Just to show you all how unfocused I am on the importance of studying for such important exams, here is another, considerably longer, chapter. Isn't that sad? Two long chapters in one day and not a single piece of assignment work or study to show for it.

If only I was as excited about the concept of work as I am about writing fan fiction. :/

Judging from this, I'd say you can expect relatively frequent updates over my exam period. But, keep in mind that tomorrow I might go spastic with work (unlikely, but who knows?)

Remisolleke: Thank you! Here is another, speedy update that I have written in a single sitting (how sad). You are the only person to have reviewed before the uploading of this chapter. Therefore, I shall dedicate this chapter to you :)
You go, you internet addict! ;)

Disclaimer: Still no Ben 10 (or exam study)

Ben opened his eyes to darkness. Dazed and confused, he tried to remember the events that led to him now being located in some unknown place. The alien. He had come across some kind of alien and they had fought. He remembered some kind of smoke bomb, then nothing.

It was with increasing anxiety that he raised his head and glanced around, trying to determine the situation. He was alive; that was one thing. He wasn't sure why, but at that point he was grateful. Judging from the numb pain in his arms, Ben figured they were tied above his head. He was sitting on the cold concrete ground and there was a noticeable chill in the air. Looking up, he couldn't see the sky or the stars, so he figured he had to be inside somewhere.

As his eyes adjusted to the light (or lack of), Ben noticed a small window high above opposite of where he was sitting. Light from nearby street lights filtered through, illuminating a small section of the room. There were a number of empty boxes scattered around the place and randomly placed pieces of busted machinery. I must be in some kind of factory, Ben concluded.

Having his hands tied above him and out of site, Ben had no way of knowing if the alien had been able to remove the Ultimatrix nor was he able to fish around in his pockets for his phone. He was completely helpless.

Ben was vaguely aware of the slight hunger he was feeling, suggesting he had been there for a couple of hours. Then again, he was a teenager, which meant it might have only been twenty minutes. Nevertheless, he was willing to settle on the idea that it had been a few hours.

Even with his newfound understanding of the situation, he was still panicky and so it came as no surprise that he flinched when footsteps made themselves known as they headed in his direction.

Ben gazed to the side as a tall, reptilian figure emerged from the shadows.

"So, you're awake," the figure said monotonously.

"Who are you? What do you want?" Ben snapped, sounding far more confident than he felt.

"That is of no importance."

Where have I heard that before, Ben thought sarcastically.

"What I want is for you to tell me how to use that watch of yours. I got a nasty shock when I tried to force it to reveal its secrets."

"Forget it! I'm not giving you the Ultimatrix!"

The alien gave an expression of being hurt. "I do not seek how to use it so that I may take it from you. No, when it is time for me to return to my master, I will simply cut it from your arm."

Ben felt chills run down his spine. It wasn't the first time that his enemies had threatened to cut off his arm, but there was something about this one that really unsettled him. Was it the fact that he was tied, unable to move and completely at the alien's mercy? Or was it the air that the alien gave off; as if he would do the deed without a second thought? Both, Ben decided. It was definitely both.

"I have been able to successfully scan you, but in order to pull off this plan, I require the signature of at least one or two of the beings that device enables you to turn into," he continued, completely unaware of the storm of emotions going on inside the teenager's mind. "So, either you tell me how to use it, or I'll simply cut it off now and figure it out for myself. Honestly, the latter sounds like the more convenient option, however I still have use of you; can't have you dying from blood loss before I'm done, can I?"

Another chill. The way the alien was able to speak of these things while maintaining a straight face was more unnerving than the whole concept of having his hand cut off and dying of blood loss.

"I won't tell you anything," Ben said defiantly.

"Pity," the alien pouted and pulled out a small wallet. He flipped it open and looked down at it. "This photo," he sneered. "Could it be that this is your mate? It would be such a pity if something were to happen to her."

Ben glared at the alien.

"And this," he pulled out Ben's driver's license and held it up. "I believe this card gives me the details of your home address. Considering your age, and general human behaviour, I am led to believe that it is likely you still live with your family. I'd hate for something terrible to happen to them." His face split into a wicked grin upon seeing the expression his rant had put on his captive's face.

"Don't you dare lay a finger on them!"

"Tell me what I wish to know and I won't have to."

Ben thought long and hard. Revealing the instructions to use the Ultimatrix to an obvious psychopath was not a great idea, but he couldn't let his stubborn heroism be the cause of any harm to the people he cared about. If he did tell the alien how to the Ultimatrix, he might transform Ben into one of his aliens, giving him an opportunity to escape.

"Fine," he murmured submissively. "Press the button, turn the dial and then slam it down," he instructed in an almost inaudible voice but it was enough for the alien to understand.

Unaware of the plan Ben was forming in his mind, the alien reached out and followed the instructions he had been given. There was a flash of green as Ben was transformed into Spidermonkey.

As soon as the glow subsided, Spidermonkey began pulling on the restraints that bound his top pair of arms. While he tugged, he lifted his tail and shot a web at the alien. The alien, seemingly having expected this, easily stepped out of the line of fire and grinned to himself.

