In a nondescript area, which was formerly a land filled with trees and vegetation but was reduced to an uneven bare scar on the earth, two individuals with their own ambitions for the world gazed in silence at the sight before them.

"It's about time we finished this, once and for all, don't you agree Maltruant?" a tall, young man chuckled, his voice carrying a certain amount of steel inside it. He appeared to be around twenty four in age. He had roguish, unruly brown hair that was messy and twin bangs that reached his jawline, framing his angular face. His shining emerald orbs did nothing to hide his devilishly handsome appearance, and He was wearing a battered and torn green and black jacket which was torn open at the front, exposing a black body suit underneath which did little to hide his toned and well-muscled form. A four pronged hourglass symbol had emerged on his chest.

He was none other than Protector of the Planet Earth and the magister serving for Intergalactic space patrol and peacekeeping force , Benjamin Kirby Tennyson. He had a device called the Omnitrix. A device which allows its user to turn into any alien life form he/she desires and if they have proper control over it, They can remain as other as long as they wishes. Recently the now almost twenty young Tennyson not only received a few upgrades to this magnificent device , he also received a new one on the top of it to work both of them in conjunction, Azmuth did it mainly due to emergence of some dangerously powerful enemies. One of them was the ability to perfectly combine two separate forms into one hybrid one which had strength of both and weakness of none. Alongside removing the time limit and allowing him access to most if not all his alien transformation without actually needing to touch the omnitrix dial. Making him much more of a formidable enemy in battle than he already was

"What the hell are you doing Ben? Retreat" A female voice practically yelled into the young man's mind, Which probably belonged to his best friend/cousin Gwen Tennyson.

"You know I can't go back now. He has gotten his filthy hands on Ascalone now. If I don't confront him now, it will be game over. " Ben spoke in a tone, indicating how much determined and driven he was about this whole debacle. He wanted to end this time war at any cost. Too much damage has been already done, He couldn't afford any loose ends. Not this time.

"That's madness Ben. You know how powerful he is. You can't best him in a direct combat, no one can. " A male voice spoke through comm, Clearly belonging to Kevin Ethan Levin, "Look we have managed to evacuate many people from there and Azmuth has put up a barrier to stop any temporal beast from appearing at the new safehouse. Let's regroup for now, we will get him next time."

"That's the risk I can not afford to take , old friend." Ben chuckled as he cut the communication. He brought both devices on his wrist together. A green spark of electricity ran through his body and It started transform his body into something else. His strongest transformation till date, one he still couldn't use without a fifteen minute time limit. Bright lights engulfed his body and soon a powerful creature stood in his stead. That was the fusion between two of Ben's most powerful aliens, Atomic X.

His opponent floated above him. He was a Chronosapien, The most powerful and genius one to ever exist. So much that he was named the leader to all Chronosapiens and they followed his every order without any question , He was called Maltruant. He appeared to be a robotic alien at the first glance . His body was black, the glass on his chest was red, and his hands had large, red cannons. He also had metallic eyebrows, red eyes, and his mouth was a red grill plate. He truly lived up to his fearsome reputation. The landscape around him resembled an apocalyptic graveyard of gargantuan proportion, and the sky was a dull grey, as if the gods were weeping from the death and destruction. Even though Ben and his team had managed to evacuate most innocent bystanders from planet Kinet, There were few who were left behind and a few plumber who tried to fight back, both of them ended up facing the mad time corruptor's wrath, their dead bodies now littering the entire surroundings alongside countless destroyed wildlife.

"So a fusion between Celestialsapien and an Atmosapien. quiet powerful but as long as I have powers of Diagon the Conqueror...no one can stop me." Maltruant mocked with a cold smirk swinging the bluish longsword wildly in the air , "The End of you and this imperfect universe is near, Ben 10!"

"Didn't you hear the news Mr Overgrown wind up toy, I am now called Ben ten thousand " Ben chuckled in response, his fists now clenching with anticipation, ready to take his adversary out at any moment. His entire body glowed with cerulean cosmic energy, His eyes taking a shade of pink as he glared at the rough Chronosapien who caused so much chaos and destruction throughout the galaxy. Gathering as much strength as he possibly could, He dashed at his opponent with a power-packed superman punch.

Maltruant paid no heed to the incoming attacker, just covered himself in the grey metallic armor by summoning to energy of Ascalone, he was completely prepared to redirect and absorb his Opponent's attack. However, due to the arrogant nature of the Alien leader, he failed to notice that he had made an error in his judgement. As the roaring Ultimatrix bearer finally crashed into them, Maltruant kicked him, sending him spiralling away in the air.

However when he saw Ben decomposing in the air with a smirk, He realized something went wrong. Suddenly he felt the scenery around him change, A a vast spike filled, rocky, honeycombed network of underground cathedral cave crypts replacing the destroyed buildings and wrecked vehicles. He sunk to his knees, Feeling exhausted despite his super energized state. Within a moment he realized what happened, He was no longer standing on the soil of earth. He had arrived at Anur Vladias. The Undead Planet. Then the pain slammed into them. Maltruant thought he had known what pain really felt like, having endured a beating at the hands of Professor Paradox himself, yet what he was feeling right now surpassed even that experience. He could literally feel his very being fade portion by portion, flowing straight into the mindlessly shrieking Orbit system around him. Despite the burning pain he felt, Maltruant lifted his head to survey the land.

