The Problem with Portals, The First Arc

by Albedo - 917

The basic summary of events that changed the life of Albedo, turning him from an unrespected and looked down upon villain, to an interdimensional hero and a friend one could wish for. Well, the first part of that tale that is.

7. The Way Home

Chapter 7: The Way Home

Hidden Leaf, Land of Fire, Earth, Summer, 2014 A.D.

Two weeks later

The village's workforce was in full force, occupying themselves with the reparation of all the damage the creatures of the waves have caused two weeks prior. Even with such a destruction however, most of them were working with a smile on their faces, as a multitude of volunteers have popped up as soon as the process began. All of a sudden a black and blue flash whizzed by all the platforms, taking caution to avoid collision, and as it did so working supplies and building materials appeared with the workers happily looking after the phenomenon.

"To think we barely knew him weeks ago, and now everybody's just used to those strange powers as he helps everyone." a mustached worker smiled a warm smile, talking to his colleagues on their breaks.

"You guys shoulda seen my daughter's face when she could understand what our dog was saying!" another worker declared with a hearty laugh.

"He unconsciously has been helpin' all of us around 'ere." an older one added, "Never woulda thought I'd get to talk with my cat. He makes an interesting conversation partner I tell ya!"

"And then before all that went down that lovely young lady came out of nowhere too. Never seen someone so... powerful in a long time." a rookie added to their conversation struggling to find the right words, causing the older workers to chuckle, "W-what?"

"If I didn't know ya lad I'd say you have a mighty crush on the 'young lady'."

"I... I..." the young man chocked on his words as he was red from ear to ear.

"Relax, I'm just messin' with ya." the same mustached worker added, "That young lady is the most helpful thing. Every time I even caught a glance of those two they were helping someone out on the streets."

"After what those two did for our sake despite being complete strangers, I think we owe 'em." the old man added, which caused all of them to nod in agreement.

"You may be right about that." the father chuckled, "Either way, work is going a lot quicker because of them. We ought to be thankful for that... If only there was some way we could help them."

Not long after, more materials arrived, some in a purple glow, some suddenly appearing once more. As such the estimated building time was effectively halved and it would not take that long after that for the Village to return to its former glory.

"Speak of the devil." the young man laughed.

Not so far from the little group, the black and blue blur came to a sudden stop to reveal a creature with a body resembling that of a velociraptor, with wheels on its feet, his chest being red with a red hourglass symbol right in the middle. A visor ascended to reveal his face, being pale blue in color with crimson red eyes. It was Albedo's version of the alien Ben called XLR8. 'It has already been two weeks since that whole incident, yet we have not made any progress in accessing Ledgerdomain, nor could I call Benjamin anymore after that, it would have just been a waste after all... Nevertheless I am happy that I can help out around the village, I do feel responsible, even so it would be nice if we could make some progress.' Under a moment's notice Charmcaster descended next to the Kineceleran.

"Well with that last batch, I'm pretty much done with my part." she declared as she wiped the sweat from her forehead. She was still wearing her black tights and boots, but rather than the long magenta robe, she wore a simple magenta t-shirt with her gold and magenta brooch still at the chest area which descended just a little past her waist, a similar looking black stripe went from one shoulder to the other of the t-shirt. All in all, the outfit seemed to provide more mobility, even if it was not specifically necessary for the sorceress and unexpectedly highlighted her form. "Either way, it sure is hot today." she declared making a shade with her left hand.

"I see you changed your attire accordingly." Albedo declared, still in alien form, looking at the young woman. "Fits you better."

"Why thank you! I made it with magic, after all I felt like it was time to put the old one behind if I declared myself changed. Though with this weather it became a must." Charmcaster mock pouted with a hand placed on her hip. "Besides, you're one to talk." she declared pointing at the Kineceleran.

"Pardon?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh nothing, I think it's just I've gotten used to how Ben's aliens look? Maybe."

"What exactly do you mean?" Albedo had a questioning look etched onto his face. "Do I look different?" he looked himself over once before looking at the sorceress again, "If you mean the red eyes they we-"

"Seriously?"

"Quite so." Albedo nodded, not understanding her reaction.

"Hold on..." Charmcaster started digging in her magic bag, eventually pulling out a small hand mirror and handing it to Albedo, who took to inspecting himself before visibly appearing shocked.

"Oh my." he said as he looked over his face, "This pale coloration... Truly fascinating." he started thinking for a couple seconds, "I think about a year ago I would have been quite furious at this, yet now it just made my interests rise," he then turned towards Charmcaster, "Is my human form paler than Benjamin too?"

"I would say yes." Charmcaster nodded as she pondered for a moment. "That reminds me though, I wanted to ask since coming here but with everything going on I did not manage to, how exactly are you able to transform?"

"Oh you mean without a device?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I will not bore you with the fine details but thanks to a failed plan of mine and Benjamin's meddling, about a year or so ago I gained the ability to transform into anything at will, well anything that is or was a part of the Omnitrix that is." the Kineceleran started, "I made a device to help me control that power, but once again that ended in failure... then dear old Azmuth trapped me in the body of an 11 year old... Long story. Probably will be told later. In that one year that I... have 'hidden', I gotten near perfect control of the ability, with the only side effects being the ones I mentioned. Though now that I look at it, I somehow have the Omnitrix's symbol still appear when I am in alien form, which is interesting." he finished as he pointed at the mentioned symbol.

"And you can access those evolved form thingies too." Charmcaster continued. "Ben hasn't been able to do that for a good while."

"Yes, and since now we appear to be on the same side as Benjamin, curiously enough, I might be able to give him the ability back too if he wishes so. Though that might be in the distant future if we do not manage to get back soon."

"Oh, don't even remind me." Charmcaster shivered, "Don't get me wrong I like it here, but with the knowledge that we can't just leave when we want... It's kinda restricting if you get what I mean."

"Yes, I do indeed." Albedo nodded, "Perchance we might be able to access this world in the future were we to get home in one piece."

"Yeah, that would be nice."

"Excuse me you two!" the mustached worker called out to the two of them from atop the platform.

"Ah yes, hello! What is the problem sir?" the Kineceleran asked still not turning back.

"Oh no, there's no problem, it's just that we've been talking," he declared as he indicated towards his colleagues, "And we just wanted to do something to thank you two for all that you've done for the village."

Both Charmcaster's and the alien's eyes went wide for a moment before Albedo could regain his composure, after all neither of them was used to this kind of treatment, Albedo even less than the sorceress. "Ah, there is no need for that. We really have not done much."

"That's right, that's right." Charmcaster eagerly nodded.

"Nonsense!" the old man dismissed, "You two, even though you were from a different world altogether put everything on the line for us. That deserves the best recognition we can give in my opinion."

"But even so, I cannot help but feel responsible for most of those things, they were my fault."

"Oh please," the young man quipped, "As if you could've known those things would happen. I mean who in their right minds would expect a giant ass portal to open up outta nowhere?"

"Well, he's got you there." Charmcaster chuckled. "But about us being from another world? Do you really believe that?"

"I mean, we don't exactly have magic or whatever he is right now in our world. Plus the Hokage and Naruto vouched for you. We don' need further proof." the father chuckled, "Let us spoil you for a bit."

"If ya ain't too old ta have fun that is!" the mustached man teased Albedo, causing a chuckle out of everybody but the young man.

"Boy, info sure spreads fast around here." Charmcaster wiped a tear from her eye.

"True enough."

"Hold on, what do ya guys mean too old?" the young man asked the ageless question.

"Oh boy." Albedo chuckled with a claw on his head.

"Well mah boy, that 'young'un' over ther' is probably older then all of us here combined." the old man stated as he pulled the young man under his arm.

"Wha?" was all that he managed to say.

"Yes, well, I only ever told everybody I came into contact with now that I think about it so it is not exactly a secret, but I am over 900 currently."

Since the young man stopped talking for a couple minutes Charmcaster spoke up, "I think you broke him."

"He will get around." the father and Albedo said in unison. "Still to think that you would believe my outlandish claims of such things surely makes me happy."

"Eh, we've been through worse ya know?" the mustached worker shrugged, "At this point there is little that can really surprise us."

"So, how 'bout it?" the father urged.

"I would really appreciate it." Albedo stated, giving in.

"We'll surprise ya." the young man grinned, "Just wait and see!"

"Thank you." Albedo smiled as the two of them waved goodbye to the workers. "That was unexpected."

"You're telling me." Charmcaster giggled as he looked at the alien, "I never knew these guys could walk."

"Well, from my experience it requires practice of balance but is definitely possible." Albedo shrugged. As the two walked they heard someone familiar calling out to them.

"Big bro Albedo! Big sis Hope!" came a young sounding female voice from behind the two. It didn't take long for the two to make out Hanako's approaching form, her small brother was meekly following close behind.

"Hanako!" Albedo smiled, "To what do we owe the pleasure little one?"

"We're running an errand for Ms. Shizune." she declared happily, "What are you two doing?"

