Disclaimer: I don't own Ben 10.
Chapter 67: Super.
In the brief instant while the vibrant purple accelerated tachyon-beam was in midair, Ultimate Ben managed to swing his arm forward, slapping his Omnitrix-dial on his chest sending waves of emerald-genetic energy across his body, granting him another power-set, "C-Clockwork!" he struggled to call out as he reacted with a short-beam of temporal energy, resisting for only a few seconds longer. Ben was still on the backhand until it was too late, Eon's temporal-blast ate its way through his own until it struck between his arms in the center of his torso, and Ultimate Ben was consumed by the radiation in a flash of purple-light. "NO!" Timeless shouted, reaching out at him as he watched his comrade fall. His version of the Omnitrix had no life-saving failsafe and with no Geno-Archetype surrounding him, his own physical body was aged several thousand years in an instant, his skin wrinkled rapidly until his entire body faded grey and collapsed where he stood into ashes.
Timeless fell to his knees, reaching out at the pile of dust across the room in vein, his body was exhausted and he'd just lost yet another comrade in battle; he was lost in the moment, everything became dulled in the background of his sightline focused on the lingering ashes that were his variants corpse. Benji reacted by swinging his blade behind him where the recovering Queen had attempted to launch several blades into his back, his Ascalon just barely managing to deflect them back at her, piercing the wall at her side through her wings, pinning her to the wall for a moment as she continued to free herself from the indentation her body made in the steel-wall with raw strength. She didn't seem phased by the pain of his attacks one bit, already regenerating every wound, he boasted too highly of the ease in-which he slayed the Cosmian Queen on his world.
Ascalon suddenly exploded in a shimmer of emerald-light radiating from the Omnitrix embedded in its hilt, changing into a thin two-foot-long Jian-sword with an arctic-blue super-sharp blade less than a nano-meter thick. With one swing it was unleashing a blizzard of frozen air that immediately forced her to throw her arms up in front of her face. With every following slash Benji coated the Queen in torrents of thick-ice to keep her pinned against the wall just a little longer.
Another quick-flash of light revealed the black-and-white katana blade once again firmly in Benji's grip, granting him the Kinceleran speed he needed to dart across the room in a blur of motion, stopping in front of Timeliness who was still emotionally stunned by what he'd seen, "This isn't going well, we need to retreat!" Benji shouted down at the time-walker who barely glanced up at him, "Get us out of here!" he shouted once again.
Benji turned and sliced downward with a powerful grunt splitting a temporal-beam, that nearly struck him from behind, down the middle forcing Eon back a step with the resulting shockwave.
Eon was hardly phased, stalking forth with his hands out, shrouded in dark-purple lightning, aiming his palms out at them ready to annihilate another Ben Tennyson from the timeline when Timeless finally stood up with tears running down his cheeks and teeth clenched with a furious rage, "Agghh!" he swung his arms down and instantly warped both heroes out of the room mere nanoseconds before the temporal beam would strike them, passing through the glow of emerald light that whisked them away.
…
Deep Space; December 23rd, 2025; 12:15PM.
After talking it over, they collectively decided that Albedo and Sunny would stay behind to ensure the city and the rest of the world didn't fall into helpless chaos should Eon make a move on the planet while they were absent. Ben and Gwendolyn boarded the hyperspace cube still tucked away in the armory and teleported out of the barrier surrounding their great city, shooting off out of the atmosphere before accelerating to many times the speed of light in the blink of an eye.
While within the utterly massive interior of the cube itself, Gwendolyn had been staring out the front, which was transparent giving them a good view of the many stars bending around them as they traveled, she lost sight of Ben who had back tracked into the depths of the dimension-defying vessel.
She turned around, finding him at the back end of the room, next to the long hall that led into the interior rooms within, where all of Ben Ten Million's greatest trophies were held on pedestals and glass shelves. She approached from behind, wrapping her arm around his and placing her chin gently on his left shoulder, "Whatcha lookin' at?" she asked softly, looking up into his eyes shimmering with pensive thought.
He exhaled as if being comforted by her presence the moment he recognized she was there next to him, he found he'd been staring at the glass casing hanging on the wall of the Potis Altiare, an emerald-green device with the hourglass omni-symbol in the center, adorned with intricate details that captivate the gaze. Behind the symbol itself, a network of gear-like stripes intertwines, hinting at a complex machinery that lies beneath the surface of its cosmic symmetry. Delicate green wiring coiled around the symbol, adding an ethereal glow. "Something Timeless told me in one of my visions is still bugging me… and it has something to do with this device." he responded finally, tightening their intertwined arms, and lying his head atop hers.
"What is it?" Gwen questioned obviously, blinking a few times as he didn't hesitate to answer.
"It's apparently called the Potis Altaire, and according to the records Ben Ten Million had on it, it's supposed to amplify a persons natural abilities ten-fold or more…"
Gwendolyn averted her eyes up at him without moving her head, it was just to comfortable to stand this way with him, to feel his warmth against her body, "Why don't you pull it out and try it on? Figure it out for yourself?"
"You're such a doofus, that was my first thought, this is just a hard-light hologram Ten Mil put up for decoration I guess; Gideon had to synthesize me a new one when I dropped the first one…" Ben gave a slight snicker, caressing the dainty yet firm arm locked around his, taking a long inhale of her hair for no reason at all.
She giggled, "Did you just sniff me?"
"Yea, so?"
"Pfft," she scoffed sarcastically, pulling her head back, "And you call me the doofus? Anyway, if it isn't here with Ten Million's stuff, then where is it?" Gwendolyn asked a pertinent question that Ben was actually hoping she'd asked since he was so proud of the forethought he had on the situation.
Ben smiled and backed up, before pacing around the room for a moment towards the transparent front-end, "According to Ten Million's archived notes, he spent like three-decades scouring the Multiverse for it, he found out it's apparently something called monoexistent, as in while there's infinity of every other single thing in the Multiverse, there's only one Potis Altaire," he looked back at her to make a point before continuing on with his rant; she couldn't help but smile, he was so cute when he was this passionate about something, she couldn't get enough.
"And how did a Galvan make something like that? It couldn't've been Azmuth, could it?" Gwen locked emerald eyes with him as she questioned, running away with him on his rant, jumping in and getting just as enthusiastic about it.
