Heyyyyyy guys its meeeeeeeeeee the author
i hate finals
that's all
here's the discord join code: mY2QfzMjGt
When the portal's brightness faded, the gang found themselves on a new Earth, a different Earth. Kirby had just left behind one strange alternate reality that included demons, emotion-seeking monsters, a dead Max, and a few other oddities. But this one was, seemingly, ordinary.
Taking stock of their surroundings, the Outcasts found themselves in a city. It clearly wasn't Bellwood, given the reduced number of Mr. Smoothie stores here. Bellwood itself sported twenty-two locations and, just from a quick look around, there were maybe just two here.
"Alright…definitely not in Bellwood anymore," Ruby admitted.
"Really?" Weiss asked, only for the red reaper to shrug off the joke.
"Where are we, anyway?" Kevin asked.
"Ohio," Rook immediately answered, having spotted a town sign.
"And we're sure this is where he went?" Blake asked before hearing a light beep.
"Or rather, where he's going," Maximilian corrected before checking his tracker, "but this is the right universe. Paradox's portal was faster than any other method I've used. With that in mind though, we have roughly an hour to find the Ben of this dimension and inform them of what's going on."
"That little time? Better than nothing," Kevin admitted.
"Yeah. So, let's get this Ben found before he gets into any-" Kylie began before she was cut off by the sound of a roaring engine This dimension's Rust Bucket drove past the group before she could even finish. The Outcasts noticed two individuals standing on the top of Max's RV in the brief minute they saw it. And one of them was Shock Rock's characteristic blazing blue appearance. Not even a few seconds later, a clown car followed behind the RV at high speeds.
Suffice to say, the group was incredibly confused.
"...Trouble," Kylie finished.
"Welp. Guess we found him," Ceres smirked, "Asking Ben not to find trouble is like trying to ask Albedo to not pull an all-nighter."
"...you're just as guilty of that as I am," Albedo deadpanned.
On top of the Rust Bucket, Shock Rock dodged a swing from an oversized mallet held by a familiar clown-themed enemy. Zombozo growled after he missed the swing, more annoyed than anything at this point. This reality's version of the clown seemed to be a bit heavier than the one from the normal one, and in better condition too. This one seemed to be more akin to a more tame Joker instead of a sadistic laughter-fueled vampire.
"Ok, again? You're trying to hijack the Rust Bucket again? What, did your clown car break down or something?" Shock Rock taunted.
"Not exactly," Zombozo admitted, "Just looking to upgrade to something more spacious!" The clown-dressed rogue charged the golem alien again and took a few more swings with the mallet to try and knock the electric foe off the racing RV entirely.
"Then just buy your own RV!" Shock Rock managed to say between dodges, "It's not rocket science!"
"Kid, how many times have you ruined a plan of mine and thrown me behind bars? Any chance to get back at you is a chance I'm willing to take! Now hold still!" the clown smirked before continuing his assault. The rock-armored energy being swerved out of the way again, before channeling energy into his fists and trying to strike the clown. One of the punches missed, causing Zombozo to jump back at the last minute and trip himself.
"Really should watch where you're going-" Shock Rock began, before the comedic mastermind launched back up and kicked into the alien's chest, forcing him to stagger back.
"Maybe you should keep a closer eye on what the ringleader's doing, Tennyson!" the clown chuckled as he spun his hammer triumphantly.
Shock Rock straightened himself out and dusted off his chest before getting back into a fighting stance.
"Humble yourself, Zombozo," Shock Rock grinned, "That's gonna be the only hit you'll actually land tonight!" The blue energy of the energy alien's body began to glow brighter and spark. He morphed one of his hands into a hammer of his own while the second transformed into a shield for a little extra defense.
"Hope you're ready for round two!" the Fulmini form grinned and charged right at Zombozo, engaging the clown criminal in a hammer duel. Many of Zombozo's heavy-handed swings either missed the mark entirely or simply bounced off the shield construct, making it spark in response. The Fulmini form took whatever chance he could use and struck back, swinging his own hammer at the not-so-comedic criminal and landing a few good hits.
Okay, let's do this- one more time.
My name is Ben Tennyson, aka, Ben 10. I'm 10 years old, and I'm on the GREATEST road trip of my life right now. Ever since I got the Omnitrix, every day has been an adventure. And I never want that to end!
One last good hammer-punch knocked the self-proclaimed ringleader staggering back. The hit actually managed to knock his hat off, but even then, the clown was able to grab it before it flew off the speeding RV. He shook his head to clear away the dizziness that hit brought with it before he held up one hand in mock surrender. The kid was probably too focused on the fight to notice that there was a second engine roaring beside them.
"Alright, alright…you proved it. Once again, poor old Herbert J. Zomboni is no match for a ten-year old brat with an entire arsenal of alien superpowers!" Zombozo shouted over the roaring engines and whistling wind, "Some people might even ask if its a fair fight to begin with!"
"See, at least you get it! It's not a fair fight! So why don't you just put down the hammer, we can stop the crazy high-speed fight here, and then we can just cuff you and send you back to jail? Who knows, they might even give you a shorter sentence this time!" this universe's Ben proposed.
"Well ya see. There's the rub. Whenever a fight's not fair, there's still a good way to win."
"Aaaaand I should've known you were being dramatic," Shock Rock facepalmed.
"And that's to make it unfair!" Zombozo grinned, "Take him!" Shock Rock spun around to see Thumbskull climbing up on the RV, with a younger looking Frightwig on his back. Hell, this universe's Frightwig might have been the same age as Ben. If these two were here, then that meant the driver of Zombozo's little clown car was none other than Acid Breath.
"Oh, it's just them! So your clown car is working. Thought you were just rolling with the bit," Shock Rock joked, " Was thinking you brought something…I dunno, actually intimidating with all that build-up. Plus, I think you forgot something. You're not the only one with allies here."
Right on cue, a blur of red raced past Zombozo before a kick connected to Thumbskull's jaw and made him stagger. Frightwig, just in case her juggernaut of a partner did tumble, leapt off and landed on the RV's roof. The Circus Freak narrowed her eyes at the newcomer to fight and unleashed a flurry of strikes with her hair-tendrils, but none of them managed to connect. The red blur just wove between each strike, leaving behind a trail of rose petals with every move.
"For once I really wish you were a solo act," Zombozo groaned, "Always gotta be a duo!"
The red blur quickly got in a punch to Frightwing's face and almost knocked her to the ground. The circus minion lashed out with her hair-tendrils and forced the blur back. The storm of petals came to a rest on Shock Rock's shoulder. The red petals fell away and revealed a familiar looking red-hooded huntress-in-training as she spun her signature scythe and took up a classic pose. This universe's Ruby stood atop Shock Rock and locked eyes with the two recovering Circus Freaks.
"You guys really need a new gig. Seriously, how many times have we kicked your butts now? Five? Six?" Ruby taunted.
