Ben 10 — The Hollow Omniverse

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A few moments ago

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The neon lights of the city's night streets cast an eerie glow on the faces of two teenage friends, as they walked along the walkway.

"Hey Cash, did you hear the news?" JT's eyes sparkled with excitement. "Sumo Smasher — Ultra Smash 2 is dropping at the end of the year!"

Cash raised an eyebrow. "No way, did they reveal the plot?"

"Yeah! It's insane. So get this—" JT's words trailed off as Cash suddenly froze in his tracks.

Cash's face drained of color. He stared at something JT couldn't see — a certain interface hovering nearby. Sweat beaded on his forehead as the Omnitrix icon inched closer, then mercifully stopped.

'It's just a coincidence.' His heart raced. 'Why am I even a participant? I don't have powers!'

As the Omnitrix icon lingered nearby, Cash's mind raced with memories of Ben, his former bullying target. He shuddered, recalling a particular incident that he couldn't bring himself to fully remember. The mere thought of Ben now filled him with a deep fear.

'That day, he…' Cash's thoughts trailed off, unable to complete the sentence even in his own mind. Despite their mutual avoidance now and Cash's attempts at apology, an overwhelming sense of dread consumed him whenever he thought of Ben.

If Ben Prime, who was supposed to be normal, had been resentful enough to use his alien forms for petty revenge against the Prime Cash and JT, what horrors could this version of Ben inflict with that kind of power? The possibilities made Cash's blood run cold.

"You okay, man?" Concern etched JT's features.

Cash swallowed hard, trying to keep his voice steady. "Y-yeah. Let's, uh, go this way instead!" He pointed in a direction, desperate to put distance between himself and the Omnitrix icon.

"But it's the opposite direction from your vacation home." JT pushed his glasses up to his nose as he tilted his head. "You said—"

"So what? Since we're here, let's explore." Cash forced a grin, trying to appear nonchalant. "Anyway, I heard they opened a new fast food place…"

They made their way through the streets, soon arriving at the busy city center where crowds of people hurried past and traffic created a constant background roar.

"Greetings, children!" A warm voice called out. The speaker, wearing a predominantly golden robe with red accents and a hood, approached them with gleaming eyes full of devout passion. "Would you care to contribute to our charity or, even better, join our blessed family? All in the name of Dagon, the benevolent."

JT turned his head, curiosity piqued, but Cash quickly pulled him along. "Don't look him in the eyes and pretend you didn't hear." Cash muttered under his breath.

"Yeah, I know." JT replied quietly. "But I was just wondering what Dagon was."

As they shrugged off the encounter, a comforting yet disturbing warmth enveloped them from behind. The devoted servant of Dagon, sensing an awakening curiosity, stepped forward with gentle eagerness.

"Dagon, dear seekers, is the name of our Benevolent Lord who blessed this world with His divine presence millennia ago. He came to share His infinite wisdom. The sacred prophecies foretell His glorious return, which is soon upon us! When He shall embrace us all in His boundless love—"

"Yeah, yeah, get lost!" Cash waved his hand dismissively, cutting off the eager explanation. With visible displeasure, the cultist melted back into the crowd.

JT pulled out his phone, his fingers flying over the screen, his eyes widening. "For a religion I never heard about, I didn't expect more than ten million to be a part of it!"

"Ten million? Cool, I suppose…" Cash remained indifferent. "Why should we care?"

"We don't. Still interesting though…" JT agreed, closing the browser and opening the map application on his phone. "Hey, the new fast food place is nearby. Let's go this way, it's quicker." He pointed to a side street.

Cash nodded, "Sure, I'm getting hungry anyway—"

Several loud sounds resonated through the air. The ground trembled beneath their feet, sending vibrations through their bones.

Screams erupted from behind the buildings. The bustling city center transformed into chaos as fear rippled through the crowd. Cash and JT watched as some fled away from the sounds while others, either brave or foolish, ran towards them.

"Maybe we should head back." JT's voice trembled.

"No shit—"

All the onlookers' eyes dilated in shock and horror. Cars and lampposts went flying through the air like deadly missiles, hurtling towards them and many others unlucky enough to be in the path of destruction.

In a heartbeat, a car came flying towards JT and Cash, its metal frame glinting ominously in the moonlight. Cash, mere centimeters away, felt the rush of air as the vehicle whooshed past him, ruffling his hair…

But JT wasn't so lucky.

The car slammed into JT with a sickening crunch, its mass of steel and glass crushing him instantly. It bounced, leaving a dark-red smear with organic matter on the pavement — a split-second transformation from life to death that Cash's mind failed to process.

The momentum carried the vehicle forward, causing it to bounce once more before smashing into a nearby wall with a deafening impact that shook the ground.

Cash stood paralyzed, unable to comprehend the horror before him. He couldn't register the warm drops of blood and organic matter spattering his clothes, nor the sharp glass fragments embedded in his belly and thighs. The wounds weren't fatal, but they would be extremely harmful if he could feel the pain through his shock.

