It was a day like any other going to another stop. If there were bad guys, he'd stop them and save the day. Win an argument against Gwen, go get some rest and inse and repeat. Ben was very content with his life, despite some occasional skirmishes with his enemies or even his family. The RV was parked in another camping spot in a forest preserve. Ben was finished with his chores and was playing video games on his PlayStation Portable, as it is one of his favorite past times. A few hours later, he was called to by his grandpa to help him carry firewood to the camp.
"Ben! I need you to carry these firewood for me to the camp!" Grandpa Max called to Ben. In turn, Ben breathed out a sigh and paused his Sumo Slammer Game.
"Coming, Grandpa!" He yelled back and walked over and proceeded to do said chore. Seeing that there was a pile of firewood as tall as him, Ben decided that it was time to call forth one of his aliens to do the job. Donning the Omnitrix, a fabled and supposedly mythical device rumored to have the ability to transform its user into any sapient species in the known universe and created by the greatest mind in five galaxies. Ben activated the Omnitrix and rotated its faceplate until a familiar silhouette of a four-armed being appeared, then he slammed down on the faceplate, transforming into his tetramand, a species known for their strength and tenacity as warriors to carry mere firewood. This was the daily life for our shapeshifting hero.
Then night came and Ben was getting ready for bed, and once everything was ready, he went to sleep, but it was not until then that something strange happened: in a flash of white light, Ben disappeared from his bed, leaving it empty.
Deep within Herta Space Station, Kafka and Silver Wolf were tasked with simply leading the Anti-Matter Legion to Herta Space Station and leaving immediately after for the arrival of a certain shapeshifter, all within the plans of Elio, as supposedly he will make great changes across the universe. As the Space Station was besieged with troops of the Anti-Matter, they made sure that the crew of the Astral Express arrived to help.
"Looks like everything is going according to plan. Time to go, Silver Wolf." After confirming the presence of the Astral Express, Kafka beckoned Silver Wolf to use her Aether Editing to teleport them out of the Space Station.
Deep within the space station, in a flash of white light, our hero was... sound asleep, but that wouldn't be for long since the alarm sound was going off at maximum volume. Awoken by the sound, Ben instinctively tried to reach for an alarm to shut it off. Noticing there was nothing at all, Ben finally opened his eyes and began scanning his surroundings.
"WHAT THE HECK?!" yelled in surprise at his surroundings.
'Did someone kidnap me for the Omnitrix again?' Ben thought to himself, but he noticed that he wasn't restrained; in fact, there was nobody at all. Trying to regain his bearings, he noticed that there was an alarm sound and a synthetic voice announcing that all researchers were to evacuate to the master control zone.
"What the heck is going on here?" Ben mumbled to himself. To say he was confused was an understatement, but before that, he decided to explore his surroundings for any clues to where he is.
"HELP! SOMEONE ANYONE SAVE ME!" As Ben was exploring before he heard a call for help, he rushed to the source of the call before reaching a balcony below, where he could see a man surrounded by Voidranger: distorters, reavers, and baryons.
"Alright that it's superhero time!" Picking an alien at random because he wanted to save the man, in a flash of green light appeared a lanky plant-like creature whose lower body was made of long green tendrils. This was Wildvine. Immediately he jumped down, standing in the middle of the circle; meanwhile, the man who was already scared out of his mind was even more terrified by the appearance of a creature he'd never seen before. Noticing they were surrounded, Wildvine grabbed the man carrying him and wrapped his fingers around his chest to ensure he wouldn't fall. He then stretched his arm to reach another balcony to escape the courtyard of the space station, while the researcher screamed at the top of his lungs. When he reached his destination, he gently placed the scared researcher down.
"Please don't hurt me," the researcher pleaded to the unknown creature.
"Chill dude, I'm not going to hurt you; I even saved your skin, but anyway, what the heck is going on here?" Wildvine explained, and the researcher, in turn, was shocked that the creature could communicate and might even be able to be reasoned with. There was a five-second pause before the researcher talked.
"The Anti-Matter Legion attacked us with barely any warning. Everyone was evacuated to the Master Control Zone, but I don't think everyone made it in time." The researcher tried his best to explain the situation as best as he could to the Flourana.
"Wait, what is the Ant Mat?" Wildvine was cut off as he was hit with an ice arrow.
"Let him go, you weird plant thing!" A girly voice shouted, turning his head. Wildvine noticed a young girl in a sky blue dress with pink hair holding a bow and a young man wearing green and white holding a spear all pointed at him. In response, as well as making sure the man was safe and sound, he stretched his fingers as tendrils and used them to try and hold them. Both of them had their own way of countering Wildvine's attack. The young man, as if the wind became sharp, shredded his tendrils while he rapidly twirled his spear, while the young girl somehow froze his tendrils solid. Wildvine usually works best in open areas such as the Space Station's courtyard, but seeing as he is in a smaller room, he is at a disadvantage.
"Watch this!" March followed it up with a volley of ice arrows while Dan Heng swiftly moved towards him with Cloud-Piercer. In response to this, Wildvine stretched his fingers into whips again and formed a kind of shield with it blocking the ice arrows and slowing down Dan Hang because he needed to shred through the makeshift shield. Wildvine followed it up with another volley of tendrils from his fingers aimed at Dan Heng, but he just shredded through them again. Finally realizing the major disadvantages in both terrain and number, he decided to retreat. Noticing that Wildvine isn't fit to fight in these conditions, he ejected the bulbs from his back, grabbed them, and threw them at the duo as if they were grenades. Then a thick gas was ejected from those bulbs, causing them to cover their mouths and get out of the smoke. Wildvine used this opportunity to grab the helpless man and grappled his way to another area to escape the duo. When the smoke finally cleared thanks to Dan Heng's wind, they saw that the creature was nowhere to be found.
"*cough* Dan Heng, what was that thing?! Was it some kind of escaped experiment?" March 7th asked, confused about the nature of the creature.
"I'm not sure, but the fact that it knew to retreat and go deeper into the space station once it found out that the disadvantage it was in, not to mention that it took that poor researcher with it, could mean that it is intelligent... I don't like the sound of this," Dan Heng surmised.
