Chapter 138: Insidious Seven Reborn: Part One

Disclaimer: I Don't Own Ben 10 Or Any Of The Characters

Disclaimer: I Don't Own The Rights To Nathan Black Or Any Associated Characters, The Rights Go To annihalator2015

Author's Note:

* Hello and welcome to Chapter One Hundred and Thirty Eight.

* I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. Anyway, let's get into it.

Earth-Prime

Monday, January 28th, 2019

The Tennyson House

Ben

After a long day, in which I struggled to take down a mech and failed to get back to school in time to take my test, I was lying on the bed in our bedroom, ready to just turn in for the night.

"So, how did it go?" Gwen asked as she walked into the room after getting out of the shower.

I let out a sigh as I sat up a little bit.

"I think you know how it went. I took the thing down, but I missed my test. I missed the whole class, actually!"

She shrugged.

"That's a small price to pay for saving the city." She replied.

"My Mom wouldn't like that interpretation."

"Hmm." She said as she moved to lay in bed with me. "I suppose you're right."

I let out another sigh as I laid my head down on my pillow with my arms crossed behind my head. I eventually cleared my throat, breaking the silence between us.

"Hey, let me ask you something."

"What's that?"

I turned over on the bed to look at her.

"How would you feel about my ex-girlfriend, Kai, coming to sit with us at lunch?"

She just stared at me.

"Do you expect me to say, 'absolutely not'?"

"She seems to think that you really don't like her."

She didn't say anything at first.

"I think I'm okay with her. I think after what she did for you, which she had no obligation to help you, that she deserves a second chance."

"So do I, but she seems to think that she doesn't deserve for me to give her the time of day."

"Is there anything else?"

I nodded.

"She saved my life, so there's obviously some good in her. And I feel obligated to help her see that, whatever it takes."

"That's not a terrible idea. Sure, invite her to sit with us at lunch. Getting along with other people for a change can only do her some good."

I nodded as I rolled back over onto my back.

Already have, I thought.

The Next Day – Tuesday, January 29th, 2019

Madison High School

Once I got to school, I was surprised when Kai almost immediately found me.

"Hey." She said while I was searching through my locker like I had done yesterday morning.

I turned to look over my shoulder, to see Kai standing behind me.

"Oh, hey." I said as I turned to face her. "How's it going?"

"It's alright, I guess. You weren't at the lunch table with your friends yesterday."

"Yeah." I muttered as I scratched the back of my neck. "I kind of had a thing yesterday."

She nodded.

"I know. I saw the news. How did that work out for you?"

"Not great."

"Well, I'm sorry."

After that, both of us stood in an awkward silence for about half a minute, maybe less than that. Eventually, I broke the silence between us.

"What are we doing here, Kai?"

She blinked.

"What?" she asked with confusion.

"What are we talking about? I feel like you came to me with a specific topic in mind and you're doing your damnedest to avoid it!"

She looked sort of embarrassed after I said that, prompting her to look down at the floor.

"Kai, what is it?"

A few seconds later, she looked back up.

"I just wanted to tell you that I appreciate you wanting to help, but I must insist that you leave me alone now. I don't need your help. I'm a big girl and I can figure things out for myself. Goodbye, Ben."

She then turned and began to walk away. But I wasn't going to let her get away.

"Hey, hey, hey!" I said as I reached out and gently grabbed her right hand. "Now wait a minute!"

Man, Gwen may be jealous if she saw how I care for Kai, I thought.

She jerked around as I grabbed her hand, looking at me with an angered look.

"Let go of me, damn you!" she snapped as she tried to pull out of my grasp. "I don't want your help, Tennyson!"

There she goes, reverting back to being "bitchy Kai", I thought.

"Easy, Kai!" I said, maintaining my hold on her for a few seconds. "Just relax, okay? You do want my help, you may not tell me, but I don't need you to! You don't have the confidence in yourself to be a better person! That's why you snapped at me. If you did have the confidence, you would've let me down in a calm manner."

She looked at me with an annoyed glance.

"Why do you care so much?"

"Just relax a little bit!"

I let out a sigh as I finally let go of her, but she still looked at me with an annoyed gaze. However, she remained silent.

"I want to help you and I care so much, because I think you're being a bit unfair with yourself. If you don't try to talk to people, you won't make any progress!"

"What's your point?"

Wow, she really hanging on to this being mean thing, I thought.

You're not really doing a very good job at this "wanting to help people" thing, a voice spoke in my head.

Shut up.

"Hello?" Kai spoke, as she snapped her fingers in front of my face. "Ben!"

I shook my head, purging the voices from my mind.

"Sorry, I was deep in thought. My point is this: at least let me try to help you! Just come have lunch with me and my friends at least once! If you like it, fine. If you don't like it, fine. I won't ever ask about it again and I'll leave you alone."

"Fine! Can I go now? Sir?"

I resisted the urge to chuckle as I waved her away.

"On your way."

She turned away from me and I watched her go, before realizing myself that it was time for first period.

A Few Hours Later

Lunchtime had rolled around, where Kai and I were standing just outside of the cafeteria. She was just looking at the table that I sat at, before she looked at me.

"There are so many people at that table!" she complained.

I nodded.

"Yeah. And they're my friends. And you're going to sit with us today."

She just looked at me with a blank expression for a few seconds, before she began to shake her head.

"No, there's just too many people. I'm sorry, I can't do it."

She attempted to begin walking away, but I put my hand on her shoulder, stopping her in her tracks.

