A violet maelstrom of shattered earth and drifting sky islands hung suspended in the void when Eon's voice rang out, cold as the space between stars.
"My name is Eon, a Chronarch of the Rift—born from the broken hours before Creation stirred, destined to master every sweep of time's curve. My ambition is simple: to become the absolute, the one true Ben—a singular power unchallenged by any alternative. Across countless timelines, I vanquished every Ben Tennyson who rose to oppose me. Yet fate is ever capricious.
"One battlefield—an obscure divergence—led me to an anomaly even I had not foreseen: a Timewalker. He was Frederick Rodwell, a paragon of shapeshifting might, able to assume the forms of Ben's myriad alien champions…and more besides, without the Omnitrix. His cunning surpassed any trick I'd known, turning a simple conquest into a maddening challenge.
"From that day, my path diverged. Each new universe hosted a friend—alternate Freds voicing the same defiance, each more resourceful than the last. They cluttered my path like stubborn weeds. At last, I crushed one of the Freds—a Fred, yes, only one—and, using my standard procedure against the Benijamins (Note: I'm going with an Eon similar to the And Beyond continuity, as he takes over alternate Bens to prolong his own existence), I endeavored to subsume his form. I constructed a device of my own design—an Omnimorph Transducer—and, by providence, it worked.
"My power swelled beyond measure. I became more than I was—stronger than any Chronarch had a right to be. And though I sacrificed the host's unique abilities, I reaped the wealth of his memories. From Frederick's lingering will I harvested his rage—a tether pulling me into deeper waters, where every impulse thrummed with his soul's fury. This Frederick was not like the others. He was vague, untethered from the common weave of the Omniverse, and yet…he was rooted somehow, a primal force I could not simply crush.
"So I refined my design. I sought the chronological anchor binding all Freds across existence, and poured my life-force into an ultimate weapon: the Entanglement Bomb. One detonation, targeted at the original transmigrator—Frederick Rodwell—and every branch of his existence would collapse. No more Fred echoes to muddy my destiny. The path would lie open.
"And now," Eon's voice curled through the smashed islands, "with this final thrust—"
He raised his staff overhead, its spiraling runes flaring like dying stars. A ragged breath rasped through his mask as he brought the shaft down toward the immobilized Fred. But before the blade could pierce flesh, Eon's knees buckled. He coughed—a harsh, grating cough that ruptured into a geyser of blood. The fragmented earth tremored; stardust fell like ash from the fractured dome of reality.
Blinking through his own haze, Eon looked down—to see no Fred. The young transmigrator's bonds lay empty. Fear, sharp and sudden, cut through Eon's triumph. The void behind him glimmered with motion, and a familiar voice—a voice he had sworn he'd silenced—whispered: "You didn't think it would be that easy, did you?"
Blood pooled at Eon's lips as he wheezed, vision swimming in violet halos. From the haze strode Frederick—not the battered clone Eon expected, but Future Fred: a towering fusion of Gutrot's viscous might and Celestialsapien grace, his eyes calm yet cold. In his left arm he cradled the unconscious young Fred, whole and unharmed.
"You chased shadows," Future Fred said quietly, stepping forward. "You unleashed that ferril hybrid Gwen to stall me until your bomb was ready. But Celestialsapiens, at full power, transcend your crude devices." He knelt, brushing cosmic dust from young Fred's cheek. "I created a decoy to draw you away, smuggled my younger self beyond your devastating blast radius, and I freed Gwen from your monstrous corruption. While you hunted echoes, I saved what mattered."
Eon groped for breath as his knees hit the shattered ground. Everything…wrong… he rasped, heart hammering against the void's silence.
Future Fred's voice hardened. "You wonder why your grand plan failed? Ponder that in the fires of oblivion." With relentless calm, he raised his boot and brought it down like a celestial hammer. The fractured islands groaned as though reality itself screamed—and then shattered again under the weight of that final stomp. Eon's cry was silent as his form dissolved into motes of cosmic dust.
Future Fred exhaled, chest heaving with relief and sorrow. A single shimmer of tears caught the emptiness. "Mom…Dad," he whispered, eyes distant. "At last, justice." Turning, he looked at young Fred, limp in his arms. "Your journey continues. Though this was but an alternate strand, may you find your own path…and vengeance."
In an instant, golden gears and cosmic runes swirled around Future Fred. His form blurred into a Chrono-Celestialsapien, heart of time entwined with starlight. He raised one arm, and the reverse–temporal runes carved themselves into the void.
With a pulse, the scattered islands wove back into a single world. In the atrium of Ben 10K's HQ, consoles lit and panels winked green. Standing amidst them were Ben 10K, Gwen, Gwendolyn, Charmcaster, and all the freed allies: Venus, Michael Morningstar, Billy Billions, Mazuma, and Evil Max—each entwined in temporal bonds that held them fast. The air smelled of ozone and magic.
Gwendolyn's sapphire eyes fluttered as she realized what had transpired. "I—guess we…lost that fight." Her voice was a soft laugh of wonder.
Future Fred reverted to his human guise, exhaustion etched in each line of his face. He knelt and gently laid young Fred in Gwen's arms. "He'll wake soon," he assured, voice warm. Then he rose, meeting their gazes with a tired, proud smile. "Now…we prepare for tomorrow."
And in the renewed stillness of the atrium, hope burned brighter—protected by five steadfast champions who would never yield to time's darkest shadows.
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