I do not own Ben 10.
Chapter 49 – The Prey
Omnitrix City; Tennyson Tower; March 26th, 2024; 10:56PM
Their plan had not only failed but, the enemy appeared to get what he was after only, there also appeared to be another objective he had beyond just the powers he absorbed from Albedo's Ultimatrix… He implied there was a prize greater than the power he already stole but, what power could be greater than an Ultimatrix?
Sunny wouldn't leave Albedo's side as he recuperated from the battle he lost against this new villain, "You say he didn't even need to absorb his abilities to beat him, if he had, I don't know if he'd be alive right now…" Julie chimed in while utilizing highly advanced medical technology to scan his body.
She was never the patient type, and pacing back and forth staring at him wasn't helping either, "Why can't I just hyper-jump into space and find this asshole, I could eradicate him with a single fucking blast," Sunny noted though, her vocabulary being as strong as it was seemed to be something she'd need to grow out of over time here on Earth. Still, she didn't understand the full fundamentals of an Osmosion's powers and abilities.
Gwen put a hand on her cousin's shoulder in an attempt to calm her, looking her in the neon pink glow of her eye, "If he absorbs even a fraction of a pure Anodite's power, none of us will be able to stop him… and if you're made of pure energy which means he could kill you just by absorbing you," having her hand swatted away.
Sunny turned back toward Albedo, brushing her fingers through his silver hair with a tear welling in her eye, "I just hate not being able to get revenge on this bastard for hurting my…" she paused for a moment before catching herself, not really entirely sure how she felt about the man at this point, "friend… friends."
Albedo's eyes suddenly snapped open, sitting up having fully recovered so quickly due to the advanced medicine and his healing factor, "I know what he's after," he said immediately, sitting up and standing without effort, "I felt him searching through my Ultimatrix, he only settled for the species' he chose… he was looking for something Ben and I agreed shouldn't ever be in my Ultimatrix," his tone was dead-serious and there was true fear in his eyes, something Gwendolyn could both see and vividly feel.
Gwendolyn took a step closer, looking into his crimson eyes, "Alien X," she stated as a fact, receiving a nod from the doppelganger; after their late son was murdered by Eon, Ben had told her the entire story of what had happened including Ben Ten Million and where he resided.
"I've never heard that one before," Cooper announced from his desk, searching his databanks mentally with a shimmer in his eye, "It's never been catalogued-"
Albedo interjected, "That is because Celestialsapien's, Alien X as we've put it, is the most powerful entity in all of creation," he looked amongst his three teammates before listing off his insane capabilities, "Reality warping with its thoughts, melee strikes that could physically shatter multiple Universes; he could blink and the Multiverse would cease to exist." After the daunting explanation in the magnitude of the power Aggregor was after with only question left, what next? "Now, according to the legends Galvan have heard, he must search for four distinct items scattered across the Universe… these items will allow him access to the Forge where he intends to collect his ultimate prize."
"Well!" a familiar voice announced itself from behind them, all of them so distracted by the fight outside and the subsequent follow up plot they were unraveling, they didn't even notice the elevator ding as it opened, "It's a good thing I'm back, right on schedule," Ben stood in a tattered suit which even the nanotech was too damaged to repair itself, his beard had grown a bit but, not by too much but, he still managed to slick his hair back.
He looked around at all of their faces, saddened and somber, like something terrible had just happened; aside from Gwen who was smiling with tears in her eyes, "What I miss?" they didn't answer only looking to the floor in shame, "It's only been seven days!"
"Dad!" Jennifer shouted as she rushed into his arms at super-speed, wrapping her arms around his torso tightly even wit her extra-strength though, he could take it.
"How've you been, pumpkin?" he looked down at her wrist and his eyes widened, jaw slightly slack.
After allowing Ben to change back into his regular uniform, black-tee with its signature white stripe with camo-green cargo pants tucked into his black combat boots, he had words with his team, "So, let me get this straight?"
Albedo stood only a foot in front of a line of team members including, Gwendolyn, Rook, Lucy, Cooper, Sunny, and Jennifer, as Ben tried to process everything, "Ghostfreak came back and possessed my wife which saving her took Cooper's leg," the technopath chuckled at him standing with his highly advanced medical brace, "Where you also found another cousin of mine which I didn't know about, and then an Inspector-guy trashes my three-million-dollar loft, beats you all so badly that…" now stepping aside to refer to his daughter who was smiling up at him with a glimmer in her eyes, having missed him so much, "Jennifer had to put on an Omnitrix to beat him?"
Lucy gave a light chuckle, "That about sums it up…"
"Jen actually did really well-" Sunny tried to interject.
Ben stopped pacing in front of this distant cousin and put a finger in her face, "I'll get to you in a second," he uttered dryly. "And now, there's an Adult Osmosion with the power of what? Five different powerful aliens of mine combined into one, flying into deep space to gather items that'll give him Omnipotence?"