"Helping out all the workers." Charmcaster smiled.

Charmcaster met the siblings shortly after the portal incident went down and the three quickly bonded because as it turned out Charmcaster was good with kids and to top it off Hanako and Kikuchi quickly fell in love with the sorceress' personality and shown affection towards them. It did also help that she was undeniably Albedo's friend. Kikuchi on the other hand was currently eying the strange creature really closely with visible interest, making it really hard not to notice him.

"Is there a problem?" Albedo asked.

"I... I've never seen this one before." he said, with shining eyes.

Albedo chuckled a bit, "I must not have used him with you around then."

"W-what does he do?"

"This." Albedo said as in a matter of seconds he took off in the same black and blue blur, appearing roughly three seconds later behind Kikuchi.

"That's so cool!"

"You say that about every one of them." Charmcaster chuckled.

"But they are cool!" Kikuchi protested causing everyone to chuckle.

"Now whilst I do agree with that sentiment I fear we must not keep you any longer. Go, you two have an errand to finish." Albedo declared with a smile as he finally turned back and ruffled Kikuchi's hair. "It is easier to do this with actual hands." he added with a grin.

"You're right, we shouldn't keep Ms. Shizune waiting too long. Keep up the good work you two. See you around." Hanako declared with a smile as she and her waving little brother left towards the Hokage building.

"Now then. I believe we ought to try to access Ledgerdomain once more should we not?"

"We have been doing so for the past two weeks, do you think it's even gonna work at all?"

"It is ought to work sometime?" Albedo said with a shrug, completely failing to reassure the sorceress. "Then again they do say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result."

"Real hopeful there buddy." Charmcaster sighed as the two departed to the meeting spot they usually did their experiments at every day.

Outskirts of the Village, Hidden Leaf, Land of Fire, Earth, Summer, 2014 A.D.

Naruto, Albedo and Charmcaster were standing at the edge of the village, looking over their surroundings before all three of them let out a sigh in unison as if it was required practice.

"I really hope we can actually achieve something today." Naruto declared with yet another sigh. "Would be a nice change of pace."

"You and me both." Charmcaster nodded. "Anyways, let's not stall anymore." the sorceress declared as she rubbed her gloved hands together for a second, "Portallus Projectum!" as the words left her mouth a swirling magenta colored portal opened up in front of them. "Shall we?"

"Nothing to lose." Naruto nodded as the three of them entered at once.

Ledgerdomain

As the trio crossed through the portal, Charmcaster was the first to open her eyes, 'I'm back!' she thought immediately as a wide grin plastered itself across her face and she felt her energy simply amplifying by the second, "I'M BACK!" she shouted in excitement as she effortlessly flew into the sky stretching her arms wide. As Albedo and Naruto opened their eyes they were greeted with a landscape that looked quite otherworldly and demented. Blue vortexes covered the black sky, some turned into tornadoes that split like roots. Green creatures with one large eye and several growths dominated the skies. Unusual planetary structures were also present in such a scenery, some being brown and cratered with roots sprouting out into the skies, occasionally having eyes similar to the green creatures, while others had crystals and sharp pillars dominate their landscape. There were 'platforms' that usually connected the so called planets, such as purple discs with cyan holes on each side and red fungus-like platforms with carrot-shaped bottoms. There were also waves of cyan lines that all pointed the same direction along with purple rectangular frames that roots sometimes slipped through. Some chunks of certain 'planets' broke off and seemed to form small asteroids.

"Woah." Naruto went wide eyed as he looked at the demented landscape. "That's new."

"Quite so my friend." Albedo smiled in intrigue, throwing glances at the weird flora and strange fauna. "I hear magic users and creatures with mana feel powerful inside this dimension."

"Yeah! I feel my powers amplifying again!" Charmcaster shouted in response as the sound seemed to be weirdly quiet at a distance.

"Shall we conduct a little stability experiment then?" Albedo blurted out suddenly. "Just to make sure our success is not short lived of course."

"Stability experiment?" Charmcaster repeated as she landed next to them.

"I know this might be sudden, but since you have the ability to open our gateway, I assume you also have the power to teleport targets to places yes?"

"Yuppers."

"In that case I advise you two to go back to Naruto's world, whilst I stay here. You close the portal and try opening it again. If it does open that simply means that we have permanent access to Ledgerdomain and can work from that knowledge, if you cannot open it again than you just have to teleport me back since I doubt I would be of much help if I remained stuck in here. Just a simple test."

"And we just got here too." Charmcaster pouted jokingly.

"Come now lady, you can play later."

"Hey!" Charmcaster snapped back, causing a snicker in Naruto, "Sure, if it helps then let's do this. C'mon Naruto."

"On my way, just gonna collect my jaw, one sec." Naruto said as he followed the sorceress out and the portal closed.

"Let us just hope that this actually works." Albedo crossed his fingers, 'I know it is just an earthling habit in tense situations yet I somehow feel at ease when I do it.' he reassured himself.

Albedo was left alone with the strange sounds of Ledgerdomain, feeling cold and warm at the same time yet not at all uncomfortable. 'This sure is one interesting place though I must say. Too many mysteries for one stay in here.' he thought as he locked eyes with one of the strange floating creatures, yet it bared him no mind. 'Strange. Truly peculiar.' A couple more minutes spent in silence was all it took for the same swirling magenta gateway to pop up in the air of Ledgerdomain.

"It works!" the three of them ecstatically shouted with all their might at the sight of their success.

Two days later

Plumber HQ, Bellwood, America, Earth, Summer, 2014 A.D.

The newly rebuilt portion of the Plumber HQ, since the old one has been launched into orbit, was a good deal smaller than its predecessor. It mainly served as a point of access, containing only a small amount of monitors reflecting what cameras placed around so called hot spots in the city observed and a teleporter to access the main base in orbit. Even so Ben and Rook mainly spent their time tracking the activities of the peculiar portal here, since according to Ben a lot of the Plumbers would not exactly be fond of his plan, nor spending resources on this, probably since the real threat of the gateway popping up all over the universe has not reached public knowledge yet and as such it was better to keep a low profile.

"We have been at this for two weeks since that whole incident in that other world and the portal just went completely quiet." Ben sighed defeatedly as he leaned back in his chair with his eyes closed.

"Normally I would say that to be a good thing." Rook started, "But you are right, I cannot shake this bad feeling I have."

"I know what you mean." Ben nodded, "Another thing that bothers me is that Albedo hasn't even tried to contact us since that last talk. Plus that bomb he dropped on us doesn't really help ease my conscience."

"I do not reme-" Rook immediately caught himself, "It is an expression. I guess you meant his comment about some sort of supernatural powers?"

"Yeah, it came so out of left field didn't it? Like 'Hey, guess we're friendly now, oh and btw I have superhuman powers.'" Ben sighed once more, "At least even he seemed quite shaken up by it too."

"That might have been just because of the fact that you were acting rather friendly towards him." Rook pointed out, "Considering your past pork with him..."

"Beef Rook, past beef. I know... But you might just believe me because we're partners and all, but I... I saw something in him that day." Ben leaned forward putting a hand to his forehead, "Something a lot different than usual. To the point that I wish I'd noticed sooner."

"I trust your judgement Ben." Rook reassured the young earthling with a hand placed on his shoulder and a smile, "I looked at him during that conversation too you know. He was different, in a strange and indescribable way."

"Thanks Rook, that actually helps." Ben smiled at his furry partner.

As Rook returned the smile, Ben's phone started ringing, the ringtone and Ben's face indicated to Rook that it was someone unknown.

"Should you not take that?" Rook urged.

"Maybe. Let's see... Huh, 'Unknown Number'? Didn't even know that was a possible message." Ben scratched his head in confusion, "I mean, I've heard of 'Hidden Number' but..."

"Should it not just write the number out in such a case?"

"Yeah it should, it's weird... Well, no use just talking about it." he declared as he swiped the phone's screen and held it to his ear, "Hello?"

"Benjamin!" his own voice came through from the other side sounding rather upbeat, "I am relieved to hear your voice!"

"Albedo?!" Ben snapped as he stood up, causing a slight shock in Rook too. "Wait, how do you have my number?"

There was roughly a minute long silence from the other side before Albedo spoke up in what seemed to be an annoyed whisper, "That is what interests you right now?!"

"I mean, I'm sorry, but c'mon it's a valid question!"

"I got it from Charmcaster if you must know, though nevermind that, I have some terrific news for you my friend!" Albedo smiled as he said so, "You will never guess where I am speaking from."

"Was about to ask, I didn't think Naruto's world would have the reception for interdimensional phone talks." Ben joked, causing a slight chuckle from Albedo too, much to the boy's surprise.

"At this point I am surprised you even remembered his name." Albedo joked back, Rook just heard it since Ben put his phone on speakers and stifled a chuckle much to Ben's annoyance, "I am currently in Ledgerdomain Ben."

"This place is crazy!" Naruto was heard shouting from behind him.

