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Characters and/or events in this article appear in official media of the franchise
but are non-canon to the TV continuity. -
Hero Times Two is the twentieth Ben 10: Ultimate Alien comic published in the Cartoon Network Action Pack series, published by DC and Cartoon Network. This comic appears in issue 65 of the series, and serves as a sequel to Ben 10/Generator Rex: Heroes United.
Plot[]
In Japan (Ben's dimension to be exact), Kevin and Gwen are out sightseeing, having been flown out to shoot a Mr. Smoothy commercial starring Ben. Outside the studio, to the surprise of the sizeable gathering of Ben's Japanese fan-base, a portal forms and out steps the Pack, a group of EVOs from Rex's universe. Ben prepares himself to fight them off before Rex shoots out the portal after them. After exchanging greetings, Ben turns into Rath and the fighting begins.
The Pack were never expecting Ben, nor Rex to intervene in their plans, remembering how Black Knight has captured them and was willing to help them find Van Kleiss in exchange for them retrieving a rare element to allow Providence to use time travel.
Defeated, the Pack runs away. Rex uses his Sky Slyder to make chase, with Ben changing to Jetray but they escape, having lost the two in the crowds of Tokyo. Rex explains that his brother, Caesar, tipped off Rex to what Black Knight was up to and he followed the Pack through, speculating that they found Ben's Universe by tracking the Ultimatrix's signal. Ben's fame gets in the way as he's then mobbed by teenage girls. The two heroes switch jackets on purpose so Ben can lose them. They both meet up with Kevin and Gwen in a side street, making introductions before Rex starts hitting on Gwen, to Kevin's dismay. Kevin is ready to fight Rex, while poor Ben is mobbed, leading to Gwen separating Kevin and Rex using a mana bubble. Gwen uses her phone to discover there is an atomic particle lab close by. Thinking that that is likely where the Pack is going.
They are after Promethium, a rare element that Black Knight needs to not be corrupted by Nanites, as it would be in their universe. Rex and Ben's team break in as the Pack is trying to escape through a portal created by I-Bol. Ben goes Spidermonkey and they are prevented from leaving. In retaliation Biowulf throws what looks like a canister bomb. Gwen shields herself, Ben, and Kevin, but the canister explodes in the vicinity of a lab technician Rex is trying to protect. The technician turns into a monstrous EVO and crashes out of the building.
Rex goes after the technician while Ben and the team go after the pack. With their transporter damaged, they try to flee with Ben going Ultimate Spidermonkey on their tail. Rex cures the technician and saves downtown Tokyo. He gets mobbed by a group of teenage girls but has to go back to help Ben. The team manages to rescue the Promethium before I-Bol can fix the transporter. The Pack uses the device to flee with hopes to trap Rex in Ben's world but Gwen uses her powers to hold the portal open so Rex can get back. Kevin is more than happy to see Rex leave and laments the idea of there being a possible next time.
For Ben, it was a good thing Rex left then, having never saw Ben wearing the Mr. Smoothy costume, and dancing for the camera. The ad goes viral and Ben is utterly humiliated, while Rex is none the wiser of Ben's dignity getting destroyed, telling Bobo of the adventure.
Characters[]
- Ben Tennyson
- Rex Salazar
- Gwen Tennyson
- Kevin Levin
- Bobo Haha
- Agent Six (cover)
- Caesar Salazar (flashback)
Villains[]
- The Pack
- Black Knight (flashback)
Aliens Used[]
Allusions[]
- In the story, a scientist gets transformed into an EVO and rampages around Tokyo, an allusion to Godzilla.
- Ben's in-continuity popularity abroad may be a nod to the franchise's success in other parts of the world, such as Asia and South America.
- The laboratory shown in this comic “Moto Osaka Atomic” particle lab, has the initials “MOA”, a reference to Man of Action, the two franchises' creators.
- Ben uses the phrase "with a little bit of help from your friends", perhaps a play on the Beatles' song of a similar name.
Errors[]
- Ben and Rex's dialogue on page 4 of the story appear in the wrong order to how speech bubbles are traditionally read in western comics, possibly due to the writing being the wrong way round, as it would make more sense for Rex to be introducing the Pack to Ben.
- Jetray is formatted to be "Jet-Ray" hyphenated.
- All of Rex's Ommega builds are drawn in the orange-silver color scheme instead of their usual metallic blue color scheme.
- Ultimate Spidermonkey reverts to Ben without reverting to Spidermonkey first.
Trivia[]
- Ben's jacket being worn by others is a recurring theme in the Cartoon Network Action Pack comics, such as instances in Bad Boy, and Fashion Victim, with Rex taking the jacket in this comic.
- After Robert Hoegee and Eugene Son knew they were writing this comic, they exchanged emails - kicking a few ideas back and forth. Robert wrote up a one-page outline of what the story would be. They went back and forth a few times, added details, cut them down,and then submitted it to the editor who gave them his notes and then approval. Then, they split the story in half. They each cranked out half the script - in screenplay format. When they were both done, Eugene reformatted it into comic book format and made some edits. After that, he sent it to Robert. He made his own edits, then sent it back. They went back and forth until they were both happy, then submitted it. When they disagreed or were unsure about things, one of them had a little more seniority to convince the other, as Robert knew Generator Rex better than Eugene, while Eugene knew Ben 10 better than Robert.[ES 1]
References[]
Eugene Son[]
See Also[]
- Hero Times Two (the article on the Generator Rex Wiki)