Albedo approached with his hands out, trying to reason with him, "Nigh-Omnipotence, there exists beings even the Omnitrix cannot even comprehend let alone catalogue, far beyond a Celestialsapien…" he hung his head, looking to his boots with a disheartened expression, "I was clearly not fit to be leader, I-"
Ben took a long deep inhale, exhaling it out slowly with his eyes closed, "Are you kidding? You did great for your first shot as leader," he huffed and ran his combed his fingers through his slicked back hair, "I just feel kind of guilty that all of that happened and I couldn't help, out brokering peace, and joining and intergalactic group of heroes… It feels selfish now," he finished with a somber scowl. It was only a single second as his expression changed, his eyes narrowing and brows furrowing, "Now who the hell is this Aggregor?"
Albedo was the first to speak up in their small circle, excluding Jennifer who couldn't find room to squeeze in, "According to the legends I was told on Galvan, many centuries ago, an armada led by an Osmosion attempted to take our Planet, however, our advanced technological defenses, even then, were too much for their battle fleets to breach… they retreated and moved on, or so I was told."
Cooper brought up a sixty-inch holographic screen summoned directly in front of them of a humanoid figure with small horns across its forehead and an obviously above average height, "A full blooded Osmosion has all the basic stuff; super strength, speed, agility, etc… the real threat is their innate ability to absorb the energy from any source, even from DNA itself. This results in the Osmosion gaining the abilities of the victim, or at least twenty-five percent of them."
"What I would like to know," Gwendolyn announced as she turned her attention back to Albedo who looked over in response to her glare, "Why can't you transform into Celestial, or Clockwork, or Atomix? We could have won that battle against Aggregor if you had just listened-"
"I cannot!" he shouted in response and cutting her off, looking away out of shame, "My Ultimatrix is and always will be incomplete and because of this error, those forms have too much power. If I transformed into one of them…" he looked over at her with a deadpanned expression, "I would almost certainly die… or worse."
"Oh…" the tension in the room was palpable, Gwen taking a step forward with her hand out to place on his shoulder but, he declined her gesture by stepping back.
"It is alright, the most powerful form I can use without threatening my own life or the lives of innocents, is a To'kustar."
Gwendolyn sighed remorsefully, "I didn't know…" the regret wafted off her in waves, understanding now that he would never allow people to be hurt because of his pride or ego.
"So, that's why he needed an Omnitrix…" Ben said aloud suddenly, having been thinking completely separately the entire time, surmising, and looking around at his team still dumbfounded, "So he could absorb a hundred-percent of their abilities."
Albedo immediately moved to confirm this by searching his Ultimatrix, summoning the hologram and turning the ring with a mental-command that attempted to summon certain species, "It appears you are correct, the aliens in which he inherited his new powers from are completely missing from my Codon Stream."
Rook took a step forward by Albedo's side, addressing his commanding officer and leader, "This criminal must be our first priority if the reports on Albedo's defeat are to be considered accurate," he continued, "The public must be notified."
"We can't cause a panic, we saw him leave Earth so clearly one of the pieces he needs to collect isn't on this Planet," Gwendolyn reminded them, "Recall Helene, Manny, Alan, and Pierce to the Tower," she contacted their individual Plumber badges with a few taps of a holographic keyboard.
"Good call," Ben announced, clapping her hands together and more than eager to get back into the role of command, "Rook, Lucy, and Jennifer, you guys are on general patr-" he was yanked aside by his wife with strength ten-times her already naturally bult physique.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?! You can't send her into the field, she isn't ready!" Gwendolyn stressed with the quietest whisper into his ear she could muster.
"She'll be fine, she has Rook and Lucy to look after her, plus the Helpers, it's just general patrol around the city…" he finished with his normal voice so they could all hear him. He continued role assignments, leaving Gwendolyn to run a hand through her pixie-cut orange hair out of stress as she stared at Jennifer eagerly listening to her Father. "I need to have a word privately for a moment with Albedo, Gwendolyn, Sunny, and Cooper so, the rest of you get your butts into gear."
After the other three exited the mission room, Ben was left with his team and cousin he never met, "Let's talk about you, how are we related?" he asked questioning it as Sunny brushed her raven black hair behind her ear.
"Your Grandfather had sex with my Grandmother on an alien planet about thirty of your years ago," Sunny was blunt and honest, leaning back against the railing of the holodeck, "So, you're Ben Tennyson… I've heard a lot about you," she hummed.
"And I've heard nothing about you… you were stranded on an uninhabitable planet for two years and my team just so happens to find you? And on top of that you're related to us?" Ben explained in detail the coincidences that had to occur for their current situation to be happening at all.
Gwendolyn came from the side and placed her hands on his upper-arms, talking soothingly into his right ear, "Ben, she saved my life, and Albedo's… she even tried to save Jennifer, I think if she was an enemy, she would have had plenty of opportunities to let us die," her calming voice and her fingers grazing against the skin of his forearm calmed him, giving a long exhale.