"You're what?!" Ben's eyes lit up with hope.

"Yes indeed! As of two days ago we have permanent access to Ledgerdomain." Albedo continued, "Yet currently we can still only access Naruto's world no matter what Charmcaster and I have tried."

"Huh." Ben sat back down, "I bet we can work with that!"

"I was hoping you would say that." Albedo said with a grin, "Though we do need to think of something effective to connect Ledgerdomain with our universe again."

"What do you mean?"

"As I have mentioned, it has already been two days since we have gotten back access to this world. I used that time to upgrade my phone somewhat to be able to contact you easier than to always use mana for such a task, all the while me and Charmcaster have been trying different methods and spells to connect back to Bellwood at least. She even tried teleporting me alone back to Bellwood, with a spell that apparently your Revonnahgander partner used on her a while back... but the result, though I did not get teleported, was surprising."

"In what way?"

"Apparently the response Charmcaster got was one where the destination is either not clear, or does not exist... Meaning..."

"So basically... Ledgerdomain was cut off from our universe..?" Ben surmised.

"Correct. Or at least I truly hope so." Albedo sighed, "Now, I was thinking of using our Chronosapien forms in unison but..."

"Yeah, I don't think Clockwork could make a difference in interdimensional matters." Ben sighed dejectedly, "We could use Alien X."

"NO!" Albedo shouted, catching everybody off guard, before coughing awkwardly "No."

"Okay. That's new." Ben looked at his phone as he said so.

"I am willing to try anything but a Celestialsapien." Albedo declared, "You might have gotten control over your inner voices, but according to Paradox there exists a universe out there where another me has been stuck inside that form for a whole year without making much progress. I am not willing to take that chance."

"Oh jeez." Ben cringed, "Talk about a clingy relationship. Sorry 'bout that."

"Hey, it was not me who it happened to technically." Albedo shrugged. "However, maybe you could theoretically link up Alien X with Charmcaster's spell. Perhaps that would help." he suggested.

"You can do that?!"

"You know Benjamin, the thing about Celestialsapiens is that they... How should I say this? Second only to the Contemelia they are the most broken creature to ever come out of the... of our universe."

"I mean I knew they were powerful but..."

"I know it sounds hard to believe even with what you might already know, but have you thought about it deeply? As long as the two voices in their heads agree they are literally capable of anything. Anything at all." Albedo let the information sink in, "Thankfully actual Celestialsapiens have to get both their personalities to agree, but in your case... You can decide to do anything and it will become real since your two voices kind of got sentenced. However as it is, you cannot do the impossible, in the sense that you would not have been able to just quickly mess with the fabric of reality to open a gateway connecting our worlds right away. It could have grave consequences, nevermind the fact that you would more than likely face trial again by the Celestialsapiens. Also not to mention that in what we can now effectively call a multiverse, finding our exact position would have more than likely taken an unbelievably long time even by my standards."

"But now that Ledgerdomain is accessible once more..." Rook pondered.

"Exactly, I have reason to believe that it would prove easier to locate since you have been here yourself, or so I have heard." Albedo nodded, though as his previous actions it was not visible, "As such all that is left is establishing the connection with the place and linking with Charmcaster's spells."

"If I concentrate enough I bet I can latch onto Ben's mana." Charmcaster chipped into the conversation. "Though I guess that would be the easy part..."

"Probably yes." Albedo nodded, "Nevertheless, let us try it in a week's time."

"A week?" Ben raised his eyebrow.

"I would very much prefer it to be our last option. I shall try anything else I can think of in that week, if it does not work out we will be trying that post haste." Albedo declared, "And I would believe that should remain a non-renewable option as it would take too much out of both of you."

"Okay, let's remain at that then." Ben agreed though he seemed surprised at the gesture.

"When we get back you have to introduce us to Kai!" Charmcaster happily declared. Ben immediately went slack jawed at the sudden comment.

"Kai?" Albedo was heard asking, by his tone he was rather curious.

"Oh she's-" Charmcaster started before being cut off by Ben.

"Charmcaster!"

"She is Ben's interest of love." Rook said with a cheeky grin.

"Rook!" Ben punched the blue alien lightly in frustration.

"Oh?" Albedo sported a grin himself, "Interesting topic we have here, I believe a story costs a story Benjamin." he joked, "I will be hearing about dear Kai soon I hope."

"Not you too!" Ben groaned defeatedly as the other three shared a short happy chuckle.

"Well then, I better hang up for now. See you hopefully as soon as possible." Albedo finished, "We have much work to do."

"Later." Ben smiled as he calmed down and as his phone went silent, "We might be making some progress here Rook. Good progress. Guess I better tell Gwen and Kev."

"I shall contact them immediately." Rook turned towards a screen with a smile.

Ledgerdomain

"Now then, shall we get to-" Albedo could not finish his sentence as with a held up finger he fell forward and unconscious.

"Albedo?" Charmcaster immediately noticed as she turned around, "Albedo!" her screaming caught Naruto's attention knocking him back to reality from his daze as the two rushed over to their friend and took him back to the Village.

Four hours later

Charmcaster sat next to the bed Albedo lay unconscious and unmoving in for the past four hours, lightly clutching her head. Naruto on the other hand was frantically moving around in the kitchen, trying to make some food for whenever Albedo might wake up, as they currently had no clue as to what might even be the cause of his current state, they could only suspect him overexerting himself. The little Star was moving around next to the bed on a night stand after she has been told of what happened.

"What are we gonna do?!" she raised her pedipalps dramatically as she continued in a circle.

"I... I don't know Star." Charmcaster shook her head dejectedly, "I told him he was pushing himself, but he's just as stubborn as Ben."

"Y-you think it's just that? That he's tired?" Star asked from seemingly no one since she was turned the wrong way, "Maybe something's wrong."

"Please don't jinx it." Charmcaster sighed as she looked at the small arachnid. At that moment Albedo slowly pushed himself up and held his head as if it was hurting, but when he opened his eyes the color practically drained from the sorceress' face.

"I have not felt this bad for over two millennia, what even is this?" he groaned, turning to face Charmcaster,"Excuse me, where am I? No, more importantly, who are you?" he asked with a deep almost ethereal voice. His face, though questioning lacked any sort of emotion. His eyes on the other hand, were completely black, the irises, the sclera, the pupils completely black as if there wasn't really anything there, as if Charmcaster was looking into an endless void. "Child? Can you perchance not perceive my current form? Am I perhaps in my..?" he stopped himself in the middle as he looked down at himself and was visibly surprised with what he saw, "What is this?" he asked quite bewildered.

"I certainly hope you can explain who or what you are and what you're doing in my friend!" Charmcaster bursted out in visible anger as her eyes and hands started glowing a light magenta color.

"Now calm down child, no need to get violent, I am just as bewildered as you are." 'he' declared calmly as he sat on the bed, turning to face the now slightly calmer sorceress, "What I can tell you is that I am what most of you lot know as the Reaper of Souls, or in layman terms, Death."

"You're... Death?" Charmcaster asked with a raised eyebrow as she sat back down, "Then all the powers Albedo told me about... are yours?"

"I cannot be certain what this 'Albedo' told you but I would think so, as this is certainly not my body."

"In that case, what do you last remember?"

"I was in a city called Bellwood, in a human form walking around as I had a sinking feeling about somebody's incoming departure from the world of the living. Sure enough I found the case to be a violent car accident, but as I was about to take the soul to Charon, I looked to my left to see some kind of... gateway opening out of thin air at a frozen drink distributor a small bit away. Then I woke up here just now in a body that is not my own."

"That... That happened a month ago. And it's just like what Albedo told me so it seems to be the same." Charmcaster revealed to the Spirit of Death.

"A... A month ago?" he clutched his head, "What exactly happened to me? To us?" he asked as he indicated his body.

"A dimensional convergence." came the elder yet gentle voice of Professor Paradox from behind Charmcaster as he put his normal hand on her shoulders, "Greetings Ms. Hope, Death, Naruto." he greeted everyone in the room, along with the just now entering Naruto who was caught off guard, as he kneeled down in front of the nightstand, "You too little Star." he finished with a gentle smile.

"W-what's going on? W-who are you? I can't make it out." the little arachnid's voice was filled with worry.

"A friend." Naruto declared, interestingly causing the spider to calm down.

"O-oh." Star 'sighed' as she started listening in on the conversation. "I-if you say so."

"Ah, the man untouched by time. So we meet at last." Death flashed a smile in Paradox's direction.

"Excuse me, who exactly are you?" Charmcaster was bewildered that she seemed to be the only one who did not recognize the man.

"Ah, I see we have not formally met yet. I am Professor Paradox, it is a pleasure to meet you darling." he said gently extending his right hand, Charmcaster shook it on impulse, he then reached into his pocket and pulled out a bag of gumballs, "Gumballs?"

"Oh, uh, no thank you?"

"This man right here is a time traveler." Death commented, "Amongst other things... So if he says he knows you then your paths are more likely than not fated to cross once more... or even more for that matter."

