I don't own Ben 10.
Chapter 40: Edge of Oblivion
There will be references to other popular fictions such as DC Comics and Marvel but, only Easter Eggs.
Omnitrix City; April 2nd, 2018; 2:00AM
Gwendolyn always enjoyed resting her head over her fiancé's chest, ever since they were fourteen and first discovering each other, the sound of his heartbeat could lull her to a slumber with ease. It also helped that his shoulders had broadened, his pecks grew in, and he tended to sleep shirtless for the last several years. He said it was because he didn't want to sweat through the night but, Gwen knew it was because he enjoyed feeling her skin against his just as much, to know she was there safe with him. He had one hand draped lazily at his side with the other gently caressing her baby-bump, he fell asleep feeling the softness of her skin under his fingertips. Ever since he used Celestial to get the best sleep known to man, he'd been able to handle his day-to-day stress with the same ease she was used to seeing in him. Seeing as how the fetus growing within her was safely maturing much faster than any normal birth, her due date was only another two months away, leaving her with a slightly larger baby-bump growing where her six-pack once was. Now entering her second month, it was more like her fourth or fifth in terms of development within gestation.
The Rooters were kept under supervision within the Rushmore headquarters, though they remained brainwashed, they were met with hospitality rather than hostility; fed well, comfortable beds, latest in holoscreen television entertainment… none of it would make up for what Susan had done to them. Cooper was on the case though, searching the inter-galactic black market as well as studying the squad's brain scans with his now steady girlfriend, Julie. All in an effort to find a way to undo the programming they'd been exposed to.
Kenneth laid awake, staring up at the ceiling even in a fancy loft with all of the amenities a boy could ask for, the impending nature of his fate haunted him. The light from the holographic TV flickered in the darkness, flashing in his eyes as all he could see were the beams that rained down from war-ships in the sky, carving apart buildings. The way the stream of smoke trailed up toward the heavens when the nukes were launched, the massive explosions darkening the blue sky, the last time he remembered seeing it. He was snapped out of it just as his eyes were about to fall shut for a few precious hours of sleep, he heard a noise just outside of his room, someone was in the house. He opened the door, slowly allowing his pearl-white armor to sheath over his forearm as a blade just as slowly pultruded out making the least noise possible.
His eyes still adjusting to the light, he only saw a figure standing in the middle of the dining room, supporting himself with a cane; slowly, he recognized the white lab-coat he sported and figured it must be Paradox. He turned around and his jet-black hair had thin strains of grey running through them, Ken retracted his armor as the immortal's hand shook accidently dropping the cane and falling to one knee.
Ben and Gwen came rushing out of their room, down the short set of stairs leading to the open-concept second floor, "Paradox?!" the hero shouted, racing to his side in a blur and helped him up to his feet, grabbing his cane back into his hand as he stood upright. "What happened to you?" Gwendolyn followed his questioning with the most obvious.
Paradox limped across the room, pacing a bit, "I've been tracking Eon down, jumping through alternative timelines, each time I lose another…" he glanced directly into Ben's eyes, the hero noticing something he'd never seen before on the time-god, sweat. "I am physically limited while he seems to only grow stronger with every encounter, my point is… since this mess began with you it may have to end with you as well," he turned his head to a point where the moon-light cascaded over his face allowing them to see him more clearly.
"Are you getting… older?" Kenneth asked abruptly, not insulting at all considering the man was supposed to be immune to the concept of time.
Paradox turned to face the boy, sighing as his eyes met his feet in shame, "Eon uses accelerated time as a weapon, each instance I encountered him, battles ensued. Normally I am immune but, after being hit with millions of years, well…" he brushed the grey in his slicked back black hair as they took note of the growing wrinkles over his brow, "I suppose this proves that even I will eventually succumb to death as well."
"When you said that this has to end with me just now, what did you mean?" Ben folded his arms across his bare chest, raising a brow.
Paradox regained his composure, facing them with a serious expression; "I was wrong, I was no match for Eon's newfound powers… I need help to defeat him and I have reason to believe your unique connection to the Omnitrix could be the key. Eon will be after the Hands and if not stopped, he may become a literal temporal-deity, fractalized through every moment; past, present, and future." The time walker looked up into the hero's eyes one last time, wondering when the boy had become taller than himself, shaking his head in disappointment, "I thought I could stop him alone however, he's only gained more power since our previous encounter. I fear that our next encounter may very well be my last," he seemed out of breath, something highly unusual and greatly concerning for Ben and Gwen to see on someone so unphased by everything they'd been through in the past.
Gwendolyn compassionately crossed the room, wearing just a teal tank top, no bra, and baggy pajama pants; her worried expression caused the other two men to go silent, "Paradox… how old are you, exactly?"
The man shook his head, staring down at the hardwood floor, a tear forming in his right eye, "Much like my name… I can't seem to recall, well over a billion I would assume, though time passes differently from my perspective," as they all adjusted to the light and being awake, they realized just how worn out he'd become.
Gwendolyn glanced over at Ben who had a look in his eyes, one she recognized all too well, the rage boiling within him; Prometheus, Eon, whatever he called himself. He hurt yet another of his friends, and now he had to worry that if Paradox was weaning, how long did his son have left before he reset into a new timeline. "So, how do we get this done?" Ken suggested drawing their attention to him for the first time during the discussion. Raising their brows at him, he gave a long sigh in response folding his arms, "If I'm going to fade out of existence, I want to kick Eon's ass just once before I do."
Ben and Gwendolyn gave each other warm, prideful looks as the boy had successfully reminded them of themselves when they were younger and a bit more reckless. "Alright Paradox, what's the plan?" Ben asked proudly, putting his hands on his hips.
