DoB10 Chapter 16: Trials by Fire: Part 1

Death of Ben 10 is a story designed to continue on from where Ben 10: Omniverse left off. It takes place before Ben's galactic road trip.

Scene 1
Apollo: “WHAT?!”

Clockwork (Ben Prime): “Something the matter?”

Apollo: “What did you do? Where did you send everyone?”

A Chronosapien Ben Prime stands alone in the large open room, surrounded by dimly lit machinery and large vats of molten metal. Apollo stands upon the rim of a huge dark vat of liquid iron, gripping Ascalon tightly. Somehow, the room had been evacuated of anyone that wasn’t our versions of Ben and Apollo.

Clockwork (Ben Prime): “ha-hah! I might not be good enough with Clockwork just yet, but that boost from Eon and Paradox was more than enough.”

Apollo: “What are you talking about?!”

Clockwork (Ben Prime): “I can’t send them all home, I’m not quite that good yet. But I can send them all to the next best place: Away from here!”

Apollo: “So now it’s just you and me?”

Clockwork (Ben Prime): “Yeah! Just you a--”

Apollo smiles.

Clockwork (Ben Prime): “Oh. Oh no.”

Scene 2
A blue Pyronite and Tennyson both tumble down a snowy mountain side, before the Pyronite regains his balance and digs his fiery hands into passing rock, slowing him to a halt as the Ben flies downwards past him. This blue Apollo looks down at the forest several hundred metres below him to see where his paired adversary had landed.

Ben 23 continues unwillingly down the sheer mountain face, pulling out his omnitrix and slamming in the core. He is enveloped in a blue light just metres above the icy ground.

The Blue Apollo throws fire into the mountainside, pealing away as he does. He pulls out a large chunk of burning rock with him, which he brings down to his feet and stands on as a platform. He now stands floating beside the mountain on this rock, looking down to see if Ben really had met his fate. As he peers down, a large white shape rushes past him from beneath.

The shape levels out, revealing a winged humanoid- a Necrofriggian.

Necrofriggian: “Freezeghost!”

Apollo: “Ben Tennyson. You may have beaten me once but do not think you can do so again easily!”

Freezeghost: “I don’t need to think! I know I can beat you!”

Apollo pulls his hands towards his core, before pushing outwards and sending a stream of intense fire towards Ben. The fire envelopes its target. Suddenly Freezeghost bursts through the flame and punches Apollo straight in the face. He stumbles backwards before falling off of his platform. He balances himself in mid-air with two steady streams of fire from both hands. As he looks back up the rock he had previously been stood on plummets past him. He watches the rock fall briefly before returning his attention to Ben only to see Freezeghost flying down towards him. A flurry of the Necrofriggian’s sub-zero breath freezes him solid and he falls once more. Before he even gets a chance to thaw, the frozen Pyronite slams into the ground. The Ice shatters everywhere as an unconscious Apollo lies defeated on the snow-covered forest floor.

There is a faint blue light as Professor Paradox steps into reality. Freezeghost descends gently to the ground, before transforming back into Ben.

Ben 23: “Get destroyed, hater!”

Paradox: “As egotistical as ever, I see.”

Ben 23: “You know it. Can I go home now?”

Paradox: “Not just yet I'm afraid, there is still work to be done.”

Ben 23: “Aww.”

Scene 3
Apollo: “Come out Tennyson!”

This version of Apollo, Ultimate Apollo, floats high above a lush green forest. His frame is significantly buffer than his counterparts. Bright white fire flows from his head down over his back to his waist and two small volcano-like growths on his shoulders contain small fires. A small grey lizard with seven eyes and mechanical limbs observes from amidst the branches below. His voice is high pitched and robotic.

Camomech: “And what if I refuse?”

Apollo: “Then I’ll burn this forest down with you in it!”

Camomech: “I’ll consider it. Give me a minute.”

Apollo clenches his fists, and his fire grows slightly in agitation. Two neon green wings sprout from Camomech’s back as his skin becomes see-through. He begins to hover above the treeline, flying slowly away from Apollo. The Pyronite looks down, seeing a green glow moving away from him. He holds his hand out and a ball of fire blasts out, colliding with the glow. The fusion screams as he falls back into the forest.

Apollo: “Consider that a warning shot. Now fight me dammit!”

Camomech: “Note to self: Invisibility does not hide your glow.”

He thinks for a second.

Apollo: “Well then?”

Camomech: “Y’know what? Let’s fight! Let’s see which is stronger: Ultimates or Fusions!”