"It's as he says." Naruto nodded in agreement, "Though someone mind filling me in on who is currently speaking from Albedo's body?"

"I am what you mortal creatures call Death, though the second part is what we are currently trying to figure out my young friend." Death said turning around to face the blond ninja.

"Oh, so you're the big guy himself?"

"You seem weirdly nonplussed about that."

"Oh, well a while back we were messing around with that." Naruto said as he looked at the three bladed scythe, "He managed to transform into a form that seemed to resemble his description of you, so technically it's like I've already met ya."

"He what?!"

"When... When where you guys planning on telling me this?" Charmcaster glared daggers at the blond ninja.

"In time?" Naruto cringed, "He transformed into this tall skeletal dude in full black, with a hood over his face. As I said it seemed a lot different to the descriptions he gave of you, but everything else fit."

"Oh my." Death declared, though with his face not changing it was hard to make out what he was feeling. "That scythe though, I have never seen it."

"Well then." Naruto deadpanned. "That complicates things."

"Yes, that is why I am here currently." Paradox chuckled, "As I said, this seems to be a heavier case of a dimensional convergence."

"Care to explain professor?" Naruto asked as he put some soup on the table. "In Naruto terms?"

The professor chuckled a bit as he began, "Usually the event that occurs when dimensions collide is called a convergence. Nothing major to cause concern for the most part, yet some of these usually have consequences be it insignificant or world rending. Sometimes, when it is only on a small scale it just causes the inhabitants of the two different worlds to meet and interact, perhaps Benjamin has told you about his exploits with other versions of himself?" the professor asked with a raised eyebrow turning towards the sorceress.

"Ah yeah." she nodded eagerly.

"Some of those might have been intentionally caused, or by third party effects yet they are barely cause for concern, and as such prove to lack any significant consequence that could alter things dramatically." the professor continued, "Now the heavier cases on the other hand, usually include more than two dimensions colliding or two of such merging and as such are more than prone to cause chaotic effects. It cannot be called a convergence if it is caused by a person however, like I did back then with uniting the different Omnitrix wielders for example. Artificial convergences are usually without side effects and as such are more preferable. A convergence is usually caused by something being amiss or different in the world, this time the culprit is the very portal that brought young Albedo here."

"Are you telling me..?"

"Yes. It caused three beings... Well two and a phenomena to merge into one, which thus far is the worst case for a convergence I have ever seen. It usually never gets this... bad." the professor frowned, "I saw beings merge and become something else, but never sapient beings, never to this degree."

"Hold on, what phenomena?" Charmcaster raised an eyebrow in question.

"Was about to ask that myself."

"Yes indeed. The Death you are speaking to is the one from our world, one of the Four Horsemen to be exact."

"Still don't know where the other three are." Death admitted as he closed his eyes.

"Then the third one is the... 'Death' from my world?" Naruto questioned with air quotation marks.

"Yes and no my young friend." Paradox smiled.

"Okay, now I'm confused."

"Your world does not have what we would call Death, the concept exists for such a being yes, but this world never really had one. It more so operates on a cycle of reincarnation spanning across eons."

"That would explain why I suddenly know so much about young Naruto, though I have never ever heard from him before." Death pinched the bridge of his nose, "That means that I have similar knowledge of this world's inhabitants to the ones back home... Such a large amount to keep track of."

"Though that still begs the question as to why Albedo is the dominant one so to speak." Charmcaster pointed out.

"Yes, a good question indeed. So good in fact that I myself still do not have an answer to it, though I can provide a wild guess, that being that he is the only creature to possess physical form."

"Even so, why was I asleep for a month?"

"Probably since we just opened a portal to Ledgerdomain now, and since that connected to our original world previously it somehow jolted you awake?" the young sorceress asked, "Though that too is a wild guess."

"Let us just accept it as the truth for now." Death closed his eyes once more as he put a hand to his head, "Having a physical body is such a weird feeling. It takes much to get used to."

"Can you sense Albedo at all?" Naruto asked with slight worry.

"Ah yes, I have been sensing another presence sleeping soundly in my head for a little while now, I do believe if we rest for a bit all shall return to normal in due time. I hope so anyways."

"That's a relief. Somewhat."

"There is one other thing." Paradox announced, "So far the two worlds are coexisting with each other beyond major problems are they not?"

"There have been no 'consequences'..." Charmcaster put a hand to her head.

"None whatsoever." Naruto realized, "Everything is still normal and how we remember it, nothing out of place and we still can't access your world..."

"That whole portal deal two weeks ago also seemed way too organized..." Charmcaster admitted in shock.

"Hold on now, are you two suggesting..?"

"Exactly what my thoughts wondered about too." Paradox nodded, "This might prove to be an artificial convergence."

"Someone... wanted us to be here..?" the sorceress gaped in realization.

"B-but why?" Star managed to chip into the conversation as she seemed to realize the gravity of the situation.

"That is quite the question young one..." Death sighed.

"I know it is a lot to take in and ponder on right this moment but I best be on my way now." Paradox declared looking at his watch.

"So soon?"

"I cannot just stay in one place for too long I am afraid. I still have to figure out the cause of all this and there is still much to be done. Until then." he waved with a smile as he stepped into a portal of his own making.

"Now then, I shall speak to you two later too I am afraid. I will let this body rest, give my best regards to your friend."

"You know he will freak out." Naruto chuckled.

"Well... This is our life now." Death said with a sigh, "We best get used to it." he then flashed something similar to a smile, "I am more surprised by you lot taking this so calmly."

"Yeah, I bet." the blonde ninja returned a grin.

Following this exchange Charmcaster and Naruto slowly ate in silence as another hour passed before Albedo himself finally woke up. He was clutching his head just the same as his new co-owner as he opened his eyes.

"Okay, my head is killing me." he groaned as he got up, "How long was I out this time?"

"Five hours." Naruto entered the room with a smile carrying a bowl of soup with him. "Good to see you're back up. Brought ya some grub."

"I appreciate it." Albedo smiled as he took the bowl, "Though I would also appreciate it if you did not sugarcoat it please, I know the situation I am in is quite worrisome." he added with a deadpan expression, "I seemed to have heard the more important bits whilst I was out. Though I do wonder how that transpired."

"This just makes everything more complicated." Charmcaster sighed. "More than necessary."

"It sure does." Albedo nodded as he dazedly got up from the bed, "Nonetheless we still have a task at hand."

"Right now?" the sorceress looked at the alien incredulously.

"No time like the present."

"You should rest." Naruto glared at him.

"I have rested quite enough thank you. Nothing can go wrong for now, well that is unless we cannot get home."

"Don't jinx it!" Charmcaster snapped.

"Normally I would say I do not believe in such a thing, but it coming from you dear... I just got worried." Albedo shivered.

"You better!"

"What has gotten into you?" Albedo asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh, I dunno, maybe the fact that you passed out without any warning!"

"It was not anything so seri-"

"Of course it is serious!" Charmcaster snapped back in anger.

"Charmcaster. Dear. I need to understand what has you so furious." Albedo calmly put a hand on her shoulder.

"It's... It's about Ben."

"Benjamin?"

"He acted exactly the same after... After Logan died."

"Logan?" the white haired alien raised an eyebrow in intrigue.

As Charmcaster looked into the sincere crimson eyes of the white haired 'human' in front of him, she sighed and though slightly reluctantly retold the same story he told Naruto moments prior to the Portal Incident, about their misadventure on a strange planet, and the demise of a new good friend.

"A shadow creature... that feeds on flesh?" Albedo questioned, "Not something I have heard of in my life." his face turned sour almost immediately, "Though I must offer my honest condolences."

"We didn't even have the chance to say goodbye." Charmcaster sighed, holding back some visible tears, "After that, as I told Naruto, Ben became unlike himself. You know how he was, always acting cocky and sprouting quips like no other but... At first it seemed like he gave up on everything and seemed lifeless, but then... he started doing everything by himself, apparently to keep us all from harm or so he claimed. He took it to heart, and blamed himself for everything that happened... Look, all I'm saying he was acting reckless, and you're currently doing the same!"

"I... I know. But you know we have to get ho-"

"Getting home isn't worth you ruining yourself over it!"

Albedo became visibly distraught and stunned at the level of concern the sorceress showed for her, only to look at Naruto who was nodding in agreement. This might have been the first time in his life since... since Rednus that anyone showed genuine care towards him.

"I... I understand. I shall rest for the day." he then locked eyes with Charmcaster, "But promise me you won't stop for today."

"Sure, that much I can compromise." Charmcaster said with a confident grin.

"I am sorry for worrying you." Albedo added under his breath, not intending it to be heard, but Charmcaster picked up on it and with a small smile left the room, leaving Albedo to his own devices.