"Ah-ah-ah." I tutted. "You said that you'd try. People can be scary sometimes, Kai. I'll give you that. But if you won't get help if you don't want to help yourself. Does that make sense?"

She continued looking at me, as the blank look became an annoyed one. She yanked away from my grasp.

"I hate you, you know that?" she asked as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Why don't you give this a shot before you decide that you hate me, okay? Come on. Let's go."

I walked with her ahead of me into the cafeteria and toward my table. We finally came to a stop as we stood behind Gwen's seat at the table. I cleared my throat, causing everyone to look up at me.

"Hey guys, this is my ex-girlfriend, Kai." I said as I patted her head, earning a gasp of embarrassment from her. "Because of reasons I won't reveal for her sake, she's trying to better herself. So, as a starting point, she's going to sit with us today."

Kai let out a groan of annoyance.

"Hey, I can speak for myself!" she replied, sounding so defeated. "I'm not five!"

That caused me to chuckle, along with J.T. and Cash. After the chuckling subsided, Cash spoke.

"Hey man, correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't she cheat on you last year?"

I held up my hand with disgust.

"Please. The past is the past. Let's keep it that way. Kai, don't be offended by what my friend says. Please, sit down."

And so, she did as I said. While I sat down next to Gwen, she sat down at the far end, directly across the table from Nathan. The look on her face told me that she was very uncomfortable with her current situation. Nathan interlaced his fingers and held them to his face, staring intently at Kai.

"Hmmm. You're a flurry of emotions, right now. Calm down, otherwise you might have a panic attack."

His voice was low, and he hadn't spoken since he had arrived in the cafeteria, so everyone jumped a little when he suddenly spoke. I decided to take the reins on this one.

"Are you just naturally good at reading people, Nathan?" I asked. "It's clear to me that she's nervous and uncomfortable about this, but you make it sound like there's more to it than that."

Nathan let out a low chuckle.

"You get good at reading body language and people's faces when you're the new kid on the block, and plenty of people want to take a swing at you just to show you who's in charge."

Nathan stretched out before resting his arms on the table.

"She's shifting in her seat, ever so slightly. She's constantly staring down, trying not to stare at anyone directly. Right now, she's keeping all of her emotions bottled up, and she doesn't look like she's letting them go anytime soon. The slightest loud noises are making her jump a tiny bit, she's not used to sitting with people, she's used to being around them, but not engaging multiple people at once, especially when she doesn't know most of them."

Well, that was a mouthful. Sure, everything you said is correct, but she wasn't always like this. You don't know her like I did, Nathan.

As Nathan finished explaining to me, before he turned his attention to Kai.

"Hey, mind looking at me for a moment, please?" he asked in a calm voice.

Kai snapped her head up and looked at Nathan.

"Huh?" she asked in a small voice.

He gave her a small smile, then glanced to his left and right before he leaned in slightly and began to whisper.

"If you're nervous, just do what I do, and imagine everyone in the room doing the goofiest things you can imagine. Always puts me at ease."

He probably was whispering just loud enough for her to hear, but because of my enhanced sense of hearing, I heard it as clear as day. I would imagine that Albedo had heard it, too. The kind smile remained on Nathan's voice as he finished speaking, before turning his attention to his food. Kai responded by giggling and choking on her laughter, as if she were struggling to keep from bursting out into laugher altogether.

"Right, calm! Okay, I am calm."

You don't sound calm, I thought.

"What did you say to her?" Gwen asked.

"Don't worry about it." I interjected. "That's none of our business."

Before anyone else could speak, J.T. spoke up.

"Hey, no one's going to lash out and bite you, Kai. We're all friendly. There's no reason to be nervous."

She looked back at him, with an evident nervous nod.

"Okay, sure. Friendly. You got it."

"Exactly, so, give her some time to get used to hanging around us. Better not to overwhelm the lass immediately, yeah?" Nathan spoke. "Though, Kai, I will say that some time in the future, I'd like to talk to you about something. You won't have to worry about it happening soon, but just letting you know that it will happen."

Nathan's voice was kind at first, before taking on a somewhat kind, but even and focused tone when he turned his attention to Kai. It was the kind of tone that made you focus on the words, and how they were spoken, not turning your attention away from who was speaking, though it was certainly not threatening in any way. Kai herself looked nervous once again.

Nathan, you've only known Kai for a few minutes. What is so important that you need to talk to her in private about?

Nathan suddenly turned to face me, before speaking again.

"I almost forgot something, Tennyson, remember when we spoke at your place? I never gave you my number, so you could contact me, did I?"

He dug into his pocket and pulled out his phone, bringing up his number before handing it to me.

"Thanks." I said, him nodding without a word.

I set it down in front of me and logged his contact information into my phone.

I guess it's okay to have his number? But this is so sudden, when we're just trying to have a casual lunch hangout. I wonder if there's something he needs to talk to me about? Why not just give me his number in private? Whatever, I'm probably just looking too far into it.

"Here." I said as I handed his phone back to him, past Gwen. "So, you've been here for about a month now, right? How are you liking Madison High, Nathan? You obviously won't be here for long, but it's important to be okay with the facility you're studying in."

"Well it's true, it'll be a few more months now until I'm out of here. But I've enjoyed the time I've spent here, even if it's not been altogether pleasant. For the most part, the students are nice, though most of them still tend to avoid me, but ever since the incident, they've warmed up to me slightly."

Ah, the incident. The incident, as in, when Ken came to the school looking to murder me. Good times.

"Teachers are nice, some of them pretty cool. Studies aren't that difficult, and thankfully they don't pile homework on you like some of the other schools I've been in did."

