Chapter 1: Abduction

Ka-THOOM!

Ben leapt out of the way as a huge, clawed foot came down onto the ground where he had been standing. Green ooze dripped from the body of the Fusion monster as it thundered towards him on legs as thick as oak trunks. All around them, the sounds of battle echoed as the Earth's defense forces fought off another Fusion invasion of Downtown. The KND were the main force of troops until the new, volunteer soldier army could be trained and organized.

"Ha, you want a fight, slime-a-saurus? How about you pick on someone your own size?!" Ben taunted the towering creature that resembled a dinosaur built from an urban landscape held together by dark green slime. That was how Fuse operated; the slime infected whatever it could and made a working body from it, then recollected back into Planet Fuse when it was destroyed or no longer needed.

Ben tapped the controls on his Omnitrix and a green hologram shone from the face. After a few turns, Ben slammed down on the control dial and was engulfed in bright light that blinded the monstrosity intent on his destruction.

Ben felt the familiar sensation of his bones lengthening and thickening, his muscles bulging as his whole body was reshaped by inhuman DNA, transforming him to the core of his being. He pushed the transformation past its initial limit, growing to a size that equaled the Fusion monster before him.

Humongosaur!

"Bring it on, bub." The gravelly voice of his Vaxisaurian form rumbled. Ben pulled back a fist and slammed it into the side of the Junk-a-saurus attacking him, his great strength denting in its metal skull and nearly knocking its head clean off. However, it retaliated with a swipe of its tail, striking Ben in the knee and throwing him off balance.

Then, it rammed into him, attempting to throw him to the ground. Ben ground in his heels and kept his footing, bringing his immense fists down on the neck of the creature in front of him. There was a satisfying crunch of metal and stone as whatever the Fusion used as a spine was cracked in half. Ben dug in his fingers and pulled, literally ripping the unnatural creature apart, spewing green Fusion Matter goo over the surrounding trees and buildings. The wielder of the Omnitrix frowned in disgust as he was splattered with chunky green slop.

"Okay, yeah, this crud makes Goop look like hand soap." Ben grumbled as he attempted to sling the repugnant, extremely foul-smelling sludge off himself, having only marginal success. He glanced down when the Omnitrix symbol, dwarfed by the sheer size of this form's massive chest, blinked green and made a beeping noise.

Ben reached up a hand and slapped it over the symbol, immersing him in a tornado of green energy. When the whirl of energy quieted, he stood in the place of Humongosaur as his normal self. He tapped a button on the side of his Omnitrix and spoke into it.

"Tennyson, here."

"Ben, where in Einstein's name have you been?" A child's voice colored with a Russian accent squawked from the alien device, courtesy of a secure communications line that the speaker had installed. Ben rolled his eyes at the angry tone.

"Chill, Dexter. I just had to put the beat down one butt-ugly monster. Humongosaur took him out pretty easily, though." The voice on the communications line was none other then Dexter, multi-billionaire, super genius head of Dexcorp and its main outlet, Dexlabs. He had invented most of the hyper-advanced technology that allowed the Earth to hold its own against Fuse. He had turned thirteen last September. And he did not sound happy.

"Well, since you're clearly safe enough to chat, I need you to head over the western front. Several Granite Grabbers are trying to dig beneath the defenses there, and both The Powerpuffs and Samurai Jack are busy elsewhere." Ben snapped a jaunty salute the boy genius couldn't see.

"Aye aye, General Genius."

'Wait, Ben, there have been sightings of Fu-" Dexter's voice was cut off as Ben slammed down on the Omnitrix and let the Galvan technology take him over, transforming him in a flash of light.

Jetray!

Ben spread his arms and took to the sky, jetting high above the ground in a few flaps. Using this form's excessive speed and agility, Ben took a shortcut through the skyscrapers of Downtown, zigzagging between buildings in a more-or-less straight path towards his destination.

Before he could reach his destination, he was hit in the back by a lance of dark green energy that made him screech in pain and veer off course, scraping the glass off a single floor of a building until he was able to right himself. He swiveled in mid-air and fired off neuroshock blasts from his eyes, but whatever was chasing him disappeared in a blur of green. He dashed off after the green blur as it jetted through the air, matching every attempt he made to catch it.

"Get back here and fight like a Fuse!" Ben challenged the fleeing shape, then fired an orb of green energy from his tail, which collided with the back of the green figure he was chasing.

It began to careen towards the ground, and landed with a muffled explosion and a burst of dust and debris in the middle of a large park. Ben streaked after it, changing back to his own body in a flash of green as he landed.

"Okay, you slimy son-of-a…huh?" The target Ben had been chasing was nowhere to be seen, simply a crater where it had landed. He glanced back and forth, but this part of town was deserted, since the infection has spread dangerously here. A few hundred feet away, Ben could a large statue of some heroic figure sinking into the toxic ooze. Around him, most of the plants had begun to wither and die, with only the largest, hardiest trees still retaining any sort of life. The stench was strong enough that it made him pinch his nose to combat the smell.

He was caught unawares by a strike to the back, strong enough to send him flying and crash into a boulder. The impact gyrated up his spine; vibrating his teeth and sending a shooting pain through his body from the wound between his shoulders.

Ben's attacker strode towards him, briefly silhouetted in a flash of green light. As the being stood in front of him, Ben gasped in shock.

"Oh, hell." Ben swore, when he got a look at his attacker, and was greeted by a vision from a nightmare. His familiar features, distorted and twisted by Fusion matter, gazed back at him. Dark green skin, glowing red eyes under a mop of matted, brown hair, and a reversal of his own clothing; a red jacket with black accents, a black undershirt and jeans, and red and black shoes. This twisted copy of one of Earth's greatest heroes was his Fusion, copies of Earth's defenders made to beat them with their own abilities.

"Hello, brother. My, you seem to be off your game today. Usually such an attack wouldn't have even hit you. Ah, such a shame." The Fusion taunted, a sadistic smirk curling under its nose.

Ben glared at his Fusion, unamused by the wit which reminded him so much of Albedo, the vengeful Galvan stuck in a copy of Ben's body.

"Yeah, well, I've got better things to worry about then some second rate copy. I've already got one, I don't need another." Ben shot back, leaning against the boulder behind him as he rose from the ground.

The Fusion shook it's head, seeming to find entertainment in Ben's reply.

"Oh, I present much more of a threat then our dear friend Albedo ever could. After all, I know everything about you. Perhaps I should drop by Bellwood, and swell our ranks by one more? Surely a face as pretty as your girlfriend's would look good in green?"

Ben glared at the copy of himself, anger coloring his features. Behind his back, his hand touched on the Omnitrix.

"I swear, if you so much as get within a MILE of Julie, I will beat you into the green slime you really are!" Ben bellowed, while the Fusion before him smirked.

'Ah, but we're all alone here. What will you do about it, without any precious friends to back you up?" The Fusion questioned, sadistic pleasure making it bear its green-tinged teeth with a gruesome smile.

Ben was about to rely, but was cut off by a exploding pain in the back of his head. He collapsed to the ground, and he dimly heard Dexter's voice squawk from his Omnitrix.

"Ben! Ben, are you there? The Fusions have retreated, something is very wrong here! Respond, Agent Tennyson!"

Ben's Fusion smirked, and tapped the communicator on the Galvan technology.

"Sorry, Ben's busy right now. Try again later."

Dexter's response was cut off as the Fusion cut the connection. The last thing Ben saw before he lost consciousness was the grinning face of the doppelganger, reaching towards him.