Paradox reached into his coat pocket, pulling out his chrono-navigator, "I've hidden the Hands with the one person who can truly keep it safe, a version of you that truly mastered the power of the Omnitrix; he goes by Ben Ten Million these days," the time-walker still enjoyed seeing the mind-blown looks the young hero would give him.
"Ten Million?" Ben and Kenneth muttered to themselves in awe simultaneously, finding it hard to even comprehend.
Kenneth smirked, chuckling to himself finally, "Doesn't that make him a thousand times better than you?" all three adults turned their attention to him.
"And a million times better than you, right?" Gwen quipped, bursting the boys bubble.
Paradox stretched his back upright, gripping his cane, and fixing his posture, "It means he's the smartest, most powerful version of Ben Tennyson that I've ever personally encountered, also the oldest; he resides in a trans-dimensional space between this Universe and another." The Englishman caught his second wind and opened his pocket watch, checking its contents but clearly seeing far more than just the ticking watches arms, "We haven't much time before Eon discovers our location, once we enter the Forge, we should be cloaked from his temporal sight."
Ben shook his head and scoffed, "Pfft, more powerful than me?" he glanced back at Gwendolyn who raised her brow, shrugging his shoulders in response, "Smarter I could believe but, come on I'm kind of awesome," he double tapped the hourglass on his wrist summoning the nanites that formed his powered suit, illuminating the dark room with emerald light from its trim. Gwen simply sighed as a yawn began to form, "Fine, I'll go get my necklace."
Ben closed his eyes and announced clearly, "No, you aren't."
"Excuse me?" Gwen responded with a bit of offense.
Ben dropped his arms to his side, reaching out to take hold of his fiancé's hands, rubbing the side of her palms with his thumbs and pulling her closely at the same time, "You're pregnant, I just can't risk you getting injured out there," He kept his eyes locked on hers staring deeply into the pool of emerald iris' that he knew too well.
Paradox tapped his foot impatiently as Gwendolyn pulled her hands away, getting frustrated and angry in response, "I'm not letting you go alone! If you don't come back what do you think will be left for me here?!"
Ben quickly cupped his hand over the slight bump growing in her lower abdomen, forcing tears from her eyes as she knew what he was going to say, "You'd have our child… you'd have this world. I can't go out there at my best unless I know for sure you're safe."
Paradox scowled at the time he read on the pocket watch, clearly seeing more cosmic aspects of time itself when looking into it, "We haven't the time Mrs. Tennyson, I'm afraid you'll have to remain here." he referred to her as already married likely because he could see her entire future non-linearly, "Kenneth."
Ken made eye contact, still in his pajamas of a white tee and boxers, Paradox gave him a dead serious glare, "Would you like to join us for your very last mission?" he held his hand out, leaving the other on the cane supporting him.
The boy looked down, he had barely become an adult and was already destined to die, but if there was anything he'd learned here in the past and during his time acting in war, it was life was worth protecting even if it's not your own. "What do you think?" his smirk was all the answer the time traveler needed, "But, I'll have to change."
Paradox shook his head in disagreement, "Unfortunately, If we're going to arrive on time, we'll have to have already left," he punctuated his sentence by clicking the end of the watch with his thumb triggering a flash of white light.
Gwendolyn was suddenly alone in the loft, in the middle of the night, slowly she walked around the room to sit on the couch not bothering to turn on the holoscreen. She sat staring out at a picture they'd taken just last week of the three of them, framed and presented on the entertainment center beside the television projector. They looked so happy, and she wasn't even sure that the picture would still exist once Ken vanished, all she had now was the memories they made together.
…
The Forge of Creation; No Date; No Time.
Not only did Ben and Kenneth both become teleported from their loft in Omnitrix City but, Ken had his respective outfit on his person, fully armored up in his porcelain white bio-suit, something that needed his consent and psychic touch to activate. He was slightly surprised by the power of this time-walker spite him claiming to be weaker than he'd ever been before.
Appearing in the same flash of white light on an asteroid the size of a small city, the sight above and around them was truly transcendent. The sky constantly ablaze with flaring nebulae thousands of light-years away, like distant galactic-clouds that swirled; their sight was abruptly scattered becoming frightened at the sight of a massive titan that made Waybig look like an insect.
This being was accompanied by many others identical to them, with the only difference being that they were discernably either male or female, only obvious because of their nude state, and though they varied in size, none were smaller than a To'kustar. They floated completely still, absolutely frozen as if physics kept them bound in place, "Who are they?" Ken asked, staring at the darkness of their skin that flickered with distant specs of light, like stars in the night sky.
Paradox didn't waste time leading them across the terrain, which was filled with hills and craters, almost like a moon. Ben followed suit behind him as they got their answer, "Those would be the natives, and the most powerful alien species in existence; their court deliberates and decides on the very fabric of the Omniverse, should they unanimously agree, they could end it all in the blink of an eye," the time walker stopped his strut and clicked his pocket watch once again having never put it away.
Ben was astounded, he'd felt the presence of this extra-dimensional DNA within the deepest recesses of the Omnitrix's Codon Stream but, never did he think he would see one floating before him, towering over them like true gods. He blinked once or twice as his strut slowed to take them in, "Alien X…" he muttered to himself, coming up with the name on the spot, he put that thought aside for the time being.
Like an illusion or a mirage, a screen of energy shimmered away revealing a bright white cube the size of a small house, the camouflage faded away allowing them to see it. It wasn't very creative or spectacular on the outside, Ben once again scoffed at this, "I live here? Why would I live somewhere so boring? Ya know, there's a reason for the giant tower and my ego is only part of that reason."
Kenneth chuckled, walked passed him, and as he was between Paradox and himself, Ben watched his son flicker out of reality for just a microsecond. His body becoming transparent without the boy even noticing and with Paradox focused on this other-worldly cube, he didn't see it either. A tear welled in the back of his eyes; this better, smarter, stronger version of himself better have some sort of answer for this, for all of this.