Nathan leaned back, eyes closed as if he were in deep thought for a few moments.

"No idea what I'm going to do once I finish though, might go to college and get a degree in metal working, open up a shop one day and make tools, or try and set up a gun manufacturing business and get myself a contract. Money would be good, though I'd certainly be small, perhaps making custom armaments instead of mass producing them like other companies do."

Before he could continue, however, Kai spoke up.

"The incident? Is that what we're going to call it?"

"For right now, yes. The media is calling it a terrorist attack. But I know terrorists, and something like this wouldn't work well enough for their goals. So for right now, it's known as the incident. Better that way, best to not make people afraid, yeah?"

"Gun manufacturing sounds cool." J.T. added before Nathan went on.

He chuckled and shrugged.

"But I won't know what I want to do until I'm out. So for now, it's all a pipe dream. What about you though, Tennyson? You have any thoughts about what you'll do when you're finished with high school?"

I let out a sigh.

"College is probably on my path, too. I don't know if you've fully decided, but I think I should go. I'll work my way through Bellwood Community College, before transferring to the Downtown Bellwood University later. Who knows? Maybe I'll go with computer programming or video game development. It would be cool to work at Microsoft, but if I can't get in there, I might settle for making my own small development company."

"What about the military?" Cash asked.

That seemed to make both Nathan and I perk up. I looked at Cash, as he awaited an answer. I finally shook my head.

"No, the only way I'll serve is if I get drafted into a war. I just can't see myself serving in the Marines, Army or whatever."

I turned to look at Nathan now.

"Nathan, no offense to your father's memory, I'm sure he did great things in his time with the military, but that's just not me. I love my country, but I don't know if I'd be ready to pick up a weapon and potentially die for it."

Nathan put up one hand, signaling for me to stop.

"I understand, it's not for everyone. Normally, I would join, but I'd like to work close to home, and for much better pay as well. A military pension really isn't all that great, would be better if they doubled it, but that ain't happening. So I'll get a job here, and owning and running a metal working shop would be a lot more profitable, especially when you do custom jobs, your reputation as a rock solid business will rise as people want to know where they got their tools from."

He let out a sigh as he steepled his fingers together.

"It's probably not the vocation my father would've wanted for me, but I believe he'd still be proud of my choice, and support it."

"I'm sure he would be." Sunny said, earning a nod out of Albedo.

Nathan returned that nod, before directing his attention back at me.

"Anyway Tennyson, if I decide to make weapons, you could make electronic gadgets for them. Could increase the profits for both companies should you branch out. I'm not that great with tech, but when it comes to building complex tools, I'm damn good at what I do, given enough time at least."

I shrugged.

"I'll give it some thought."

I was in silence for a few seconds, before I put my arm around Gwen, which surprised her.

"I don't really care what I do, as long as she's with me every step of the way."

She turned to look at me.

"You know I will." She said, as she kissed my cheek.

Nathan cleared his throat as I retracted my arm.

"What about the rest of you, any ideas about what you'll do?"

Everyone was in silence and it seemed as though no one had an idea of what to say. But then, Kai spoke up, as she looked at the table's surface and avoided eye contact with us.

"I haven't really given my future much thought lately."

Once she finished her sentence, the bell rang, signaling the end of our lunch period.

"Well that's alright, Kai. Not everyone does, but if you want I can help. There are a number of things you could do depending on what you're good at. An example is that you could become a professor, teaching history if you're interested about it. All sorts of things are available, depending on your skill set and preferences." Nathan said as he smiled at her, before standing up. "Anyways, I've got to get to class, see you guys later."

As Nathan left the lunch table, everyone else followed suit. I didn't have time to ask Kai where she stood with sitting with us, now that she'd tried it, so I guess it would have to wait until later.

The Tennyson House

Later That Night

Gwen and I were sitting downstairs on the couch, talking while Sunny and Albedo were upstairs.

"So, today went well." She said. "You know, having Kai at our table?"

"I think so?" I replied. "Nathan was really nice towards her, but I don't know if that changes how she feels about me wanting to help her."

Before either of us could say anything, I began to hear something akin to a hissing sound. Along with that, a pale green cloud of mist was beginning to accumulate just above the floor. Soon thereafter, the pale green cloud of mist changed to a bright green and it began to form into a vortex.

I'm pretty sure I've seen this before, I thought to myself.

My thoughts were confirmed once Old Man Ben and another Ben stepped through the vortex, which was obviously a portal. Gwen let out a sigh.

"Well, I guess you're needed off-world again."

Old Man Ben shot a grin my way.

"Hey, kid. How've you been doing?"

"I've been better. But let's not talk about me. What can I do for you?"

"Well, our buddy WWII Ben here wants to talk to us about something."

I eyed the other Ben that was with him.

"You know, I still find it hard to recognize you without those aviator goggles of yours."

"That's fine, as long as you're aware of who I am."

"Of course. So, what do you need to talk about?"

He shook his head.

"Not here. You'll have to come with us."

"Um, okay." I said as I stood up. "Whatever you say."

"Can I come?" Gwen piped up.

WWII Ben shook his head again.

"Sorry, this beast is too complicated. I don't want to reveal it to so many people yet."

She let out a sigh of disappointment.

"I'm sorry." He apologized. "It's just what I have to say is so big, that I want to limit who I tell about it."

"I understand."

I turned to look at her.

"I'll go with them, Gwen. Hopefully, I won't be gone for long. I know Mom doesn't really understand the whole multiverse thing, but will you please explain to her?"

She nodded.

"Of course. I'll let her know."

"Thank you." I said as I leaned down to kiss her. "I love you."

