1 CHAPTER 1: TRAGEDY ABOARD THE TRAGULON

Tragedy aboard the Tragulon

A sleek stellar cruise ship glided through the cosmos leaving trails of colorful ion vapor in its wake. The ISS Tragulon, top of the line galactic cruise ship. It had three large wings with gold painted trim running along the hull. Replete with triple Ion Core engines, state of the art luxury amenities, and some of the widest selections of gourmet food in the quadrant. It was the most expensive, luxurious galactic cruiser currently sailing the Milky Way. It is here that our story begins.

Our heroes are found aboard said luxury cruiser, preparing for a 2-week vacation among the stars. Their itinerary to include some of the greatest sights of the Milky Way. Ben, Gwen, Kevin, and Ben's girlfriend Kai had just entered the main promenade of the ship after getting the all-clear following take off. The quartet of heroes walked in tandem with each other. Gwen and Kevin in the lead and Ben and Kai following behind, bickering with each other the entire way.

Although it had been 2 years since Ben had saved the universe from Maltruant, the now 18 year old Ben Tennyson was in some respects just as immature as he always was. His on-again off-again girlfriend Kai was almost an equal to him in that regard. The two would constantly be making up and breaking up with each other over the past 2 years. There were days where Ben truly questioned why he kept coming back to her. Yet every time he felt her lips press upon his, such thoughts were disregarded.

His cousin, on the other hand, seemed to have a much more stable relationship. Despite Gwen working her way through college in her xenobiology and xenopolitics major; her and Kevin Levin managed to stick with each other. Kevin, being the oldest of their group had even managed to start up a small but lucrative, and most importantly legitimate, auto repair business. The only one of their hero group missing was the ever-industrious Rook Blonko. A true plumber through and through, he did not quite understand the human concept of 'vacation' as one would have hoped.

Ben's fame as the greatest hero of the universe had earned him intergalactic respect, but also enmity and no shortage of critics. And while Ben tried his best in every regard he still had his fair share of malfunctions both public and private. He still had not been given master control of the Omnitrix, and given every conversation he'd had with it's creator Azmuth, it was unlikely to happen anytime soon. That left him to fumble through most situations, half-cocked, with no plan except to kick bad guy butt. For most of his career this strategy worked quite well. But Ben was soon to find out that it is not always enough. Right now though, Ben was stuck yet again in another argument with his paramour Kai.

"We're on this cruise for FREE, because I saved the captain's daughter when she visited Undertown. I don't see what you could possibly be complaining about." Ben exclaimed rather loudly.

"I just think it would have been nice for them to upgrade us to the executive suites is all." Kai complained with arms crossed. Ahead of them Gwen sighed in exasperation.

"Oh well excuse me for not demanding the best from a FREE cruise gift." Ben retorted. Throwing his hands up in exasperation the young hero turned away. "If you didn't want to come you didn't have to. There's no need to be such a bitch about it." Ben muttered under his breath. Unfortunately for him his musings weren't as quiet as he thought. A swift punch to his shoulder reminded him of that fact. "Oww!" He exclaimed, rubbing his bruised shoulder.

"Hey, what have I said about using that word? Huh Benny-kins?" She teased knowing Ben hated the nickname more than anything. Ben simply sighed in defeat, knowing such a battle was a losing proposition. "You're right, I'm sorry." He apologized only half sarcastically.

"That's more like it." Kai smiled smugly. Ahead of them Gwen rolled her eyes at the couple's antics.

"I swear can you two at least pretend to get along? We're supposed to be relaxing, it is a vacation after all." Gwen said turning back to the couple. She had finally started to grow her hair longer again, although she currently had it tied up in a high bun on her head. Despite her comments and vacation attire, her attitude still screamed strict businesswoman. Her partner however could not be farther from her opposite. Kevin wore a dark Tshirt in combination with some cargo pants and open toed sandals. His entire outfit shouted lackadaisical and relaxed. It was almost comical seeing the two couples together. Kevin and Gwen appeared to be complete opposites yet seemingly had a stronger relationship than Ben and Kai who were more like each other than either cared to admit.

