Location(s): Undertown, Bellwood/Control Center, Paradox Engine.
Seriously? The one time Ben has an off-day, and it couldn't even be a cool emergency. His grandpa just sent him a message about the Forever Knights stirring up trouble un Undertown again. Just his luck most of the Plumbers were off-world. Something about Vulkanus being up to some seriously shady stuff in some remote corner of the galaxy. Not to mention Rook taking the week off to go visit the family on Revonnah. Ugh...
Well, heroics never waited for personal life. Mr. Smoothy would have to wait for today.
And thus, that was how he ended up near the center of Undertown, after having thrashed through a small army of knights as Four Arms; an imposing, ten-foot-tall tower of muscle with double the arms for double the pain.
"Seriously guys, how many times do I gotta teach this lesson?" Ben spoke, his voice tough and gravelly to match his Tetramand form as he took two Forever Knights and unceremoniously had their heads meet, the clank of helmet armor ringing out as they hit the ground with a grunt.
"So what is it this time? Another DNA bomb? I swear, if it's another DNA bomb..." The remainder of the knight grunts rushed forward, to which Four Arms only grinned. With a clap of his hands, the shockwave was enough to floor the lot of them. However, nearing the center of the commotion, Ben couldn't help but have his jaw hang. Atop a spire-like device, clearly ready to release some unspeakable evil across all of Undertown, was a familiar, and shocking, face..
"Driscoll?!"
"The one and only."
With a tremendous leap, the armored king landed down to the battlefield below, quaking the ground enough to even knock Four Arms off balance, if only for a moment. However, as Ben was prepared to talk to and likely snark at Driscoll, he instead caught a powerful optic beam to the chest, skidding the Tetramand into the stone roads of Undertown and several dozen feet back.
"Ugh...Did he always pack that much of a punch?" Four Arms puzzled to himself, lifting up from the street rubble, finding himself already winded. That blast had some sting to it for sure...But before he could think, he could see the Forever King readying another blast. With seconds to spare, he slammed the dial on his waist. By the time the blast hit, Ben was gone...But a new voice could be heard in the skies.
"I feel like we're skipping some steps here. Usually, this is the part where we give witty jabs at each other while you spill the evil plan." The grinning Aerophibian could be seen in the heights of Undertown, keeping a close eye on Driscoll and his device. Growling in annoyance, the King attempted a few more times to unleash his optical beam, but each one a miss; Jetray was far too fast for him.
"I must admit, this one was unprecedented...But you would be a fool to think me outmatched, Tennyson!" Without warning, a thin red line of energy shot from the wrist of Driscoll's suit; Jetray reacted as fast as he could under the surprise move, but it just managed to clip his foot. For this maneuver, it was more than enough. Barely able to offer a yell of panic, Ben found himself being hurled from the skies back to hard earth, smashing into solid stone with a groan. Retracting his tether, the king made his approach to what he believed was a defeated Ben 10...A reckless mistake, to be certain, but maybe not unwarranted.
Grunting with effort, the Aerophibian weakly rose up to his knees, dazed and weak from the brutal slam. "So, he's strong...And got some new tricks. Maybe it's time for one he won't be ready for." Ben whispered to himself, already hatching a scheme in his head as, only partially an act, he collapsed to the ground once more as Driscoll arrived to the defeated hero.
"Ah. So this is how the great Ben Tennyson falls. With a whimper..." With a crushing grip, the Forever King grasped Jetray, dragging him up face-to-face with him. "And to think, I had planned for far greater contingencies than this...How sad. Now, hero, you may watch as your precious Undertown will soon be laid to waste!" While his weakness was partially feigned, it was true Ben was having difficulty staying conscious. But what he saw next shocked him back to his senses.
Around the entirety of Undertown, an energy barrier crackled to life, likely ensnaring all the residents there at the time. An innumerable amount of alien civilians. Ben didn't know where this was leading, but his stomach was already curling. "Now, as much as I'd love for you to see the fruits of my labor, I'm afrai-AGH!" His attention torn away for a moment too long, Ben had shifted yet again, as the Forever King's grip on the hero was loosened, and he caught a face full of radioactive energy.