He tried to pinpoint JT but… JT was on the pavement, he was on the car, he was on the wall, he was on Cash — he could be considered to be everywhere.

Starting to tremble, Cash looked down at the screen that only he could see.

The accursed Omnitrix symbol was nearer than before, pulsing with an eerie green light that seemed to mock the destruction around him.

Suddenly, a blinding light descended from above, resembling a second sun plummeting towards Earth. While panicked onlookers craned their necks skyward, Cash remained fixated on the screen.

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Present

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In a ravaged city, the once-bustling streets lay in ruins. Shattered glass, rubble, corpses, and vehicles littered the ground like macabre confetti. The few survivors remained hidden — not that it would save them — their cries echoing from both inside buildings and out in the open.

Sirens wailed in succession, only to be silenced as the police cars went sailing through the air, crashing into specific windows of nearby buildings from were frightened whimpers could be heard.

'I feel I can…' Kevin's consciousness expanded as new sensations flooded his mind, as if limbs were being grafted onto his being. The feeling was intoxicating.

"Hey, Tennyson! How many people can you save?!" Kevin's malicious voice echoed through the devastation. His crab-like appendage morphed into a massive metallic sphere. With a sinister grin, he slammed it against the ground. The earth trembled and split, vibrations intensifying with each passing second. The surrounding buildings began to crumble, their foundations giving way. Screams from those trapped inside were quickly silenced, save for a few weakening voices beneath the rubble.

"Tennyson?" Kevin's voice echoed through the destruction.

When no response came, he tried again, more urgently.

"…Tennyson!" His shout carried a mix of confusion and frustration as he scanned the rubble, finding no trace of the Omnitrix wielder.

'He's scared after all. Since he was unconscious when I found him, I wonder for how long… He should know that every participant can locate his Omnitrix!'

Kevin focused on the Omnitrix tracking map in his mind. Usually, it displayed two points from a bird's-eye view: a white dot for himself and the Omnitrix symbol, both against a plain green background. Simple but effective — just these markers on the featureless expanse. Now, strangely, only the Omnitrix symbol remained visible.

'What does it—' His thought cut short as he looked up, eyes widening in sheer terror.

The night sky had transformed into a nightmarish sea of sickly green, descending upon the world like divine wrath. The air thickened, each breath becoming a struggle as the verdant doom crept closer.

Kevin's survival instinct screamed at him to flee. As he tensed to run, bandages erupted from the ground beneath his feet. They shot up like demonic serpents, wrapping around his limbs and body with crushing force. In seconds, he was mummified.

"I'm afraid you're going to stay."

Desperate, Kevin electrified himself, launching upward while shocking Ben through the bandages. Snare-Oh groaned but tightened his grip, causing Kevin to lose focus and slam back to the ground. The bandages crushed his chest even tighter, making him gasp for air as his vision blurred.

Then, instead of losing consciousness, Kevin adapted. Though he no longer needed to breathe, he remained trapped, awaiting the impending doom.

"At this size, bystanders are going to die!" Kevin's voice cracked with desperation.

"Don't pretend you care." Ben's words dripped with hatred. He would have tightened his grip if possible, but he was already squeezing with maximum force.

"And you don't?" Kevin challenged, defiant to the end.

"Not really, to be honest. And I have my priorities. So stay down and die in peace, nutcase!"

At the end, more and more anger gave him strength. The bandages constricted further, squeezing the last fragments of hope from Kevin as the green doom descended from above, promising a terrifying end.

"NO!" Kevin trembled as he exploded with newfound strength.

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Explanation

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Ben can switch between alien forms by pressing the Omnitrix dial on his current alien form. Each transformation reduces his remaining time by 30%, requiring careful planning to avoid premature reversion to human form.

After assessing the situation, Ben realized Heatblast couldn't guarantee victory against Kevin. He transformed into Buzzshock, an alien capable of becoming living electricity. Though Buzzshock can move at extreme speeds, this ability only works in short bursts without an energy source. Using this brief acceleration, he shot skyward.

In the air, he became Ball Weevil, who creates explosive green spheres that grow exponentially by absorbing matter, including air. As his projectile fell, it expanded dramatically until it dominated the entire sky.

Then, Ben briefly switched to Webwarp, his alien capable of creating portal-linked webs, to set his strategy in motion.

Descending as Buzzshock, he immediately transformed into Snare-Oh. In this mummified form, he restrained Kevin while grabbing a nearby lamppost, positioning them both directly beneath the certain falling object (not the green ball) he had tactically arranged.

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Remaining time in Heatblast: 23 minutes

Reduction percentage per switch: 30%

Number of switches: 5

Calculation: 23 * (100% - 30%)^5 = 3.86561 minutes

Approximation accounting for the time elapsed after transformations: About 3 minutes remaining

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One of Kevin's crab pincers burst free from its bandage prison. It morphed into a hand, gripping the remaining wrappings that encased his body. With desperate strength, Kevin tore at his bindings, casting them aside. The bandages, light as paper, drifted harmlessly to the ground nearby.

