Chapter 147: Nothing Like Kevin
A brilliant flash of emerald light illuminated the cramped metallic space. In an instant, the hulking, four-armed Tetramand shifted, his massive crimson bulk unraveling into the slender, bandage-wrapped form of Snare-oh.
The alien mummy extended his prehensile bandages, the dusty linen weaving through the narrow air vent like striking vipers. They wrapped securely around Kenny's waist, yanking the boy out of the duct with a sharp tug.
Two synchronized flashes—one emerald green, one crimson red—lit up the room. Snare-oh and the crystalline Diamondhead dissolved, reverting back into the ten-year-old Ben and his older, future counterpart, Ben 10,000.
"Don't stare at me like that," Kenny snapped, dusting off his jacket with an exaggerated scowl. He glared up at his father. "If you actually trusted me and just brought me along, I wouldn't have been stuck in that stupid air vent looking like a total idiot! And why didn't you tell me the Null Void Projector got moved?! You don't trust me at all!"
Before Older Ben could even open his mouth to defend himself, Kenny spun on his heel and stormed off down the corridor, his footsteps echoing heavily against the metal floor grating.
Watching his son's retreating back, Older Ben pinched the bridge of his nose, letting out a long, exhausted sigh. "You know... I might not want a son for a while."
Hearing this, Young Ben turned, meeting his older self's gaze. He offered a helpless, highly sympathetic shrug. "My dad drives me crazy too."
"Yeah, we agreed to have dinner together yesterday," Kenny grumbled, kicking a stray pebble across the pavement. "But it was the exact same old story. World needs saving, aliens attacking. He never showed up."
Kenny had tracked down his best friend, Devlin, and the two boys immediately fell into a shared rhythm of complaining about their respective fathers.
Seeing Devlin nodding along quietly, Kenny leaned against the wall, his frustration bubbling over. "My dad promised to take me with him to teach the bad guys a lesson. Kevin broke into my house! If my dad had just taken me along, I could have really pounded that creep."
"Kevin?!" Devlin's eyes widened, though a strange, almost imperceptible gleam flickered in his pupils. "That guy is super tough! I thought he was locked up."
As Devlin spoke, the corners of his mouth twitched upward into a faint, knowing smirk—the look of someone watching a perfectly laid trap snap shut.
"He already escaped," Kenny muttered, pulling his knees to his chest, wallowing in his own teenage angst and completely oblivious to his friend's shifting demeanor.
"Oh, really? And you know what else?" Kenny threw his hands up in exasperation. "My dad moved the Null Void Projector without even telling me! He completely treats me like a baby."
"Man, if Kevin escapes, that'll be huge trouble," Devlin said, his tone carefully measured to add just the right amount of fuel to the fire. "Maybe the Null Void Projector needs repairs." He paused, letting the silence hang before adding, "But I guess your dad will just handle everything himself."
"No way. I can fix it myself too," Kenny declared, his pride stinging. He shot to his feet, fists clenched.
Devlin tilted his head, his brow furrowing in a mask of perfect innocence. "But... you don't even know where it is."
"I know exactly where it is," Kenny said, a mischievous grin spreading across his face. "Let's go."
The cool evening breeze swept through the quiet parking lot where the Rustbucket sat parked. The iconic, battered RV looked entirely unassuming under the dim glow of the streetlights.
Kenny and Devlin crouched low, hiding behind the rear bumper of a nearby sedan.
"My great-grandfather comes out for his evening walk at exactly this time every day," Kenny whispered, checking his watch.
Right on cue, the heavy side door of the Rustbucket creaked open. Grandpa Max stepped out, stretching his back with a soft groan before ambling off down the sidewalk, whistling a cheerful tune.
The moment Max was out of sight, Kenny signaled Devlin. The two boys darted across the asphalt and slipped silently inside the RV.
The interior was a chaotic blend of retro camping gear and highly advanced Plumber technology. Kenny immediately began scouring the walls and control panels. "There has to be a hidden switch or something nearby. Help me look!"
Devlin blinked, looking around the cramped living space. "What switch?"
"The access to the Null Void prison area," Kenny explained, tossing a couch cushion aside. "My dad always gave the Null Void Eggs to my great-grandfather to handle. I originally thought he just walked down to the basement prison area at headquarters, but now I know they changed locations. It's here."
Kenny, in his naive eagerness to prove himself, was spilling every family secret he had without a second thought.
Devlin still looked skeptical. "How can a massive interdimensional prison be hidden inside a tiny, beat-up old RV?"