"Not all enemies just want you dead," he stated bluntly recalling how his feud with the still at large Prometheus began, "But, okay if Gwendolyn trusts you, so do I," changing subjects to the far more pressing topic, "Now we just have to find the artifacts before Aggregor and it'll be a piece of cake," Ben looked around at his team as though he forgot something, "Oh! I know where they are, or… I know someone who knows where they are…" Ben transformed in a flash of emerald light emerging as a three-foot monkey with bright yellow-fur with black markings across it, and two tails with glowing, sharpened ends.
"Who is this, again?" Jennifer asked from behind Lucy, not recognizing this lesser used form.
Ben turned to face them with sharpened fangs but, a soothing voice, "I call him Teleportal," he was happy to be showing off to his daughter but, time was running short. "Once I open the portal just follow my lead!"
Cooper announced from his desk, "I'll fill in the Plumber Helpers once they get here, do your thing and stop this creep!" the technopath gave a thumbs up as Teleportal nodded back.
The alien primate opened the third eye on his forehead searching the infinite Multiverse and beyond for his target location; he turned and slashed at the air, his razor-sharp glowing tail sliced right through reality opening a portal of flowing yellow energy. "C'mon!" he jumped through the portal as the other three followed suit behind him.
Gwendolyn looked Lucy in the eyes as the glowing rift reflected in her dark pupils, "Watch Jennifer and keep her safe, okay?"
"You got it! Ya know I'd never let my own niece get hurt," The Lenopan wrapped her arms around her cousin's torso for an embrace before she turned and jumped into the portal.
"This is going to be a disaster," Sunny sighed with a bit of attitude, walking through the warp in time and space. Albedo said nothing following her through with an expression of unease on his face.
…
Forge of Creation; No Time; No Space
Ben immediately transformed back into his human form as soon as he exited the portal, ensuring that the other three made it through safely as well. The sky was filled with astonishingly colorful nebula that swirled in the preverbal sky, "Wow," Gwen was the first to speak up as she watched the massive titans floating above them, each one dozens of times larger than Way Big.
"Celestialsapiens are the most powerful creatures in our Multiverse, we are ants relative to them, we should have no problem avoiding their attention," Albedo advised as Sunny glanced around at the massively powerful Gods towering above her. Floating in a frozen state of indecision.
"Did you say our?" Gwen questioned obviously not loudly enough.
"Why are we here again?" Sunny mentioned in an almost annoyed voice.
Ben placed his hand out through the air, as though he were looking for something; he knew he'd gotten the location right, they all looked at him as though he were crazy until he finally made contact with something otherwise completely invisible, "Gotcha," he placed his hand flat against the invisible wall which decloaked the entire structure.
A giant white cube the size of one-story house but, perfectly cut into a cubed shape and without any visible entrances or exits, "Hey asshole! Open the door!" Ben shouted up at the structure, obviously having been here since his defeat against Eon, "I know you can see me, I'm not stupid!" after several seconds of silence, a door melded open organically for them to walk through, "Finally."
This time around Ben knew exactly where he was going, walking through the hall with confidence in his stride, "Hey, Gideon," he announced to the artificial intelligence that ran the majority of the facility.
"Hello again, Ben Tennyson A-195." A British woman answered politely through a form of P.A system, all of which stunning Sunny and Albedo, watching as Ben approached a specific door on his right., not bothering to knock since his DNA matched the owner of the security system. "A-195?" Gwendolyn asked in a confused whisper, catching up to her husband.
"Oh, yea," Ben answered as he generally didn't enjoy talking about the subject because it confused him but, learned it to suit his needs, "That's our realities designation or whatever, since I had my first chat with him, Ten Million has grown a lot emotionally… talking with other versions of himself while he catalogues the Multiverse," they approached the door which didn't just slide open automatically as they expected it to, "Such a mouth full, right?" he placed his hand on the door where his hand print illuminated neon-green, confirming his genetics.
"Access Granted."
The door slid open for him as he walked through followed by his two friends and wife behind him, following his lead into the laboratory that was much larger on the inside than the out, "Only a Ben Tennyson can open the door…" Ben announced almost ecstatic finding his doppelganger still sitting and studying the nature of the infinite Multiverse.
"I got him a hobby, see?" Ben pointed out the massive screen of different realities mostly of Earth, different scenarios playing out, splayed out in a virtual ocean of bubbles.
A hover chair glowing with emerald light trimming its features slowly turned from the holograms around revealing an elderly man that looked very similar to the hero standing beside them, "You again, what do you want this time?" Ben Ten Million demanded bitterly having known exactly which version of himself was disturbing him just by the tone of voice.
"I need the coordinates for the Map of Infinity," Ben demanded to his much older and more powerful counterpart, not wavering in the slightest in his conviction.
Suddenly, Ten Million sat up straight in his hovering chair, "Why would you- unless, who is it? Who is it that's trying to enter the Forge?" his voice had taken on a more serious tone this time lined with fear, his younger variant was frozen so he continued, "Vilgax or Aggregor?!" he almost shouted.