There is a green flash among the trees, before a light blue streak flies up. It stops mid-air higher than Apollo. It’s a strange humanoid figure with reptilian features and cyan diamond skin. Green energy emanates from his back to keep him afloat.

Fusion: “Squawk! Diamondactyl!”

A ball of blue energy forms inside the mouth of the fusion, before darts of sharp crystal fire out from it towards Apollo. He pulls his arms across his face to guard himself. When the diamond rain ends, he throws another ball of fire towards Diamondactyl. The ball decelerates as it nears its target.

Diamondactyl: “Uh oh!”

Ben attempts to fly away but as he turns the ball detonates into an intense radius of fire. He cries out in pain as a the fire dissipates. He suddenly flies out from behind the ball of fire and charges towards Ultimate Apollo.

Diamondactyl: “Just kidding!”

Sharp blades grow out of vent-like structures on Diamondactyl’s arms. He slices at Apollo, but Apollo dodges out of the way. One of the blades retreats back into Diamondactyl’s arm, and a green wire of energy replaces it. Ben swings his arm and the whip entangles Apollo, before swinging his remaining arm-blade in for the kill. Apollo grabs it, and begins to burn Diamondactyl’s arm. The green whip quickly dissipates.

Diamondactyl: “Squawk!! Get off me! Squawk!!”

He charges another ball of energy in his mouth, this time green. It fires as a ray of energy hitting Apollo directly in his face. The blast causes him to let go of Diamondactyl, who immediately puts distance between the two of them

Apollo: “Gah! You exasperating reptoid!”

He brings his two hands in front of himself, showing the palms towards Diamondactyl.

Apollo: “Final Flame! HAAAAAA-!!”

A mighty sheet of flame blasts out of Apollo’s hands, totally consuming Diamondactyl. A brief scream can be heard within the wide cone of fire before the fire subsides. Diamondactyl can now be seen glowing white and orange under the stress of the attack. He hovers ominously, not moving or blinking as he cools slowly. Apollo raises an eyebrow.

Diamondactyl: “...That didn’t hurt nearly as much as I thought it did while it was happening!”

Apollo: “Then perhaps I should change things up a bit.”

Diamondactyl: “Oh please don’t I’m winning right now.”

Apollo draws his hands across his body, charging two balls of bright yellow energy in his hands.

Apollo: “Solar Grenades!”

He throws the two balls towards Diamondactyl. They cross each other’s path mid-air, twisting round each other. Diamondactyl summons his own green ball of energy in his mouth in retaliation, firing it out and intercepting one of the Solar Grenades. The other is uninterrupted in its path. Ben brings his arms up in defence, turning them into wide crystal shields. The energy pellet collides with the shields, pushing it’s way through the gap between his arms before detonating. The explosions fractures his body, cracking him all over. He is sent flying backwards, but remains airborne.

Diamondactyl: “Gack!”

Apollo: “You may be able to survive my fires Tennyson, but you cannot surpass the power of a star!”

Diamondactyl: “I- Is that so?”

Diamondactyl reaches for his Biomnitrix symbol.

Apollo: “Grr! Flare Barage!”

Apollo begins throwing a hail of energy balls towards Ben, who is consumed by a green light. The balls fly straight into the glow, disappearing within the light. Apollo is taken aback by the futility of his technique. When the glow fades, a large round creature floats in Ben’s place. It has rocky brown skin and long black tendrils coming from the back of its head. Its fingers and tendrils end in golden plugs.

Fusion: “Meet Feedback Attack!”

Apollo: “...What?!”

The new fusion draws back his arms, before pointing the full-stretch towards Apollo. Blue bolts of lightning arc out of his fingertips and strike Apollo directly.

Apollo: “Aah!”

Feedback Attack: “What’s the matter? I thought you had the power of a star!”

Ultimate Apollo rushes the strange fusion, his fires burning more intensely than before. He launches a flurry of fists towards Feedback Attack, who makes no effort to dodge or block. Each punch lands, at most scraping a negligible amount of dirt from his planetoid skin.

Feedback Attack: “Okay this is just sad.”

Feedback Attack raises his right arm and slams it down over Apollo’s head, forcing him away. He then grabs ahold of Apollo with an invisible force, before increasing Apollo’s mass and causing him to plummet to the ground. Ben looks down at the forest that Apollo had fallen into. He hears Ultimate Apollo screaming before a bright orange explosion erupts from the trees. The trees around the center of the blast begin to collapse.

Apollo: “If I can’t kill you I’ll at least take out as many of your kind as I can!”

The evolved Pyronite begins throwing explosive fireballs randomly into the overgrowth.

Feedback Attack: “You do realise that we don’t live in forests, right?”

