The Problem with Portals, The Second Arc

by Albedo - 917

After a worthwile period of Albedo calmly researching the portal and taveling from world to world, trouble seems to pop up even beyond the corrupt Plumbers. A team of misfits in the middle of the merging of worlds.

5. Separated

Chapter 5: Separated

Golden Oak Library, Ponyville, Equestria, Gaia, Winter, 1002 C.E.

The Doctor

The Doctor and all his recent companions sat in relative silence in the middle of the library. Not much time had passed since the mysterious strangers they had met so suddenly had just as suddenly and seemingly solved their most concerning problems in a flash for them. The man known simply as Jeff was still unmoving, almost unnervingly so, staying next to his friend who just a mere hour ago seemed to simply turn back the clock with ease. As if the war did not even happen before, the small village was back in pristine condition... However, even so the losses still remained, that much could not be denied no matter how the Doctor would have wanted to. Despite the eerie and calm silence still permeating the room, one certain blue pegasus was not having any of it anymore.

"Aaargh!" she angrily ruffled her mane with a moderate shout, "I can't take it anymore! When will he wake up?!"

"Give it time Rainbow." Twilight scolded with a stern look. "These things take time."

"Precisely, he seems to have knocked himself out quite good." the Doctor nodded, though his mind seemed to still be wondering about several things, "I do not quite yet understand how exactly his powers work, but using that many clones and teleporting all over Equestria is no easy feat if we go about it logically. Well any sort of logic that would even apply to this situation." he added, "Of course it would tire one out."

"...I know, I know." Rainbow sighed dejectedly, then she looked over to the stranger on the ground, "I just want some answers!" she snapped, "He shows up all of the sudden outta nowhere and 'boom!' all our problems are just gone! That isn't normal."

"Rainbow, our lives aren't normal." Spike chipped in, glancing at the lavender unicorn for a few seconds, "Not anymore."

"I..." Rainbow was caught off-guard by such a hasty response, and from the little dragon no less, "Haaah, yeah. Okay. You're right." she angrily crossed her forelegs quite humanely and sat down on the ground close to Jeff and his friend with a pout, still looking intently at the white-haired stranger.

"Yeah, he does that." Jeff chipped in with a shrug as he noticed the pegasus' close presence, "That's how we met in fact."

"And what, you just up and followed him home?"

"Pretty much." he shrugged again, turning to face them "Plus we beat some giant freaky mantis thing so that's definitely a plus." he chuckled, much to the distaste of some others in the room, Rainbow however seemed intrigued somewhat, the Doctor similarly so, "My life has been all kinds of exciting since I left my old world behind so I'm happy if anything." he then seemed to ponder a bit, his thoughts apparently going somewhere else, as if longing, "You should stick with him a bit, maybe you wouldn't be so reckless after that, eh, Dashie?" he teased the pegasus.

"Perhaps that would help." the Doctor mused teasingly gaining a wide eyed glare from the pegasus.

"Yeah, maybe we wouldn't be in danger as much eh?" Applejack caught on and continued with a grin.

"Hey!" Rainbow snapped, "Stop teaming up on me!"

"But you make it so easy, Dashie." Jeff continued, once again using the same nickname, which Rainbow successfully picked up on this time, her attention not taken by the Doctor and her friend anymore.

"How did you-" the pegasus snapped, however her own embarrassment cut her off as her cheeks flashed pink.

"You are all fiction to me where I'm from, I know all about you lot." he then turned towards the Doctor, pointing at him exaggeratedly, "That includes you as well bud."

"I realized that, thank you." the Doctor chuckled, "Not the first time it happened either now that I think about it." he then stood up and walked over to the unconscious body of the seemingly young man, followed soon by Rainbow, the others content with just listening, Rarity especially, having to keep her leg still for it to heal correctly. "In that case, what else can you tell me about him?"

"Well, where should I start?" Jeff pondered, "First off, he's older than you." he declared nonchalantly to the Doctor, catching him off guard. Twilight as well seemed to listen even more intently now.

"He's-"

"I believe you are currently around 906, right?" Jeff waited for the small confirming nod the Doctor gave him before continuing, "Albedo's 917, so listen to your elders child!" he added in a mocking tone before chuckling, but he waved the thought away and continued soon after with a dismissive wave of his hands "Nevermind that fact for now. What exactly do you want to know though? You know his age, race, the fact that he's from a different world, literally all of his current powers, what do you want a mobile number? Cause I actually think I have it."

"N-no that won't be necessary." the Doctor coughed, trying to ease the awkward situation, "I would have just liked a little insight on the whole transformation schtick? If at all possible?"

"OH." Jeff audibly realized, "Why didn't you say that in the first place? I'm not exactly the sharpest knife in the shed, you should speak clearly."

"I see." the Doctor nodded, surprised by the sudden splurge of honesty and self-deprecation, "I'll keep that in mind."

"Well, you see, remember how he told you about Ben and the Omnitrix?" Jeff asked and only the Doctor nodded approvingly, realizing he still has not told the others about that little anecdote. As such he apologized to the white skinned man and proceeded to tell the stories the two told them before arriving back in Ponyville, with the help of Twilight and Derpy to speed things along, Jeff listened surprisingly patiently, even correcting them on some details they got wrong if any, but nevertheless in the end everyone was caught up on the story, "Riiight~. Aight, so their relationship wasn't always so peachy."

"How come? With what you said, those two seem like people who were friends from the start." Rarity asked.

"'I would trust Benjamin with my life if I needed to. The boy's got talent. I was just too blind to see it for the longest time.' I believe he said." the Doctor quoted, "I too would like to hear what he meant by that if you would."

"Obviously you know that he was on board the Omnitrix project and all." Jeff continued, the Doctor nodding along, "So differently to how it happened in the show, in his world he had someone he liked, another scientist named Rednus." he let out a sigh, "Seems to me that she was really important to him and all. Anyways they warmed up to each other during the time they were on the project... However, it all changed after it was actually finished. 'Pparently they were keeping the thing in temporary storage, but due to a lapse in judgement or whatever, the thing was contained above a functioning power core. Long story short, they separated to check on different things before finishing their day, and Rednus got the Omnitrix. Thing is, someone broke in to steal the thing."

The Doctor sighed inwardly, as he prepared himself to a story that could only end in disaster.

"Rednus didn't even have the chance to protect the thingy before she was hanging on to dear life. The struggling caught our boy's attention so he ran back, but as he rushed at the thief, their own struggle made Rednus fall, with Albedo not being able to pull her up at all... The thief mysteriously disappeared without the Omnitrix, and Albedo was held accountable since there wasn't any proof that someone broke in, and any that was there was easily connected to Albedo without an investigation." Jeff sighed himself, "In the end, Rednus' disappearance came to light and the charges of Albedo only grew. During his time in temporary confinement until a decision was reached, he caught wind of the Omnitrix being sent to Earth and who it belonged to now... But by that point he was bound to go to prison... So five Earth years had passed before he successfully broke out, assumed the form of Ben, made a replica watch entirely on his own, and went after the real watch in the hopes of somehow appeasing his so called 'foster-father' Azmuth, the creator of the Omnitrix who according to him didn't so much as stand up for the guy... His mind wasn't in the right place then."

"O-oh..." Rainbow audibly quieted down as she looked at the soundly sleeping boy.

"What followed was a pointless struggle to get back the Omnitrix, a weird link with the real one, and him gaining the form now... Although sometime down the line seems even the more detailed features switched, if you noticed, the 10 on the jacket is mirrored and all. Nevermind that, Albedo kept up the struggle for a good year or so, making questionable decisions later on only just wanting to return to his original body... But it all failed, and he gave up. The last time he was released all he wanted was to just disappear without a trace... Which probably meant a lot worse too now that I think about it... But, he met up with Ben, the two talked then he was whisked off into the first appearance of the portal, and with it into an alternate world."

"I see..." the Doctor sighed, "Then, that-"

"Except that was all fake and everybody was already captured by the changed Plumbers." Jeff quickly added, the Doctor's eyes with the others going wide in surprise, "Albedo broke out of a simulated world thanks to the portal, and in turn once he returned with his newfound powers, he broke out Ben and the others... And then the sort of Resistance or whatevs was born. No official name yet or anything. Ben's gramps, who was at a great rank inside the actual Plumbers, is in critical condition after being under fuckin' horrible conditions." Jeff angrily tightened his fists, "Sorry, I'm just... Pissed about this whole thing."

"It's not even your world, and yet you're so concerned." the Doctor smiled, though his concerns grew and his smile faded once Jeff's blue eyes locked with his brown ones.

"The man looked like a typical chubby plumber doing good for his age and quite healthy." Jeff started out of nowhere, "Now he looks like an anorexic eighty-year-old." his eyes were wide open with apparent fury, "They starved him Doc. Starved! He was kept on the bare fucking minimum to survive, a man of his caliber!" his fist tightened so much that a trickle of blood ran down it as he sighed to let the steam out.

The Doctor was silent upon learning this, having no answer besides pure shock filling his body. Of course he has seen worse, of course he has lived through worse, the war just recently was enough proof, but torture still left a bad feeling in his mind, especially one such as this... Prolonging one's suffering just for their own enjoyment.

"It's my childhood!" Jeff added to his outburst, "It has everything to do with me... The happy place me and my little brother had, where we escaped to... And now it's all being ruined by that asshole called Clyde." he let out a lengthy sigh, clicking his tongue in apparent frustration "I haven't spoken like that in years." he chuckled, holding half of his face with his hand, "Haaah... My life's a big mess."

"He went through... all that?" Rainbow slowly asked as she looked at Albedo, the Doctor could easily tell that she too was perturbed about this information bomb.

"Don't go fallin' in love now Dashie." Jeff chuckled, teasing the pegasus but at the same time trying to ease his mind and as an unexpected side effect he somewhat eased the tension as well.

"I- Wha- Huh?!" Rainbow spluttered. She was flustered beyond belief, even surprising the Doctor but at the same time causing a snide chuckle to escape from him, a slight tinge of pink showed across her cheeks as she flapped her wings in a quicker succession.

Jeff laughed, "Relax, I'm just messing with ya." he sighed soon after, "Thought we all needed it with how much I brought the mood down."