"I love you, too." She replied after returning the kiss.

Once I pulled away, I stood up straight and turned around to face them.

"Let's go." I replied.

All three of us walked through the portal without any words.

Earth-21 (Old Man Ben's Dimension)

The Bunker

We emerged on the other side, in the Bunker on Old Man Ben's Earth. I turned to look at Old Man Ben and WWII Ben.

"So, what do we have to talk about?" I asked.

"Hold on a second." Old Man Ben replied as he walked forward into the laboratory. "Albedo, I need you to clear out of here for a while."

I looked ahead and I now noticed that Old Man Albedo was at the other end of the laboratory, working on something.

"Hmm?" he grunted as he looked up at us with an annoyed glance.

Once he saw me, his gaze brightened.

"Ah, Young Man Ben! What a..." Old Man Albedo began to speak, but cut himself off as he began to cough.

He used on of his hands to grab the table that he was standing at, gripping the edge of it so hard that his knuckles began to turn white, while he used his other arm to cough into his elbow. He put up one of his fingers, signaling for us to wait, as the coughing began to subside, as quickly as it had started.

"...pleasure to see you again." He finished his sentence after recovering.

Old Man Ben seemed worried and for good reason.

"Albedo, are you doing alright?"

Old Man Albedo nodded.

"I'll be fine, brother. I think I'm coming down with a cold, but I'll be fine."

Old Man Ben seemed to accept that, as he dropped it and changed the subject.

"Albedo, I need you to leave the premises for a while. And make sure that no one else tries to enter this area."

He didn't seem to have a problem with this, as he nodded.

"Okay. Just let me know when I can get back to work."

Old Man Ben nodded and his brother left the room without another word. Once he had left, Old Man Ben turned to WWII Ben and I.

"Okay, kid. You have our attention. What is it that you wanted to tell us?"

"You remember how I mentioned during our last visit that I assassinated Hitler in my universe? Well, I left out a huge detail. And I'm finally ready to talk about it."

"Well, alright." I said. "Let's hear it, dude."

"You may think that it sounds pretty complicated."

"Kid, we've seen a lot of crazy stuff." Old Man Ben cut in. "Hit us."

He let out a sigh before he continued to speak.

Earth-852

Castle Wolfenstein

WWII Ben

It was the day that I assassinated Nazi Germany's Fuhrer: Saturday, May 12th, 1984. I had just killed him in his sleep. It wasn't easy to sneak into his private chamber undetected, but I got it done. Well, I was getting ready to escape the Castle, hopefully undetected, but something I could have never foreseen happened before I could do that.

I had been running for a while and seeing as the corridor was empty, I came to a temporary stop to catch my breath.

"I have to get out of here, before they catch on about what happened." I whispered to myself. "If the alarm is raised, the Morimoto Twins will no doubt come after me, and I'm not sure I can handle them."

The Morimoto Twins. They were twin, female ninjas from Japan. The then leader of Imperial Japan offered up his best fighters to The Third Reich and they became Adolf Hitler's personal bodyguards.

As I was standing there, my train of thought was interrupted.

"I have been waiting for you." someone said.

I whirled around to my left, to see a man in a Nazi uniform standing a few feet away from me, with blonde hair and blue eyes. His look checked out. It was the typical Nazi uniform that you would think of, with the red band with the swastika on their arm. However, their weapon didn't check out.

He was carrying an MP-40. The MP-40 hasn't been standard issue for The Third Reich for decades. It hadn't been ever since the Laserpistole-40 (or the LP-40) was mass produced, making the MP-40 obsolete. So, seeing this officer carrying an MP-40 in the 1980s was a bit off-putting. As I looked him over, I noticed him begin to approach.

"I cannot allow you to escape." He said in a cold voice. "I must complete my mission."

I lifted my laser rifle to fire at him, but he was faster. He grabbed me by the throat and lifted me off of the ground.

"Goodbye, American." He said, as he pointed the barrel of his gun toward my face.

He didn't fire right away, which gave me an opportunity. I hefted my laser rifle, pointed it at his face and fired. I was surprised when the laser discharge at point blank range didn't knock him down. It just forced his head back and to his right a little bit, so that I could no longer see part of his face. And then he began turning to look at me once more. And half of his face was... gone.

It was just gone. Instead of skin, it was like I was looking at his skull beneath the skin! But instead of a skull made out of bone, it looked like it was metal! Metal skull and I could have sworn I saw the top of a metal tooth, as well. But the most off-putting thing was his eye. Or rather, the glowing purple light that resided where his eye should have been. I was freaking out about what I was seeing.

But, I didn't have much time to process it. There was a flash of purple light, as I felt myself being dropped back onto the ground. Once the purple light subsided, I saw that the Nazi officer—or whatever he was—was gone. And I was left trying to understand what I had just witnessed.

Ben

Present Day

"Now, I know that what I'm saying sounds crazy," WWII Ben spoke as he finished his story. "But I know what I saw. I saw it. I swear it."

Old Man Ben and I exchanged glances. I could tell that we were thinking the same thing.

"Well, who knew that Skynet would become a real threat?" he asked.

"Well, maybe it's only a thing from his dimension." I stated before I turned to WWII Ben. "I'm sorry man, but what kind of Terminator bullshit are you talking about?"

WWII Ben gazed back at me with confusion.

"What's Skynet?" he asked. "And what's a Terminator?"

I let out a sigh.

"Oh, right. I forgot that there's a lot of differences between our dimensions."

He still looked confused, but I dismissed that fact. I turned back to Old Man Ben.