"Yeah, I don't like it either. Let's go ask Asta about it later," March proposed, and Dan Heng nodded, and they continued to go look for the creature.
Back with Wildvine, some time had already passed, and he and the researcher were able to come to an understanding that he was asking the researcher questions to help him navigate his way in the Space Station.
"The elevator for the Master Control Zone has been shut off. I don't think we can get back to the Master Control Zone, but thanks for the save." The researcher did not know the name of his savior.
"You can call me Wildvine," Flourana answered.
"Well, thanks, Wildvine. Oh, I'm Rocky, by the way." Rocky finally thanked Wildvine for saving his skin. Then there was a beeping sound as the insignia on the strange creature started to flash red before a crimson light blinded Rocky. When it dissipated in Wildvine's place was a 10-year-old kid.
"WHAT?!" Rocky shouted before Ben started explaining that he was Wildvine, but now he is Ben and started to explain his situation.
"Okay, so let me get this straight: you have the ability to turn into different aliens and that you just woke up here and now want to try to find your way back home?" Rocky clarified to Ben.
"Yeah," Ben answered.
"Well, I think we should reach out for security. With your powers, we should be able to deal with anyone who comes our way." Rocky tried to formulate a plan to get them out of the situation they are in.
"Yeah about that, I can't right now; I'm on timeout and can't go alien," Ben clarified to Rocky.
"Oh, in that case, we should find a safe place and hole up there until you can transform again; I'm familiar with the area we are in right now." To clarify, they were in the Storage Zone 1st floor, and they were to make their way to a safe zone where the curiosities are. After some time, they reached the courtyard once more, and it was surrounded by enemies, but then Rocky noticed a familiar face holed up in the control room.
"It's Captain Arlan! I think he's hurt!" Rocky exclaimed, but then Ben's Omnitrix flashed green, ready for use. Ben smirked and started to dial an alien that can fight.
"Leave it to me. Time to give these losers a quadruple Decker knuckle sandwich.. IT'S HERO TIME." In a flash of green light, Ben once again transformed into another form, but instead of a Tetramand in his place, it was a Kinecceleran. Rocky, in the meantime, was in awe at the transformation.
"Stupid Watch!" XLR8 exclaimed before he disappeared in a blue blur and just as fast he was dealing with the enemies. Ramming into them, using his sharp claws to injure them all while dodging their attacks like it was slow motion. He then sped over to Rocky, grabbed him in bridal style, and sped back into the control room. Noticing the doors to the control room had been opened, Arlan looked and saw a strange blue creature carrying a researcher. In order to save him, he started to prepare an attack before he was stopped.
"Captain Arlan! Calm down! Don't attack him; he's on our side!" Arlan immediately stopped his attack as per Rocky's request and stood down.
"This creature is actually a human named Ben Tennyson, and this is just one of his transformations. He saved my life when I was surrounded by the legion. He had a bit of a misunderstanding with the Astral Express crew, but he escaped and took me with him. We were actually trying to find a safe zone to recuperate before we found you, Captain Arlan," Rocky explained, and Arlan nodded in understanding.
"Hm... I see, I understand." Arlan then turned to the velociraptor-like creature.
"Thank you for saving one of our researchers. You have my upmost gratitude, Mister Tennyson," Arlan bowed to show his sincerity.
"No problem, dude, all in the day's work of being a hero," XLR8 proclaimed, but this only caused both Arlan and Rocky some confusion.
"Her," Arlan was cut by a familiar girly voice.
"Another one?! How many of these things are there?!" March 7th an ice arrow, but XLR8 with his superior speed and reaction time dodged it with no issues. Both March 7th and Dan Heng ran in front of both Arlan and Rocky facing XLR8. Dan Heng noticed the same insignia on the creature as the one they fought previously.
"Ugh.. Can I catch a break?" XLR8 complained.
"Mister Dan Heng, Miss March 7th, please stand down!" Arlan told the duo, who were now confused in turn. They explained once more Ben's situation, and now everyone is on the same page.
"Hmm... I see, apologize for our previous encounter. Dan Heng, being the bigger man, was the first to apologize.
"Nah.. It's cool; don't worry too much about it," XLR8 answered before the beeping on his Omnitrix started beeping again before, in a flash of red light, he returned to his human form.
"Woah, you're really just a kid!" March exclaimed. Dan Heng was also surprised at this too because not too long ago he fought this kid, and by the way he fought earlier, he could tell that this kid has battle experience. Before proceeding with planning, both March 7th and Dan Heng introduced themselves to Ben.
"I know its a little late, but I'm March 7th, and he's Dan Heng; we're from the Astral Express," March introduced themselves.
"Wait, is your name really March 7th?" Ben asked as that was a date.
"Yeah, I know it can be a bit confusing at times when I meet new people," March admitted.
"Now that we're all on the same page, let's get down to business... Arlan, why is the anti-matter legion ignoring the planet and going straight to the space station?" Dan Heng asked.
"I have no idea... The legion attacked us almost right after the security system suddenly failed. Lead researcher Asta organized an evacuation, and I was supposed to cover for them until everyone got to safety." Arlan and Dan Heng were conversing, while in another corner of the room, Ben and Rocky were also talking to each other.
"What is the Anti-Matter Legion?" Ben asked.
"You don't know?" Rocky asked back, in which Ben shook his head no.
"Okay, well, the Anti-Matter Legion is a faction that follows the aeon of destruction. Nanook believes that the universe is a mistake and should be destroyed," Rocky answered to Ben.
"Well, that just sounds like a whole group of lunatics, but what's an "aeon of destruction?"Ben asked.
"Well, Aeons are kind of like gods; they preside over their path and cannot stray away from it," Rocky answered. There was some time where they were talking, but soon
"Okay, everyone, we'll use the elevator to reach the master control zone," Dan Heng announced.
"Hold on. I only activated the elevator on the highest floor; we'll have to get there to use it," Arlan clarified.
"Why so far away?" Ben asked.
"Because I mustn't give the legion any chance to reach the Master Control Zone... So I'll have to trouble you to take a bit of a detour. I apologize," Arlan answered.