"Thank you for sharing all that." the Doctor declared honestly, "But are you sure you should have said... all of it?"

"If you mean the stuff about Rednus, he's done processing it, according to him at least." he shrugged, "If anything he would have told you eventually himself. Never know with him though, he probably still feels responsible, but the past can't be changed. Though I suppose I don't have to tell you that."

"It sure can't..." Applejack nodded in silence. Jeff picked up on it but didn't dare question it.

"It's a bit different in his world than what you're used to Doc." Jeff explained further, "In his world changing the past doesn't really have any grave consequences like yours... Well not in the traditional sense at least. Instead any little thing you change just creates a parallel dimension."

"Hmm, intriguing." the Doctor admitted, intrigue once again flashing in his eyes "I guess not having to deal with Reapers is a plus in the end."

"Anyhow, don't mind it." Jeff waved his hand dismissively, "He'll probably wake up soon and everything will be back to normal." he flinched suddenly but did not openly continue 'Was that a flag?'

"If you say so." the Time Lord nodded reluctantly, picking up on his unease.

At that moment, there was a gentle knock on the door of the library, causing everyone currently inside save for the soundly sleeping Galvan to turn towards it. The Doctor, being the relative closest to it went to open it. On the other side stood the human version of Luna, her expression looking quite relieved.

"Doctor, if I may have a word with you?"

"Of course." the Doctor nodded, "Come on in."

With a brief nod, Luna stepped inside the library, sitting down on a nearby chair as the others looked at her expectantly, "In light of recent events," she started, briefly glancing at the unconscious stranger nearby, a small smile on her face, "We were thinking of finally heading home." she sighed in relief, "It is about time. I came to say goodbye, and to perhaps ask a favor."

"I would be more than happy to take you all back." the Doctor nodded, immediately understanding the details of the favor, "However... will you be alright?" he looked concerned as he locked eyes with the blue haired woman, "Your world was amongst the first targets, if this one is anything to go by, fixing everything is going to be-"

"No, Doctor." Luna shook her head in denial, "I appreciate it, but it is our problem... We caused enough other problems as it is, I cannot simply involve you any further."

"Y'know that ain't exactly gonna fly if Albedo learns about this right?" Jeff chipped in, not showing any formalities.

"I especially cannot ask that of that young man." Luna said indignantly, "Just look at how he is right now. I do not know how he managed, but what he did was truly a miracle, and I won't deny that... But it clearly caused him strain."

"Ah, no worries. He'll be right as rain soon enough." Jeff waved dismissively, "Either way it really is your choice."

"Are you sure..?" Rainbow reluctantly asked as she looked at the unconscious human, "He looks-" however at that point she was forcefully shoved away from the man by Jeff himself, causing a good couple audible gasps, as she landed on the ground however, her balance broken, she took a couple seconds to open her eyes again... however she wished she didn't, "Hey, what's the big-" all color seemed to have drained from her face upon opening her eyes again.

In front of her stood Jeff, facing the supposedly unconscious man on the cushions... his throat completely impaled by a large, thick pale purple spider leg. In her shock and fear she barely noticed the deathly glare the man on the ground was giving off at that moment, but he wasn't moving an inch... Then her eyes returned to Jeff, her eyes not wanting to register the sight.

"Seriously... what's up with you these days?!" to everyone's apparent surprise Jeff somehow muttered in the most distorted voice possible, slowly trying to remove the extra appendage from his throat, "You need to get yourself under control man." he continued in a relatively calm state.

"Who... you..?" Albedo seemed to ask in broken words, in an almost monotone, as if he just strung already used words together.

"I'm your friend dumbass." Jeff spat, his throat beginning to heal already, "Goddammit, how the hell am I supposed to wash all this blood out again?!"

"Friend..?"

"Yes, friend. If you even know what that is. Search your memories or whatever." Jeff snapped, "Or just give me back Albedo to talk to!"

"Friend... all?"

"Yeah, yeah, everyone in here and outside. You don't have to be so on guard." he sighed, calming down by sheer will, "So how about you let your body rest, eh?"

"Fine."

"Damn it all." Jeff swore as he fell on his back with a large thud and a sigh, only then did he realize that everyone was still staring at him with eyes as wide as sauce pans. "Damn it all..."

Meanwhile

Albedo's Room, The Hideout, Outskirts of Bellwood, America, Earth, Summer, 2014 A.D.

Ben was sitting anxiously on the bed, alone in Albedo's room, fidgeting with his hands without pause. To his surprise, the room felt really similar to the one he had back home, or the one he made his new one to look like, albeit way less decorated, making him wonder how the alien had any knowledge of what his room looked like. 'Or is this just a coincidence?' he mused. He figured with how long Albedo was usually sticking around anyway it did its purpose. However, what surprised him more was that he was even sitting here.

"No..." he let out a sigh, "You promised to fill in for him. No ulterior motives here, nope, none." he tried but failed to convince himself, getting flustered despite himself, facepalming hard and laying back on the bed. "Who am I kidding, I'm worried as hell."

His worries were short lived however as the nearby wall began to sparkle with purple energy, signaling the activation of the communication spell both his cousin and Charmcaster were so adept at using by now and at the same time making him practically jump back up into a sitting position. As the communication spell was taking form it told him that it was finally time to talk. Something he was suddenly oh so afraid of. In a matter of seconds, the face of his cousin and best friend popped up, and it took the same amount of time for them to look on confusedly at the spell-cast window.

"Ben!" Gwen exclaimed in surprise and happiness, "I wasn't expecting you."

"I figured." Ben chuckled, "Your face is quite an indication to that. But with Albedo off who-knows-where, I'm filling in for him."

A concerned look wormed its way onto the redhead's face, "It opened again..?" she asked with a frustrated sigh. "Did he go alone?" surprisingly to Ben, Gwen seemed to be worried for the former rogue Galvan.

"Nah, Jeff practically dragged him with him." Ben clarified, a small chuckle to accompany his statement, "Still feels weird to say that."

"You're tellin' me." Kevin nodded. "Though when even we say that something is weird, I think we should be afraid." he chuckled, Ben following along.

"You got that right Kev." the hero smiled, "Our lives keep getting turned more and more upside down."

"Maybe, but we are used to that stuff." Gwen smiled warmly, but then looked away for a couple seconds.

"Is something wrong Gwen?" Ben asked with concern written all over his face.

"It's just... It's nice to see you smiling more Ben." the redhead answered honestly.

That statement caught Ben completely off-guard. Was he really not the same as he was a year ago? His cousin, his best friend, Charmcaster, all of them seemed to state that. Maybe even he had not realized, but when did it start? "R-really?"

"Ever since we came back from that trip... You were like a different person Ben." Kevin answered quite honestly. Ben knew they were serious, since if he had to admit, Kevin rarely called him by name. The face they gave to him was one filled with pure relief, as if one of their long-lasting troubles had just solved itself. "You were stoic, and all around lame dude." that gained him an elbow from Gwen to his side.

"But as surprising it is to admit, ever since you ran into Albedo... Ever since he mysteriously broke us out with that absurd power, you've been smiling more and more. I can see you being happy, I hear you are happy, I can feel it. I don't exactly know what happened, and perhaps it's better that way but you're slowly but surely returning to the Ben we knew... And for that, as weird as it is to say, I can never really thank Albedo enough. Whatever he did... However it happened, he got through to you when none of us could."

"I... I didn't-"

"Don't worry about it Ben." Kevin smiled, "What matters is that you're on your way back."

"I really didn't think of that." Ben muttered silently to himself, the two on the other end just smiling at his apparent realization.

"Anyhow, what's the sitch?"

"Other than the portal thing, not exactly too much." Ben shrugged, putting the previous thoughts behind him for now, "Albedo completed that cloaking device he told you about, or at least I hope he did." he waited until he gained a couple affirmative nods, "The others and I took to training in the Training Room... But Hope..."

"What happened?" Gwen asked, concern showing on her face clearly.

"The problem is that nothing happened."

"Huh?"

"Ever since we came back from that post-apocalyptic wasteland, she has holed herself up in her room... I haven't even seen her come out to eat." the hero let out a sigh, "Albedo managed to get her to speak, but all she told him was that she was working on some new spell... She wouldn't tell us what though." Ben hung his head, "I'm afraid she might be pushing herself too hard. Though that's rich coming from me."

"Hope ain't exactly one to stop early." Kevin nodded in agreement, "Try to do something for her Tennyson, even gettin' her out of her room should be fine."

"I'm not gonna stop trying if anything." Ben smiled sadly, "On the other hand grandpa seems to be on his way to recovery." he added with a relieved smile, soon joined by the other two, "He and Patelliday have been making steady progress... Still no signs of waking up though, and he still doesn't look anywhere near the average weight he is supposed to have."

"We'll get there Tennyson." Kevin reassured him, "As long as those guys are with ya, they'll be up and runnin' in no time."

"I hope so Kevin... I really do."

Ben continued talking with his cousin and Kevin for a good half hour after that about each of their respective situations, sharing all the information since the last week that could have proven useful or positive. In the end, Kevin left to do some tasks given to him, saying his goodbyes and leaving Ben and his cousin alone.

"Ben..."

"Yeah?" Ben raised his head at her cousin's call.

"Don't think I haven't noticed you kinda feeling out of it." she smiled, "What's up?" as opposed to their previous topic, Ben felt that this was referring to what was actually concerning him currently.

"Haah..." Ben let out a sigh with a small smile, "Really can't keep anything from you can I?"

"That's why I'm here cous'." she smiled warmly.

"It's just... Albedo told me, before he left, that... Kai is there... with you?" he seemed to struggle towards the end but eventually got the point across.

Gwen just smiled warmly, "Why yes, she is here." she confirmed, "And she's been all kinds of anxious ever since coming here, even if she tries to hide it."

"I guess meeting Albedo first didn't help too much huh?" Ben sighed.

"Not a lot, no." Gwen shrugged, then pondered for a bit "Should I... call her here?"

"...Please." Ben nodded, "I better not put this off any longer."

"Alright." Gwen nodded as she stood up to leave, "Do your best dweeb."