"Just wait and see. But we need to be quick." Kenny tapped the dial of his Omnitrix. The faceplate popped up, and he slammed it down.
A flash of emerald light bathed the RV, and in Kenny's place stood the small, black-and-white alien, Ditto.
"Time to divide and conquer!" Ditto announced cheerfully. With a series of popping sounds, he split into four identical clones, scattering across the RV to press every suspicious-looking panel they could find.
A few moments later, one of the clones shouted from the driver's seat. "Found it!"
The Ditto eagerly slammed his hand onto a red button hidden under the dashboard. Instantly, a motorized hum filled the air. A glittering disco ball descended from the Rustbucket's ceiling, projecting a dizzying array of neon rainbow lights across the interior while a funky bassline started playing from the speakers.
Devlin slapped a hand over his mouth, his shoulders shaking as he tried desperately to hold back a burst of laughter.
The four Dittos flushed red with embarrassment. "Hey! No laughing!" they shouted in unison.
The original Ditto scrambled to press the button again, retracting the disco ball and cutting off the music. "Okay, let's try this again."
"Maybe this one," another Ditto suggested, pressing a concealed panel near the microwave.
A loud hiss of depressurization echoed through the cabin. A section of the floor smoothly slid open, revealing a sleek, high-tech elevator shaft hidden right beneath the dining table.
A flash of red light signaled Ditto timing out, reverting back to Kenny.
Kenny shot Devlin a triumphant grin. The two boys stepped into the hidden elevator, the doors sliding shut behind them as they descended deep underground.
When the doors finally parted, a massive, cavernous subterranean facility stretched out before them. At the center of the room sat the towering, ringed structure of the Null Void Projector.
"Hmph! Dad thinks he's so smart," Kenny said, crossing his arms with a smug smile.
Somewhere, Older Ben sneezed. Yes, Kenny, he is definitely smarter than you, you silly kid.
The moment Devlin laid eyes on the colossal Null Void Projector, his entire demeanor shifted. He shoved Kenny aside roughly and sprinted straight for the main control console.
"Hey! What are you doing?!" Kenny yelled, stumbling to catch his balance before running after him.
As Devlin reached the console, his human disguise melted away. His skin hardened, shifting into a patchwork of mutated alien textures—the unmistakable chimera form of an Osmosian.
Kenny skidded to a halt, his eyes widening in horror. "It's you!" he gasped, the pieces finally clicking together in his mind.
"That's right, it's me," Devlin sneered, his voice dropping into a rougher, monstrous cadence. "I really have to thank you, Kenny. Without your help, I never would have found this place. And I wouldn't be able to release my father... Kevin."
Before Kenny could lunge forward to stop him, Devlin slammed his fist onto the primary release switch.
The massive rings of the Null Void Projector spun to life, glowing with an ominous crimson energy. A swirling vortex tore open in the center of the room. Heavy boots echoed against the metal ramp as a tall, imposing man with long, ragged black hair stepped out of the portal.
"Good son," Kevin Levin rasped, rolling his shoulders as he breathed in the air of Earth for the first time in years.
Devlin beamed, looking up at the man he had idolized his entire life.
"You're Kevin?!" Kenny backed away instinctively, his heart hammering against his ribs. He took two slow steps backward, his hand hovering over his Omnitrix.
Kevin cracked his knuckles, his dark eyes locking onto the boy. "Who's the kid?"
"He's Ben's son," Devlin said eagerly. "Come on, Dad. Let's get out of here."
A wicked, terrifying grin spread across Kevin's scarred face. "No, no, good son. Do you know the absolute best way to get revenge on my old pal Ben?" He stepped off the ramp, his gaze fixed on Kenny like a predator eyeing a wounded rabbit. "You beat his kid to a pulp."
As his voice echoed through the cavern, Kevin's body began to violently mutate. Flesh tore and shifted, erupting into a grotesque amalgamation of alien DNA. Massive crystalline spikes, fiery appendages, and thick, muscular tentacles burst from his back.
"Please, call me Kevin 11,000!" he roared, his voice distorted by multiple alien vocal cords. "Hehehe... prepare to die, little brat!"
Kevin dragged his massive, tentacled form toward the boy. Kenny frantically tapped his Omnitrix, but the dial glowed a stubborn, unyielding red. It was still charging.
"No! Stay back! Don't come over here!" Kenny shouted, backing into a wall.
Just as the massive, writhing tentacles were about to crush Kenny into the floor—
"Kenny! I'm here to save you!"
