Chapter 1 was pretty cool, huh? I really enjoyed writing all of the different aliens and the transformations. For anyone who doesn't like that I killed Max, I had a few reasons for what happened to him. One, I would be really bad at writing the old fatherly plumber. Two, Ben needs to grow, and in order to do that, he needs a reason to. Max can't be the adult for him forever. This chapter is more story-oriented, but many battles are promised in the future. Just bear with me.

Episode 2: new dawn

On his own request, Max's funeral took place on an unnamed planet. With a lush green landscape, the planet was all wild and had no sapient species.

Family and friends gathered as the coffin was lowered. Rook commanded a 21 proto-gun salute on behalf of the plumbers. Gwen, still recovering from injuries, came to tears while Kevin comforted her. Ben was brooding off to the side with bandages galore. A few of Max's good friends like Wes Green and Wat-Senn said a few things, told some stories, and made some small jokes that even Ben smiled at.

As everyone was ready to leave and the gravediggers were about to fill in the grave, Ben stood and approached the hole. He closed his eyes and exhaled from his nose. He had so much power at his disposal, yet he was unable to save Max in his darkest hour.

A dark thought came to him. Alien X could make this better. His right hand twitched towards the omnitrix, but he let it fall back to his side. No. That's not what Max would want. And I'm still bound by my oath of reservation. Dejected, he walked back to the rest of his family. People came to try and comfort him, and he just went through the motions. I'm so sorry for your loss: yeah, we're gonna miss him. Max was a good man: yeah, he was. Well, you're looking as idiotic as ever: yeah, he- wait, what?

Standing in front of him was Kai Green, with the ever-present Excalibur at her hip. She had gone back to the flooded cavern in England to retrieve it, and found that she could effortlessly pull the blade from the stone. She had tried to put it in the museum, but it kept showing up near her. She came to accept it, and actually became quite formidable.

"It's not that difficult. See, your face resembles that of a chimpanzee with a beard." She smirked and leaned to the side.

Ben sighed and looked her in the eye. "Very funny. What do you want?"

She fake-pouted. "Aw, now you've gone and huwt my feewings." Ben gave her an exasperated glare before starting to turn away, but Kai got a serious look and grabbed Ben's shoulder. "There's actually something I need to talk to you about."

Ben turned back to face her. "Can it wait?"

She glanced down. "Technically, yes. But-"

"Then it can wait," ben interrupted before leaving the conversation. Kai was distraught and walked away, rubbing her forehead.

As everyone began to file out, Ben said farewells to the minimum amount of people before leaving in the proto-truk with Rook. He stared at his omnitrix, deep in thought as they rode back to earth in silence.

Finally, Rook tried to make conversation. "I could really go for a smoothie. Should we stop by a Mr. Smoothie establishment?"

Ben didn't answer.

Rook tried again. "Maybe we could get some chili fries? Or perhaps a meatball sub?"

Ben looked out the window. "I'm not hungry."

Rook slammed the breaks, causing Ben to hit his head on the dashboard.

Ben got up, rubbing his forehead. "WHAT WAS THAT FOR!?"

Looking straight ahead, Rook was very agitated. "I cannot take this anymore. I know this is hard on you, but that is no excuse to be a jerk to your friends, let alone your 'not-girlfriend'!" Ben's eyes went downcast. Rook's voice got softer as he put his hand on Ben's shoulder. "Ben, this is hard on everyone. We need you to be strong."

As Rook said that, Grandpa Max's words played through his head. It's okay, son. You're strong enough. You can beat this. Ben realized that he meant not only Vilgax, but also the grief. Max knew exactly what it would do to Ben when he died, so his last words were those of comfort and encouragement. Wait, no. Those weren't his last words.

He looked over at Rook. "Where's the Rustbucket?"

Confused, Rook replied, "Which one?"

Now Ben was confused. "What do you mean, which one?"

Rook looked ahead, remembering that he is driving. "Even before you named your car and shuttle after the RV, Magister Tennyson named his various vehicles 'the rustbucket'. The mobile home was his favorite, as he completed many missions in it."

Ben looked out the window. "Huh. Then where's the first one?"

Rook looked back at Ben, very confused. "Before I answer, may I ask the purpose of this line of inquiry?"

The teen replied with, "Well, right before he- you know- well- ugh. He told me to get to the rustbucket. The first one, and that there was something I need."

Very surprised, Rook pulled up a plumber database. "I actually have no idea where any of the decommissioned rustbuckets were sent. We could find out, if you want."

Ben shot a slight smile at the Revonnahgander. "That would be great."

Ben was lying in the lounge of the plumber courtroom, scrolling through his aliens. It had been several days since the funeral, and things were pretty quiet. He was about to go on trial for breaking the oath of reservation and killing Vilgax.