Ben sauntered over and clapped his hands, "Course not, Azmuth is super-old, but not that old; from the legends that are archived with his notes, the story goes that an old lonely Galvan met a Celestialsapein gal millions of years ago and together they created the Potis Altaire as a sign of intergalactic love and peace!" he looked away and chuckled, "Of course, they apparently lost it between the cracks of dimensions, falling through time and space, before anyone could really make use of it."
Gwendolyn giggled a bit, "So where is it?" she finally restated her question.
"Well, out of all the Earth's in the vast infinity, where do you think it landed?" Ben leaned against the wall on the other end of the room and folded his arms as she approached and closed the distance between them once again, her navy-blue cloak dragging on the floor behind her a bit.
"If it landed on our Earth, how come we haven't ever detected it? I mean, we scan for alien-technology all the time, shouldn't we have found a trace of something?" Gwendolyn posed as she stood only a foot away from him now, looking up into his matching emerald eyes.
"That's where I've hit a stump on my personal quest for this thing, I gave up looking months ago but, I gave Cooper the data and this morning I reminded him to keep working on it since it seemed so important," Ben glanced away, recalling what Timeless had said to him, along with the urgency he said it with, like he'd just been through something horrific. He often wondered how many horrific things he'd seen in this Time War, so far he himself had already seen a man take his own life, how many more would die in his name?
Timeless sighed, pulling out a silver pocket-watch dangling from a chain attached lazily to his belt, checking the time nonchalantly before smiling, "Oh, you're almost ready, I can feel it…" he said, speaking aloud to himself mostly, with so much knowledge on the future and so little time to tell about it, it surely seemed like this younger alternate self was completely mad? "It began when you used Clockwork to severe Eon from the Hands of Armageddon at the Edge of Oblivion, this endless violence, this time-war…"
Ben shook his head at himself, grabbing his hand to stand, watching his younger self peer into the pocket-watch like it were another realm entirely, "No… No, that cant be right, I saved everyone. I stopped Eon from connecting to the Hands and becoming a crazy time-god!"
Timeless smacked his hand away suddenly, shutting the pocket-watch, and thrusting himself onto Ben in a hurried fashion, the urgency in his expression turning to horror, "All you did was delay the inevitable!" grabbing Ben violently by the collar of his black shirt with its white stripe down the torso, "I've seen darker days than you could ever dream; I was there when the Chronian Emperor took the Potis Altiare, I was too late but, you… you can be better!"
*SNAP SNAP SNAP*
Ben was brought back into his current senses when his wife snapped her fingers repeatedly in his face, "Earth to dweeb? I asked you a question and you spaced out on me…"
"Hm? What was your question?" Ben responded, leaning forward and off the wall to rub the back of his neck sheepishly, "I got lost in thought that's all."
"I asked if you think the Queen of the Tetramands will really give you a whole fleet and her support against Eon and the Cosmians?" Gwendolyn folded her arms, glancing back out into the darkness of space as the lights stretched passed her vision, at so many times faster than light.
"Well, Tiny introduced me to her back during that ceremony when I was inducted into the Galactic Enforcers charter," Ben shrugged and combed back his already sliced hair with his fingers, "I'm sure we can come to an agreement, if not, I have a plan-b that'll get us what we need."
Gwen rolled her eyes as her bangs swayed with the turn of her head as she spun around at the feel of the ship slowing down around her, "Why am I not filled to the brim with confidence?" she retorted as the Red-Giant of a planet came into view as the cube popped out of hyperspace in an instant, slowly approaching with propulsion of regular speeds.
…
Omnitrix City; Tennyson Tower; December 23rd, 2025; 12:15PM
Jennifer sighed, in a peculiar twist of fate, she was now stuck in the command center alone with her own younger parents brought through time-itself to protect them from a war she hadn't fully grasped. Even Cooper had left the room to investigate the mystery of the Potis Altaire somewhere quieter without children running around. Ben and Gwen were staring up and around mostly at the technology and advancements surrounding them, without the distraction of their future-selves to gawk at, they seemed interested in almost every sleek surface or holographic-display. She stuffed her hands into her purple-hoodie pockets, unsure of how to entertain two ten-year-olds spite her being that relative-age only two years ago.
It was a few minutes of awkward tension and relative silence before Ben approached his future-daughter with wide eyes, looking up and into her matching emerald iris', "What?" she asked casually, raising her brow at him.
"Are you, like, part native-American? I can't tell," he narrowed his eyes at her, his thumb and his index finger rubbing his chin as he tried to analyze her skin-color.
Jennifer scoffed, "Uh, what?" she repeated, still not really understanding what the younger-boy was after, she continued standing there as he rounded her, looking her up and down.
"You have big-butt, has anyone told you?" He snickered at her as she turned around quickly and scowled down at the boy who only gave a mischievous grin and folded his arms.
"Okay… what?" was all that she could manage as her cheeks flushed with embarrassment.
Gwen sauntered over standing next to her, with her own arms folded in disinterested disapproval, like always, she rolled her eyes and gave up his motives, "He's trying to figure out who his future-wife is without asking you directly," she revealed.
Ben stomped his foot at her, "So not fair! You always ruin everything, dweeb!" although he appeared furious with her, Gwen didn't appear to care in the slightest.
"Maybe you shouldn't be insulting women's bodies and trying to mess up the future at the same time?" Gwen shot back with a now obviously irritated expression aimed at him.
Jennifer sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose, fighting of an oncoming headache just listening to their bickering, "I can't tell you who my Mom is, and if you talk about my butt again, I'll shut down your watch," she smiled and lowered her face to be at eye level with his, with her own devious grin, "and I wont turn it back on until my Dad get's back."
Ben folded his arms, "I am your Dad, doesn't that mean you have to do what I say?" he argued but, it was clear he wasn't entirely sure himself.
She giggled sarcastically and stood up straight before cutting the laughter short to emphasize she wasn't entertaining that idea, "Uh, no, just find something to do and don't get on my nerves," she pulled out her glass-touchscreen phone and began texting onto a group-chat with a few of her friends when she noticed the two kids hadn't moved an inch and were instead hyper-focused on the device in her hands. "What now?"