A voice rang out from the elevator entrance. Young Ben sprinted into the room, his face pale with panic.
Kenny felt tears of pure relief prick his eyes. "Dad's here!"
The ten-year-old father and his ten-year-old son collided in a desperate, tearful embrace.
Kevin froze, his mismatched eyes blinking in sheer disbelief. "No way... Ben Tennyson?! How are you..." He stared at the boy hugging his son. He didn't know what kind of temporal anomaly had gone wrong, but why the hell did Ben Tennyson look exactly like he did back when they were kids?
"Kenny! I'm here to save you!"
A deeper, more mature voice echoed from the same elevator shaft. Older Ben charged into the room, panting heavily.
Kenny burst into a fresh wave of tears. "Dad!"
"Huh?!" Both Young Ben and Older Ben responded simultaneously.
Kevin clutched his mutated head. They were right. I really am crazy. He didn't know what to say. Two Bens?
"Again?!" Kevin roared, triggered by the word 'Dad'. He whipped his massive head around, frantically searching the shadows for a third Ben to pop out. After a long, agonizing moment of silence, he finally realized it was just his own son, Devlin, calling out to him.
Devlin watched his father's erratic, paranoid behavior with a sinking feeling in his gut. Dad hasn't completely lost his mind in the Null Void... has he?
"Damn it! So what if there are two Bens?!" Kevin 11,000 bellowed, his fury reigniting. "Today, none of you are escaping this room alive!"
Kevin lunged forward, his massive frame moving with terrifying speed.
Seeing the incoming threat, both Bens slammed their hands down on their respective Omnitrixes.
A blinding flash of dual green light illuminated the cavern. In Older Ben's place stood the towering, four-armed powerhouse, Four Arms. Beside him, Young Ben had transformed into the bulky, armored sphere of Cannonbolt.
Kevin whipped a pair of searing lava tentacles toward them. Four Arms reacted instantly, grabbing Kenny by the collar and leaping high into the air, narrowly dodging the molten strike.
Cannonbolt curled into an indestructible ball, revving up like a buzzsaw before launching himself directly at Kevin's chest.
Kevin didn't even flinch. He reached out with a massive, rocky left hand, catching the spinning Cannonbolt mid-air with brute force. With a casual flick of his wrist, he hurled the heavy alien across the room, sending Cannonbolt crashing through a steel support beam.
Without missing a beat, Kevin used a secondary tentacle to rip a massive steel plate straight off the wall. He spun on his heel and hurled it at the descending Four Arms like a giant, lethal frisbee.
Four Arms roared, throwing a devastating punch that shattered the steel plate into jagged shrapnel.
But it was a distraction. While Four Arms's vision was obscured by the falling metal, Kevin extended a dark green, vine-like tentacle. It whipped around Four Arms's waist, pulling tight before unleashing a massive surge of high-voltage electricity.
"Aaargh!!!" Four Arms bellowed, his muscles locking up as the current tore through his body.
Kevin laughed maniacally. He swung the electrified tentacle upward, slamming Four Arms brutally into the reinforced ceiling. The impact left a massive, spider-webbing crater in the metal.
Not satisfied, Kevin whipped his arm down, smashing the Tetramand fiercely into the concrete floor. Another crater exploded outward, sending dust and debris flying.
A red light flashed. Four Arms reverted back to Older Ben, who lay groaning in the center of the rubble, his body bruised and battered.
Kevin released his grip, raising a massive, crystalline fist over the trembling man. "I'm going to eliminate you, Tennyson! Forever!"
Just as the lethal blow was about to descend, a small figure darted between them.
Devlin stood over Ben, his arms spread wide, shielding his father's mortal enemy. "Dad! Stop! You've already proven you're better than him! You won! Let's just go!"
Kevin paused, glaring down at his son. For a second, Devlin thought he had gotten through to him.
Then, with a callous backhand, Kevin swatted Devlin aside like a pesky insect. The boy slammed hard against the wall, sliding to the floor in a daze.
"Do I look like I still need to prove anything?!" Kevin roared, his eyes burning with madness. "I was already better than him! I'm just having fun!"
Devlin clutched his bruised ribs, tears welling in his eyes. This monster... this wasn't the father he had dreamed of rescuing. This wasn't what he wanted at all.
Taking advantage of the distraction, Young Ben slapped his Omnitrix dial, transforming into Four Arms. He charged forward, delivering a brutal, full-force uppercut directly to Kevin's jaw.