"Are you not coming with us?" March asked.
"My leg is injured. I'll only slow you down. I'll stay here and shut down the elevator once you reach the Master Control Zone," Arlan answered.
"You won't slow us down, and you should be able to shut down the elevator from the Master Control Zone, right?" Dan Heng shot back at Arlan.
"Yeah, Ben was even able to carry me across the courtyard multiple times with both the Nameless and Ben here; there should be nothing that could stop us," Rocky reassured Arlan.
"Don't worry, Arlan, we'll be able to protect you," Ban joined in.
"Thank you," Arlan in turn was grateful.
And with that, they left the control room to make their way to the master control zone. Rocky was carrying Arlan on his back all while the group proceeded. There were a few idle chats as well as the occasional battles, but both March 7th and Dan Heng were able to easily take care of them. Soon they managed to reach a room where a light cone was stored.
"Hey these shiny things... are these light cones?! I thought only the IPC had rare stuff like this." March 7th, exclaimed
"No. Light Cones are Garden of Recollection technology and are very potent enhancement items. I heard the IPC paid a lot for the usage rights, but I've no idea how Herta managed to get her hands on one," Dan Heng remarked.
"They were acquired legitimately; take them; they're very useful in combat," Arlan said (BTW, the light cone is Darting Arrow).
Dan Heng took the light cone, and then everyone proceeded to the Second Floor Elevator. It wasn't long before they reached the elevator, but little did they know there was trouble brewing.
"Is that it? We reached the elevator already. Well, that wasn't too many monsters," March remarked. Ben, in turn, gave her a worried look.
"Eh... probably shouldn't have said that might bring bad luck." March smiled nervously.
"You've grown, March," Dan Heng says, giving March a verbal jab in his own way.
Out of absolutely nowhere, an arrow was fired, directed at Ben, but before it landed, it was intercepted by Dan Heng. A Void Ranger Trampler has appeared and roared at them. March, Dan Heng and Ben were getting ready to fight.
"Okay little pony, why don't I teach you a lesson?" In one flash, everyone was blinded in green light before it died down, and in his place was Fourarms. Everyone was stunned for a moment. Dan Heng could tell by the form he took he was going to be a frontline fighter, and in that case, Fourarms should draw the tramplers attention and that he should go for the weak points, all while March should give them supports with her arrows and shields.
Fourarms came charging at the trampler, and in response, the tramper readied its bow aimed at Fourarms. Noticing this March gave Fourarms some shield in order to increase his durability. Dan Heng being faster and while the Trampler was distracted slashed the joint of its hind limbs, making it lose balance and topple over. Fourarms with a big leap and with two sets of his hands clasped together smashed into the Trampler, causing a lot of damage, but it still wasn't down.
"Ben! Get back!" Dan Heng ordered Fourarms, which he immediately retreated back to the group. The Trampler started to get back up, and it roared once again, but this time getting ready to rush the group. It immediately started to sprint towards the group, trying to crush them, but Fourarms sprinted towards it as well. The Trampler started to rear up, getting ready to crush Fourarms, but before that could happen with all four of his hands, he grabbed it's legs, causing them to be stuck in a stalemate. Dan Heng immediately rushed towards it, getting ready to go for a leap and stab its upper body. Before Dan Heng could land a blow, it suddenly screeched a high-pitched noise, causing everyone to cover their ears except for Fourarms, who was still holding onto the creature. Suddenly a swarm of distorters appeared floating above them; this caused both March and Dan Heng to point their weapons at the distorters.
"Hey, sore losers, you can't just gang up on us," March said while pointing her bow at the floating enemies. Suddenly a drone had appeared wielding a circular saw and started shredding through the floating enemies before decapitating the Trampler.
"Let's Go!" Everyone immediately rushed to the elevator. Fourarms pushed the corpse away before joining them.
After a minute in the elevator, they finally reached the Master Control Zone. There they were greeted by a beautiful red head.
"Why does it always have to get this exciting? Well anyways, at least you're back." Himeko greeted her fellow crew members, though notably she doesn't seem to be surprised by the appearance of Fourarms.
'March, Dan Heng, you've been through a lot; why don't you go take a rest?"Himeko offered.
"Whew, Himeko~, what took you so long? That last wave came at us like a swarm of locusts; have you ever tried shooting locusts with a bow?" March asked.
"I wouldn't have made a difference; my orbital cannon may be able to deal with a horde of enemies, but I couldn't just blow up the whole space station along with them; Herta would NOT like that," Himeko answered.
"Are you alright, Arlan? Asta's been worried about you," she asked Arlan.
"I'm fine; a quick patching up should do. Thanks for asking. I'll report the situation to lead researcher Asta. Bye." With that, Arlan left.
"Hey, thanks for saving my skin back there, Ben." Rocky thanked the Fourarmed being.
"No problem," Fourarms answered.
"Well, I should get going now, thanks again." With that, Rocky also left. Himeko then turned to Fourarms.
"Thanks for taking care of my fellow crew members; I'm Himeko, the navigator for the Astral Express." Himeko smiled.
"You should've seen him transform into that weird blue lizard, Himeko! He was so fast that all I could see is a blur!" March exclaimed.
"March hasn't been any trouble for you along the way, has she?" Himeko asked.
"Think carefully about how you want to reply to that," March warned.
"Uhh.. She's cool, I guess," Fourarms answered.
"Yeah, I know, but you were pretty cool too. How many cool things can you turn into?" March asked.
"Look at you all; you've all gotten really close." Himeko smiled, and once again the Omnitrix was beeping red before he transformed back into Ben. Himeko was slightly surprised at the fact that he was a kid all along.
"Where are you from?" Himeko asked. Ben began to explain his situation to her, like how he is far away from home and is trying to find his way back. He also explained to her how his powers work and that it was all in the omnitrix.
"Hmm... I see. May I have a look at your device?" Himeko asked.
"Uh, sure," Ben gave his arm to her.
Inspecting the device, she noticed that a lot of the components it was made of were very alien to her, and she was the one who repaired the Astral Express all those years ago.