"You... You tricked me! "

Atomic X stood in front of him, He too was feeling exhausted but as a being of great power and especially thanks to being a half celestialsapien, He wouldn't succumb to the undead system that early.

"Power of teleportation...you didn't know that, did you? " Ben replied with grin, Running out of his breath.

"But why... even you will die from this! " Maltruant yelled in anger as he fell down on the floor, writhing in pain as his body slowly started to wither away into non existence.

"Funny! " Ben chuckled, " That was the last thing on my mind while fighting you today." He fell on his knees and with a bright red glow reverted back to his human form. He was only able to maintain this fusion for thirty minutes but it seemed that being on Anur Vladias must have cut that to half, causing him to transform back much sooner. The malicious atmosphere of Anur Vladias hit him at the fullest, starting to pull every particle of his body into nothingness. It felt like someone had pushed a branding iron to every nerve of his body. Ben started shriveling as he cried in agony but even he couldn't hear his screams in the space. Tears of frustration and sorrow started running down his face. He could feel his legs grow steadily hotter until it felt like white-hot flames were trying to burst out of them.

The pain managed to touch him in places deeper than his physical confines, creating an explosion of everything inside. When he thought everything was over, The four pronged symbol on his chest turned into bright green ...

And just like that, Ben Tennyson vanished into thin air, leaving no trace of him behind on this undead planet.

...xxxxx...xxxxxx...

There would always be a price to pay, regardless of the outcome—good or bad.

Power saved lives and could elevate people to new heights, but it also corrupted them. Money granted prosperity, but it often lead to unfinished business.

Every decision made by anyone who has ever lived came with its own share of consequences and rather hefty burdens. There was just no such thing as a perfect choice, a perfect outcome. In this or any other world. It did not matter how prepared you were, or how strong or smart—the costs would always outweigh the glory. Just as there would always be something that needed to be given up in order for one to gain, such was the nature of living.

Ben opened his eyes and was expecting to see something akin to angels, Heaven and eternal peace. The sore feeling of his muscles – long hours of non-stop fighting did that to people – were gone as was any fatigue he accumulated as he found himself hurtling down a swirling vortex of color and light. The tunnel scientilated and sparked with every color in the rainbow and a few new ones too. In front of him, long trains of glowing green balls of energy, looking like spirits hung on a rosary, twisted and contorted around him, starting to make him dizzy. After what it seemed like forever, a bright cerulean light began to shine in the distance. However what surprised him most was a bow, which had some kind of glowing yellow gem at the center of it.

By the time Ben fully regained his bearings, He was no longer in Anur Vladias. He felt the pain radiating through his body as he took a deep calming breath to regain his bearings. The first thing he noticed was the night sky above him, the moon shining in his direction. He tried to remember the last thing that happened before he slipped into darkness, but remembering what happened wasn't as important when he slowly sat up and took in his surroundings, Taking everything that happened till now. The bitter memories of Time War, Plumbers losing against Chronosapiens, Paradox being killed by Maltruant which still seemed impossible to believe... His own last gamble...Things seemed a bit messed up to him for now. The air... Was breathable?

It seemed pretty much like Oxygen, That was surely Oxygen like back home.

However, there was something wrong, something incredibly wrong.

He looked around only to see himself lying on some sort of altar alongside three other guys, each holding a different weapon...a lot of glowing paint and people in priest like robes , knights too

"Oh, honorable heroes! Please save our world."

Suddenly a bluish screen, just like what he was used to seeing in RPGs and MMORPGs in general, popped up in front of his eyes.

PING

[Benjamin Kirby Tennyson, Bow hero, Lvl 1]

[Equipment: Legendary Bow, otherworldly clothes]

"Darn! What the hell have I gotten myself into?"

...xxxxxxxxxx...xxxxxxxxx...

Needless to say, Ben was aware that other worlds existed and thanks to his friend Professor Paradox he had some interesting little experiences by meeting the versions of himself and Gwen from alternate realities, allowing him to see the world through his eyes. Sadly, the time walked had been banished into the Universes where the rules of space and time were too complicated, even Azmuth was unsure if he would be able to make it back home or not. However, he was still alive and kicking. Besides, Paradox was in possession of Chrono navigator. GPS for multiverses. It was a powerful technology that allowed the user to travel through space-time including the past, present and future without getting lost. It could also allow a being to access alternate timelines, alternate realities and dimensions. So eventually he should be able to find him without much difficulty.

However, first he needed to deal with the elephant in the room.

Where the hell am I?

Carefully looking around his surroundings, Ben realized that he was in some sort of ornate marble room, held by multiple pillars which formed a sort of ritualistic circle, like Charmcaster frequently used. Also directly beneath his feet he noticed strange markings and symbols which were completely unfamiliar. Which was quite surprising as even though he was no Gwen when it came to magic, since last couple of years he managed learn a thing or two while studying under reformed Hex. The symbols and markings were slowly fading out of existence, indicating that for whatever usage they had been cast was now complete.

