Disclaimer: I don't own Ben 10.
Chapter 68: The Battle Of New York PT. 1
Omnitrix City; Tennyson Tower; December 23rd, 2025; 12:55PM
The ten-year-old Ben Tennyson didn't really seem to pick up on the subtle hints that his better-half and twin-cousin 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.
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.
Jennifer dashed in and came to a controlled stop in front of the massive bay-windows lining the command center, looking out into the city before her eyes slowly trained upward into the sky above the emerald-dome, "Oh… no…" her voice cracked, the fear radiating from her tone, two simple words and yet it weas all she could say.
Ben and Gwen ran in a few seconds later, coming to stand right beside her before they noticed where her vision was locked, "What's wrong, what's the emergency?" Ben asked her but, she didn't answer, she just kept looking out, and up at the sky. It wasn't until they wised up, following her gaze up above the city where one of the flag-ships in orbit had dispatched a smaller, yet still building-sized craft which was currently hovering ominously over the city. Moreover, it had a massive smoldering metallic barrel extending out from its exterior-shell with a luminescent glow still emanating from it, as though it had just been fired.
"It looks like they still cant break through the protective dome," Cooper announced, approaching from behind, his prosthetic-gear clanking on the ground for every step he took. "Let's just hope it stays that way…" he trailed off as they watched the alien-craft float backwards before taking off into the atmosphere, "Or they'll figure it out immediately," he turned around and made his way back to his desk, accessing multiple screens at once, hacking into every company or government organization that watches the skies for a living.
"Can you figure out where it's going?" the ten-year-old Gwen asked, approaching the desk from its front side to peak her eyes over it.
Cooper chuckled, "That was my first idea, they're moving too quickly to track, it's gonna be another minute or so before they slow down again."
"We should fly out there and take that thing down!" Ben punched his fist into his open palm, his expression was as determined as ever until his cousin and the current bane of his existence butted in.
"What're you gonna do? Shoot Stink-Fly gunk at it? He's not strong or fast enough for a ship that size," Gwen was being as rude a ten-year-old could be but, she had a point, no Lepidopterran would be able to match the shielding or exterior speeds of the craft.
Ben folded his arms over his chest in a fit for a moment until they seemed to look away from him, at which point he used his right hand to mimic a mouth opening and closing as muttered to himself, "wHaT'rE YoU gOnnA dO? sHoOt StInKfLy gUnK aT It?" he mocked in a funny voice.
At that moment, Albedo dashed in at supersonic speeds, coming to a perfectly controlled stop at Jennifer's side, sending a gust of powerful wind into the kids' faces. "I saw the ship from outside, do we know where it's going yet?"
"It already stopped," Cooper muttered, reading the data line by line as quickly as he could, "It's hovering over New York City, sixty-miles from Bellwood, and it's deploying remote forces to the grounds below!"
"They can't destroy the barrier so they moved on to another city, it's just as big as Omnitrix City only a bit bigger, we have to go down there!" Jennifer worked it out aloud before demanding they go to fight, turning to face Albedo who ran the fingers of his flesh hand through his silver-slicked back hair.
"Agreed, are you prepared for a fight of this magnitude? After everything that happened?" His crimson shaded eyes looked deeply into her oceans of emerald, flooded with hot-pink Omni-Energy as she smiled up at him, raising her right arm with her Omnitrix dial glowing in his face.
"I'm ready," she reasserted just as her ten-year-old burdens approached the two, trying to assert their own dominance over the situation.
"The three of us can go out there and really show-" before Ben was even finished with his statement, both Albedo and Jennifer interrupted him with a single word as loudly as they could muster without shouting outright.
"No!"
"No!"
Jennifer and Albedo looked into each other's eyes as soon as they heard the word, an explosion of neon-crimson and amethyst-purple light flooded the room forcing the kids to shield their eyes for a moment. Cooper was all-too used to the bright flashes of energy that accompanied his teammates transformations.
Negative XLR8 and Kinetica were left in their places as the former spoke up, "Sunny is already on the scene trying to stop as many from making landfall as possible but, with the number of forces we're facing, it's quite possible she's already overwhelmed," his raspy voice made a good point as they nodded to one another before dashing out of the room at incomprehensible speeds, leaving both kids quite stupefied by how much more powerful they would get in-time.