Sunny and Albedo watched as the elderly man grew fearful and concerned at the same time, looking around with widened eyes as if recalling horrible times, though Ben still managed to answer barely, "A-Aggregor."
"Aggregor…" the sweat began to collect over his brow, he was clearly seeing images of his past, when he himself encountered his version of the villain.
Ten Million quickly activated a button on the armrest to his hovering chair as it latched armored mechanical prosthesis' to both his legs, "It's not just a single Multiverse that's at stake here anymore, this is beyond even Eon," he finally stood as the braces seemed to work incredibly well for someone over a hundred-years-old. Walking across the room and dialing in a set of holographic buttons in a pin-pad that could only be seen by him.
This opened up the wall in front of them revealing an armory of Omnitricies and rare Plumber grade weaponry. Among the cores was one that evolves beyond Ultimate, one that fuses different aliens together, one that selects a single species and armors every form with its best attributes… the list went on and on, "Woah," Ben uttered as Sunny and Albedo peaked in as well, both still astonished at the at least dozen different Omnitricies. Gwendolyn wrapped her pinky around his as they walked into the room together, keeping them linked.
Ten Million walked passed them, gesturing at a flat white wall which summoned shelves which held different Omnitrix cores in which he used personally but, also another emerald-green device he'd never seen before mounted behind them.
"Is that the-"
The bitter old variant of the hero cut him off as Albedo pointed in awe at what was encased in glass and mounted on the wall, "The Potis Altiare? Yea, when I found all the pieces and analyzed them, I realized it was only good for a one time boost. Never needed it before so, it looks cooler hanging there," It was much like a more advanced Omnitrix, there were gear-like stripes running behind the hourglass symbol, and green wiring around it along with black markings surrounding the where the core should be inserted.
"You built all of this?" Sunny asked as she knelt down to look closer at one of the cores without touching it, referring to all of the architecture and the artifact which currently had Albedo enamored. It was an ancient Galvan legend, the Potis Altiare, not designed for an Omnitrix rather, the opposite being true as Azmuth's work was completely inspired by it and their ancient culture. And it was just sitting here, gathering dust in what could only be referred to as an old man's garage.
"I've had many years of… spare time," Ten Million grabbed another smaller device from the shelf and took hold of Ben's forearm, smacking the device on the bottom of the gauntlet. Reminding him of the device that kept the feedback shockwaves from destroying his surroundings when he accidently set off the self-destruct.
"What was that?" He asked calmly, turning his arm to look at the device now implanted onto his Omnitrix.
Ten Million walked over to the other artifacts he kept in squared glass cases atop pedestals, including a Time Variance Tempad, The Helmet of Fate, a cylindrical containment unit for the Meta-Nanite, and most shockingly Vilgax's decapitated head floating in a jar of formaldehyde, "I gave you exactly what you asked for," he responded as he basked in his many adventures long since passed. "You can now summon exact coordinates for each piece, all you need is to protect one and he can never reach his goal."
Ben summoned a blue hologram of a distant, swirling mass of energy being the Galaxy, which could be expanded upon or zoomed in on far beyond their needed capacities, clearly setting coordinates for the first piece without having to say or do anything, "Thanks…"
Ten Million looked over his younger self and remembered the days where he cared about being a hero, when he saw a purpose in the fight, now all he could see was the inevitable evil and unbiased destruction surrounding creation, infecting every single person.
Ben narrowed his eyes at his ever so slightly taller, older self; the crows-feet under his eyes and wrinkles down his cheeks and neck, the look in his eye that said he'd truly seen it all, "Let's go…"
"Which one are you gonna use?" Sunny asked obliviously.
Ben answered for himself, not letting Ten Million have the satisfaction of a silent exit, "He doesn't do the hero thing anymore, he doesn't even fight…" he gave a long-exasperated sigh but, more importantly one Gwendolyn could clearly tell was a ploy.
Ten Million turned slowly to face him, noticing for the first time the scars across his grey-bearded cheek, looking him in the eye, "When Paradox put me here it wasn't because I was out of places to go," he turned to face the head floating in the jar beside them, "I guard the Forge of Creation to keep people like Aggregor from taking power that no mortal could ever comprehend, not me, not even Azmuth… lord knows why he put the sample in Codon Stream," Ten Million placed a hand on the glass casing for the villains head, looking down at it and recalling the day he used Ascalon to execute the tyrant. "I wish I had it in me to be a hero again the way you do…"
The last wall behind the glass casings began to slide open behind them prompting Sunny and Albedo to step out of the way, standing beside Ben and Gwen as they watched Ten Million pass them, "I paid my dues," he gripped the side of his upper left shoulder and twisted it with a mechanized-gear sounding as he unlatched it revealing it to be a very advanced prosthesis. The wall which had just opened up revealed identical arms made of different materials from different Universes; an arm made of Vibranium, Nth Metal, Neutron Star Alloy, and even Infinitum, each one build with a slot for an Omnitrix core.
