Ben 10 — An Omniverse of Choices and Consequences

In front of the Mount Rushmore, ten individuals gathered. The colossal stone faces of past presidents loomed above them, silent witnesses to the unusual assembly.

A young woman with dark red hair, styled in a punk fashion, broke the silence. Her hands gripped an M4 Carbine, a versatile assault rifle boasting a 30-round magazine and quick reload capability. Though not alien or supernatural in origin, the weapon exuded lethal potential.

"So, Ben Tennyson or whoever possesses the watch actually resides inside." A screen appeared in her field of vision, displaying the positions of all special items granting participation slots. The notice had just been released. "You didn't lie, old man. But how exactly did you find him to begin with?"

Perched atop a three-meter giant mutant frog sat an elderly man. Filthy clothes hung loosely on his thin frame, and long, unclean nails adorned his gnarled fingers. His voice carried a hint of amusement.

"To begin with, I don't make a habit of lying. And secondly…"

He gathered his thoughts before continuing. "The Omnitrix originated from outer space. This led me to wonder about potential news regarding unidentified objects entering our atmosphere. Naturally, no official report would surface, but a curious incident involving a burned forest caught my attention."

The old man's eyes gleamed with excitement as he elaborated. "My creatures stumbled upon a spherical metallic pod. According to what they overheard from scientists at the site, they couldn't determine its origin nor functions. The pod's contents remained a mystery, as it had already been opened upon discovery."

"Creature? Like your frog? They seem a little too big for discretion."

"First, animals don't need to be mutated for me to control them, and secondly…" The elderly individual, Dr. Aloysius Animo — or simply Animo — retrieved a slimy egg from a container in his pocket as he jumped off his frog.

The egg hatched in his hand, revealing a small dog with insect characteristics.

An unusual contraption crowned Animo's head: a helmet-like cask with two protruding antennae. This device lent him an air of a mad scientist. Many who knew him would actually describe him as such. Under the influence of waves emanating from his antenna helmet, the animal slowly matured while retaining its small size.

"Too cute." The teenage girl with long white hair — purple at the ends and styled in a ponytail — scratched the creature's belly with her slender finger as it rolled back on Animo's hand. "You are so fluffy. Let's call you Fluff." Her purple dress with large sleeves swayed as she leaned closer, her pink eyes studying the small creature intensely.

"Charmcaster…" warned an old man with mostly white skin. Named Hex, he wore a red and black hooded dress that shadowed his head. He stood near the teenage girl, his niece.

Animo continued, "Thanks to my Canis olfactinsecta minimus, with the developed sense of smell of a dog and an insect, sniffing out the trail of anyone who was in the vicinity, even after a forest fire, is child's play… Anyway, it's useless now."

The doctor cackled as he increased the wave frequency of his helmet, his eyes glittering with cruel delight. The small artificial creature trembled and shook violently, its legs collapsing beneath it as if its joints had turned to liquid. The newly born lifeform let out a high-pitched whine. Its chest rose and fell rapidly, once, twice, then fell still. Any trace of life that once inhabited this unstable lifeform vanished, snuffed out like a candle flame in the wind.

Before anyone could process the cursed event that just transpired, Animo tossed the small corpse in the direction of his giant frog, which gulped it down.

"What the—" Charmcaster's face paled, but she quickly recovered. It wasn't uncommon for her to sacrifice cute animals to concoct magical experiments. However, she still eyed Dr. Animo.

Animo shrugged. "It was going to perish today anyway."

"This explanation was unnecessary, Animo." Clancy, a man with a worn-out coat and pale green skin, looked darkly at him. He felt the cockroaches, flies, and countless other insects beneath his coat stir in shock. 'If I don't find anything useful, I'll kill him like he killed a precious insect without a second thought!'

"I think he has Antisocial Personality Disorder in addition to Narcissistic Personality Disorder." Sublimino, a small bald man in a red and yellow coat and sunglasses, glanced at his (real) pocket watch. "We get it, you enjoy talking. Get to the point."

"Anyway, since I found Ben, Gwen, and Max Tennyson, I've used birds and occasionally frogs to keep track of them." Animo waved his hand.

"Okay, you don't lie, but how are you going to remove the Omnitrix, genius?" Rojo, the dark-red-haired punk young woman, frowned.