Ben furrowed his brow and folded his arms over his chest again which left Gwen actually feeling some sympathy for him, she placed her hand on his shoulder from behind, "I mean, these guys have mastered the secrets to their watches, how much help would we be out there anyways?"
…
New York City; New York; December 23rd, 2025; 12:59PM.
The streets of New York City were shrouded in a thick layer of grey clouds, casting a dreary and somber mood over the bustling metropolis. The sound of raindrops hitting the pavement echoed through the empty streets, as most people had sought shelter from the relentless downpour. The once vibrant city was now draped in a gloomy and melancholic atmosphere, with the usual hustle and bustle replaced by the steady rhythm of rain. People of this world had seen plenty of alien incidents and invasions before, usually most regular civilians had no idea how close they came each time to utter-annihilation, and it was likely better that way considering the panic it would have caused. Now, when the population of most countries on Earth saw massive war-ships hanging above them in the sky, it was just another day of the week. Ignorance is bliss, after all.
The rain seemed to intensify, creating a symphony of sound as it hit the pavement, the buildings, and everything in its path. The streets were slick with water, reflecting the neon lights from the surrounding buildings, creating a mesmerizing sight. The iconic yellow taxis, which usually zipped through the streets with urgency, now moved at a slower pace, their windshield wipers working overtime to clear the raindrops.
Without warning, one of the main ships directly above North America deployed a swarm in the thousands, of hovering saucer-like drones, down towards the most populated city in America, and also the nearest, and biggest city to the planet's greatest heroes resident home-town, Bellwood. These extraterrestrial vessels, brimming with advanced technology and unknown weaponry, cast a foreboding shadow over the bustling streets below during their descent.
As the city's inhabitants looked up in awe and fear, they soon realized that this was not a mere spectacle, but a full-fledged invasion. Dark-brown drones with orange trim, sleek and menacing, began to fire upon the city and swiftly made their way towards the ground. These robotic creatures, with their sharp edges and eerie red lights, exuded a sense of danger and malevolence as their thin yet, surprisingly powerful beams tore through the sides of buildings, detonated cars, and slaughtered any unfortunate enough to not seek shelter.
Meanwhile, on the ground, chaos ensued as the military was in the air and on the scene within minutes but, even they were no match and struggled to contain the invasion. Their conventional weapons were useless against the advanced technology of the alien drones, bullets bounced off these drones as though they were made of rubber. As soldiers fired their guns and launched missiles, they were met with impenetrable force fields and evasive maneuvers from the alien crafts. It was clear that the military was failing in their attempts to defend the city.
Amidst the chaos, a new type of threat emerged - bipedal, maroon-colored androids deployed in massive shells that landed on the battleground with an impact which shook the streets. Each one opened up, deploying dozens of these seven-foot, blaster wielding, bipedal soldier-like droids which marched on the city, open firing on any targets within range. These mechanized creatures, with their calculated movements and inhuman precision, struck fear into the hearts of those who witnessed them, the screams of the innocent echoed across the city drowned out only by the massive explosions and collapsing rubble erupting through out every city-block, one after the other. They were unlike anything the city had ever seen before - a fusion of technology and biology, designed for one purpose only - to conquer and destroy.
As the invaders continued their assault, the once vibrant and bustling streets of New York City now lay in ruins. The sound of explosions and the wails of the injured filled the air, as the city's inhabitants ran for cover and searched for any means of escape. The once proud and mighty metropolis was now at the mercy of these advanced beings from another world.
Despite the valiant efforts of the military and the resilience of the city's inhabitants, it seemed that all hope was lost. The invasion from the sky had brought New York City to its knees, and it was clear that the future of this iconic city was now in the hands of these otherworldly invaders. One news caster and her single camera-man were hiding behind a turned over, and blazing, sixteen-wheeler, determined to do their jobs to the very end for their journalistic integrity, doing a report on the invasion even among the dangerous chaos.