"What do you think?" I asked.

"What do I think?" he asked. "I think that it sounds very farfetched. There's no way to know if he's telling the truth."

"Well, you're right about there being no way of knowing if he's truthful. But you said it sounds farfetched."

"It does."

"Listen to yourself. We know that the multiverse exists. There is a version of us out there who is basically a rip off of Deadpool. No fucking way are you telling me that this is impossible."

"We don't talk about that one."

"You just ignored my question! Do you really mean to tell me that it isn't possible?"

"Okay. If you think it's plausible, how do we prove that it could really have happened?"

I considered the question.

"The only way to prove it—I feel like—would for us to be there ourselves!" he continued.

No, there was another way, I thought.

I let out a sigh before I spoke out loud.

"Professor Paradox, if you can hear me, please make yourself known!"

As I expected, nothing but silence. After several seconds of silence, however, I spoke again.

"I guess he's not coming."

After I had said that, I was proven wrong.

"Honestly, Ben. If you would wait for just a few more seconds, I'd get back to you!"

A few seconds later, Professor Paradox appeared in the room with us, wearing his trademark lab coat.

"Well, well, well." Old Man Ben replied. "What a pleasure to see you again."

Professor Paradox didn't respond, so I turned to look at him.

"Professor, is there anything in the timeline about a killer robot trying to kill our friend WWII Ben here during his mission?"

He shook his head.

"No. The Sacred Text offers no references to such an event."

"Well, I guess that wraps this up." Old Man Ben replied. "You didn't see anything, kid. You just think you did."

"I did see something, Old Man Ben! I'm not making this up! Do you actually think that I...?"

I turned to look at both of the arguing Bens.

"Guys, hold it for just a second. Let's not jump to conclusions right away."

I turned back to the Professor.

"Professor, could you at least look at The Sacred Text to confirm this?"

He didn't look amused.

"Why would I do that? I just told you that the event doesn't exist! It would be a waste of time!"

"Please! Just try it!"

He let out a sigh of annoyance. He took out his staff and waved it around a little bit, as it began to glow. Eventually the big brown book appeared, levitating above the ground in front of him. The book opened by itself and the pages began flipping on their own. The pages eventually stopped flipping and after a few seconds of him reading, the Professor spoke.

"Interesting. Very interesting."

Now I was curious.

"What?" I asked. "What is it?"

"It appears... The date was May 12th, 1984, correct?"

"That's right." WWII Ben replied.

"Well, there's nothing here." The Professor continued.

"You mean there's no reference to the event that WWII Ben spoke about?"

"No, I mean there's nothing here. Nothing. There's no written event of any kind."

"Is that normal?"

He shook his head.

"No, it's not. Every date has an event to its name, some dates have multiple events, even as insignificant as they could be."

"Can you at least remember what the event of that date was?"

"Of course, I remember! I've memorized every event in the book! I can... Wait, no. I can't remember! I can remember every other event except for that one!"

"Professor, just calm down. Is it possible that someone could have manipulated the timeline? Wrote that event out of..."

"No, that's impossible." He interrupted me. "No one can manipulate the timeline but me. If there was another time walker in the universe, I would know."

"No, I get that. But if you really can't remember that event and there is no event to that date now, then who's to say that the timeline really hasn't been rewritten? And you're not the one who did it, to boot!"

"It can't be possible. It just... No. I refuse to believe such a statement."

"Look, it's just my opinion! No one's saying that you have to believe it."

"Well, your opinion is wrong. Now, if you're done with the questions, I would very much like to return to my work. Good day!"

And just like that, he disappeared just as quickly as he had appeared, taking The Sacred Text and his staff with him. After he was gone, I turned to Old Man Ben.

"Well? What do you think?"

"I think that it's possible that someone is meddling with the timeline." He said, before turning to WWII Ben. "I think that it's possible that you really saw what you have claimed to see."

"That's it?" the Ben in question asked. "You 'think' that it's possible?"

"What do you want from us?" I asked.

"I don't know. I guess I was just hoping for something more."

I looked at WWII Ben and then Old Man Ben.

"So, is there anything else that we need to discuss?"

WWII Ben looked at both of us.

"No. I think I went over everything that I wanted to talk about."

"Okay, then." I replied. "Well, if we're through here, if you could send me back, that would be great."

"Well actually, there is one last thing that I want to talk to you about."

I turned to him.

"Yeah, what's that?"

He turned to WWII Ben before answering me.

"Kid, you can go home now. You know how to, right?"

"Yeah. I just punch in the coordinates on the wrist pad that you gave me and it'll generate a portal back to my home dimension."

Old Man Ben nodded.

"I will notify you for when you'll be needed next."

"Okay." He said as he began messing with a wrist pad. "Until next time, Old Man Ben."

Old Man Ben nodded and we watched as he disappeared through a portal. Once he was gone, I spoke.

"Okay. So, what do you have for me?"

He gestured for me to follow him, which I did. He led me over to a terminal that was adjacent to the teleporter. He began to type on the terminal's keyboard and eventually, a portal formed in the center of the teleporter. Eventually, a picture appeared in the portal, of two Bens standing next to each other, one of them holding a scoped Laser Rifle. They were looking at a big building of some kind, but I couldn't tell what it was.

"What is this?" I asked.

He shushed me.

"Just stay quiet for a second."

So I did. And eventually, one of the Bens on the other side spoke.

"What are they doing?" one of them asked the other with the scoped rifle.

I recognized that voice as Goth Ben's voice. The other Ben turned slightly to look at him.

"What?" he asked.

