Chapter 132: Isn't This Your Dream? Why Is There a Monster Like That?!
"I've scanned the entire perimeter. There's only one narrow blind spot we can use to slip through."
Grandpa Max lowered his scanner, gesturing for the group to keep close. He took point, leading them out of the eerie, silent library and down the dimly lit left corridor. The rest of the group trailed closely behind his broad back.
"Hey," Ben muttered, shooting a dangerous, sidelong glare at Enoch. "Isn't this the dreamscape you wove? How do you not even know where your own exit is?"
"Uh... it was," Enoch stammered, his voice tight with embarrassment. "But, well, there seems to be a slight complication."
Under normal circumstances, the Forever Knight leader would rather swallow glass than show weakness to the Tennyson family. But right now, trapped in a hostile nightmare of his own making, he was entirely at their mercy. Beggars couldn't be choosers, and his usually arrogant attitude had deflated into grudging obedience.
"Which is exactly why I said you shouldn't go around snatching alien technology you don't understand," Gwen interjected, her tone dripping with discontent.
Enoch clamped his mouth shut. He knew full well the Dork wasn't just talking about the dream-weaver machine—she was taking a direct jab at his obsession with the Omnitrix. Choosing self-preservation over pride, he opted to remain completely silent.
A heavy, awkward silence descended over the group. The only sound was the rhythmic tapping of their footsteps echoing down the sterile hallway. As Grandpa Max led them around a sharp right turn, the corridor dead-ended into two adjacent rooms.
The heavy metal door to the left room hung wide open. From the shadows, a painfully familiar figure stepped out into the light.
"Kevin?!" Ben's eyes blew wide open, his jaw dropping in sheer disbelief. Standing right in front of them was his former best buddy turned bitter rival. "How the heck is Kevin here?!"
"Nightmare-state dreamscapes are reactive," Enoch explained, nervously adjusting his collar. "They automatically generate your past enemies... or manifest the things you absolutely do not want to face."
A blinding emerald flash instantly illuminated the cramped corridor.
Before the nightmare-Kevin could even sneer, Four Arms lunged forward. Four massive, crimson hands clamped onto the boy, lifting him effortlessly off the floor. With a brutal, fluid motion, the Tetramand hurled him straight through the reinforced concrete wall, sending the illusion crashing out of the school building entirely.
In the real world, Kevin was a formidable threat. But this was a dreamscape fueled by subconscious perception. In Ben's mind, there was absolutely no way Kevin was stronger than him—which meant this nightmare construct didn't stand a ghost of a chance.
"Alright, problem solved," Four Arms grunted, casually dusting the pulverized drywall off his broad shoulders.
A flash of red light washed over the giant, shrinking him back down into a very smug-looking Ben.
"Ben..." Gwen started, eyeing him with deep suspicion. "Do you have any other enemies you really don't want to face right now?" She wanted to brace herself for whatever fresh hell his subconscious was about to spit out.
"I shouldn't... wait. Enemies I've faced?!" Ben froze, the smugness draining from his face as a horrifying realization hit him. "Gwen! Do you think that guy we met in the other universe last time is gonna show up?!"
"Are you talking about—?!" Gwen gasped, her eyes widening as she caught his drift. "Oh no. If he shows up... things are going to get very, very bad."
Since Klein and the kids had eventually briefed Grandpa Max on their chaotic, universe-hopping misadventures, the veteran Plumber immediately understood exactly who they were terrified of. His grip on his weapon tightened.
Enoch, however, was entirely out of the loop. He stood there blinking, utterly bewildered.
What guy? What are they talking about? And... did they just say 'another universe'?!
A cold sweat broke out on the Forever Knight's brow. He was rapidly beginning to realize that the Tennyson family was hiding secrets far more terrifying than a simple alien watch.
"Let's take this one step at a time," Grandpa Max said, keeping his voice steady to anchor the group. "We need to secure the exit first— Look at that!"
He suddenly pointed through the jagged, gaping hole Four Arms had just punched through the wall.
Beyond the shattered concrete, suspended high in the oppressive, blood-dimmed sky, hovered a colossal, winged monstrosity.
"Holy crap! Is that Diagon?!" Enoch shrieked, completely losing his aristocratic composure. He grabbed Ben by the shoulders, shaking the boy frantically. "Isn't this your dream?!"
Ironically, because Enoch's own subconscious firmly pictured the cosmic entity Diagon as a classic, terrifying Western dragon, the nightmare had obligingly rendered the demonic god as a massive, scale-covered beast of apocalyptic proportions.
"How the heck should I know?!" Ben snapped, his teeth rattling from the violent shaking. He irritably slapped the Forever Knight's hands away. "Didn't you Forever Knights build this stupid dream with your stolen alien tech?!"
"Oh... right," Enoch muttered, his face paling as the realization sank in. "Speaking of which... I used the exact same machine to enter."