"I'll try doofus." Ben smiled nervously as his cousin left the room on the other side.

The Farms, Colony Evacuation Shelter, Pacific Ocean, Earth, Summer, 2014 A.D.

As Gwen got up from her chair she made her way out from her office into the farms, the place where Kai Green was currently busying herself into work. No matter how much she tried to hide it from the Anodite, the Navajo girl frantically escaped to different kind of works around the colony to avoid thinking about Ben, she supposedly didn't want herself to worry, but in the end it just turned into a bigger mess inside her heart and head. As Gwen entered the Farms, she saw the multiple rows of crops that thanks to their situation reappeared the next day without pause. The large rows of different kind of crops were tended to each day since they have figured out the world reset. Each day people assigned to the farms would harvest enough of the crops to keep the colony going for the day, just to spare time amongst other things. As the redhead entered the large green house styled building further, she was greeted by the sight of Kai, two other humans, and four Cerebrocrustaceans tending to their own individual rows, the crab like aliens using their own version of farming tools. They seemed to be chatting amongst themselves whilst working tirelessly, and in the general sense having fun. The Cerebrocrustacean part of the colony having warmed up to their human cohabitants, the shared work was going easier than anyone could have hoped for. The Pisciss Volann's on the other hand were faster at doing so, whilst Gwen on her end was just happy that they could all work together without trouble. Bellwood's inhabitants seemed to be much more warmed up to the idea of working with aliens than anyone could have thought.

"Kai!" she called out to the girl in the middle, catching her attention quite fast, "Do you have a minute?"

"Sure!" the Navajo girl confirmed with a nod before turning to her working powers, "I'll be back as soon as I can."

"No need to rush, Kai." a Cerebrocrustacean smiled at her with an easing wave of his claws.

"Yeah, take your time." a tall man nodded along, a wide smile on his face, "Gwendolyn seemed happy so it might be some good news for you?"

"If you say so." Kai smiled with a small shrug before setting off towards Gwen. "What's up?"

"Not much." Gwen chuckled, "It's nice to see all of you getting along though."

"Oh yeah, it's surprising how easy it is to work together with all of us huh."

"It really is." the redhead nodded before locking eyes with Kai, "I guess I shouldn't sugarcoat it any further. Kai, there's a 'call' for you."

"A 'call'?" Kai raised an eyebrow, "But I thought phones were-" however she stopped herself mid-sentence as her eyes went wide in realization, remembering Gwen filling her in on the communication magic soon after Albedo left back when they arrived, "You don't mean?!"

Gwen just smiled warmly, "Yeah, I do. Go to my 'office'..." she shuddered, "Still feels weird to say that. Anyway, I'll fill in for you whilst you're gone."

"Thank you!" the black-haired girl seemed to have cheered up a lot more as she sped off.

"Don't thank me for anything." Gwen chuckled, "Just speak your heart out." she turned towards the workers, "Guess I'll take my mind off of things for now." she shrugged as she shouted at one of the workers, asking if she could help out, who in turn welcomed her with open arms.

Gwen's 'Office', Conference Room, Colony Evacuation Shelter, Pacific Ocean, Earth, Summer, 2014 A.D.

Kai practically rushed through the doors of the compact room, barely catching her breath before noticing the large purple oval window, just as Gwen had described back then, on the nearby wall, the glass surface of it acting as a mirror... Ben practically looked dumbfounded at her bombastic entrance. They locked eyes for a good couple seconds as Kai's breathing slowed down to its normal pace before anyone said anything.

"Kai..." Ben quietly muttered, distraught by how nervous, or more like how worried, the girl looked.

"Ben!" Kai ecstatically declared as she rushed over to the wall, stopping herself from going in for a currently impossible hug, "You're okay! Oh, thank god!"

"Woah, woah!" Ben held up his hands, "What's with the sudden concern? Of course I'm okay!" he boasted.

"I knew I shouldn't have been concerned but..." Kai sighed, not even bothered by Ben trying to act how he usually does around her, "When we heard you were captured, grandpa and I were so worried!"

"What, you thought I couldn't escape?" Ben teased, only intent on seeing a reaction, however Kai locked her worried eyes with his making him stop.

"Of course I didn't!" Kai exclaimed, confirming her confidence in the Omnitrix bearer, but soon after she looked away, a certain sadness appeared on her face, "But then... days... weeks passed, and we still haven't gotten a word from you. Nothing... At all." she sighed as she sat down on Gwen's chair. "I was just... really worried okay?" she declared almost silently, locking eyes with Ben. Brown almost trembling eyes locking with green ones as Kai wiped the forming tears away before they could spill.

"C'mon Mrs. Tennyson, you can't keep worrying about me like that!" Ben teased further, getting Kai and in turn himself flustered up in the process, which was not at all his intention.

"O-oh, shut up!" Kai blurted out in her flustered state, "We spoke as soon as you guys got back from that trip and then after that you just up and disappear! For weeks even! How could I not have been worried?!"

"Yeah, yeah. I know." Ben nodded, looking down at his hands, "I know, I was just messing around."

"If you get it then-"

"Still... Thank you." Ben suddenly said with a lot more sincerity, raising his head and locking eyes once again with the Navajo girl, "For worrying about me, and for trying to find me." he looked down at his hands briefly and muttered "Even after how I treated you all the time." before turning back to face her.

"Huh?" Kai raised an eyebrow in confusion, not wanting to let Ben know that he did not say it quietly enough and that she had heard it all she just looked at him with a small smile, "Of course I would do that you doofus!" she quieted down, the word 'doofus' ringing in Ben's ears for a little while, blushing a little, "We have been official for a while haven't we? I couldn't live with myself if something happened to you."

Ben too had a shade of pink run across his face as he awkwardly rubbed the back of his head and was at a loss of words for a couple seconds, "Huh, yeah... Yeah, we have. We really have been." he confidently declared, "I kinda wish you were next to me right now though." he ruffled his hair, "It would really help right now, after all this..." his thoughts flashed back to the conversation with his cousin and best friend just earlier.

"I guess the feeling's mutual." she then immediately pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration, "Ugh, when are we gonna stop acting like awkward lovestruck teenagers around each other?" she asked with a small smile.

Ben laughed, "When we stop being teenagers." he joked, "But knowing us, even than that would probably be 'never'. Or... maybe when we next see each other in person?" he asked cheekily.

"I'm gonna make that a promise Ben." Kai grinned, to Ben's surprise, then sighed again, "I'm really, really glad you're okay. Don't ever do that again."

"Hey, so am I and it's not like it was my intention to be captured." he mock pouted for a second, "But then again the Omnitrix wouldn't let me die anyway." Ben shrugged much to Kai's discomfort.

"Don't do this. Please don't get conceited Ben." she pleaded, "You can't keep depending on the watch to save you all the time."

"Yeah, I realized that sooner than you'd expect." Ben admitted, "On the other hand, I didn't know how far Clyde's current network has reached, I didn't wanna think the worst knowing you, and I couldn't risk calling you... But y'know there's always that feeling."

"I get it." Kai nodded with a small sigh, disappointed at Ben's blatant change of the topic, 'I won't let you go down that path Ben.' she added in his thoughts though still she acted along.

"I pushed it away countless times but it just kept coming back." Ben continued, "I guess I should really keep track of what's important to me more huh?"

"Maybe you should. Maybe both of us should." Kai shrugged, "We're both in this mess now after all. Together."

"Yeah, yeah, we are. And if anyone, I'm glad it's you. Even if that sounds kinda cheesy." Ben admitted, in turn getting both of them to laugh, "That reminds me, how's Mr. Wes?"

"Oh grandpa's fine! He's also helping out around here don't worry." Kai explained with a relieved smile, "We came searching for all of you, you see? We went through a lot of trouble to get some leads. In the end we found the colony and for a lack of better option stayed to help around. It's better than the alternative." she then glared at Ben much to his surprise, "And what do we find when we get here? Someone who looks exactly like you and is scary as hell!" she snapped.

Ben laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of his head "Haha, I guess you did meet Albedo huh?"

"Duh!" Kai deadpanned, "What is with him anyway? How come one of your so-called villains just up and switches sides like that?"

"It's... It's really complicated." Ben admitted.

"I bet it is." Kai crossed her arms with a pout, "And I guess you can't share it with me, huh?"

"No! Nothing like that!" Ben immediately denied it much to Kai's surprise. "It's not that I can't but more I shouldn't. I don't know what opinion you have of him right now, but I don't want it to worsen. I trust him as much as I trust you." he revealed, "He has given me a lot of reasons to do so."

"Was he that bad that you think I'd just label him something?" Kai asked in disbelief, "Sure he was scary but-"

"C'mon, he's not that bad!" Ben reasoned.

"He twisted a plumber rifle like a balloon and threw it away so my grandpa wouldn't shoot him." Kai deadpanned causing Ben to cringe.

"Okay, point taken." Ben nodded, "But he really isn't bad! He was just... not in a right place back then. He did a lot of things that were and still are questionable, but most of it was directed at me." he shrugged, "Seems that when you have this thing on your arm," he indicated to the Omnitrix, "Attempts at your life don't seem too threatening."

"To be fair, if I knew I couldn't die I'd probably get carried away as well. So it might be hypocritical of me, but that is precisely why I told you to be careful."

"I know, but that's the thing Kai." Ben sighed, "I realized I'm not that great back when we lost Logan..." he clutched his head, feeling that all his pent-up emotion was more than likely going to be released, even if he didn't want it to, not now... or not ever. "I have all this power at the tip of my fingers and yet I couldn't do anything to protect him..."

"Ben..."

"No, no, I'm okay... I'm okay." his eyes were beginning to get misty, making him reach for them, "I just sometimes wonder... If I had reached out to him, if I had inquired more about why he wanted the watch... Maybe we could have gone a completely different way, not all... this. You know I just feel like this whole thing is my fault. Somehow it always ties back to me, this too must be my fault somehow... That it's all out of my control now, I was too eager, I was too haughty, I was careless... and it all came back to bite me twice as hard." he couldn't stop it, the words were just forming now, all his true thoughts since losing Logan and shutting himself in were about to come out... Right in front of the one person Ben didn't want to worry any more than he already did.