His attorney, a Pyronite(heatblast) in a tuxedo, came in from a side door. In a crispy voice, he announced, "They're ready for you."

Sighing, ben closed his watch and followed the Pyronite into the courtroom. A jury of many different alien species lined the seats while the hulking form of a Galilean(Gravittack) occupied the judge's podium.

Ben took a seat at the defendant's table and breathed out a "Let's get this over with."

The Galilean straightened his papers. "Benjamin Kirby Tennyson, you are charged with a breach in your oath of reservation. Are you aware of what this entails?"

"Yes, I'm aware."

"Good, then this will simply be for clarification for the jury. The record states that three years ago you accidentally destroyed the planet you were fighting on with an evolved form of 'Atomix', as you call it. Countless beings were rendered homeless through your carelessness, costing the plumbers trillions of taydens in relocation. This classified your power above that of C-Planetary. You were then required to take the oath of reservation that all lawful beings above class C-Planetary are required to take. The oath entails using the minimum amount of strength required to win a battle. Is this correct?"

"Yes."

"Now, seven days ago, you were engaged in combat against Vilgax. Is this true?"

"Yes."

"You and your team were incapacitated. You resorted to means of fighting that surpassed your enemy by three power levels and decimated him, which is a breach of the oath of reservation. Is this true?"

"Completely."

The Galilean raised one eyebrow and looked up at Ben. "Are you not going to defend yourself?"

Ben stared him in the eyes. "My only excuse is extreme emotional turmoil. I took the oath, and I'm going to accept the consequences for breaking it."

The Judge assumed a look of understanding. "Ah, yes, the casualty." Ben winced at the word casualty. The rock-like being straightened his face. "Even so, you must face consequences for your actions. We will take a short recess so the jury can come to a conclusion."

As everyone filed out of the room, the omnitrix's communicator buzzed. When he was in the lounge, he opened the channel.

"Hey Ben, it's Kai."

"Kai? You know I'm on trial right now, right?" Ben sat on the couch and crossed his ankle over his knee.

"Yeah, I know. Look, as soon as you're done, I need your help with something."

"Oh yeah, the thing at the… funeral. I'm sorry about how I acted."

"No, it's fine. I understand. So, can you come?"

He glanced at the clock. This planet had a very weird measurement of time. "Sure, I'll be right over as soon as the court is dismissed."

"Great. Can you meet me at the museum?"

"Sure thing."

"Ok, see you there." Kai closed the channel.

Just then, Ben's lawyer waved him into the courtroom. The jury was just finishing finding their seats, and the judge was already sifting through paper.

He set down the papers and looked out to the assortment of aliens in front of him. "Has the Jury come to a decision?"

The jury's representative stood. "Sixty-three percent guilty, thirty-seven percent innocent." He sat down.

The Galilean closed his eyes and sighed. He then looked straight at Ben. "Look, Ben, you have served the universe for many years. And while you may have broken your oath, you did it to rid the universe of its most dangerous criminal." He glanced down. "Max Tennyson was a hero to us all. It was a shame what happened to him." He raised the gavel. "Benjamin Kirby Tennyson, you are hereby sentenced to two weeks of planetary arrest to earth, and your plumber license will be temporarily revoked." Slam! "Court dismissed."

Ben quickly stood up to leave, and on his way out of the building he handed his plumber badge to an officer. Much to his own pain, he briefly shook hands with his Pyronite lawyer. He gritted his teeth and smiled weakly before hastily putting his hand behind his back and waving it frantically. As awesome as Pyronites they are, they often forget that not everyone is immune to fire.

Ben walked to the hangar-parking garage-hybrid and found his small spacecraft. He fumbled for his keys, but realized that he forgot them in the car. Slapping his forehead, he went to activate the omnitrix. His hand froze when he realized the ultimization function was still active. Has that been on this whole time? Jeez, a week of maintaining the ultimization. That can't be good for the watch. He activated the voice command.

"Deactivate Ultimization function."

"Deactivating." The pipes and extensions retracted and the watch returned to its sleeker appearance. "Omnitrix core is dangerously overheated. Waiting twenty-four hours before next transformation is advised."

"What would happen if I transformed now?"

"Calculating. The core would suffer a minor explosion mid-transformation. Your genes would be scambled and the omnitrix would be rendered useless until manual repair."

"Fantastic." It's a miracle that I haven't transformed yet. Did anyone else notice it? Ben turned his attention back to the craft. It was a sturdy vehicle about the size of a sedan. Ben had named it the rustbucket IV, as his car and shuttle were the rustbuckets II and III respectively. It sat one pilot and two passengers, and had a black frame with green windows and highlights. (it actually slightly resembles the blue falcon from F-Zero, but the wings are horizontal rather than vertical.)

