A Certain Powerful Omnitrix 3: The Hate That Dwells In Shadows

Darkness In The Omniverse

"It's so cold.......it's so cold....." Cried the 10 year old Ben as he clutched on to his older version's sleeve.

Ben nearly backed away from his doppelgänger in fright. Something was majorly wrong here. He could tell that this wasn't a dream. At least it wasn't a normal dream. Everything looked and felt too real. Plus, normally when he went alien in his dreams it felt a lot different then when he was in real life.

"You're not dreaming." Said little Mikoto.

"What?"

"You're not dreaming." Repeated the little girl. "You're sleeping, but you're not dreaming."

"Okay?" Said Ben feeling confused. "And that makes sense.......how?"

"The Omnitrix has been attached to you for a very long time." Said little Mikoto. "So naturally it's fused with you so indefinitely that it's become as much a part of your physical state as your mental state."

"Wait....I'm inside the Omnitrix!?"

Mikoto tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Actually it's more like the Omnitrix is in your head, and you're inside the Omnitrix while it's inside your head. Like a box within a box within a box."

"You sound like that movie Inception." Ben muttered.

"Well in the Omnitrix's case, that movie is actually pretty accurate." Said little Mikoto.

"So." Said Ben looking at his younger self. "Is that........me?"

Mikoto giggled. "Close. That's the part of you that lives in the Omnitrix, the one that connects your aliens and you together. You could say that he's Goop, Diamondhead, JetRay, Ultimate SwampFire, Everyone! He's what makes your aliens you."

"Who are you?" Ben asked the little Mikoto.

"I'm just one of the many aspects of your mind like him." Said Mikoto cheerfully. "I'm the aspect of your mind that feels love for Misaka Mikoto and all your other loved ones......you could say I'm the only one keeping the nasty Ghost away from the Omnitrix you."

Okay......thought Ben. So to summarize, the creepy 10 year old me is my Omnitrix self, the 10 year old Misaka is my er.........love... And I'm inside a box within a box within a..............okay I'm lost.........

"It takes some thinking." Said Mikoto. "But right now I think you should be helping Omni over here."

"Omni?"

"Well it's better then you calling him Ben, and if you want you can call me Love since I'm not the real Misaka Mikoto." The little girl giggled.

Ben bent down to look at Omni. "Okay.....Omni.....can you tell me what's going on?"

"The ghost." Said Omni quivering and pointing at the eye staring out from his Omnitrix. "It won't stop looking at me......it keeps telling me things..........really bad things........"

"Okay." Said Ben. "Do you know how I can stop it?"

"There is one way." Said Love. "You have to go to the far side of darkness where all your anger and hate lives. Then you could kick the ghost out......if he doesn't eat you first."

"Okay." Said Ben now wondering if he was just going crazy. "Who is this ghost I keep hearing about? And what does he have against Omni, or me, or whatever?"

"Don't you know?" Said Love. "GhostFreak doesn't have anything against you. He just wants to eat you so you two will be stuck in an eternal nightmare together."

"Wait." Said Ben now feeling his insides turn cold. "The ghost.......is GhostFreak!?"

The eye on Omni's Omnitrix let out an ethereal whispering noise, as if responding to the name that Ben had just spoken out loud.

Love and Ben looked at the eye uneasily for several minutes before Love continued talking. "Haven't you been wondering why you're in this world right now?"

"Every second." Ben muttered.

"Ever since your anger and grief caused GhostFreak to reawaken in your last fight with Vilgax, GhostFreak has been steadily taking control of your inner world. If you don't do something soon........you're going to........"

Ben didn't need Love to finish, he had seen enough werewolf movies to know what was coming. "So I have to go to this place called The Darkness, and supposedly that's where all my bad ju ju is or something?"

"That's right. GhostFreak likes to feed off your fear and hate, it's like a mental parasite."

Knowing GhostFreak I guess that makes sense. Thought Ben.

"And I have to fight him?"

"That's the gist of it!" Love said cheerfully. "And you have to bring me and Omni with you, or you'll get lost real easy! And watch out for bad memories!"

"Bad memories?"

"Recollections of every trial you ever faced like to roam around in here, that version of Hex you fought before was one of them."

"So now you're saying there is a chance I might run into Vilgax, Dr. Animo, or my high school teacher in here?"

"Yep."

"Wonderful." Said Ben. "Now lead me to this darkness thing."

Love led Ben to the very edge of Academy City. Usually, at the entrance there would be road coming inwards from a highway, but instead the road was connected to a familiar suburban town.

"No way." Said Ben as he carried Omni on his shoulders. "That's Bellwood."

"Well this is your world." Said Love in her usual childish cheerful voice.

They walked through the deserted town in silence. There was something seriously messed up about the place. Yellow eyes seemed to peek out of dark windows, and Ben could here a quiet muttering, as if demons were flitting around and talking to him. Suddenly the road ahead was blocked by a familiar figure.

It was what appeared to be a fat large humanoid elephant.

Trombipular let out a windy snort from his trunk and charged at Ben. Ben immediately activated the Omnitrix, first changing into the monkey-like Spidermonkey and then changing into the more gorilla -like Ultimate Spidermonkey.

Ultimate Spidermonkey roared and scuttled over on his giant spider like limbs that sprouted out of his back and sides. Ultimate Spidermonkey then punched Trombipular so hard, that he flew into a nearby house and destroyed it with his elephant body. And just like with Hex Lord, Trombipular just plane disappeared without any trace.

"Don't tell me."said Ultimate Spidermonkey. "That was another bad memory?"

Love nodded. "Yep, they breed like roaches in this part of the mind. You might want to stay on your guard....."

Ultimate Spidermonkey sighed. "This is going to take a while."