The corrupted To'kustar roared loud enough to shake the surrounding platforms before it raised one massive leg and stomped downward toward both Vilgax and FlameGuardian.
The impact shattered the ground instantly.
The entire floating platform exploded apart into massive chunks of stone that scattered throughout the Null Void. Shockwaves rippled through the empty dimension as both FlameGuardian and Vilgax were blown away from the impact.
Vilgax reacted quickly, landing back onto his flying beast while gripping its side tightly.
FlameGuardian, meanwhile, slid across several floating chunks of debris before catching himself and running across the broken terrain.
Because of the Null Void's strange gravity, the destroyed rocks didn't immediately fall. Instead, they drifted slowly through the air, suspended in the endless purple-blue haze surrounding them.
The corrupted To'kustar's glowing red eyes suddenly locked onto FlameGuardian.
It roared again. Then swung one massive fist directly toward him.
FlameGuardian narrowed his glowing eyes and immediately tapped the Omnitrix dial.
Golden light erupted outward.
The giant fist crashed through floating stone and debris, scattering everything around it like an explosion.
But instead of FlameGuardian, a completely different figure now stood atop the corrupted To'kustar's hand.
A black-skinned humanoid wrapped in a dark blue hooded cloak with golden trims covering most of his body. A white skull mask hid his face completely while two long horns curved upward from the top of his head. Hollow golden eyes glowed from within the mask.
The golden Omnitrix rested around his neck like a large clasp holding the cloak together.
"Hollowshell," he decided after instinctively understanding the transformation.
The corrupted To'kustar immediately tried to crush him.
Its other hand swung toward him in a massive slap, but Hollowshell sprinted across its arm with unnatural agility before leaping upward.
White bone suddenly spread across his legs. The bones reshaped themselves into sharp skeletal greaves ending in talon-like claws that dug directly into the giant's skin when he landed against its shoulder.
The corrupted To'kustar roared angrily and slammed its hand against its own shoulder trying to crush him.
Hollowshell leaped away just before impact. As he flipped through the air, white bone spread across his black hands and formed sleek skeletal gauntlets around his forearms.
Then a thin strand of condensed bone shot outward from his wrist. A bone chain. The sharp tip stabbed directly into the back of the corrupted To'kustar's neck.
Hollowshell swung from it effortlessly, moving around to the creature's back while the giant alien thrashed violently trying to grab him.
"Okay, this form is actually awesome," Hollowshell muttered.
Bone spread down his other arm and formed into a long curved blade. Then he slashed directly across the corrupted To'kustar's nape.
Crimson blood burst outward.
The giant monster roared in pain loud enough to shake nearby debris while blood splattered across Hollowshell's cloak and mask.
Before the creature could retaliate, Hollowshell released the bone chain and shot another one outward toward a floating rock nearby.
The chain stabbed deep into the stone and pulled him away just as the corrupted To'kustar slammed its hand through the space where he had been moments earlier.
While swinging through the air, Hollowshell opened the interface of the Another Omnitrix.
Drops of the corrupted To'kustar's blood floated off his cloak and into the device.
[New DNA sample acquired!]
He glanced back over his shoulder. The corrupted To'kustar was still chasing him despite the wound on its neck, roaring furiously while smashing aside floating debris to reach him.
"Great..." Hollowshell muttered while skidding across a drifting platform.
The giant monster lunged again. Hollowshell immediately fired another bone chain and swung himself away before the platform beneath him exploded apart.
As he continued moving through the floating terrain, he suddenly paused mid-swing.
"…Wait a minute." He looked around carefully. "Where's Squidward?"
Only then did he realize that during the chaos with the corrupted To'kustar, Vilgax had completely disappeared.
"Huh," Hollowshell said while still swinging away from the giant monster chasing him. "You know, for a giant scary conqueror guy, he sure runs away a lot."
...
While Ben was still busy keeping Kevin occupied, Vilgax suddenly crashed into the fight from the side and slammed him off course, sending him hurtling into a nearby floating stone.
Diamondhead looked up just in time to see Vilgax reappear on the other side of the battlefield, now standing beside Kevin on top of their swarm of flying beasts.
"Aw, man," Diamondhead muttered. "Can't you guys just call it quits already? You are both still not beating my partner."
He barely finished speaking before the ground under him shook violently.
The platform he was standing on suddenly split apart as a massive black-and-blue worm-like creature with a ring of sharp teeth burst out from below, trying to swallow him whole.
Diamondhead reacted instantly and transformed into Stinkfly before the monster could make him lunch.
Stinkfly shot upward with a buzz of wings, barely avoiding those snapping jaws.
Vilgax and Kevin immediately charged after him, their flying beasts lunging in from both sides and slamming straight into him.
Stinkfly went flying through the air, crashed into another floating stone, and then bounced off it hard enough to slam directly onto Evan.