As he took all this in, the robbed man in front of the crowd bowed at him and continued in a pleading tone, as if giving a sermon

"-We implore you O great cardinal heroes. You have been summoned here using an ancient ritual. For our world teeters on a brink of destruction, and only the four heroes have the power to save us. So please we beg of you brave heroes, please use the power within your legendary weapons to defend this world."

"Four Cardinal Heroes?" Ben thought to himself. That seemed confusing. This seemed a little bit like an RPG he played in his high school days, called A Journey to Kreisia. Kreisia However in that game, only one hero was summoned from real world to fantasy like world. ―A world of three races coexisting under the banner of single kingdom. Yet notwithstanding these different people being ruled over by a lone institution of government, life, for the most part, has continued on peacefully despite certain racial undertones pervading the hearts of some in society... Still unforgotten, was the re-emerging calamity precipitated by the Overlord with each new decade... Resurrecting once every ten years, this personification of evil sets about to envelop the world in chaos and destruction. In order to deal with the situation, A saviour from the outer realm was summoned, who in fact just happened to be an ordinary high schooler. He knew that he was in a different universe as there was no other way he would have escaped from the undead planet, still a place which seemed right out of some fantasy light novel. That just didn't make any sense.

"Summoned?" One of the other three who were standing there besides him spoke out, interrupting his thought process. Ben blinked in confusion as he stepped forward in a noticeably aggressive manner, his tone sounding as if everyone was beneath him. Over his shoulder was a spear (mostly white in colour) with red gem affixed in the blade, which bumped against his body as he continued further, "Don't you guys have any shame at all, suddenly dragging us here without our permission."

"Even if you send us back home when we save this world, that's basically just using us as slave labour, you know?" The guy next to him spoke with a rather stern and pissed off face, he appeared to be a younger individual, most likely around 16-17 and he pointed his rather plain looking sword with fancy yellow marking at the robbed individual, "How willing are you to accommodate us? Depending on your answer, we might end up becoming your enemies instead."

Don't tell me! Are these guys for real? They are actually getting some kick out of this.

"Huh?" The third member, who happened to be a young man around his age (albeit a bit younger) said dumbly. He seemed to be the only person apart from him who looked genuinely surprised to be here.

Ben sighed in annoyance. These two might be superheroes from other universes like him (It didn't make sense for them to be ordinary humans, that tended to happen only in Manga and animes, this was real life) but they were acting like bonafide pricks, and it hadn't even been five minutes before he escaped from that hell hole. He really needed to bring them back down to earth with some harsh truths.

Not lashing out at them is going to take a lot of restraint

"Guys, let's not get ahead of ourselves. We know next to nothing about this place and even about these strange weapons in our hands. Let's hear their side first before doing anything rash." Ben said in a calm but at the same time definitive tone. The crowd in front him appeared to be somewhat relieved after receiving assurance from at least one of their beloved heroes, however the swordsman and spear wielder didn't appear to be thrilled at the idea of him speaking in a tone different than their own.

"Don't you think if we are the legendary heroes like they said, we have rights to some quirks?" The spear wielder threw him a very nasty look as he spun his weapon around in the air, The swordsman looked at him dead in the eye with miffed expressions, as if he was trying to size him up, "We are just taking things as they come. Do you have any useful ideas, brave and mighty hero?"

Ben rolled his eyes at their obvious sarcasm. These two probably thought of themselves as God's gift to mankind.

Even Ben 23 is hundred times better than that.

"If you never try, you will never know." Ben retorted as he turned around to the crowd once again, most of them appeared relieved to have a conversation with the "safe" hero, "Forgive myself and my fellow "Heroes" for our ignorance." From behind him he heard a scoff, most likely from the spear guy but at this point, Ben didn't really care, "As you can probably imagine, we are a bit clueless to all this "Heroes of Legend" and "Armageddon" stuff. If you are able to, perhaps you could explain some of these things to us? It would be very helpful, considering the fact that we are meant to save this whole world."

Letting out a sigh of relief the priest spoke once again, he was still a bit afraid after receiving a string of threats from two of the summoned heroes but at least they were willing to listen to him, that was a start.

"Please, allow us to escort you to an audience with the king. He should be able to answer your questions a lot better than I and you can also discuss the details of your compensation there, his highness would be happy to negotiate such with you."

" Thank you very much. What do you say now my fellow "Heroes" ? Satisfied?" Ben asked as he looked behind him, two of them continued to stare a hole through him with an irritable expression whilst giving their assent with a dramatic sigh but the third one on the other hand, flashed him a friendly smile, patting him on the shoulders.

"Sounds good to me."

"Hn, I suppose we could consider their offer" "Still, the talk is a talk. even if it is with a king. Not like our demands are going to change. "

No prizes on guessing who spoke the last comment. The two troublemakers certainly knew how to spoil his mood. Letting out an inward sigh, Ben began following the crowd , who led them outside the door and started escorting them to the throne room.

"Strange! I might be too quick in judging them but none of them seem like me "