Ben Tennyson was working out in the Plumber's training room.
Rook was watching and saw the fierce look in his partner's eyes.
On their last mission, Ben nearly lost to Fistrick when Ben's watch timed out. So Fistrick took advantage of the defenseless hero by pounding the heck out of him until Rook came and used his moves to defeat the villain.
The beating left Ben bruised and battered. Not to mention darkened his self-esteem.
So once Ben recovered, he went straight for the training room and ignored the many phone calls from his concerned friends.
"Ben? Shouldn't we be going?" Rook asked Ben, who was punching and kicking the training dummy. "Rachel has planned a welcome back party for you."
"No, thanks, Rook." Ben said, not losing his focus.
"Are you sure? We have all of your favorite foods!" Rook said. "There will be pizza, chili fries, burgers, and-"
"Definitely not." Ben replied. "Too many calories and cholesterol."
Rook furrowed his brow. "Ben, you are acting like-"
"ROOK!" Ben snapped, turning to his partner. "I'm not acting like Fistrick like that one time! I got the snot kicked out of me because I wasn't strong enough! But that's all gonna change!"
Now Rook was really concerned. "But Ben! What about all your friends at the mansion?!"
"Sorry, Rook. But I can't fool around at the mansion anymore." He began punching a punching bag. "I can't let my guard down for a second. I mean, don't take it the wrong way. We're still partners, just not having fun anymore."
"Ben, I do not think-"
"No, Rook!" Ben snapped, turning to his partner. "I already made up my mind and nothing you can say or do will change it. You're either with me or against me. So get training or get out of my way!"
Rook scowled at Ben's words. Then he stormed out of the gym.
Ben scoffed and went back to training.
For the next few weeks, Ben was taking his resolve to a whole new level. Instead of greeting and talking to people with his warm, cheery position, he became cold and unfeeling towards others. He doesn't even smile.
In fact, Ben never used the Omnitrix that much anymore.
Instead of giving advice, he told people the grim consequences of what happens if they are not on guard.
Ben's behavior spread through the Plumber Base. A lot of Plumbers were becoming paranoid and depressed when it came to their duty.
It was though a gloomy malevolence took over the base.
One day, Max decided enough was enough.
"Ben, we need to talk." Max started. "I'm getting concerned about this...new you."
"You shouldn't be." Ben replied honestly. "I'm taking things more seriously. My job, my duty, my responsibility, everything. So there's nothing to be concerned about."
Max heard a growling sound. "What was that?"
"Excuse me, that was my stomach." Ben took out a tube, uncapped it, and sucked the contents from it.
"What is that?" Max asked.
"A portable protein shake." Ben groused. He made a rather sick face.
"Looks like it doesn't taste that well." Max noted.
"It's healthy. It's not suppose to be tasty." Ben replied, rather snippily.
"Ben! This isn't like you at all!" Max exclaimed. "What happened to the old Ben? The one who was always happy and proud! Not all sad and miserable!"
"What's happiness got to do with my job?" Ben shot his grandfather a withering glare. "Life isn't about being happy and having fun. It's about being pain, struggle, staying focused, and not have any emotions for anything!"
"No! That's not it at all!" Max shot back. "You should be happy-"
"NO, GRANDPA!" Ben shouted. "Times have changed since you were a Plumber! I am now a cold, cautious Plumber who takes things seriously! So I don't have time for petty things like fun and happiness! Good day!"
And Ben ran away.
Max called Rook. "Rook, he's getting worse. You have to do something!"
"Understood." Rook said on the other end.
It was late at night and Ben was jogging through the neighborhood. His stomach kept growling, those shakes were all he ate. But they were so disgusting, he didn't bother drinking them and just stopped eating altogether.
The hunger pains and strain from working out was really taking it's toll on Ben. But he had to keep going, he had to. He needed to be stronger, even if it means ignoring his ailments.
But then, a hand reached out and grabbed Ben's shoulder, pinching the nerve that knocked him out cold.
Rook carried Ben's limp body in his arms and took him to the Proto-truk. He drove him to the Grant Mansion.
"Ben? Ben?"
Ben heard a voice call to him. He fluttered his eyes open and found himself in Frankenstrike's lab!
"Oh, no!" Ben tried to get up, but he was strapped to the examination table. There was a headband strapped around Ben's head that was connected to a large machine with a monitor on it.
There was a wired sticker over Ben's heart that was also connected to the machine.
Frankenstrike came out of the darkness with a serious look on his face.
"What's going on?! What is this?!" Ben said, struggling to break free.
"It's a test, Ben." Frankenstrike answered. "This device is recording your condition."
"I have no condition! Let me go!" Ben demanded.
Frankenstrike ignored his demand. "So, Ben. Tell me, do you miss all of your friends at the mansion? Rachel? Sasha? Chelsea? Sparkle?"
"No!" Ben yelled.
But the machine said otherwise. "That's not what my machine is saying. It can detect your true feelings. It saying that you miss everyone very much."
"A machine can't tell you anything!" Ben snapped.
Frankenstrike put on a stethoscope and placed it over Ben's stomach. "Tell me, what do you think when I mention...pizza? A nice, warm, delicious, double cheese pizza?"
When the thought entered Ben's mind, his stomach growled again.
"Cheese burgers with extra cheese? Ice cream sundaes? With lots of ooey, gooey chocolate sauce?"
The growling became louder.
"STOP THAT!" Ben shook his head.
Frankenstrike took out the secret weapon: a plate of chili fries. He put the mouth-watering dish in front of Ben. Ben smelled the tasty fumes and his stomach grumbled at it's loudest.
Ben was going mad. The food smelled so good and he was so hungry. But he had to resist.
