You all surpassed the Power Stones goal twice, so here are two extra chapters.
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Friedkin University
Gwen was in her room when she heard a knock at the door.
"Who could it be?" she murmured, confused, since she wasn't expecting visitors.
When she opened it, she looked both ways down the hallway, but there was no one there. Just as she was about to close the door, she noticed a box on the floor with a small note on top.
[Gift for Kevin]
"For Kevin?" she repeated softly as she bent down. The box had several holes, so it wasn't hard to guess what was inside.
As soon as she opened it, a dog jumped out, knocking her to the ground and enthusiastically licking her face.
"Ha ha, stop it, boy," she said between laughs, petting him until he calmed down.
"A gift for Kevin, huh?" she said with a smile as she looked at him. "Knowing him, he's going to love you."
---
On Attea's ship, after Kaito dropped off the dog, he turned his attention back to Lala, who was manipulating the Unitrix with her D-Dial.
The device began to emit irregular pulses, and black markings spread across its surface. Within seconds, a viscous red-and-black substance emerged from it, taking on a humanoid shape.
"How...? You forced my digital form to become physical? You even dragged me into this place?" said the entity in a semi-mechanical voice, visibly confused.
Kaito recognized him immediately, Malware. However, even as he spoke, his legs were already fusing with the ship's metal, attempting to take control of it.
Without wasting a second, Kaito channeled ice magic and fired a burst toward his body. The temperature dropped instantly, and Malware's mass began to harden, moving sluggishly.
Lala took the chance and activated her D-Dial. Several metallic spikes shot out, piercing Malware's body and transmitting electrical pulses and corrupted code.
Malware roared furiously, but his voice soon distorted, turning into a chaotic mess of collapsing system sounds.
In seconds, he went completely silent.
With Malware now completely frozen like a crashed program, Lala kept typing until his mass contracted, changing shape until it shrank to the size of a soccer ball. Kaito picked it up from the floor with curiosity.
"An updater-kun at your service," said Lala proudly.
'She's as bad at naming things as ten-year-old Ben,' Kaito thought ironically, though on the outside he only nodded in thanks.
"Can I take this?" he asked the system mentally.
[Since the consciousness has been completely erased, it counts as a tool. It can be stored in the backpack.]
"Perfect." Kaito stored the now harmless object inside the system's backpack.
"Maybe we still have time to grab a few more items," he said casually.
Charmcaster shook her head. "There's no time left. The adult Ben de-transformed, and the octopus-head pulled out his bomb."
Kaito sighed. "Open the portal."
He had been waiting for that moment. He knew that Ben 10000 could transform into a fusion between Alien X and Atomix, an extremely powerful form. Although it wasn't at the level of the original Alien X, it had a huge advantage, he didn't need to argue with his other consciousnesses, he could fully control the power.
After facing a real Alien X, Kaito had no intention of risking it again, especially with only one life left.
But to avoid that confrontation, he had to act quickly and take the Omnitrix before Ben transformed again. That meant revealing his speed in front of everyone. And if he did that, Vilgax wouldn't be dumb enough to activate the bomb afterward, knowing there was someone on the field faster than him.
The plan depended on two possibilities,
The first, that Ben 10000 de-transformed far from the battlefield. Unlikely, considering it was an all-out brawl.
The second, that Vilgax had already prepared the bomb but hadn't activated it yet while Ben was de-transforming. That one depended entirely on luck.
Kaito decided to trust that possibility. After all, even if something went wrong, the original canon's result was that everything returned to normal. He wouldn't lose his main objective, only the chance to take the Chronosapien bomb.
And fortunately, quite literally, the moment came. Kaito was ready.
---
In a wide area surrounded by warehouses, the battle between the alternate Bens had turned into complete chaos.
On the villains' side, one was transformed into a Frankenstein-like creature, another into Ultimate Echo Echo, one into Diamondhead, another into Humungousaur, and the last into Way Big. Eon and Vilgax watched from a distance, not interfering.
On the heroes' side, Ben and Gwen were fighting using transformations like Arctiguana, Diamondhead, Echo-Spider, and Feedback. The Ben without an Omnitrix stayed hidden with Paradox, waiting for the right moment.
The fight was messy, full of crossed attacks, explosions, and shouting. Ben was never a genius strategist, so what you saw was basically a festival of clashing powers.
Way Big stomped anything that moved, firing energy beams at random. Those on the ground could only dodge while trying not to be crushed.
Ultimate Echo Echo fired sonic disks in all directions, while Echo-Spider, a fusion between Echo Echo and Spider Monkey created by Ben 10000, showed exactly why it was his favorite transformation. Its design resembled a metallic monkey with sharp joints and a mix of organic and robotic reflections. It could split, emit sonic waves, and move with incredible agility.
Combined with Ben 10000's experience, it had become the undisputed MVP of the battlefield.
Diamondhead and Humungousaur exchanged devastating blows, while Benzarro already lay defeated. He had barely transformed when he tried to shoot Ben Prime, but Ben, using Feedback, reflected all his energy back. Benzarro's current alien form, along with his universe's unstable conditions, made him incredibly fragile. The counterattack knocked him out instantly.
Feedback wasn't especially effective against the others, but he kept fighting hard, trying to deal damage wherever possible.
Gwen, also transformed into Diamondhead so as not to interfere with Ben 10000, kept the enemy Diamondhead busy.
The fight became a constant tug of war, with no clear winner.
On a nearby high platform, Vilgax watched the scene beside Eon with a sinister grin.
"Vilgax, shouldn't we help them?" Eon asked, looking unsure.
"There's no need," Vilgax replied calmly. "I have a much greater plan."
He extended his hand into the air, and from nothing, a strange device appeared, a cylinder widening toward the base, with a wind-up key on top.
"What's that?" Eon asked, sensing the temporal energy radiating from the object.
"A Chronosapien bomb," Vilgax answered. "I obtained it a long time ago. With this, I will complete my plan."
At that very moment, the Omnitrix symbol on Echo-Spider's chest blinked red. A sharp beep sounded, and the alien form vanished, revealing a tired Ben 10000.
"Come on, Omnitrix, you haven't failed me in years, and you pick now to do it," he growled in frustration, though he quickly prepared to fight using magic.
Meanwhile, in the tower, Eon watched in horror. Realizing Vilgax's plan, his expression changed completely.
Vilgax planned to use the bomb to erase all universes except that one. Over time, he had stopped viewing the Omnitrix as the ultimate tool of conquest. Now he saw Ben Tennyson himself as the root of all his misfortune. And in that universe, Ben had no contact with any Omnitrix, which made him the purest, and the easiest to manipulate.
"You can't do that," Eon shouted, his voice trembling with anger and fear. "I'm also a Ben from another universe!"
But Vilgax ignored him. He placed the bomb on the ground and reached for the key to activate it.
Before he could turn it, a direct impact hit him in the abdomen, sending him flying.
Kaito appeared in front of the device, grabbed the Chronosapien bomb without hesitation, and stored it inside the system's backpack.
With that, he already had three valuable items from this mission, even without having received the reward yet, so he smiled, extremely satisfied.
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+15 chapters in advance on Patreon.
p-atreon.com/IAMME26
(just delete the hyphen)
80 power stones = 1 extra chapter (cumulative)