"Ben, you can't-"

"Of course I can!" he snapped back, surprising the Navajo girl, but himself just as well, "My own careless desire for adventure resulted in all of this! All of it! We toured around the goddamn universe and made friends only to lose them all to some damn shadow creatures?! Why do I have this power if I can't even save one life? Tour the universe? What kind of bullshit was I on to think of that?!" he snapped, reaching for his head much to Kai's surprise and worry, "And then we come back to whatever became of Earth? Grandpa... Grandpa is in critical condition, the Plumbers are ruined, Bellwood is isolated... Earth is on the edge of total tyranny and... and you." he locked eyes with Kai again, who was showing her worry on her face, his eyes however were full of tears, "I have gotten you of all people into this. I didn't want this... I didn't want any of it. Why can't things go back to how they were a year ago?! When I still felt like I was worth something?" and so the hero cried, all his pent-up grief and sorrow, self-hate and denial, everything spilled out along with the tears flooding from his eyes. He buried his face in his hands to hide the onslaught of tears that he has kept in for the past half year, there was no stopping it now... Or so he thought.

"BEN TENNYSON!" Kai shouted at the top of her lungs snapping Ben completely out of it and made him look up at her in confusion, his tears still barely stopping, "Don't you dare talk about yourself like that!" she snapped, "You of all people shouldn't even think of this kind of talk!"

"Kai, I-"

"No Ben, this is not normal. This is not okay, nor is it healthy for you." Kai declared persistently, "This is not you, this is not Ben Tennyson." she continued, her arms still crossed, though as she was scolding her boyfriend, she felt all the more reason to be sad, "Where did all your cocky attitude go? Your quips? The positive outlook to everything? The sass? The mental fortitude? Did all of it just go down the drain?" she let out a sigh, "You and I are both still teens for god's sake! This is not how you are supposed to be acting! Hiding all your frustrations, trying to not make us worry..." she sighed.

"Kai, I really-"

"Ben, this is what made us worry from the start!" she declared, catching Ben off guard, this was the second time today someone told him they were worried. "Did you think we didn't notice? Did you think we wouldn't care? Did you think we didn't know you were putting up a front? I haven't seen you in five months, but Gwen... your cousin told me all of it, what you failed to mention to me. Of course, she of all people would notice the changes in you, they all would." Kai herself now was on the verge of tears, "She even worried you were going to-"

"I would never!" Ben adamantly snapped as Kai looked him in the eyes.

"How could she have known?!" she shouted, "You didn't realize what you put them through, her and Kevin. Gwen told me that she had never felt you so out of touch before, so out of grasp... Not even when you were little."

"Gwen..." Ben was visibly shocked, 'So, that's what that smile meant... That's why she was so relieved? What did I-"

"If you get this depressed about failing, how did you even succeed so far?" Kai asked, "How did you power through your life like that?"

"It's the first time a failure of mine has costed somebody else their life!" Ben spat his moment of fury returning, "Excuse me for not being all upbeat and peachy."

"Look, I know I didn't phrase it right." Kai admitted, as she sighed and Ben did the same, somehow calming down both of them, "I'm just saying that with the kind of life you have been leading, it's a great surprise this didn't happen sooner. It wasn't your fault. None of it was." she declared solemnly, "Logan of all people wouldn't blame you."

"I... I know he wouldn't." Ben let out a lengthy sigh, realizing her girlfriend was right on the money, "But I still can't get his screaming out of my ears you know?" he looked up at Kai with still teary eyes, "It's so hard to let go and I don't think I'll ever be able to." he wiped the remaining tears away, trying to compose himself, flashing a smile that any other time Kai would have deemed inappropriate, but now she was just happy to see one of Ben's sincere smiles, however it faded, "And now even Albedo became an anomaly to me. He's immortal Kai! How am I supposed to process that? How is he supposed to?"

"I don't think any of us are ready for that." Kai admitted, "Things have been changing a lot lately, with you, with me... with the Plumbers. It all became so strange ever since you guys came back, it's getting harder and harder to keep up. A year ago, I wouldn't have even imagined I'd be living under the Pacific Ocean." that got a laugh out of Ben.

"I can imagine that." he nodded before his eyes lit up, putting the topic of immortality in the back of his mind "Wait! I've got an idea!"

"Uh-oh." Kai gulped though inwardly she was more than happy that Ben seemed to have cheered up.

"Wait there!" Ben said as he ran out of the room, not paying attention to the utter look of worry Kai had on her face and leaving her just as confused and alone in Gwen's office, "I'm glad you're back." she chuckled despite herself, "I'm truly glad I was the one you decided to share all that with. I just hope you don't start to bottle things up again."

Kai spent the next couple minutes in an eerie silence, at one point almost deciding on just getting up and leaving, before:

"Kai." the voice came from directly behind her in the office, that of Ben's.

The black haired girl immediately turned around, her eyes going wide at the sight of Ben standing behind her, behind him the tall faceless man. The suited creature did a small wave before he disappeared in a flash, leaving only Ben there. The two stared at each other for at least half a minute in silence before Kai started running without any worries. In a matter of seconds, the girl embraced the watch bearing hero in a warm hug, who as to not lose his balance spun around twice with the girl in his arms.

"You..." Kai muttered, her face half buried in Ben's chest, "We're keeping your promise now. No more awkwardness."

"Of course not." Ben nodded as he pulled her in for a tighter hug, "We are way past that."

Kai chuckled at that before forcefully pulling Ben in for a small kiss, "There, let's make that the seal."

Ben was shocked for a total of four seconds before both of them laughed in joy, letting go of each other being content with each other's presence for now. At least until Ben broke out in a wide grin and turned to Kai, who just looked at him in disbelief, having an inkling to what the boy might have been about to suggest.

"C'mon! Gwen's gonna be so shocked!" Ben ecstatically declared almost running out of the room.

"Oh, you ruined it!" Kai chuckled as she ran after her boyfriend. 'But that's okay. You just keep smiling.' she added happily in her thoughts.

Golden Oak Library, Ponyville, Equestria, Gaia, Winter, 1002 C.E.

The Doctor

After significantly calming down, the Doctor would have been pinching his nose if he could at the moment, "So... Let me get this straight. You're telling me that your friend's brain... is collapsing in on itself?" he asked in disbelief upon hearing the story Jeff had told him relating to what had transpired just minutes ago.

"Y'know when you say it like that it sounds really bad." Jeff pointed out, but then nodded "But basically yeah. The working theory is that his brains were overloaded with all the new information and all the deaths and stuff, but nothing is sure yet. Obviously the other 'personality' or whatever exists, as you've seen. Either way the whole thing's a big damn mess. And the worst of all is that he can't even control the other guy... He's just there."

"I believe that." the Time Lord nodded, then glanced over at the unconscious boy, "Will he be back to normal when he wakes up?"

"I hope so." Jeff shrugged, then looked down at his hoodie again and frowned, "Man and he just cleaned this thing too!"

"That's your biggest concern?" Rainbow raised an eyebrow, "Not the still visible wound on your neck?" however weird it felt to have asked that, Rainbow could not deny that the wound was significantly smaller than before.

"Give it five seconds and that's gone." Jeff waved his hands dismissively, much to the pegasus' discomfort, "But blood doesn't exactly wash out easily from white stuff!"

"How are you so unconcerned with your own wellbeing?" Rarity couldn't help but ask.

"Hey, I learned I was immortal about four months ago." Jeff declared, "After that things kinda took a turn. I'm the crazy one in this relationship." he said pointing towards his head much to the confusion of the others. "So don't exactly expect me to think rationally. In the heat of the moment anything can happen. Plus, I heal a lot faster than he does. Though that was a painful process to find out." he cringed.

"Come here, I can clean your hoodie in a second." Twilight sighed upon noticing that Jeff was still fidgeting with his article of clothing instead of more serious things.

"Really?!" Jeff grinned widely, somewhat looking unhinged.

"Yes, yes now come on." Twilight chuckled gently as her horn lit up. A small white bubble enveloped the patch around the collar of the hoodie and expanded greatly covering the entirety of the stain. It stayed on the hoodie for roughly ten seconds before popping like soap bubbles and the piece of clothing remained squeaky clean.

"Oh! I love you so much for this!" Jeff jumped around ecstatically, like a slightly creepier version of Pinkie Pie if Twilight and the Doctor had to put the sight anywhere.

"My, of all the people to meet after all this." the Doctor sighed referring to their own situation. "Well either way, I best not keep Luna waiting any longer, I shall take them back home like she asked then we can figure things out when I get back." Indeed, upon hearing most of the story the otherworldly queen excused herself to prepare her troops for departure.

"Suit yourself." Jeff shrugged, turning to face the chestnut stallion, "Not like we're really goin' anywhere. Though I'm still saying that Albedo ain't gonna like that tho'."

Jeff

Before the Doctor could have left the confines of the library however, Jeff immediately spoke up again following his previous shrug, his voice suddenly sounding really panicked.

"Hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on." he said in rapid succession, getting up, running over to the Doctor and grabbing him by his equivalent of shoulders. "You know how to travel between dimensions with your TARDIS?"

"Yes." the Doctor nodded, slightly shaken up, "It was a sudden but rather welcome find actually."

"This is bad... Really bad."

"W-what do you mean?"

"Oh, nothing much, just remember how we told you how Albedo gets new abilities?"

The Doctor's eyes grew as wide as saucepans, "H-he wouldn't."

"Oh, yes he would."

"He's not that crazy."

"Oh yes he is." Jeff persistently nodded, though at that point he hoped he was wrong and that was just his thoughts talking, but he couldn't deny himself the possibility.

"That is troubling." the Doctor admitted, both at Jeff's adamant responses and at the fact that it seemed to be true, or more at the fact that he was leaning towards believing its credibility.

"Oh yeah." Jeff nodded again, "He'll find a way to die in a way that would give him the ability, and me being me, I can imagine a couple gruesome possibilities. Either way, I think you should get them back and get back here ASAP, for our sake."

"I'll try to do that." the Doctor nodded before leaving, left feeling uneasy.