Ultimate Apollo screams in anger, continuing his barrage against nature.

Feedback Attack: “Alright this is seriously no fun anymore. I’m ending this.”

Ben slams down the Biomnitrix symbol once more. He suddenly becomes a 7 story tall humanoid with pitch black skin. Stars can be seen inside his body. The fusion appears to have no mouth at all.

Fusion: “Big X!”

A wave of pure black energy flows across the forest, quenching the fire and restoring the damaged trees to full height. He reaches down and grabs Apollo in his right hand. He lifts the Pyronite up to his own height, then letting him go briefly. Before Apollo even has a chance to realise he is free of the titan’s grip, a black cage forms around him- trapping him in place.

Big X: “And now all we do is wait for Paradox to send you straight back to where you came from.” There is an audible crunch as Apollo punches one of the bars with all his might. He reels back in pain and cries out. A thin tear of magma of magma drips down cage.

Big X: “On second thoughts: I’m a big boy now, I should send you home myself before you make this situation any uglier than you already have done.”

Apollo’s right hand limps down by his side as he stumbles to the edge of the cage nearest Big X. He grips a bar with his left hand and puts his head as close to the outside world as he can. His voice is audibly distressed as he screams.

Apollo: “WHAT ARE YOU?!”

Scene 4
A single Splixson backflips off of the roof of a small abandoned house, and is immediately joined on both sides by two of his ilk. The house immediately explodes into shards of wood as a tall mechanical creature swings his way through.

Ditto #1: “You just destroyed a piece of history!”

Ditto #2: “Midwestern ghost towns won’t just rebuild themselves y’know!”

The three Splixson recombine before a green glow returns them to their human form; a 17 year old Ben Tennyson wearing a green jacket. The mechanical monster speaks in a harsh robotic tone as he addresses Ben.

Robot: “Until your kind finds a way to rebuild a skeleton from bloodied mush you have bigger concerns at hand.”

Ultimate Ben 10: “Ooh. Intimidating words, Ro-pollo. But can you live up to them?”

This technological version of Apollo possesses a large light-metal body. His head consists of a tall glass-like dome upon which his Pyronite face is projected, with animated fire around it.

Ro-pollo: “My name is not Ro-pollo. I am designated: Techadon Biological Integration, Pyronite Model: 490110”

Ben shrugs his shoulders.

Ultimate Ben 10: “Whatever.”

Apollo raises his right arm aloft and slams it down into the ground where Ben stands, but Ben quickly dodges to the side with a flash of his Omnitrix. He lands on his legs with two extra arms. His skin is covered in blue fur, and he has four green eyes.

Spidermonkey: “Spidermonkey!”

He raises his tail above his head and fires a glob of white ooze at Ro-pollo. It hits Apollo’s face directly, and singes gently. He reaches up and tears the webbing from his head, just in time to see a massive dark fist slam into him.

Ultimate Spidermonkey: “ULTIMATE SPIDERMONKEY!”

Ben’s new alien jaw unhinges on the bottom, splitting into three parts. A stream of sticky webbing fires out, coating Ro-pollo’s chest and arms. The robot’s head and joints begin to glow bright red, the webbing ignites and dissolves. He looks back towards Ultimate Spidermonkey, but sees nothing. He looks around, before being interrupted as a massive wooden beam collides with the back of his head. The glass cracks slightly but the wooden beam shatters into pieces. Ro-pollo turns around to face his target.

Ultimate Spidermonkey: “Honestly that did less damage than I was hoping for.”

Without a word or reaction, Ro-pollo begins walking towards Ben.

Ultimate Spidermonkey: “Oh, so that’s how you want to do this huh?”

Ultimate Spidermonkey follows suit, walking towards Apollo. He throws a punch but the mechanical Pyronite dodges before returning with a punch of his own directly into Ultimate Spidermonkey’s diaphragm. As he hits, a violent charge of yellow electricity courses through Ben’s body. Caught off guard by the shock, Apollo follows through with a flurry of electric-charged punches that send Ultimate Spidermonkey flying back.

Ultimate Spidermonkey, panting: “Okay… This isn’t going as well as I’d hoped.”

Ben briefly transforms back into his unevolved state, before shifting into a floating jellyfish-like form.

AmpFibian: “Let’s amp this up! AmpFibian!”

AmpFibian floats towards Ro-pollo, attempting to phase into him. However before he gets the chance to, Ro-pollo’s joints begin to glow red once more. The ground beneath him cracks under the pressure. AmpFibian approaches but the intense heat stopped him before he could burn himself on the metal.

Ro-pollo: “An Amperi? I was built by the Techadon Weapon Masters. I’m immune to electrokinetic attacks!”

