Void, Cheats, and a Marvelous Mess

I woke up in a void.

Like, a proper void—emptier than your bank account after a bad life decision. I would have tried to look around, but I couldn't see jack shit. No light, no sound, no sense of space. Just... nothingness.

And yet, I wasn't panicking. Shouldn't I be freaking out? I mean, I died, didn't I? That's the only logical reason I'd be here. No memories of how I kicked the bucket, no pain, no flashing life montage of my greatest hits. Just this void and my oddly calm self.

Then it happened.

Honestly speaking, I expected it. Waking up in a void is the cliché for reincarnation or transmigration stories. You die, wake up in an empty space, and some RANDOM OMNIPOTENT BEING picks you for some bullshit reason to go to another world. You get to live out your fantasies, and they get their entertainment.

Still, the fact that this was actually happening was weird.

I should be more concerned. I should feel some sort of fear, right? Some existential dread? But no, it was like my emotions were running on low power mode. Detached, dulled—like I was just going through the motions.

Huh. That's... concerning.

Before I could dwell on that thought, a voice shattered the silence.

"Yo, what's up, fucker."

The fuck? What kind of intro was that?

"Chillax, my guy. I know you're familiar with the setup, right?"

Now that I focused on it, this thing sounded like Morgan Freeman trying to do a Batman voice. On paper, that should be cool. In reality? It was jarring as hell.

"Yeah, yeah. I know the whole shebang—die from some dumb reason, meet an all-powerful being who either screwed up or just wants to mess around, get a cheat ability, and get isekai'd to a random world for some 'entertainment,'" I replied, deadpan. No sarcasm. No surprise. Just acceptance.

I was getting way too comfortable with this.

"Right. Since you already know everything, I'll skip the exposition. I'm giving you a cheat and throwing you into a world of my choice. The world you're going to is one of heroes and villains, of gods and mortal men. It truly is a marvelous world."

The sadism is strong in this one.

That description could fit way too many fictional universes, but the word 'marvelous' sealed the deal. Marvel. I was going to some version of the Marvel universe.

"Fuck me."

Marvel, of all places. Well, it could be worse—at least it's not the SCP Foundation or a Lovecraftian nightmare. I think I'd prefer Thanos over some unfathomable eldritch horror that doesn't care if I exist.

Ignoring my response, he continued. "Now, your cheat is special. See, I'm giving you two templates. These will fully activate the moment you arrive in the world. The special thing is, these templates are of the same being—but from different timelines."

I frowned. "So, you're saying I'll have two versions of the same person, but with different abilities and life choices? Like if I got two Izuku Midoriyas—one with One For All, who became a hero, and another with All For One, who became a villain?"

"Yep. The person I've chosen is Benjamin Kirby Tennyson. Ben 10, for short. You'll get two templates: one where he had the Omnitrix and became the Hero of Heroes—Ben 10,000. The other comes from a timeline where Gwen got the Omnitrix instead, so Ben developed his Anodite spark and learned magic."

…Holy shit.

There's one thing to have a cheat ability. It's another to be handed hax.

I mean, I was basically getting Ben 10's powers with a mixture of Anodite abilities and magic. That was straight-up busted.

Ben 10 might not be the absolute strongest fictional character, but he was one of my favorites, and he was definitely on the higher end of the power scale.

"Which version of Ben 10,000 are we talking about?" I asked, already running through the possibilities.

There were three versions I remembered. The original, who never removed the Omnitrix. Ultimate Ben, who used transformations without turning into aliens, making him a weird green-laser-shooting human. And Ben 10K from Omniverse, who had the Biomnitrix—letting him fuse two aliens at the same time.

People had their opinions on which one was best. Ultimate Ben looked weird using alien powers in human form, and the original had nothing new aside from sheer transformation variety. But all three had their strengths.

The original had ten thousand transformations.Ultimate Ben had ultimate forms.And the Omniverse version had fusion abilities.

But the biggest deal here? Alien fucking X.

If you don't know what that is, just Google it. Seriously. Alien X wouldn't put me at the absolute top of the power hierarchy, but it was still my best shot at keeping celestial-level threats away.

"You'll get the Omniverse version—Ben 10K," the voice said.

Fuck yeah.

"Good luck with this marvelous journey ahead of you."

I'm pretty sure he blinked or something, but I still couldn't see shit.

Then I blacked out again.