Soon after leaving Jeff and the unconscious Albedo alone with the seven ponies, an eerie quiet enveloped the room. Jeff's eyes darted around the library a couple times, Rarity was resting, her leg up on a pillow, the others each in their own way trying to process all the newly gained information, but to his surprise the blue coated pegasus was throwing worried glances again and again towards Albedo, unable to help how his personality is and to sate his curiosity he walked over, discreetly and quietly enough as to not raise any questions.

"So what's exactly up with you Dashie?"

"H-huh, what do you mean?" Rainbow blurted out her question, still not completely comfortable with her nickname amongst her friends being used by Jeff... But how she has come to know him, she knew it would be quite futile to attempt to convince him otherwise.

"C'mon, I wasn't born yesterday. It's obvious you're worried 'bout somethin'." Jeff shrugged, "Wish I knew what though." he grinned, much to the discomfort of the pegasus. Her face practically screamed her thoughts though.

"I just... We've been through a lot recently."

"Or so I've heard." Jeff nodded, "An evil version of the Doc, eh? I suppose it's not that far off of an idea." Jeff wasn't paying attention but Rainbow's face clearly showed fear, or a feeling close to it at the simple thought process of his.

"Yeah, but the point is, even with all of that... As soon as... As soon as you two showed up, you fixed everything. He fixed everything. Without any consequences or anything. Without any stupid deal, without expecting anything in return. It all just feels like a bad, bad dream y'know?"

Jeff let out a short but honest laugh, "Yeah, yeah... I know, believe me." his response surprised the pegasus.

Rainbow sighed, locked eyes with Jeff for a brief moment then looked at the floor, "Of course the lost won't come back... But with everything back to how it was before... It's so surreal." the blue coated pegasus sighed, burying her face in her front hooves, "And on top of it all, this guy did it for a buncha strangers without batting an eyelid."

"Yeah, look, usually this is the time when they give the cliché talk about how he did it cause anyone woulda done it... But he's a little different." Jeff sighed, "I spent four months with the dude, and that was enough to realize that. He wouldn't admit it no matter what happened, but in a way, this is him trying to atone for all the shit he did back when he wasn't exactly 100% there. I still think he genuinely tries to help wherever he can, but he probably thinks he can only accept himself if he continues to do all this... That's why he keeps pushing himself. I mean sure, he can't die an' all, but look at him, he never understands that he needs rest." he proceeded to shrug, "Then again, pot calling the kettle black, I'm not too different. Sometimes I even wonder how this me is even sane anymore." he looked to his right seeing Rainbow raising an eyebrow to his last statement, "Nevermind that." he waved his hand dismissively, then let out a sigh, "I'm sure he actually wanted to help you all, I don't doubt that... But no matter how bad it sounds, or how much of an asshole it makes me or probably himself feel, I'm also sure that this is his way of working towards a redemption of sorts. I dunno though, he's never really open with us about that." he let out a sigh.

Rainbow looked at Jeff then turned her attention to the one on the ground in front of her, then her thoughts flashed towards the Doctor, "Ha, I'm sure I know someone like that myself." she joked lightly.

Jeff let out a short chuckle before briefly turning around to look at someone, "If you really want, I won't stop you from watching him, suit yourself." he stood up with a shrug "Just keep your distance, for your own sake." he added ominously and walked over to the pink pony.

"Look, I know this really isn't the optimal time..." he started, catching Pinkie's attention, "But do you think I could get something to eat around here?" he coughed awkwardly, "I know you guys aren't exactly a fan of meat like us, so really anything you can offer me is fine."

"O-oh sure!" she nodded in surprise, somewhat lifting her mood, to Jeff's surprise she seemed the least bit or not at all bothered by his face, "I could probably whip up something in Sugarcube Corner if you want."

"Sure. That'd be nice." Jeff smiled before pulling his bandana over his mouth, and his hoodie over his head, then remembering that he still had the cloaking device he pressed a button on it, returning to his ponified form, "Don't really wanna stand out after what happened." he added silently as he followed the pink mare out the doors of the library, finding himself out in the repaired Ponyville with all the tents having vanished from the outskirts. 'Guess they really are going... Wonder what the whole story is here? Maybe we'll ask later.' he shrugged as the two walked over to the bakery. On the way he caught a glimpse of his reflection in a nearby patch of ice on the ground, 'Just smile to keep the pain away, huh?' he thought before turning to follow the pink pony.

Two hours later

Golden Oak Library, Ponyville, Equestria, Gaia, Winter, 1002 C.E.

Albedo

The Galvan woke up with a splitting headache to find himself in unknown surroundings, prompting him to take a look around. Upon confirming that he was in a sort of library he made to get up from his rest on the floor but the sudden pang of pain in his head prevented him from doing so. Realizing that attempting again would likely provide the same or a similar result in his current state, he let out a sigh and reluctantly laid his head back down on the floor, this time taking a more detailed look around. He took note of the large wall of books of differing ages and quality on his left, acknowledging that this truly was a different world, since he did not know any of the titles. The library itself seemed to be the inside of a large and sturdy oak tree if he had to guess, though guessing the type of tree was helped by the appearance of the giant letters again. The alien noted a staircase not too far in front of him, going both up and down surprisingly. Then he noticed the white coated unicorn resting her recovering leg and sleeping soundly, in a rather peculiar pose if he had to add... but she was the only one other than him currently in the library, the others seem to have had left.

'Just how much time has passed I wonder?'

'Roughly two hours.' Death responded without delay, his voice sounding relieved, and somewhat happy, 'You really knocked yourself out here my friend. I was beginning to get worried.'

Albedo chuckled silently, 'That may be so. I apologize for worrying you dear friend. It seems I do not yet know my own limits. I suppose that many transformations and consequent evolutions would take a toll on my mind...' he let out a sigh, 'Perhaps such reckless behavior is what caused my brains to start failing on me in the first place.'

'Whilst that is likely part of the reason for those happenings, I feel I should clarify that I am as much at fault as you here. My powers are much too strong for mortal beings to handle, and you got thrust into the middle of it all, it is honestly a wonder you are still sane.'

'Haha, I guess I became kind of immune to losing it as Benjamin would say it... I already did a while ago.' Albedo sorrowfully looked at the ceiling, "Do not blame yourself for anything my friend," he said out loud, "None of us had any say in how things had played out, we must adapt to it and continue... After all, we shall be around until the end of it all."

'Albedo...'

"No, no, you are right. Enough with these depressing thoughts, let us instead worry where everyone is."

'Oh no need for that.'

"Hm? What, pray tell, do you mean?"

'Jeffrey has gone with the pink one to sate his hunger. The one named Doctor on the other hand has apparently taken the large group of humans here back to their own world, the other ponies likely followed Jeffrey along if I were to guess.'

"I see. Thank you for that." Albedo nodded, mused for a second then let out a soft chuckle, "At least Jeffrey seems the least bothered by how things are going, same old, same old."

At that moment the door to the library opened up, but Albedo not wanting to risk another sharp pain traveling through his head did not turn to look. Then slowly but surely he saw four chestnut colored hooves appear in his cone of vision.

The owner of said appendages let out a short chuckle, "I see you're awake again." he commented, "That was quite a stunt you have pulled I must say."

"Add it to the list." Albedo laughed, prompting the equine to do the same, "Have you just gotten back?" he asked, still avoiding moving his eyes too much.

"Indeed." the Doctor nodded, "I'm surprised you're up so fast."

"What do you mean?" this time however he forced himself to look at the stallion.

"Hm? I left a couple minutes ago had I not?" the Doctor asked, a worried expression slowly creeping onto his face. An overarching sense of dread to accompany it.

"Doctor, you said you were leaving to take the humans back to their home around two hours ago." Death spoke up through Albedo's mouth, still bringing discomfort to the Time Lord... but the utter dread that finally settled in soon after replaced it quite hastily.

"Something did not allow me to come back at the desired time..?" he asked from no one in particular. However at his rather silent question Albedo's eyes went wide, causing him to look at him in shock, "What is-"

"This is terrible!" he shouted, quickly getting up and hastily reaching for his head because of yet another pang of pain, and at the same time waking Rarity up with his emotional shouting, "Headache be damned we do not have any time!" he snapped as he ran towards the door, for the first time in the past five months surprised that his superhuman speed did not kick in, he was truly fatigued. 'Now of all times!'

"W-what is it?!" the Doctor couldn't help but ask.

"There is only one thing I know of that would be capable of altering even your ship's path." Albedo shuddered as he locked eyes with the chestnut stallion for about four seconds before speeding off after relaying the ominous message, the Doctor put two and two together soon after.

"Oh no." he said in disbelief as he too sped out the door, leaving a rather confused unicorn to scream his name as the door closed behind him.

Sugarcube Corner, Ponyville, Equestria, Gaia, Winter, 1002 C.E.

Jeff

10 minutes earlier

"Y'know, seeing these things on screen never really made them look appealing." Jeff commented, his large mouth currently stuffed with at least four muffins, as he held up a fifth one and commented before stuffing it into his face forcefully and swallowing all five pieces right after, "But in front of me, I could eat at least four times this much." what he himself seemed to not take note of was that where his mouth was 'extended' regenerated in a way that made it as if his mouth was like that from the start. Jeff didn't take note of his own jaw altering on him. The girls however were bearing witness to the birth of a cookie eating monster. For the most part his mouth worked normally, but apparently when he needed to, he would be able to open it far wider than any human being. 'Is it since I became this Undying or whatever that my appetite is always this huge? Or did I just get hooked on to food with Albedo's gang?' he wondered in his thoughts not even noticing the strange gazes of the girls around him.

"Yeah, we noticed." Rainbow deadpanned in disbelief, briefly glancing to her right at the three towers of dirty plates left behind by the hungry immortal, still actively trying to disregard the image in her thoughts of his widely opened mouth, "When was the last time you've eaten dude?"

"This morning, why?" Jeff answered nonchalantly.

Rainbow Dash actually wanted to be a cartoon character at that point, just for the sheer possibility of being able to drop her jaw in a comical fashion, 'Is this guy's stomach an endless void?' she couldn't help but ask of herself.

"So, all of these events happened in four months to you?" the lavender coated unicorn asked with intrigue.