The first three days of the one week grace period passed by without any kind of success or progress, and both Albedo and Charmcaster were starting to get frustrated, even messing with the possibility of the plan with Alien X not working. However as if to add insult to injury... by the fourth day Albedo inexplicably started to change. He started spacing out a lot, which was against his usual behavior, his memory was taking a turn for the worst too, by the fifth day he started even forgetting things he was just told, it was like he was a different person altogether, but the other two chalked it up to plain tiredness not expecting anything worse... In the end, on the sixth day, Charmcaster's prediction might have come true.

Ledgerdomain

The group tried again right at the start of the day, and Albedo seemed to be doing a little better, even eating breakfast for a change... However as soon as the trio got around to trying again and they've entered the Realm of Magic, Albedo almost immediately collapsed again, but just as soon as the two got over to help him, he stood up in an eerie way with his face still looking at the ground and without further warning he transformed into a Vulpimancer, which was comparatively paler compared to Ben's version with a red collar around his neck, and attacked the two without so much as growling.

"Albedo?!" Charmcaster was bewildered by the alien's actions. However, just like moments ago the creature did not respond, instead he just attacked whoever was closer to him.

"Maybe it's Death?"

"He wouldn't have a reason to attack us." Charmcaster shook her head in denial.

"I am quite happy to disappoint as I am afraid I have to tell you that is correct. This... whatever it is that is happening is not our doing." Death's voice resounded in both of their heads.

"Woah! Don't. Do that." Naruto shook his head in shock.

"My apologies, I forget telepathy is not that common."

"Nevermind that, what do you mean not of your doing?" Charmcaster questioned as she took to the air and fired some blasts at the enraged Vulpimancer.

"I mean that Albedo is... 'Standing' next to me and neither him nor me are in control of the body."

"Then what the hell is happening?!" Naruto snapped as he barely dodged the dog like creature.

"Well, to be perfectly fair with you, I have only come here to warn you and ask you to somehow subdue the body so we can work this probl-"

"Death?" Charmcaster asked with a worried tone as the telepathic connection suddenly cut off. "Oh great."

"What is?"

"That..." Charmcaster pointed at the Vulpimancer as its body began to change in a red light. It became bulkier and more muscular, its color changing to a maroon red coloration on his back along with a lighter one on its lower side. His back was covered in deeper colored stripes and bone spikes that extended from his head to the middle of his back. He also gained a long tail with a spike much akin to the one at his back that at the same time seemed to resemble that of a scorpion. The elbows on his front legs were covered in two smaller spikes each, each paw also bore large claws. His canines and teeth grew sharper with his lower canines extending beyond the border of his mouth similarly to his non evolved form. The strange Omnitrix symbol had spikes extend out of it as it sat atop the same red collar the normal Vulpimancer had.

"As if the normal one wasn't enough trouble, he had to evolve it!" Naruto groaned in annoyance.

"Don't you have something that can easily take that out?"

"I don't wanna kill him!" Naruto explained in annoyance, "Anything I think of might be overkill or sure kill." he declared before doing a hand sign and summoning a multitude of clones, yet the evolved Vulpimancer effortlessly bit and slashed through all of them as it continued getting closer to the ninja on the ground. "Oh come on! Gimme a chance here not to hurt you badly!"

"At this point I'd believe you can do anything. Maybe he won't shrug it off, 'cause unlike you I think he doesn't really have a problem with killing you!"

"Yeah, that thing is tough." Naruto groaned as he looked at the broken kunai in his hand, "Too tough."

Charmcaster was still bashing the evolved Vulpimancer with her magic, as she herself would have preferred not to hurt Albedo too bad but unlike her bravado she did not do much towards hurting the creature either with her basic attacks, she also felt herself holding back. "Can't you do your spinny blue ball thing?"

"The Rasengan..?" Naruto hesitated for a couple seconds before determining himself, "Ah, damn it!" he groaned in annoyance as he conjured a blue swirling energy ball with which he rushed towards the creature who took it head on and was knocked back quite far, yet without visible injuries.

"This isn't right." Charmcaster shook her head in denial, "He's not even injured after that?! What the hell are these evolved forms?!"

"Whatever it is, we should keep attacking until he transforms back." Naruto declared with a determined look, "Or until we run out of juice."

Charmcaster looked at the blond ninja then eyed the Vulpimancer before sighing and flashing a smile, "Ah whatever, I'm at full power here. Let's do this!"

"Right-o."

The duo continued effortlessly assaulting the Vulpimancer at first with lighter attacks, but as the time went on and they seemed to have made no progress whatsoever they started amping their attacks up, right until the point when the creature stumbled backwards and did not get up for a good couple minutes.

"Did we..?"

"No..." Charmcaster shook her head, "He's getting back up." as he did however the creature was rather sluggish compared to before, "Oh?"

"We've been at this for an hour. Lemme try to finish this." Naruto declared as he started preparing a larger Rasengan, however before he could attack the evolved creature made a mad dash towards them and pinned him to the ground, blocking his hands and legs, thus restricting his movements. Charmcaster's magic attacks and golems could not shake it off either as the tail proved to be a formidable appendage since it made quick work of the creatures and deflected the magic effortlessly, all the while trying to bite Naruto in the face. "Get off of me!" he snapped yet even he proved unable to, "What the hell is up with this strength?! I couldn't have possibly gotten weaker under one year!"

'What exactly is happening right now Naruto? You're way stronger than some four legged thing.' Kurama snapped inside Naruto's thoughts.

"I know what ya mean, but I physically can't push him off of me!"

'Can't be helped then, let me grant you some of mi-'

"No! If you do that he might end up dying!"

'Look kid, I like that you look out for your friends but it's becoming more and more an 'either you or him' situation.'

"Ugh..." Naruto groaned, the truth of Kurama's words sinking in, "I really don't wanna do this, but... It's for your sake!" Naruto declared confidently as he managed to create a single shadow clone which started preparing the same Rasengan, however this time the creature did not have enough time to react to it, nor did he notice the clone.

The giant orb of swirling energy started tearing away at the creature before, with a familiar sound, it transformed back to Albedo's human form which appeared unconscious... However, the Rasengan did not stop and it continued tearing away at Albedo's human body with a lot more ease than that of the evolved Vulpimancer's for a couple seconds before Naruto managed to stop it. He had a visibly severe wound on the upper left of his torso, severe enough that the bleeding looked atrocious, and he was still not conscious.

"No, no, no, no." Naruto pleaded, "You shouldn't be this damaged! No, you shouldn't have even turned back." he shook his head as he held Albedo's body close. "What the hell, I didn't mean this!"

'Naruto...' Kurama drooped inside his cage, 'I...'

"It's not your fault..." Naruto quietly said, failing to reassure the fox.

"No!" Charmcaster shouted as she landed next to them, "Why is he so injured?!"

"I... I don't know." Naruto admitted, "He should be fine after that... It's him we're talking about! We fought worse things two weeks ago."

"Y-yeah." Charmcaster choked on her own words, "I'm sure it's fine..." she shakenly nodded, utterly failing to make herself relieved.

"What happened?! I can talk to you two again!"

At the voice of Death in their heads, the two ironically became more upbeat, which has really soon turned into sorrow.

"Albedo disappeared from next to me. I feel his presence yet I can no longer inte- No..."

"H-he stopped breathing." Naruto quietly said.

That simple sentence made all three of them go quiet, with Naruto and Charmcaster both feeling as if their hearts had been ripped out with unimaginable force... And none of the two seemed to be a stranger to the feeling. 'Not again...' was really all the two could effectively think about. They kneeled next to the lifeless body in silence, not one of them finding the right words to say or if they should even say them.

"This cannot be right." Death's ethereal voice broke the silence, as the duo's ears perked up, "I am still here..."

"W-what?" Charmcaster looked up only to lock eyes with a similarly ethereal apparition of the Grim Reaper himself, "Woah."

"If you can perceive me fine that pretty much confirms something I have been thinking about just now." it sighed.

"Care to fill us in Big Guy?" Naruto laid back, as if he was suddenly over his grief, much to the surprise of Charmcaster.

"Normally, this form is something no mortal should see, even in this ghostly form, only if they are around the time of passing... As such I have reason to believe that we are still connected."

"Which means buddy-boo here is still alive... somewhere." Naruto smiled, relieved with the knowledge that he did not in fact kill a friend.

"What do you mea-" Charmcaster stopped herself as she saw that the body they sat next to was in fact gone. "Wha?"

"See? We have much to learn about why all of this is happening... Much, much indeed." Death audibly chuckled as he disappeared similarly to a dust cloud being blown away in the wind. "See you soon I hope~"

"Okay, how do we get back to the village?" Naruto asked as he dusted himself off.

"H-how can you be so calm..?" Charmcaster deadpanned.

"Well, for one, I now know I didn't kill anyone. Two, Albedo is okay somewhere and if it's him he'll come telling us about it sooner or later. Plus we might have figured out more about his newfound powers." Naruto listed off, "All in all that's a productive day. Also, tomorrow you and Ben will try that thing that might make it possible for you to go home."

"Woah." the sorceress' mouth was agape, "That's a positive outlook if I've ever seen one."

