This takes place after the battle of Pitch Black, North Wind, and the Nightmare Guardians, yet, before Lea and Katherine go on that 'magical' vacation at the end of the last crossover story, 'You Need to Believe to be Free'.
This was a collaboration between Redbat132 and myself. Enjoy! :)
Ben was out hanging around the Grant Mansion laying down on his bed, staring at the ceiling.
"I'm so bored." Ben said to no one. "I've never been more bored in my life."
Ben exhaled a sigh. He hasn't had any emergencies or issues in weeks. Ben did like a break, but not when it's too long.
The teen hero was so bored, he was ready to fall asleep!
However, three impish children burst into his room. They jumped onto Ben and started tickling him.
"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! HEY! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Ben laughed as he was tickle-attacked by Summer, Megan and Sparkle.
"OKAY! OKAY! UNCLE!" Ben pleaded.
"You heard him. Cease fire!" said Summer. The girls stopped and let their uncle rest.
"Hi, Uncle Ben!" Sparkle warmly greeted. "Did we surprise you?!"
Ben chuckled. "You sure did! You guys are getting good at this!" He saw Sparkle's tail holding a book. "Whatcha got there, hon?"
Sparkle gave Ben the book. "It's a book written by M.G. Joyce. Aunt Rachel gave it to me. It's about a wizard named Father Time doing his travels with a young girl named Mary. You can read it if you want to."
Ben stared at the book. "Y'know, I'm so bored, I actually want to read a book."
"Kids! It's lunch time!" Sasha called from the kitchen. "I've got apple slices waiting down here!"
The girls cheered as they left in a hurry. Not feeling very hungry, Ben decided to stay and read while he laid down on his bed.
After a battle in the Himalayas against the Boogey man's shadow-like minions, Father Time and his student protégé had won in stopping these dark creatures. However, the fight caused an avalanche that buried the nests of the Great Snow Geese. The girl with Father Time helped her mentor dig out a most beautiful silvery egg from within the buried snow. The parents of that egg could not be found.
Normally, Ben wasn't into reading, but even he had to admit that this book was actually pretty cool!
Suddenly, while looking closer at the egg, it shuddered. Father Time and the young girl heard a tiny tapping sound until a small hole appeared to reveal a little orange beak pecking through the eggshell and a white, feathered head pushed its way out!
The young girl touched how soft the baby goose's feathers were. She seemed to like the little one and wanted to look after her. Father Time let her do just that by having his apprentice keep the feathered creature while trying to help repair back the damage for the remaining grown-up Snow Geese's nests. Which took some time since the geese were nearly as big as a room and large enough for a person to ride upon.
With Father Time's pupil keeping the gosling, she decided to name the goose Kailash-the name of the smallest mountain in the Himalayas.
The Time Master couldn't help but become amused every time he sees Kailash waddling behind the young girl. She even thinks that Father Time feels like a grandfather.
They filled the nests with white goose down to make warms bed. The girl even slept with Kailash, sometimes, so she wouldn't feel lonely. During the stay, she helped teach the gosling to fly by flapping her own arms as a demonstration.
Father Time and his apprentice knew that the young goose was growing fast. She grew two or three inches a day. Upon there, the girl began the learn speaking Snow Goose; which seemed almost as hard as owl, but easier than eagle.
"Wow! What a story!" Ben closed the book. "Never thought there'd be a book out there that I like!" He looked at the clock on his wall. "Whoa! It's getting late! Time for night patrol!"
Ben rode on his Tenn-Speed through Bellwood, hoping to find a bad guy to bash. To his delight, he spotted Liam running away with sacks full of money. The alien rooster left a trail of dollar bills behind him.
Ben pulled over in front of Liam. "Way to leave a trail of bread crumbs, Chicken nugget."
Liam turned around and saw the trail of money. "Dang it!" he squawked.
"It's hero time!" Ben jumped off his bike and slapped his Omnitrix, becoming Four Arms.
As Ben was bashing Liam effortlessly, he notices a young woman sitting on the curb, drinking tea with a friendly smile.
She had a heart shaped face with a warm childish roundness to it, gray eyes, shoulder length long thick curls of auburn colored hair, slight tanned skin, and red colored lips. She wore a red blazer with a white collar and matching belt around the waist underneath a long-sleeved white cotton shirt accustomed with a sleeveless yellow knit sweater, a knee length suede a-line skirt, and dark brown Mary Jane heeled shoes. Her accessories were a brown handbag that matched her shoes and a dark copper-colored pork pie hat accustomed with a white ribbon, light blue squared jewel on the side and a white feather on top.
It didn't take her long to realize that the Omnitrix Wielder was staring right at her. Although a bit surprised on the inside, she remained calm.
"Oh, I'm not interrupting, am I?" the auburn-haired girl asked, quietly sipping her tea. "I try not to make too much noise while this battle was going on."
Ben just stared at her until his foe knocked him hard.
"You should perhaps focus on the task at hand instead of me, Ben," the young girl recommended, still finishing her tea.