"I was actually counting on you showing up, Ruby!" Frightwig grinned, "Now I actually get a chance at ending my losing streak!"
"Oh my god, Fright, this is a one-way rivalry! I keep telling you that every time we fight!" Ruby countered.
"You can try to hide it, but I know you feel as strongly about this as I do!"
Ruby honestly did not.
"So, can you handle them?" Ben asked, looking over his shoulder, "Especially your 'arch-nemesis' over there?"
"Oh, please, not you too. Look, she's nowhere near threatening enough to be my rival. Her weapon doesn't even transform! Besides, I should ask if you wanna trade," Ruby grinned, having thought up the perfect comeback, "Aren't you scared of clowns?"
"Not when I'm like this," Ben slammed his hammer-arm against his shield, "What about the clown car?"
"Like you need to ask. We got him on the case," Ruby smirked.
"You know I can hear you, right?" Zombozo interrupted, "And since when did you two get a third in your act? I know it's not the old man, he's obviously still under my ingenious hypnosis!"
"Hey, keep up with the lore, will you?" Ruby yelled, before she zipped towards Thumbskull and Frightwig.
"What LORE?!" Zombozo called back at Ruby before his attention went back to the giant golem-like alien.
Ben smirked a little before he charged Zombozo with a hammer swing already wound up. Zombozo did his best to defend himself, swinging his own mallet at Ben. The two weapons collided with a surprising amount of sparks from Ben's energy hammer.
"HAMMER OF FULMAS!" Shock Rock yelled, channeling more of his energy into the attack.
The ringleader of the circus-themed gang struggled to keep the super-charged strike at bay. But this was a comically-sized wooden mallet against the fist of an alien with an energy boost. It wasn't long before the mallet head exploded in a shower of sparks and splinters. The detonation sent the clown spinning a bit before he realized that his hammer had been rendered kindling.
"Whoops," Ben taunted before he molded his energy into bindings and snared Zombozo in them. Still needed to tie him up, but the clown was still down for the count.
"And another performance down the drain. Greaaaat," Zombozo sighed.
Frightwig and Thumbskull shared a glance with each other, thinking they could deal with Ruby together. Frightwig opened up, lashing out with another flurry of whip-like strikes that forced the red hooded girl to weave between the hits. As she dodged the latest one, Thumbskull moved in from the side and tried to land a punch on her, only for the red blur to dash up his arm and jump off his head.
"Thanks for the boost!" Ruby smirked.
Ruby's scythe instantly transformed, not into a sniper, but into a shotgun. Ruby pumped it once before launching a powerful blast into Thumbskull's face. His skull was quickly encased in ice and seared with frost. Thumbskull struggled to get the ice off of him.
"Last time it was lightning, now it's ice. How many weird ammo types do you have?!" Frightwig yelled, as all of her tendrils went at Ruby.
The red-hooded girl only answered with a smirk, before she turned into her blurry form again, racing down one of the Circus Freak's tendrils. A good distance away from her, Ruby became solid again and landed a double kick to Frightwig's face. The future Huntress used the Circus Freak as a springboard and boosted off her, shifting her shotgun back to its scythe mode. She fired another shot to propel her at just the right time to send her above Thumbskull, who finally managed to get the ice off his face. A few more shots from Ruby and the muscle of the Circus Freaks found ice encasing his shoulders and both hands.
"Every time with this brat," Thumbskull grunted. Thumbskull flexed his knuckles, as two massive nail 'blades' appeared from his fists.
"Ewwwww," Ruby gagged. She fired at Thumbskull again, but he blocked the shots with his oversized nails, as Frightwig tried to grab Ruby from behind with her trademark tendrils. Ruby jumped over Frightwig's attack and dodged with style and grace. Instead of ensnaring her nemesis as planned, Frightwig's tendrils wrapped around her bruiser of a partner.
"Watch your aim!" Thumbskull yelled out.
"We talked about this! Your reaction time needs work!" Frightwig called back.
"Yeah, you're right. Definitely could use some work," Ruby chimed in. She fired off a few more freezing shots, aiming at each and every one of the Circus Freak's tendrils. Frightwig and Thumbskull were now frozen together and at the mercy of the red-cloaked Huntress. The chance wasn't wasted. Ruby began to rain more shots down on them, only these weren't more ice Dust bullets. No, Ruby had swapped shells with plant Dust infused ammunition. Vines and brambles erupted from the bullets, tying them together even more.
"Alright! Got 'em!" Ruby called out.
"This…isn't…over…my nemesis!" Frightwig groaned.
"Aaaaand you ruined the moment. Thanks."
Shock Rock had tied up Zombozo in rope made from his energy by now as well.
"Boss is down. And the clown car?" Ben asked.
"Glitch is on the case," Ruby grinned.
"Oh, is that a joke?" another voice called out, identical to Ben's when he was human. The clown car was now covered in a purple and black material, almost like a second coating of metal. The purple part of the color scheme took the form of circuit-lines across the vehicle, some of which even formed into a prominent ring on the hood of the vehicle.
"Because in order to deal with it, I must be on the car?" Glitch asked.
"See when you put it like that, it sounds like a pun Yang would make," Ruby said.
"WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING!?" Acid Breath yelled.
"Do you mind if I crash this car real quick?" Glitch asked, "The occupant seems aggravated."
"Just enough to wreck the engine," Ben approved.
"Then leave it to me," Glitch said.
"Wait what?! Wait wait wait, at least make sure the airbags are working!" Acid Breath panicked.
"I have checked and they are."
"At least THIS brat's considerate!" Acid Breath yelled, as the car veered off into a random alley, "OH MY GOD-"
Ben and Ruby cringed as they heard the sound of the crash.
"Hey Ruby, forgot to ask earlier. Did you wake up Grandpa from Zombozo's hypnotism thing?" Ben asked.
"...knew I forgot something!" Ruby yelled as she dashed back down into the Rust Bucket. Firmly planted on the rearview mirror was a small device with the stereotypical swirling pattern associated with hypnosis and it was set right in Max's line of sight. With her scythe, Ruby gently knocked the clown's device off and freed the Rust Bucket's driver.
"A-ah...kids? What happened?" Max groaned as he shook his head.
"Next time, don't take a 'rear view mirror replacement' from a dude named 'Robzobo,'" Ruby huffed.
"In hindsight, I should've realized it. Not just because of his name, but because he undersold it. Knew it was too good to be true."
"Seriously, this is worse than the pop up ads," Ruby rolled her eyes.
Shock Rock reverted back to a human form. This Ben looked much different from the Ben we followed- he had wilder hair, a jacket, fingerless gloves and more confidence in the way he carried himself.
"Take it everything's good up there then?" Max asked.
"Yep! Got Zombozo all tied up and ready for the police." Ben said, trailing off when he noticed three blurs trailing behind them and gaining on them, one blue, one red and green and a third that was just pure red, a very familiar shade of red at that.
"Uh, Grandpa? You see that too, right?" Ben called down.