"As you can see-!" the woman plugged one ear but, was still forced to shout over the explosions behind her and the collapsing buildings in the distance as she began her broadcast, "I am reporting live from the scene of a catastrophic event unfolding in New York City. It's a scene of pure chaos and destruction as a mysterious alien invasion has descended upon our city. It is a surreal and terrifying sight to behold, I- ladies and gentlemen, I fear for my life." The reporter flinched at the sound of another explosion going off in one of the buildings across the street seconds before the camera panned up, following a military fighter-jet swing uncontrollably through the sky, less than a hundred-feet above them, before slamming into the side of a building, and exploding on contact with a massive fireball. "D-Dear god," she did her best to continue with her report even as tears visibly swept down her cheeks, no longer for the money but, for the sheer determination to what she loved util the very end, "e-eyewitnesses have reported seeing h-hundreds of saucers and humanoid robots all through-out the city, if you are hearing this broadcast, stay indoors! For the love of god, stay indoors! As I stand here and witness the devastation, I can't help but wonder what these aliens want and where on Earth is Ben Ten Thousand!?" she nearly shouted that last part.
Just as she announced this question to the camera, several of the robotic-humanoid soldiers rounded her cover and aimed their weapons at her and her camera man, she watched as they fired a beam from one of their rifle-like weapons directly through the cameraman's chest, said high-definition camera dropping to the ground with them as the audience could now only see an obstructed sideways view of the newscaster backing away into a corner of a turned over truck on the street.
"No, please," she begged, dropping her microphone, as they were about to fire when suddenly, a sonic-boom from the distance drew the attention of their long ranged sensors. Each robotic-soldier turned to the left looking away from the announcer, who was now full on crying with running mascara down her cheeks, staring down at the body of what was very likely a good friend of hers being the cameraman who was staring lifelessly up at the sky.
Like a whirlwind, a signature blur of purple and black rushed passed the scene once, twice, three times, and each time it passed another pair of drones was dissembled suddenly, collapsing into a pile of parts. In only a few seconds, the woman was safe, and the Kinceleran stopped in her tracks to speak to her, the darker-mauve shaded visor over her face sliding up, "You need to find shelter right now, shows over!" suddenly, a massive explosion of crimson-light revealed Negative Ultimate Humungousaur standing in the distance only a few blocks away, firing at ships with his rocket-launching fists, knocking drones out of the sky but, also unintentionally unleashing massive quakes and bursts of air pressure through out the area below. "Move!" Kinetica dashed through the street at five or six times the speed of sound with the newscaster in her arms, maneuvering around turned-over vehicles and exploding storefronts to place her down in front of the entrance to the underground subway system, "This is the safest place we can think of right now, tell everyone you can to stay calm!" the teenage speedster took off in the opposite direction so the woman could get down the steps as quickly as possible, finding dozens of people just like her standing around, some crying.
…
Omnitrix City; Tennyson Tower; December 23rd, 2025; 1:06PM
Ben and Gwen were watching the news broadcast which just showed a man getting murdered and Jennifer saving the life of one of the broadcasters at the same time; displaying both what could be happening while they do nothing, and what they could be capable of should they interfere. Ben's fists were tightened at his side, so frustrated that he turned and kicked the central-console, prompting Cooper to look up at him just as he threw his tantrum, "I cant take this, I'm going out there, even if its only for ten minutes!"
"Don't be dumb, you can't possibly think this is a good idea, it'll take you like half of your charge time just to get to New York at your speed…" Gwen pointed out, her expression clearly pointing facts out reluctantly, she wanted just as badly to use her powers to do some good, rather than none at all.
"All I heard was that I'd have at least half my charge time to save somebody, or destroy some robots, or something…" Ben reached for his Omnitrix when someone taller than him came from behind, grabbing his wrist, "-Hey!"
Cooper might have only one good leg but, he was still a trained Plumber officer with muscle enough to pick the ten-year-old up off the ground with one arm, "I'd have to put you in a cage to stop you, wouldn't I?"
Ben's determination was apparent in his long glare as his only response to that question, other than continuing to struggle in an attempt to get free of his grip.
"Well, I have work to do, and I'm not walking all the way downstairs to the armory just so I can trap you," Cooper slowly put Ben down onto his feet as the boy stopped struggling, watching as the technopath took hold of the dial on his Omnitrix.
"What're you-" after a few seconds of staring at the dial with luminescent turquoise energy in his eyes, the dial spun on its own, beeping as it did until suddenly a bright flash of emerald light engulfed his arm. Cooper backed away and made his way back to his desk to sit down as Ben felt a familiar rush of Omni-Energy coursing through him, feeling the psychic connection to his Omnitrix re-establish itself in his mind, "Woah, you gave me Master Control?! I thought they said no?"