The group were making their way to the on-board theater. A live musical performance was supposed to take place. Granted none of them recognized the band or even the genre of music they were going to play. Gwen still insisted they go though as it was only the start of their vacation. After the concert they had planned to visit the ship's aquatic park for fun under the artificial sun. Ben would then insist that they needed to visit the ship's holo-deck for what he termed 'the most awesome virtual reality games in the universe.' Then, finally, they planned to grab dinner at the ship's custom order buffet. All in all, their first day of vacation was planned to be an exciting and relaxing event. However, as they were soon to discover, their immediate future would be irrevocably changed.

Suddenly, the entire ship shook and shuddered around them. Screams of frightened aliens sounded off all around them as the violent shaking continued. Gradually however, it stopped, and the passengers managed to return to their feet. The quartet of heroes looked around at each other, each asking the same question: what could cause such a violent shaking? They did not have to wait long for answers, however. Above them the screens which had previously been displaying attractions aboard the ship, all turned to static. In the next moment the static cleared to reveal a familiar face. The tentacled visage of Vilgax filled the monitor screens, his ever present scowl stuck upon his face.

"Passengers of the Tragulon." He began his malevolent speech. "You are now all my hostages. My ship's weapons are trained on you. I have one demand: that the insufferable Ben Tennyson turn himself and the Omnitrix over to me. I know you're aboard and listening Tennyson. You have ten of your earth minutes to comply or I will destroy the cruise ship and everyone on board." The transmission cut out sharply.

"Some things never change." Ben said aloud to himself. He brought up his wrist and began dialing up his desired alien form.

"What are you going to do?" Asked Gwen.

"What else? It's hero time!" Ben exclaimed before slapping down the dial. A bright flash of green light and energy enveloped him. Ben could feel the familiar sensation of transformation begin to overtake him. Although he knew the transformation was nearly instantaneous, he could not help but revel in the surge of energy that coursed through him. In a matter of moments Ben's human form was replaced by the towering visage of Atomix. The alien's semi-robotic body stood tall with hands on hips.

"You youngsters go evacuate all the passengers to safety! I'll take care of that rapscallion Vilgax!" Atomix instructed, lapsing into his familiar heroic vernacular. Atomix sprinted off for the airlock. His semi-mechanical body and powers of flight and energy manipulation made him the perfect alien for a deep space walk. He flew out into space leaving a glowing green energy trail in his wake. It didn't take long for Ben to spot Vilgax's ship. It hovered above the cruise ship like a raptor approaching its prey.

Immediately upon setting sight of the ship a barrage of laser fire tore through space at him. Atomix flew deftly between the beams of energy. He flew straight up to Vilgax's ship and began sending out his own blasts of nuclear power. The bolts of energy clashed with each other. Eventually Ben's stronger attacks began doing damage and smoke began to emanate from the broken parts of the hull. Soon enough, Vilgax sent out robotic drones to attack him. The drones swarmed around Ben, their lasers charging up with sizzling energy. Atomix flew off and led the drones on a wild goose chase. He easily avoided their laser fire, ducking and weaving between the blasts. At last Atomix pulled up straight, the drones following him like a pack of wild dogs hot on his trail. Atomix glanced over his shoulder, ensuring that all of the drones were below him. With a deft flip he reversed direction. The drones flew straight past him, too slow to process the quick maneuver. As soon as all the drones were above him Atomix blasted each and every one of them to smithereens.

"Surely that's not the best you've got eh Old Vilgax?" Ben spoke aloud. To his surprise, he heard Vilgax's voice answering.