"Hmm... I've never seen anything like it before; I bet the IPC would do anything to get their hands on something like this," Himeko remarked before patting Ben on the head.
"Regardless, it's an amazing piece of technology... I recommend keeping it a secret as much as you can." Himeko gave her advice, and Ben nodded.
"Don't worry, we won't tell anyone about your cool watch," March reassured Ben.
"Come on, let's go hear what Asta has to say," Himeko urged them. Soon they reached Asta.
"Projectile radar tracking, normal telemetry signal frequency unusually high! Maintain at normal levels! Our measurements predict that the legion would unleash over ten waves of continuous attacks! Everyone brace yourselves!" Asta was clearly busy managing the security of the Space Station.
"Asta! We're back!" March announced.
"Whew, I'm glad you're all back safe. Arlan just told me about the situation at the storage zone and about his injury. Thank you for all your help." Asta then turned to Ben.
"I heard from Arlan about what you did. Thank you; that was very brave of you, especially for a boy your age," Asta thanked Ben.
"No problem; I deal with these kinds of things all the time," Ben said, stroking his ego. This only confused Asta, but that wasn't important right now.
"I realize more and more that the space station's researchers are its most valuable assets... Alas, we were ill-prepared for such emergencies... we should have built up our security and combat departments." Asta admitted
"What is the current situation on the space station?" Dan Heng asked.
"The situation is under control for now. The damage to our security system was minor. The intruder only managed to alter a small amount of data, so it was easy to fix. The real problem lies with the researchers... They trust Madam Herta wholeheartedly and never thought that the space station would be breached by the Legion. A broken spirit is far worse than a broken body." Asta explained.
"Let's go speak with the researchers. Right now, the space station can't afford any more unexpected turns, especially from within. Have you tried contacting Herta?" Himeko asked.
"I sent multiple letters, all met with silence. You know her, Himeko," Asta answered.
"I'll also send a letter to Herta and tell her that we've brought the rare item she seeks. At least that might get her attention," Himeko offered.
"That would be of great help." Asta thanked the red head.
Both Dan Heng and March 7th went to go talk to the researchers. As for Ben, he was sitting on a bench alone. It began to dawn on him the situation he was in; this was an entirely new experience for him. Yes, he saved a lot of lives, but he never got to see for himself the terror those people felt nearly being in the clutches of death. Deep down, he always knew that if he ever messed up, someone could die. Not only that, he had to cope with the fact that he was not with his family anymore.
'Gwen, Grandpa, Mom, Dad, will I ever see them again? ' Ben thought to himself that Ben was beginning to grasp that he wasn't home anymore, but it wasn't until Himeko sat next to him and started a chat.
"You look a bit gloomy. What's wrong, Ben?" Himeko asked.
"Nothing," Ben mumbled.
"Come on, Ben, I know something is bothering you; talk to me." Himeko was being serious. There was a long pause before Ben started talking.
"It's just that... I was supposed to be on my summer road trip, and suddenly I... " Ben wasn't able to finish until Himeko hugged him, understanding what he was going to say.
"We'll help you find your way back home, I promise," Himeko told Ben as she was hugging him. Ben was holding back tears.
Awhile later Dan Heng and March 7th finished talking to the researchers, and Ben had calmed down. They were going to talk to Asta about the incident, but before that could happen, a large amount of warning signs appeared on the monitor in front of Asta. She immediately checked the security cameras on the supply zone, and there it was: the Doomsday Beast.
"Take the Express and go!" Asta told the crew. The crew obliged and left the Master Control Zone; Ben, however, stayed.
"You should go to Ben!" Asta told him.
"No! I'm staying here to help!" Ben argued back.
"No, you're not. You're just a kid; you should go with the Express," Asta argued. Not seeing any point in arguing, Ben left, going after the Express but not to run away, far from it. After awhile of catching up, Ben was able to reach the Astral Express Crew.
"Hey guys, do you have any clue on where the supply zone is?" Ben asked.
"Why? Do you plan to go out there and fight the Doomsday beast all by yourself?" Dan Heng asked.
"If I don't save those people, then who will?!" Ben argued.
"You should know that the Doomsday Beast is the legion's planet destroyer. It won't be like the enemies you've fought before," Dan Heng claimed.
"Wait a minute, Dan Heng. Judging from what I've heard of his abilities, he may be the key to helping us turn the tides. Of course I may be wrong," Himeko interrupted. In truth, none of the members of the Astral Express wanted to simply abandon the station while its inhabitants' lives are in danger, especially March. Giving it some thought, Dan Heng replied.
"As you say so. Alright, what should we do next?" Dan Heng asked.
"This is the supply zone where the maintenance crew works. There's a path here that leads to the nearest railway platform. Let's head over there and meet up with Welt," Himeko announced.
"Mr. Yang's here too. Didn't he stay on the Astral Express?" March asked.
"The Astral Express tracks our coordinates in real time... and with such a dramatic change in the Space Station's movements. There's no way Mr. Yang wouldn't have noticed," Dan Heng answered.
"Alright, let's do this!" Ben announced.
"Right now we should be able to handle the Doomsday Beast... But if the destruction's emanator were to appear..." Himeko mumbled.
"Destruction's what now?" Ben asked.
"Let's hurry up and get out of here. I'll explain later," Himeko replied.
They were all making their way to the supply zone. March, Dan Heng, and Himeko were the ones dealing with the enemies along the way. Ben couldn't just simply go alien and help because there was a time limit on his watch and he needed to save it until he faced the Doomsday Beast. They did at one point run into another Trampler, but with the combined forces of Himeko, Dan Heng, and March, they were able to deal with it. Soon they reached their destination.
"Aw yeah, it's the platform!" March cheered.
"The express isn't here," Dan Heng remarked.
"It has to be nearby. Let me go peek with my sharp eyes," March smirked.
'Let's see if she can still say the same thing after she meets Eyeguy,' Ben thought.
When they reached the parking section of the supply zone, March was the first to reach it.
"Wait, March!" Dan Heng shouted, but before anyone else could reach her, the Doomsday Beast zoomed past her, startling everyone.