They approached and as they did the wall slid open forming a doorway, Paradox being recognized by the highly advanced artificial intelligence; "Hello again, Gideon, how nice it is to see you," the time walker entered the cube which was massively larger on its inside than it was on the out, defying physics as they looked around in awe.
"G-Gideon?" Ben asked curiously looking up at the white ceilings for a speaker but, couldn't find one, "Who's that?" he asked scratching the back of his head.
Soon a soothing female voice announced itself in an English accent responding to the time walker's greeting, "That would be me, Gideon, a twenty-second century artificial intelligence copied and downloaded from another reality on the other end of the Multiverse; I'm most usually tasked with assisting the heroes known as the Ju-" the kind and sweet tone that echoed through the room was interrupted by Paradox, leaving the two behind and announcing out loud.
"Please locate Mr. Ten Million for me, darling," the time walker turned down a corridor as the A.I responded gleefully, Ben and Kenneth nervously followed him down the bland white hall.
"Right away, Professor," while sentient, it didn't seem that the artificial consciousness had any problem being interrupted or disrespected, keeping its polite and giddy tone.
Ben and Ken were astonished by the sights around them, down the corridor there were doors with vague labels such as a room titled 'black holes' and another 'active supernovae.' Kenneth stopped in front of the last labeled door that read 'the end of time.' He looked up at his Father and chuckled nervously at the labeled doors, "Just don't touch anything that Paradox doesn't touch first," receiving a dutiful nod from his slightly shaken son, Ben placed a hand on his shoulder and guided him back to following the lab-coat wearing enigma.
"You're in luck, Professor, Benjamin is in his base laboratory three doors down to your left," Gideon gave her announcement with another delighted disclosure.
Paradox, Ben, and Kenneth approached the door Gideon had marked verbally. Though the door itself was part of the wall making it difficult to even tell where it would open from, it wasn't labeled like the others. Watching as it slid open without being prompted, both boys flinched slightly while the immortal strolled in without haste or surprise. He'd obviously been here before.
Ben slowly walked in with Kenneth right behind him as they noticed the white color-scheme was all but completely gone now standing in a library of sorts, with a large nook for a fireplace. Beyond this study was another blander white room matching the rest of the interior of the cube they'd seen thus far. Ben kept walking, mostly following Paradox, they entered a more sterile environment where they noticed a few things aside from the seventy or eighty-year-old man facing away from them sitting at a large glass desk.
Paradox was silent as he stood in wait for him to notice them, was this version of himself really that powerful? Ben asked himself as he turned to his right noticing that he had the head of what seemed to be his version of Vilgax floating preserved in a jar on a steel shelf. Ken raised his brows in shock, not knowing what to think of someone so cosmically aware without transforming at all. Along the wall were three polycarbonate glass tubes with metallic claws contained within, each claw held a different colored shinning gem, radiating with glowing energy that flickered with light.
Kenneth couldn't help himself reaching up to touch the one that shun with what appeared to be shrouded in neon purple aura, not even attempting to make contact with the actual stone itself. "I wouldn't touch that, the last person who tried wielding the Power Stone lost their arm," the voice was a tad raspy but, not withered in the slightest, still strong, and vibrant. Spinning around on his floating neon-emerald trimmed black chair, he faced them with a long beard hanging down his chin, slightly faded green eyes, and a casual attire similar to what their version of Ben may be wearing under his power suit.
"Paradox, I have to say, I'm a tad old for a tag team battle with my younger self…" Benjamin stroked his long grey, almost silver beard down his chin, his free hand holding an advanced tool of some kind as his eyes never left the version of himself still in his prime.
The time walker approached, placing both palms on the end of his cane, "I haven't come for aid in battle, I simply need access to your nexus-sphere."
The elderly Benjamin that our Ben couldn't comprehend, slack jawed staring at him sitting in a floating hover chair that had been clearly Upgraded by his own Galvanic Mechamorph transformation. "What the hell would you need in there? For the last time I'm not giving you the Helmet of Fate," clearly having had this argument before, Benjamin made the assumption on the time walkers intentions, rather abruptly as well. His chair began to spin around on its own to reface the desk he'd been sitting at, signifying that he was through with the conversation, "And by the way, you look like crap," he added taking note on Paradox's deteriorating age.
"No… I haven't come to speak with you about that. I'm afraid this Ben Tennyson," he gestured to the younger man in the room with one hand while not taking his attention off of Ben Ten Million, "Is facing a temporal threat himself that threatens his entire reality, and he's woefully unprepared," he pleaded with a tone that almost begged for the assistance from another version of himself. Ben was baffled by the dismissal they received when Benjamin looked back down to his work bench, soldering something together in an attempt to ignore them with the tool he'd been holding.
"Realities live, realities die… it's all a part of nature," the future Benjamin deadpanned.
Paradox didn't seem phased as he continued the conversation, "This temporal threat, is Eon…"
The elderly Tennyson quickly lifted his head, spinning back around on his telepathically controlled hover-chair which hummed with what appeared to be omni-energy glowing from its trim, "That's impossible, the team you put together along with Ben Prime defeated and destroyed Eon."
"Oh, but it's very possible, and should he get his hands on the Hands of Armageddon he could effectively restart his life within a temporal loop… rebirthing in alternate Universes no matter how we destroy his physical body," Paradox gripped his cane tightly and focused a scowl on the elderly hero.
Ten Million finally glanced back over at his doppelgänger, narrowing his eyes at his younger self, "So, you're the Ben Tennyson who allowed Eon to be created again? What a pathetic flop," he scoffed at himself and shook his head.
