Ben 10,000 Headquarters, rooftop.
Vilgax grabbed Humungousaur and Heatblast, then leapt upward in one powerful jump, smashing through dozens of floors and landing on the open rooftop for a real showdown.
"Heh. You're digging your own grave," Humungousaur said with a laugh.
Vilgax sneered coldly. "Really? Because you two don't seem to be my match."
"Oh, man, this sucks!" Just thinking back to the beating he had taken earlier made Heatblast feel miserable. "If only I could still switch forms freely."
Earlier, he had accidentally unlocked the Omnitrix's transformation permissions and had been able to switch heroes at will. Back then, even Vilgax and Kevin working together hadn't been able to take him down.
But after leaving the Null Void, that ability disappeared. No matter how hard Ben thought about it, he couldn't figure out why.
"Ah! I know!" Heatblast suddenly had a flash of inspiration.
The only possibility was that, before leaving the Null Void, the Null Guardian had grabbed the Omnitrix symbol.
At the time, there had been a faint flicker of electricity, but Ben hadn't paid any attention to it and had rushed straight out of the Null Void.
After that, he could no longer switch forms with a thought...
"Maybe this will help." Humungousaur walked over and pressed Heatblast's Omnitrix.
Thunk.
In the next instant, Heatblast turned into Spidermonkey.
When the Great One descended on Earth, he had brought four guardian generals with him, and one of them carried Spidermonkey's DNA. Like Lucian, Ben had also collected their genetic data.
"Tennyson, get over here and fight me!" Vilgax roared as he swung his powerful left arm, his fist as big as a sandbag, straight at Humungousaur.
Humungousaur clenched his iron fist and met him head-on.
Boom!
Their attacks slammed into each other, erupting with savage force, like two prehistoric beasts locked in battle.
But Humungousaur was clearly weaker than Vilgax.
After only a brief deadlock, he was forced backward, his feet carving two deep grooves into the rooftop.
"How about that, Ben Tennyson? I'm even stronger than before! Even ten of you wouldn't be enough to beat me!" Vilgax shouted arrogantly, steadily increasing his strength as he drove Humungousaur back.
At that moment, Spidermonkey had already slipped behind Vilgax.
Whoosh.
A strand of snow-white web shot from Spidermonkey's tail, wrapped around Vilgax's calf, and yanked hard.
But Vilgax's legs were like iron stakes hammered into the ground. He did not move at all.
Instead, Spidermonkey nearly lost his footing from the force.
Vilgax cast him a sidelong glance, his eyes full of contempt. "Even your older self wasn't my match, so what can a little brat like you do?"
As he spoke, he reached for the web, trying to use it to seize Spidermonkey.
Spidermonkey quickly let go.
"Roar!" Humungousaur transformed and became Eye Guy.
Countless eyes covered his body, like dark green lakes scattered across a vast mountain range, all glowing with an eerie light.
Eye Guy focused his power, and all the large and small eyes over his body immediately merged into one giant green eye on his chest.
"Hah!"
With a low shout, a thick beam of energy burst from his chest, as wide as a barrel, like a roaring green dragon lunging at the vicious Vilgax with its jaws open.
"Hmph. That won't work on me." Vilgax raised a hand and blocked the beam.
Then he started walking forward step by step, as though Eye Guy's attack meant nothing at all.
It had not even managed to stop him.
Eye Guy refused to accept it and transformed into an adult Heatblast.
This version of Heatblast was taller and more powerfully built.
Blazing fire surged from both shoulders like twin volcanoes, making him look imposing and spectacular.
Heatblast formed a flaming spear and hurled it with all his strength. Wrapped in violent heat, it shot toward Vilgax like a bolt of lightning.
Then he unleashed a storm of fireballs, bombarding him with attack after attack.
In an instant, Vilgax was swallowed by a hazy cloud of gray smoke, and nothing inside could be seen clearly.
"I-is it... over?"
Spidermonkey crouched at the edge of the rooftop, staring without blinking at the cloud of smoke.
A few seconds later, a massive figure burst out of it.
With that huge octopus-like head and wildly thrashing tentacles, Vilgax looked barely hurt aside from some scorch marks on his body.
He moved incredibly fast, charging at the two of them in the blink of an eye.
Before either of them could react, Vilgax grabbed Heatblast and Spidermonkey, and the force of his momentum carried all three straight off the rooftop and down toward the abyss-like ground below.
In midair, Heatblast gritted his teeth and transformed into Cannonbolt, wrenching himself free from Vilgax's grip.
He immediately grabbed the panicked Spidermonkey, curled into a ball, and began spinning at high speed.