"Just as I thought." Frankenstrike said, taking the stethoscope off. He smiled. "Since you're not being yourself, you're hurting yourself. Perhaps some yummy food will help." He patted Ben's stomach. "A full belly is a happy belly."
"NO! Absolutely not!" Ben shouted. "This is ridiculous! You let me go so I can get back to training!"
"Now, Ben. If you keep that up, I'm going to have to send you to the tummy doctors." Frankenstrike warned.
Ben felt a little scared by that warning. "Tummy...doctors?" He frowned. "I don't care! Do what you want to me! I don't care!"
Frankenstrike shrugged. "Very well." He took of the headband and wires off of Ben, pulled a lever and a trap door opened.
The examination table tipped forward and uncuffed Ben. "HEY! What the-?! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
Ben slid down the trap door and fell all the way down a dark tunnel.
Ben arrived in Way Big and Ultimate Way Big's room. He landed in Way Big's hand and saw the To'kustar brothers wearing lab coats and glasses. They were dressed like doctors.
"Our patient have arrived." said Way Big.
Ben almost laughed seeing the giants dressed up and looking silly, but he suppressed it. The aliens restrained Ben on a torture table and leaned in close.
"Now, let's take a peek at your tummy." Ultimate Way Big lifted up Ben's shirt.
The brothers gasped when they saw how thin Ben was. He was thinner than usual thanks to his crashed diet.
"Oh, no! This doesn't look good." Way Big said. "Ben, you're thin as a wire! Have you been eating enough?"
Ben turned away. "None of your business!"
"Cranky attitude, sure sign of hunger." Way Big deduced. "But regarding the patient's behavior, I say we perform some tummy tests."
"Tummy tests?!" Ben sounded quite scared, knowing where this was going.
"Let's start with the jiggle test." Way Big poked his finger into Ben's stomach and wiggled into it.
"Ahahahahahaha!" Ben started to laugh, but he forced his mouth shut.
"Hmm, this tummy doesn't feel quite as jiggly as Ben's old stomach." Way Big grinned.
Ben's stomach growled with hunger.
"And it sounds grumbly. What a grumbly tummy!" Ultimate Way Big pouted. He put his finger in Ben's stomach and tickled it.
"Let's give it a jiggle!" Way Big wriggled his finger deeply into Ben's stomach. "Jiggle, jiggle, jiggle!"
Ben's resistance started to slip. His eyes watered, his face was turning red.
"Tickly, tickly, tickle!" Ultimate Way Big cooed. "Your tummy wummy's got the grumbly, wumblies!"
"Jiggly, jiggly, wiggly, wiggle!" Way Big sang.
The tickling combined with their baby talk teasing finally made Ben crack up.
"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! STAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAP!"
"Oh! Look how his tummy is jiggling!" Way Big mused, seeing Ben laughing big belly laughs. "We're making progress, Doctor!"
"Let us try the feather test!" Ultimate Way Big reached into his pocket and pulled out a large peacock feather.
"A p-p-peacock feather?!" Ben was terrified due to his fear of peacocks.
"Don't worry, Ben! This feather is just what you need for your treatment!"
Way Big took out his peacock feather. "Let the feather test begin!"
The brothers used the silky feathers to gently caressed Ben's bare belly with soft tickling motions.
"Ooooooh! Tickle, tickle!" Ultimate Way Big teased.
"Does that tickle wickle?" Way Big cooed.
"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! THAT TICKLE WICKLES! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Ben burst out with laughter. "AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
As he was being tickled, a familiar feeling came over him. A feeling he had been missing for a long time.
"Cootchie, cootchie, coo! Ben's got the tickle wickles in his tummy wummy!" Way Big teased.
Ultimate Way Big tickled Ben's tummy while Way Big tickled Ben's face with those evil feathers.
Ben was in tears. He laughed and laughed and felt his old self returning.
"OKAY! OKAY! I-I CAN'T TAKE ANYMORE! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! PLEASE STAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAP!"
"Shall we stop, Dr. Way Big?" asked Ultimate Way Big.
Way Big saw Ben's big smile return to his face. "Yes, we shall."
The giants stopped and Ben was gasping for much needed air.
"So, how do you feel?" asked Ultimate Way Big.
"Much better." Ben admitted. And it was true. He felt a lot better than he did a few weeks ago.
Way Big scooped up Ben in his hand. "Now do you understand how happiness can help a body?"
Ben nodded. "Yeah, you guys were right all along and I was wrong all along. I really do need to relax every now and then."
"Well, now that part one of your treatment is done, we can move to the next step." said Ultimate Way Big.
"We prescribe a big helping of chili fries!" Way Big said, smiling. "And a house full of friends eager to see you!"
Ben licked his lips and rubbed his belly. "Best news I've heard in a long time!"
And so, the To'kustar tummy doctors brought Ben back up to the mansion. Where everyone greeted him with happy, warm hugs and kisses from his loving nieces and the Jocklin sisters.
They all celebrated Ben's recovery with a feast of delicious foods. Ben devoured a plate of chili fries, two cheeseburgers, and a slice of pizza. His face and fingers were covered in chili and grease.
"It is good to have Ben back!" Rook said, smiling ear to ear.
"The feeling's mutual." Ben said, cleaning himself off. "And I'm glad I got you guys to pick me up when I'm down!"
"Of course, Ben." Rachel said. "We do it because we love you just the way you are!"
"Group hug, everyone!" Sasha said.
All the aliens gathered answers gave their favorite hero a hug.
Ben was back to being his old self and things were looking brighter than ever! Thanks to his friends, Ben learned that no matter what happens, a little happiness can go a long way and keep you going.