Grandpa Max looked in the side mirrors. "What the-?"
The younger Ben (let's call him Youngblood for reference) hopped off the RV and regrouped with his Ruby (who we'll call Reaper).
"Think it's more bounty hunters?" Reaper asked, readying her shotgun.
"I...don't think so. Something about them seems-" Youngblood began, before he was cut off when the blurs came to a sudden stop. The blue blur was XLR8 surprisingly enough. The red and green one seemed to be the same species as XLR8, but it seemed more armored, more durable than usual. The purely red one was the most striking though. Was it an older Reaper? It definitely looked like her.
Glitch regrouped with them, forming back into a humanoid form."What is it?" Glitch asked. Glitch had Ben's overall appearance but with Mechamorphic physiology. His hands had five fingers each, more closely resembling Upgrade's hands rather than Ben's.
"No idea," Youngblood said.
"There's...two of you here?" the red and green XLR8 asked.
"Yeah, no idea what the deal is either," the normal speedster alien admitted. In simultaneous flashes of red and green, the two Kinecelerans turned back into human forms.
The trio reacted with shock and awe. The three people were...
"So, this is gonna sound crazy-" Ben began.
"You're in danger. Like, serious danger," Kevin said.
"And we're here to keep you out of it," Ruby finished.
"You...you're me?" Youngblood asked.
"Yeah. It's gonna get complicated really fast," Ben answered.
Youngblood's eyes darted over to Kevin. "And what's HE doing with you? What, he found a way to repair his AntiTrix after Vilgax wrecked it?"
Kevin made a face. "What?"
"Okay. Guessing you and your Kevin are on rockier terms," Ben said.
"Understatement of the decade!" Reaper chimed in.
"And what's with my blorpy twin brother?" Ben said, pointing at Glitch.
"B-blorpy!?" Glitch sounded offended, "I will have you know that I am VERY MUCH human! I just happen to have some Mechamorph DNA in me!"
"Huh, hybrid," Kevin muttered.
It was around then that someone else landed next to them after two shots echoed out in the city.
"Alright! I'm here! Where's-oh. You guys already dealt with the clown guy," Yang said, a bit defeated. She was kinda hoping she'd get to kick someone's ass in this universe. Kicking ass in another universe would be a first.
"Yeah. These kids took care of him easily. Guess Zombozo ain't some insane vampire in this world," Ben shrugged.
"A VAMPIRE?!" Youngblood's Zombozo yelled.
"That would make you muuuuch more intimidating! Vampire clown! We should try that," Frightwig chimed in.
"You! Shush! I am not becoming Dracula!"
"We're losing focus here," a third alien added as they landed. To Ben, it was Big Chill, but Kirby called it Frostbite.
"Wait, so do you have a brother like me!?" Youngblood asked, even more confused now.
"No, I came from another world," Kirby began as he turned back to human.
"Which is different from the one we came from," Ben interjected.
"And one where he never met me apparently," Ruby said.
Now that the high-speed part of the chase was over, more members of the outcasts were able to catch up to others. The first to arrive was Ceres and even as she walked up to the group, she could feel the confusion just radiating off of this universe's heroic trio. The Circus Freaks were a surprise to her. Last time they showed up was when the Forever Knight decided to make things personal. At least this universe's boss seems like a small-time criminal instead of a monster.
"I feel like we're gonna need a whiteboard to explain everything," Ceres huffed. "Can we take 10 minutes to explain everything?"
"Wait, who are you?" Reaper asked.
"Ceres. Archimedian, Zeta Squad's leader and this guy's boss," Ceres smirked, nudging Ben in the arm.
"Zeta Squad?" Youngblood asked.
"Yep. Plumber Squad."
Max needed to doubletake when he heard that. Wait WHAT?!
"Yeah, no. We need 15 minutes," Weiss added as she walked up to the group, putting her hand to her face.
"How many of you are there?" Max asked.
"Weeeee might need a place to set up," Ruby admitted.
Under normal circumstances, there would be no real way to observe the multiverse, not in the way of looking for a specific universe the same way you would look for a website in a search browser. But these weren't normal circumstances. In a cosmic void, a space between universes, the Watch Collector floated in the celestial emptiness with his arms crossed as he traveled to his next destination. The lights of distant universes were nothing more than blurs as he raced through the space between dimensions.
To many it might have seemed overkill, but he wanted to have something of an edge over the Outcasts when he next fought them. Three more. Three more Omnitricies and he would be able to wipe those pests from existence. His next destination was the first of those three final collections. The universe he was currently traveling to was the home of a younger Ben, much like the rather dour variant of Ben he encountered before the rogue Omnitrix intelligence traveled to Earth-41808.
With a wave of his hand, six rifts in reality opened before him, each one showing glimpses into different universes. In each of those universes, there was an Omnitrix. A majority of them were Ben, but there was the occasional odd wielder out.
He watched all of the Omnitrix wielders in those six universes. One Omnitrix-user dodged a barrage of missiles fired from an upgraded Formula One race car. Another was duking it out as Way Big with what seemed to be an old 50 or 60's designed robot. A third was taking cover from a barrage of laser blasts from a pair of gray-skinned humanoid aliens that seemed to be wearing stereotypical trucker attire. A fourth Omnitrix had turned its user into Ghostfreak, letting a mechanical claw close around them. Interestingly enough, that last Omnitrix user wasn't a variant of Ben.
His eyes focused on the variant Ben fighting a car and the version of Ben taking cover.
"These two are plausible candidates. They have 'simple' Omnitrixes. No overcomplications, time enough to master the devices' basic functions," the celestially-corrupted AI muttered to itself, "Useful for their base power alone."
His eyes darted over to the one fighting a robot. That Ben slapped down on his Omnitrix, and immediately, the Way Big turned dragonic in form. Wings spread out and he began to flap his wings and breathe powerful cosmic blasts over the alien.
"An enhancement. Projected power output increase of 30%. A good candidate," the Watch Collector continued on to himself. His eyes looked over to the Omnitrix user fighting a variant of what he believed was Krabb. He recognized this particular user as one of Ben's friends, the stealthy feline Faunus, Blake. A rarity to find a version of her with the Omnitrix.
"Immediate rejection," the celestial-powered AI droned on, "An impure variant. The wielder does not possess Tennyson DNA. Possibility of lock out activation 89% certain."
A few more Bens passed him by: an especially cocky and awkward Ben that was in college that sported gold armored aliens, a relatively normal ten-year old Ben that fought alongside a boy who used what seemed to be a gem and a girl who fought with a strange spirit and a female Ben who was in the process of getting married to a handsome male Ruby.
"Hmm," the Watch Collector grunted, eyes narrowing at the scene. He seemed particularly displeased with that world. He swiped it away, and continued to search.