"The Doomsday Beast... it's really here," Himeko remarked.
"Get down here!" March readied her bow, aiming at the Doomsday beast.
"Careful everyone!" Himeko warned before the Doomsday Beast landed in front of them and unleashed a loud roar. March readied her bow, aiming at the Doomsday Beast; Dan Heng had Cloud-Piercer ready at hand; Himeko had her suitcase turned into a saw; and finally Ben, in a flash of green light, transformed into Heatblast. Everyone got into formation. March was at the back providing support, Dan Heng and Himeko, and Heatblast were at the frontlines.
Once again, in a loud roar, the Doomsday Beast let out a loud roar before slamming its hand at the trio, but all of them got out of the way. Heatblast flew up towards the creature's head.
"Eat this!" Heatblast unleashed two beams of fire directly at the creature's head. Himeko, Dan Heng, and March took this opportunity to go for the creature's antimatter engine. March unleashed a volley of projectiles shaped like a certain rabbit of the express, Dan Heng readied for a powerful stab before piercing the Antimatter Engine. The Doomsday Beast let out a loud roar once more before managing to swat away Heatblast.
"Ben!" Everyone shouted in unison. The Doomsday Beast then swiped at the rest of the group, but again all of them were able to dodge. It then followed it up with an attack from the antimatter engine. Constructs similar to the Antimatter Engine formed around Dan Heng, but before it could close in on him, Heatblast blasted his way back into the fight at breakneck speed, stopping before the Antimatter Engine and unleashing a powerful beam of fire at it, causing it to break, successfully intercepting the attack.
"Thanks for the save," Dan Heng said to Heatblast. March casts a shield on Himeko, and Himeko uses her saw to further damage the antimatter engine. The beast let out another loud roar before wildly thrashing its arms in an effort to hit them, but once again the struggle was fruitless as they all dodged the attack. Once again, Himeko, March, Dan Heng, and Heatblast all went for the antimatter engine. Heatblast was first unleashing a powerful beam of pure fire; March followed it up with a volley of ice arrows, all of which successfully landed; and finally, both Himeko and Dan Heng used their weapons to both slash and pierce the Antimatter Engine, finally subduing it. The Doomsday Beast let out a roar of agony.
"Ben! March! Both of you go for the right hand; Dan Heng and I will go for the left," Himeko ordered, and all of them understood. Dan Heng with Cloud-Piercer and his mysterious wind abilities leaped high into the air; he was the first to sprint to the Doomsday Beast's left hand; he managed to pierce it and hold it in place on the ground. Himeko followed it up by hacking and sawing away at the incapacitated left hand and, with her fire abilities, successfully subdued its left hand. Meanwhile, Heatblast rushed to the hand. He unleashed a single powerful fireball to the right hand; it was then followed up by another volley of ice arrows. The right hand tried to counterattack by forming a fist and slamming down on them, but both of them got out of the way.
"Ben! Together now!" March yelled. Heatblast understood March's implication. Heatblast flew high above the Doomsday Beast; March started the attack.
"Gotta try hard sometimes. Check out this awesome move~" March cheerfully yelled before unleashing a large volley of ice sculptures of Pom Pom statues, all of which landed. It was then followed up by a single powerful beam of fire from Heatblast, finally destroying the last part of the Doomsday Beast and knocking it down.
"NOW!" Himeko ordered; everyone obliged and began their attack on the downed giant. Himeko finally unleashed her orbital strike on the downed beast, causing heavy damage. March unleashed volleys of ice arrows before finally Dan Heng used a powerful technique of speed and power piercing its head, also causing heavy damage. Heatblast rushed to the downed beast and let out a concentrated flamethrower at the beast, seemingly to finally take it down.
"Yeah!, hey Ben, we actually make a pretty good team!" March complimented, but before Heatblast could reply, the Doomsday Beast got up and let out a powerful roar. It seems that it was able to successfully regenerate.
"Oh, you have got to be kidding me!" Heatblast exclaimed.
"Get ready everyone!" Himeko ordered once again; everyone obliged and got into formation. The Doomsday Beast was getting ready to unleash a volley of beams, noticing this March casts a shield on Himeko. Then, as soon as it was ready, a volley of beams was unleashed upon them, hitting all of them. Then, using its antimatter engine, it powered up both of its hands with the power of quantum and imaginary energy.
"Go for the antimatter engine just like before!" Himeko ordered. Everyone obliged once again; all were aiming for the antimatter engine. Himeko was up first once again slashing and hacking away at the engine; she was followed up with Heatblast rushing up to the engine and releasing concentrated flames at the engine, causing significant damage to the engine. It was then that Dan Heng once more sprinted towards the engine and pierced it again with his spear, and March followed up with a single powerful ice arrow successfully landing. In retaliation, the Doomsday Beast thrashed wildly. Everyone dodged by making distance between themselves and the Doomsday Beast, then prepared another of the lasers, but this time everyone was prepared. When the attack came, everyone got out of the way and resumed the attack. March began to fire arrows, and Heatblast fired a volley of fireballs at the engine, slowly whittling it down.
When the volley of ice and fire ended, Dan Heng and Himeko finally finished off the engine with slashes and pierces. The Doomsday Beast howled in pain before trying to swat them away again, but they were too fast, and it missed. They employed the same tactic as they did before, with March and Heatblast going for the right hand and Himeko and Dan Heng going for the left hand.
March and Heatblast were starting to work in sync with each other, with Heatblast being the first to go with his attacks before March; otherwise, their attacks would cancel out. Heatblast started with another fire blast before flying high above the hand and releasing another concentrated beam of fire downward; this resulted in the hand crashing down to the ground. Then March released a volley of Pom Pom ice sculptures raining down on the Hand, freezing it. Heatblast followed it up with another powerful fire blast, finally destroying it.
Dan Heng and Himeko were working in perfect synchronization. Dan Heng would go first by using his spearmanship to decrease the hand's defenses by creating holes in its armor. Himeko followed it up with the hacking and slashing of her saw, shredding through what was left of it's armor, leaving it in a vulnerable state. Dan Heng once more against the defenseless target used another powerful technique to cause heavy damage to the target, destroying it also. When the Hand was destroyed, the Doomsday Beast was knocked out once again.