"Ow..." Ben groaned.
The hit forced him out of his transformation.
His eyes shifted downward, and he immediately recognized the familiar pair of boots beneath him before looking up and seeing Evan.
"Glad to see you are safe," Ben said as he sat up.
"Damn, where did you come from?" Evan asked while pushing himself up too, only to pause when he noticed something strange.
Their Omnitrixes were right next to each other.
Both faceplates had somehow lined up and were being pulled toward one another, green and golden sparks crackling between them.
Evan had been running from the corrupted To'kustar. After getting somewhere safe, he transformed back into human form to hide. Then, suddenly, an airborne Ben came crashing down right on top of him.
"Sorry," Ben said sheepishly. "Sneak attacked."
Evan immediately yanked his arm away, separating the two watches.
The sparks died down. Then both of them looked up and saw Kevin and Vilgax charging straight toward them again.
Evan stood up and activated his Another Omnitrix. He was about to move on instinct when he froze for a second.
The hologram in front of him was Heatblast.
"...What the?" he muttered.
He quickly turned the dial and saw something even stranger.
His original alien playlist was still there, but now there were extra aliens mixed in with it. Heatblast. Bloxx. Juryrigg. Pesky Dust. Kickin' Hawk.
Evan immediately recognized them. Those were Ben's future aliens.
"Ben, check your Omnitrix," Evan said quickly. Then he pressed the dial down.
Golden light exploded outward.
"Bloxx!"
The transformation finished and he became a large, blocky alien with a gorilla-like build, his body made entirely out of living building blocks.
Without wasting a second, Bloxx stretched and reassembled his body into a thick wall that slammed up just in time to block Kevin and Vilgax, giving Ben a moment to check his watch.
Ben had not exactly touched the Omnitrix much since Master Control had been unlocked, so this was the first chance he had to really look through it. Sure enough, he now had five new aliens too.
He tested them one by one. First came Xenomorph, whom he called Skewer. Then came Eye Guy. Then Ball Weevil. Then Rath. Then, finally, Shock Rock.
Previously, when their Omnitrixes had accidentally linked through touch, the Another Omnitrix had tried to absorb the Omnitrix. Since it could not take the whole thing, it had pulled the DNA instead, giving Evan access to Ben's aliens. At the same time, some of the alien DNA inside Ben's Omnitrix had been forced up to the surface, which let Ben's watch register them too.
Heatblast had been the special case. The Pyronite DNA had actually been extracted from the Omnitrix, which should have locked Ben out of that form completely. But because Master Control was still active, the DNA had reappeared once the two watches separated.
Neither boy cared much about these details, as Evan was currently focused on Vilgax and Kevin, while Ben was just thrilled that he had five new aliens to mess with.
Kevin and Vilgax blasted right through Bloxx's wall and came flying in on their beasts again. Bloxx fell back, landing right beside Ben.
Ben grinned and transformed into Shock Rock.
His body was made from pure blue electricity, with rocks covering parts of his body to form a humanoid shape.
"Well, you are in for a treat," Shock Rock said with a smirk as electricity crackled across his body. "Because I just got a few new alien heroes to kick your butts."
Then a roar thundered behind them. Both aliens turned. A gigantic corrupted To'kustar was charging straight toward them once again.
Bloxx slowly looked over and gave a dry comment. "We got company."
The corrupted To'kustar roared and slammed both of its massive arms downward, completely shattering the floating platforms beneath everyone into hundreds of drifting chunks of stone.
Kevin and Vilgax quickly pulled back on their flying beasts while debris scattered everywhere throughout the Null Void.
Shock Rock instantly transformed into Skewer in a burst of green light.
The Xenomorph landed on all fours and immediately adapted to the terrain with frightening speed. He darted across floating rocks, crawled underneath broken debris, and leaped from platform to platform with terrifying agility.
Meanwhile, Bloxx tapped his Omnitrix dial. Golden light flashed.
Bloxx shrank down into a small pink alien with delicate wings and a fairy-like appearance.
"Pesky Dust," He announced.
Pesky Dust zipped through the battlefield while staying hidden behind floating rocks and debris. The corrupted To'kustar kept roaring and wildly swinging at Kevin, Vilgax, and Skewer, completely unaware of the tiny alien flying toward its head.
"Okay," Pesky Dust muttered. "Let's see if giant cosmic monsters sleep."
He flew directly beside the corrupted To'kustar's face and blew a stream of sparkling pink dust straight into its eye.
The giant paused. Then blinked. Its glowing crimson eyes slowly drooped as the roaring stopped.
The corrupted To'kustar suddenly let out a gigantic yawn before collapsing heavily onto the floating terrain with a thunderous crash.
A few seconds later, it started snoring loudly.
Pesky Dust stared at the sleeping giant in surprise. "…Huh. That actually worked."