I recognized this Ben to be Emo Ben.

"I said, 'what are they doing now?'."

"God damn!" Emo Ben replied as he lowered the rifle. "I'm getting so sick of answering that question!"

"You have the fucking rifle, I can't see shit! So, don't bitch at me because I'm not just going to sit up here and play..."

"Okay, okay, look. They're just standing there and talking, okay? That's all they're doing. That's what they were doing when we got here an hour ago, that's what they were doing when you asked me five minutes ago. So, five minutes from now, when you ask me what are they doing, my answer's gonna be, they're still just talking and they're still just standing there!"

Goth Ben just stood there in silence for a few seconds. He then looked back at Emo Ben.

"What are they talking about?"

Emo Ben just stared at him for a second or two, before he answered.

"You know what? I fucking hate you."

"How is everything for you, gentlemen?" Old Man Ben interrupted their argument.

The two of them turned to face us on the other side of the portal.

"Nothing's really happening." Emo Ben spoke. "The guards haven't done anything yet. They're just standing there and talking."

"Which is all they ever do." Goth Ben interjected.

"Shut up." Emo Ben said.

"Once anything interesting happens," Old Man Ben cut in. "If anything interesting happens, get ahold of me right away."

"Yes, Sir." Emo Ben replied.

And after that, the portal shut. I turned to Old Man Ben.

"So, what was that all about? What was that building?"

"Well, do you remember Vilgax and his Knights of Dagon?"

"The Knights of... Who?"

"The Knights of Dagon. It's the name that Vilgax picked out for his military force."

"I uh, don't recall that name."

"Really? I've mentioned it several times!"

"Well, unless I was living under a rock for the whole time that I was helping you fight, I don't remember you ever mentioning them by that name."

"It's fine, I'll let it go. But there's a group of the Knights of Dagon that are still active. And they're guarding that building."

"They're still active?! Why didn't you tell us?!"

"To be fair, I didn't know. They're based outside of the city limits and with Vilgax having his hold on Bellwood, we never had the time to leave the city."

"Okay, then. Why are they guarding the building? What's so important about it?"

"It's a maximum security prison, from before Vilgax dropped the bomb."

"Wait, hold on. If this is a prison from before the apocalypse, then why would these Knights be interested in guarding it? Shouldn't the building be useless to them?"

"That's what I'm saying. The Knights of Dagon are guarding that prison for a reason. And I want to find out what it is. So, I want to lead a raid on the prison to find out what they're hiding."

"What?"

"I want to raid..."

"Yeah... about that... Sorry, but I'm not doing it."

Old Man Ben looked surprised.

"What do you mean 'you're not doing it'? You have to!"

I shook my head.

"Um, no. I don't. I helped bring down Vilgax last summer because he was a mutual foe, because you asked for my help. But I have no connection to this thing, I have no obligation to help. And besides, I'm still in school. I just can't spare the time. I'm really sorry."

"Look kid, I understand that you're busy back on your earth, but this is something we'll need your help for. We can't..."

"What did I just say? Old Man Ben, I'm sorry, but the answer is no."

Old Man Ben heaved a sigh.

"Okay, you can go back home now, then. I'll let you know when I have more information on this and when you're needed next."

Wait, what? Did he not hear what I've been saying?

"Ugh, fine!" I replied through gritted teeth. "I'm going home now."

He turned to his console.

"Of course." He replied as he began typing on the keyboard.

Earth-Prime

Later That Night

Downtown Bellwood

I can't believe this! As if my life wasn't complicated enough, but now I have to deal with killer robots from the future and a prison break?!

My thoughts bugged me as I came to land on a rooftop.

I feel like there's a third thing that I'm missing, but I just don't know if that's true or not!

Just then, as I was standing there on the rooftop, I felt my phone beginning to vibrate in my pocket. I reached into my pocket, pulled it out and looked at the screen. I sighed once I recognized the number.

"Hello?" I said upon answering the phone.

"Hi, Ben." Kai replied on the other side. "Look, I just wanted to thank you for having me join your group today."

"You're welcome. But don't feel like this is something I'll force you to do. If hanging out with us today really made you uncomfortable, I won't make you come back again tomorrow."

"No, I should keep hanging out with you guys. I've started, so I might as well continue with this."

"Well, good for you, then. I'm glad you're beginning to gain some confidence, even if just a little bit."

"Thanks. Um, can I talk to you about something?"

"Um, I can't. I'm kind of busy right now, Kai. Can we talk at school tomorrow?"

There was silence on her end.

"You're doing the thing right now," she spoke at last, "aren't you?"

The "thing"? The hero work and crime fighting thing?

"Yes, I am."

"I'm sorry, I should have realized that you wouldn't be available. I'll talk to you later, bye."

"Kai, just hold on a second! Is..."

She hung up before I could finish my sentence. I let out a sigh.

"Ben Tennyson, you have a way with the ladies." I whispered to myself.

Having problems with one girl isn't enough? You just had to have problems with two girls?

"Shut up." I muttered as I slipped my phone back into my pocket.

As I stood there, a noise distracted me from my thoughts. I ran over to the edge of the building and I saw a few employees (I assumed) running out the back door of a restaurant down the street, seeming to be in a hurry.

What could be happening in that restaurant down the street?

I made my way over to the roof of the restaurant, where I saw a skylight that I could look through. I slowly walked over to the skylight and looked through it. I didn't know whether or not I should be surprised with what I saw. Sitting at a table below the skylight were Sixsix, Clancy in his bug form, Hex, Zombozo, and a woman with red hair whom I didn't recognize. Oh, and of course we wouldn't want to forget the midget Tetramand known as Gorvan.