"Technically, I work for you and your wife so, I'm gonna make a judgement call while I work on getting ahold of them…" Cooper had no intention of hiding their future-relationship from them, and in fact, had completely forgotten that they weren't supposed to know. It was coincidence that the sentence he just spoke didn't reveal more before Ben transformed into a ten-year-old XLR8 with light-blue accents instead of the traditional white the technopath was used to. "That brings me back, now, go out there and do all that heroic stuff you were just complaining about," he said as he refocused on the many floating screens around him, bringing up the status of the battle as things just got worse and worse.
Gwen was slightly suspicious of the wording he just used but, didn't have time to analyze it before she was scooped up at three-hundred-miles-an-hour and rushed out the door in a blur of blue and black, screaming the entire way down.
…
With a cacophony of metallic reverberations, swarms of malevolent drones and mechanized soldiers inundated the labyrinthine streets, ensnaring the metropolis within a web of extraterrestrial terror. Yet amidst the chaos and turmoil, two enigmatic entities seemed to materialize, their forms a blur of crimson and amethyst luminescence amidst the obsidian canvas of the burning city. Armed with their Omnitricies, the symbol of intergalactic peace was the only recognizable thing amongst the blurs of speed and power. With their sinuous physiques and talon-like claws aglow with arcane Omni-Energy, they surged forth with a tempestuous fury that defied mortal comprehension. Bearing witness to the relentless advance of the alien horde, with each ephemeral stride, they traversed the battlefield in a spectral blur, their formless silhouettes a testament to the unfathomable velocities they commanded. With blinding swiftness, they eviscerated drones with a ferocity that rendered their movements imperceptible to mortal eyes, leaving naught but smoldering wreckage in their wake. As for the mechanized sentinels of the invading force, they proved to be no match for the prowess of the speedsters, who dismantled them with a surgical precision that bordered on the supernatural, leaving damaged parts scattered in the wake of their speed.
They rescued men and women from certain death time and time again, hundreds of them as they were whisked away to safety beneath the city within the subway systems however, for everyone they saved it felt like ten more had been lost in the chaos.
The ten-year-old XLR8 dashed into Time-Square in a blur, littered with smoking debris, he stopped quickly to put down Gwen who was tucked away into his chest, "Are we there?" she peaked her eye open slowly, noticing that they had stopped but, somehow feeling incredibly comforted listening to the beat of his speedster heart. He'd mostly let go of her now, the only thing keeping her attached to him were her arms around his neck, taking only a second or two to notice, she quickly jumped down and cleared her throat nervously.
XLR8 raised his visor which had been hiding his expression, looking her in the eyes, "Did you bring your spell book?" he asked, not sure as to why she was being so weird in the first place. In truth, she had pretty much figured out the secret that was being hidden from them for the last twenty-four hours since they'd arrived in the future but, she wasn't entirely confident in that fact and was still in the process of asserting to herself that it couldn't be possible.
Gwen shook her head and slapped her cheeks twice to regain her composure, "Yea, yea I did!" she reached into her pocket and pulled out the palm-sized purple covered book, it's pages inscribed with enchanted ink, the words glistened when observed by a proper mage.
"Great, you stay here and-" just as XLR8 was about to give her his game-plan, she gasped and backed away looking out behind him, eventually pointing her fingers up at the half-dozen hovering saucer drones with crimson-lights emanating from within them, "Those are…" she muttered as a sudden emerald explosion startled her for a second, still getting used to the fact that he now had Master Control again as Wildvine shot its roots into the ground at their feet with incredible speed. In the blink of an eye, dozens of thick, powerful stems had sprouted, and wrapped themselves around each of the hovering drones. Another explosion of emerald energy revealed a giant bipedal wolf-like creature in black-and-white spandex whose snout split-apart four-ways, unleashing a furious blast of sonic energy in the form of an echoing howl. Gwen blinked up at him as he transformed once again, this time into Heatblast who incinerated the remains of the drones; his flurry of movements and rapid transformations had destroyed the saucers in a matter of seconds, leaving even Gwen in awe of his prowess. It was even more impressive than the last time she watched him use the full powers of the Omnitrix, as frustrating as he could be sometimes, one thing she could always admit was that he was an amazing hero.
"I didn't know Vilgax was apart of this whole Time War thing but, it actually makes the most sense out of everything that's happened this last day or two," Heatblast pointed out, turning to fire a beam of fire into a saucer that flew over their heads, causing it to crash and explode a few hundred feet away.