"Yup, we've been to some pretty weird places." Jeff nodded, scarfing down another batch of pastries, "Life really hasn't been dull since I went with Albedo." even then he was surprisingly careful to only talk when his mouth was not full.

"I can tell." Twilight nodded, "If you don't mind me asking... What was your life before that? After... your brother."

Jeff put down a sandwich and let out a short sigh... then the faces of several corrupt government officials screaming in terror flashed through his mind before a knife plunged into their body, only to be followed by maniacal laughter. He looked at his pure white hands and sighed again before looking into the curious eyes of the lavender coated unicorn. At that point the other five looked at him in intrigue as well before he sighed again, as a reporter's face popped up this time, before quickly wiping the thought of her. "I did some bad shit girls." he suddenly said, not bothering to change his own speech, "Probably not bad Doc levels of bad, but things you shouldn't imagine, aight?" he finished in a soft, quiet but unintentional growl, making Twilight realize she might have stepped on a landmine.

"I-I see, I'm-"

"No, no, don't start apologizing." Jeff quickly raised his hands defensively, "It's just a touchy subject." he then let out an audibly sad chuckle, "Maybe it will disappear in a couple centuries... Who am I kidding..?" he let out another sigh before realizing how far the mood has fallen again by his doing, but then he noticed a certain white haired boy and a chestnut stallion running towards the establishment they were in.

In the following brief seconds, excitement flashed across his face until he noticed the worried look both of them had on their faces and then his thoughts started running. Albedo should not be able to get up yet, and yet he's running, at the highest speed he's probably capable of currently, towards them. The Doctor should have returned a lot sooner with how the TARDIS works... These thoughts ran through his head like a slideshow and then his thoughts returned to the looks they were showing. That exact second, his eyes went wide, surprising the others.

"Get away from me!" he suddenly shouted. "Now!"

"Wha-"

"No time! Just do-" however it was too late, the swirling blue portal opened up in the middle of Sugarcube Corner just wide enough to be as wide as the inside of the building itself. All seven of them were sucked in without any warning, disappearing and leaving behind only the plates. As soon as the ancient alien duo entered the building the portal just about closed before Albedo reached through... however he was not fast enough in his current condition, and instead of traversing through it, the portal closed instead... taking his outreached arm with it.

"NO!" Albedo angrily snapped, not the least bit bothered by the excruciating pain he must have been feeling right now. "No, not now! Aaaargh!" he snapped, punching a nearby table with enough force to split it neatly and surprisingly clean in two, much to the Doctor's horror. "Why now?!"

"Calm down!" the Doctor shouted but then he took note of his lack of right arm, "You're not thinking straight."

"Of course I'm not thinking straight!" Albedo snapped, "That little pest did it again when I couldn't be nearby! And this time, it took people who are precious to me. ME!"

"Calm yourself already!"Death snapped in his Grim Reaper voice, one raspy, ethereal and powerful in full agreement with the Time Lord.

'Using contractions now are you?' the Doctor noted, "I agree, you must not let the other one take control again. Senseless anger is of no help to us now."

Albedo let his shoulders fall as he let out a long sigh, "You are right, absolutely, I apologize." he suddenly reached for his head, another pang of pain shooting through it as if he was just struck by lightning. "I am not in the right headspace for any of this."

"Right, you need to calm down and then we can go look for them." the Doctor said with a small soothing smile, trying his best to sound convincing but at the same time hoping to calm himself as well, however Albedo's remaining fist just clenched in anger.

"That's precisely the problem Doctor." he said slowly, putting emphasis on each word in his anger hoping the other alien would get it.

The Doctor looked at him with a confused gaze for a couple seconds before his eyes went wide in realization, "No..."

"Yes, indeed." Albedo nodded, turning around to face the stallion only to show that in his anger he was making the most pained expression the Time Lord has seen in this short time of knowing him, "Since it closed, we now have no way of even knowing where they ended up. Not one trace."

"You mean to tell me that those seven... are out in the multiverse somewhere?" the Doctor had to repeat for his own sake as the horror of their situation settled in, "Without us knowing..."

Albedo had no idea why, but in his frustration he started laughing, "This is just like my luck... Why did I let him come with me?"

"Look, wallowing in self-pity is not going to help us in this situation." the Time Lord deadpanned.

"I know, I just felt that if I did not say that then it would haunt me." Albedo forced a grin before going through the doors beckoning the Doctor to follow him, "It helps to motivate me if anything. Come, we have much to do."

"How exactly are you planning on finding them?!"

"How I always have done Doctor. Through trial and error." Albedo declared, "We keep going through the portals until we meet in the middle, because quite frankly, we cannot really do anything else right now."

"That will take ages!"

"Propose a better idea then!" Albedo snapped back in apparent frustration before sighing, "I know someone who can help us narrow the search down, but there is really nothing more we can do."

"...Alright." the Time Lord sighed and looked at Albedo, "I'll choose to believe you on this one."

"Thank you." Albedo showed a small smile, remembering from Jeff's explanation how much it actually meant for the Doctor to listen to somebody else, "Let us go then."

Meanwhile

The Forest of Death, Hidden Leaf Village, Land of Fire, Earth, Summer, 2014 A.D.

Jeff

The portal opened wide above a clearing in an absurdly large forest that otherwise seemed all too dark and gloomy. The seven reluctant travelers it brought along fell from a considerable height, save for the blue coated pegasus and the lavender coated unicorn who, respectively, immediately took to the air and caught some with her magic and just about helped everyone land safely. Taking a moment to catch their breaths, and to calm down Fluttershy, the next step was mapping out their surroundings.

"Oh, this is just great! Just terrific!" Jeff snapped, clapping his hands together in a vain attempt at helping himself calm down eventually leading to him raising his arms up in the air in frustration. "We're in a goddamn forest in the middle of who knows where!"

"T-that was the portal?" Fluttershy meekly asked, shyly looking around as well, one of her forehooves still on her chest.

"Yeah, that was it alright." Jeff nodded in response. "I saw Albedo and the Doc running towards us moments before, but when I put two and two together before I could even so much as push you away, we were through." he let out a frustrated sigh as he ruffled his own hair. No one noticed yet that he seemed to be twitching occasionally. "Oh, and Pinkie Pie has an arm on her shoulder." he added nonchalantly.

The pink mare turned to her left in surprise to see a pale skinned right forearm dangling from it, cleanly separated from its source. It barely took three seconds for all of them save for Jeff and Rainbow, the pegasus instead looking disgusted, to scream at the top of their lungs.

"W-what?! H-how did that-" Derpy was about to ask, covering her mouth in shock as she took to the air.

"That's Albedo's arm." Jeff shrugged, "If he wasn't already a physical wreck, he would be here with us now, but instead we get an arm." he twitched slightly again.

"That's an image I didn't need in my mind." Twilight shuddered.

"That's what all that was? You telling us to get away?" Rainbow asked with a sigh, hoping to change the topic from the now discarded appendage "Haah, guess we're really tired after all... that." she turned towards her friends, "Are you girls alright?"

"We've been in worse situations before, haven't we?" Twilight smiled, trying her best to keep a positive attitude, still not completely settled down from what happened in their world either. This certainly wasn't helping her mental state.

"I 'spose so." Applejack nodded in response, still somewhat sluggish because of the spores still working hard and helping her heal her burn wounds.

"Except we literally don't know what the hell to expect!" Jeff chipped in with a snark, turning suddenly as his left eyebrow twitched again in quick succession, "For all we know, the goddamn trees could start trying to eat us any moment now!" he snapped making Fluttershy immediately retract an extended hoof directed at a nearby tree.

"D-dude, are you okay?" Rainbow asked slowly, now noticing the obvious twitching.

"OF COURSE I'M NOT OKAY!" Jeff practically shouted making the pegasus reel back in surprise, "We're in a different world." he started, his eyes going wide with one of his irises along with the pupils inside inexplicably shrinking, "Just the seven of us." he cocked his head slightly, occasionally twitching from a stoic expression to a psychotic smile further enhanced by his permanent one, "I'm the only one capable enough to fight." he put a hand to his forehead as his whole upper torso leaned back almost inhumanely, "I'm all alone in a different world without Albedo!" he shouted as he suddenly snapped back up, now standing straight, "Nothing is okay!" he added as he turned towards the girls, his expression enough to put the fear of god into them, "I'm fucking scared man." he calmly added before breaking out into a laughter.

'G-get yourself together!' his younger self's voice rang out in his mind as he suddenly stopped, 'You can't lose it here! N-not now... Y-you're the only protection they have." he seemed to indicate to the group of quadrupeds, making Jeff turn once again towards them, 'Pull yourself together. What would Albedo say if he saw you like this?'

"N-no..." he said out loud as he sat down clutching his head, "No, no, no, no, no." he repeated, "He can't. I'm dependable, I am. I'm not the same as when I left," he said between unconscious smiles, his face clearly showing his psychotic side, "I changed, I'm not the same." he repeated over and over.

'You are here to protect.' his younger self continued, 'Protect those who only have this life.' he added, 'Not take it from them... Okay?' he meekly asked.

"Y-yeah. You're right." he nodded, as he turned his attention back to the girls again, his expression back to its normal state... Well, as 'normal' as Jeff's face could be. "I'm sorry." he suddenly said upon realizing the looks the girls were giving him, "No, that isn't worth jack." he shook his head before putting on his bandana, the pattern of the lower jaw on it hiding all of his smile, "I told you my past isn't pretty-"

"Dude, are you okay?" Rainbow repeated the previous question, forcefully shaking her head a couple times and flying closer and at the same time greatly surprising the former murderer. "You're tearing up."

Jeff slowly reached for his face, as on only the left side of his cheek he could now feel tears flowing, he smiled gently, "I am now." he added with a small huff, "My little inside voice calmed me down enough." he added, pointing to his head again "I... I just never really did this whole dimension thing without Albedo, I think... I think I didn't really realize how scared I was from all of this. Hell, I didn't even know I could get scared." he locked his blue eyes with Rainbow's magenta ones, and pointed at his head with his other hand as well, "I'm not exactly alright in here if you didn't already gather that."