Paradox stomped forwards, stamping his cane into the ground with every step, his tone becoming more aggressive, "You know as well as I that if someone obtains the Hands of Armageddon, the could crack apart the Multiverse as you know it. With Eon it could be far worse than even that. All of these cosmic trinkets from other distant realities will be useless because you'll be irrevocably alone," he glared down at the variant who didn't take his eyes off of what he was working on though, he stopped soldering and sighed aloud before continuing again without a word.
Benjamin didn't turn around, sparks flying from whatever he was putting together in front of himself, his face with no need for a protective glassware, "I'm already alone," he muttered.
Paradox chuckled sarcastically, "Let us not pretend that you still don't visit your cousins on holiday, interacting with the Celestialsapiens… whom you know very well," Paradox made his point being lucky to be able to see through the fourth dimension like a human would see through air, even seeing the past Benjamin had been through his entire life including his inevitable death.
Ten Million dropped his tool as it clattered across his metallic desk, turning around, floating still in his chair which rotated three-sixty to face him, "What do you want from me, Paradox?" he pleaded, his hero days long behind him.
"We are in desperate need of your hyper-reality-splicer, the one you Upgraded to eradicate temporal anomalies," Benjamin gave a confused brow to the time-walker. It was clearly science that Ben and Kenneth's timeline had never experienced before, and if it could end this madness, he needed it.
"Analysis complete, Mr. Tennyson," Gideon announced unexpectedly, a holographic projection sprung from the arm rest of his floating chair, scrolling through with one finger reading their vitals and biometrics. Ben Ten Million looked back up to the time walker, "You've aged nearly a billion years since I last saw you, has Maltruant returned as well?" he raised his voice at the sound of that name, a reference that neither boys understood as the elders conversed. His entire body tensed at the sound of his name, like the only two who were in the loop became terrified at what may or may not have happened in another reality involving him. It truly was becoming confusing.
Paradox rolled his eyes in relief, "If he had, I would have regathered the original team; this threat is personal to this version of yourself," Paradox stepped aside as Ben took a few apprehensive steps forwards, facing the cosmic Ben Tennyson variant, the one who could possibly answer their prayers. "And frankly personal to myself as well."
"I don't owe another variant anything, perhaps if he were the prime version but, what do I have to gain giving up my splicer?" Ten Million was cold, calculating; his voice aged with a deeper raspy tone from decades of experience dealing with villains and criminals along with however long he'd been residing here.
Ben folded his arms over the glowing symbol on his suit with a grimace over his face, "How about saving the lives of everyone in my Universe, including my pregnant wife?" he gestured his arms out for emphasis as he tried to reach this version of himself, or at least gain some compassion from him.
Ten Million glared down at the variant, the boy who he once was, giving a long sigh before turning around with a spin of his floating ambulant, "Universes are born and collapse on a daily basis, and as for love, it's a simple chemical reaction that compels animals to breed. It's why you even chose your own kin to mate with, as humans, we're animals," how he knew Ben's relationship circumstances was beyond the two watch bearers and beside the point but, Ken didn't take the insult lightly, regardless of who It was coming from. "It's all part of the plan."
"Whose plan?"
Benjamin chuckled at this question, not wanting to directly refer to God himself, who he'd surprisingly met and was not very impressed, "It doesn't matter," he chuckled slightly, "what matters is that you're one of an infinity, a variant like me; had you brought my Prime self…" he looked over at Kenneth and his auburn hair a clear sign that he was his variant's son, "Why did you bring the boy? He's a walking anomaly, not a real person. Physically and temporally speaking, he shouldn't exist."
Kenneth scowled as his armor quickly cowled his head in anger, Paradox went wide eyed, the stress he'd been under added with the slipping of his connection to this reality had caused him to lose sight of the reason they were there in the first place, "Kenneth, don't!" the time walker shouted.
Ken transformed within an instant, slapping his watch during his sprint forwards, "Let's see if this feels real enough to exist!" furious as his Petrosapien form shrouded him in crystal skin, armored by his bio-implants around his arms adding concussive blasts to each of his punches. He leapt into the air and attempted to slam his fists through the supposed God of a Tennyson variant. Diamondhead instead shattered both of his armored, crystal fists and forearms on the force-bubble that had been present around Ten Million the entire time. The shockwave blew back forcing Ben and Paradox to brace themselves, holding on barely from being blown back. Only appearing visible when Ken made contact, the crystal-clear blue shielding was far more than enough to withstand the attack.
While his bio-armor would take time and repairs to fix, his crystal forearms slowly reformed in seconds, stepping back, and huffing heavily at the effort he put into that swing.
Ben quickly transformed, an emerald explosion regaining Ten Million's attention as he floated around to face Celestial, his heavenly white-hue of divine energy lined his body. Shooting out his radiating glistening wings as a form of intimidation, even his holy presence didn't break the concentration the natives around them seemed to have.
"Oh, please even if you could land a punch…" Benjamin lifted his hand and gestured a wave of his palm over his younger self, forcing his Omnitrix to reset with an explosion of its natural emerald energy, reverting Ben back to his human form, against the Master Control's will, "Cosmia can destroy stars… my force field has survived the observation of the Big Bang itself without losing its integrity," his voice was raspy as he had certainly aged but, just still confident as he had ever been. Ben stood confused staring at his own hands in confusion, "in layman terms, you don't know how many billions of times weaker than my shielding some of your strongest transformations are. End stop," his floating hover throne turned back to face what was his advanced monitoring system, essentially something akin to a Danger Alert 3000.
Paradox stomped his cane, the only one capable of contending with Ten Million cosmically and also the only one present who knew him personally, "I need the device, you owe me," an ominous tone forced itself into the atmosphere with tension building in the room, Benjamin slowly turning back around and Paradox stepping closer to him, their glares into each other's eyes were devastating, "the hyper-reality-splicer, if you prithee," Paradox gave a coy smile finally.