Not perturbed, Spidermonkey continued yanking on his bonds. A sudden jolt of high voltage electricity flooded through his body, burning him from the inside. He cried out in agony from the sudden attack, falling limp once it had subsided. The alien had planned for this.

"I admire your courage," the alien pulled out the white mask Ben had seen before he passed out and held it up in front of the blue monkey alien. "But you will not be escaping from here."

Spidermonkey looked up as a beam shot out from the blank eyes of the mask and scanned his body. He didn't feel a thing, yet found the whole process disturbing.

Once the beam had disappeared, the alien stepped forwards once again and pressed the Ultimatrix symbol in the centre of Spidermonkey's chest. Spidermonkey tried to raise his second set of arms to defend against the alien, but the electric jolt seemed to have paralyzed him. There was another flash of green as Ben transformed from Spidermonkey into Lodestar.

Lodestar knew that he would have an advantage in this form. If he were to be jolted by electricity this time, it probably wouldn't do much. However, as things were, he couldn't even raise his head let alone summon the strength to fight against his bonds.

The scanning process of the mask repeated before the alien once again pressed the symbol, reverting Ben back to his human form.

"Hmm, not a hard device to use," the alien smiled with contempt as he raised the white mask over his own face. The was a moment of stillness before the masked alien morphed into an identical copy of Ben – green jacket and all. "Unfortunately, the copy feature does not provide me with additional devices," he bent down and snatched Ben's phone and keys from his jacket pocket, "such as your primitive human technology."

Ben would have been very unnerved that the alien had turned into him, complete with his voice, if it weren't for the fact that he was in shock. The device he used must have been some kind of ID mask like the one Kevin used a few years ago.

"I hear you humans aren't very resilient; you can only last a few days without water and not much longer without food. Not to mention your very unstable health patterns and susceptibility to even minor changes in environment."

Ben looked at the other him with indignation.

"But don't worry," the alien said in mock reassurance, "I'll make sure to remember to come back and feed you every now and then."

With a shrill laugh, the alien turned and disappeared back into the shadows.

Ben pulled his legs up to his chest and rested his head on his knees. It did little to protect him against the increasing cold, but it did provide a small sense of comfort, as crazy as that was. He was alone, cold and hungry, completely helpless to do anything while an imposter went to take his place. What concerned him the most was not knowing what the alien wanted. Judging by his reaction to the Ultimatrix, he had no idea who Ben was or what the device was designed for. That was something, at least…right?

"Hello?" Gwen held her phone to her ear, nestled between her shoulder and her head while she continued to scan the pages of her textbook.

"Hey, Gwen," it was Kevin.

"Hey," she put down her book and held the phone with her hand. "How'd it go?"

"Uh, not how I'd planned it, but I did get a little information out of him."

"Yeah? What did he say?"

"He said that he was having nightmares, but that he had dealt with them and they weren't a problem anymore."

"Nightmares about what?" she asked with concern.

"Dunno; he wouldn't say."

"Hmm…that doesn't really help us, but it might prove useful if we can get more information out of him. I'll go see him tomorrow and see if I can get anything else out of him."

"Are you sure that's such a good idea?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, it was me he spoke to. He might not be so willing to talk if he knew that I was relaying information."

"Surely he would already have known that you would be doing that."

There was a pause. "Yeah, alright. I'll talk to you later."

"Good night, Kevin."

"Night."

Gwen hung up her phone and placed it down beside her books. So Ben had been having nightmares…he had also tried to talk to Julie, hadn't he? Maybe she could convince Julie to try and talk to him. If Ben would be willing to talk to anyone, it would be her.

With a plan for the next day in mind, Gwen returned her focus to the homework before her.

Retkar had no trouble locating the house that his captive's identification card suggested he lived in. From the outside, he could see no lights on and assumed that there was either nobody home or they were already asleep. Feeling extra cautious, he pulled out the small ring of keys he had taken from the human and tried them all until one was able to fit into the lock. The door gave a small click before opening inwards.

Retkar stepped inside and looked around. It was a very different idea of what a home should be when compared to the dwellings of his own species, but he wasn't unhappy. It obviously suited a human's preferences and so it would have to suit him, too.

Without turning on any of the lights, Retkar silently moved through the house, slowly opening any door he came across and peering around corners to determine where everything was and that he was truly alone.

Eventually he came across a small bedroom that undoubtedly belonged to the boy. He rummaged around as he pleased, learning whatever he could from the human's belongings. It soon became apparent that he participated in some kind of Earth sport ('soccer', whatever that was) and, judging from the large pile of medals flooding the floor of the wardrobe, he was very good at his job as an intergalactic peace keeper. Pulling off this persona might be harder than he was expecting.

Seeing nothing better to do, Retkar lay down on the bed and did his best to get some sleep; he had a feeling he was going to need it.

Retkar was rudely awoken by some kind of blaring alarm. He sat bolt upright in shock as he quickly looked around the room, his eyes finally resting on the small digital clock perched on the small table beside the bed. He fumbled around, pressing the first button he could find, hoping that it would shut off the infernal noise. He sighed with relief when the noise finally went silent.