"Is that actually a phone? Where are all the buttons?" Gwen asked, pointing casually to it, having never seen a transparent cellphone before.
"Yea… I need to find a room with more distractions," Jennifer groaned as she noticed that while Gwen had asked her question, Ben had somehow found his way to one of the consoles, preparing to mash some of the buttons out of raw boredom and curiosity. "Absolutely-" Jennifer dashed across the room in a blur leaving a purple-black trail of color behind her as she stopped beside Ben, intercepting his hand by the wrist before he could press anything, "-Not. Okay, how about we go to a different room with plenty of cool future stuff for you to look at?"
"You have powers too? That's so wicked, when do I start getting mine?" Ben began firing off questions without even waiting for the answers before asking another, even as he was pushed out of the room by Jennifer where Gwen simply rolled her eyes and followed behind them, "What other powers do I have in the future? Can I read minds? I've always wanted to read minds… Oh, did I ever learn martial arts?" he was finally interrupted when she turned and shouted.
"Stop asking questions that I don't know the answers to!" she huffed and reeled back, running her fingers quickly through her long wavy-brown hair, undoing the pony-tail to release of the tension in her head though it hardly helped at all, wrapping the hair tie around her wrist, she took a breath, "Sorry but, I don't know any of that stuff, Dad doesn't really have much time to talk to me these days, or, like, ever…" she continued walking down the hall where the two kids gave one another a concerned glance before following after her.
After another two or three minutes of walking in silence, Jennifer stopped in front of one of the many doors along the corridor, pressing her hand against it as it flashed emerald-green, and opened the sliding door for them to walk in, as they did the lights turned on by motion sensor.
"Woah," the two kids said in unison; the room was one of the many staff lounges that were currently not in use, the walls had glass-television screens embedded into them playing different channels, there were ping-pong and pool tables set up in the corner, and several 3-D printer vending machines as well as latte machines and a refrigerator.
"Yea, we're short on staff today because, you know, a war… plus, the giant hole in every single floor of the building," Jennifer casually gave them a bit of exposition but, they hardly cared, "Just don't touch the settings on anything, the remotes are on the counter," finally, she was able to back away towards one of the several couches, plopping down on one of them, and pulling out her phone to once again mindlessly text. The kids were sufficiently distracted by all of the endless channels on the televisions, and the endless possibilities of food options with the food printer.
…
Khoros; Royal Palace Landing; December 23rd, 2025; 12:28PM.
"Ben Tennyson! How nice it is to see you again, I was thinking you would never take me up on my offer to host you," Ben was immediately yanked into a four-armed embrace from a Tetramand women adorned with a large black-red crown, so much taller than himself that his head ended up squished against her rather-large breasts. His face planted against her crimson-skin above the golden-brown armored chest plate she wore, it was another few seconds before she put him down to address the women standing next to him, "And you must be Gwendolyn! I've heard so much about you!" Ben regathered his composure and straightened out his shirt, clearing his throat before she went in to embrace the less than willing Gwen to signify that this was a bit more serious than she expected.
He held his arms out with an apologetic gesture, "It really is nice to see you again, Looma but, unfortunately we're here on urgent business," Ben spoke up, pointing out the importance of their trip in the first place.
Looma blinked her four eyes in sync, smiling down at him anyways, "Of course, shall we, how do you say it on Earth, walk and talk?" she giggled a bit and turned around heading back into the palace they were still standing outside of, the bright-red skies were appealing but, the architecture was also quite beautiful as they headed inside.
The front doors to the palace were massive ornate golden structures that clearly only a Tetramand could so casually open with one hand as the Queen guided them in, as they entered the massive room with hundreds of feet of space, they noticed several male Tetramands wrestling furiously with one another with a sort of referee on stand-by watching each match. As the three of them sauntered casually passed the fighting, only Gwendolyn was at all curious as to what was going on, "Is this some sort of special event or something?" she scratched the side of her light auburn-haired head as Looma turned around and chuckled.
"Oh, heavens no, this is just daily-afternoon thrashings," Looma explained nonchalantly as she led them towards the giant throne that seemed quite large even for her, "If this were an event I would have had my submission-gauntlet on; now, how is it I can help the great Ben Ten Thousand?"
Ben sped up a bit in his stride to walk beside her, "My planet is on the verge of an invasion spear-headed by an enemy of mine that just hates me and wants to bring me as much pain as he can, I was hoping Khoros and the Tetramands could lend a dozen or so battleships and some warriors to help fend them off, in return Earth and I and can provide any supplementary resources or Taden we have," he explained it about as well as he could, and it wasn't a bad explanation, there was no reason to go into detail about the Time-War or his alternate selves, Gwendolyn watched him do the negotiating he was so well known for across the Galaxy but, she hadn't gotten to see herself very often.
Looma walked up a set of three steps to approach her golden-throne, turning and sitting down, crossing her legs, and interlocking the fingers of her two primary-arms, "I have no need for your resources, Ben Tennyson, and since you've rebuked my invitation to be my husband, I'm afraid there isn't anything Khoros can do for you…"
"Wait, what?" Gwendolyn blinked once or twice, getting slightly irritated and her face turning slightly flush, "You invited him to be your what?"
Ben sighed and folded his arms, "Please, reconsider, you are one of the only planets within range of our system that is in any position to provide some help," he frowned up at her.
Gwendolyn stepped forward chuckling awkwardly, figuring she must be misunderstanding something, "Wait a second, back up, you tried to get him to be your husband, even after he told you about me?"
"Gwen, it isn't a big deal, it's just a different culture, it doesn't mean-" Ben was interrupted by the Queen raising her brow and speaking up.
"Yes it does, and you should know to keep your female-pet silent in my throne-room," Looma kept a nonchalant smile, knowing full well she was taunting her as Gwendolyn growled, her eyes flooding with neon-luminescent turquoise energy.
She quickly floated off her feet a foot or two to be at eye-level with Looma who didn't seem impressed, "What'd you just call me, bitch?!" her fists were engulfed by bright-blue flames suddenly, feeling oddly more territorial than usual, she had been slightly uneasy the entire time Ben had been gone from the planet that week, and to find out all this time later that he'd been getting hit on by a Tetramandian Queen through out the trip, was more infuriating than anything.
