A sickening crack of energy split the air.
Green and violet light arced across the dark sky as two figures clashed — one wrapped in a metallic suit that shimmered like broken glass, the other glowing with the emerald pulse of the Omnitrix.
"Give it up, Eon!" Ben shouted, his voice straining over the roar of collapsing buildings. "You've already trashed three timelines—what's left for you to ruin?"
Eon floated effortlessly above the ground, eyes burning with that haunting violet glow. "Everything, Benjamin Tennyson. The Multiverse is mine to shape, not yours to protect."
Ben, in the form of Chromastone, braced himself. Energy hummed beneath his crystalline armor. "You talk too much." He raised a hand, charging a beam that crackled with raw power.
The blast hit Eon dead-on—an explosion of light scattered across the battlefield—but when the smoke cleared, Eon was still standing, the impact barely denting his armor. He laughed, low and sharp.
"You can't stop inevitability, Ben 10. Every time you fight me, you only make the threads weaker!"
"Then I'll just have to cut yours first."
The Omnitrix beeped a warning tone — low energy. Ben gritted his teeth. "Perfect timing as always."
A flash of green light enveloped him as Chromastone dissolved into human Ben once more, 19, hair messy, eyes fierce.
He tapped the watch's dial. "C'mon, buddy, don't quit on me now—"
The Omnitrix chirped and sparked. Eon smirked. "You've overused it. You never learn."
Ben rolled his eyes. "You'd think a guy who can time travel would get some new material."
He slammed down the dial again — the green flash flared, morphing him into Humungousuar. The ground shook under his massive feet.
"Round two!"
He charged, throwing a punch that sent shockwaves through the air. Eon blocked it with a temporal barrier, but even so, the impact sent ripples through space itself. Colors bled together; the horizon bent like warped glass.
Eon snarled. "You fool! You're tearing the fabric of this reality apart!"
Ben grinned, massive teeth flashing. "Then we both go down swinging!"
The Omnitrix's core pulsed erratically, light flaring in patterns Ben had never seen. Time itself seemed to stutter — the sky froze, then reversed, then exploded outward in every direction.
Eon lunged forward, grabbing Ben by the throat. "You think you can save your universe by breaking it?"
Ben forced out a strained laugh. "No… just trying to make sure you don't win."
And with that, he twisted his wrist, slamming the Omnitrix core against Eon's chest.
The explosion was instant. A column of green and purple energy ripped through the atmosphere, splitting the sky open like a wound. Ben barely had time to register Eon's scream before everything folded in on itself.
Gravity vanished. Light turned to sound. Sound became nothing.
For a brief, terrifying moment, Ben felt himself falling through time. Fragments of worlds flashed around him — snippets of cities, alien worlds, faces both familiar and strange. His body flickered between forms — Four Arms, Jetray, Echo Echo, human — until everything stopped.
He tried to yell, but no sound came out. The Omnitrix on his wrist was glowing violently, symbols scrambling, its core spinning like a dying star.
"C'mon, don't—don't you quit on me now!" Ben shouted, though he couldn't tell if he actually made a sound.
Then the green light collapsed inward.
And Ben was gone.
....
When Ben woke up, the first thing he noticed was the smell.
Rain-soaked concrete. Iron. Faint smoke.
The kind of scent that meant the world had already moved on without you.
He pushed himself up, wincing. His body felt… normal. Too normal.
No alien energy humming under his skin. No gentle pulse from the Omnitrix.
He looked down.
The device—his most trusted weapon, his curse, his identity—wasn't glowing.
No green light. No hum. Just dull metal, cold against his wrist.
"…You've gotta be kidding me."
His voice came out hoarse. The kind of dryness that only follows battle—
and loss.
The last thing he remembered was Eon.
The collapsing timestream.
The surge of chronal energy as their attacks collided—his Atomix blast against Eon's Time Rend—
and then… silence.
Now, the skyline before him wasn't Bellwood.
No rusted water towers or familiar billboards.
Instead, narrow streets curled between glowing signs with foreign letters.
Paper lanterns hung beneath the eaves.
Rainwater glimmered on the asphalt like scattered diamonds.
He stumbled toward a vending machine, squinting at the characters on it.
Japanese.
"Wait… Japan?"
A car horn blared.
Ben turned, heart leaping into his throat—half-expecting a mutant, or a bounty hunter—
but it was just a taxi, neon yellow, driver yelling something he couldn't understand.
Ben stepped back onto the sidewalk, rubbing his temples.
"Okay. Think, Tennyson. You fought Eon. Time got weird. And now you're in Japan. Awesome."
He glanced at the Omnitrix again.
Still dead.
No aliens. No transformations.
Just him.
Just Ben.
For the first time in a long time… that felt terrifying.
He leaned against the vending machine, rain dripping down his face.
"Guess I'm grounded for real this time."
Then the watch flickered.
A faint, green blip.
Just one.
Then silence again.
But that single spark—
that single, impossible pulse—
was enough to make his eyes widen.
"…You're still in there, aren't you?" he whispered, a grin pulling at the corner of his mouth.
Somewhere deep inside, the Omnitrix hummed, almost like it was answering him.
And above the quiet Tokyo street, thunder rumbled.
Not the sound of rain—
but something unnatural, deep and rhythmic—
like a heartbeat echoing across worlds.
Ben Tennyson straightened his jacket, eyes sharpening.
"If Eon's here too… I'm not letting him rewrite this world."
The vending machine beside him sparked faintly as if reacting to unseen energy.
And with a final glance at his dead Omnitrix, Ben started walking toward the city lights—
unaware that somewhere above, a rift shimmered in the night sky,
and something else had followed him through.