"I'm just going with the flow Charm." Naruto grinned, "Worked out ever since I got to know you two."

Charmcaster couldn't help but chuckle as her mind was put somewhat at ease, "I really hope you're right."

"Of course I'm not sure!"

"Thanks." Charmcaster deadpanned.

"I'm just trusting my friend who I totally seemed like have killed. Nothing unusual for the past month to be perfectly honest." he then immediately seemed to cringe as he held his head, "How the hell am I gonna explain this to sensei?"

Charmcaster looked at the blond ninja for a couple seconds before she burst out laughing, "We will explain it somehow. 'Albedo died but not really.'"

"Seems legit." Naruto pondered, "Think he'll buy it?"

"Maybe~?"

The two continued to juggle possible outcomes of their talks with the Hokage even after they left Ledgerdomain.

Unknown place, Unknown time

Albedo was suddenly surrounded by white, endlessly stretching and extending in a never-ending light as it enveloped him, almost blindingly shining in his face. He stood up to look around but the view, not surprisingly, did not change.

"Where even am I this time..?" he then took a look at his shoulder, not finding any wound. Even his clothes were intact. "Have I..?"

"I cannot really say to be honest with you." Death materialized next to him in the same form he did to Charmcaster and Naruto, "We should be dead, yet currently this is more like Limbo."

"Great. I cannot even pass away properly. Makes sense why I can currently see you though." Albedo sighed with a snide chuckle. "So? What do we do now?"

"No questions? Anything?"

"Hm? I asked you two just now?"

"I meant about... about our situation." Death groaned.

"I have heard what I needed. We are special, not much else we can do about it now can we?"

"You are surprisingly easy going."

"I learned from the best." Albedo chuckled, "Jokes aside, I am indeed shivering and want to scream on the inside." he admitted, "I have just received a fatal wound that should have killed me with the blood I have lost, yet I not only took it very lightly but am also standing in an unknown location, which even you only compared to Limbo. Suffice to say, I am having a field trip here..."

"Figured as such." Death nodded with a sigh.

"Either way, this is a peculiar situation to be stuck in. And we do not even have my scythe."

"Your scythe?" Death would have raised an eyebrow if he could have.

"Look, I seem to recall you mentioning the fact that you have no recollection of the item in question ever existing before we merged... as such I deem it mine, considering no one could even lift it besides me, taking its weight into account."

"Fair point." Death nodded.

Beyond the distance the whiteness of the 'room' seemed to darken as the two eventually arrived next to an ominous looking river inside a cavern of sorts, prompting Albedo to take note of the rather shabby dock that lead to a small boat with a tall and slim... creature in it holding onto the oar. Upon closer inspection it seemed to be a tall man of sorts, yet he lacked any indignation of being alive. He was wearing a black fisherman's cap that sat atop a skeletal head, along with a long black coat with the sleeves rolled up to reveal skeletal forearms, dark grey canvas pants ending in a pair of black boots. He sported a white long sleeved shirt which was rolled up along with the coat along with a necklace of what appeared to be shark teeth around his neck.

"Quite the apparel." Albedo noted.

"Albedo... That is Charon." Death noted as he looked the man over.

"Oh?" the alien raised an eyebrow, "The ferryman of the Underworld, then this must be the river Styx."

"Yer correct on dat young'un." Charon turned his head over to them, and defying all laws of anatomy smiled at him with his skeletal head. "However, I fail to see what someone like yerself is doing around these parts exactly."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, no passage fer the livin' ya see?" his eye sockets glowed with a light blue flame, indicating his eyes. "Not willin'ly anyhow."

"I would usually say I have a perfectly clear explanation for that, but currently I do not even have a lack thereof."

"I can see dat, what with good ol' skelly floatin' right next to ya." Charon chuckled lightly, "What 'appened to ya Death?" his face 'turned' serious, "Seems mighty problematic."

Albedo and Death looked each other in the eyes for a couple of seconds before sighing and retelling in a nutshell their conversation with Professor Paradox a couple days prior as the ferryman listened intently.

"I wuz right. Dat's a predicament an' a half." Charon scratched his head, "Tho' since it seems you young lad are quite very much alive, I advise ya two to return to bein' on livin' grounds." he sighed, "Not much ta be doin' here when yer not sposed ta be her' in the first place." he pointed at his boat, "I can give ya a lift if ya'd like."

"That would be quite preferable, thank you." Albedo smiled as he climbed aboard, "Though, if you do not mind me asking, is that your usual way of talking?"

"Whatchu' mean?"

"Nothing insulting or the like, it is just I myself have only read about you in Greek history books... and well to be perfectly honest the accent does not fit."

Charon let out a hearty laugh, "Yeah, it really isn't all that prominent." he said in a completely different tone and voice. "When you're as old as me kid, stuff like this lets you blow off some steam. I mean what would you do with newly deceased souls that are afraid of even looking at you? A scary tone and voice ain't really the way to go." he smiled, "I just try to ease the mood of the souls a bit, after this it's just eternity in suffering or without a purpose, that ain't really fun either." he declared sorrowfully.

"I can agree with that."

"You changed your clothes since last I saw you."

"Maybe cuz that was roughly nine centuries ago." Charon joked.

"Perhaps." Death 'smiled'.

"Now there's one more thing I need to add." Charon declared as he stopped the boat.

"Why do I not like the sound of that?" Albedo groaned with a frown.

"I might not know where you'll end up kid."

"I knew I would not like it." he sighed, "Though, I still appreciate you taking us this far Charon."

"Think nothing of it kid." he lifted his hat up slightly as he turned his boat around and left after Albedo disembarked.

"Well then. Let us see where we have-"

Yukon, Canada, North America, Earth, Summer, 2014 A.D.

"-Ended up..?" Albedo stopped in his tracks as he was hit by the freezing cold air. "Yukon?" Albedo looked up as he read, "Yukon?!"

"How did you figure it out this fast?" Death's amazed voice resounded in Albedo's head.

"You mean to tell me you cannot see the large bold letters telling us the location and time?" Albedo deadpanned as he pointed at said letters. "Wait, hold on. Saying that out loud, it does sound weird." he declared as he kept looking at the letters.

"What are you talking about? There is nothing there." Death declared confidently.

"Can you somehow connect with my vision?" Albedo asked. "Is that even something we can do?"

"Hold on, let me try..." Death said as he did so in a couple of seconds and was left stupefied, "Oh my."

"To us being able to do this or... those?"

"Kind of both my friend."

"Quite so then." Albedo nodded as the letters disappeared in front of them. "What... What even was that?"

"I am afraid that currently we might have more pressing matters than the mysterious floating letters." Death stopped for a couple seconds, "Is... Is this going to be 'normal' from now on?"

"What do you mean?"

"Us accepting seemingly unnatural and weird phenomena right of the bat as if it was normal?"

"I mean, I have just witnessed a skeleton capable of emoting with a skull... floating letters are the least surprising. Besides, you are Death himself... what do you mean 'weird phenomena'?" Albedo chuckled.

"Point taken." Death sighed defeatedly.

"Though now we know our location, we just need to somehow get back to Bellwood."

"If we are even in that world."

"I am going to stop you right there." Albedo cringed, "I do not have a need of yet another world currently."

"I am just saying that it is a pos-"

"No it is not, alternate worlds do not exist, you shut up now." Albedo hastily declared, covering his ears.

"Fine." Death gave in.

"Why do I have the sinking feeling I will have a run in with a polar bear soon?"

"That is oddly specific."

"Call it Déjà Vu, or similar." Albedo shrugged as he felt two presences behind him. "...There we go."

"Go! I won't let it touch you!" a feminine voice from behind him called, as Albedo turned around it was revealed to be a mother polar bear protecting her cub.

"But mom!"

"Go!"

"Now hold on for a minute here madam!" Albedo held out his hands in defense as he sighed, "I do not have any intention of hurting you or your offspring."

"It... talks?" the family before him asked in curious unison.

"That 'it' is a he and he kind of has a name he likes to use regularly." Albedo mock pouted, "Nevermind that, I really have no intention of causing you harm."

"Your kind is not to be trusted." the mother protested.

"I agree with that. They say one thing than do the complete opposite, but I assure you I am different." Albedo pleaded.

"What's so different about you?"

"I am talking to you am I not? And as of five minutes ago we are both out here for our survival, as such I see no benefit of a conflict. I also believe you can attest to the fact that I have just arrived here."

"Popping out of nowhere then being all friendly... You are a weird one."

"I get that a lot lately." Albedo smiled, "Now if you do not mind, would you point me in the direction of creatures similar to myself? No need to get close and endanger the little one, I just wish not to be stuck out here any longer."

"Sure, either way you look like you're about to be freezing to death." the mother declared as she felt relieved for some strange reason in Albedo's presence. "I doubt your skin is supposed to be getting blue."

"Oh boy. In such a short term exposure?" Albedo was bewildered as he pulled his jacket zipper up, not like it assisted much in warming him up. "Best get moving."