Great, I thought. A group of a few of my worst enemies—and a pathetic one—all in one place.

I realized that they must have been having a conversation, so I quietly opened up the skylight a little bit so that I could listen. As I did this, Clancy got up from the table.

"I'm going to go out into the alley for a piss." He said as he moved. "I'll see you losers in a little bit."

He then moved out of sight and I lost track of him.

Not even a conversation, I thought. Just a worthless comment.

I stood up to move, but they began talking again.

"How much do we owe you?" Hex asked.

I now noticed the waiter that was standing next to the table.

"Um, it's on the house?" he asked in a nervous tone.

"How generous of you." Hex replied as he wiped his mouth. "And wise."

I stood up and began to walk away.

There was nothing for me here. Why are they just allowed to take over a restaurant? How is no one coming for them?! People should be here for this! I know that I should probably handle this, but I just don't have the patience to!

I let out a sigh.

Even if handling it would be the responsible thing to do, I don't want to do it! Well, I should at least incapacitate Clancy while he's down in the alley! That's the least I can do.

I moved away from the skylight and toward the back alley of the restaurant. Only when I got there, I noticed that there was a disturbing lack of Clancy down in the alley.

What the hell? He should be here! Where is...

"You think you could just check out before dinner was done?" someone suddenly spoke, the voice coming from my right.

I turned to my left, to see Clancy quickly approaching me, already in his bug form.

"Yow!" I exclaimed as I jumped out of the way, avoiding his attack. "Clancy, where did you come from?!"

"Not Clancy, anymore. We have become Anarchy!"

He tried to strike me and I backed up to avoid the attack, not realizing how close to the edge of the roof I had been standing. I fell from the roof and Clancy—or Anarchy, I guess—followed me, as I dialed up the Omnitrix to avoid being hurt from the fall. I transformed into Fourarms just before hitting the ground below.

"Aren't you going to get your team to help?" I taunted him as I positioned myself a few feet away from him.

"No way!" he snarled. "I don't need their help. And besides, if anyone's going to kill you, it's going to be me!"

"Still holding a grudge against me I see."

There's no way that his team haven't heard the commotion out here. I have to get him away from here, away from them. I'm not sure that I can handle all of them all at once.

My thoughts were soon interrupted, when Clancy somehow managed to form talons on his hands—with the bugs, no less!

"Time to die, pal." He said, before starting forward.

Talons made out of bugs can't hurt me. Can they?

I decided not to risk it. I began looking around for something to distract him. My sight came to a stop on a garbage on the opposite side of the alley from us.

That'll do.

I rushed to my left and grabbed the dumpster with all four hands. I veered back around and tossed it his way.

"Yeah, that's great, pal." I said as I tossed it. "Eat this!"

Instead of being flattened by the dumpster, Clancy surprised me by catching it, stopping it in its place.

"Oh, shit!" I exclaimed with surprise. "Gotta go!"

I turned and leaped out of the alley onto the street. From there, I continued leaping down the street.

I should have done this from the start! I got too cocky and didn't realize that his team was still here. If I move now, it's possible that I won't have to...

"Surprise!" Clancy exclaimed, cutting off my thoughts as well as my leap, as he smashed into me.

Where did he come from?! How did he get ahead of me?!

He sent us down toward the roof of a hardware store. And wouldn't you know it, we both ended up busting through the roof and falling into the actual store. I kicked him off of me once we were on the floor and looked for something to stall him before he had the chance to get back up. I noticed a box containing the parts to build a metal storage shelf, sitting on a shelf across the aisle from me.

That'll work.

I ran over to it and picked up the box, before I ran back over Clancy. He was just getting back up, so I swung the box toward him as hard as I could. I hit him in the face, sending him back down.

"Agh!"

I dropped the box and took off running while I had the chance. While I had the time to come up with a plan.

"For that, we'll eat your lungs!" Clancy called out.

Okay, now I just need to figure out a way to take care of him! Lucky that this place was in the middle of closing down for the night when we arrived!

That's when I heard a sound that I dreaded. I began to hear the sound that the Omnitrix made when it was about to time out.

Oh, come on! I just transformed!

I then was reverted back to my human form.

What can I say? I'm tired.

"You're a machine!" I muttered under my breath. "You can't get tired! God, you're being lazy!"

I'm a machine, the Omnitrix responded within my mind. I shouldn't be able to do lazy.

"You and I are going to have a long talk sometime in the near future." I muttered once more.

I'm talking to the Omnitrix as if it's a stubborn teenager, I thought. What has this world come to?

Okay, now that I'm back in human form, I can't find him head on! So, I have to hide from him until I have an opportunity to attack from behind!

I found myself running into the employee break room and it was in there that I saw a set of lockers on one wall.

That's as good a spot as any!

I rushed toward one of the lockers, opened it, got inside and then quietly shut the door again. After a few seconds, Clancy came stalking into the room. I held my breath, that way he wouldn't be able to hear me while I was in the locker. I stayed as still as possible when he passed the locker.

Okay, now I just have to...

Suddenly, the locker door was yanked open and Clancy grabbed ahold of me.

"Hello, there!" he exclaimed with glee as he yanked me out of the locker. "How've you been?!"

He tossed me across the room and immediately started toward me.

How did he know I was in there?!

I got up and ran, not allowing myself to waste any more time by thinking. I fled from the employee's room and ran down one of the aisles, knowing that he was following me. Once I got to the end of the aisle, I veered off to the left to hide behind the shelf's end. I could hear his thudding footsteps getting closer to my position.