"Yeah, I think we got that." Rainbow grinned with a shrug before putting a hoof on Jeff's shoulder, "Don't worry, we'll keep you in check." she added before raising an eyebrow, "Or at least try, you seem to be trying your best as well." she mused.

"Thank you. Really. To be honest I don't exactly know what happened." Jeff admitted, "When I left my original world, and entered Albedo's one... I changed, maybe subconsciously, maybe not only. Something about that world is strange." he looked at the girls again, "I guess it comes as no surprise that the past I was dreading of telling you involves m- y'know, that word. I still can't say it." he then looked at his hands, clenching his right fist, "I didn't want to say it directly to Albedo, but I think he knows. I know I've changed. I'm still not completely okay, but I'm definitely better than before. Well, either way 'okay' in my case doesn't really cut it." he awkwardly rubbed his head, "I guess what I wanna say is 'thank you for believing in me' even if you only knew me on short term." he looked away, "Not exactly everybody acts friendly towards me, if you get me."

"Ha, like I said, no worries. We have a lotta weird friends, you're just an addition." Rainbow laughed with a shrug, the others smiling and chuckling as well, eventually Jeff following in as well, the previous sour mood having been lifted, but then she frowned. "Wait, hold the phone, what exactly did you mean by us not being able to fight?" she frowned.

"I know you guys can hold your own Dash." Jeff clarified with a small chuckle, "But this is an unknown world, and you guys just came out of a nasty little war... From what I've learned from Albedo, you guys are supposed to stay in the sidelines unless absolutely necessary in a situation like this. Leave the fighting to me... Besides, I can't die, I'm sure I can take a beating, so you guys can dip during that or whatever."

"My, how virtuous of you." Twilight rolled her eyes sarcastically, "Just so you know, I'm not about to let anyone be a sacrifice here."

"Look Twiley, unlike you, I have been swallowed by unkillable worms, zapped by lightning... twice, crushed to death by a boulder, fallen into a volcano, slashed to pieces and ripped in half. I think I'm quite durable." he pouted as Twilight's and the other's eyes struggled to stay in their sockets.

"Man, what the f-" Dash was about to say before Jeff interrupted him.

"I'm what you guys would call insanely reckless. Also, you don't get to swear. My ears need to remember your pure side." he declared in quick succession, slightly irritating the pegasus.

"Haah, fine." the blue pegasus let out a lengthy sigh with a roll of her eyes, "Do you even have a weapon or something?"

"Hah!" Jeff grinned, though it wasn't visible, "Of course I do!" he triumphantly declared as he pulled out a medium sized kitchen knife from the hoodie's connected front pocket, to which the others simply raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

"A kitchen knife." Derpy awkwardly voiced their shared concern.

"How... effective." Fluttershy struggled to find the nicest words she could.

"Oh, all of you nonbelievers just shut up!" Jeff snapped, "This lil' guy has been with me for a while." he added before turning to a nearby tree and doing a simple slashing motion in front of it rather rapidly.

"What was that supp-" however Pinkie Pie's words remained in her throat as the tree fell down soon after, a cut going all the way through it, creating an audible rebound of sound. "Alright, that works." she declared as her voice lost all emotion due to the sheer surprise.

"Knew you would come around." Jeff grinned triumphantly, putting his arms on his hips, "Now, what say you we get out of this depressing forest?"

"I'm in." Rainbow shrugged, "Maybe we can figure out where the hell we are too." she grumbled to herself soon after, "If only I could just go up and check."

"Yeah, I appreciate that you didn't." Jeff chuckled, "You might have been shot down for all we know."

"Exactly." Rainbow nodded, but still mumbled. "Still, let's go find out where we are."

"Here's hoping." Twilight sighed as the group set off with Jeff at the front. 'Then again, Albedo and Jeff have a lot to answer to if we ever get home.' she added in her thoughts, 'That scene from before... It seems like he's back in control again but what caused that in the first place? Just how dependent is he of Albedo? Maybe the Doctor could- Hold on, those two remained in Equestria? Then how are we-'

"Twilight, it's best not to think about that right now." Jeff chipped in greatly surprising the unicorn, "Otherwise you'll start acting like how I did just now as well."

"You are just a bundle of joy you know that?" Rainbow scoffed, "Now I'm thinking about it too."

"Hey, if it's any consolation, you are takin' it a helluva lot better than your animated counterpart would have." Jeff shrugged, "You guys have changed, now if that's a good thing or not, is really not my place to say." he winked, referring to his earlier episode "On the other hand, this forest is starting to look really familiar, which is really fucking creepy to me but either way we have two options here because of that."

"Either you two were here before." Derpy surmised to be one of them.

"Or you've seen the place in a show or something similar." Rainbow added.

"Nice, both correct!" Jeff chuckled, "Let's see which one of them is right, eh?" however after a couple of steps, to the sheer horror of all the ponies present, from the nearby gigantic trees an enormous centipede crawled out, and in a matter of seconds severed Jeff's body at the hips, leaving his lover torso to flop forward like a lifeless mannequin. "I guess I know where we are!" Jeff shouted before being swallowed.

"We're runnin'!" Applejack shouted immediately almost as an order, "Someone bring the legs, we need to go!"

"Ugh, I'm so not happy about this." Rainbow shuddered as she picked up the legs and started flying, Derpy almost having to drag Twilight away, "Nor about leaving him behind."

"He was confident!" Pinkie chipped in, "And even though this is super horroristic and surreal and I don't know why I'm so okay with it, the knife worked too!" she added as she, instead of running, was bouncing forward.

"I told you I'm not leaving anyone behind!" Twilight snapped, ready to run back only for her eyes to widen in surprise.

"And I told you to leave the fighting to me!" Jeff snapped from behind them surprising each of them, however as they turned around, save for Twilight, the sight they saw could have easily fit into a horror movie, or a really gory comedy. Jeff was currently close to keeping up with them by only using his arms, whilst the giant centipede with a rather large wound on its side was following him straight. "Why won't you just drop dead, goddammit?! And I just had this hoodie cleaned too!" he snapped as he briefly turned back to shout at the centipede. "Dash, could you pass me my legs? This is totally the most normal sentence I have said today."

Rainbow without an ounce of hesitation threw the lower torso in Jeff's way, who then ran over them and stopping for about three seconds stood there to align himself with it. His held back regeneration kicked in almost instantly and his legs were back in place, surprisingly none of his clothes ripped apart. He then promptly continued running for his life. "It would have been bad if I grew a second set of legs." he shuddered silently.

"Uuuh, Jeff, we have a fence!" Derpy shouted back, catching the former killer's attention.

"Over it!" he shouted without hesitation, now certain of where they were. "Then we're safe!"

"On it!" Rainbow nodded hastily, grabbing a hold of Applejack, and lifting her over in a flash. She intended to grab the pink bundle of energy as well however to her surprise she easily cleared the fence with a jump. Derpy flew over along with Fluttershy whilst Twilight teleported herself to the other side of it. Jeff, utilizing his surprising superhuman strength also cleared the fence rather easily, the wounded centipede after him slammed into it with full force. The fence to everyone's surprise held up without so much as a scratch. "Can't that thing just climb over?" the blue pegasus asked, slightly worried.

"See the charm things on the fence? They're there to keep these things in." Jeff explained, "So no worries it can't really come over. Well not alive at least." he let out a lengthy sigh as he put his hands on his knees to catch his breath, "Phew, not the type of exercise I like doing in my spare time that's for sure." then he grimaced, "And now I'm covered in centipede juices and my own blood... Again. Ugh." he shuddered, "I need to go wash up before we get on with this."

"I take it you know where we are?" Twilight asked.

"Yeah, this whole forest confirms it." Jeff nodded, "Not the most pleasant world, but we're not in any imminent danger... as long as we're on this side of the fence."

"That's... reassuring."

"I do try." Jeff chuckled, "Anyhow, I'm gonna go find a pond or something be back in a minute, try to not be conspicuous. Also if the blood doesn't come out I'm counting on you Twilight." and with that he just sped off in a direction.

"Alright, alright." the lavender unicorn let out an amused chuckle, somewhat worried in the back of her mind that she would be laughing at that comment.

"This is gonna be a long day." Rainbow however just groaned.

Golden Oak Library, Ponyville, Equestria, Gaia, Winter, 1002 C.E.

20 minutes after the portal closed

"So, you mean to tell me... After we have spent the last twenty minutes searching for it... You have lost the TARDIS?" Albedo asked, pinching the bridge of his nose, frustration evident on his face. Though he was slowly recovering from his fatigue.

"Oi, I swear I left her behind here!" the Doctor snapped back, "How should I have known that this portal of yours would do this?!"

"Granted, I did not think it would affect time ships." Albedo nodded in agreement, "And across this big of a distance to boot. In that case- Hmm, what is it that Jeffrey said was possible? Putting the ship out of sync, was it?"

"Yes, I can make it disappear like that, but you saw I tried the sonic and nothing happened."

"Yes, but perhaps if your ship did indeed get affected by the rips in space the portal had caused, then your normal sonic device would, in theory, not be able to help recover it." Albedo surmised, "As such, since this appears to be a problem caused by my world, I suppose we should try to fix it by my world's methods as well."

"Why do I not like the sound of that?"

"Come now, we shall not do anything questionable... mostly."

The Doctor let out a sigh but reluctantly, for the lack of better options, nodded, "Alright, what did you have in mind exactly?"

"Well, first and foremost I advise we head out so as to not disturb Miss Rarity any further." Albedo smiled gently, pointing at the sleeping unicorn, "We must have given her quite a fright before. Thankfully, in a figurative sense, she seemed to be quite fatigued to stay awake and worry, explaining that would have been quite a 'doozy'."

"Indeed." the Doctor nodded, "Anyhow, I agree. Better head outside then."

Outside the Golden Oak Library, Ponyville, Equestria, Gaia, Winter, 1002 C.E.

"Right then, so-" however before the Doctor could inquire any further a flash of red light next to him caused him to almost instinctively cringe. "Oh dear." he quietly said as he turned around. In the white-haired alien's place stood a tall humanoid creature, its back was black with wide red lines running through it, whilst its chest and front was the reverse, the same hourglass symbol was neatly on its chest as the red lines converged to a circle forming what looked to be an eye on his head. "Oh?"

