The More Things Change, Pt. 1/4: "An End, A Beginning"

It was a clear, moonlit night in Bellwood, and nearly everyone was sound asleep. Everyone, that is, except for Ben Tennyson, Kevin Levin, and Gwen Tennyson. At the moment, they were on a mission to find, detain and capture the evil clown known as Zombozo, as well as his cohorts, the Circus Freaks: Acid-Breath, Frightwig, and Thumbskull.

Kevin glanced around at the scenery: empty seats, an abandoned popcorn cart, etc. "And to think I actually used to like when the circus came to town…" he remarked. "No wonder Ben's so scared of clowns."

"I am NOT scared of clowns!" Ben hissed. "They just creep me out, is all! Peacocks, man-that's where the real nightmares are."

"Cut it out, you two," replied Gwen. "If we keep talking so loudly, then either Zombozo or the Circus Freaks will hear us."

Kevin chuckled. "Geez, relax Gwen; this place is as empty as the space between your cousin's ears!"

"Oh, you are SO gonna get it now!" Ben retorted, reaching for his Omnitrix.

But before he could choose an alien, he heard a voice from nearby.

"Dude, look out!"

Ben quickly leapt to the right as a red hair tendril narrowly missed smashing into him and instead smashed open a crate full of hay bales.

"Damn...I missed!" Frightwig's all-too-familiar voice growled in disappointment. Shortly after, her hair tendril withdrew, returning to its master.

"Man, was that close," Kevin remarked. "How'd you know to dodge just in time?"

"I didn't," replied Ben. "I heard somebody shouting 'look out', and then I jumped for it."

"Well, where did you hear the voice?" asked Gwen. "Maybe I can shed some light on this situation."

Ben pointed to a nearby lion's cage. It was dark, but one could make out the shapes of four odd-looking creatures standing inside. Gwen cleared her throat, preparing a spell.

"Profer Lumena!" she chanted, and her energy formed into a glowing ball of light, which she held towards the cage. Now that it was illuminated, she, Ben and Kevin could clearly discern the shapes as four humanoid creatures who looked a lot like...turtles. Each of them wore a colored bandanna with eyeholes, as well as a belt buckle with an initial inside. The first one was wearing a blue bandana and his belt buckle read "L"; the second was wearing a purple bandana with a belt buckle that read "D"; the third turtle had a red bandana and his belt buckle read "R"; finally, the fourth turtle wore an orange bandana and his belt buckle read "M".

Ben, Gwen and Kevin were dumbstruck by this. They'd seen more than their fair share of strange things in their lives, but this definitely took the cake...

(Theme Song)

Ben 10!

He's a kid and he wants to have fun

But when you need a superhero, he gets the job done

Ben 10!

With a device that he wears on his arm

He can change his shape and save the world from harm

When trouble's taking place

He gets right in its face

Ben 10!

When lives are on the line

It's hero time!

Ben 10!

"About time somebody came to get us outta here," said the red one. "I was actually beginning to consider making living arrangements in this dump."

"Calm down, Raphael," said the blue one as he turned to the trio. "Sorry about my brother, he gets a bit snippy sometimes. My name's Leonardo, and these are my brothers: Donatello, Raphael (you've already met), and Michelangelo."

The orange-clad turtle waved at Ben and his friends. "You're welcome for the heads-up, dude." he smiled.

"So what exactly are you guys doing in Zombozo's circus tent anyway?" asked Kevin.

"We were searching for our enemies, Shredder and Krang," explained Donatello. "My Turtle Tracking Device led us to this location."

"And then we got jumped by these weirdos; next thing we knew, we woke up in here!" Raphael added.

"Weirdos…" Ben muttered. "They wouldn't happen to be a girl with giant hair tentacles, a big guy with a toenail on his head, and a scrawny dude with bad breath, would they?"

The turtles all nodded in response.

Ben, Gwen and Kevin looked at one another. "...Circus Freaks…" they said in unison.

"You know those guys?" asked Raphael.

"Unfortunately," replied Gwen.

"Maybe we could fill 'em in once we bust 'em out?" suggested Kevin.

"Best idea I've heard all night," replied Ben as he turned the dial on the Omnitrix, and then slammed it down.

In a flash of green, Ben had transformed into a large, blue-and-white iguana-like creature. "ARCTIGUANA!" he exclaimed in a Spanish accent. "Stand back, guys; these bars are about to get frostbite!"

The turtles quickly backed up, not wanting to end up flash-frozen. Arctiguana took a deep breath, and exhaled a blast of chilly arctic air that coated the bars of the cage in ice, rendering them brittle.

Leonardo inspected the bars, surveying them up and down, and then delivered a hard kick to them, shattering them to pieces.

"Way past cool!" Mike exclaimed. "Now we just gotta find our weapons!"

"You mean THESE things?" asked a creepy-sounding, jovial voice which seemed to echo from all around. "Now, now; you know that you're not allowed to see the animals without adult supervision! They're to be my new star attraction, nothing draws in crowds like freaky alien turtle-men!"

