Chapter 89: Alien X
Max Tennyson was going mad. No — he was already mad.
The moment Dagon's true form began to emerge — vast, incomprehensible, a horror that bathed entire realms in its profane will — something inside the old hero shattered, plunging him into the deepest pits of despair.
No mind, not even a Supreme's, was meant to witness an Unholy Terror in its full profane glory.
Yet Max kept looking.
He watched as billions of seeds of corruption bloomed across the planet. He watched as humanity knelt and wept with rapturous joy before a being that would devour them all. He watched George turn to dust and Ascalon fall silently toward Earth.
And in that moment, Max made his choice.
He was not the real Max Tennyson… but he still had to protect Ben — his grandchild, who was very much a real person, stuck in this perilous nightmare.
To do so, he would have to stop this profane god. No… he would have to kill it.
There was no way a Supreme could kill an Unholy Terror... but a Sacred being stood a much better chance.
Max had always been close to the threshold of becoming a Spirit, ever since he had mantled Ketzelkan, the Winged Serpent of Mictlan — or Condemnation, to be specific.
The world itself had been pulling him upward, urging him and almost begging him to undergo apotheosis.
But he had never answered that call… for he was afraid of losing himself in divinity.
None of that mattered now, considering he was about to loose himself to corruption.
And so, for the first time, Max accepted the world's invitation.
He reached into his Domain — the living network that held the souls and desires of billions — and began to consume it, even though it was already tainted by corruption, he pulled every thread, every star, every connection into himself. The only exceptions were the few beings who had already been evacuated into the Dream Realm, escaping the wrath of the Unholy God.
In the next moment, the space around them began to shake.
It was not just their galaxy. No — it was the entire realm that was shaking, trembling in fear and... Pride.
Dagon watched this process with dark amusement, not bothering to interfere. After all, a Sacred meal would be far more satisfying than a Supreme one.
Max's pressure continued to build, expanding to encompass the entire world.
And as it did, he reached into his Supreme Ability, taking everything from his subjects — their powers, their souls, their shadows, and even the flames of desire within them, no matter how corrupted they were.
Max… no, Ketzelkan took everything.
That was because he was using the method created by kanakht, the first human. Consuming his domain to achieve apotheosis.
And as he did, the runes of the Nightmare Spell began to change.
Name: Max… ketzelkan
True Name: Winged Serpent
Rank: Supreme...
Class: Beast… Titan…
Cores: [8/7]… [10/7]… [20/7]… [40/7]…
The number of cores within Ketzelkan's soul continued to grow, far surpassing the absolute law of seven. Then, all the cores suddenly shattered, one by one, leaving behind nothing but a vast mass of soul essence.
And as that happened, the soul essence condensed into a singular gigantic star, slowly forming into one colossal… Sacred Core.
Rank: sacred
——————
Ben and Hugo were screaming at the top of their lungs, clutching their heads in agony as they were exposed to the full might of Dagon's will.
"Oh god, oh god, oh god!!!!" Ben clawed desperately at his own skin, ripping it apart, as if trying to rip away the knowledge and memory of Dagon.
Hugo was faring even worse. He already carried dozens of seeds of corruption within his soul… and now they were blooming violently, slowly becoming nightmares.
Then, as the two wielders of the omnitrix were on the verge of becoming mindless nightmare creatures, something suddenly crashed violently into the ground between them — sharp, dense and radiating a divine presence.
It was Ascalon, the second divine miracle of the First Thinker.
The holy blade hummed with artificial sentience — the last lingering will of its fallen wielder, seeking a worthy successor capable of stopping Dagon... And as of now, there was no one in this world capable of doing that... expect for two beings.
The only real beings in this world.
It flared with golden light, forming a protective barrier around Ben and shielding him from the worst of the madness using its power.
Ben suddenly stopped tearing at his flesh, as the maddening will left his mind and his soul was suddenly cleansed and protected by Ascalon.
The divine blade suppressed and destroyed the seeds of corruption within his soul while shielding him from Dagon's overwhelming will.
For a long moment, ben simply sat there, staring at the screaming, writhing Hugo, utterly consumed by madness and pain.
Then, he looked at the broken world around them.
A heavy sadness settled deep in his chest..
Once again, Ben had failed to save his home — even in this fake replica created by the Nightmare Spell.
His ultimate goal had never been to save this fake realm… but deep within his heart, saving it was what he wanted more than anything else.
'Ah… I guess this is fate. Or perhaps karma for my actions.'
He turned back toward Hugo, a guilty expression on his face.
He had manipulated Hugo's life for ten long years. He had used him, guided him into the depths of nightmares and tried to take his body and existence under the excuse of it being for the greater good.