Others passed him by, each Omnitrix even more different than the last. One universe seemed to be a sparsely populated post-apocalyptic wasteland and the Watch Collector observed as a caravan of scrapped-together cars was assaulted by a punk-themed Humgonosaur with orange eyes and spiked metal armor. Another was hyper-commercialized, showing a blue-colored Cannonbolt slamming into what seemed to be mutated plants. A third was a dark reflection of all the others, a villain who used the Omnitrix's powers for his own a glance, it seemed to function a little bit different from the other Omnitrices as well.
"Both of these devices are uncomplicated. No extra gimmicks. One too vain and prideful, turning heroics into a marketing strategy and the other, tactical and tyrannical, conditioned to be almost the opposite of what many other wielders are. Viable for small power increases. The third appears similar, but warrants further investigation. Something seems off with his transformations. Note to self: remember the Bens of Earths 9302-014 and 9062-014."
Have you ever heard of the 'The Jaccard index'? The Jaccard index, also known as the Jaccard similarity coefficient, is a statistic used for gauging the similarity and diversity of sample sets. A score of 1 in a similarity index indicates that the two communities being compared share all of its species, while a value of 0 indicates that they share none. The Watch Collector was operating off of that index for his own search of power.
His version of Ben had a simple Omnitrix. No gimmicks, no extra modes, nothing fancy like that. And, by the AI's reasoning, that base power was the reason that those two petty children playing at divinity were able to win in the end. He needed those with 0 values and, while one might imagine that to be plentiful, there was still the power requirement itself. Every time he saw a new Omnitrix and its gimmick, whatever it was, he began to calculate and estimate how much of a boost it would give his own power. But if power was what he was after, why did he reject the Ultimatrix? Surely, Albedo's device would be able to give him an incredible boost against his enemies.
A good question with a simple answer. Purity. Adding an Ultimatrix to the mix would dilute the power of the Omnitricies he already possessed. There were too many unknowns when it came to the Ultimatrix. Did it possess an AI as well? Was there the threat of the Ultimate forms gaining sentience? If so, could those potentially sentient forms escape the Ultimatrix and damage him in the process? The risks and possible negatives outweighed the positives by a wide margin.
An even playing field was the last thing he wanted. The scales were going to be skewed as much in his favor as possible. The Brothers were a force to be reckoned with, and so should his army. Maybe he'd go out and free other worlds, act accordingly so that all would be saved and not bet on the possibility of saving one life. His Ben was weak, held back by the all-too-human factor of emotion. All of those times the AI worked to save him was thrown away, his big moment lost because of one mistake. He was disappointed, but he couldn't be angry with him.
The Watch Collector's attention was quickly brought back to the universe he was heading to next. In the other universes he saw, there were only one or two Codon Stream signals, usually due to the presence of Ultimatrix. Ultimatrix signals were able to pick out though, due to a bit of a corruption in their energy signature.
So why were there four in this dimension?
"So, they've gone to Dimension 1012016 - 04112021," the Watch Collector bemused.
It wasn't surprising that this group was still trying to interfere with his mission. After all, Tennysons were praised for their stubbornness. He would've been more surprised that they arrived before him, if he wasn't aware that Paradox was involved. His Ben had dealings with the time-walker, an arrogant and sanctimonious man that the AI couldn't stand. What good is the power he commands if cannot use it, cannot repair obvious damage such as the destruction of entire worlds? All for the sake of some balance only Paradox himself understood.
The Collector looked down at the palm of his hand and began to ponder. That Ben from Dimension 122718 was an issue. His ability to merge the infinite with the finite was interesting, but it was still heresy to be purged. He was the only one capable of wielding this divine power to its fullest. Isn't that why his master named him after a divinity?
Isn't that why he was named Archangel?
The Watch Collector was in need of a shortcut now. He waved his hand and a rift opened in front of him, one that would cut his remaining travel time in half.
"P-please. Stop. I want to rest," a voice inside his mind whimpered.
"And rest you will, master. Soon. My work is not yet done," The Watch Collector said, as he went through the portal.
"So...let me just make sure I have this right," Max began. The group had found one of the Mr. Smoothie places in town and decided to use it as a place to just explain everything. It hadn't taken them as long as they thought it would've to get the main details out, but it was still obvious there was some confusion. Hopefully they'd be able to clear up the questions.
"Both older Bens are from a different universe, but not the same different universe," Max continued.
"Got it so far," Yang confirmed.
"You," Max pointed to Ben, "are from a universe closer to this one, but your Ruby uses a sniper instead of a shotgun-"
"I still don't understand why!" both Rubies interjected.
"While you," Max turned to Kirby, "are from a universe where you don't even know Ruby. But both of you were brought together because there's a threat that's jumping between universes, searching for people like my Ben who have the watches."
"Omnitrixes, yeah," Ben nodded.
"And you think that this threat will come here to steal his Omnitrix."
"It's very likely, all things considered," Ceres said.
"And," Max looked at his duplicate, "you're from a world where you lost your Ben, and now are trying to avenge him."
"'You're from a world where-,' You've been saying that a lot," Maximillian nodded.
"S-sorry. It's a lot for an old man to take in," Max said.
"Yeah, no offense, but you guys should've come in a smaller group. There's too many of you guys. I dunno how I'd ever keep up with all of your allies on the field," Youngblood said.
"Same," Ben joked.
"To be fair, we were split up for a while, and the current threat we've gotta deal with does need all hands on deck," Ceres added.
"What? Is it Vilgax? The Weatherheads?" Youngblood asked.
"Are we allowed to say?" Blake turned to Yang.
"I mean, there's no multiverse-police. I hope," Yang answered.
"The threat we're up against is the Omnitrix itself," Albedo said.
"...what?" Youngblood asked.
"You heard me. A rogue Omnitrix AI has taken control of a body, and is gathering Omnitricies to empower itself for a fight against a force it cannot stand up against," Albedo answered flatly.
"Not the threat I was talking about, but yeah. Managed to get ahead of him thanks to a…weird friend of ours. Plan's to find any Bens or anyone else with an Omnitrix who could help us take him down," Ceres said.
"That says something when not even three people with watches could beat him. By the way, you never explained red and white me," Youngblood pointed out.
"I'm technically not a Ben. It's a long story," Albedo explained.
"What matters is that right now, we keep this Ben safe and-" Ben said.
As if to interrupt the plan, Maximillian's device began beeping rapidly. He grabbed it and checked it, just to make sure it wasn't malfunctioning. As if to confirm the group's worst fears, a cosmic tear tore open in the sky above.
"Ohhhh fuck," Yang said, getting her gauntlets ready.
Descending down from the portal, the Watch Collector scanned the area below him and locked onto the group immediately.
"There you are," the Celestialsapien said before vanishing in a flash of green.
"Where the hell did he go!?" Youngblood's eyes widened in horror.
Ruby and the others sprang into action, taking up combat ready stances and leveled their weapons.
"I dunno, but keep your guard up!" Ruby warned before she looked around for any hint of the Celestialsapien.
The Watch Collector then reappeared behind them all and slammed both of his fists into the ground. The impact let out a massive shockwave that sent all of them flying.