Kenneth looked quickly to his father, he too was a temporal anomaly, could saving them all cause him to lose his chance to say goodbye to his mother and father? "Hold on a moment, Gideon, run a full temporal diagnostic on the boy, the younger one," Ten Million had been sensing something off about him since he'd entered the room.
"Of course, Mr. Tennyson," Ken was taken aback but, still only gulped as a node extended out from the ceiling igniting a blue light that scanned him up and down, "It seems his timeline has been altered causing a temporal anomaly to effect his metaphysical state within this or any reality," hearing her say it with such a giddy tone was a tad morbid, Ken listened as it continued, "His armor and the Omnitrix on his wrist have slowed the process as well as the interference of the Professor but, he should dissipate in approximately three hours."
Ben clutched his fists together at his side, "I-If you're the smartest and strongest version of me then… then you can fix him, you can make him part of my timeline or whatever!" his eyes flooded with his genetic energy as well as a thin layer of tears, causing a smile to curve across his face out of anger.
"You remind me of myself when I was your age, please, say Hello to the Trix for me; as for the boy," he lazily turned his chair to face the three clear tubes with colored, glowing stones contained within them. His glare was on the emerald stone, he knew its properties and if he could get it to work outside of its native reality- No, it was too risky. Plus, he left the Gauntlet in the hands of a Strange sorcerer from another Universe, a wizard with enough power to safeguard such a dangerous relic. Alas, the Time Stone was raw, infinite power over both the past and future itself and the sage couldn't gamble the stability of conceptual time by abusing it. He was tasked with a job to do here; Infinity Watch was not to help every variant Paradox brings through like stray animals. Which had only been two so far but, he still felt that it was odd it happened twice already…
Benjamin floated forwards, his chair hovering closer to them as Ben waited for his response, hoping for some crazy scientific explanation that would save his son, "There's nothing to be done, all I can do is ensure you keep your memories of him once he's gone," as our Ben looked down at his silver armored boots, shamefully wishing he could do more. "With a modification to the hyper-reality-splicer." Glancing at Paradox, he gave a cheeky smile and wink, knowing time better than anyone, even when it didn't technically exist where they stood. He knew he could get two jobs done at once with the right amount of leverage and brown nosing.
"How long do I have?" Kenneth stared down at his hands which thankfully remained solid as he blinked at them, not sure if they would vanish before his eyes or not at any moment.
Before Ten Million gave a long-exasperated sigh, "You heard Gideon, three hours, or maybe two-hours and fifty-eight minutes… she's very precise."
"Indeed," Gideon hummed.
Ben was frustrated, clenching his fists at his side so hard they begun to shake, "There has to be something more you can do!" he nearly shouted.
Ten Million scoffed, intertwining his fingers over his lap patiently, "I don't know what else to tell you, your child still exists like you said, gestating within your pregnant fiancé," he made the distinction that his younger self wasn't married yet without being told just as he knew the fiancé was Gwendolyn without being told either. "This boy should have ceased to exist painlessly the moment he altered the timeline but, his Omnitrix kept that from happening with its life preservation functions… of course now Paradox is the only one keeping him tethered to your reality and it's by a thread at that."
Ben closed his eyes as the omni-energy burned within him, searing the inside of his eyelids for a moment; Ten Million looked to his readings and noticed something odd, something he'd never seen before in any variant in any timeline or Universe. A spike of raw power reading beyond anything he'd ever observed from an untransformed variant. It was then that our Ben unleashed his most powerful optic blast to date, firing a beam aimed directly at his counterpart though, it split apart upon contact with his shield. Ten Million narrowed his eyes at the energy flowing across his hard-light particle shield harmlessly, "Fascinating…" he mumbled in awe.
"Gah!" Ben shut his eyes and fell to his knees after realizing he was making no headway, his eyes trailing with emerald hued smoke into the air above him, Kenneth came from behind and placed his hand on his father's shoulder.
Ten Million floated across the room to get closer to his variant, "How did you do that?" he asked without hesitation or regard for his alternate-son's inevitable disappearance.
Paradox watched the interaction with a glare, time was limited even if he could travel through it, his life was shortening by the moment, "Gideon," he mumbled.
"Yes, Professor?" she answered intuitively whispering just as Paradox had.
"Could you please direct me to the hyper-reality-splicer? I am in a tad bit of a rush."
"Right away, Professor," suddenly a portal opened in front of him that seemed almost as though it were made of some sort of liquid though, it simply led to yet another pocket dimension, vanishing into it as Paradox walked through.
Ten Million watched Paradox step through, figuring it would be easier to pay him back now than to listen to the old man whine about it for the rest of his natural life. Instead, he refocused on the variant in front of him, "How did you channel the watches energy through your biological body? Is there some sort of external device you're using?" for the first time since they arrived, Kenneth noticed true and honest curiosity coming from this Ben Ten Million.
Ben huffed still on his knees, not looking up as he answered, admitting to himself internally that he'd put too much energy into his blast causing his eyelids to burn. His healing factor kicked in as he spoke, "After the watch bonded to my DNA… I met a Gwen doppelganger that had the Omnitrix herself instead of us."
Ten Million nodded, looking back down at the ground, "There are a few of those out there, yea; you used her core to enhance the bond to your DNA?"
Ben shrugged, still exhausted using up most of his power to fire his enraged blast at his older self, "Only after Prom- Eon killed her in cold blood." He spat both names, feeling ridiculous that he had to refer to him as a totally different person spite being the same man that slaughtered his friends and family.