Knowing she had a point, Ben kept fighting back until he was corned and at what he thought was the end of his rope.
Sighing, the young woman opened her bag, took out a handful of bird seeds, and spread them on the ground. Instincts kicking in, Liam stopped fighting and began pecking at the scrumptious bird food.
"I believe your window of opportunity is opened for you to finish this brawl," the chestnut-haired girl called out.
Ben takes the opening and defeats Liam with a mighty punch.
"Well done, Ben Tennyson," the auburn haired young lady congratulated, standing up and walking over to the hero. "I truly apologize for intervening. I'm aware that you don't like others stepping into your light of heroism unless it was absolutely necessary, but I just wanted to finally meet you in person and somewhat be part of the action."
Ben gave her a look. "Yeah? And who are you? You really shouldn't butt in. Let alone be a spectator. You could have been killed."
"Right. Where are my manners?" the young girl extended her right hand to shake Ben's hand before letting go, still smiling pleasantly. "I'm Katherine. As for me getting killed, I don't think that would have happened. It would take a lot more than what you faced to destroy me. Of course, you do make a good point about me 'butting in', as you put it. Meddling with stories is against everything what Father Time taught me. On the other hand, he seems to intervene way too many times involving you and your world. That, and I thought you could use some help."
Ben stared. "Okay...I'm just gonna pretend you didn't say that and assume you're crazy. So…bye." He tried to walk away but Katherine stopped him.
"I am not crazy, Benjamin. You should know by now that some myths and tales are true," Katherine reasoned. "I am from another dimensional world where I'm known as an author that creates stories and nursery rhymes. A dimension where the different myths, legends, fables, and fairytales protect children's beliefs in what is good from dark forces. I'm sure the Jocklin Sisters or someone from the Grant Mansion has mentioned about them before that you probably overheard during story time."
Ben was surprised she knew about Rachel and Sasha. But that didn't prove much. For all he knew, this lady could be a plant. "Got any proof, 'Katherine'? If that's your real name."
"It is. And very well," Lightly chuckling, Katherine opened her bag to take out a golden snow globe with nothing inside, concentrated to magically have an image of a fancy structured treehouse, and tossed it behind her shoulder to open a portal that was bigger than Ben and herself.
Then, she put her fingers in her mouth to whistle loud enough to call someone. On cue, a giant white goose came out of the portal and honked.
"WHOA!" Ben was so startled, he fell on his behind.
Smiling proudly, Katherine petted the giant goose's head. "Ben Tennyson, meet Kailash. She's a rare breed of a Himalayan Snow Goose I found during my travels. But you probably already knew that from the last book you finished reading about me and Father Time first getting her," Seeing the bewilderment in the young hero's eyes, Katherine helped him up and said, "Don't be alarmed. Kailash's nature is gentle and her emotions are childlike. She will not harm you."
Ben's mouth hung open like a dead fish. "So... this is really happening?!" He yelped when the goose came toward him. Kailash nuzzled her beak against Ben's tummy, making the hero giggle.
"Hehehehe! That tickles!" Ben tittered.
Katherine couldn't help but chuckle at this. "Yes, Ben. This is all happening. And Kailash seems to already taken a liking towards you. Then again, who wouldn't? You made so many stories that they all sounded like episodes from a television show. Even nearly more than the Guardians of Childhood."
Ben blinked. "Really?! I have?!"
"Of course. Despite your occasional doubts, you have made such an incredible mark in helping others that needed to be archived," Katherine replied, smiling gratefully. "Father Time kept telling me so much about you. I was nearly convinced that you were a Guardian like me and the others."
"You mean the REAL Father Time!? For reals?!" said Ben, astounded.
"Yes, Ben. THE Father Time. For reals. It is the name I gave him, after all," Katherine answered, chuckling a bit once more. "Funny thing is, he's not from my dimensional world. He's somewhat from your world. Of course, I had to keep his real name a secret from my work, just in case any foes get them. Still, Father Time has been training me for centuries in becoming the Guardian of Imagination and I have him to thank on learning more about other heroes to write about other than the Guardians of Childhood."
Ben stroked Kailash's head. "So, what brings you here, Katherine?"
"Thought I take a quick visit in your world and check on the children from around this area," Katherine answered. "I just finished defeating a few Nightmares from spreading fear to help the Boogeyman in becoming strong enough to invade this world. It's bad enough he's been trying to enter back in my world and nearly succeeded in making the Guardians become history from all children's beliefs...twice. Despite all that, things were handled. Also, after taking care of my task for today, I realized that you were not too far away and decided to check on you."
Ben stared for a long time. "Wow...sounds like you have a lot on your plate. Thanks for...checking up on me."
"It was no problem at all. Besides, like I said before, you could have already taken care of your opponent if I had not intervened on the spot," Katherine replied. "You are Ben Tennyson. The Alien Changing Hero known throughout the Omniverse and interdimensional worlds."
Ben blinked. "Huh. Sounds like me. WHOA!" He yelped when Kailash scooped him up with her wing and placed the boy on her back.