The Forever King was sent sprawling across the street as Ben's new form staggered into standing upright, a deep Russian accent coming from the clanging steel of the suit. "Sorry Driscoll, but the show's over. I don't know how tough the new suit is, but I doubt it took a point-blank blast like that well. So just sit back, or I'll put you on your rear again." The heavy-duty suit began to lumber its way across the empty street to the strange device. He'd like to just melt through it and be done with it, but who knows what that'd do...
But with his attention away from Driscoll, the King made a desperate move. With a switch emerging on one of the suit's hands, he pressed the button...And the machine began its dark work.
Immediately NRG snapped to attention, glaring over to Driscoll. His voice, while he tried to keep it steady, was edged with a bit of fear and confusion. "Driscoll! What did you do?!" He was met with dry laughter as the Forever King stood once more, though his helm notably burned and damaged. "It is simple...This is a temporal displacer. In other words, it takes things from one place in space to another. Though, this one..." His laughter, at first humorless and devoid of energy, grew in adulation and triumph. "It's programmed to transport everything in a massive radius into the nothingness of space! Of course, the barrier will prevent it from reaching Bellwood, and I have it set to transport creatures that do not match Human DNA."
If Ben could go pale, he would've. This thing will strand thousands, maybe even hundreds of thousands of aliens, in the middle of space! It was certain death for nearly all of them! Out of snark, the only thing the hero could give was a growl, and a declaration. "I'll stop it!" While he wasn't sure how he would, he knew his best bet, given how dangerous the thing already looked, crackling with energy and threatening to go off.
With a flash of emerald light, Ben made his last transformation, the last hope for stopping this catastrophe.
"Driscoll, if you've got half a mind, steer clear!" This new form's voice crackled like static, as Feedback jammed his fingers into the Temporal Displacer, energy siphoning off into the Conductoid. But still...It wasn't enough! In desperation, he plugged in his antennae and tail in, trying to take on as much power as he could from this thing. He could feel it slowing down, but it wasn't stopping! As Ben grit his teeth and put his all into it, he could tell it wasn't going to be enough...He failed.
In the last moment, however, he found himself tackled by Driscoll. "This is my MOMENT! You dare, Tennyson?!" With the electrical charge of Driscoll intermixing into the process, the two of them were caught entirely off-guard as a blinding flash engulfed the both of them. In the end, the Temporal Displacer was stopped....But what of Ben Tennyson and the Forever King?
Feedback found himself knocked to the ground of a strange new environment; a room filled with cords and screens, and at its center, a towering device that, unbeknownst to the Defender of Earth, served as the de-powered core of what was a massive structure soon to be known as the Paradox Engine...
What Feedback did know is that he had appeared in a weird dark room and was filled to the brim with energy threatening to blow this place apart. "Oh man, oh man...Gotta discharge this somewhere!" Not sure of what to do, the Conductoid casually plugged himself into the core, outletting all the siphoned power, and with it, restoring energy to the station as the room suddenly brightened, with screens he couldn't possibly comprehend flickering to life.
"Ah, crap. Looks like things just got complicated..." And as he spoke, more flashes of light began to emerge. "...And I might've spoken too soon."
Location: Paradox Engine, Simulated Universe #1 (Open Fields, Current Simulation: Unknown)
When Driscoll came to, the only thing he could think of was his defeat. Yet again, in spite of all his planning, years of effort, he was waylaid once more! He couldn't help but slam his fists to the ground in fury, craterizing the beautiful, luscious grass plains around him...Which is what brought him to his senses.
"Well then. This is neither the cold, emptiness of space, nor Undertown. It seems my plan was less foiled, and more...Complicated." Uncertain of his surroundings, he tried to get his bearings, but as far as the eye could see was the windy grasslands, scenically peaceful, in stark contrast to the crater he had made. Wherever he was, he had the strange sense it wasn't quite Earth...And this was only impounded as familiar flashes of light began to emerge across the plains.
"And so the plot thickens..."
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