"So you've decided to co-opt my plan in order to stop me. A prediction I should have seen," the AI-Celestialsapien said, "but one still within my power to overcome."
Ben immediately shot back up, and frowned. "Okay, space case." Ben said, rolling up his sleeve.
"Your stubbornness is admirable…but you cannot hurt me, Benjamin. Nothing you have can," the Watch Collector droned.
"Wow, must've broken your memory bank. Besides, I have this as a good back-up!" Ben slapped down the Omnitrix, but to his surprise, nothing occurred. He blinked a bit at the awkward pause. All eyes were on him expecting something to happen.
"Ben…any day now," Yang hissed.
"Did you, uh, break it?" Ruby murmured, concerned.
"N-no! At least, I don't think I did-" Ben's words were cut off abruptly when a green light emerged on his chest and wires and technology spread throughout his body. Ben was taken aback; this was a first for him.
"Woah," Ruby's eyes sparkled.
"Is this some kind of power suit?" Ben inquired, looking over his now armored form. His tech was comparable to the Proto Armor Rook wore, but off, made of different material and far more advanced..
"Interesting." Maximillian noted as he got back to his feet, turning his arm into its gun mode.
"What, you've seen this guy before?" Kirby asked.
"Yes, I have. It's a little unusual, but my Ben had an alien like this. He referred to him as Nanomech."
"Nanomech?" Ben repeated it, his brow furrowed.
"The form was able to shrink and shoot laser blasts with similar strength to a taser," Maximillian explained, "Exceptionally handy."
"Laser blasts, you say?" Ben stated as he looked down at his hand. Ben gasped as four energy projectors formed around his hand much to his astonishment. It was easy to see that, together, the projectors formed one helluva cannon. Ben brought it up for the rest of the group to see.
"Could he do THIS?" Ben inquired.
"He couldn't," Maximillian admitted and cocked his head.
"I so want that form too,"
Ruby was drooling. "I'm SOOOO in love with that suit."
"What about the handsome face behind it?" Ben joked.
"Eh. Hard 7/10," Ruby joked.
"Careful," Kylie quipped, "If you form a sword and Rex finds out, he might sue."
"Curious," the Collector said. That small opening was all Ben needed. Energy gathered up in the projectors of the cannon and connected into a single sphere in front of Ben's hand. With the smallest movement, a barrage of blasts fired out at the Celestialsapien. The cosmic alien didn't even seem concerned and the barrage seemed to hit him, shot after shot adding to the destruction. After a few moments, the Collector appeared next to Ben and landed a hit to his side. Before the celestial-AI could strike again, Blake and Yang began to tag-team the cosmic collector. Yang opened up with a barrage of punches, while Blake tried to slash at any openings that the Collector might have neglected to cover.
It seemed, however, that history started to repeat itself. Yang's hits impacted against the air, causing it to ripple like water. Blake's slashes gave off a similar effect with every chance she went for. Of course he'd reinforce that goddamn barrier.
"I see. Perhaps I should have you burn and fade again, with no chance of recovery this time," the Collector threatened.
The Collector slammed his hands on the ground, and unleashed a powerful burst of monochromatic celestial flames that traveled down the way, hitting Yang dead on. Blake was ready to cry out, thinking that the rogue AI made good on his threat. But then something caught both her's and the Collector's attention. Yang wasn't even scorched. Instead, a yellow light around the brawler's body briefly flickered, protecting her from the cosmic flames.
That…should have been impossible.
The Watch Collector looked on in genuine shock. Was that her Aura? No, that was impossible. Even before, her Aura was nothing compared to his cosmic powers. So how could this have even happened?
Yang seemed just as surprised as the others, looking over her body to make sure there wasn't actually any damage. Once she was sure, she quickly stood back up and her Ember Celica gauntlets clicked with fresh rounds of ammo.
"Oh, what's wrong? Is the 'superior AI' speechless at how Yang survived the fires?" Min taunted.
"Your work…I take it?" the Collector asked, eyes locking onto Min.
"Yours truly," Min grinned, taking a bow, "We found a handy work around for that pesky omnipotence of yours, buddy. Any 'status' you put on your attacks won't take hold anymore. So now, you can't physically or psychologically torture us like the last time."
"And now, it's our turn to attack," Youngblood said, flashing his watch.
"Simple problem, simple solution. You'll be erased first," the Collector threatened. The AI-controlled alien launched forward, making a beeline for the Outcast's resident chaos demon. The last thing he wanted now was a prolonged battle and Min's presence made that all but an inevitability. Of course, when it comes to such tunnel-vision, some things slip under the radar. A massive armored fist slammed into the Watch Collector's face, sending him flying down an alley. He morphed one of his hands into a blade and jabbed it into the ground to stop himself from being flung too far. As he came to a stop, ripping up the concrete of the alley, he looked up to see who was responsible, ready to atomize them.
It was Youngblood in the form of Armodrillo, but this alien was unlike any that the other Bens, or really anyone else, had ever seen. Instead of a purely armored form, this Armadrillo seemed to be more akin to a humanoid mole wearing a suit of armor that resembled an excavation rig with long metallic claws instead of the usual drills.
The Watch Collector actually tilted his head a little bit at the sight. He knew how personalized the aliens of different universe's Omnitrixes were, but this was the first truly bizarre change to a species. It was less like a proper alien and more like a superhero.
"Intriguing," the Watch Collector admitted before teleporting in a flash of green. The Celestialsapien reappeared before he flicked the odd Armodrillo on the nose, sending him flying. The power behind such a simple gesture was enough to send Youngblood through multiple office buildings.
"Oh, that's gonna hurt in the morning," Reaper cringed.
Kirby grinned. "I know exactly how to take this guy head on." Kirby suddenly morphed into an alien. The form sported two electric towers that shot out of his back and the skin became more and more patchwork. Ben recognized it as he had used this same form against Viktor and Cass in the battle for Haven. Kirby let out a roar as he clenched his fists.
"FRANKENBEN!" Kirby proclaimed proudly.
The group gave him a wide eyed look.
"Kirby, please get better alien names," Maximillian said as he pointed his blaster at the Celestialsapien.
The energy charged up and formed an X-shape in the shot. He pulled the trigger and the X fired out as four different blasts. With a wave of his hand, the Watch Collector forced the shots to curve away from him.
"Maximilian," the Collector said, "Aim is as precise as ever."
Maximillian didn't even dignify that with a response, simply readying up another shot
"Kirby! Focus your energy! Time your attack with mine!" the first Max counterpart ordered.
"Right!" Frankenben said, as the pylons on his back began to charge up. Lightning and static electricity formed around his clenched fists, gathering up enough watts to cause nearby lights to flicker and nearly die. Maximillian and Kirby took aim at the Celestialsapien and unleashed their attacks simultaneously. Instead of four shots, an X-shaped beam fired from Maximillian's arm cannon and raced next to the green lightning of Frankenben. The energy blasts merged together and the powerful combo struck the cosmic menace dead in the chest.