He plucked the Nth Metal silver arm off the rack and stared down at it for a moment, leaving the room in a tense silence, unsure if he would done a watch yet or not. Sunny was prepared to turn around and leave but, Ben put his hand out not stopping her but, prompting her to be patient.
Ten Million sighed once again, closing his eyes and latching the prosthetic to his shoulder where it met a cybernetic joint, "But, I made a promise to Paradox and even if he isn't around anymore, I'm still planning to honor that promise," once the final clank connected his nerves to the arm, he gripped his hand into a fist to test it. "And as for these? These are just pet-projects A-195 got me interested in when he wouldn't stop showing up and asking me questions about them…" he gave a slight glare at Ben who only chortled and scratched the back of his neck.
Gwendolyn rolled her eyes, "Is this where you go when you're out on patrol late?" giving him a disapproving glare.
"H-Hey, it's gotta be way better than cheating!"
"Well, that's a great defense!" she shouted back sarcastically only to realize that Ten Million was observing them with an almost confused expression.
The older variant raised his brow, glancing between the two, and knowing the complexities of the Multiverse, "You two are cousins Ben and Gwen, aren't you?" he didn't need an answer as they glanced and nodded between one another, "And you two are married?"
Ben didn't hesitate to show off the golden band around his finger, "Happily."
Ten Million stepped away from them and shook his head with a smile, summoning a holographic keyboard in front of his desk where they found him sitting when they walked in, "The Multiverse is such a crazy, crazy concept…" he muttered on to nobody in particular, opening a small vault by his desk which revealed another core. "Some realities you're friends, sometimes enemies, sometimes family, and sometimes lovers… but, it doesn't seem like reality wants to keep you two apart for some reason," slapping the core into the circular hole in the palm of his prosthetic hand, igniting a massive emerald flash of light.
Gwendolyn reached out and squeezed his hand beside her, exchanging grins, "Nobody could even if they tried."
As Sunny, Ben, and Gwendolyn were all ready to go, Ten Million prepped his arm with a few buttons to press across his forearm when Albedo approached him, "I am not entirely sure if you have what I need, and I am bad with social exchanges however…" he showed off the self-made scrap iron prosthetic arm that held his Negative Omnitrix core.
"Wow, you could use an upgrade," Ten Million replied dryly as he looked down on it, Albedo looked up into his eyes for a moment as crimson met emerald. It was a few seconds of silent blinking before he realized, "Oh! You want me to give you one! Sure, I think I have a compartment for hands somewhere around here…" he walked off towards the other side of the room, "So many damn compartments."
Sunny spoke up as Albedo attended to his new hand, "So, how do we get to this piece, wherever it is, do you have a ship or some kind of teleporter because I could do it but, taking this many people and I might puke-"
"Do I have a ship? You're in my ship," Ten Million finished adjusting his arm and flexed his shoulder as he looked over at what was his desk, "Gideon, get us to the coordinates of the first piece, I need to give Aggregor a piece of my mind," he was clearly angry at just the name, memories of his past infuriating him.
"Absolutely Mr. Ten Million, prepare for dimensional transport…" Gideon announced as she began counting down, "3…2…1," the cube that held the massive facility in which Ben Ten Million resided warped out of the Forge of Creation, folding into space and into another dimension.
…
Mikd'lty; Omnitrix City; Tennyson Tower; March 26th, 2024
Ten Million's bright-white cube blended in with the arctic terrain as they warped through space, landing only a few hundred feet from a massive stone temple, swarming with Necrofrigians. Though they were too late as the natives were being pummeled by Aggregor who had already arrived on the planet.
"The relic is inside the deepest cavern of the temple, guarded by dozens of Necrofrigians," Gwendolyn noted standing over her Ben's shoulder, looking over the coordinates to the holographic map his variant gave them. Ten Million turned his indestructible cube transparent with a single press of his palm on the wall, giving them a good look out at their mission.
Sunny gasped, "We're not the only ones here… look," she pointed out of the cube as the amalgamated-villain already on the planet and not at all bothered by the temperature, continued beating down on the defending natives. Their blasts of ice meant nothing to total power over nuclear-energy, he blasted one of the Necrofrigians out of the sky with a crimson blast of pure nuclear energy.
Ten Million cracked his neck, stretching his organic arm as it had been a very long time since his last battle, "You four find the artifact, I'll handle your big bad," he stepped off the cube somehow not bothered by the intense cold being over a hundred below zero. He stopped when Ben spoke to him, still within the cubed ship.
"Last time we spoke, you were nothing like this… what changed?" Ben asked as he placed his boot on the edge of the opened cube, feeling the frozen breeze and still prepared to jump down.
Ten Million glanced down at his counterpart, giving no visible expression of happiness or nostalgia, he simply said, "You," before leaping into the air and slapped the core on his prosthetic hand unleashing an ordinary explosion of omni-energy.