"You are in my throne room, I believe I'll call you whatever I want," Looma responded, not being at all phased by her insult, mostly because she wasn't entirely sure what a bitch was, being from an entirely different planet. "I am Queen of this world, I get whichever male or female partner I chose, there is no debate… though, Ben Tennyson is the only man powerful enough to have ever resisted me," what was implied by that wasn't something anyone wanted to dwell, different societies brought on different mating-rituals, including physical force.
Gwendolyn ground her teeth together out of frustration, barely holding herself back as she floated forwards with an enraged expression, one more insulting-snide comment away from lashing out at the Queen when Ben interrupted them both by shouting his demands, "I challenge you to trial by combat!" he shouted catching both female's attention at once.
"What?" Gwen's eyes returned to normal, floating back down towards the ground to face him.
Ben cleared his throat now that it was quiet again, he could speak up, "On Khoros, any and all requests or bets can be settled through physical combat, if I win, you will aid Earth against it's current invading forces," he stated firmly, this was obviously his plan all along but, the diplomatic approach was still the most intelligent one to begin with.
He stared into Looma's eyes without flinching, a determined expression of confidence on his face and a fiery will to protect his world deep in the soul of his own eyes, "Alright," she stood back up, stepping down the short set of marble-carved stairs, "I accept your challenge, and if I win, you must dump this harlot, and become my husband and King," she approached him and held out her lower-left arm for him to shake her hand as to officially seal the deal.
Gwendolyn came from behind and put a hand on his shoulder, "You don't have to do this, we can find another way to protect the world… we always do," her eyes looked more concerned for them, than they were for his safety in the battle, she wouldn't know what they would do if he were suddenly honor bound to leave her and Earth.
Ben turned and grabbed the hand on his shoulder bringing it down so he could hold it with both of his, smiling the entire time, "I'm not worried, not even a bit, the fact that your on the line means I know I can't lose," he pulled it up and pressed his lips against it, kissing the top of her hand passionately for three or so seconds, "Just watch," he winked at her before turning around and clasping his hand with the Queen's, shaking it thoroughly.
"Excellent, the match will begin in exactly fifteen of your Earth-minutes, be ready, husband… oh I do like the sound of that," Looma snickered and turned around, sauntering towards another room nearby to change into more fitting armor.
Gwendolyn growled under her breath, her fists tightened at her side, eager to pound the Queen's face in herself.
…
Omnitrix City; Tennyson Tower; December 23rd, 2025; 12:35PM
It only took a total of twenty-minutes for both Ben and Gwen to get bored of futuristic-television shows that they didn't understand and futuristic technology that they didn't know how to use instead they were eager to know how the next twenty-years of their lives were to take place, "Do people call you Jen Ten?" Gwen asked from the right, standing over Jennifer still lying on the couch with her phone in front of her face.
"Yea… sometimes… just the news though," Jennifer answered her question nonchalantly, staring at her phone, and texting without really paying attention or caring.
"Do you have Master Control on your Omnitrix?" Ben asked sitting on one of the leg-rests for the couch, elbows on his knees and chin in his hands.
"No, just quick-change…" she answered, still texting her friends, typing away and smiling every now and then absent mindedly answering questions with as vague an answer as she could give.
"Can you give me whatever that is?" Ben was excited for a moment as Jennifer's eyes darted to the left, looking at his wrist for a moment, before looking back at her phone again.
Jennifer shrugged, "Prolly," she muttered in response.
"Would you?" Ben stuck out his arm with the Omnitrix on it.
Without even taking a second look, "No."
Ben dropped his head with a pout, "Man…" he whined.
Gwen tapped her chin and looked up at the ceiling for a moment thinking of a good question, "What about me? I saw a wedding ring on my finger, who do I end up with?"
Jennifer glanced away from her phone to meet eyes with her own Mother's childhood innocence, finding it hard to not answer their questions with how insistent they were, "I can't tell you that…"
"Why not? I thought that timey-wimey guy was supposed to wipe our memories after this anyways, right? Who cares if we know now?" Ben reasoned, looking over at Gwen who didn't argue, having heard the same thing yesterday.
Jennifer huffed and sat up, prompting them to back away a bit, not sure if she was going to yell at them again but, she didn't, "Because it'll get more complicated than you realize, and I don't wanna deal with that, no more future knowledge… you want future-info? Watch the news," she pointed over at the many television screens on the wall but, that hardly satisfied them, they were both pretty irritated at the whole ordeal.
"This is a lame trip, at least last time we got to fight Animo and Vilgax…"
Jennifer slapped her forehead, "That wasn't us, you traveled cross-time back then, this is your actual future… I think, probably," she gestured to the tower around her, but feigned at the last second as temporal-physics wasn't her best subject in school at the moment, but she still maintained a C in the class, finishing her sentence with an unsure shrug.
"At least you guys dont seem like emotionless-jerks like that other timeline," Gwen mentioned, leaning against the back of the couch, and glancing at the door for several seconds, glaring at it.
Jennifer narrowed her eyes and dashed off the couch, around it, and towards the door where she leaned against the doorframe nonchalantly, "Don't even think about it, I know that look, Dad told me to keep you both occupied and-" suddenly a thought popped into her head, giving her a great idea, "Actually, I know what we can do, I think you'll love this… and if you play your cards right, you could get all the answers you're looking for."
Jennifer ran at twice the speed-of-sound to such a controlled degree she left no abrasive sonic-booms, snatching up the children, and heading out the door into the rest of the tower.
…
Khoros; Royal Palace Stadium; December 23rd, 2025; 12:45PM.
After Looma left the throne-room, one of the many Tetramand servants came to escort the couple outside the back of the main-palace where a large stadium was constructed, about the size of a few football fields only there was no grass or goals, just seats surrounding the entirety of it and a dirt arena in its center. Once Ben and Gwendolyn approached the field, the latter was stopped from going in by a bury Tetramand who was only really doing his job, she tried to push passed him but, Ben held his hand out with a smile.
"It'll be fine, trust me, when do my plans ever fail?" Ben said with a sarcastically confident attitude, backing away into the center the arena already filled with dozens if not hundreds of spectators already in their seats, chatting nonchalantly.