And yet…
Hugo held a special place in his heart. It was as if he were looking at a younger, much more naive version of himself. In fact, the reason he had felt so angry whenever he interacted with Hugo was because he saw too much of himself in him.
And that hurt more than any wound.
Yet Ben could never find it in himself to truly despise Hugo.
After all, no one in existence knew Ben better than Hugo did znd no one knew Hugo better than Ben did.
They were two faces of the same coin, whether they liked it or not.
Ben looked upward, sensing the sacred presence clashing against Dagon. His grandfather — or at least this replica of him — was absorbing and sacrificing his own Domain in a desperate bid to fight the Unholy Terror.
Ben knew that this version of Max was doing it for him… to save him.
But Ben no longer wanted to be saved..
He was tired, tired beyond belief. He had done too much, endured too much and all he truly longed for now was rest.
Ben sighed, picked up Ascalon, and walked toward the writhing Hugo with a grim expression.
He knew what he had to do, what he should do. He knew he could take over Hugo's existence right here and now, fully consuming him and escaping this nightmare, becoming a carrier of the nightmare spell. After all, that was what the reason he had done all of this madness.
But at the last moment, ben stopped. He... hedidn't want this, His grandfather wouldn't want this either.
And so, Ben's will hardened as he made his decision and for the first time in a very long time, he chose to be a hero.
He grabbed the younger man by the arm and stabbed Ascalon into his chest — not to kill him but to share the blade's protective will. The golden light washed over Hugo, driving the blade into his soul and destroying the blooming seeds of corruption.
For a brief moment, Hugo's mind cleared.
Hugo's eyes regained focus. He looked at Ben with a mixture of confusion and rage.
"What… What are you—?"
Ben didn't answer with words, instead He simply placed his hand over Hugo's Omnitrix.
Both devices began to glow as they reactivated.
Hugo's Omnitrix flashed a brilliant green before shifting into a deep azure blue. For a brief moment, his face changed — slightly older and paler, revealing his true appearance instead of Ben's.
Ben's Ultimatrix shifted from crimson to a beautiful jade green, at the same time, his white hair turned brown and his eyes turned green — revealing his original, older, and much more tired self.
It seemed that both the Omnitrix and Ascalon were revealing their true selves now, as if this was their final moment.
However, that was not the end. The two watches continued glowing until they resonated, connecting perfectly with each other, empowering each other and becoming whole together.
Unlike last time, they did not explode or repel each other. Instead, they synchronized beautifully, as a single imprint was chosen for both devices. The Ultimatrix hologram and the Omnitrix holographic dial showed the same form, one that was undoubtedly chosen by the Omnitricies' failsafe.
The divine relics knew their owners were in dire danger, and that there was only one creature within the Omnitrix capable of saving them.
That creature was Alien X, a Celestialsapien.
Hugo's eyes widened in shock as he realized what Ben was planning.
"You madman! You know what will happen if you transform into that thing!"
Ben smiled with a tired expression.
"I know. But there's no other way. Either this, or we both die and that abomination escapes this nightmare… And also, my Ultimatrix doesn't have enough charge to transform. So… would you do us the honor, Hugo?"
Hugo's face twisted with anger and disbelief at the audacity of this bastard.
"You want my help? After everything you've done to me?! So you can become a god and leave me here?!"
Ben shook his head, looking at him with a calm expression.
"As of right now, both watches consider us the same person. In fact, fate itself — and the world by extension — considers us one and the same. I'm not asking you to help me become a god." His voice took on a strange, sincere tone, one he had never used with him before. "I'm asking you to become one with me."
Hugo's eyes hardened defensively.
Ben Tennyson had always been this giant, looming figure in his mind — someone he was meant to overcome, a terrifying ghoul that wanted nothing more than to consume his existence.
But now… he was suddenly trying to help him?
"And why would you do that? Everything you've done in this nightmare and the last ten years of my life was to take over my body and now you're suddenly the good guy, who gave you the right to do that, you shameless bastard?!"
"…I don't expect you to forgive me. But please, find it in your heart to understand. Everything I've done, everything I've lost, taken and given to you… was all for my people. I'm not sure what will happen if we transform right now. Perhaps I will be consumed by you, perhaps you will be consumed by me or maybe both of us will be consumed. But I cannot allow myself to die just yet… and I cannot bring myself to kill you either."
He looked at Hugo with a pleading expression. In the depths of his jade-like eyes, Hugo saw something he knew all too well — something so vast and powerful that it could consume entire worlds or bring them salvation.
It was conviction.
Hugo closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them, a similar look appeared in his own eyes.
He did not forgive Ben Tennyson, and yet… he could not bring himself to hate him either. After all, if not for Ben, Hugo would have died long ago and would never have experienced any of the things that had happened to him in his short but eventful life — both the good and the bad, even if the latter far outweighed the former.