Gwen scoffed, "Well, I don't think I could forget the way these freaky robots looked when they were chasing us for the last three months!" her eyes were suddenly engulfed in neon-blue sparkling energy, igniting her hands in flames of the same color.
"Twista Combutitas!" she clapped her hands together aimed above her head, commanding a whirlwind to decimate two or three droids in the air. She noticed the wreckage was due to fall on top of her, not having enough time to look through her spell book, she smiled brightly when she noticed a giant crystal-arm jutting from an emerald flash of light.
Amidst the chaos of battle, Ben Tennyson, and Gwen Tennyson, both merely ten years old at the moment, stand side by side, their youthful determination shining through the smoke and debris. With each strike, Gwen conjures vibrant torrents of neon turquoise magic, weaving spells of protection and destruction alike, her movements graceful yet fierce. In a flash of emerald light, Ben transforms, his form shifting seamlessly into an array of alien beings, each with its unique powers and abilities. With a roar, he becomes a towering four-armed behemoth, unleashing raw strength upon their robotic foes, then in an instant, morphs into a swift and agile speedster, darting through the battlefield with unparalleled agility, dismantling drones at the speed of sound. Together, they form an unstoppable force, a duo of tenacious defenders holding the line against the relentless onslaught of drones and robotic soldiers. Their bond as comrades only strengthens their resolve, as they fight with valor and tenacity beyond their years, a beacon of hope amidst the turmoil of war.
…
Above the city, a powerful woman made entirely out of ethereal mana-energy surged with focus and determination; her body, although completely nude, was lined with dark-purple energy glowing so vibrantly any distinct features were hidden from sight. Sunny Tennyson was using most of her power to intercept attempted attacks on the city from the number of ships still in orbit; massive yellow particle-beams with a width comparable to that of a football field rained down on the planet from above, the powerful Anodite used her abilities to clone herself, splitting her mana-essence into fours so as to literally be in four places at once. Forming large shielding constructs, she blocked those particle-beams to keep the city as safe as she could manage. Considering each of those beams could level the city on their own, it was feat in-and-of-itself to be deflecting them let alone multiple at a time, with her over all power divided by four.
There was a swarm of smaller drones that splintered off from the invasion force, quickly turning around as they did to surround each of Sunny's clones; at least eight hovering saucer drones firing their crimson beams into the clone's backs one by one, forcing them to dematerialize as a surge of energy returned to the original unbeknownst to their robotic programming. "Urgh!" feeling that same pain in herself, Sunny fired a beam of mana at the group of drones with her left hand but, missed them as they maneuvered around it. Sunny's shield was just then smacked by yet another intense particle-beam, sending bolts of yellow-lightning through the air and thick-cracks throughout the construct as she brought back her left arm back up to reinforce the shield. "God, fucking damn it!" she shouted in frustration as a blur of speed rushed through the drones attacking her clones, crushing them one by one at the speed of light, only the original could see MidKnight slashing through them effortlessly in a blitz.
His raven-black wings shot out in front of her as he stopped in front of her, the explosions going off in the background just as he exited super-speeds, "Hi," he said quietly, crimson iris and blacked-out eyes, it didn't matter what form he took, she could always see the man who saved her life in those eyes.
Sunny smiled, splitting off into another clone of herself identical in every way just shimmering off her body and floating beside her to take her place in holding up the shield, "I love the new form!" she complimented, floating towards, and placing her glowing hand on his broadened chest, covered by the form-fit armor generated by his Ultimatrix. "So tight, and uhm, big…" she giggled to herself, looking him up and down relentlessly but, Midknight only chuckled in response.
"I don't know what that means, well I suppose I do but-" he quickly took her by the shoulders, tucking his arm around her while he fired his onyx black lightning from his free hand, striking and destroying the floating drone directly behind her, "this is hardly the place for it," he looked down at her now that she was tucked in his arms, though she quickly floated back. One would have thought, with her glowing violet-purplish skin, that it would be impossible to tell if she were blushing or not but, at that moment it was obvious to him that she was.
"ohkay," she sang, wanting to just melt right there but, quickly regaining her focus and composure; Sunny watched as his eyes shimmered with crimson light the instant before he erupted into a crimson explosion transforming him into Negative Jetray, ducking back down into the city to check on Jennifer.