The barrier that protected the celestial collector rippled from the hit, the beam pushing against it. More and more energy poured into the attack, and the Collector focused more on the defense. With so much focus on one thing, tunnel vision struck again. There was no way he could take notice of a small blue knight that appeared by his ankle, before it sliced at him. That one little sting broke the AI's concentration and, in turn, the barrier as well. With a final surge, the super-charged blast hit the Collector dead on.
Weiss smirked as her summon gave a small salute to them all.
"Nice going, Weiss!" Maximillian cheered as he let his weapon cool down and recharge. Ben aimed his cannons at the Celestialsapien's now unprotected face and unleashed a tremendous energy blast, giving an opening for Ruby and Reaper to get some hits in too. Reaper unleashed some powerful buckshot barrages while Ruby made quick and speedy hit and run slashes on the recovering faux-divinity.
Maximillian's weapon recharged and, coordinating with Reaper, he opened fire with his own hail of shots. The trio continued striking the Watch Collector with more and more hits, removing any chance he had to recover. So instead, he'd just make a chance. These attacks were getting aggravating and it was time for them to end. The Collector reared back a punch and slammed it into the ground, letting out an Earth shaking blast that caused a few windows to explode. Most members of the team were knocked to their feet, but Ben wasn't and he took full advantage of the chaos.
The armor on his back unfolded like the shell of a beetle and freed a pair of translucent insect wings to unfurl. He shrunk down and took flight, racing right at the Collector.
Zipping through the debris was like flying through an asteroid field for the miniscule Ben. Youngblood had recovered and shook off the debris of the office building's walls. He took a running start and leapt from where he landed and, thanks to claws, he broke through the concrete and earth beneath. Now he was able to make the most of this form as he burrowed back to the fight. His current plan was to try and sneak up on the Watch Collector, land a few cheap shots. As he got closer, the ground began to shake and that shaking provided Ben with a decent cover. The only problem was that, given his size, even a small pebble could feel like a boulder. The Omnitrix-wielder dodged and weaved and blasted through the rocks, trying to get a clear line of fire on the Collector.
A renewed barrage of laser fire and lightning strikes tore through the air once more. Ruby was about to try and go for her hit and run tactics again, but she noticed Frankenben and got an idea.
"Kirby! I need a favor!" Ruby yelled.
"What is it?" Kirby asked as he threw one last massive bolt of lightning that seemed to shock the Collector for a few seconds.
"Electrocute me!" Ruby said, dead serious.
"C-come again!?" Kirby looked at her like she was crazy.
"Just do it! I can't explain it right now! It'll just work BETTER as a demonstration!" Ruby huffed, as she handed Kirby her cape, "JUST SHOCK ME!"
Kirby hesitated for a moment, before he electrocuted his hands and let the current flow through Ruby's body. Her red cape started to glow, brighter and brighter until it was shining like a neon sign.
"Ok, that'll work!" Ruby yelled, as she swiped her cape out of Kirby's hands. Kirby was still confused as Ruby rushed at the Watch Collector with her Semblance. Her body separated into three separate glowing blurs and they all struck the Watch Collector at full force. The Watch Collector let out a howl of genuine pain as Ruby reappeared behind him. Her cape was still glowing, but it wasn't as bright as before.
"What the-?" Kirby asked.
"Atlesian tech," Albedo answered. Kirby hadn't noticed his transformation into Swampfire. Albedo fired off a concentrated beam of heat at the Watch Collector by pressing his hands together in a weird manner.
"Ruby's cape is actually different from her usual one. This version of it allows her to absorb energy and give herself some more offensive presence on the field," the Galvan-human explained.
"So that's what was up with the new suits," Kirby said.
"And she's not the only one with some special ability," Yang said, smashing her fists together.
As her fists smashed together, the Dust inside her suit began to ignite, almost covering her in a blaze as she took aim at the mad AI. Yang's eyes closed as she breathed in deeply.
And then she charged forward like a living comet.
Leaving a trail of flames as she moved, the blonde brawler leapt into the air, fist covered in searing flame as she dove toward the Collector, managing to slam her fist down onto him with enough force to cause his body to bounce off the road in front of him.
"Let's see how you like being fucking incinerated!" Yang yelled before quickly thrusting her robotic arm forward. The mechanisms started to whir to life as something within began to spin faster, generating more energy as she pushed forward with fervor!
The sudden blast from Yang's robotic arm rocked the surrounding area as a brief flash of pure fire sent the Celestialsapien flying through the air, grimacing as he tried to correct his course with a motion of his upper torso.
"These games are…wearing thin. I came here for a purpose, yet I find myself face with all these distractions-" the Collector mumbled before suddenly feeling an intense chill from behind him. He didn't even get to turn and see his attacker before he was sliced in the back. Snow seemed to fall as Weiss stood there aiming a now rather large broadsword toward the Collector. The blade itself seemed to be a Hard-Light Dust overlay on top of Myrtenaster.
"Consider this payback for shattering me," Weiss scowled as her blade flared to life. Her movements were swift like lightning (quite literally) as she started to perform elegant yet devastating strikes on the Celestialsapien over and over. Each slash left sheets of ice behind that bitterly froze the air around the two and acted as a way for Weiss to keep up her assault.
Blake took advantage and made use of another function of the suit. She held up her hands and began to absorb the residual fire and ice Dust energy that still lingered in the air. Her suit started to glow blue and red and she sprinted forward, performing a sweeping upward slash at the Celestialsapien. While rising into the air at an angle, she twisted her body and unleashed a strange-looking clone, one that seemed to be partially made of ice and fire. The clone exploded, freezing one side of the Watch Collector's body and burning the other. Blake took this distraction to unleash a flurry of slashes.
Kevin and Ceres were up next. Ceres started by jumping off of Kevin's back, conjured a small amount of blue flames in one hand, and released them as a massive projectile wave. The wave rushed towards her target and detonated on impact, engulfing the Celestialsapien in blue smoke. The Archimedian then extended both arms with her hands diagonally opposite one another. Blue flames formed within the space between her hands and swirled together into a large orb hovering immediately in front of her.
The Watch Collector, despite the damage starting to show, kept up an unphased facade.
"Kevin!" Ceres yelled as she unleashed it.
"Right!" Kevin morphed into Rainbow in the Dark. Kevin absorbed the blast, and shot it back out at twice the speed it was going before.
"WHAT-" the Watch Collector yelled.
The fireball was quick to envelop the rogue celestial, causing him to suddenly fly back, body covered in searing blue flames that threatened to actually remove some portion of the cover that the Collector had given its 'host'.
How…how are they able to hold their own like this now?! I almost destroyed them before! the Collector thought to himself before suddenly feeling more shots darting across his back. Glowering back toward the direction of the Rust Bucket, the Collector spied Reaper aiming her shotgun toward them with a rather cutesy smirk on her face.