AmpFibian: “The plan wasn’t to shock you it was to control you, but I can’t even get near you!”

Ro-pollo: “Ha! Then admit defeat and let me kill you while you still have some honour left!”

AmpFibian: “...I have a better idea.”

AmpFibian slams his Ultimatrix, becoming a tall black and green humanoid.

Ro-pollo: “A Mechamorph? I’ll just melt you down! What are you even thinking?!”

Upgrade twists the Ultimatrix symbol on his chest, before slamming it once more. He grows slightly, his shoulders becoming sharp and his torso becoming more angular. His face goes from a circle to a triangle and his arms become fully green before a purple colour overwrites his green circuitry. His voice is deep and robotic, to the point of being difficult to understand

Ultimate Upgrade: “U L T I M A T E U P G R A D E !”

Ultimate Upgrade marches slowly but surely towards Ro-pollo. Apollo raises both of his arms and two mechanical apertures open in his palms. A sheet of flame rolls over Upgrade. As his body begins to melt, his black and purple liquid self retreats into a grey mechanical skeleton hidden within himself. Ro-pollo continues his assault, but the endoskeleton strides through the fire. In shock Apollo stops, only to be met by an uppercut from Ultimate Upgrade. The endoskeleton glows red, cooling slowly as the heat dissipates. His black skin grows back over the grey metal until he is restored to his original appearance.

Ro-pollo grabs ahold of Ultimate Upgrade’s arms, before unleashing bright bolts of electricity into him. The evolved Mechamorph stands still without reacting.

Ro-pollo: “Wh--Why won’t you die?!”

Suddenly, Ro-pollo’s hands both sink into Ultimate Upgrade. He pulls back, trying to pry himself free to no avail.

Ultimate Upgrade: “U P G R A D E”

Ultimate Upgrade’s liquid metal flesh crawls up Ro-pollo’s arms as he struggles to break free. Upgrade walks into Ro-pollo, his body turning completely liquid as it begins to overwhelm him. Within moments there stands only a single tall robot- its body covered completely in black and purple circuitry. There is a brief, silent calm as the fused machine remains motionless.

When the calm passes, the machine sparks and collapses to the ground. Ultimate Upgrade’s liquid body prys itself upright, off of Apollo. He reforms back into his humanoid shape and looks down at Ro-pollo, who now lies unconscious on the ground. His head dome is now completely dull. With two quick flashes, Ben reverts back to his human self.

Ben 23: “So that’s what Ultimates are like...”

Ultimate Ben 10 looks around for the source of the noise, before looking upwards at a balcony on a nearby saloon. Ben 23 is sat observantly with his legs hanging over the railing.

Ultimate Ben 10: “God forbid you lend a hand… How long have you been there?”

Ben 23: “Not long.”

Ultimate Ben 10: “How long is ‘not long’?”

Ben 23: “Long enough.”

Ultimate Ben 10, sighing: “Why are you here? Don’t you have your own Apollo to beat?”

Ben 23: “Beat him already.”

Ultimate Ben 10: “Where’s Paradox?”

Professor Paradox steps out from behind Ultimate Ben 10.

Paradox: “Right here. And before you ask any more questions, I need you both to come with me quickly. We have a problem.”

Major Events

 * Ben 23 defeats Apollo 23 again
 * Ben 10'000 defeats Ultimate Apollo
 * Ultimate Ben 10 defeats Ro-pollo

Characters

 * Ben Prime (cameo)
 * Ben 23
 * Professor Paradox
 * Ben 10'000
 * Ultimate Ben 10

Villains

 * Apollo (cameo)
 * Apollo 23
 * Ultimate Apollo
 * Ro-pollo

Ben Prime

 * Clockwork (cameo)

Ben 23

 * Freezeghost

Ben 10'000

 * Camomech
 * Diamondactyl
 * Feedback Attack
 * Big X

Ultimate Ben 10

 * Spidermonkey (x2, second time was cameo)
 * Ultimate Spidermonkey
 * AmpFibian
 * Upgrade (cameo)
 * Ultimate Upgrade

Trivia

 * In the original draft, Ben 10’000 fought two omnitrix wielding versions of Apollo - called Omni Apollo and Nega Apollo. Both used their Petrosapien forms (Omni imitating Nega) and were defeated by Echo Ditto Echo Ditto.
 * In the second draft, Ultimate Ben 10 first used Ultimate Ben in his fight against Ro-pollo. However this was changed because situationally Ultimate Upgrade alone fared better than Ultimate Ben would using Aspect Ultimate Upgrade.