"If we survive this, I am so going to rock his six-foot world…"
…
Aboard the Hyper Cube, the two heroes were trapped on their course nearly an hour from Earth at top speed, "How did he know?!" Ben punched the side of the interior walls with all of his strength, surprisingly not at all scratching the ship or shaking any of the items within, "How could Eon have known we'd left Earth?!"
Gwendolyn furrowed her brows growing an expression of concern over her face, approaching him from behind and placing a hand gently on either of his shoulders, "Calm down, it could have easily been a calculated move, bring in war-ships to scare you into leaving for reinforcements," she turned him around as she lowered her arms and he combed his fingers through his already slicked back hair, "Waiting to attack to give you a false sense of security, that's in the past, we need to focus on the now. Like, how do we get to Earth from here?"
Ben raised a brow, "Can't you open us a magic-portal?" he suggested, only receiving a not so welcome response.
"We're almost as far away as Galvan Prime is from Earth, it would take almost all of my power, not to mention I've never made a portal while moving faster than the speed of light!" Gwendolyn turned around and walked away, beginning to pace around the room, passing the many trophies on pedestals and in containers. "What about all these ancient artifacts? Can't any of them open portals?" she picked up an alien-advanced handgun with a pristine silver barrel and marron-red handle-grip labeled 'Space Racer' which Ben quickly came from behind, grabbing from her hand, placing it back down on the pedestal she got it from.
"Some of them," he responded, walking away from her as she followed behind him closely, "But most of them would take more effort than its worth to figure out how they work," they entered the corridor at the far end of the dimension-defying interior of the craft.
"Most of them… which means there's one you have in mind that you think might work," Gwendolyn surmised, following him passed many labeled doors; God Sphere, Omniversal Spectrum, Yggdrasil… she could hardly understand where these doors could have led but, all she was sure of was that they weren't their current destination. After another minute of walking, they found themselves in front of a large white double-door which slid apart automatically upon their arrival.
Within the room were six individual yet, identical containment units designed as pedestals with glass-casings surrounding stone fragments, each one shinning with a divine light of a different color, Gwendolyn was forced to shield her eyes from the light at first until her vision adjusted, "The archives say these things are called the Infinity Gems, each one controls some aspect of the Universe to an infinite degree… the space stone should be able to get us home," as he approached them, an automatic system lifted the glass casings off the pedestals, leaving the stones floating in stasis.
Gwendolyn watched him as he hesitated to even reach up and grab it, narrowing his eyes at it, "What else do the archives say about them?" she questioned, seeing it on his face and hearing it in his voice, the fear that kept him from grabbing it like he did most things in life.
"They can supposedly annihilate your body, or drive you insane… although, I'm not eager to jump into either," Ben was about to reach his hand up when he sighed, dropping it back to his side for a moment. It wasn't long before he regathered his conviction and reached out for the glowing purple gem floating in a shielded stasis.
Gwendolyn shook her head, grabbing his arm, "Maybe we should just stop the ship and I can open the portal myself; I'll be drained but, you could still cover me one you got there and-" she was worried, something about being in the presence of such immense power made her incredibly anxious, it was like taking on the aura of the Alpha Rune six times over.
"I can't risk that; we'd be jumping right into an active battlefield, you'd only get hurt or worse if we went with you completely out of power," Ben yanked his arm away from her, not yet putting his attention back on the glowing Space Stone before them.
"Why don't I just open the portal and send you through? I'll take the ride with the ship back to Earth," Gwendolyn suggested the most obvious solution they'd been ignoring the entire time, though he didn't seem too interested.
Shaking his head in response, he looked back at the stone floating in stasis before them, "No, there has to be another way…"
"What's the big deal? I'll catch up with you," Gwen tried to look into his eyes but he wouldn't take his off the stone, she pulled him back by the shoulders forcing his gaze to avert down to his shoes as she stepped in front of him, "Do you not want to fight that battle without me?" she tried looking for his reasoning but, couldn't find any.
He finally turned and looked into her eyes, identical emerald pupils meeting as he forced himself to say what he'd been thinking, he gently placed his hands on either of her shoulders as he looked down at her, "I don't want to do any of this without you, you're my everything, you and Jennifer are the only real reasons I fight," he dropped his head, leaning forwards, placing his face into the crook of her neck where she reciprocated by wrapping her arms around his neck, embracing him softly. "I don't want to leave you behind."
