+1 extra chapter because you surpassed the goal
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"People tell me that a lot."
"Let me guess, always me?"
"You're starting to get how this works," Paradox smiled.
"But you still know exactly what I want, right?"
"Of course I do. You want to collect Omnitrixes, and a Chronosapien Time Bomb while you're at it. I'll help you."
"You're not worried that the universes will be left without an Omnitrix?" Kaito asked.
"It's fine. After you're rewarded, the Omnitrixes return to their original owners. Even that monstrous version of you will go back to the little Ben of this universe. And you getting stronger is for the good of this and every other universe, after all."
"Even this Ben? What will happen to him?"
"He'll be fine. He'll use the same device that turned him into a monster to redeem himself and atone for his guilt. In the end, he'll learn to heal on his own."
"Then I'll ask you... no, you already know what I'm going to say, right? What's the point of this whole conversation?"
"Haha, the point is to talk for a bit. Conversation helps people get closer."
"Yeah, whatever you say. Just help me and leave."
"Always so rude, huh? You should know that's not popular with girls, except maybe with that future magic queen over there," he said, glancing at Charmcaster.
"Future magic queen? Though I think Mashiro is better," Kaito said, trying to get more information about his future.
But Paradox noticed, or maybe he had simply seen it so many times that he knew it by heart.
"Spoilers are bad, young man. And of course 'Sloth' is better than her. Anyway, I'll adjust the time so you won't have to wait too long." With that, Paradox vanished from sight.
"What was that?" Lala finally asked once he was gone.
"Time traveler stuff. Anyway, a group is going to come for us, and we'll join them to get more Omnitrixes. The problem is, knowing Paradox's personality, it's probably..."
At that moment, right outside his house, a sound echoed as a sky-blue portal opened and several people emerged from it.
At the center stood Vilgax, the main villain of Ben 10, along with evil versions of Ben: a dark Ben, a zombie Ben, a Ben very similar to Albedo, a Mad Max-style Ben, an emo version, and finally Eon, another Ben who didn't have an Omnitrix but possessed temporal powers.
As soon as they stepped out, Vilgax moved to the front of the group and declared in a threatening voice:
"Ben Tennyson, join us or face the consequences."
Kaito calmly stepped out of the house and replied, "Sorry, but I'm not Ben Tennyson."
Vilgax was briefly surprised to see it wasn't Ben, but when he noticed the watch on Kaito's wrist, his menacing smile returned.
"No matter. You're the Omnitrix user of this universe, so it's all the same. And as for explanations, I've always believed it's easier to convince people by force."
With that, Vilgax raised his hand and ordered everyone to attack.
Each of them pressed their Omnitrix, but for some reason, they all transformed into Humungosaurs.
The sight of so many dinosaurs in front of him amazed Kaito for a second before he reacted. Before they could strike, Kaito spoke.
"No introductions needed, I already know you all."
Saying that, he used his watch to transform into an even more terrifying version of Ghostfreak.
Kaito needed to go with them. As Paradox had said, besides the Omnitrixes there was another artifact he could get from this expedition: a Chronosapien Time Bomb, which was in Vilgax's possession.
The problem was that, in the series, Vilgax pulled that bomb out of thin air, as if he had a pocket dimension. Therefore, the only way to obtain it was to wait for him to bring it out himself.
Until then, Kaito would have to act like one of them. He knew they wouldn't take someone stronger than them, so he had to lose against them.
And that's what he did. Using his Ghostfreak form, he possessed the zombified Ben, whose mind was the weakest, and attacked the others. When he found himself surrounded, he left that body and entered Nega Ben's, repeating the process.
Although he managed to take down three of them, his transformation time ran out, and Kaito was left surrounded, unable to defend himself.
Once he was completely defeated, at least from the group's perspective, Vilgax stepped forward and offered him an olive branch. He proposed joining his group, whose goal was to destroy other Bens, promising the usual rewards: power, wealth, and anything he could desire.
Thus, Kaito successfully joined the group, and without another glance, Vilgax crossed the portal as if that universe wasn't worth his time.
"Wait."
Vilgax, just before crossing, stopped and turned his head toward the house, where a female voice had called out to him.
"We're coming too."
Vilgax looked at the strangers. He didn't recognize Lala, but when he saw the other two, a sinister smile formed on his face.
"Charmcaster and Gwen Tennyson... I didn't expect this universe to have such surprises. Fine, you can come. But if you do anything suspicious, consider yourselves dead."
With that, Vilgax crossed the portal into the unknown.
"Cousin Gwen? What are you doing here? Don't tell me you're dating this guy in this universe? Make sure to hide behind him when we fight, wouldn't want you getting hurt," the evil Ben said mockingly.
Gwen simply raised her hand, surrounded it with magic, and launched an energy sphere at him. Ben dodged.
"You think I don't know your tricks?"
But right where he dodged, a pink magic rope shot out of the ground, grabbed his leg, and slammed him into the floor.
