Helen's voice cut through the chaos, sharp and commanding even as smoke filled the air.
"This way! Move! keep moving, don't stop!"
Civilians rushed past her in a panicked stream, coughing, stumbling, clutching each other as flames crackled in the distance. Jack-Jack rested in her arms, unusually quiet, wide-eyed as he watched the destruction around them.
Helen guided a group toward a safer route, pointing them away from falling debris and scattered blasts.
"Stay low! Follow the responders!"
Only when the immediate crowd thinned did something click.
Her breath hitched. Her eyes scanned frantically. "…Where are they?"
Her voice rose, fear breaking through the calm she'd been forcing.
"Violet?! Dash!!"
_____
Not far from the main clash, tucked behind a patch of tall grass near a fractured walkway, two small figures crouched low.
Dash peeked over the edge, eyes wide with excitement rather than fear.
"Whoa…"
Violet pulled him down slightly. "Dash, stay low!"
But even she couldn't look away.
Across the battlefield, chaos unfolded in layers.
Sentries hovered and fired from above, some damaged, some barely holding formation. Arcee moved like a guardian, shifting between forms as she shielded and struck. Nearby, a blue-haired robot girl zipped through the air, smashing through enemies with ridiculous speed.
And then two armored figures. One white-and-red, the other white-and-green.
Both moving like they'd been doing this for years.
Dash nudged Violet again, grinning. "Hey… look! That girl, she's got like your powers!"
Violet blinked, focusing on Gwen as she formed a glowing pink shield and blasted a group of enemies back.
"…It's… similar," she admitted quietly. "But not the same."
Before either of them could say more.
THUD.
A body slammed into the ground beside them.
They froze.
A Humanzee groaned as it pushed itself up, shaking off the impact. Its eyes locked onto them.
Silence.
Wide eyes met wide eyes.
Suddenly Dash vanished in a blur. Violet flickered out of sight, turning invisible just in time.
The Humanzee blinked.
"…?"
It scratched its head, confused but before it could react a figure dropped in from above.
Dexter.
He grabbed the creature by the head mid-motion and yanked it upward with surprising force.
"Catch."
He hurled it.
Ben didn't hesitate.
Midair, his arm reconfigured, shifting into a massive hammer construct and
SMASH!
The Humanzee was slammed straight into the pavement.
The ground cracked.
Ben landed with a grin. "Oh yeah, I'm definitely keeping this one."
Dexter didn't respond but he moved.
Another Arachnezee lunged from above, limbs spread wide as it tried to ensnare them.
Dexter's arm shifted instantly, stretching into a segmented energy whip.
CRACK!
It snapped upward, wrapping around the creature's leg mid-leap.
With a sharp pull, he yanked it off trajectory and slammed it into the ground.
Ben stepped in immediately. "Nice setup."
His arm shifted again, this time into a cannon and he fired point-blank.
FWOOM!
The impact sent the creature skidding across the field.
Another rushed them from the side.
Ben blocked, armor absorbing the hit only for Dexter to pivot behind it, his arm forming a blade-like edge that struck clean across its back, sending it staggering.
They moved without speaking.
Attack, cover, follow-up.
Like they'd already figured each other out.
"Okay," Ben said, ducking under a swipe. "You're not bad."
"…You are inefficient," Dexter replied, blasting another enemy aside. "But adaptable."
Ben smirked. "I'll take that as a compliment."
______
High above, inside the command ship, Simion watched everything unfold in silence.
His forces… were losing ground.
Not entirely but enough to matter. He then saw it again. The green one.
His eyes narrowed.
"Replay that."
A subordinate obeyed instantly. The footage rewound, stopping at the exact moment Ben raised his arm.
"Zoom."
The image sharpened.
"Enhance."
The device came into focus, a watch.
Simion's expression shifted. He chuckled soft at first then louder. Until it turned into full laughter echoing across the bridge.
"To think…" he muttered, straightening. "The Omnitrix. The ultimate adaptive weapon… lost to history…"
His eyes gleamed.
"…and it ends up here. Worn by a human child."
He folded his hands behind his back. "So that's why six years ago… Vilgax wasted time on this planet."
He exhaled through his nose. "…And now he's occupied fighting another mad warlord."
A faint shake of his head. "Unfortunate timing."
He turned slightly. "Recall the troops."
The officer blinked. "Commander?"
"We have what we need."
_____
On the battlefield, something shifted.
The attacking forces… stopped.
Dexter noticed it first.
"…They're regrouping."
The Humanzees pulled back, falling into formation. The Arachnezees retreated with unnatural coordination.
The ships lowered as a strange light bathed the ground.
One by one the invaders began to rise.
Lifted into the air as if gravity had been switched off.
Jenny flew up instantly, slamming into the field of light.
THUM!
She bounced back.
"Hey! Not fair!"
Ben fired into it but the blasts dispersed harmlessly. "Okay… that's new."
Dexter's visor flickered, analyzing. "…A containment field."
Above them, a massive holographic screen flickered to life across the hull of the lead ship.
Simion appeared. "The party was… enjoyable, humans."
His gaze swept across the battlefield, briefly lingering on Dexter… then Ben.
"While I did not retrieve the artifact I was assigned…" A faint smirk. "…I acquired something far more interesting."
"Knowledge."
Simion clasped his hands behind his back.
"We will meet again."
The hologram began to flicker.
"Until then…" His smile widened. "…do try to survive."
The screen vanished.
The ships glowed then shot upward like streaks of light and disappeared into the sky.
Silence fell, smoke drifted as debris settled.
Jenny hovered there for a second, hands on her hips.
"…Well."
She tilted her head.
"That was kinda anticlimactic."
________
Volume 1 End
________
[A/N: I read through most of the comments and saw that many of you asked me to add characters from other cartoons. I can definitely do that, but some characters like Holli Would from Cool World or Jessica Rabbit from Who Framed Roger Rabbit just don't quite fit the tone or theme of this specific story. While I could simply insert them here, their roles would feel forced or less meaningful. So, as a solution, I created a separate story specifically for these characters! It's called "Into The Toonverse" and it's a smut fic. You can check it out below 👇]