Ben racked his brain for a way to get in, and tried pulling the cockpit open by hand. Sure enough, it didn't budge. Even if it was unlocked, the doors can't be opened by hand.

Just by luck, a necrofriggian(Big Chill) was unfurling his wings about to fly off, but Ben waved him over. Hesitantly, the wraith-like figure drifted over.

"Hey, can you phase into my shuttle and open the cockpit?" Normally, such a thing would be illegal, but Ben was asking him to do it, so it was fine.

"Sure, no problem." He complied, and Ben thanked him before he phased out of the hangar.

The ride back to earth was uneventful, and ben even managed to get some sleep on the way over. Any responsible pilot would know that a shuttle's cruise control operated like that of an earth car, but Ben was never exactly the most knowledgeable in the finer workings of spacecraft (meaning anything except steering and propulsion).

Since the earth had been fully incorporated into the plumber's alliance, traffic had been adapted to incorporate flying vehicles. Airlines were outmoded because of this, and flying at that height was considered as the new highway. Highway exits were replaced with entry zones, a cube of space where it's legal to go from the skyway to the airway, which was the new equivalent of city roads. Once he approached earth, Ben descended to just below the cloud level and searched for Bellwood's entry zone.

Once he found it, he slowed to just below the speed limit and navigated to the museum. He touched down and shot Kai a text. After a minute or two, she came out carrying a duffel bag.

She smirked as she hopped into one of the back seats. "Took you long enough. Where's Rook?" She tossed her bag onto the other seat.

Ben lifted off and merged into the airway. "He's really busy. You know, with Magister duties and all. So, what's this super-urgent secret thing that you need me for?"

Kai dug through her bag and pulled out a photo of the room where they found Excalibur. "When we recovered Excalibur, we found some engravings on the wall. We just recently deciphered them, and we think they lead to the location of the scabbard, which is somewhere in England."

Ben raised his eyebrow. "And you need me because…"

She almost looked fearful for a second, but the moment passed. "Excalibur has limited energy, and it's on the verge of running out. I'm guessing I only have a few more slashes and bursts before it's all used up. But, we have reason to believe that the scabbard will recharge it."

They went through the entry zone and shot off through the skyway. "I'm guessing there may be some combat involved."

"Which is why I need you."

They passed over a mountain range. "Well, the omnitrix overheated or something. It'll be another six hours before I can use it again."

Now Kai raised her eyebrow and smirked. "You left the ultimization on again, didn't you?"

Ben blushed and looked away. "No! Maybe? Ugh, yes."

Kai chuckled to herself. "Don't worry, it'll be well over six hours before we find the precise location of the scabbard."

Ben rolled his eyes and set it to cruise. Kai showed him most of the contents of the duffel bag as they flew across the ocean.

"So it's in some castle?"

"Yeah. With both of our fame combined, we should have no problem getting in." Kai had become quite the renowned archaeologist. Recovering Excalibur was an amazing feat by itself, but since then she had traveled all over the world finding mysterious artifacts and ancient ruins of a technological society. She was almost as famous as Ben, and was often called the "real life Indiana Jones."

Ben rubbed his chin contemplatively. "So, Armodrillo needs to dig to the hidden basement, and someone like Heatblast needs to provide light?"

Kai nodded. "Exactly. And maybe clockwork should repair their floor when we're done."

Ben tapped his temple. "Good thinking. We don't want a British Bauman on our backs." This got a laugh out of Kai, and Ben grinned in response. They realized what was happening and turned away from each other, blushing. They rode the rest of the way in silence.

Ben thought back to when he and Kai were uncovering pieces of Maltruant back in the Skurd days, when Krono Spanner (a superhero from the future) had told them they were destined for each other. Ben was on a date with another girl at the time, so it was super awkward. But now, in spite of himself, he was starting to think that it's not so crazy after all. He had no idea if Kai felt the same, and he didn't even know if he knew himself.

Kai called ahead as they approached England, and Ben set the ship's computer to scan for an entry zone. They cruised on the airway until the castle came into view. An older man came out to greet them. He had greying brown hair, a brown dress coat, pants, and shoes, and a pair of spectacles. When the two young adults hopped out of the ship, he greeted them with enthusiasm. As an afterthought, ben went back in and nabbed the keys.

His eyes were filled to the brim with excitement as he enthusiastically shook their hands. "I can't believe it! Ben 10 and Kai Green? All in a single day, at that! My name is Bartholomew, and it is an absolute pleasure to meet you two! Come in, come in!"

Kai explained the situation to him as they trekked through the halls. Ben looked around, taking everything in. he had been in castles before, but this one had a lot of interesting quirks that kept him curious.