A much older, and likely stronger, Fourarms landed on the ice cracking apart a small crater with his landing, though he continued a slow strut with his landing catching Aggregor's attention. Ben watched as Ten Million didn't even touch the Omnitrix to begin the evolutionary process which crossed over the Tetramand in an emerald wave. Ultimate Fourarms was blue-skinned rather than crimson, he was three-feet taller, much faster, and agile but, he also had sharpened jagged quills along all four forearms. Ben was waiting for something he hadn't seen before and he didn't have to wait much longer, the core Ten Million selected allowed him to evolve once more beyond an Ultimate form. The genetic wave of energy didn't change the color of his skin only darkening the blue and strengthening every muscle in his body; devil-like horns sprouted from his forehead with his entire body cackling with emerald genetic electricity.
Ben had to keep inside the cube until he transformed or he'd certainly freeze to death instantly but, he couldn't help but muttering to himself in front of the others, "Super Ultimate…" he practically squealed in excitement.
Aggregor dropped the already incapacitated Necrofrigian without even glancing down at him, walking over his barely breathing body to approach this new hero in his way. Super Ultimate Fourarms cracked his knuckles, all sixteen of them, as they both approached standing face to face.
"In my reality, you took my arm…"
Aggregor scoffed, "I don't even know who you are," one of the jack-hammers on his elbow reeled back as the villain swung with incredible speed, and enough force to level a mountain. The shockwave rocked the surrounding area, shaking the temple, and clearing out the snow around them for hundreds of feet.
The blow had been caught in one of Super Ultimate Fourarm's palms, holding it tight, "Ben Ten Million," he proceeded to right hook the amalgam in the face hard enough to send him reeling a step or two backwards, "Nice to meet you…" the villain noticed a Pyronite, obviously Ben Tennyson, along with his team sprint into the temple. He aimed one of his palms where a node would shoot high pressurized water which would freeze them solid, though he was distracted by an uppercut which knocked him off his feet and onto his back. Sliding through what was left of the snow, he slammed his armored fist into the ice sending massive cracks apart towards the super-evolved-Tetramand.
A single explosion of green light allowed a creature to fly faster than sound up into the atmosphere, being able to instantly switch from one Super-Ultimate to another, a powerful new version of StinkFly floated overhead. His body was larger, his wings longer, both arms replaced with thick bladed weapons; instead of four, he new sported six different eyes that could shoot adhesives as well as omni-energy discharge.
Aggregor snarled up at the annoyance, "Gnat."
…
Sunny, Albedo, Ben, and Gwendolyn flew their way through the entrance to the icy-stone temple, every blow from outside rained snow from above; the Anodite of the group used her ability to sense objects metaphysically, shouting instructions to them as they heard the battle outside shake the ancient structure, "Right!" they all turned in that direction as the first to turn the corner being herself triggered some sort of motion-detection opening a panel, and allowing a twenty-foot spiked mallet to plow into Ben who was flying directly behind her.
They all stared at the hammer embedded in the wall, waiting for some sort of result, if it were that easy to kill Ben Ten Thousand he would have been dead years ago; the ten-ton hammer was forcefully pushed back as the heroes eyes were engulfed in emerald energy, billowing from his eyes like fire. He was using both hands in his human form until he pulled one back and obliterated the ancient wood and stonework with a single haymaker. "We have to keep moving!" he shouted leaping back into a flight, as every blow from outside echoed through the chamber increasing their anxiety.
"This way!" Sunny shouted as they all darted behind her but, in such a narrow space it was hard to unleash their full speed; they reached a platform that hung above a large acid pool bubbling and oozing green fluids from below.
"Good thing we can fly," Gwendolyn muttered to the others as they passed over it, reaching a wall with a single door to pass through at ground level. They all landed in front of it triggering it to slide open upwards revealing a large, darkened room with a stairwell leading down into the shadows.
Suddenly, torches were lit all along the wall near the ceiling, revealing a large two headed, fifty-foot dragon, chained by each neck. It noticed them quickly, raising their heads up slowly, and giving out a loud, bloodcurdling screech.
"That's not good!" Sunny was forced to throw up a mana-shield shaped like a pane of glass to stop the flames that emerged from between the right head's jaws. Pushing her back on her heels, she scoffed as her energy form emerged, Caucasian skin overwhelmed by the violet-purple energy forming an aura around her. Her long mane of mana-energy-hair split into four tendrils that flew alongside the fire she was defending from, muzzling the dragon as it swung its head in struggle.
She formed another shield identical to the last when the second twin head unleashed a wave of ice more powerful than any Necrofrigian could produce. Both muzzling the dragon and stopping its other half was not the most difficult thing in the world but, she sure could use a little help, "Ahem?"
Ben, still slightly mistrusting, stepped forwards, "I was just testing to see how you'd react," he floated up into the air and began firing optic-beams at the second head not yet muzzled, burning its skin and forcing it to relent on its attack against Sunny, "Up here, ugly!" he exploded in a flash of light as Chromastone floated in his place, positioning his hands to fire cascading beams of rainbow-colored energy, the beams missed striking the wall behind it.