Benjamin looked over the scans of his younger self's vitals and x-rays which were taken seamlessly, "Remarkable, the boost must have solidified your bond permanently. Your optic blasts are just the tip of the ice burg, I've never met a variant that could manipulate his Omni-Energy this way."
A portal opened behind them revealing Paradox holding a small disc in his hand, his pocket watch in the other; "Time to run along now children, we have work to do," being the oldest man in existence meant everyone was just a child from his perspective
"Wait."
Ben, Kenneth, and Paradox turned to face Ten Million who gave a long sigh, his chair floating horizontally towards a shelf with drawers embedded in it. Without touching it, the third drawer to the left opened slowly with pressurized steam releasing into the room. "If you can handle that much omni-energy in your body without any cybernetics… I think you might be ready for this," he gripped a cylindrical core from the opening, holding it out in front of them.
"A different Omnitrix core? I'm good with my own thanks…"
Benjamin chuckled at how rude and standoffish he once was, shaking his head with a smile, "This core is different, it will allow you to upgrade your transformations and evolve them into their Ultimate forms; running each sample of alien DNA through simulations of millions of years-," he was interrupted when Ben chuckled.
"You had me at Ultimate form," Ten Million casually tossed the core a few feet away, Ben catching it with one hand as he turned and looked it over, "If you're going to be fighting Eon you might need the extra power boost; just slap the dial on your transformations chest and the core will do the rest."
Kenneth stepped forward and folded his arms, having retracted his shattered armor, he folded his arms across his chest, "And what about me?"
"I only had the one Polymorphic Crystal developed but, I guess I could go ahead and make sure your memories aren't altered once your timeline has been changed," Ten Million turned back to his desk where a light-blue holographic screen appeared before him, "Gideon, prepare mental and temporal copies of my variant's memories and the those of his family memories, proceed to download them in the hyper mainframe."
"Right away, Mr. Ten Million."
Benjamin dispersed his screen and turned to face them, "When all is said and done, the memories you made will return to you; the version of you that will live an entirely different life, when he reaches your age now, will remember everything you did in this timeline," the same node that pultruded from the ceiling came down and beamed a light-laser directly into his forehead, causing Ken to blink rapidly for a moment or two. As he returned to normal, he shook his head and sighed.
Kenneth scoffed finally, taking several steps forwards yet stopping knowingly at the edge of his force bubble, "With all of your power, with everything you can do, that's it? why won't you help us fight?!" he was ready to transform and attack again just due to the disrespect.
"For one, I'm a hundred and twelve years old and for secondly," Ben Ten Million suddenly stood from his hover chair slowly almost decrepit, setting his feet down gently on the ground, wearing cargo pants and an armored black long-sleeved shirt. He took a few slow steps into Ken's personal space forcing the teen to gulp, "I. Don't. Care." He hobbled across the room, leaving their line of sight.
Ben looked down in disappointment, still waiting for Paradox to return with the splicer, he slowly pulled out the original core of his Omnitrix, feeling Trix still with him as he replaced it with an almost identical one. He immeidatly felt a surge of unparalleled power coursing through his arm and body for several seconds.
"Dad?"
"I-I'm fine," he huffed, realizing the true power of this new core now that he could feel it running through his veins like a stream of raw energy. As if on que, the same liquid-esque portal opened up from thin air and released the time walker holding a disc-like device in his hand. "Quickly, the longer we wait the more we risk allowing Eon to complete his goal, come now," he pulled out his pocket watch and glanced at it before Ben had one final thing to say to his possible future self. Glaring into his eyes as Ten Million watched them leave from the doorway to his library.
"I will never become you."
Ten Million scowled, scoffing at the thought, he'd seen too much in his lifetime; he'd seen realities beyond comprehension, after a hundred years of hardships, there was just no fight left in him.
Once they were gone in a flash of white light, he chuckled to himself, "We'll see, kid."
…
Edge of Oblivion – End of the Omniverse.
Paradox was running low on his stamina, finding it more difficult to breathe and travel through space-time the longer he used his powers. Ben and Kenneth stepped through the portal leading to… nothing. The three of them stood on a deserted and fractured city, floating in a void of endlessness, the only thing in the sky was a massive anomaly the size of a miniature sun, still being much larger than the city itself, a million black holes collapsed within it reclaiming the Universe as its own. As it consumed reality and disassembled matter piece by piece, Ben couldn't help but speak up, "Where the hell are we now?"
Paradox collapsed once again, using his cane to prop himself up as best he could, "this is end of all things, the Universe, the Multiverse. Anything that's ever been created is being disassemble as we speak," the floating city in the midst of a collapsing sphere holding the force of a billion condensed black-holes and exploding stars. Reality was slowly consumed.
"Is there anything we can do to stop it?" Ken suggested enthusiastically, ready to tackle the problem head-on.
Paradox gave a light chuckle, "My boy, nature is only doing its work. Once ours is gone a new Omniverse will be born, all things begin and end, young Kenneth," he began to sound like Ten Million, however; in this case they truly were at the end of everything.
Kenneth glanced around once more, taking in the awe of a massive magenta swirling lights in the sky, cascading down over them. Violet lightning cackled from above like a temporal storm cloud, Ben and Kenneth watched apprehensively as a figure floated from the massive cloud of energy that was his aura cackling with magenta sparks of temporal energy across his body.
"How predictable!" Eon shouted with an unnatural echo in his voice.
Eon held his hands out, from the purple-skies the energy flowing through the clouds condensed into the palms of his hands with sparks of magenta cascading into his hands, bolts of lightning struck his fingertips, "You're already too late! The Hands have already been absorbed into me! Ahahaha!" a single stone tablet that floated in the void suddenly turned to dust without warning, Eon turned on a dime and fired a beam of accelerated time aimed to wipe Kenneth from the timeline.
