A Certain Scientific Omnitrix, Book 7: Saints of Destruction

The Desolate Future Continues (Part 2)

Back in the Future.. 10 years after Diablo finds Ben and Touma.

Ben awoke, blinking dirt out of his eyes.. he had been lying face down in a dungeon..  a dark and dank one to be frank..

He groaned and got on his back, staring at the ceiling.

He didn't even have time to react.. Diablo had completely taken him down without any sort of restraint.

The differences in their power almost reminded Ben of when he first fought Acqua.

Ben chuckled. "Well.. Mikoto, looks like I got myself into another jam."

Ben pulled the photo of his daughter holding his small baby boy for a minute using it to gather up a bit of courage before stuffing it back into his pocket. "Touma!? You in here with me buddy?"

But the cell was empty..

Ben walked over to the barred doors of his cell.. ordinary stainless steel bars.. heh.. it was almost as if Diablo WANTED Ben to escape..

Ben scratched his beard. Maybe he did.. Diablo was a god in comparison to most.. no way would he use such flimsy things to try and imprison his foes, not unless his pride got in the way.. he would have to be cautious about how he did this..

Or maybe it was Diablo's servants merely being incompetent? Yeah, that might be it, if this was the case, then it would be safe to go out.. wouldn't it?

No.. this seemed way too easy.

But there was no way to tell unless you tried right?

There was a flash of green light as Ben turned into Ghostfreak and floated up to the ceiling.. he attempted to phase through.. but.. the stone glowed with strange magic runes, knocking Ghostfreak back. Of course.. looked like this entire room prevented something as simple as that..

There was another flash of green light and Ben turned into Goop. Goop squelched in between the bars before changing back into a human.

He walked down the dungeon halls for a bit, taking in the sights.. many of the cells held other people.. all shivering and cold, holding children.. or barely clothed.. some of them starving..

Ben shook his head.. this was disgusting. He'd free them all himself.. but.. this was not something he could deal with now..

But wait.. some of them.. were encased in ice.. as if.. as if they'd been frozen there forever..

Hydra Head's cryogenics spell.. of course!! They were able to keep prisoners under control by freezing them for years.. that could explain why they never bothered with suitable security for his cell..

Ben felt his skin, it was cold and wet. Damn. he HAD been frozen.. but for some reason.. it had worn off on him..

Ben tapped his Omnitrix's face plate. "Hey.. what year is it?"

The Omnitrix showed a holographic number, and Ben felt horror flood through him.. 10 years? He had been away from his wife and children for 10 years.. dear lord.

Ben shook his head. He could think about that later.. right now, he had make everything right.. he had to find Maltraunt. He was sure that Diablo wouldn't destroy him.. he'd keep Maltraunt somewhere off site.. somewhere safe..

Ben thought for a moment. It wouldn't do to have guards come back and realize he had escaped. He needed to create a decoy of a frozen Ben.

Ben walked back to his cell and turned into Big Chill, before creating a roughly Ben shaped ice sculpture with his cold breath.