Boom.
The hard concrete ground was smashed into a huge crater.
A yellow metal ball lay quietly at the center, giving off thin wisps of heat.
Then Cannonbolt uncurled and released Spidermonkey from inside.
Cannonbolt looked discouraged. With his back to Spidermonkey, he stood there silently, lost in thought.
In the past, he had always been the one beating Vilgax senseless. But now he had no answer. None of his attacks worked on him anymore.
"Hey, what are you doing? Keep fighting!" Spidermonkey stepped forward and looked at Cannonbolt's dejected back. "Maybe he's already seen through all your moves, but does he know what I, Ben Tennyson, can do?"
"I just hope that after all this time, you haven't forgotten everything."
Hearing Ben's words, Cannonbolt stiffened. It was as if something had suddenly broken the gloom shackling his heart.
"Maybe I should learn a few things from you." Cannonbolt tapped the Omnitrix and returned to his human form.
At that moment, Ben 10,000 stood upright with his hoverboard resting on his shoulder, a spark of life returning to his eyes.
"This feeling... it's like being a kid again." Ben 10,000 laughed at himself, then pressed Ben's Omnitrix and turned Spidermonkey into Diamondhead.
"Tennyson, don't run!"
Vilgax charged at them again, looking so ferocious it sent a chill through the air.
"Do as I do."
With that, Ben 10,000 stepped onto his hoverboard and charged fearlessly at Vilgax.
Diamondhead followed close behind.
...
1A Central Special Zone, entrance to the Null Void.
Dr. Animo pulled out the purple orb he had been carrying and threw it to the ground. Instantly, a freezing, bone-piercing wind erupted from it.
Everyone felt as if they had been dropped into an ice cave, shivering uncontrollably, as though some great terror had escaped from that purple sphere.
The Four-Armed Humungousaur had been fighting Kevin 11,000, and the two were evenly matched for the moment.
Then, all of a sudden, a cold wind swept in from the side. It felt both strange and familiar.
The Four-Armed Humungousaur's eyes narrowed, and he immediately turned to look, his heart sinking.
Amid the endless purple mist, an ugly figure came flying out.
An upside-down skull. A broken body. Grayish-purple skin. A black-and-white bony tail. Terrifying cracks all across its chest, with masses of disgusting tentacles writhing out of them.
In the crack running down the center of the skull, a single purple eye lit up, flashing with venomous, icy malice.
The moment it appeared, the temperature across the entire Central Special Zone dropped by dozens of degrees, as if summer had abruptly turned into winter.
"Ghostfreak!" Gwen and Gwen gasped in shock.
"Hahahaha! Didn't see that coming, did you? I resurrected the most powerful Ectonurite. Let's see how you deal with this now!" Dr. Animo laughed wildly.
"Hehe. It feels great to be back. We meet again." Ghostfreak stared at Gwen and the others opposite him.
Not long ago, Dr. Animo had resurrected him. The purple speck of light in the gene chamber had been the remnant of his genetic material. For Ectonurites, as long as even a single cell remained, they could be fully revived.
At first, Dr. Animo had worried Ghostfreak would refuse to cooperate, but the facts proved he had been overthinking it.
The enemy of my enemy is my friend, and they shared a common enemy. Ben Tennyson.
At least for now, Ghostfreak had no intention of making a move against Dr. Animo...
"Hm? Who's that?"
Ghostfreak's gaze shifted to Kevin 11,000 and the Four-Armed Humungousaur.
"That big monster is our ally. As for that four-armed dinosaur, I heard he's Ben Tennyson's Cuz, and he's from a past timeline," Dr. Animo explained.
"The past? How interesting. Hehe." Ghostfreak immediately grew interested and spread his sharp bone claws. "But before that, let's take Ben Tennyson's closest relative first."
"This is bad! Attack now!" Grandpa Max's expression changed. He raised his laser cannon and fired at Ghostfreak in a frenzy.
"Mystic Magic Wave!"
"Water Dragon Soul!"
But those attacks did nothing to Ghostfreak.
His body remained ghostly and insubstantial as he reached out with those ghastly white claws, about to seize Gwen by the collar.
"Roar!"
The Four-Armed Humungousaur let out a thunderous roar and wildly swung his fists, streaks of crimson afterimages slashing through the air as they crashed down on Kevin 11,000.
Even a monster like Kevin 11,000 could not withstand such a heavy blow. He was sent flying backward like a kite with its string cut.
Then the Four-Armed Humungousaur slapped the Omnitrix on his chest.
"SandChill!"