Unfortunately, he did not get long to celebrate. One of Vilgax's flying beasts suddenly swooped down from above and swallowed him whole.
"HEY!"
The creature barely got one gulp down before golden light burst through its teeth.
The beast roared in pain before exploding apart in flames.
Heatblast flew out from the remains, fire blasting from his hands and feet as he hovered in the air.
"Okay," Heatblast said while dusting himself off midair. "That was gross."
He flew down beside Skewer while both of them turned toward Kevin and Vilgax.
The two villains jumped off their flying beasts and landed directly across from them. Skewer immediately transformed back into Shock Rock while Heatblast tapped his Omnitrix dial.
A golden flash erupted.
The flames condensed into black and white armor as golden ghost fire ignited around the new alien's body.
FlameGuardian appeared once more.
Shock Rock stared at him for a second.
"Wow," he said honestly. "Your new alien looks hella sick."
FlameGuardian's flaming hands shifted into long burning blades.
"We can admire the transformations later," he replied calmly. "Right now, we have a living squid and an annoying brat to deal with."
The four of them charged at each other. Shock Rock raised both palms and fired powerful electric beams toward Vilgax and Kevin.
The two villains quickly split apart to avoid the blasts as the beams tore through floating rocks behind them.
At the same time, FlameGuardian lunged toward Kevin and brought both flaming blades down. Kevin gritted his teeth and reshaped his crystal arm to block the strike.
The flaming blades screeched against the crystal surface.
Kevin immediately thrust his other hand forward, Heatblast's fiery arm aiming to grab FlameGuardian directly. FlameGuardian ducked underneath the attack just as another electric beam from Shock Rock slammed into Kevin and blasted him backward.
Shock Rock rolled away as Vilgax's fist crashed into the ground where he had been standing moments earlier, shattering the rock apart.
FlameGuardian leaped toward him and swung from behind, aiming for Vilgax's back. But Vilgax reacted instantly. The alien warlord spun around and drove his massive fist directly into FlameGuardian's face.
The impact shattered the floating platform beneath them. FlameGuardian was slammed downward through the broken stone and disappeared into the void below.
"Evan!" Shock Rock shouted.
That single moment of distraction was enough. Vilgax and Kevin immediately rushed him together.
Shock Rock transformed again in a burst of green light. Four Arms appeared and instantly punched Kevin across the jaw hard enough to launch him backward toward Vilgax.
But instead of dodging, Vilgax caught Kevin midair. Then threw him.
"Huh?!"
Kevin slammed directly into Four Arms like a projectile and tackled him to the ground.
Before Four Arms could recover, Vilgax lunged forward and pressed a claw directly against the Omnitrix symbol on his shoulder.
A red flash erupted.
Four Arms transformed back into human form.
Kevin immediately moved next and slammed a strange containment device onto Ben's wrist. The machine locked around the Omnitrix. A massive burst of green energy exploded outward and nearly blew Kevin away.
Kevin gritted his teeth and forced the device down harder while sharp metal claws extended from it and dug into the ground for support.
The Omnitrix flared wildly. Alien silhouettes rapidly flashed across its surface while unstable green energy crackled everywhere.
Ben screamed in pain as the device forcibly pulled the Omnitrix away from his arm. His watery eyes stared at the watch as it slowly tore free from his skin and was dragged directly into the containment sphere.
The blue sphere snapped shut around it. Kevin smirked while picking up the captured Omnitrix. Then he tossed the now-empty containment device aside.
"Psyche right back at you!" Ben shouted angrily while clutching his wrist. "I zeroed it out! Good luck figuring out the Master Control now!"
Vilgax let out a low chuckle.
"Unlocking the Omnitrix is child's play for one with my knowledge," he said proudly.
Ben immediately regretted saying that. "…Okay, maybe I should've kept that to myself."
"But who says you're ever getting it back?" Kevin grinned.
He jumped onto one of the flying beasts and sped away with the sphere containing the Omnitrix. Vilgax quickly followed after him on another beast.
As Vilgax and Kevin disappeared deeper into the Null Void on the backs of their flying beasts, the unstable dimension around them rumbled softly, the floating rocks vibrating from the aftermath of the battle.
Ben was still on one knee, breathing hard while clutching the spot on his wrist where the Omnitrix had been torn away. Without it, his arm felt strangely light, and honestly, that scared him more than he wanted to admit.
Eclipse stood atop a floating stone platform with his arms crossed, golden-striped quills swaying slightly in the dimensional wind as his golden eyes slowly shifted between Vilgax and Kevin flying into the distance.
Seeing the two villains practically playing tag with each other using the Omnitrix.
"Pathetic," Eclipse muttered coldly. Neither Vilgax nor Kevin even noticed him.
"Chaos Control."
The world instantly froze.
The flying beasts halted mid-flight. Floating debris stopped drifting. Even the dimensional currents themselves became completely still.