This was obviously some kind of device designed to wake the humans at a particular time; but what was it that the boy he was supposed to be impersonating was needing to do?

Unable to figure out what was so important that a human would want to awaken themselves in such a way, Retkar opted for keeping a low profile; meaning staying inside the house trying to figure out what it was that humans do with their short lives.

Despite this, his plan fell to pieces when the small electronic device he had taken from the human started to make just as big a racket as the clock had. This was easier to work out, however. Retkar held the device up in front of him and examined it. The small screen displayed a small message 'incoming call from: Gwen' and there were only two options available: 'accept' or 'decline'.

Thinking it would suspicious if he were to decline, he pressed the button closest to the 'accept' option. Retkar stared at the device for a moment before another sound came from the small speaker above the screen.

"Hello? Ben? Are you there?"

It must be some sort of communication device. Retkar held the phone to his ear so as to hear the voice better. "Hello?" he said warily.

"Ben! Geez, what were you doing?"

Retkar wasn't sure how to respond. He couldn't very well say that he had been trying to figure out how to use the device.

"Never mind," the female voice, apparently Gwen, saved him. "Have you left for school yet?"

"No." School? Was it like the places of learning for the young back on his home planet?

"Good. Wait there, I'm coming with Kevin. We'll give you a lift."

Ben opened his eyes to find he was still in the warehouse he had been in the previous night. Judging from the brightness of the decrepit building, it was now daytime. He must have fallen asleep. He was now much hungrier than he was earlier and his throat was dry. He hoped that the alien would come back soon; he wasn't sure how long he could hold his bladder.

He could no longer feel his arms and he wasn't going to risk trying to fight against the restraints again. He was glad that the paralysis had worn off and he now had full use of his body again. Maybe, if he was lucky, someone would come into the building and find him. Then he could hurry home and warn everybody. If only Syvux hadn't gone into hiding.

With a sigh, Ben rested his head against the wall he was sitting against and shut his eyes. Maybe he would be able to get back to sleep instead of worrying about the situation; there was nothing he could do at that point in time, anyway.

Gwen smiled to her cousin from her seat in the front of Kevin's car as she watching him walk up the path and slide into the back seat. His hair was a mess and his clothes were disheveled. It honestly looked like he had just gotten out of bed.

"Good morning, Ben," she greeted.

"Uh, good morning," he replied, a hint of uncertainty in his voice.

"Hey, Tennyson," Kevin said, looking at Ben through the rear-view mirror. "Where's your bag?"

"Huh?" Ben looked down at his lap, noting the absence of any form of bag with him. "Oh," he clambered out of the car and headed back up to the house, disappearing inside. He re-emerged a few moments later with his bag slung over his shoulder.

"You should really make yourself more presentable," Gwen said pointedly as Kevin pushed the gear into drive and drove the car down the road.

"Right," Ben quickly ran a hand through his hair a few times and shifted his jacket so that it was sitting squarely on his shoulders.

Gwen felt that something was off about him, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. He seemed almost out of it. Like he hadn't gotten enough sleep.

"Are you okay?" she asked. "Did you not sleep well?"

"The alarm scared me," Ben replied.

Kevin gave a quick laugh. "Does that to me, too, sometimes."

Retkar sat nervously in the back of the teen called Kevin's car, hoping that he was doing a convincing enough job to fool the two humans. They were clearly close with Ben Tennyson, so it would be around these two that he would have to be most on guard.

The duration of the trip had been in near silence. They had asked a question once in a while or started discussing something that he, being Ben, was supposed to know everything about.

The biggest problem he had was when they started talking about nightmares.

"So, Ben," the female, Gwen, began slowly. "Kevin said you were having nightmares a while back.

Retkar wasn't really sure how to respond to that so he sat in silence. This seemed to suit Gwen just fine, as after a short pause she continued talking.

"What were they about? I know I'm prying, but I just want to help; they might have something to do with those incidents."

Again, Retkar was unsure on how to continue, but he knew he couldn't just stay silent this time. She was expecting an answer. He knew he should have gotten more information out of the boy and he made a note to do so whenever he next got the chance.

"Uh…" he thought hard, trying to come up with something believable. "You know; usual nightmare stuff."

Gwen obviously wasn't buying this. "What's 'usual nightmare stuff'?"

"Um, well…to be honest…I don't really remember," he hoped that was a story that she would accept. Judging from the look on her face, she didn't.

"Well, try to remember, okay? It might be an important clue to figuring out what's going on with you."

"Nothing's going on!" he couldn't stop himself. He had instinctively thought that she was suspecting him as being an imposter. He had never been very good at the whole 'disguise and blend in' thing, he was more of an action, all out attack kind of soldier.

But, to his relief, Kevin said, "you keep saying that. But, with everything that's happened this month, we're finding it hard to believe."

Thankfully, the two humans dropped the subject after that. The vehicle eventually stopped outside some kind of large building.

"Here you go, Tennyson," Kevin said, turning in his seat to look at him. "I'll pick you up later."

"Bye," Retkar grabbed the bag on the seat next to him and stepped out of the car. "Thanks for the ride."