"NOW!" Himeko bellowed out an order, and just like before, everyone understood.
"The truth of life and death revealed in an instant. This sanctuary is but a vision. Break!" Dan Heng chanted the incantation to significantly increase the power and speed of his technique aimed at the Doomsday Beast. In a green blur, Dan Heng landed his attack with speed and power, causing significant damage before retreating.
Himeko and March were readying their ultimate moves once more; Heatblast meanwhile charged a powerful fireball 10 times his size. In unison, all of them readied their powerful ranged attacks. March was the first once again unleashing a barrage of Pom Pom ice sculptures freezing the downed Doomsday Beast. It was then followed up when both Himeko unleashed her orbital cannon once more, causing heavy damage, and Heatblast blasting the massive fireball at the Doomday Beast simultaneously, finally defeating it.
The Omnitrix finally started to beep red before Heatblasts turned back into Ben. Suddenly the Doomsday Beast surged back to life and unleashed a planet-destroying beam as a last resort. It then began to direct the planet-destroying beam to the exhausted March; having spent too much energy fighting the Doomsday Beast, she couldn't run away; if she was hit, she would most certainly die.
"MARCH!" Both Himeko and Dan Heng yelled. Ben, out of pure instinct, rushed in front of March before it could reach her. He attempted to shield her with his body, but when the beam reached him, the Omnitrix reacted by activating one of its failsafes. Automatically, in a flash of green light, a massive shadow was cast over the crew. Everyone was shocked at the form Ben turned into; this was his To'kustar form Way Big. His arms were crossed in an attempt to tank the beam, but out of nowhere he unintentionally released his own beam colored blue. Noticing this, he put more power into his own beam. As the two planet-destroying beams clashed, everyone stared in awe. Eventually Way Big was able to overpower the Doomsday Beast and defeat it once and for all. When Way Big defeated the Doomsday Beast, the Omnitrix flashed red before turning him back to Ben. He was unconscious, spending too much of his energy. As he was floating down, he was caught by Welt Yang, who had just arrived with the Astral Express.
He was just in time when he saw how Ben protected March from a planet-destroying beam. He had also seen the enormous form Ben took before defeating the Doomsday Beast.
"Mr. Yang! Is he okay?!" March rushed over, very concerned about Ben's status.
"He's fine. He's just unconscious. All he needs is rest," Welt deduced.
After a couple of hours, Ben was slowly gaining consciousness as he looked around. He saw that he was in the Space Station Master Control Zone. When he looked around, he saw March, who then noticed he was awake.
"Hello there~" March greeted Ben cheerfully.
"What happened?" Ben asked.
"Well, we defeated the Doomsday Beast, and it's all thanks to you. You really are a hero, aren't you?" March credited him. Normally Ben would relish in the glory, but he just woke up.
"Get up if you feel better. Oh, and Himeko wants to talk to you. You should go find her. I have something to do, so I can't go with you," March explained. Ben started to get up and started to wander around looking for the Redhead.
He soon spotted her in the distance, so he made his way over to her, noticing him coming. Himeko greeted Ben.
"Oh, you're awake. Thank you for saving March back there. I don't want to even imagine what would have happened if you hadn't been there." Himeko thanked Ben.
"No problem, just doing my job," Ben smirked. Himeko chuckled at his statement.
"It's almost time. She should be arriving any moment now," Himeko stated.
"Who-" Before Ben could finish, he was interrupted.
"I've only been gone, what? A few months? And the space station is already in this state?" The owner of the space station finally arrived.
"Welcome back, Herta," Himeko greeted her. Ben looked at Himeko funny.
"This is the true master of the space station—Genius Society number 83, Herta," Himeko explained to Ben.
"At least give me a proper introduction! Genius Society number 83... Of all my outstanding achievements, that's what you want to mention?" Herta complained.
"Wait, you're telling me all of this is Her's?" Ben asked.
"Yeah, up to speed yet? That place you all turned upside down? That's my property," Herta told Ben.
"So you're the little twerp I've been hearing all about," Herta remarked, eyeing the Omnitrix.
"Hmm, I'll have to take a good look at your watch," Herta told Ben. After inspecting the Omnitrix, Herta was amazed that almost all of its components were entirely alien to her.
"Very interesting. If this thing hadn't melded to your DNA, I'd have added this to my collection." This statement from Herta alarmed Ben, and Herta noticed this.
"Oh, relax, I'm not going to steal it; I am above such savagery... But I would like to analyze it further to see how it works," Herta told Ben.
"I'm actually curious too; when Ben was about to be hit with that beam, it seems to have reacted by transforming him on its own," Himeko remarked.
"Very interesting indeed," Herta mumbled.
"Can I go now?" Ben asked.
"You can leave. I'm discussing science with what's her face... Himeko? Science exists in objectivity; there's nothing to be secretive about," Herta replied.
"But as far as you're concerned, I think it would be better for you to listen in. After all, I have a lot of plans ahead involving your device. Speaking of which, Himeko..." Herta wanted to know something.
"Can I bring him for research?" Herta asked.
"Well, that's up to him to decide... You should go ask Ben," Himeko answered.
"What no way," Ben answered.
"This little twerp really has a temper. Don't worry, I won't hurt a hair on your head. With my skills, even surgery would be painless!" Herta exclaimed.
"Besides, I've been hearing all about your mistransformations that could really be a problem in the future. Let me help you while I'm still interested. Once I'm not interested, I won't help you even if you beg me," Herta explained. Ben really wanted to get that problem out of the way, but before that, he asked a question.
"Can you unlock Master Control?" Ben asked, kind of wanting his ability to transform with just a thought to return.
"Sure, in fact, I might even be able to throw in some cheat codes for you," Herta answered. With a moment of silence pause, Ben gave in.
"Fine, but don't try to steal the Omnitrix or the deal's off." Ben gave Herta his answer.