Hugo had gone through many traumatic things in his life, but through that hardship, he had learned to appreciate life and its beauty, to appreciate the bonds he had formed along the way and the people he had saved.
And his desire to live — to make the wish he had made on top of the Crimson Spire, the one where he wanted to meet Sunny again, come true — far exceeded his desire to kill Ben.
Just as Ben wanted to survive to save his people, Hugo wanted to survive so he could meet his friends and the people he cherished once again.
He exhaled deeply.
"If this turns out to be another trick," he growled, "I'll shove your Omnitrix so far up your ass that you'd go ultimate from the pain."
Ben simply stared at him for a while then chuckled.
"You children of war really do have foul mouths, don't you?"
Hugo stared at the imprint selected by both Omnitricies, still uncertain...
Eventually, he asked quietly:
"What is it like… being a god?"
Ben Tennyson had been a god for nearly a decade, constantly planning and scheming his grand design. If there was any mortal in existence who truly knew what it felt like to be a god, it was him.
Ben simply shrugged and answered in a somber tone:
"I don't remember, but I guess we'll find out."
As he said those words, both Ben and Hugo could briefly feel Ascalon's will fading. It could no longer protect them from Dagon's unholy wrath for much longer.
They both knew what they needed to do, and what they needed to become.
And so, they slammed the dials together.
Hugo transformed into pure blue energy, his body, soul, shadow, and spirit all morphing into that strange light.
The same thing happened to Ben, his form morphing into a swirling mass of green energy.
The two lights spiraled around each other, dancing a beautiful dance in the world of corruption before merging together and becoming one.
From that union, Alien X was born.
Neither purely Hugo nor purely Ben, but an amalgamation of the two… with two other beings added on top, Bellicus and Serena.
As an Awakened Titan, Alien X rose in rank rapidly — ascending by rising above their mortal nature and improving the quality of both their soul essence and body.
Becoming an Ascended Titan.
Then, Alien X Transcended, assuming the first qualities of the divine. Their soul expanded far beyond the confines of their body to gain recognition from the world itself.
Becoming a Transcendant Titan.
A Domain formed within Alien X — small yet absolute — consisting of only four subjects: Ben Tennyson, Hugo, Bellicus, and Serena.
Their act of defiance was their existence, with their combined Will, empowered by the Omnitrix serving as their anchor to reality.
And so, Alien X became a Supreme Titan.
Then came the second step toward Divinity: Apotheosis
The flames of divinity within Alien X swelled and expanded, exploding like a radiant star within their dark body, filling every fiber of their being. Their soul, soul sea, body, spirit, and shadow assumed the true qualities of the divine, and then those parts that made up Alien X fused together, becoming a singular creature.
And as that happened, they underwent a metamorphosis, becoming a concept — a true spirit.
Their concept was Infinity, one of the pillars of the Harrowing Void which was also the birth place of the Celestialsapiens.
And finally, there was the last step in becoming Sacred: fusing with a realm.
The realm they were anchored to was not the Beast Realm, as it was merely a fake replica created by the Nightmare Spell which was unfit for apotheosis.
Instead, it was the Omnitrix in their chest that was their chosen realm— broken into an upper green part and a lower blue part — with the realm anchor being the soul maze within Hugo's soul sea.
And just like that, Alien X became a Sacred Titan.
Then, the last and final step within the path of ascension was made.
The step to becoming divine.
Alien X became vast. Vaster than thought, vaster than ideas, and vaster than the world itself.
Their body exploded outward, and trillions upon trillions of stars were born inside them. Alien X's body, which had been dark and lifeless before, became riddled with stars, becoming a living universe — a true realm.
A realm where the concepts within that world were governed and ruled by Alien X, one where even the Nightmare Spell could not enter without their permission.
And deep within that endless cosmos, Hugo suddenly awoke, finding himself in a realm made purely of stars, deep within outer space.
Yet, strangely enough, he did not need to breathe.
The transformation Alien X had undergone was felt by Hugo. He had tasted Ascension, Transcendence, Supremacy, Apotheosis, and Divinity all at once, making his mind freeze for a moment.
Beside him, Ben floated in the endless darkness, a grim expression on his face.
Before either of them could speak, a chilling voice echoed from the void:
"Well, well, well… Look who finally decided to show up."
Hugo turned his head toward the voice. It was unrecognizable… yet deeply familiar — more familiar than anything else in the world, as if that voice had been inside him this whole time.
Floating in the infinite space were two giant green heads. One masculine and perpetually angry, and another feminine and calm.
"Oh, don't be like that, Bellicus," the female voice said gently, looking at Hugo. "We have a guest."
Bellicus snorted, which was an odd gesture considering he didn't have lungs.
"So, Ben Tennyson's plan was a success… Welcome to our hell, Voice of Empathy."