Paradox teleported, appearing between the two, taking he hundreds of thousands of years to the chest as Eon's energy beam of hyper accelerated time continued to age Paradox by the millennia, weakening him further. "As immortal as you'd love to claim to be, after a few more billion years even your body will be dust in the wind," Eon exclaimed with frustrated glee, upping the power of his temporal wave, their struggle creating shockwaves that pulsated across the dying city. Paradox's energy was white clashing with the purple that attempted to wipe him from existence. Shaking the remaining buildings apart, rubble crumbling, earthquakes cracking open what was left of the Earth below them.
The time walker gave a cocky smile, holding his arms out protecting the two heroes behind him, the wave of energy dissipated leaving Paradox exhausted. "I haven't much time left, without me, Ken will-" he glanced at the boy who faded in and out of reality, like an apparition, not completely in this corporeal form. "Take this," without moving his arms, a white light summoned the hyper-reality-splicer disc, "This device will separate Eon from the Hands, all you need to do is activate it!"
"Wait, does this mean, how do I-"
Paradox smiled like he'd never had, a content smile that clearly portrayed that he was happy with ending after all of these epochs spent roaming, it felt almost peaceful. As the eons flushed by his corporeal form being hit by the potent wave of accelerated temporal energy, even more billions of years passing him by, "You know what to do, it's not the watch that makes the hero!" Paradox aged rapidly wrinkles more prominent on his face but, instead of turning to skin and bones, his body dematerializing corporeal piece by piece, "You are Ben Tennyson!" he exclaimed, struggling through the pain.
As his face dematerialized piece by piece, reality shredding his two-billion-year-old physical form into quarks to which the Universe would reabsorb, his last words were met with his last breath, "You can do anything," Ben blinked rapidly with a tear slipping down his eye watching Paradox dissipate into particles that floated up, a smile the last thing splayed across his face.
Paradox was wiped from existence finally losing the struggle between himself and Eon, the bright lights exploded sending both Ken and Ben backwards several feet onto their backs, the blast which evaporated the time-walker blinded the two heroes. Ben hated losing teammates and especially ones that helped risk his life over and over. Now even for his own Son.
Ben's eyes furrowed, his eyes pupils ablaze with emerald light, "You've gone too far, too many times! It ends here, Prometheus!"
Eon became enraged, he huffed as the energy condensed between his palms, "I told you not to call me that!" he fired a beam but, Ben used his Kinceleran speed to dash to the left, and then avoided another blast by side-stepping it at just under mach two. "Too afraid to transform, are we? Wouldn't want to lose another transformation like you did last time!"
Eon lowered his hands, strutting across the broken city where Ben was at the battle ready with his boy by his side; reaching out to keep an arm in front of Ken in an attempt to protect him.
Ben slowly approached, his eyes ablaze with omni-energy trailing like smoke into the air once again from his glimmering eyes, "This is between you and I, Eon," he huffed and slipped into a fighting stance.
Eon was done using his powers to age anyone he faced into dust, with the power he'd absorbed, he wanted to take it for a test drive. The two approached but, before Ben could even react, Eon vanished and reappeared striking him in the gut with enough strength to send him up into the air, landing on his back with a loud groan. "Strong enough to have it all…" Eon teleported instantaneously, grabbing Ben by the collar of his nanotech suit, "Too weak to take it!" punctuating his sentence by knee-striking Ben in the gut letting out a splatter of blood before backhanding him to the ground, rolling two or three times before he laid still.
"And as for you…" Eon warped out of existence in a purple glow, appearing behind Kenneth who gasped as he was kicked directly in the back, his armor shattering as he toppled forwards face first into the cement.
Ken looked up and watched the last vestiges of reality be consumed by the natural order of the cosmos, it was actually quite beautiful from his point of view. An explosion suddenly blinded them, as 'Ben' stood up he was no longer human.
Celestial allowed his wings to spread wide, shinning brightly enough to briefly blind eon, "Let's take this thing for a test drive!"
"What?" Eon shouted as Ben slapped the dial on his belt, along with a mental command, an emerald wave of energy crossed over his body. He grew an extra set of wings just as divine as the first pair, his hair grew a tad longer down his shoulder along with a crisp golden blonde beard, as well as becoming a foot taller with more muscle mass than he had before. His suit remained the same aside from the belt vanishing, now being a full-bodied bright golden suit with the Omnitrix symbol in the center of his chest. Spokes extending from its circular design now.
"Ultimate Celestial!" his aura cracked the asphalt beneath his feet even though he wasn't standing on the ground anymore, simply floating half a foot above the street.
Eon was shocked, taking a step back and forgetting entirely about Kenneth behind him, "This shouldn't be possible, you don't have an Ultimatrix, where did you ge-" without finishing his sentence, the ultimate god crossed the distance between them at thousands of times the speed of light, delivering a right cross to Eon's face.
Cracking his helmet, he was sent through the ruined streets, hitting the side of a building which cracked apart on impact before collapsing onto the sidewalk; "H-How?" he pushed himself up from his hands and knees with a grunt, "Never mind, it doesn't matter! You'll be dust in mere moments!"
Eon charged up an energy beam between his fingertips that cackled with violet lightning, he smiled beneath his helmet, a decrepit grin flashed through the cracks of his mask as he fired the beam directly into the evolved Cosmia's chest. Though instead of aging him, it had no effect, simply pushing him back on his heels. "If you knew anything," Celestial's voice was deep and authoritative now, "You'd know that my species only grows more powerful with age!" he took off flying physically without transmuting himself through the blast to grip Eon by the throat. Slamming him up against the wall of another abandoned building, cracking apart the concrete as it toppled to the ground where Ultimate Celestial held him up by his neck.