Gwendolyn summoned the Staff of Ages from her pocket-dimension, spinning it between her fingers and slamming it into the ground cracking the ice. Her eyes were illuminated with a furious blue glow when a ring of energy formed around her ankles and rose upwards quickly changing her into Cooper's armor, surging with energy lined throughout the suit.
"Magna Alta Gravi Somno!"
Both of the serpents suddenly shut their eyes, collapsing to the ground in a heap; they were breathing softly, sound asleep, "See? There's no need for violence when it comes to beasts or animals," Gwen dematerialized her staff but, kept her armor on considering who was outside and likely still gunning for them.
…
Aggregor smacked what appeared to be an evolved Atomix through a tundra of ice, blasting him with water the force of a thousand firehoses, covering him quickly in sheets of ice; Ultimate Atomix's body began to glow within the ice, each of the cannisters that held his nuclear energy. The villains eyes went wide but, before he could evade, Ten Million exploded like a small hydrogen bomb completely eradicating the ice which, subsequently shielded the temple from damage but, certainly sent Aggregor stumbling back.
Ultimate Atomix had so much radiation that, this particular transformation couldn't risk going Super due to the yield of the radiation that would spread beyond his control. Atomix right hooked Aggregor followed by a left, and another right before he charged his fist with the full force of a ten-megaton bomb.
He used his free hand to position the villain in just the right spot, reeling back for only a second before following through with his left straight, though he drastically miscalculated feeling the entirety of the blows kinetic energy being absorbed, "I would have liked to win this battle with just the power I stole from Earth but…" he sapped Ultimate Atomix dry, even when he tried pulling away Aggregor grabbed him with his other arm and absorbed even more power using his Osmosion genetics.
Ten Million mentally switched forms exploding in a flash of yet another light, breaking free from his grip as Ultimate Humungusaur who turned quickly to right hook Aggregor in the face, sending him skating back on the ice. Another wave of genetic energy crossed over his entire body turning his camo-green skin a light brown, his scales thicker, and silver armor growing across his wrists and torso. Super Ultimate Humungusaur wasn't much bigger than his previously evolved self, however; what he lacked in height he made up for in power.
Aggregor swung left meeting Ten Million's armored forearm, the area shook with their blows, countering with an uppercut the Osmosion fell back several steps. "I won't let you take the child."
"You can't stop me, old man, nobody can!" Aggregor got serious, quickly getting into Ten Million's close quarters; right hook, left jab, arms wrapped around his neck brought his face down into a knee-strike. Super Ultimate Humungusaur was shocked when Aggregor was agile enough to sprawl down and sweep his feet out from under him, landing on his armored shelled back. "I could take more aliens from you but, what would be the point? I'm after the ultimate prize," he picked up Ten Million by the shoulders before right-left combo crossing his face. "Nobody dares challenge me and lives to tell the tale, and I'm afraid you did a tad too well in our fight just now," front kicking the super-evolved Vaxasaurian in the chest sending him back through the air, hitting a pultruding shard of ice pierced through his back created naturally by the environment. "How unlucky, I certainly wasn't aiming for it," he lied as he'd noticed it in front of him the moment he picked up the beaten adversary.
Transforming back into his human form, Ten Million gasped for breath but, choked on blood which he spat out into the snow, the shard of ice was far too long for him to slide himself off of, besides he didn't have the strength either way. Aggregor approached, kneeling down, he sprayed a bit of water over his feet so that they'd freeze over keeping him from moving.
"I'm going to go in and get the piece I need, stay right here," he started patronizing the former hero now gasping for breath, "I'll be back shortly," he said with a more menacing tone as he entered the temple without resistance.
…
Ben, Gwen, Sunny, and Albedo floated their way down a narrow corridor which the Anodite was sure the piece was at the end of; they looked and noticed dozens upon dozens of holes carved into the walls, "Ya know, if anyone touches the floor, a bunch of darts are gonna come flying out of these, right?"
"Pretty obvious," Gwendolyn responded.
Reaching the end of the hall, Ben and Albedo reeled back and slammed their fists into thick alien-stone door, shattering it to rubble that scattered through-out the room. There was only a single thing in the room, a pedestal with a quarter-half of an infinity sign made of an unknown material.
Sunny formed an orb of mana around it and pulled it off the pedestal slowly, drawing it to her but, it never made it to its destination, Aggregor came from behind grabbing Sunny by the face and plunging it into and through the stone wall that lined the chamber. He held her up by the back of the head and shook his, "Consider this mercy that I don't absorb your entire essence right now, girl!" he tossed her aside considering his immunity to her mana, just in time to be tackled by two Tetramands, one Negative and one Positive, pushing against him with all of their strength.
Aggregor regained his footing and grabbed both their heads, slamming them together considering they were standing side by side, disorienting them both enough to be blasted away by individual beams of nuclear energy. The Osmosion swung left knocking the Negative Tetramand across the room, literally flipping through the air. Ducking under a right-hook from Ben Ten Thousand himself wasn't easy but, Aggregor not only did so but, turned and uppercutted him in the solar-plexus ejecting all the air from his lungs.