Gwendolyn cupped her hands around her mouth to throw her voice across the growing distance between them, "Not filled to the brim with confidence!" she reiterated her statement from earlier as he grew small from her point of view, she ducked out of that area to find a better spot to watch the ensuing battle from.
It wasn't long before Looma leaped from outside of them stadium onto center-stage in front of everyone, wearing traditional Tetramand armor, complete with a battle helmet and fighting tape wrapped tightly around her biceps and midriff. Landing with a stomp that shook the ground around her, Ben's eyes immediately found her as he turned to face his opponent, "The terms of trial by combat don't specify so I will have to inform you, husband, for the terms to be valid, you will have to remain a pure-blooded Tetramand for the entirety of the battle…" she cracked her sixteen-knuckles four at a time, leaving her thumbs to simply crack when she tightened her fists.
"I kinda figured, and I'm not your husband," Ben responded confidently, the Omnitrix on his gauntlet lit-up bright green before exploding around him, instantly transforming him into a hulking four-armed Tetramand wearing a sleeveless white shirt over his torso with black pants, and the faceplate embedded in the center of his chest. He snarled as he brought up his fists to eye-level, getting into a fighting stance, "Say when," he instructed.
Looma giggled happily, before turning her head, and narrowing her eyes at him, "When!" she muttered quietly, dashing off towards Fourarms at such incredible speed that not a single one of his four separate eyes managed to see her movements as she suddenly flickered into sight centimeters away with two of her fists in his face. The shockwave from the connection of her face to his face was actually momentarily visible around the impact, cracking apart the ground beneath their feet as Fourarms went flying towards the edge of the stadium.
He flipped midair, regaining his grip on the ground by digging his fingers into the dirt, coming to a stop before using one of his hands to wipe his lip where a bit of bright-blue liquid slicked his finger. He growled and stomped forth into a sprint with his fists reeled back and prepared to unleash a powerful haymaker as he approached. As he got into her close-quarters he thrusted his fist forward which she quite easily avoided by dipping her head to the right, behind her the shockwave of his punch sent a gust of powerful winds at the audience who cheered in response.
Looma countered by quickly gut-punching him twice with her lower-arms, following up with an uppercut as he reeled forward from the pain, sending him back through the air a few feet, landing on his back. Fourarms quickly rolled over to avoid being crushed by Looma who leaped into the air after him, aiming now to user her momentum and body weight to shatter his torso. The ground caved around her feet forming a crater and sending smoking debris out around her, "Don't run from me, beloved, this will all be over soon!" her vision was slightly obstructed but, she still turned to catch an incoming fist from Fourarms behind her in one of her palms, grasping his arm to throw him overhead, though he parried her grip and forced her back a step. They glared at one another, waiting for the other to make the next move, anticipating the next bout.
In the midst of the chaotic battleground, the two towering Tetramands engaged in a titanic clash that shakes the very foundations of the planet. As if fueled by an uncontainable energy, these alien-warriors move with unmatched agility and speed, their movements a symphony of power and finesse. With each strike, the air rips apart with thunderous cracks as their fists collide, creating shockwaves that send debris flying in all directions. The ground trembles beneath their earth-shattering footfalls, unable to bear the strain of their phenomenal strength.
In a display of their remarkable prowess, Looma effortlessly somersaults through the air while simultaneously unleashing a barrage of strikes, her limbs moving like a symphony of destruction that Fourarms was eager to dodge. Their incredible reflexes allow them to seamlessly dodge incoming attacks.
As the battle rages on, the ground is littered with the remnants of their ferocious clashes. Cracks spiderweb across the terrain beneath the impact of each of their blows, and the air is thick with the scent of raw power. The awe-inspiring spectacle of these four-armed superhumans engaging in combat with unparalleled strength and unimaginable speed is etched into the minds of all who witness it, a testament to the heights of physicality that can be achieved in their realm.
Their arms, like coiled serpents around the other, grappling with the other's pure strength, unleash an onslaught of devastating punches, their blinding speed leaving trails of motion in their wake. The impact of their blows is felt like a tsunami, shattering boulders, and altering the landscape with each collision. As their fists connect, a burst of energy resonates, illuminating their surroundings with a blinding radiance.
This caused a massive upheaval of dust and dirt to obscure the result of the fight thus far, even Gwendolyn in the stands couldn't tell what was going on within the cloud, that was until she noticed a bright-emerald flash of light trying to escape the foggy dust-ball. After that a loud thundering boom echoed out from the cloud where Looma came flying out from within, barely managing to land on her feet, digging her heels into the dirt to keep her balance.
When the dust cleared, in the center of the arena where Ultimate Fourarms stood prepared for the next round, they were all shocked to see he was blue-skinned rather than crimson, he was three-feet taller, much faster, and more agile but, he also had sharpened jagged quills along all four forearms.
"Is that not a new form? Is this not a forfeit?!" Looma shouted pointing at him from several over a hundred feet away with a smile on her face, figuring she forced him to break the rules.
The male Tetramand referee approached with a raised brow, he still looked like one of them but, to be sure he brought out a hand-held device which seemed like pretty common technology on this world. The device did a quick up and down scan of the evolved Tetramand and confirmed it for everyone else, "Scans say Ben Ten Thousand is still 100% Tetramand and may continue the challenge!" he announced to the entire arena before backing away resulting in a crowd of excited cheers.
Looma growled as Ultimate Fourarms smiled and shifted into a proper-fighting stance, holding one hand out as if beckoning her to continue, a common taunt.
…
Omnitrix City; Tennyson Tower; December 23rd, 2025; 12:53PM
Jennifer came to a controlled stop within a blank-white room still within Tennyson Tower, each wall was completely empty and completely smooth, "Where are we?" Gwen asked as she observed her surroundings for a moment.
Suddenly, she hopped back a step when the entire room warped to fit a long street environment just outside of Tennyson Tower, including the buildings along either side of the main road, the cars parked along the sidewalks, and even the large advertisement signs connecting each side of the street with long horizontal pillars, "We're outside now?" Ben asked aloud, feeling completely lost until Jennifer stepped from a black-square in the center of the street which vanished once she'd stepped through.