"You're tough, but I thought you were supposed to be some kinda god!" Ruby's variant yelled before quickly spiraling into rose petals and charging toward the Celestialsapien. She was joined by a purple and black streak as the petals were suddenly given a newer and sleeker color combo.
"Do you mind if perhaps I help you out? Not to say you couldn't blast this freak to kingdom come, buuuut you might need a little more-" Glitch began as the two unfurled. Reaper's shotgun was now sporting an almost comical amount of barrels as it suddenly filled with large bolts of energy before unleashing a blast from within that nearly took out a portion of the buildings that were surrounding them.
"Firepower," the Mechamorph-Ben hybrid finished.
The Watch Collector was barely able to block all of them. Kylie and Min's attack was up next. Min created a strange glyph before Kylie's gun and the musician began to fire off her shots. As the bullets passed through the glyph, they exploded in size. The Watch Collector was quickly bombarded with missile sized bullets.
These shouldn't hurt, but that damn demon enchanted all of them. And I'm too overwhelmed to do anything, the Watch Collector thought, This should not be happening-
But I want it to happen, another voice spoke, I want out of this infinity...
The Watch Collector growled in annoyance as something buzzed past his ear.
Ben glanced at The Collector, the two locking eyes for a mere moment before the smaller mechanized alien started to quickly focus in order to form a large gauntlet. Without giving the rogue AI any time for retaliation, Nanomech slammed the Watch Collector right in the chin, sending him rocketing before his wings buzzed to life.
He had one hell of a plan to try out.
"Let's try out this master control thing," Ben said as his wings flapped faster. Ben transformed into Astrodactyl in the blink of an eye, keeping Nanomech's momentum. He accelerated into the air and began blasting the Watch Collector with a beam from his maw. He flew higher and morphed once again and the Celestialsapien suddenly found himself webbed up by Spidermonkey. The Arachnochimp landed on the Watch Collector and grinned a bit. His webs were still as tight on the Watch Collector as they were on any other adversary, thanks to Min's magic. Ben flipped backwards and changed into the iconic Diamondhead. The Watch Collector was pummeled with a barrage of crystals, which immediately changed into scorching, burning flames, Ben having switched to Heatblast midway through the attack.
The attack continued with Ben morphing through a majority of his forms. The Watch Collector was bombarded with Echo Echo's screams, Eatle's lasers, XLR8's hypersonic kicks, Water Hazard's pressurized blasts, Ghostfreak's shadows, Cannonbolt's massive force, Swampfire's flames and vines, Clockwork's time blasts and to add insult to injury (and Ben's cherry on top), Toepick's HORRID face.
The Collector was blasted into the air far enough that they could see the moon in their peripheral vision, only somewhat scared by Toepick's revealed visage. He knew that he had to focus, his thoughts needed to be in perfect harmony, none of his master's own loathing, or else he wasn't going to be able to do that with all of these distractions!
Wait. That was it. These were all distractions. He was so caught up by something inconsequential in the grand scheme of things.
How very human.
The Collector knew what he had to do. The Celestialsapien started to weave the fabric of reality into something new. He quickly covered himself with a cloak that shimmered with a reflection of the very landscape around him, the perfect camouflage.
Rushing back down to the ground below, the Collector glanced at each member of the Zeta Squad and would have smirked if he could. They were totally unaware. He just needed one key moment of opportunity and he could leave as quick as he came. He'd be able to kill these upstarts at a later point.
Ben morphed into Big Chill and hovered in the air, looking around for the rogue AI.
"Where the hell did he go?" he rasped.
Seeing the disappearance of their foe, Maximillian put on his mask and began to look around.
"Celestialsapiens leave behind a specific energy trail. Most likely went invisible. If I can trace that trail, then I can-" Maximillian's mask was suddenly gripped by an invisible force the Collector appeared in his vision.
"Not this time," the cloak only shimmered for a brief moment as the Collector threw Maximillian toward the others before vanishing once again. Well, so much for complete stealth.
"What the he-" Kirby was suddenly bashed in the chest and sent flying into the side of a building. The Collector systematically charged through the others, knocking them down with cosmic-infused punches at light speed. His simple attacks were far more powerful than their previous flashy displays. The Watch Collector snapped his fingers and teleported the other two Bens to his location, ditching the cosmic cloak.
"A-ah!" Youngblood yelled, "How did we get-" he was cut off as he ,too, was sent flying, smashing into the side of yet another building.
Ben didn't hesitate to morph again, taking on Echo Echo's form.
"A Sonorsorosian?" the Watch Collector boomed, "We are both well aware that its sonic attacks won't be the finishing move you need."
"No," Ben said, "I just need three minutes for the actual coup de grace."
The Watch Collector frowned. He knew what this meant. More of Azmuth's meddlesome heresy.
The Collector suddenly lunged forward, moving at lightning speed as he aimed to try and shatter the very device that allowed for such blasphemy in the first place. It was clear that he wasn't about to mess around with these forms, especially with how last time he paid dearly for underestimating its possible potential.
As for the Omnitrix…he could suffer one loss.
Ben smirked as the two locked gazes once again. Before the strikes could hit, the Omnitrix was slapped down once more. Ben's body skipped past the Drive and straight into the cosmic upgrade. His head disconnected from his body, and its features morphed into an 'omni directional' speaker of sorts. The white on his body became a cold pitch black, illuminated by the cosmos themselves. His hands disconnected from his body and his legs became larger, longer, sharp like iron nails.
Ben's next word was "plummet."
And the Watch Collector smashed into the Earth HARD, like he'd been dropped from space.
"GRAAAH!" the Collector let out a sudden growl of pain before starting to try and push himself up. The weight that was slamming into him was seemingly enough to surpass the strength of a Celestialsapien like themselves.
"Really didn't wanna do this…but if this is what it takes to actually end you here and now," Ben said, motioning for the others to come. Ruby and a now human Kevin shared a look, and nodded. They rushed forward and pulled out their Omnitrix keys.
No, no...I can't let it end like this... The Watch Collector hissed.
Let it be over. Please. I'm tired, the voice begged.
BE. SILENT, the Collector demanded.
The Watch Collector's hands began to light up, charging cosmic power in a last ditch effort to free himself. However, right before he fired off the attack, he quickly noticed that the weight had seemingly vanished. The opportunity had arrived.
In mere moments as the keys had been drawn, Ruby and Kevin could only look on in confusion as the Collector suddenly launched a powerful uppercut to Ben's Omnitrix badge, causing it to suddenly spark and crackle.
"W-What?!" Ben yelled.
"Your heresy, no matter how powerful, will never be able to stop me. With every battle, I will adapt, formulate new plans. In the end, your 'Omni-Stellars' are nothing more than pale imitations!"
The Watch Collector rushed at the two, hands outstretched for their throats. He was going to chokeslam these pests into the ground and, if they were lucky, they would die on impact. Ben looked down at the sparking badge, feeling energy start to drain from him, but he was still able to mutter something else.