"If I kill you now, you'd just reincarnate into another reality…"
Eon chuckled as blood splattered into his helmet, "That's right, go ahead, get revenge for Kevin, for Kai, for Kenneth who I easily fooled into setting this all into motion!" his taunts were tempting to simply squeeze and snap the man's neck but, he controlled himself.
Kenneth watched as Ultimate Celestial dropped Eon who toppled to his hands and knees, coughing out more blood onto the cold concrete sidewalk, "You can't kill me! I'm immortal! More immortal than Paradox ever was!"
Ultimate Celestial powered down as a flash of green light returned him to his normal Cosmia form, slapping the dial on his belt to transform once again; his thin body was suited from head to toe in white porcelain armor, the trim along his arms, legs, back, and forearms channeled emerald temporal energy. His head was topped with a mainspring akin to a wind-up toy, he had no mouth embedded in the armor, however; he could still speak.
"Clockwork!" Ben finally shouted, standing upright with the power to match a time-manipulating villain head-to-head, "I'm going to erase you from the very fabric of the Omniverse!" his voice was oddly vocalized as if there were two people speaking at once. Perhaps there was, a past, present, and future version of a Chronosapiens all in synch, speaking at the same time in total synergy.
Eon chuckled maniacally, "Maybe you can save you self from my powers with that form but, what about your boy?!" Kenneth backed away as Eon didn't break eye contact with Clockwork as he fired a beam of temporal energy so equal to his own that he couldn't stop it. As hard as he tried to force the beam of pure time to listen to his will, it wouldn't stop its trajectory.
"Da-?" Ken couldn't finish his sentence as the magenta cackling beam struck him and slowly turned him into a grey dust, a statue made of sand that dissipated into the wind, the hand he held out for his fathers help scattered first. But it was the fear in the boy's eyes that truly broke Clockwork's heart.
"KENNETH!" Clockwork shouted echoing through the endless epoch, falling to his knees as the metallic armor clattered, the energy the boy was struck with turned him into a grey statue, not even by his own power over time could stop his form from becoming dust in the wind. Ken was… gone. Not even dead, due to his circumstance, he never even existed to begin with, especially without Paradox.
"You'll pay for that…" Clockwork muttered at first before outright screaming, "You'll regret that, you hear me!" launching himself across the distance between the two and grabbing Eon by the shoulders. Not afraid of being erased from time as emerald and violet colors cascaded into the sky as the flew up getting a good look at the end of all things. The two energies lit up the endless oblivion for light-years in every direction, swirling with green and purple violently clashing against one another.
"I swear I'm gonna kill you!"
Eon chuckled behind his helmet, "Than you'll end up just… like… me!" finally exploding in an omnidirectional burst of temporal energy, only managing to knock Clockwork through the, tumbling through the sky until he caught his balance.
As they floated a few hundred feet from one another, Eon spoke up first, "I've seen the future, Ben! Our battle is destined to never end! Nothing you do can stop it!"
Clockwork warped away from sight, forcing Eon to glance around at the battlefield, he turned and found his enemy standing right in front of him, "HERE!" he quickly slapped the hyper-reality-splicer across Eon's chest, wrapping itself around his body, even as his body began to vibrate out of reality, it wasn't working the way he'd hoped.
Eon flexed his arms and snapped the splicer apart, the remnants of it discarded and falling to the ground below, "Did you really think you could split be back into two with that pitiful device?!"
"Sure was hoping…" Clockwork backed away as he considered his last and final option, something he never thought he'd have to do
"You took my son you bastard… you took my boy… MY boy!" Clockwork surged with emerald energy, charging up a blast that would scatter even Eon into the fabric of conceptual time as particles that could never be reconstituted, "I'm gonna fucking kill you!" he fired the beam but, it missed as Eon warped away just in time for the beam to dissipate out into the void of nothingness.
Time was running out as the supernova with the force of a googolplexian amount of raw energy ate the last vestiges of reality but, Eon was gone… he escaped… again!
Floating down still as Clockwork, he landed on the last piece of rubble still standing, he looked out at the massive sphere of chaotic cataclysm and simply let it all out, "AGHH!" he fired beams of temporal energy from his hands, every outline and trim on his body, and the slits on his face plate representing his eyes.
He shattered the last piece of asphalt that way, leaving nothing left but himself in the void… he felt he should stay and be consumed for his failure, what a way that would be to go. To die at the edge of oblivion itself, staring down the end of reality; but, Clockwork still had things he needed to take care of in the past, he couldn't leave Gwendolyn alone without him. In a flash of green temporal energy, he vanished moments before the supernova consumed him.
…
Omnitrix City Suburbs; April 2nd, 2018; 2:02AM
Clockwork reappeared in his apartment where Gwendolyn had barely moved, noticing the fact that he was alone sent shivers of fear down her spine; still in her night gown, she turned as Ben transformed back into his human form.
"W-Where's Kenneth? A-And Paradox? D-Did you guys win?" Gwen hated the expression on his face as he could speak through the silence with his eyes, the eyes she knew all too well. "No? No…"
When, when, when will we meet? When I'm outside the station. A whirlwind of rubbish around my feet… When, when, when will you come? With an army around you, will I turn on my toes, will I run?
"Ben please tell me, what happened to our boy?!" Gwen's tears were visceral, so real it only forced Ben to pull her in tighter, a shocked expression of sadness crossed her face as she looked over his shoulder, being embraced so tightly yet so gently.
Ben's voice cracked, for the first time since he hit puberty, "H-He took them, he took them both a-and I c-couldn't stop him," they both fell to their knees on the carpeted floor of their apartment, crying into each other's shoulders.
Will you strip… the branches from the trees? For me... for me... for me? The old life is over, the old life is over…
…
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Song: Whirlwind of Rubbish By: Gavin Clark.