"We're in my Dad's fractal-light holographic matrix, it simulates any number of dangerous villains to fight against and it gives you a place to battle without destroying everything," Jennifer pointed out, approaching now out of her hoodie, wearing just her black t-shirt with its purple stripe down the middle of her bust and the brown cargo short-shorts she had been wearing all day, "I thought this would be a good distraction, if you can knock me down with any alien or spell you have, I'll answer all the questions you want," she announced with her hands on her hips, confidently.
"Lame, you've got that quick-change thing, there's no way I'll be able to keep up!" Ben whined loudly, waving his arms in the air for emphasis.
Jennifer scoffed, folding her arms over her chest, "Don't worry, I'll stick to just one," she winked at him as his face turned red, but he still smiled anyways.
"A-Alright," he stuttered as he reached for his Omnitrix dial, he wasn't so used to anyone else being as arrogantly-smooth as he was, "You asked for it!" he twisted the dial once or twice with loud chimes and beeps until he found the right transformation before slapping down the faceplate.
Diamondhead appeared wearing a half-white and half-black full body spandex suit split down the middle, "Now that I've got my game-face on!" he morphed his fists into jagged shards that he was prepared to fire at her.
Diamondhead waited as he seemed enamored by her as she swiped her two fingers over the faceplate, summoning a neon-purple holo-ring of alien-icons to scroll through the touch-interface so much more advanced than his clunky dial. Taking her fingers away prompted the faceplate to slide back revealing the more familiar Omnitrix-core which she eyed her ten-year-old father before enthusiastically slapping. A bright amethyst flash of light engulfed the teenage girl as a taller woman floated in her place when it dissipated, her bright-pink feathered wings spread to either side of her before catching ablaze with dark magenta flames. Her eyes were consumed with hot-pink light as a smile creeped over her expression; Diamondhead was at a loss for words after seeing this new form, this new alien he'd never seen. Still he launched his sharpened projectiles like high-speed bullets that could tear through solid steel but, they passed right by her, broke apart on her skin, or stopped midair when she caught one in her left hand without ever breaking her smile. Harmony giggled a bit without saying a word before crushing the Petrosapien crystal in her grip effortlessly, opening her hand so that the shimmering-dust could pour from her hand.
"Woah," Diamondhead said, lowering his arms back to his side, "I knew this wasn't going to be fair."
Suddenly, the two kids blinked once or twice and she was gone "Neither did I," Harmony's voice startled them from behind, standing over their shoulders looking out at where she'd just been, "What're you guys staring at?" she asked jokingly.
"AH!" they shouted together, spinning around quickly, and backing away from her in a rush.
"She's like XLR8 and Fourarms put together times a hundred!" Gwen proposed frantically, backing away still in awe of the angelic-figure standing before them, her hot-pink flaming aura billowing quietly over her wings and hair.
"Awe, shucks, you two are gonna make me blush," Harmony actually started to find it quite amusing that she was the only one of the three of them that knew their relationship.
Diamondhead sprinted towards her with a determined expression and his right-fist reeled back, he jumped into the air to try and attack her from above; she backed up a step or two casually as the Petrosapien punched the ground at her feet, shaking the street and the adjacent building. Harmony whistled as if impressed by his strength, even as he pulled his fist out with a foot-long diamond blade pultruding from either of his knuckles and she effortlessly danced with his swings, maneuvering around them without taking her hands from her hips confidently. "Why can't I hit you!?" he shouted, swinging over her head as she effortlessly ducked.
"You didn't say please," Harmony cooed with a cocky smile.
Diamondhead swung his bladed-fist as fast as he could with all of his strength straight for her head, "Please!" he shouted as his blow connected. The sharpened-blade shattered on contact with her forehead, not even flinching from the attack, her skin could withstand a literal exploding planet without a scratch, it was unlikely a Petrosapien could do more damage than that, especially not at ten-years-old. "Oh, boy," Diamondhead looked back and forth between his jagged, shattered fists and Harmony's grinning expression before backing away slowly.
"Merchucus Verditis!" Harmony was struck in the back by a relatively powerful burst of neon-blue mystic lightning but, other than pushing her forwards a step or two, it was achieving very little. She turned and stuck her hand out, taking the full force of the electricity to the palm of her hand, walking forwards with a bit of effort until she was standing over the ten-year-old. Gwen ceased her attack and chuckled as the vibrant glow over her hands dissipated, "Heh, sorry…"
Harmony smiled down at her, "No, that was pretty good, I'm honestly just used to you hitting way harder…"
"What about me!?" Diamondhead came in from behind and began sprinting towards her, firing shards of sharpened crystals at her, all of which shattered into dust on contact with her body. She didn't bother to move, even as he came into her close quarters, throwing haymaker after haymaker into the center of her abdomen, likely trying to knock the wind out of her but, failing none-the-less.
"I wouldn't really know," Harmony sighed loudly, exasperated by the thought of her father as she caught one of his fists in her grasp, twisting his wrist downward, slowly forcing him to his knees nonchalantly, "Dad hasn't really trained with me in years… he has better things to do, I guess," she tapped her chin nonchalantly with her free hand.
"Ow, ow, ow, ow," Diamondhead muttered to himself on his knees, continuing to grasp at his own wrist helplessly even as she elaborated.
Gwen came from the right, folding her arms, "Ya know, that's like the third time you've kinda mentioned that, I thought this version of the dweeb wasn't a total stick-in-the-mud?" she jabbed her thumb back at him, where he was still trying to break free, refusing to give up until the signature low-battery alarm began to chime.
Harmony, remembering what she was in the middle of, looked down at him, "Oh, right, sorry," she released her grip as he fell backwards onto his rear, exploding in a flash of crimson light, and returning to normal, still holding his wrist in slight pain.
Without a word, Harmony walked away towards the door, slapping the dial on her chest as her body was engulfed in amethyst-purple light, reverting back to her human form as well, "He's not, I mean he's super alive, and he seems super-happy, and I mean you two-" Jennifer stopped her sentence, clearing her throat before continuing, rearranging her thoughts to compensate, "-get along super-great, and everything is just super-great," she kept reiterating to herself as Ben recovered from his fall, rubbing his head as he looked to his cousin, who was usually better at the emotional-stuff than he was.