"Great! I'm very interested now, so there's almost nothing I won't accommodate. A device filled to the brim with foreign DNA. How interesting is that? No way Ruan Mei would say no to this! Be grateful that I'm offering to help you out. This is a service even the IPC can't buy," Herta proclaimed.
"You understand now, Ben? Herta wants you to stay in her space station," Himeko told Ben, but she was refuted by Herta.
"Well, I'm going to have to modify your wording here: This little twerp can only stay temporarily until the research is done. Or maybe I'll lose interest halfway through and they can just beat it." Herta refuted
"And after that?" Himeko asked, but in the back of her head she already knew the answer.
"Not my problem," Herta answered.
"Ben... You also have another option—the Astral Express. If you want, you can leave with us. We can help you find your home, and besides, we can come back any time to let Herta conduct her research. She's absolutely fascinated now," Himeko explained to Ben, causing him to be immersed in his thoughts.
"Hm, works for me; it keeps this subject fresh, too. And that way I won't need to keep worrying about this little twerp all the time. Perfect!" Herta exclaimed.
"I'll give it some thought," Ben answered to Himeko, who gave him an understanding nod.
"Just remember to come back often. Make an appointment in advance with Asta or Arlan so I can make time to study your device," Herta told Ben.
"There's no need to rush into this, Herta. Let's give him some space first before he decides for himself," Himeko told Herta.
"Ben, I'll be waiting for you on the platform. It's no hurry if you still have things to do or someone to see. Come find me when you've made your decision," Himeko told Ben before leaving.
"Before you leave Ben, I need you to go to my office," Herta said before she simply disconnected from her puppet, leaving Ben on his lonesome.
"Either I stay here or leave, huh?" Ben thought to himself. He already knew that he wanted to leave and go back home, so staying here wouldn't help him one bit, so he already made the decision to leave this place and join the Astral Express, and according to everyone, the Astral Express is known to travel from planet to planet, so logically speaking, he is way better off with the Astral Express rather than here. With his decision, he asked for directions to Herta's office before making his way there. Once he reached her office, he saw a bunch of portraits of Herta in the room.
'She's so self-centered,' Ben thought to himself.
"Hey there you are. Now enough dilly dallying. Place your hand in here." Herta got to the point fast. Not sure what to make of it, Ben complied, and the analyzer immediately began to scan his Omnitrix.
"I'll need to scan your device before I can let you try out our simulated universe," Herta explained.
"Simulated universe? What's that?" Ben asked.
"It's a big project I'm working on along with a few colleagues. If we're successful, we could finally answer the biggest mysteries of the universe," Herta rambled on, but Ben just became sleepy from her explanations. After two hours, the scan finished and Herta began to inspect the collected data; the scan actually only scanned the Omnitrix's software, settings, and all active playlists. The Omnitrix showed the homeworlds of each alien in the active playlist as well as other information involving them, all of which was information she's never heard of before. Herta began to make adjustments in the settings to further optimize it. After thirty minutes of tinkering, Herta gave Ben some news.
"Okay, li'l twerp, so I've reduced your recharge time to three minutes and extended it's active time to fifteen minutes. I still don't know why you mistransform, though, but... I've managed to change the settings so that you can transform between forms without you going kid again. Oh, and I also made it so you can go back to human form whenever you want," Herta explained to Ben.
"Wait, what about Master Control?" Ben asked.
"Absolutely no idea. Whoever made this thing does not want Master Control to be easily accessed; it needs some kind of encryption key, and besides, I don't care anymore. I've held up my end of the bargain; now it's time you held up yours," Herta nonchalantly explained. Ben sighed
"You really are a terrible person," Ben said.
"It doesn't matter. Who cares if others don't like me? I know I don't care. As long as I have my own value, I can do whatever I want," Herta smugly explained.
"While you may have good character, do you have any value? Don't take that the wrong way; I'm genuinely asking you. You might have some value; I just don't know about it," Herta explained, and Ben was beginning to immerse himself in his thoughts again.
"Enough chit-chat. Let's get on with it," Herta interrupted before Ben could finish his thoughts.
"If we succeed, it will answer the ultimate question that's been puzzling us for thousands of Amber Eras: The truth about Aeons," Herta explained, but Ben asked.
"What are Aeons?" But he was just ignored by Herta, who kept rambling on.
"Aeons... think about it. What mystical existences! Some Aeons used to be ordinary humans like you and me, but somehow THEY managed to obtain power beyond our imagination! THEY are mysterious, powerful, silent, and terrifying! It's hard to explain all the mysteries surrounding THEM. How were THEY created? Why were THEY created? What were THEY created for? Ben, have you ever thought about these questions?" Herta asked. This made Ben think before answering.
"42?" Ben answered, kind of he had glimpsed when he was scrolling through websites one day he saw the answer to everything was 42.
"42 what? Are you even listening to me? We want to solve the mystery behind the Aeons! Right now I want you to participate in this project!" Herta exclaimed.
"Now go and experience it for yourself. I will guide you in the simulated universe to make sure nothing happens to you! I'll even give you a substantial reward!" Herta exclaimed.
"Now just step on the platform and I'll get you ready," Herta explained. Ben did as ordered and immediately did as ordered.
"Yes, just stand there, and the computer will read your brainwaves, then automatically generate an immersive simulated experience." Immediately he was in another part of the space station. Before he could say anything, Herta began talking to him from his head.
"Ben, are you getting this message? I'm just going to assume that you do. Your body is still sitting in the office; this simulated universe is generated from your memories. This is only the alpha test server, so a lot of features are going to be unavailable. Try walking around," Herta explained. Ben did as told and walked around.
"See? You can move around now. I want you to play Akivili and find some monsters to fight. Let's see which simulated Aeon will notice you first," Herta remarked.
Ben left the room and was greeted by a hallway full of enemies. In a flash of green light, Ben turned into Cannonbolt and steamrolled through the hallway filled with enemies effortlessly. When Ben turned back to his human form courtesy of Herta's optimizations, Ben is currently having a vision.
There is a murmur in the amber sky. It's dusk. He looks up and finds countless copper ore, amber, and opal falling from the sky. This is a wondrous mineral rain. In the steam, the colossal thing stretched THEIR spine from the mantle with a sledgehammer gripped in THEIR broad palm. He opened his eyes and realized that this is actually Qlipoth, the Aeon of Preservation!