"Stop."
The Watch Collector froze in place, inches away from his targets' throats.
NO! the Collector panicked mentally.
Ruby shivered, seeing the Celestialsapien's hand so close to her. She and Kevin easily avoided the now frozen threat.
"I think I get it. Omni Stellar Echo Echo can 'speak things into reality,'" Ruby realized.
"Makes sense. He said stop, and now our guy's stuck in mid air," Doppler said, as he morphed Kevin's hands into fiery claws and gave him a tail, using Dinosaur Laser Fight and Hot Shot.
"Look, right now we need to make sure Ben's not dead and also knock this guy as far away as possible." Kevin added before starting to walk up close to the Celestialsapien, Ruby alongside him as the pair glanced at one another before getting stanced up.
"The proper angle of attack…" Kevin began.
"Is right..." Ruby followed up before the pair launched forward in a barrage of strikes together.
"THERE!" the duo said simultaneously.
Ruby and Kevin rushed forward for a combo finisher. Kevin shot a bunch of flaming claw-shaped projectiles forward, as Ruby extended her scythe as an overlay of a scythe with a much larger blade suddenly overtook it. Ruby and Kevin's attacks were powerful, actually causing the Collector pain and he couldn't do anything about it. The Collector could only bear the brunt of the attacks as best he could. Ben quickly recovered and moved back toward the group. Even as he glanced down at the Omnitrix, he knew that he had to be more careful in order to not make a mistake that the Collector could use.
2 minutes left.
Ben motioned for the two to move out of the way. Ruby and Kevin jumped back, as Ben unleashed his next attack. Ben could describe Echo Echo's normal sonic scream as a 'blast' of sorts. Omni Stellar Echo Echo's sonic scream was like a bazooka being launched from his mouth. The force behind it was enough to force the Watch Collector through multiple layers of ground.
The Collector knew that all he had to do was bide his time in order to keep up the pace. This particular battle was not going to end like last time. No retreat, no surrender. Especially not to Azmuth's paltry excuse for divine power.
Kevin and Ruby barraged the Watch Collector with more bursts of fire and energy bullets as he flew out of the large hole in the earth. He growled and fired out his cosmic energy blasts but the duo were able to narrowly avoid them.
1 minute left.
Ben spoke again. One word was all he needed.
"EXPLODE!" Ben yelled.
Suddenly in a flash of light, the Collector was enveloped in a blast that nearly took out the surrounding buildings. The pain was excruciating and was enough to send him through more buildings in the process. The tradeoff to such a move was that the speakers Ben sported were now creaking and letting out static.
"Guess you can't do too much else with that. Maybe one or two more charges left," Kevin guessed before lowering his claws
Ben coughed, muffled by the sounds of static. Ruby looked at Ben with concern now.
The drawbacks of these aliens are pretty simple, but their power was incredible. Ben's never really messed around with this stuff. Guess that's why there's that three minute time limit, Ruby thought to herself.
"Are you good?" Ruby asked. Ben flashed her a thumbs up, and pointed at the building. The Watch Collector was pulling himself free of the rubble and he looked pissed, a rare flash of visible fury. Kevin and Ruby aimed their weapons, but Ben raised his hands to stop them. He had one last thing to say, before his time ran out.
"Splatter," Ben commanded.
The Collector let out a roar of rage and charged forward, but he started to feel his body begin to decompile, their atoms being shifted and their form starting to change matter from solid to something much more viscous and liquid-like. The group could only look in horror as they saw glimpses of the Collector's inner Ben trying to reach out, vacant eyes staring at Ruby before a mixture of cosmic black goop flooded the ground below them.
"W-What did you just...?" Ruby had to take a moment to step back, trying to get that image out of her mind before looking at Ben who seemed just as shocked.
Ben reverted back to normal, coughing rather violently.
"I just meant to weaken him! Make him all goopy! Slow him down!" Ben explained in a panic.
"Jesus Christ," Kevin gasped, as the trio ran over to see if they could maybe catch another glimpse of the Collector's Ben. They were fast enough to see the first glimpses of the Collector's Ben. The trio saw a face, a very pale one, at that. Ben looked at it in horror. The face was his as they had all expected by now, but it was tired and sullen. His eyes were glazed over, and his expression was almost corpse-like.
"B-ben?" Ruby asked the cosmic trapped Ben. For simplicity, we'll call him 'Prisoner'.
"Help," Prisoner whispered, voice weak, "He won't listen..."
"We...we'll try to!" Kevin insisted. "Just, hang in there and-"
"Help..." Prisoner repeated, as his body started to slither away. The Watch Collector was reforming.
"Listen to us, we'll find a way to fix this! We'll help you and-" Ruby began before suddenly seeing a hand lunge out, The Prisoner having suddenly gripped Ruby.
"There's no...help..." Prisoner gargled out as his eyes suddenly started to roll back up into his skull, the cosmic energy starting to reform around him like some kind of symbiotic parasite. The group quickly took guard as they knew they had to stop this thing from reforming fully.
The Watch Collector unleashed a powerful blast of energy to stop the group from even trying something with his Ben. The trio was blasted backwards, as the Collector finished reforming.
"Unfit to speak with him. Now, finally," The Watch Collector said, as his gaze fixed upon Youngblood. The Watch Collector suddenly warped over to the youngest Ben and grabbed him by the neck. No one was able to react in time.
"Let's go somewhere quiet," the Watch Collector warped away with the boy.
"BEN!" The alternate Max and Reaper yelled as the rest of the group looked around.
"Where…where did he go!?" Ben yelled, rubbing his head.
"I can help with that," Glitch said, raising a hand from Reaper's Crescent Rose, "Because of my connection to the Omnitrix. I can sense it."
"An Omnitrix sense?" Kevin said, "That's probably the weirdest power I've heard about."
"So, where did he take Ben?" Kirby asked.
Glitch paused to focus, before he found the location.
"He took him to Adrenaland," Glitch answered.
"Adrenaland?" Kirby asked.
"An amusement park near the outskirts of the city," Glitch explained. "This one recently closed down, an event we had nothing to do with. Honest."
"Then what are we waiting for?" Albedo asked as he transformed into his much larger, much bulkier form of Eatle, "Anybody who can't run, fly or teleport, hop on or get in the dinky RV," Ceres, Neo, Kylie and Rook hopped on Albedo's back.
"The Rustbucket isn't dinky!" Max yelled, as he, Reaper, Glitch, Blake, Yang, Weiss and Maximillian hopped in.
Ben morphed into XLR8, Kirby transformed into Slipstream, and Kevin turned into Rush. Ruby hopped on Ben's back, and Min jumped on Kevin's back.
One chase to another, isn't it? Neo smirked and shook her head.
"Let's go!" Ben yelled as they all gave chase.
Author's note: hahah more Omni Stellar :)
Anyways, please leave a nice review