The sheer kinetic force sent Kevin flying upward. He crashed straight through the ceiling, bursting out into the open air above ground. Young Ben's Four Arms bent his knees and leaped up through the jagged hole in pursuit.
Down in the facility, Kenny rushed over to help his battered father to his feet.
"Kevin has gotten way too strong," Older Ben coughed, wiping a streak of blood from his lip. He looked down at his son, a fierce determination in his eyes. "But I still have an alien hero who can put him down. Take me up."
Kenny supported his father as they rode the emergency lift to the surface. As soon as the doors opened to the street level, they were greeted by a scene of absolute devastation.
Kevin was brutally pummeling Young Ben's Four Arms into the asphalt. The surrounding pedestrians had long since fled, leaving the ruined street completely deserted.
Seeing his younger self getting trashed, Older Ben instinctively cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted, "Kevin! Come at me if you dare, you ugly freak!"
Young Ben, currently getting his face shoved into the pavement, managed to choke out, "Aren't I already coming at you?!"
Older Ben paused, blinking. Oh, right. He is also me.
He shook his head, clearing the lingering concussion from his mind. He looked down at his Omnitrix, his fingers hovering over the dial. "Omnitrix, I am begging you. Do not give me the wrong guy right now!"
He slammed the dial down. "Please welcome... Way Big!"
A blinding pillar of emerald light shot into the night sky. When it faded, a colossal, towering giant stood amidst the city blocks, his head brushing the clouds.
Way Big looked down at his massive hands, a booming, echoing chuckle vibrating through the air. "Man, sometimes I really love this little watch."
He turned his glowing eyes down toward the ant-sized Kevin. "Bold villain!" Way Big's voice thundered, shaking the glass of nearby skyscrapers.
He locked his hands together into a massive double-fist and brought them slamming down onto Kevin with the force of a meteor.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The earth quaked with every strike. The sheer concussive force flattened the street, kicking up a massive dust storm.
When the terrifying barrage finally ceased, Way Big lifted his fists. At the bottom of a massive crater, Kevin lay twitching, completely broken and unable to lift even a single finger. He trembled, trying desperately to push himself up from the rubble.
Just then, a small metallic sphere rolled to a stop right in front of his face.
Kevin forced his swollen eyes open, looking up in sheer disbelief. Standing at the edge of the crater was his "good son," Devlin, holding the trigger mechanism.
"No!!!" Kevin screamed, his voice cracking with terror.
The Null Void Egg snapped open. A swirling golden vortex erupted from the device, generating a massive gravitational pull. Kevin dug his claws into the dirt, but it was useless. He was violently sucked into the portal, screaming all the way down, before the Egg snapped shut, reverting back to a harmless-looking sphere.
The portable Null Void prison had claimed its inmate once again.
"Ben, we're heading back now."
A calm, detached voice cut through the settling dust. Klein appeared out of thin air, standing beside Gwen. For some reason, the usually composed Anodite looked distinctly displeased, her arms crossed tightly over her chest.
"What a mess," Klein muttered, his tone entirely unbothered by the apocalyptic destruction. He scanned the ruined street with mild amusement.
A red light flashed, and the towering form of Way Big dissolved, dropping Older Ben back onto the ground.
He walked over, his shoulders slumped with exhaustion. "Let's just go back, Cousin."
Klein gave a faint, amused nod. "Ben, let's play again next time."
With a snap of his fingers, spatial energy wrapped around them. In the blink of an eye, Klein vanished from the spot, taking Young Ben and Gwen with him.
The street fell eerily silent.
Devlin stood alone near the crater, staring at the Null Void Egg in his hands. He slowly turned, his shoulders heavy with sorrow and guilt. "I should go too."
He had betrayed them. He had nearly gotten them all killed. He didn't expect any forgiveness.
"Wait," Older Ben's voice called out suddenly.
Devlin stopped, his grip tightening on the sphere. "Are you going to send me to the Null Void too?" he asked quietly, not intending to resist. He knew he deserved it.
Kenny looked frantically between his father and his best friend, casting a desperate, pleading look at Ben.
Older Ben walked over, looking down at the boy who had just lost his father for the second time. A soft, understanding smile broke through his bruised face. He gently shook his head.
"No. Perhaps... you can become a part of our family."
Devlin's head snapped up, his eyes wide with shock. "Really?!"
"That's awesome!" Kenny cheered, throwing his arms up in the air.
The two boys tackled each other in a joyous hug, the heavy weight of the night finally lifting, leaving only the promise of a better tomorrow.
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