"There's that voice!" Don exclaimed. "It's the creepy clown guy!"

"We're not aliens, man," remarked Mike. "We're mutants!"

Out of the shadows emerged Zombozo, clutching Leo's ninjato blades; Frightwig, playing with Mike's nunchakus; Thumbskull, using Don's staff as a backscratcher; and Acid-Breath, who was using Raph's sai to pick what few teeth he still had.

"You could be robots for all the yuks I give!" Zombozo replied. "As long as people come, I'll be able to feast on their joy!"

"Nobody uses my sai as toothpicks!" snapped Raph. "I'm in the mood to bust some heads."

"I'm game if you are," replied Kevin.

Don chuckled. "This guy kinda reminds me of Casey Jones…"

"Then I guess that makes the redhead April." smirked Mike.

During that time, Ben had freeze-blasted the Circus Freaks; Kevin had trapped Zombozo, and Gwen subdued him with her mana energy.

"Alright, we beat the bad guys," Ben smirked as he turned back to normal.

"And now the best way to celebrate," replied Mike. "...anybody know where we could find a good pizza place?"

Ben pondered; even though most of the pizza places were closed for the night, he figured that he knew somewhere else to look.

"Guys, I think I've got you covered." he replied.

AND SO, A FEW HOURS LATER...

The four turtles were salivating over a large pizza on the table before them, covered with pepperoni and mushrooms. Its surface seemed to gleam in the light of the sunrise.

"It's beautiful…" Raph exclaimed. "Like a work of art."

"It's almost too good-looking to eat…" remarked Mike. "Of course, the key word in that sentence is ALMOST."

With great gusto, the Turtles began digging into their freshly-prepared pizza as Gwen and Kevin rejoined Ben.

"Who'd have thunk Grandpa Max knew how to make a Tortuseanian-style pizza?" asked Ben. "...now I wish he'd made that when we were on vacation with him all those years ago…"

He turned to his cousin and former arch-rival-turned-friend. "So...I can't believe you're really going to leave." he sighed.

"Yeah?" replied Kevin as he knocked on Ben's head like a door. "Wouldn't you skip a few grades of high school if you had some brains?"

Ben grunted at that. "There are plenty of colleges right here near Bellwood you could go to."

"Not quite the same as the Ivy League," replied Gwen. "I told you we've spent years saving the world; I just want to see some of what I've been saving."

Ben knew it was her choice to leave, and he had no right to deny her that. "I know. I get it," he shrugged. "Well, hurry back, Kevin! The troublesome two-oh is more than enough to take on whatever the universe dishes out."

He chuckled for a bit, until he saw Kevin's stony expression. That rarely, if EVER, meant anything good.

"Uh...I'm not coming back, Ben," replied Kevin. "I found a place near campus."

Ben looked as if everything he'd ever known as coming crumbling down. "...so this is goodbye?" he asked.

"Of course not! There are holidays, and-and semester breaks," replied Gwen. "And, besides, we're cousins. It's not like we're never gonna see each other again. Right?"

Ben kept a cool front on the outside so as to not worry anybody. "...Right." he smiled.

"Later, man," said Kevin as he approached Ben; he was about to hug him, but Ben thought it was a high-5, so then they switched, but eventually they just decided to fist bump. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do." he added, giving Ben a playful noogie.

Ben smiled. "Count on it." he replied.

"Come to think of it, don't do anything you usually do, either." Kevin replied as he got into his car.

Ben rolled his eyes at that, before he was caught in a bear-hug from his cousin, which he gladly reciprocated. "Take care of yourself, doofus." she said.

Even if they were going to leave, Ben couldn't help but smile. "You too, dweeb." he replied.

A few seconds later, Kevin revved up his engine, and he and Gwen drove off down the road. Ben stood there, waving until the car was out of sight.

Leonardo looked over at Ben. "You gonna be okay, Ben?" he asked. "It's always pretty rough when a team goes their separate ways."

"Sure, I'll be okay," Ben replied coolly. "I'm Ben 10, remember? Hero of heroes, savior of the universe, that sort of thing!"

"If you say so," replied Donatello. "Since you and your friends helped us back there, we'd be more than happy to help you in return."

"...thanks," shrugged Ben. "I'll be okay, though; but aren't you guys gonna need somewhere to live while you're in Bellwood? I doubt most people are that welcoming to giant mutant turtles."

As he said this, the Omnitrix began to beep as its hourglass silhouette began to glow a bright yellow before it resumed being its regular green color. Ben glanced down, curious at what alien DNA it could be scanning for, but he decided it wasn't important at the moment.

"Time to put my money where my mouth is," he declared, until his stomach growled in protest. "...or rather, put some food where my mouth is."

Featured Voices

Wayne Grayson as Ben Tennyson

Christian Lanz as Arctiguana

Aaron Lohr as Kevin Levin

Ashley Johnson as Gwen Tennyson

Jon Kassir as Zombozo

Cree Summer as Frightwig

Benjamin Diskin as Leonardo

Phil LaMarr as Donatello

Curtis Armstrong as Raphael

Jaleel White as Michelangelo