Before Kevin could move, he found himself in the air, directly beneath the massive object he'd been trying to avoid. The ball's otherworldly green glow and immense size left him momentarily stunned.

In his shock, and due to the matching color, Kevin missed the green web adhered to the sphere's surface. Not that it mattered — Ben had already destroyed the second web portal near the ground before it could even land.

'Quick!' Kevin activated his absorbed Buzzshock flight ability. Though he couldn't fully transform into electricity like the alien, he could achieve electrical propulsion and generate electricity without visible limits — unknowingly surpassing Buzzshock's own capabilities in this regard. While not matching the alien's speed, Kevin still moved impressively fast.

He rocketed in one direction but stopped abruptly after ten seconds. Buzzshock blocked his path, hovering before him.

"Sorry, but hell isn't this way." The alien's voice sparked with electricity.

"Wait! We can talk!" Kevin's face twisted into a gloomy expression. His mind raced: 'Is his plan to trigger the bomb while stopping me, then transform into the mummy alien to survive? Or can his current form already withstand the explosion?'

"Y-you just attacked me out of nowhere. I panicked!" Kevin stammered, fear seeping into his voice.

The truth was, Kevin remained still because at this distance, he'd surely be caught in the explosion. His instincts screamed warnings, while purple smoke emanating from his arms grew increasingly luminescent — its purpose unknown even to him.

"I admit… I was the one who started this." The small electric alien's voice tinged with regret. "Maybe I… No, I should have tried talking more. I panicked, and I'm sorry… To be honest, maybe I just wanted to blow off steam."

The little alien raised his hand towards the massive green sphere above them. His voice hardened. "But don't get me wrong — you clearly didn't panic or hesitate when you killed those people."

With all his strength, Kevin managed a burst of speed, intercepting the electric attack from reaching the ball. At this distance, he couldn't escape the explosion nor outpace… wait… how was he fast enough to absorb the electric attack?!

A green flash flooded the sky as Armodrillo, a bulky, metallic yellow two-meter alien, was propelled towards Kevin with Buzzshock's momentum. His sharp hand morphed into a spinning drill, whirring at great speed while producing a deafening noise, aimed straight at Kevin's head.

Instead of dodging and giving Ben a chance to trigger the bomb, Kevin let his instincts guide him. His mustache suddenly grew exponentially, one side shooting towards the drill. After several hairs were cut, the drill came to a halt as the hair stuck in its mechanism. Kevin lifted Armodrillo by his arm using his mustache.

Without warning, eight metallic spider-legs erupted from Kevin's back, whipping through the air with lightning speed. They pierced Armodrillo's metallic body in an instant, driving deep into his ribs. Ben gasped as black liquid began oozing from the puncture wounds, dripping steadily like rain.

"You're too annoying, Ben. You didn't have to die, at least not now." Kevin shook his head. 'If I let him live, he'll definitely be able to get rid of me once he's prepared…'

"That's funny, I was going to say the same." Ben's voice was low. His freed arm transformed into a drill. Kevin extended the other side of his mustache to block it, though the drill still pointed menacingly towards him.

"Repeating the same thing is only a sign of madness! HAHAHA!" Kevin laughed as they both trembled, the drill cutting through the hair.

'No, this time you can't dodge!' Ben's mind screamed.

'Special attack: ROTARY DRILL…'

The drill's speed increased exponentially, its deafening sound reducing the hair to particles. Kevin, however, merely covered the arm instead, rendering the drill useless if it couldn't reach him.

"Am I supposed to be impressed?" Kevin sneered. The spider-legs embedded in Armodrillo's ribs crackled with fire and electricity. In mere seconds, Ben would be grilled and carbonized from within.

'I won!' Kevin's mind sang triumphantly. 'I saw him press the dial on his torso. He can't transform by thought, and with both arms restrained, he can't transform! He is trapped!'

"Hmm?" Kevin felt a growing vibration through his mustache. "Thinking about it, isn't this the alien that can—"

"IMPACT!!!"

A devastating shockwave erupted from Armodrillo's arm, catapulting Kevin like a swirling ragdoll towards the colossal explosive sphere. Blood sprayed from his mouth as the shattering impact pulverized his insides. His spider limbs were forcefully torn from his back, remaining embedded in Ben's body as he was hurled away.

Kevin plunged into the gelatinous ball, vanishing for a split second before the night sky itself seemed to tear apart. A blinding flash engulfed everything, turning darkness into day, followed by an earth-shattering boom that shook the very foundations of the city. The fireball devoured the clouds, filling the heavens with light and casting twisted shadows across the trembling earth below.

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Remaining time: 3 minutes

Reduction percentage per switch: 30%

Number of switches: 2

Calculation: 3 * (100% - 30%)^2 = 1.47 minutes

Approximation accounting for the time elapsed after transformations: About one minute remaining

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