Bartholomew adjusted his spectacles. "Yes, there are indeed ancient rumors of catacombs under the castle, but there is no sign of any entrance. If the rumors were true, we probably would have found it by now." The light caught on his glasses, obscuring his eyes. "However, you are carrying Excalibur. Maybe they have some merit after all. Then again, they also include an army of the undead."

Ben's eyes widened. "You mean zombies!?"

Kai raised her eyebrows at him. "You've literally gone toe-to-toe with a god. You can't be scared of zombies."

Ben shot her a glare. "I'm not scared of zombies. I'm excited to fight them, they're cool."

She shook her head. "sure, whatever you say. Let's see if we can find those catacombs."

Bartholomew cleared his throat. "You two get started. If you need me, I'll be in the study. Those old books may have some information." He walked away, turning down one of the many passages.

The not-couple nodded to each other and walked in opposite directions. For what seemed like ages, Ben and Kai scoured every inch of the ancient castle, but didn't find so much as a mouse-hole. They regrouped in the main hall.

Ben approached Kai with a long face. "You didn't find anything either, did you?"

Kai gave a bored (but also worried) sigh. "We've looked literally everywhere. I can't think of any alien you could use to do something like this, even if the watch recharges in time."

As if on cue, the omnirix beeped and said, "Cooldown almost complete. Ready for transformation."

Ben grinned. "I think I have a way to find the catacombs."

To be continued…

Sorry for the lack of action in this chapter. I'm just setting things up for the future. Also, I have a few things to explain.

First, it's the ultimization function in the omniverse omnitrix. Rather than shift from one form into that form's ultimate, the ultimization widens the wristband and tubes and stuff connect parts of the watch to other parts of the watch. It sets all of his transformations to immediate ultimization, and the degree of the ultimization can be adjusted. Ben put that in himself, much to Asmuth's dismay.

Secondly, the power scaling. I wanted to rework the idea from Dragonball Z. Rather than assuming that power levels mean that a fighter can do certain things, the actions of a fighter determine their level. There are different levels of combat and different rankings within those levels. The rankings are C(Weak), B(average), A(strong), and S(overpowered). The levels are Hand-to-hand, Battlefield, Landscape, Planetary, Solar, Galaxy, and Universe. Multiverse has been speculated, but no one has accomplished anything on that level yet. Only individuals, vehicles, weapons, and attacks are measured on this scale. Organizations, groups, or teams don't count.

Hand-to-hand is basic one-on-one combat. Boxers, martial artists, Soldiers, and most of what Rook does in omniverse is Hand-To-Hand, but he is capable of Battlefield. Most citizens are C-Hand-To-Hand.

Battlefield is one-man-army stuff. Taking on an army of vilgax drones, Forever Knights, DNAliens, Incurseans, etc. is battlefield. Most of what Ben does is battlefield. Young Ben 10 is class B-Battlefield. He can go around and smash stuff, maybe destroy some tanks and things. Vilgax's first appearance is Class S-Battlefield. He's pretty much invincible, and extremely strong and fast to boot. And he has an army of robots.

Landscape is big. Way-Big. Most of the time, only attacks can register as landscape class. For example: a laser blast that can destroy a mountain, the ability to cause earthquakes or tornados, or atomic bombs. Every Ben after Ultimate Alien is capable of landscape.

Planetary is very extremely big. Almost nothing registers here. Remember when Saitama punched so hard that he blew the clouds off of half of the earth? That's a planetary attack. It's actually a weaker one, but we know that Saitama is always holding back. As stated earlier, anyone who follows laws and reaches planetary has to take an oath to limit their strength unless it's absolutely necessary. With a single act, Ben moved past planetary and into solar, and he was immediately required by the galactic council to take the oath of reservation.

Solar is ridiculously powerful. In an old cheesy show called "superfriends" (the justice league) green lantern had to fly to space and literally move the planet off of its orbit to save it from a solar flare or something. That is a solar act. As stated by the Galilean judge, Ben used Ultimate Atomix to accidentally destroy the planet he was on, which was a B-Solar act.

You can all guess what Galactic is like. Celestial Sapiens are somewhere in the Galactic/universal range. Ben doesn't classify here because Alien X is technically three people, which includes Ben.

Universal is, well, Universal. The Annhilargh is a class S-Universal weapon. Re-creating the Universe was a class S-Universal act.

I hope this wasn't a waste of time. I just had to write this down somewhere before I forgot about it, and what a better place than where it is slightly relevant? Anyways, sorry for the cliffhanger after a story episode, but I wanted to end the story itself at around 3000 words (which seems like a good amount per chapter). I promise they'll fight zombies in the next chapter, and you'll start to see some of Excalibur's powers (it really doesn't have that many, but still). The third team member is really cool, but I'm not sure when he'll come in. 'Till next time!