"Hop on, it will be faster."

"Are you sure about that?" the alien raised an eyebrow.

"I don't smell anything bad about you for now, and you gave us your reasons, that's fine by me." she stopped for a second, "And we can communicate."

"Mom is really fast!" the cub boasted.

"Oh is she little one?" Albedo chuckled, "Guess she will show me that, right?"

"Oh, you just focus on holding on human!"

"You know the name?"

"Huh?"

"Humans."

"Ah, we have heard about it a long time ago apparently, my kind has been known to be aware of them."

"Good choice." Albedo nodded, "Not every human is the same, granted, yet it is better to be safe than sorry."

"Exactly." the mother nodded, "Though sometimes we might meet some odd cookie like you."

"I am a special snowflake." Albedo declared as the three of them shared a laugh and the mother ran off towards a nearby forest.

Ben's Room, Tennyson House, Bellwood, America, Earth, Summer, 2014 A.D.

Another two hours after Albedo's 'death'

Ben lay atop his bed as he was mentally preparing himself for whatever might come the next day. It wasn't even proven that using Alien X would work in the way they intended, so it was safe to say that he was stressing himself out. His situation wasn't really helped either when he received yet another ominous phone call from the same 'Unknown Number'.

'This again?' he groaned as he at himself on top of the bed and picked his phone up properly, "Hello?"

"Oh hey Ben, it's Hope." Charmcaster giddily answered on the other side of the phone.

"Hey Charmcaster, what's up?" Ben asked with a smile.

"Sooo, I dunno how to tell you this but..."

"But what?"

"Albedo... kinda... died..?" the sorceress enunciated each word differently as an emphasis with her voice echoing confusion.

Ben was silent for a second, both unnerved by the news and Charmcaster's eerily cheery tone of voice before he simply blurted out, "..What?"

"Buuut it's fine cuz... Well, he's kinda... okay now?"

"..What?" Ben managed to repeat after a couple more seconds of silence following this seemingly nonsensical conversation. "Call me back when you start making sense."

"Wait! Hold on, I can explain! Somewhat..." Charmcaster hastily declared as she started retelling the story they managed to figure out so far about the origin of Albedo's newfound powers.

"Wait, lemme get this straight..." Ben pinched the bridge of his nose, "That superhuman strength and the like Albedo casually mentioned a while back was caused by... Death? As in the Grim Reaper? As in he exists? As in exists in our world?"

"Yes." Charmcaster nodded on her end.

"And today during your attempts at figuring out a way he lost control of his own body which started attacking you as Ultimate Wildmutt, which must have looked totally cool, and Naruto accidentally damaged him fatally?"

"Yup."

"Then as you thought he was gone you had a casual chat with Death and his body disappeared and you concluded that he's somehow alive from this?"

"Seems accurate, yeah."

"What the hell happened?!" Ben shouted in frustration at all this sudden information dumped on him. "All this talk about convergences and stuff and I've been left out of it?!"

"That's what you're mad about?!" Charmcaster snapped.

"Hey, as unbelievable as it would sound normally, it somehow feels easier to accept that someone is alive after dying coming from you."

"Why is everybody I know so weird?!" the sorceress threw her arms up on the other end.

"Might be cause you are acquainted with the Tennysons." Ben declared matter-of-factly.

"I knew I'd regret any answer you could give." Charmcaster sighed, "Nevermind that, we should really try the Alien X thing now."

"As in now now?!"

"There is no basis on this, but I have a feeling Albedo might have returned to our world, so-"

"If that's the case we can search for h-" Ben enthusiastically began.

"HEY!" Charmcaster snapped, shutting Ben up in the process and quelling his enthusiasm. "He's my friend too, I wanna be there."

"You're right, I got carried away."

"As per usual... And in Ben terms that means you were fine with leaving me without a way back home." Charmcaster pouted.

"H-hey, it's not like that..." Ben was about to protest before he was greeted with a laugh.

"You do know I'm just messin' with ya right?"

"Maybe..?" Ben shook his head, "Okay, so just say the word and we can try this."

"In that case get to the Plumber HQ pronto, should raise less suspicion if I appear out of thin air or something."

"Gimme a sec." Ben nodded as he turned into XLR8 and sped off in a matter of seconds.

Plumber HQ, Bellwood, America, Earth, Summer, 2014 A.D.

"Kay, I'm here." Ben hastily declared in alien form as he turned back. "What to do now?"

"Turn into Alien X then try searching for anything that reminds you of magic, Ledgerdomain or me in a place where it shouldn't be."

"Are you su-"

"No idea what I'm doing to be honest, just thinking of things that would/should/might work."

"Ah well, what can we lose?"

"Never ask that question out loud."

"Concern taken. Okay, I'm trying it." Ben declared as his body changed to that of a Celestialsapien's and he held out his right arm with his palm facing upwards as his eyes closed. "I'm conducting a search." he announced. About five minutes have passed before he spoke again, "I found a life signal that clearly represents yours but seems... weaker? Maybe not the right word..." he struggled with words for a couple seconds before his eyes opened again, "Oh! That's the 23rd dimension, so that has its own Charmcaster too huh?"

"Ben, focus please? It ain't exactly easy keeping this up." Charmcaster declared as she was sitting with her legs crossed slightly floating above solid ground, eyes glowing and hands outstretched her thumbs and middle fingers connected.

"Isn't this kinda like connecting Bluetooth?"

"Ben don't make me imagine weird but accurate imagery." Charmcaster chuckled, "Oh?"

"Is that?" Ben asked.

"Found ya!" they declared in unison as Charmcaster started the words for a portal spell, whilst Ben drew a large circle with his hands and thought about connecting with Charmcaster's mana as a stimulus. Even with such clear visions it took the two of them roughly about twenty minutes to be able to open a somewhat stable connection between worlds, which in turn effectively set up yet another exit to and from Ledgerdomain, though its actual permanence was yet to be tested or confirmed. Even so it was still technically 'password locked' since out of everyone Naruto and his world new only Charmcaster could open a portal into it.

"Well, at least now we can focus on finding our lost little lamb." Charmcaster proudly let out an exhausted sigh, "I'll get back home soon enough, lemme just catch my breath. You go find that dummy."

"You two got awfully chummy." Ben noted with a raised eyebrow.

Charmcaster remained silent for a couple minutes, leaving Ben unsure if he might have said something insensitive, "I just... I just never had friends before you guys y'know? Real friends... so when he was acting so friendly towards me... I kinda favored the moment and took advantage of it..." the girl admitted, "Though him being how he is I think he realized that clearly. He treated me the same and I liked that."

"I... I never knew we made that big of a difference for you." Ben awkwardly put a hand to the back of his head as he admitted.

"You did. And I can never truly repay you for that." Charmcaster giggled, "That's why it's important for me too for us to find him... Okay?"

"I'm on that, I'll call Rook and we'll be on it. We'll be waiting at HQ."

"Sure."

Outskirts of the Village, Hidden Leaf, Land of Fire, Earth, Summer, 2014 A.D.

Charmcaster exited the portal as it closed behind her to a waiting Naruto who opted against going into it this time in fear of disrupting something even though Charmcaster repeatedly discouraged that stating that 'That's not how any of this works.' The girl stretched with a satisfied yawn as he opened her eyes to face Naruto, his face showing a sad smile, both of them knowing that this was currently a permanent goodbye.

"Judging by that satisfied look on your face, you two succeeded?"

"We sure did!" Charmcaster giddily declared, "Still can't believe it though."

"Guess that means you're going home?" Naruto looked away for a bit before grinning in front of the girl, "It was fun while it lasted."

"Oh you silly bean," Charmcaster hugged the ninja who was caught off guard by this action but returned it happily, "This isn't a final goodbye. We'll come by from time to time, but this isn't where we belong."

"Trust me, I know." Naruto reassured the sorceress, "I've just gotten used to having people around when I woke up. And that those people were you two."

"Look, I can't promise a time or date or anything with... with this, since we kinda have to stop this portal thing before it happens somewhere else and messes more things up, but... But as soon as we get the chance, I promise I'll be... No, we'll be back." Hope said as she extended a fist. "Take care of Star for us okay?"

Naruto was dumbfounded before he broke out in a giddy laugh, "Sure, okay. She's gonna be just fine." he nodded, "See you soon?"

"I sure hope so." Charmcaster smiled as with yet another yawn he conjured the portal back up, "It was nice getting to know you Naruto."

"That's mutual." Naruto nodded as he waved goodbye to the sorceress with a sigh, inwardly hoping to see them very soon... Even then however, most things never quite work out how one intends them to, do they now?

Plumber HQ, Bellwood, America, Earth, Summer, 2014 A.D.

It did not take long after Charmcaster's distressing call for Ben to immediately get onto searching for his DNA sample, or its readings across the globe. Rook was eager to help upon learning the news as he, according to him surprising himself, was looking forward to having a proper introduction with this 'new' Albedo. The only others who were next to him were Kevin and Max.