The others looked at Gwen cautiously, readying themselves, but she only said indifferently:
"He started it."
Then she followed Kaito, who was already crossing the portal.
Albedo Ben, in his ten-year-old Ben form but with white hair and red eyes, was the first to speak.
"He deserved it."
With that, he crossed the portal, the others nodding silently as they followed.
---
Curiously, the Carnitrix universe was the last one Vilgax tried to recruit from. With infinite universes, no one knew why he stopped, but Kaito didn't care enough to ask.
Instead, he focused on his current task.
Upon arriving in the new universe, they appeared in Bellwood. Vilgax's mission was to kill Ben Tennyson, something quite typical of him.
The good thing about this universe was that it was literally the only one where Ben had no contact whatsoever with the Omnitrix or its wielder. You could say it was the least dangerous Ben in the multiverse.
But just when he was about to be crushed by Humungosaur, that Ben was saved by... Ben.
Of course, if the villains gathered an army of evil Bens, the good side had to gather theirs too.
Although the numbers were unbalanced, the good side included Ben Prime, Ben 23, Ben 10000, and Gwen 10.
Even so, the battle between both sides erupted and remained even for a while.
The only ones not fighting were the Ben without an Omnitrix and Ben Prime, who was helping him escape.
Meanwhile, on the other side, Kaito ignored the fight and pursued Ben Prime.
Inside a warehouse, that Ben finally got tired of running and decided to fight.
"You don't look like another Ben. In your universe, did you get the Omnitrix instead of me? Don't tell me, are you from an anime universe? Are you an anime Ben?" Ben joked in his usual playful tone.
"I'm not you, and I took this from a Ben," Kaito replied, pointing at his wrist.
"So you're from a universe where I lost. But don't think that means you can beat me, I'm the best Ben of them all."
Saying that, he selected an alien on his watch and raised his hand to hit the button.
"It's hero time."
But before he could press the Omnitrix, a pink energy surrounded the device.
"Magic?" Ben said, surprised.
"Exactly," Gwen replied, appearing behind him and startling him.
"Gwen? No, you're not my Gwen. Mine went back to her nerd outfit. You sided with the bad guy in that universe? What the heck did I do to make you betray me?" Ben asked, confused.
"As soon as you got the watch, you killed me. Then Grandpa, then the whole city. After that, you turned into Alien X and went insane, slaughtering the entire universe," Gwen said indifferently.
Ben's eyes widened in shock, unsure how to respond, until he murmured, "You look pretty alive for someone who's dead."
"Kaito traveled back in time and took the watch from you before you could do worse," she replied.
"I see," Ben said. "You don't seem bad, even if your Ben did that. In most of the other universes, we use the Omnitrix for good. My Gwen would understand and do the right thing."
Gwen stared at him in surprise for a few seconds.
"You've matured, Ben. In my universe, you're still a dumb kid, but not evil. The watch is a parasite that controls the mind and made you do it. I hope my Ben becomes like you someday."
"Then you'll let your mature cousin here go? I could even visit your Ben someday if you want," Ben joked.
"Fine. From the start, we didn't want to hurt you," Gwen replied.
"Forgive me if I doubt that statement," Ben said, glancing at the Ben without an Omnitrix beside him, who stayed silent out of fear.
Kaito spoke this time.
"In fact, like you said, you are the best Ben."
"Thanks?"
"The reason you're the best is because your universe is the main one. You come from the Prime universe, from which all others and their timelines branch out. But because of that, your universe has much more variety than the rest."
Ben frowned, understanding a little of what he meant.
"I don't want to hurt you, I'm just going to collect many Omnitrixes. After that, I'll return them."
"You'll take them and then return them? What a good Samaritan."
"Alright, this conversation has gone on long enough," Kaito said wearily.
At that moment, Kaito moved at incredible speed toward Ben. Ben closed his eyes instinctively, but when he opened them, Kaito was gone.
Ben stood there, confused, until Paradox appeared behind him.
"Wow, he really is greedy."
"You know him?" Ben asked, unsurprised by the professor's sudden appearance.
"Yes. You can trust him, what he said is true. He will return the watches."
Upon hearing that, Ben remembered something and looked at his wrist, shocked.
"But he didn't take the Omnitrix."
"He's just waiting for the right time. He didn't come for that."
"Then he came for...?" Ben asked, not understanding Kaito's intentions.
"He only took a strand of your hair. He'll use it for a spell that will let him travel to the Prime universe.
As he said, that universe is unmatched in variety: besides the Omnitrix, there's the Unitrix, the Nemetrix, the Ultimatrix, and more.
It must be the only universe with so many variations."
"Alright, I get it. He's a weird Omnitrix collector. But if that's all he wanted, what was the point of chasing me and talking? Why not just steal it from the start?"
Paradox smiled.
"Didn't he say it himself? You're the best Ben. Maybe he just wanted to meet you in person."
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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)