Since both of them were hooked up to the same neural-link technology, their subconscious minds had merged. This wasn't just Ben's nightmare anymore—it was Enoch's too.
Hearing that this apocalyptic dragon was entirely Enoch's fault, Ben's glare turned absolutely murderous.
"Stop arguing!" Gwen yelled, her hands glowing with pink mana as panic edged into her voice. "If we don't figure out a plan right now, we're all doomed!"
Staring up at the hundreds-of-meters-long demonic dragon blotting out the sky, a suffocating wave of powerlessness washed over the group. The sheer scale of the beast was paralyzing.
Ben stared intently at the looming silhouette of Diagon, his jaw set. "I wonder if I can actually take that thing?" he muttered softly. He stepped forward, blocking the hole in the wall. "Gwen, Grandpa! You guys go first!"
He was going to buy them time.
"Dweeb! Stop trying to play the tragic hero!" Gwen snapped, stepping up and unceremoniously flicking him hard right on the forehead.
"Ow! Hey, that hurts!" Ben yelped, clutching his forehead and shooting his cousin a deeply offended scowl.
"Ben, Gwen is right," Grandpa Max said gently, crouching down to place a heavy, reassuring hand on his grandson's shoulder. "We don't leave family behind. We work together to solve the problem."
Standing off to the side, Enoch desperately wanted to scream, 'If you idiots don't want to leave, then let ME go!' But he swallowed the words. If he agitated the Tennysons now, he was terrified they might just chuck him out the window to act as dragon bait.
"Azmuth unlocked a new alien for me recently," Ben said, his expression hardening with resolve as he raised his left wrist. "Let's hope this big guy packs enough punch."
He slammed his palm down onto the Omnitrix dial.
"Way Big!"
A blinding pillar of emerald light erupted into the sky. When it faded, a towering, red-and-white colossal alien stood planted in the school courtyard, shaking the very earth beneath his feet.
"Fascinating... another titan," Enoch murmured, his greed for the Omnitrix flaring up despite the mortal danger. He squinted up at the towering alien. "But... this one doesn't look like he can win."
He wasn't wrong. The Way Big that Ben had transformed into was significantly smaller than the towering behemoth Klein usually manifested. Standing at roughly thirty meters tall, Ben's Way Big was still dwarfed by the hundreds-of-meters-long wingspan of the nightmare Diagon.
"Won't know until I try!" Way Big's booming voice echoed across the sky.
He crossed his massive forearms into an 'X' formation. The fins on his arms charged with crackling energy before unleashing a devastating, blinding blue cosmic ray straight at the demonic dragon.
The concentrated beam slammed directly into Diagon's head, exploding into a massive cloud of thick, black smoke. The shockwave rattled the school's foundations.
But as the smoke slowly cleared, the horrifying truth was revealed. Diagon hadn't even flinched. The dragon was completely unharmed.
"How is that even possible?!" Gwen gasped, her hands flying to her mouth. They had all witnessed the apocalyptic destructive power of a To'kustar's cosmic ray before. Seeing it brush off a target like a light breeze was utterly terrifying.
"I CANNOT BE DESTROYED!"
A booming, abyssal voice vibrated through their very bones. Way Big's attack had successfully drawn the god-beast's ire. Diagon reared back and unleashed a deafening, sky-shattering roar. Instantly, unnatural, pitch-black clouds began to violently swirl and gather overhead.
"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me. Annoying," Way Big grumbled, his giant glowing eyes narrowing in deep displeasure.
The churning vortex of dark clouds pulsed with a sickly, blood-red luminescence. Without warning, a barrage of thick, crimson lightning bolts tore down from the heavens, striking Way Big dead center.
The sheer force of the demonic lightning was overwhelming. Way Big let out a booming cry of agony, his massive form buckling under the onslaught. He collapsed to the earth with a ground-shattering thud, a flash of red light instantly reverting him back into a weakened, groaning Ben.
Gwen and Grandpa Max immediately sprinted forward, grabbing Ben by the arms and hauling him to his feet.
Seeing the Tennysons distracted, Enoch didn't hesitate. He spun on his heel and bolted down the hallway like a coward.
But he had forgotten one crucial detail: Diagon was a product of his nightmare. The monster wasn't about to let its creator escape.
With a terrifying rush of wind, the colossal dragon swooped down. Its massive, razor-sharp claws effortlessly ripped through the concrete, tearing away an entire section of the teaching building—with Enoch trapped right inside it. With a beat of its massive wings, Diagon hauled its prize high into the storm-ravaged sky.
Ben, Gwen, and Max watched in stunned horror from the courtyard. The sheer, overwhelming power of the beast was suffocating.
Holy crap! Are you kidding me?! Enoch screamed internally as the ground fell away beneath him. I didn't even attack you! Why are you grabbing ME?!
Despite his internal cursing, his survival instincts kicked in. He scrambled to the edge of the crumbling concrete slab and shrieked at the top of his lungs. "Help! Ben Tennyson, save me!"