"Except he's super-never-around," Gwen pointed out, glancing at Ben with a disapproving glare even though she knew it wasn't even something he was guilty of yet, "Can't be a jerk if you're never there."
Jennifer agreed with her, more than she felt she should, getting aggravated as she paced around the holographic city-street in circles, "He misses my birthday parties, my school events, the only reason I got this Omnitrix was because he was off word when Mom and I were attacked!"
"Where was I?" Gwen asked innocently.
Jennifer scratched her head, "Oh, well, you were there too…" this lying thing was getting harder to do the more furious she got at her father, if she didn't shut it now, they would end up figuring it out themselves.
Ben didn't really seem to pick up on the subtle hints that his better-half was clearly noticing, Gwen narrowed her eyes at the back of Jennifer's head as she headed for the exit to the simulation, "I can't wait till he, or I, get back from space… I'm totally gonna give myself a major attitude adjustment!" he shadow-boxed the air in front of himself as he followed the teenager out.
Gwen knew he had very little idea on the complexities of a father-daughter relationship but, somehow, deep down, she found a small-smile coming to her face as she felt how sweet he was being was quite admirable, even if it's unlikely he could change anything.
Suddenly, the simulation ended abruptly as the lights to the blank-white room began flashing bright-red along with a loud siren, "What the heck is going on?!" Ben shouted as both kids watched Jennifer narrow her eyes up at the flashing lights, before darting her head to the exit, dashing out of the room in a purple-black blur of motion. Ben and Gwen looked at one another for a second or two before sprinting out the door after her, figuring they should head to the command-center where the adults had convened earlier.
…
Khoros; Royal Palace Stadium; December 23rd, 2025; 12:55PM.
Even in his Ultimate form, Fourarms found his opponent to be more than formidable, even though it was less one-sided now that he'd powered up, he still felt he was no match for her. Their movements become a symphony of power and finesse as Looma's thunderous blows echoed through the air, punctuated by shockwaves that reverberated throughout the arena, cracking apart the entry walls, even while Fourarms parried with remarkable speed and with perfect synchrony.
Ultimate Fourarms grappled with Looma Red Wind in the center of the ring, both of them groaning as their many-arms pushed against one another with incredible force until the Queen of the Tetramands brought her knee up quickly into Fourarms' gut causing a drop of blood to spill from his lips. The blow to his lower abdomen caused him to reel just a bit but, enough for Looma to gain ground, grabbing him by the arms, and tossing him behind her with incredible force.
He flew across the arena, colliding with the stadium-barrier leading up to the stands of cheering Tetramand civilians where Gwendolyn winced at the impact; Ultimate Fourarms used one of his primary hands to scratch the back of his head, still seated in the small crater he made in the wall, he blinked his four glowing crimson eyes, "Oh boy, she's a lot tougher than I expected her to be when I had this idea…" he got to his feet slowly as she sauntered confidently towards him, stretching an arm by winding it up as she walked.
The evolved Tetramand gulped audibly before stampeding forth with all of his might, he figured he'd give it his all in one last shot; given that he was much faster than Looma on foot, his approach gave him extra momentum that she didn't expect when she braced herself and reeled her fist back. Their fists, charged with kinetic energy, meet with an explosive force that silences the crowd and sends shockwaves rippling through the air. The impact is like a deafening thunderclap, reverberating across the surroundings and causing the ground beneath them to crack and quake. The shockwave spreads outwards at the speed of sound in an expanding circle, causing objects to tremble and metal to warp under its sheer power. The spectators around them are overcome by the force briefly, their bodies pushed back as if caught in the wake of an invisible pressure for a moment.
The immense shockwave caused a large amount of smoke and dirt to be upheaved once again at the epicenter of the impact into a cloud of dust obscuring their vision. The Tetramand referee stepped forward onto the ring and clapped his hands together with immense strength, sending a gust of wind across the battlefield, clearing it completely.
Gwendolyn stood up in her seat with a gasp when it appeared that Looma was getting up from the ground, her legs looked weak but, she seemed to be in much better condition than her opponent, who was face down in the dirt, still transformed into an Evolved Tetramand, "No!" she shouted, "C'mon, get up!"
Looma paced around the ring with her arms in the air practically declaring her victory, the crowd cheering her name in the hundreds, and Ben could hear it all, his face smothered by dirt and blood, he could hear the referee counting some Tetramandian numbers that he didn't recognize but, he had to assume it was the ten-count. He wasn't sure how this next part would feel, he'd never done it before and had only seen it once but, if there was anytime at all that would be appropriate to test it, he figured it might as well be here and now. Slowly, the referee stopped as Fourarms rose from the dirt, getting to one knee he looked up as Looma turned to face him with a slightly surprised expression, being directed by the uproar of cheers that came from her opponents resurgence. Fourarms looked directly into Looma's eyes, allowing her to see the intensity and fire behind them as she watched him slap one hand over the spoked-dial on his chest.
As the threshold of transformation is breached, a surge of emerald ethereal energy erupts from the core of the Omnitrix, consuming Ben in a resplendent outpouring of brilliant lights. Radiant arcs of neon-green Omni-Energy dance and weave like celestial bolts of lightning, swirling and soaring in fluid motions of vibrant hues. The genetic wave of energy didn't change the color of his skin by much only giving him another set of eyes, darkening the blue of his skin, and strengthening every muscle in his body by a visible degree; devil-like horns sprouted from his forehead with his entire body cackling with emerald genetic electricity. He grew another foot in height and the quills along his forearms elongated into three separate foot-long blades along each of his arms; his muscles were much more well defined in the same white sleeveless shirt with black trim.
Looma backed away a foot or two, blocking the radiant light from her eyes while he was transforming until his aura settled down, though he still looked like an absolute monster to her, "I am to assume you are somehow still a Tetramand?" she questioned, not admitting in the slightest at how impressed she was by these forms pushing the limits of what it meant to be a Tetramand, since combat was their ultimate-form of communication and settlement, this Super Ultimate Fourarms was the pinnacle of their species to them. The entire crowd was shocked to see him standing in the ring, the behemoth now several feet taller than their Queen, even the referee scanned him multiple times from the side-lines to ensure that the device wasn't making a mistake.