"I can smell you, you know!" he called out.

I looked all around me for something to use as a weapon. I caught sight of a dolly, one of those smaller cart-like objects on wheels, used to transport smaller boxes. I quickly grabbed the dolly and waited until Clancy got closer. Once I knew he was in place, I stepped out and swung the dolly up toward his face.

"Smell this, motherfucker!" I exclaimed.

The strike connected with his face and it sent him backwards, drawing a yell of pain from him in response. I dropped the dolly and was about to run again, but he did something that surprised me. He just got up and let out this groan as he approached a shelf.

"Well..." he muttered, as if to say, 'you've done it now!'.

He had walked past me and stopped at a shelf, before literally putting his hand through a box on the shelf. He ripped open the box and pulled out not one, but two chainsaws!

It's fine! Those things can't be turned on without fuel!

"Groovy!" Clancy exclaimed as his bugs began to completely wrap around the chainsaws.

I was shocked when the chainsaws began to rev up and the blades started moving.

"That's not groovy!" I exclaimed.

I began backing up from him as he approached, both chainsaws directed toward me.

Nowhere to go, no aliens to transform into! Guess it's safe to say I'm screwed!

Well, maybe luck smiled upon me. Just then, a large form dropped into the space through the hole in the roof that Clancy and I had come in from.

Is that Kessinger?

As the creature approached, it became more and more apparent that it was in fact Kessinger. Clancy turned to look at Kessinger and dropped both of the chainsaws, while I got as far from them as I could, while still being able to see what would happen. As he approached, he began speaking in a disturbingly deep voice.

"So, the little spider's trying to play the big bad bug? How adorable, but you should remember, little insect, that worse fates await you in the dark."

Kessinger let out a deep, demonic cackle, which chilled me to the bone, as it brought up a memory that I had been struggling to forget. I could see his eyes from here, like glowing red eyes in a graveyard, and a voice like granite scraping against a boulder. But Clancy, it had to be worse. Much, much worse.

"Poor little insect, you make yourself seem so big and imposing, but at the end of the day, you are a puny bug that will be crushed under a boot."

Clancy

The hulking figure practically dropped into my view and even before I could have chance to attack, it was already too late. The air around me vibrated, and I realized with horror that it was the figure in front of me, it was his growling and I clasped my hands over my ears, not that it would help. The creature let out a shattering roar, deafening me. I thought I was relatively safe, until I looked up to see two glowing coals enveloped in darkness, and it parted to reveal two massive rows of needle-like teeth. Its voice now like thunder, beating down upon me.

"Poor little Anarchy, poor little Clancy, poor little bug."

A massive shadow reached toward me, tipped with claws darker than the blackest void, and I could only watch before I let out a scream of pure, unadulterated, abject terror as it attacked wildly, in every direction. The massive shadowy figure disappeared immediately, but all I could see is that I was now surrounded by shadows, surrounded by darkness, with no moon overhead to bring even the faintest glimmer of light.

"Let's see how you deal with my... associate, shall we?" The voice said before letting out another demonic cackle that faded into the distance.

I could feel my heartbeat skyrocketing and I felt like I would pass out. Hell, my entire body felt numb, I was having trouble breathing, I felt like I was going to be sick, I couldn't see anything except darkness, it was like I was having a panic attack!

Ben

When Kessinger let out that roar of his, Clancy lost his bug suit and it had yet to reform. At this time, I didn't think that it would be reforming anytime soon. He wasn't moving, his chest was heaving up and down, he looked entirely scared out of his mind. I myself was kind of winded; dazed and a little scared, but I believed that Clancy fared much worse. And it occurred to me that now was my shot. I approached Clancy and as I did, he looked in my general direction and let out a gasp of fear.

Let's just fucking get this over with!

I socked Clancy in the face, hard, and sent him flying across the aisle, right into a couple of large wooden boxes. He hit the back of his head first and after falling to the ground, he stopped moving. I let out a sigh of relief, now knowing that it was over. I turned to look at Kessinger.

"Thanks for that. You... really saved my skin."

He gave me a nod without a word. Just then, I heard the rumbling of a hovercraft and I looked up, to see one of S.E.C.T.'s carriers through the hole in the roof.

"Fuck, it's S.E.C.T.!" I exclaimed as I turned to him. "Get out of here before they become aware of your presence!"

He gave me a wolffish smile.

"Kid, I've been eluding these bastards for longer than you know. I know how to hide from them."

He then turned and disappeared into the shadows, likely to escape the building without notice. I then looked up to see soldiers in S.E.C.T. armor dropping down through the hole in the roof.

"What the hell is going on here?! I wanted a genetic suppressor collar on that one's neck ten minutes ago!"

I turned around, to see a strawberry blonde female wearing sunglasses, a trench coat and boots approaching.

"Get this area closed off within the next ten seconds," she spoke, turning to look at the soldiers behind her. "Or I'll fire the sorry son of a..."

"Are you with Steel?" I asked as she turned around to face me.

"Mmm." She murmured as she looked at me. "Good job, kid."

She began to look around the hardware store.

"But could you have made a bigger mess?"

What she said and the way she had said it pissed me off.

"No." I said at last. "And believe me, I tried."

"Wow, you've got some mouth on you!"

"Wow!" I shot back at her, as I fired my grapple hook up to the hole in the roof. "You think you'd be a tiny bit nicer to me, considering I just did your job for you."

Author's Note:

* And that's it for this chapter. I hope you all enjoyed.

Next Chapter: Clancy and Gorvan cause chaos in Downtown Bellwood.