll announced. "And we will take this world for everything it has! And the only thing that stands between us and our goal… is you. But not for long." He sneered before he gave the order. "Destroy them!"
As their enemies quickly advanced on the crew, Ben only had one thing to say. "Oh man."
Outer Space
In his personal flagship, Vilgax the Conqueror was currently watching the fight between the Straw Hats and the villains playing out on screen. Having sent out his surveillance drones earlier to their location. His lackey Psyphon was standing right beside him.
"Quite the formidable task force you sent out master." Psyphon commented. "But are you certain that they are up to the task?"
"Whether they succeed or not is of no consequence." Vilgax replied. "They will serve as the perfect distraction for us to complete our true objective."
As he said this, the screen zoomed in on one particular member of the Straw Hats. Namely Nico Robin.
"Now then, Tennyson, Straw Hat Luffy, shall we play a game?" Vilgax questioned aloud with a sinister smile under his respirator and an evil glimmer in his eyes.
Done. Well now, that's quite the lineup of villains, isn't it? So yeah, I decided to omit the Davey Back Fight from this story, it's another arc that I'm not too fond of. Apologies to anyone who's a fan of that arc. But as you can probably guess from the title of this chapter, I think you'll probably like this new arc instead.
The first thing I want to point out is the opening scene with Eon. Next to Kevin, Eon has had the most inconsistent backstory in the entire Ben 10 Franchise, to the point where each appearance of him was treated as a new character rather than having consistency. His new backstory is taken from 5 Years Later which takes elements from all versions and ties them together into one timeline.
Secondly, why did I choose these specific villains for the crew to face? Well, it's mostly because I was inspired by Kuro the Artist's Negative 10 rewrite on Youtube. I'd recommend checking it out on the Ink Tank's channel in order to get some context.
First off is Driscoll. You're probably wondering why he of all people would join up with Vilgax considering he was the one who wiped out all the Forever Knights in UA. Well, that will be revealed next chapter. I have a special surprise in store for you all then.
Secondly, I bet you weren't expecting V.V. Argost to show up here or rather his hybrid cryptid body from TGIS. Speaking of which, the Secret Saturdays crossover did happen before the events of this story. Heroes United happened so I don't see any reason not to include the events of TGIS here. Plus, Animo was the one who created Argost's new body which is now practically nothing more than a mindless beast. So now it serves as Animo's new pet. As for whether or not anymore Secret Saturdays characters will appear in the future, we're still a long way off from that.
Anyway, I end it here. I hope you like this chapter as the action is just getting started. Thank you and have a good one.