Super Ultimate Fourarms gave a fanged-smile, nodding to her as he got into a fighting stance which prompted her to do the same, looking up into his six menacing eyes, "Ready?" his voice bellowed, deep and commanding with his tone.
"Indeed," Looma responded with her hands up but, the moment she took her next breath he was gone, she was baffled by his miraculous speed, even with his slightly-bulky form; she gasped when she felt someone tap on her shoulder from behind, turning around to face him, she found he'd reeled his primary-right back. In the next moment, she felt her heart sink, if that punch landed it would kill her instantly as she helplessly watched the fist coming towards her, it felt as though it were massive from her perspective as though she were a tiny, tiny droplet of water in the face of a tsunami. She closed her eyes and waited for death but, instead, he stopped his fist, which he sent at full strength, just short of her nose. Still, the shockwave expanded outward behind her head, its sheer force radiating in that single direction, causing a gust of unstoppable winds that sweeps through one side of the stadium like a hurricane, lifting debris, sending Tetramand spectators flying, and leaving a trail of destruction in its wake. The ground trembled beneath their feet as the shockwave reverberated in waves, a visual testament to the titanic strength he possesses.
Looma opened her eyes and found the fist which had stopped short of her face, the mercy that he had shown her which not many would have, before turning slowly around to face the utterly obliterated stadium which left dozens of Tetramands lying in the dirt hundreds of feet away, groaning. And he hadn't actually struck anything.
"I-I, I don't…" Looma was completely at a loss for words, turning around once again to face the Super Ultimate Tetramand, meeting her gaze with his, no man had ever bested her in combat and yet here was one that could do so without even landing a blow. He could have used that form at any point and yet, he still allowed the fight to go on without it, was it simply the spirit of battle? Or was he truly not sure if he could control this level of power? Perhaps he didn't believe she would honor their agreement if he'd beaten her so easily? He waited for her to finish her sentence, standing in the practically destroyed arena, she was truly left with more questions than answers… Ben Ten Thousand… just who was this mere-human? "I yield the challenge," she announced to the referee, and the remaining crowd of spectators and, it seemed that even the half that had been injured by his attack were already recovering, as if it were just another Afternoon Thrashing.
Super Ultimate Fourarms sighed as steam suddenly began pouring off his body in waves, his aura diminishing quickly as he swayed in place, "Yea… you better…" suddenly a bright crimson-flash of light consumed him in an instant from the dial on his chest, leaving Ben Tennyson standing in its wake, though not for long as he quickly lost his balance.
On his way to the ground, he felt his fall braced by something else, "I gotcha," before he passed out, his eyes creaked open and closed slowly, "You can be such a showoff," he heard his wife say down to him, holding him in her lap, and staring down at him with endearing eyes before he passed out completely.
…
Deep Space; December 23rd, 2025; 1:27PM.
"It's too bad we had to leave so quick, I was hoping to ask some of those Tetramand warriors what they thought of my new form…" Ben was lying down on a cot in the medical-room of the Hyper-Cube, which they were suddenly very grateful to have even if they didn't understand most of the technology aboard it; Gwendolyn was standing over him, using her magic to replenish his stamina, and overall heal any injuries he sustained from the battle.
Gwen scoffed, as she gazed down at her husband, her heart swelled with love and admiration. She noticed every line and crease on his face, each one a testament to the years they had spent together, fighting for a better world, a better universe. She ran her fingers through his now ruffled brown-hair, having lost its slicked back style through out the fight, "Yea, well, if you end up like this after one punch from these new forms of yours, I don't know how useful they'll be…" she spoke of their usefulness but, it was clear she was just concerned for his wellbeing, seeing him get hurt was never something she enjoyed even if she'd gotten used to it over the last twenty years.
"It'll take some getting used to, I'll need to train a bit but… this is war, we're lucky that Looma is sparing the forces to Earth that she is…" Ben reached his hand up slowly, taking hold of Gwen's dainty fingers as he sat up, intertwining his with hers as he did so, regaining his bearings.
"Even then we'll still have to hold some kind-of defense for the next twenty-four hours until they actually get to Earth," Gwendolyn added, feeling him unconsciously caressing the side of her hand with his thumb, it was adorable in her opinion.
Ben gave a long exhale and stood up finally, letting go of her hand and stretching his arms above his head, "For now, sit back and-"
"Hello? Hello?! I'm boosting the signal a thousand percent but it wont last long, this is Cooper Daniels, do you read me?!"
"Gideon? What was that?" Gwen called out, unsure of what to make of the voice, having not been sure if she heard it properly or not.
The British A.I female voice spoke up in response to her question, "A signal-transmission from Earth is being broadcast to my servers, shall I retrieve the visual?"
"Yes!" Ben and Gwen practically shouted at the same time at the advanced-computer system, watching as it brought up a holographic image of Cooper, fully adorned in his white-red Plumber armor, standing in front of his desk in the command-center.
"Where the hell are you guys?!" Cooper shouted at them, not angry in the slightest, his expression was one of vivid concern, fear even.
Ben stepped forward with a serious expression, not sure what to do other than to question his long-time friend who kept looking away as if staring at several more screens all around the one he was projecting their feed onto, "What is it Cooper? What's happening?"
"They couldn't get through the dome! They just couldn't get through!" Cooper turned away, addressing someone else on another screen, he seemed like he was being pulled in a hundred-different-directions and handling it like a true hero, "Dispatch Plumber-rescues to all four of them then! Any spare nurses and EMT professionals get prepared for emergency teleport!"
"Cooper you have to talk to us, what happened?!" Gwendolyn finally shouted, breaking his focus from the many other situations he was vaguely dealing with.
The blonde-technopath looked back to their feed, making eye contact with them as he shouted with a nervous voice, "The dome held up so they moved on to another-" he choked on his words, the scenes of fires and smokes from the screens in front of him reflecting in his glowing eyes spoke volumes to the heroes helplessly trapped on their commute, "New York City has fallen, I repeat New York City has fallen!"
…
The war kicks into full-swing, next chapter.
Read, Review, Follow, Favorite.