"What the heck is this thing?!" Ben exclaimed.
There is a huge roar around THEM—this is a warning for him. Then they disappear before his eyes. With Ben's vision returning, he looked around, and he was back at the Space Station.
"Our calculations are correct. Qlipoth, the Aeon of Preservation, has really appeared." Herta's voice suddenly sounded, and she let out an ambiguous giggle.
"What was that thing?!" Ben asked.
"What you saw was the simulated Aeon carefully cultivated by Ruan Mei and Screwllum. The simulated Aeons will ignore us just like the real ones, so I set your simulated identity as Akivili, Aeon of Trailblaze, to attract THEM," Herta answered.
"Wait, what are Aeons?!" Ben exclaimed again but was ignored.
"Now it seems that my judgment is correct. Next time you run into the Aeons, try to get something out of THEM," she said with a click of her tongue. Finally understanding Herta's personality, he gave up trying to converse with her and carried on. Ben reached a door leading to the control room, but it was guarded by enemies. (Btw, the enemies are the Antimatter Legion.) Ben transformed into Fourarms and smashed the Reavers and Baryons very against each other, eliminating them very easily. When Ben finished, a screen popped up in front of him; it showed blessings that he could choose, and they were all preservations.
"I'll cover you for this test. See, I used my clearance to enhance your blessings. Now you can go have some fun. Don't ask why. Just thank me. Go, pick one!" Herta told Ben. He picked Divine Construct: Metastatic Field because it was a gold color.
"Woah, this just like the time I got into Sumo Slammers," Ben remarked. He wondered if he could go upgrade and get more cool buffs but decided against it. Ben continued to take in the fact that he was in a simulated universe. Soon he reached the main lobby of the simulated space station, filled to the brim with enemies.
"Ben, I'm going to speed up the process. Now you're going to fight three times in a row. This is not how the simulated universe should operate, but I'm running out of patience," Herta explained. With a groan, Ben transformed into Fourarms again and charged into the room filled to the brim with enemies.
Fourarms started off with a sonic boom with a powerful clap, stunning most of the enemies; those who weren't stunned tried to jump Fourarms. Before they could reach him, Fourarms grabbed them and threw them at the other enemies. Then, with a big leap, Fourarms smashed the ground, causing an AOE shock wave that dealt with the rest of the enemies.
"Alright, so how do I change between my aliens?" Fourarms asked.
"Just tap on your device," Herta answered. Fourarms tapped the Omnitrix on his shoulder, and he changed into XLR8.
"Sweet," XLR8 remarked. Suddenly a Trampler barged into the room, ready for a fight. XLR8 switched to Wildvine whipping the Trampler to test his ability to change between forms. The Trampler charged at Wildvine, who once again changed, but this time he became Diamondhead and erected crystal spikes pointed at the Trampler. He switched once again into Stinkfly, flew on top of it, and unleashed a barrage of sticky slime, trapping the Trampler in place. Once again, Stinkfly turned into Heatblast, unleashing a powerful beam of fire from above, also causing the slime to explode. The Trampler was defeated, and Heatblast turned back into Ben.
"I was expecting THEM to appear. Never mind. I'll switch off the simulated universe then. It'll only take a second and you won't feel a thing. Let's chat back in reality," Herta explained, but before she could shut off the simulated universe, she noticed something.
"THEY... came!" Herta's stunned words
"No, not THEM. It's another Aeon! It's..." Her voice suddenly drifts off. Ben has a strange feeling about this, as if Herta's words solidified and the whole simulated universe became somehow unreal. Ben saw a blurry figure made of mirror fragments, and THEIR facial features are repeatedly refracted by the prism to form a mystery. Countless memories spring up before his eyes. He saw reflections of the faces of his grandpa, his cousin, and his parents all deformed and rubbed together. Then, their voice suddenly came.
"He who holds the universe within his hands shall weave new worlds, gain the favor of the gods, and alter finality." Every word THEY say is connected to each other like a whisper. Before Ben could say anything, THEY suddenly disappeared.
"What the heck was that?!" Ben questioned Herta, but again he was ignored.
"We did it!" Herta yells with excitement.
"That was Fuli. THEY thought you were the fallen Akivili, so THEY actively started a conversation with you. Fuli is valuable for our research because THEY have the memories of all beings and know almost as much about everything as Nous does! Come on out, Ben, I want to upgrade the Simulated Universe. You need to stay in there even longer in the future!" Herta said. Before he could say anything, it felt like he was being pulled away by a hook before he found himself at Herta's office once more.
"Success! I have to tell this news to Stephen right away. Ben, don't just stand there. Go in and see if you can get a few more words out of them or something." Herta excitedly exclaimed.
"I think I have to go now," Ben told her.
"I've upgraded the Simulated Universe; it now has more memory and can support longer sessions. The last round must've been pretty boring. I'll get Stephen to add a few more interesting things. Oh, and make sure to come back, kay~" Herta told Ben, who in turn just nodded his head and left. He had already made his decision on what he wanted to do when Himeko gave him a choice, so he was making his way over to her.
When he reached the supply zone, he saw Himeko, so he made his way over to her. She saw him and turned to face him.
"So, have you thought things through?" she asked.
"Yeah, I've decided that I want to go with you," Ben answered, and Himeko smiled.
"Then come with me," Himeko said as they were walking together. Ben asked Himeko a question.
"Why invite me to join?" Ben asked. Himeko paused before answering.
"Because you're special," Himeko answered.
"Is it because of the Omnitrix?" Ben asked.
"Well, that's partly the reason, but it's because of your heroism. You charged in there ready to take a hit for March; not a lot of people are able to do that, especially for someone as young as you. It's because of that that I want to help you find your way back home," Himeko answered. Ben stopped asking questions. Soon they reached the Astral Express, then it's automatic doors opened.
Finally finished with the first chapter took me several days but I managed please critique my work tell me how I can do better and if you want me to do chapter 2 post it on the reviews