Gwendolyn watched as he decimated her entire team, much more powerful members of her team, he walked right passed her as her hand quivered in fear; the vision was coming true, this new villain was far too powerful and if what she dreamt of came to pass, she couldn't go on living herself.
Aggregor grabbed the piece which had clattered to the ground after defeating Sunny, holding it up to the minimal amount of light there was in the room, "One down, three to go..."
"I won't let you!" Fourarms got to his hands and knees but, Aggregor noticed this; just as the Tetramand got to his feet the Osmosion quite gracefully turned and roundhouse kicked Ben in the jaw hard enough to send him onto his back.
Gwendolyn watched as Aggregor left the room, still frozen in fear about what would happen to her daughter if she didn't return home, still terrified by the vision she had the morning of. Once he was out of the temple, he took off into space at such speeds, he uplifted a massive wave of snow and ice.
…
After twenty-minutes of recovering from their utter beating; Ben, Gwendolyn, Sunny, and Albedo slowly exited the temple shamefully, unsure of what happened to Ten Million who was supposed to be the holding Aggregor off. It was a shock to find him half-dead with three-feet of ice sticking out of his upper-chest, "Ben!" he shouted to his own counterpart as he ran overa surreal feeling to shout your own name at someone else and expecting them to answer. Ten Million didn't hesitate to grab hold of his black and white tee as soon as he was within reach, likely saving his last breath for this one message. Ben's older and wiser-self pulled him in close as the blood spilled from his lips, staining his beard, "Do not… let Aggregor… win…" he coughed up more blood barely capable of breathing on this planet in the first place, "And if he does win… you h-have to use him. No matter the risk, y-you have to promise me."
Ben knew exactly which form Ten Million was referring to, the dwellers of his home and most powerful form of sentient life in existence and it was so mighty it scared the hero to death to ever need actually to use it, "Promise me!" he shouted with his last breaths, pulling Ben in tighter so their eyes could meet.
A single tear welled in Ten Million's eyes as he felt death finally coming for him, "I promise, I'll do whatever it takes to stop Aggregor!"
Ten Million looked turned his head in the snow and looked out at the star that was unbearably close to the planet yet, so radiantly beautiful, actually forming a tear in his left eye, "so this is what it feels like…" he whispered to himself as his body fell limp.
"Ben? Wait, what about the cube and all your important stuff?!" He gently shook his counterpart but, he was motionless on the ground staring out at this planet's Sun.
His cube was not far and still transparent waiting to be piloted, "Ben?!" he almost panicked, asking nobody knowing he lost another good soul, the old man's grey eyes had drifted off into the sweet embrace of death, shuffling off his mortal coil. Ben slowly leaned forward and closed his eyes, allowing him to finally rest, before standing up, and staring down along with the others.
"We should take the cube back to the Forge and figure this out from there…" Ben summoned the map to each planet the pieces were hidden on from his Omnitrix, tracking in his head how long it'd take to reach each one, "I haven't seen my daughter in over a week, I constantly work so it could be even longer than that, and now I have to go on some quest to save the Universe again when I haven't even gotten to spend more than five minutes with her," the map dissipated and Gwendolyn took his hand in hers as they headed back towards the inter-dimensional cube.
"We'll explain everything to her, take her to a water-park or on a picnic; we'll make it up to her but, right now…" Gwen pulled her husband's eyes up from his shoes in shame to her glimmering emerald eyes with a confident smirk, "We have a Universe to save."
Ben's grimace slowly turned into a small but very hopeful smile, "You always seem to bring out the best in me, alright, let's get out-" he finished by finding his attention back on Albedo and Sunny whom still stared down at the dead hero, unsure of what to think about how he had lost.
Albedo and Sunny quickly followed suit, watching with somber eyes as his body was impaled and disrespected, "We need to give him some sort of proper burial," she mentioned to Albedo but, she was talking mostly to herself, for an Anodite, death of any kind is unholy and tragic.
Ben took a few steps back towards them, looked around at the wasteland, barren, and calm, and then back down at his older counterpart now that he was at peace, "I think this is exactly where he'd want to be… somewhere nice and quiet," he cringed for a second before restating himself, "Except for the whole being impaled thing," he muttered realizing how sadly his life had ended.
…
I tweaked the survivability of the planet obviously, and using Super Ultimates was the only way I could think to make Ben Ten Million seem more powerful than our Ben spite his elderly age. Though i'd like to make it clear that his fighting ability is NOT what makes him the most powerful Ben Tennyson. It was all of the artifacts he kept along with his knowledge and experience. He was over a hundred and out of practice. He was more powerful than our current FB Ben Tennyson A-195 but, not like some god. I dont wanna hype Aggregor THAT much. Also I didn't wanna do fusion aliens because that's already been done, lots of easter eggs from other universes though. Also Aggregor is far more powerful here than he is in canon just an FYI. 😊