Hearing the Forever Knight's pathetic cries, Ben gritted his teeth. He might despise the guy, but he wasn't about to let him get eaten by a nightmare dragon. He immediately reached for the Omnitrix.
Fortunately, the rules of reality were bent in this dreamscape. The Omnitrix's cooldown cycle was drastically reduced.
With a flash of green, Ben transformed into Stinkfly. His four insectoid wings buzzed furiously as he shot up into the sky, rocketing straight toward Diagon's massive claws.
But just as he reached the halfway point, the entire atmosphere shifted.
A guttural, distorted roar—something that sounded less like a beast and more like the tearing of reality itself—echoed across the sky.
A blur of absolute, pitch-black darkness flashed past.
In an instant, the colossal form of Diagon froze. Then, starting from its chest, the apocalyptic dragon simply began to disintegrate into fine, grey ash.
With the dragon's claws crumbling into dust, the chunk of the building shattered, sending Enoch plummeting toward the earth.
"AAAAAAHHHH!"
Enoch screamed as he fell, bracing for a messy death. Instead, he slammed violently onto a glowing, pink mana barrier. The impact was brutal. He felt as though his spine had snapped in two. Groaning in agony, he shakily raised a trembling right hand.
"Next time..." he wheezed, weakly protesting. "Use a... softer method... thank you."
Gwen didn't even spare him a glance. Her eyes were fixed on the sky above. She casually lowered the mana platform to a few feet above the ground before abruptly canceling it, letting the armored knight unceremoniously drop into the dirt.
"The absolute worst-case scenario just happened," Gwen whispered, helplessly massaging her temples as a cold dread settled in her stomach.
Hovering high above them in the dim, fragmented sky was a nightmare made flesh. It was a Celestialsapien—but twisted, corrupted, and utterly hideous. Its starry silhouette flickered with a violent, unstable energy, and its glowing eyes locked onto them with pure, bloodthirsty malice.
"I am so completely done with this!" Enoch, who had managed to crawl his way back to the group, stared up at the cosmic entity with a look of utter, soul-crushing despair. "How the hell is there a monster like that in your dream?!"
He had genuinely thought Diagon was the final boss of this twisted nightmare. But now? The dragon had been swatted away like a minor nuisance!
How are we supposed to fight this?! Enoch screamed internally. Look at the opponent! An invincible, reality-warping, max-level cosmic god whose attacks are guaranteed one-hit kills! And look at our side! A ragtag group of low-level newbies straight out of a starter village! And I, Enoch, single-handedly represent the weak and disabled portion of this pathetic party! Damn it all! This isn't fun anymore!
Completely broken by the sheer absurdity of the power scaling, Enoch simply flopped onto his back in the dirt, staring blankly at the sky like a corpse.
The corrupted Celestialsapien—a glitching, horrifying mockery of Alien X—didn't care about their despair. It raised a hand, reality warping around its fingertips, fully intending to erase them from existence.
But just as it prepared to strike, the very fabric of the dreamscape began to violently fracture. Massive cracks spider-webbed across the sky like shattered glass. With a deafening shatter, the surrounding space collapsed inward, dragging the Glitch Alien X into the void along with it.
The apocalyptic schoolyard dissolved, melting away until the group found themselves standing back in the hazy, swirling pink void of the illusory dream space.
"Alright, Ben, Gwen, Grandpa! I'm sending you guys out now."
A cheerful, bell-like voice chimed through the void. With a sprinkle of sparkling pink dust, Pesky Dust fluttered into view, a bright smile on his face.
"Finally! We can get out of here!" Enoch practically sobbed, tears of pure relief welling up behind his mask.
But as Pesky Dust waved his tiny wand, a bright flash of pink light enveloped Ben, Gwen, and Grandpa Max. In the blink of an eye, the three Tennysons vanished, leaving Enoch standing completely alone in the endless, swirling void.
He stood there, staring blankly at the empty space where his only ride out had just been.
After a long, agonizing silence, Enoch let out a soul-weary sigh.
"Damn it. I celebrated way too early."
Night fell.
Meanwhile, in the real world, night had fully fallen over the newly reconstructed Forever Knight Castle—Version 2.0.
Inside the main laboratory, the stationed Forever Knights finally began to stir, groaning as they recovered from whatever had knocked them out. Seeing their leader slumped in the central chair, two knights rushed forward, reaching out to carefully remove the bulky dream-weaver helmet from Enoch's head.
"Stop."
A cold, synthetic voice echoed from the shadows behind them, freezing the knights in their tracks.
"Leave him. Enoch has disappointed me far too many times."
Heavy, metallic footsteps echoed across the stone floor as a towering figure stepped into the dim laboratory light. "From this moment forward, I will be dealing with the Tennyson family personally."
The newcomer was clad in pristine, heavy silver-white armor. Where a human face should have been, his sleek, metallic helmet featured only a glowing, blood-red 'Y' shaped visor that pulsed with sinister intent.
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