Only Eclipse continued moving normally through the frozen Null Void. With a blur of golden light, he vanished from his spot and reappeared directly above Kevin, casually standing on the mutant's head while Kevin remained frozen in place with a smug grin still stuck on his face.
Eclipse glanced down at the blue containment sphere in Kevin's hand.
"Against absolute power, all your efforts are meaningless."
He plucked the sphere from Kevin's frozen grip effortlessly before vanishing again in another flash of distorted space.
A second later, he appeared behind Ben.
Time resumed instantly, and Eclipse simply raised his hand toward empty space beside Ben.
His fingers tore through reality itself, ripping open a swirling portal back to Earth. Hearing the sound of reality tearing apart, Ben turned around and froze when he saw Eclipse standing there, his back turned toward him.
For a moment, Ben honestly didn't know what to say.
Eclipse tilted his head back slightly to look at him. "Let's go back. The others must be worried sick about you."
Ben opened his mouth, but after everything that happened, nothing came out. Instead, he simply nodded.
The moment they stepped out, Max was already there, pulling them both into a tight, relieved hug while keeping his grandchildren close at the same time.
"Kids! You're all right!" Max said, his voice full of relief.
"Well, mostly all right," Ben muttered, looking down at his bare wrist with a miserable sigh. The red mark left behind by the Omnitrix was still there, and he looked like he was only just now realizing how much he had actually lost.
Gwen smiled and rested a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, at least you were a great hero while it lasted."
Ben gave her a tired look but did not argue.
Evan had already returned to human form and stepped closer, still holding the sphere in one hand. "Listen, Ben, about the watch-"
"I know," Ben said quickly, already sounding guilty. "I was cocky, and I totally abused my powers. And I'm sorry. I guess that probably will not happen again, since I'm back to being just plain old Ben."
"That was not exactly what I was going to say," Evan replied, "but since you have learned your lesson..." He held the sphere up. "Don't lose it again."
Ben blinked. Then his jaw dropped.
"Whoa, the Omnitrix!"
He snatched the container out of Evan's hand and stared at it in disbelief. "But I saw Kevin run away with it, with Vilgax chasing after him. How did you even get it back?"
"Oh, please," Evan said with a small smirk. "I was the Ultimate Life Form. Do you really think they ever had a chance against me?"
Before he could look any more pleased with himself, Orfevre immediately punched him in the shoulder.
"Ow."
"Don't talk like that, it sounds way too edgy coming from you." she said flatly. "It does not fit your character."
Evan rubbed his shoulder dramatically. "And what exactly is my character supposed to be?"
Orfevre answered instantly without missing a beat.
"An overprotective, shapeshifting, weird, idiotic brother."
Gold Ship immediately pointed at him. "True!"
"...That was uncomfortably specific." Evan murmurs.
"You say that like you don't enjoy it," Gwen snorted.
Meanwhile, Gold Ship had already wandered closer toward Ben, staring directly at the sphere with sparkling eyes.
"Oh! Oh!" Gold Ship suddenly shouted, practically bouncing on her feet. "You already wore the Omni-thingy. It is Gold Ship's turn now!"
Ben instantly jerked the sphere away from her reaching hands.
"Now, now, Gold Ship," Max said calmly, patting her on the head. "The Omnitrix is not a toy, and it cannot just be taken off whenever you want to."
Gold Ship pouted, but she did not argue. That was probably for the best.
Ben looked down at the sphere in his hands and opened it up. The Omnitrix lay inside, glowing with a faint green light.
Then the whole thing suddenly flared.
A surge of green energy erupted outward, followed by bursts of lightning that crackled across the air so violently the others had to step back. Thin cracks spread across the container as if it were glass under pressure, and a second later the whole thing shattered apart.
When the light faded, the Omnitrix was back where it belonged on Ben's wrist, slightly smoking from the overload.
Ben stared at it for a second, then grinned.
"Nice."
Max let out a relieved breath and folded his arms. "You kids did pretty well. Vilgax and Kevin are gone, the Omnitrix is back, and nobody got left in the Null Void. Not bad for one day."
He smiled and looked around at them all.
"Why don't we go get some ice cream to celebrate?"
"I'll do it, Grandpa!" Ben said immediately, already lifting his hand and slamming it onto the Omnitrix. "I can turn into XLR8 and be back before you can even say-"
Green light exploded around him.
When it faded, there was no blue speedster. Instead, a tiny gray alien stood in his place, blinking up at everyone in horror.
"Grey Matter?!" Grey Matter squeaked in horror while looking at his tiny hands. "Oh no! I forgot I zeroed out the Master Control!"
Gwen burst out laughing. "Don't worry. There are only, like, nine hundred and ninety-nine million more combinations for you to try."
"Aww maaan..." Grey Matter groaned miserably while everyone around him laughed.