"Any leads yet Rook?" Kevin impatiently asked as he himself looked at quite a fair share of locations, "With how many places we've been to Tennyson, I would've thought you'd be poppin' up everywhere."

"I know!" Ben groaned in agreement, "I have literally no DNA left any- Hold on."

"Found somethin'?"

"I thi- I got it!" Ben declared before his expression immediately turned sour, "That is quite a place."

"Where is it Ben?" Max turned around in an office chair to face his grandson.

"Yukon." Ben announced, "At a Plumber branch office to boot."

"Guess nobody updated the Plumbers on the whole Albedo thing?" Kevin raised an eyebrow to be greeted with complete silence, "Figures."

"Guess we're flying." Ben shrugged, "Let's go."

Outskirts of the Plumber Base, Yukon, Canada, North America, Earth, Summer, 2014 A.D.

"See? I told you it's good to keep the plane!" Kevin smugly put his hands on his waist as the four of them disembarked from the interior of the Rust Bucket 3. All of them was dressed in heavy layers of clothing to battle the cold climates that none of them was particularly used to.

"Kevin, I do not believe this to be the time for-" Rook began before being cut off.

"C'mon Rook, it took thirty minutes. It was worth it."

"Drop it Rook." Ben chuckled, "It's not worth getting into it with him when he's like this."

Plumber Base, Yukon, Canada, North America, Earth, Summer, 2014 A.D.

As the group approached the base, two guards outside the facility immediately halted their approach. This base branch was more out in the open than the HQ used to be, particularly because its location was cryptic enough even without additional effort.

"Halt! State your business or leave immediately."

"Calm down boys." Max chuckled as he pulled out his badge, prompting him enough credibility, "Magister Max Tennyson, from HQ. I believe we called ahead?"

"Yes sir!" the two guards stood to the side without problems, "Apologies for the inconvenience sir, but the target you came to secure has wandered up to this point before collapsing. We couldn't be certain if he had anyone with him."

"Understandable. May we get an audience?"

The two guards shared a worried glance with each other, which Max and co immediately picked up on, "Well," the left one began, "That might be problematic." the right one continued awkwardly.

"Elaborate son."

"As I have mentioned just now he wandered into the confines of this compound, however..."

Morgue, Plumber Base, Yukon, Canada, North America, Earth, Summer, 2014 A.D.

The small group was lead into the back of the small morgue where a black body bag lay on an operating table, a single lamp shining its light at it.

"T-this is him." the same guard declared, as he felt the tension and thought it best to leave them to their own devices for a while.

"Woah." was all Kevin could manage to say as they looked at the body for a couple minutes in silence. This silence, however, was broken by a human sized magenta portal forming immediately next to Ben and Charmcaster stepping out of it. She took a couple seconds to open her eyes and as she did she eyed the room, once she spotted Ben she sighed in relief.

"Okay, I'm back." she smiled, "Not so bad for a first try ain't it?"

"Charmcaster!" Ben smiled as he went to hug her friend, "It's good to see you back in one piece."

"Tell me about it!" the girl groaned, "Never wanna do that again if I don't have to. Where's Albedo?"

At the sudden question everyone's faces fell, except for, interestingly enough, Ben's. The wielder of the Omnitrix gently pointed at the body bag as Charmcaster followed his gaze and her expression changed to shock.

"I want to get him back to our base, no matter how inhumane it might seem." Ben declared confidently as the others silently nodded. Max handled the paper work and anything that would be necessary for such an action and after a light thirty minutes had passed the group of five returned home. Suffice to say the most downtrodden was Charmcaster, and the ride home was spent in crippling silence, no one knew what exactly to say. Even Kevin was staying silent.

Morgue, Plumber HQ, Bellwood, America, Earth, Summer, 2014 A.D.

The Morgue at the headquarters was comparably larger than the one found at the branch office, yet it surprisingly but also thankfully was rather empty, safe for the white haired body lying on a table with Charmcaster sitting next to it, her head in her hands.

"How did it come to this?" she mumbled to herself in apparent grief, "I knew it was too good to be true, it had to be..." In her lamenting however, the girl barely noticed that the body in front of her started breathing again.

As Albedo opened his eyes he was greeted by a bright white light shining in his eyes. "If this is what humans call Heaven, then I want none of it." he groaned as he pushed himself to sit up, only to come face-to-face with his newfound sorceress friend, tears clearly welling up in her eyes, "Oh, hello there." he greeted happily, yet awkwardly as the sorceress wrapped her arms around his neck and let the tears flow.

"Do you know how worried I was?!" she snapped as her worry was overwritten by uncontrollable emotions as her memories flashed back to what Death told him, now finally accepting that there was some truth to them, "Tell me sooner that you can't die!"

"Dear, if I knew that was the case then this would be a lot more pleasant of an occasion." Albedo pinched the bridge of his nose with a sigh, "I am not even sure that is accurate."

"I... I thought I lost you!" the girl snapped, letting the tears roll down her face causing Albedo to shut up for a couple seconds.

"We only knew each other for a month Charmcaster." Albedo pointed out. "That is not that much time to be this invested in our relationship."

"That might not be a long time to you, perhaps not even for us, but a lot can change in a month." Charmcaster protested, "I..."

Albedo awkwardly looked the sorceress straight in the eyes, as with dead seriousness he continued, "I cannot return your feelings."

"Huh?" was the only thing Charmcaster managed to say as she looked at Albedo with a confused expression.

"I am not yet ready for love again." he declared as a couple minutes in silence have passed, only for Charmcaster to burst out laughing, "Okay, I am confused yet elated."

"I don't love you dummy." Charmcaster said between laughs, "Not romantically anyhow. I mean, sure I like you and you're like one of my closest... no one of my only friends, but that's not love."

"Ah, I see. I apologize for my declaration in that case." Albedo chuckled honestly, "Truly, I still cannot fully comprehend earthlings, my apologies."

"No harm done." the sorceress wiped a tear from her eye, before returning a relieved smile "Though, I really thought I lost you. I dunno what I would've done."

"You have Benjamin and the oth-"

"It's not the same!" Charmcaster shouted, though as quietly as to not raise unnecessary concern, "You can't just fill a hole in that easily. Though, you should know that quite well."

"Rednus..." Albedo sighed, "You are right, that was insensitive of me. Still, I am truly glad you do not love me."

"Gee, I happen to have feelings too you know?"

"Oh not like that, it would just make fun conversations such as this all the more awkward, do you not think so?" Albedo finished with a chuckle.

"Yeah." the sorceress returned the chuckle, "That's right."

"Still... 'Friends' huh?"

"Hmm?"

"Oh nothing of concern, it is just... you are the second 'person' to think of me as a friend. Naruto seemed to have thought of me as such too, along with Kiba and Gaara too, but you are technically the second person to tell that to me too." he smiled as he closed his eyes, "Thank you."

Charmcaster looked at the boy in front of him and without a second thought stood up to wrap her arms around him once more, "You're quite welcome."

Now then! We have finally, officially concluded the so called prologue of this story, as in the part where Albedo first starts to realize the extent of his newfound abilities and the potential danger their world might be in.

As such, I thought I would clear some things up, some things that in my opinion need to be said.

Firstly, in this world line 'Malgax Attacks' never happened, and in the 'And Then There Were None/Was Ben' episodes Albedo was not ever present next to Vilgax. As such in this world line Albedo hates Vilgax with a passion for leaving him to die on that sinking ship. The Plumbers got him out before Ben was able to and arrested him back then. This might not seem to relate to anything currently but everything has its time and place.

Secondly, the design 'used' here for Ultimate Wildmutt is not of my own creation. I was editing pictures of aliens to fit Albedo's color scheme for his aliens from Omniverse, to help me better imagine his scenes and such and was finally at the point of Ultimates. I have liked the idea ever since it was introduced back in Ultimate Alien, but compared to other Ultimate forms I have always found Ultimate Wildmutt's design to be a bit underwhelming, that is just a personal opinion, yet I could not do much about it since I cannot draw at all. However upon a single google search I came upon the creation of an artist from Tumblr called 'speedfreak01' where he recreated how he envisioned him to look in Omniverse's design style for the ultimates and it immediately caught my attention. As such I wanted that look to be the one I used in this story.

In this story, Charmcaster still ended up as a totem that got stuck in her magic bag thanks to Gwen, however since they went on that one year tour around the universe that I kept on alluding to and adding stuff to, Gwen took that bag with her. Some stuff happened and Charmcaster was freed and at first reluctantly joined the group, having no other choice since back than her magic was a lot weaker. As the tour went on however she grew fond of the group and they became friends quite fast after that, interestingly enough. Her personality also got affected and she became rather easygoing too, which was sometimes demonstrated here too.

That's about it for now. The next chapter should pick up immediately from here. However now that I think about it... this chapter ended up being longer than even the previous one which was more battle oriented whilst this was more exposition. Oh well.

-Author