"I haven't even begun to show you what I've got, Tennyson." Vilgax taunted. Atomix whipped his head around just in time to see Vilgax land an upper cut straight to his face. Ben recoiled back from the force of the punch. Once he regained his bearings, he saw Vilgax floating in front of him, clad in a red alien space suit and complete with jet packs. The suit seemed barely able to contain Vilgax's muscular frame.

"Ah so we've come to a battle of fisticuffs in outer space have we? Well have at you then villain!" Atomix charged back at Vilgax. They collided with each other and began viciously pummeling each other with attacks. They tumbled through space trading blows. Atomix finally managed to get his feet up and double kicked Vilgax straight in the chest. He heard the alien warlord grunt in pain right before he was sent flying backwards. Being in space Ben was also sent moving in the opposite direction. The pair levelled themselves out and faced each other across the newfound distance between them.

"Had enough yet Vilgax?" Atomix taunted. Across from him Vilgax scowled through his helmet.

"I'm just getting started Tennyson!" Vilgax suddenly raised his arm forward. A ball of blue and red energy began coalescing in the palm of his hand. Suddenly the ball rocketed forward and impacted square with Atomix's chest. The blast sent him tumbling backwards once again before he could balance himself once more.

"Haha nice shot! But I can do you one better!" Atomix shouted out. He then sent out twin pulses of atomic energy towards Vilgax. However, the tentacled alien managed to deftly avoid them whilst closing the distance between them. In another few short seconds, the duo was locked in hand-to-hand combat once again. They punched and kicked at each other relentlessly. But soon, Atomix's superior strength began to overwhelm Vilgax. His nuclear-powered punches began landing blow after blow on Vilgax's flesh. With a final glowing uppercut Vilgax was sent flipping head over heels into space. Ben floated triumphantly over the defeated alien warlord, hands proudly placed on his hips.

"Had enough yet Vilgax?" Ben taunted. Vilgax glared at him from across the void. With a groan Vilgax brought his forearm up and began punching in data on the command console.

"You may have won this battle Tennyson, but I will return. And I will get that Omnitrix!" Vilgax declared powerfully.

"As if I'm just going to let you leave villain." Ben retorted. Through his helmet Vilgax gave one last sinister smile.

"Oh but how will you catch me when you're too busy saving them?" He asked menacingly. Suddenly a volley of rockets flew from Vilgax's ship, straight towards the Tragulon. Ben could only stare in shock. The rockets were too fast for him to catch up to. Before he knew it, they had collided with the side of the cruiser. An enormous shockwave rippled through space as the explosives detonated on impact with the ship. Ben was knocked backwards from the force of the explosion. When he regained his bearings he could only stare in shock at the visage of the Tragulon burning against a backdrop of stars. Ben stared at the exploded vessel with abject horror. Watching the burning engines light up the sky like a miniature star.

"It's always good to have a little insurance don't you think? Until we meet again Tennyson." Vilgax said before retreating to his ship. Ben's shock lasted but a moment. His heroic instincts kicked in and he launched himself towards the Tragulon. Even as he approached he could begin to see life pods jettisoning from the cruise ship. The back half of the ship had an enormous hole blown in the side of it. He raced as fast as he could, shutting out the terror and panic from his mind. He was driven by instinct alone, to save as many people as possible. But sadly, he would discover that for some it was simply too late.

A/N: The first chapter of what will hopefully be a large multichapter story. The entire point of this story is a reimagining of the end of the classic Ben timeline. Parts of Omniverse were great but I hate the fact that they shoehorned Kai Green back into the story as Ben's love interest just to make it fit the original series. While there won't be outright Kai bashing in the story her role is going to significantly change from canon. This will eventually work Ben and Julie romance back in. Lastly the story that will take place is hopefully one that sees Ben's maturity grow back and lead him to becoming the greatest hero in his universe. Likewise I won't have a ton of author's notes for this story, I'd rather the story speak for itself. Lastly, I do not own Ben Ten, only this story concept and that disclaimer goes for the entirety of the story. I will not be posting the disclaimer further