Animo's brow furrowed, a mix of confusion and amusement playing across his face. "I never said anything about removing the Omnitrix. I don't have the capability to do that. But if any of you want to give it a shot, be my guest."

Rojo raised her weapon, pointing it at him, but he remained unfazed. 'I expected she would be more impressive than merely carrying a firearm, given her prime counterpart possessing some kind of cybernetic armor. Regardless, this ragtag team serves as the perfect diversion. We all utilize each other. I don't even need to lie about my intentions. The problem will arise later… And the notice couldn't have happened at a worse time…'

Rojo slowly lowered her weapon when she noticed that the remaining eight weren't outraged. They either knew or didn't prioritize taking the Omnitrix.

"I'm more interested in collecting more DNA from the Omnitrix and stealing anything of value from this Plumbers' base in one fell swoop, especially considering the recent notice." Animo continued. "And I have no doubt this place is filled with useful but dangerous items…"

None of them missed the emphasis on more — a clear threat that his arsenal included creatures with alien abilities.

"Fine… I'll also settle for the items." It wasn't like Rojo could say anything else, but the looks she received spoke volumes of: What the hell is she doing here with us? She tried to strike a balance between being menacing and not overly annoying. The good thing was that a firearm wasn't entirely useless.

"Hold up!" The man in the brown and black uniform gripped his multi-function gun, his yellow kangaroo symbol gleaming. "Are we just gonna ignore the elephant in the room? Why not wait for the Omnitrix kid to leave? And Animo, why haven't you invaded this place solo before now? This whole setup stinks of a trap!"

Animo rolled his eyes. "Please. Does anyone here actually believe a secret base would be hidden in a national monument?"

The group fell silent, exchanging uneasy glances. Even those who didn't dismiss the idea outright had to admit — if it was true, how would they get in? Storming the place as a group suddenly didn't seem so foolish, especially given the unknown number of occupants and security measures.

"Look." Animo continued, impatience creeping into his voice. "I only confirmed the base existence by tracking them here. The Omnitrix holder's been inside for days, and time is of the essence."

The man in the kangaroo suit — Kangaroo Kommando — relaxed his grip on his weapon. "Fair enough. I suppose I could use this chance to swipe some tech and test myself against Tennyson."

"Just be quick about it." Animo cautioned, barely suppressing a laugh. "Some of us are here for… shall we say, more permanent solutions. For him and the other Tennysons."

The doctor found it hilarious. He marveled at the absurdity of holding grudges based on cartoon events from another universe. Equally amusing was the underestimation of a potentially competent Omnitrix user. This wielder might not be so easily eliminated. After all, it was virtually impossible for anyone to be more incompetent than Ben Prime.

Animo recognized the opportunity at hand. The group would serve as an ideal distraction, enabling him to capture Ben and access the DNA and life signatures within the Omnitrix. Additionally, as he stated to them, he aimed to acquire valuable technology, alien DNA, and artifacts from the Plumber base.

"Anyway, how can we sneak in?" Sublimino inquired before one of them could get angry.

"We can't. We must assume an alarm will go off no matter what. Let's enter by force." Animo shook his head.

Charmcaster crossed her arms. "Why didn't you leave one of your creatures with them so we could enter secretly?"

"I did! Don't underestimate my genius! My cyborg insects — which aren't easy to mass produce — were planted in their RV. But two little aliens, Galvans if I remember correctly, devoured them without even realizing, just commenting that was crunchy."

Everyone paused, processing this information.

"Alright, where do we get in?" Kevin Levin, a black-haired teenager, cut to the chase. He wasn't about to waste time on pointless details.

Animo pondered for a moment. "I collected some gasoline from their RV. I can use a Canis olfactinsecta minimus to track where they entered."

"…Are you serious?" Charmcaster eyed the mad doctor. "Didn't you just kill one of those things, saying it was useless?"

"Ah, but that was then, and this is now, my dear Charmcaster." He reached into his pocket, producing another slimy egg. "Let's go, Negative-10!"

"…The name is stupid, dude." Kevin scratched his head. 'I touch the Omnitrix and get unmatched power? Simple enough. Why not.'

"Just wanted to say it out loud." Animo shrugged as the egg hatched in his hand.