Gwendolyn smiled, leaning her head against his slightly, she sniffed his head like he had to her earlier that day and suddenly understood why he'd done it in the first place. It felt incredibly securing to have her face buried in his hair for a few seconds, plus the aroma from his manly scented shampoo only made her want to cuddle him tightly. "Did you just sniff me?"
"I did," she muttered into his ear.
He raised his head to look at her once again, "See?" he announced asserting how it wasn't that weird after all.
"So, what're you gonna do?" Gwendolyn asked, raising a brow at him as he took one of her hands, guiding her to stand beside him as he turned around to face the Space Stone floating in its stasis above the pedestal.
"We're going to use this to get back to the battle, together," Ben made up his mind as he felt his wife tighten her grip on his hand, looking up into his eyes as he lifted his hand to reach out for the celestial object.
"I do love a heartfelt moment but, I should advise against grabbing the volatile unchanneled infinity stone…" a familiar voice spoke up from behind them in a British accent, prompting them both to gasp suddenly. Turning on a dime, Gwendolyn engulfed her fists and eyes in neon-blue vibrant mana-flames while her significant other released her hand transforming in an instant flash of emerald light into Diamondhead whose arms were already sharpened into single blades. Within a single second or two, they recognized the figure standing confidently in front of them although he was wearing a slightly unfamiliar outfit, though Ben knew this was the outfit he wore when he watched him die. His white lab coat now had brown and black pouches along with golden trim; underneath he wore a black turtleneck with a white scarf, and his brown vest had gold buttons and pouches along it. He still wore the familiar goggles around his neck however; the Chrononavigator was now disguised as a silver gauntlet with golden-trim on his right hand. His black pants now have brown kneepads, and he wears a pair of brown boots with gold straps.
"P-Professor Paradox? This isn't- how could you be here…?" Diamondhead was utterly confused, transforming back into his human state with a thought as Gwendolyn lowered her defenses in response to seeing him.
"Is this the welcome an old friend is to receive?" Paradox walked passed them calmly, using what appeared to be a simple wooden-cane to assist him, "Emphasis on the old."
Gwendolyn looked back to Ben, noticing how his face had gone pale, how his expression was horrified but, couldn't take his eyes away from the time-walker, "How can you be alive? I watched you die at the Edge of Obliv-"
"Ah-ah!" Paradox quickly put a finger up, interrupting the hero before he could finish, "No spoilers; clearly you've encountered a future version of myself, and that future-me accompanied you on some great adventure, many perhaps," he picked up his cane and tapped the handle against Ben's broadened chest, "However, that wasn't me now, or it-will-have-been me, time travel makes verb tenses so confusing."
"What about Timeless?" Gwendolyn spoke up, mentioning the time-traveling variant of her husband that they'd met a few times now. "And what's with the steampunk soldier look?"
Paradox chose to ignore the part of the sentence he didn't understand, knowing full well by now that they were referencing some future events he cant have part in, "Steampunk is cool, and it shouldn't concern me what another time-walker is doing, it is a Time-War after all, there are bound to be a few of us mucking about," he adjusted his tucked in white scarf, doubling down on how cool his outfit was.
"I haven't seen you in years, why come to us now?"
Paradox scoffed, pacing around the infinity stone pedestals while analyzing them as he spoke rather quickly, "This battle is integral to the stability of the Time-War itself, if you two aren't on the battlefield in the next thirty-seconds, certain events will trigger a butterfly effect, that would cascade into all of time being shattered to pieces. Another one of Eon's poorly thought-out strategies fortunately, I was deployed to see you both there without haste."
"Wait, what happens in thirty-seconds?"
"Deployed by who?"
Paradox held his gauntleted hand out summoning a bright glowing vortex of energy swirling before them, an untempered schism in time and space connecting them directly to Earth without issue. "Wait, I have so many questions, you're one of the only ones that I trust who can answer them," Ben tried to grab Paradox's attention but, he seemed incredibly determined to get the couple back to the battle. "Please," Ben pleaded.
"I assure you the next time we meet, we will have a long discussion, as for right now, you both need TO GO!" Paradox suddenly gripped their shoulders and with that last emphasis on his words, he shoved them through the portal.
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