Katherine laughed. "Looks like Kailash wants to take you for a ride!" She hopped on the goose's back. "Perhaps we can go to the Mr. Smoothy place you love so much!"
Ben gasped with joy. "You read my mind, sweetheart!"
"Then let's go! Kailash, time to fly!" said Katherine.
The citizens of Bellwood have seen many bizarre things in their city, but seeing their hero Ben 10 riding on the back of a giant goose with a young woman was a most unusual sight...even for Bellwood.
As they enjoyed their smoothies, Katherine noticed many bystanders taking pictures on their phones. "Guess these people have never seen a goose like Kailash before."
"A giant goose and an invisible girl." said Katherine.
"Huh?"
"I made it so I'm invisible to everyone but you."
Ben blinked.
This was true. Everyone was recording not just Kailash, but a smoothie floating in mid-air across from Ben.
"Okay...so...what else is going on with you?" Ben asked, changing the subject.
"Well, I've been stopping Nightmares, keeping the faith of children alive, that sort of thing."
Ben nodded with a look of understanding. "Sounds like you have it rough yourself. We should be grateful for the breaks we're able to get once in a while."
"Agreed."
Ben smiled and raises his smoothie. Katherine raised hers and the two friends gave a toast.
After the smoothie break, Katherine, Ben and Kailash went to relax in a great big field, laying their backs on the lush, green grass.
Ben breathed in the fresh air as he was sprawled out on the grassy terrain. "This is the life!" he breathed. "I can't remember the last time I just had a good chill like this! I usually stay couped up in Bellwood!"
"Well, that's not good." said Katherine. "A little fresh air can go a long way."
Kailash squawked something to Katherine, who understood completely. With a devious smile, Katherine snuck up on the resting Ben and pinned his arms down.
Ben yelped as he was caught off guard. "HEY! What are you-?!"
The hero was cut off when Kailash lifted up the boy's shirt, exposing his stomach. The giant goose began tickling his stomach with her feathery wings.
"Ahahahahahahahahahahahahaha! HEY! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! BAD GOOSE! STOP! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Ben laughed.
Katherine laughed as Ben laughed. "My little friend thought you needed a good laugh! And boy, was she right!"
As Ben laughed himself silly, a certain Time Traveler shows up to crash the party. Kailash stopped and Katherine freed Ben.
Ben got up and got quite a surprise. "Professor Paradox?!"
The friendly professor smiled and greeted Ben with a wave. "Hello, children."
Katherine straightens up and gives a grateful smile. "Nice to see you again, Father Time."
"Father Time?!" Ben gasped. "But Paradox is just a scientist who became a time traveler after a freak accident!"
"Oh, don't be so surprised, Benjamin," Katherine giggled. "I did kept telling you that Father Time is somewhat from your dimensional world and has been helping you many times before. Despite all the slight rule breaking when intervening with the time stream. I thought you would figure it out by now."
"And the story about my incident that made me a time traveler is partially true, Ben." said Paradox. "But there's more to it than I told to you and your friends."
"Such as?" asked Ben.
Paradox smiled. "A story for another time."
Ben sighed. "Of course."
"It's been a while since we last saw each other. How are you?" Katherine asked Professor Paradox. "Last time I read about you was when hinting Rook Blonko, Magister Tennyson, and Dana the Ectonurite hybrid on Ben's strange aggressive behavior because a certain uncle of his sent Charmcaster to cast a spell on the poor boy."
"Thanks for reminding me." Ben said with a no-nonsense tone. "I mean, how could I forget that?" He paused. "Wait. Charmcaster and Attea were behind that?!"
"Katherine, what have I told you about Spoiler Alerts?" Paradox reminded Katherine.
"That's already happened, Father Time. I'm not giving Ben any spoilers. You taught me better than that," Katherine remarked in reasoning.
"Good thing too." said Ben. "Some stuff people are better off not knowing."
"Yes. Now that you had your fun, why don't I take you back home to your dimensional world at the Golden Goose Bookstore, Katherine?" Professor Paradox offered politely. "You're task here is already complete, after all."
"Right. Of course," Katherine nodded her head to Professor Paradox before looking at the Omnitrix Wielder with a grin. "Thanks again for the smoothies, Ben. I had a wonderful time hanging out with you."
Ben grinned. "Anytime. It's been a while since I had this much fun in a weird situation."
"Oh. By the way, incase you do get back to the Grant Mansion, I strongly recommend asking the Jocklin Sisters in checking on some more books involving the Guardians of Childhood that were all written by the same author name I keep using. They will definitely come in handy the next time we do another crossover again one of these days," The Guardian of Imagination added, giving a wink.
Ben chuckled. "Okay, Kathy. I will." He and Katherine shared a hug. Kailash honked and gave Ben a hug with her big, feathery wings.
"Hahahahaha! Easy, girl!" Be laughed. "Watch your feathers!"
After the ticklish hugs, Katherine joined Paradox's side with Kailash following. "Farewell, Ben Ten."
And they disappeared in a flash of light.
Ben smiled to himself. "Never a dull moment."