"This is a Galvanic Mechamorph." Albedo explained upon noticing the inquisitive gaze the Time Lord was giving him, his eye glowing with each word spoken "They are artificial beings of living metal which are capable of merging with any technology and if necessary improve them."

"Hm, quite intriguing." the Time Lord mused, "Your world just keeps on surprising me."

"I would say statues that only move when you do not look at them are just as interesting."

"Touché." the Doctor let out a chuckle before he raised an eyebrow, "Hold on, did you say this species' name was Galvanic Mechamorph? And that they are... artificial?" he asked, remembering the name of Albedo's species without trouble.

"Yes, indeed." Albedo nodded. "The creation of the species came about by a complete accident. Some scientists including my... foster father, were working on making our planet's moon inhabitable, however the project went farther than intended and this species was the result. Nowadays they are peaceful neighbors."

"Creating an entire species on accident..." the Doctor marveled, "I think I have to give your race its title as well."

Albedo forced a small chuckle, "I suppose that's a viable reaction." he looked at the ground briefly.

The Doctor almost could feel the mood around them change, and then that specific phrase the Galvan used popped back into his head, 'Foster father..? Even earlier today when sharing information, he did not share much about his own personal background... It would be quite hypocritical of me to dig into it further.' he thought, but then a thought flashed in his mind, 'Jeff said that the project head on that 'Omnitrix' device was called Azmuth... Could it be?' he mused before turning back towards Albedo, "So, what's our next step?" he instead focused the Galvan's attention elsewhere.

"Let us, or more precisely me, try out your sonic device now shall we?"

"Ah, I see. I believe it's worth a shot." the Doctor shrugged, before frowning "At this point I'm ready for anything as long as we can get them back." Signaled by a mutual nod, Albedo, in the form of the new alien creature catching the Time Lord's intrigue, immediately merged with the Doctor's Sonic Screwdriver. "My, how interesting. Where does all that extra mass go?" he wondered out loud.

"It allows the creatures to improve on the currently possessed technology as I have stated. Now then how about a demonstration?" Albedo's mechanical voice resounded from the device which soon began floating on its own, "Let us see what this is capable of."

For the next couple of seconds the Doctor heard his screwdriver turn on and off indicated by its signature sound as the light soon turned from the blue to the same red as its body was now covered in. Soon after this the sound began to play without pause. Eventually the device enlarged and some small legs protruded from three sides of its casing to make sure it stood in place, the front growing wider to about as wide as a saucepan.

"What exactly are you doing?" the Doctor worriedly looked on, "No, rather than that, I hope these changes are not permanent." he frowned.

Albedo just chuckled, "Worry not Doctor, as soon as a Mechamorph leaves the possessed technology, it returns to its base state. Now as to answer your question, I am currently trying to use the most of this neat little device's capabilities to their fullest in locating your ship." he explained, "More specifically I am searching through time and space."

"Time and space?! With my sonic? Just how much did you upgrade it?"

"All I did was raise its initial capabilities my friend, but yes I surmise that if the portal did in fact affect this TARDIS of yours, then it is likely it could have been sent elsewhere by dimensional interference... Assuming it works even remotely similar to a time manipulator back in my home world."

"At this point I'm not even surprised that you have one of those." the Time Lord chuckled, "Alright, let's see what you can find then."

Albedo kept searching, merged with the Sonic Screwdriver, for the next fifteen minutes, in almost utter silence. The only noise being the occasional sound of the people of the village, and the beeps of the modified device. The Doctor was worrying and on the edge of his imaginary seat, right up to the point when Albedo suddenly exclaimed, "Finally!"

"Did you find it?!"

"It appears so. It would seem my theory was somewhat right." Albedo declared, "The TARDIS is indeed here, yet it appears to be in what looks to be a parallel dimension?"

"Was that a question?"

"Naturally." the Mechamorph responded without an ounce of hesitation,"I am picking up its location right here in front of us, yet it is obviously nowhere near us."

"Can you call it back?"

"Of course, I should be able to. Give me just a moment." the sound resounded again, this time continuously, for a couple of seconds before the TARDIS once again began materializing in front of the duo. "We should look into this more when we are not scrunching for time. Hopefully no one caught wind of the TARDIS itself, assuming it was not hidden in this other world."

"You're right, this seems more than troublesome." the Doctor sighed, "For now however let's set off. You said you had someone you knew that can help?"

"That is right." Albedo nodded, letting go of the Sonic Screwdriver and subsequently transforming back, "That is if I can help your TARDIS coordinate itself to my dimension."

"Shouldn't be too hard if you have a clear image." the Doctor fidgeted, "The feature itself is quite new, but it worked for us so far."

"Excellent! Let us be off then!"

"After you." the Time Lord smiled, somewhat disappointed that he couldn't get the same response to the interior of the ship from the Galvan since they have met in the middle of it, but then he remembered that he never really registered it, or at least the Doctor did not know about it, and yet:

"My, it really catches me off guard every time that this is bigger on the inside!" Albedo smiled warmly, "Your technology is quite impressive."

"You're one to talk." the Doctor raised a mocking eyebrow before the two shared a good-natured laugh. "That panel over there is the one that reads your thoughts, so I propose we not waste any more time."

"Agreed, let us set off." the white-haired teen nodded as he almost instinctively knew what to do with the foreign looking panel, "My this is quite nicely made."

"The TARDIS came up with it, praise her not me." the Doctor chuckled.

"I suppose I shall." Albedo grinned, "Mind helping me out with this?" he asked, turning towards the control panel, to the Doctor's surprise, not once finding the fact that the ship was alive weird. A small hum resounded around the control room, almost as if the ship did indeed respond, "My, thank you." the Doctor went wide eyed at the interaction before the ship started moving through space again.

Half an hour later

Main Hall, Colony Evacuation Shelter, Pacific Ocean, Earth, Summer, 2014 A.D.

Ben and Kai were walking around the large colony shelter, as Kai was showing Ben how everything looked and for the most part where everything was. All the while the two were enjoying each other's company and generally speaking about things they had to catch up on. The only real disturbance in all of it being that excruciatingly long 45 minutes where Arnas and Etala found them and would not leave them be until Ben finally had enough and threatened to make jumping rope out of them as a Tetramand. Ben was introduced to most of the people Kai worked with in rotation, and eventually he did get to do what he wanted after reuniting with Kai. Surprising his cousin. Suffice to say, he got the reaction he was expecting. The couple was currently in the main hall following those events, heading towards yet another wing of the large shelter.

"Ha! The look on her face was still the best thing today!" Ben grinned.

"Ben knock it off!" Kai gently shoved him, but she was in the process of holding back her own laughter as well.

"C'mon, you know you loved it too!" Ben laughed, then looked around putting emphasis to it by opening his arms wide, "Oh boy, this place sure is big."

"You're telling me, I sometimes get lost here still." Kai admitted, "It's surprising how eas-"

"Get down!" Ben suddenly shouted much to Kai's surprise, but soon after she felt herself pulled to the ground, Ben protecting her from something.

That something in question was a blue police phone box suddenly appearing out of thin air in front of them at a tremendous speed and hurdling at the ground of the shelter, bouncing a couple times and landing against a wall completely flipped upside down, and shortly after falling to its side.

"What the hell?" was all Ben could ask at the sight as the phone box's doors opened.

"Just how tough are your dimension's borders?!" a voice Ben did not recognize snapped from inside in audible frustration.

"Hey! Why are you blaming me?! It was my first time as well!" Ben's voice rang out from the box soon after, making Ben break out in a cold sweat.

Shortly after, the figure of Albedo quite literally plopped out of the box as some onlookers began to gather, landing face first on the ground. Following after him a quadruped animal jumped out of the box and Ben's eyes began to bug out. The animal in question, a horse... no a pony more like, began dusting off its blue suit, turned around and Ben could almost see its heart shatter at the sight of the blue phone box's current state.

"Look at what happened to my TARDIS!" he snapped as he reached for his head.

Albedo got himself up from the ground, completely not catching note of the people around them, just looking at the spaceship. "My, we certainly did a number on her." he then began to take a look of his surroundings, "And we are not even close to where I wanted to end up."

"WHAT?!" the Doctor snapped, a vein almost popping on his forehead in anger.

"No need to worry though, we are in my dimension, just not where I wanted to end u-" he stopped as he felt a hand on his shoulder, causing him to turn around slowly to come face to face with Ben smiling at him with his eyes closed, but Albedo could tell from a mile away he was irritated, "Ah! Benjamin, how nice it is to see you!" he then looked behind him to notice the Navajo girl looking rather sheepish, "Ah, Kai as well! I hope you are having a great time." he winked at the girl as her eyes went wide in some sort of realization.

"Albedo." Ben said slowly.

"Yes, what is-"

"Albedo." Ben repeated in an irritated tone his grip on his shoulder tightening, as some beads of sweat made their way down from the Galvan's forehead.

"A-ah..." he said quietly, breaking out into a silent awkward chuckle, "H-how can I be of assistance?"

"Mind explaining what this whole scene was?" Ben asked calmly, not once opening his eyes which only reinforced Albedo's dread, as the Doctor just took to assessing the damage done to the TARDIS, and he almost began to cry shamelessly.

"Ah, well you see..."

"What is going on out here?!" Gwen's voice could be heard approaching the Main Hall from the direction of her office, arriving soon after in the company of Kevin and a large burly man, who Albedo recognized to be Paul from before, wearing a t-shirt matching his size and blue overalls with brown work boots complete with a baseball cap put on backwards.

"Oh boy, this will be a long day." Albedo sighed. "How about we move to a less crowded space and then we will explain everything? Eh, you know you want to!" he urged.

"How about you fix my TARDIS first, huh?" the Doctor sarcastically added, almost crossing his arms before remembering that if he did so he would fall over so instead he just glared at the Galvan.

"Oh, o-of course!" Albedo responded as he immediately transformed into a Tetramand and turned the ship right-side up with relative ease much to the Doctor's chagrin, then he turned into a Chronosapien and with a well-placed time bubble turned the ship back to its condition prior to experiencing the turbulence their travel had caused, "Is this acceptable?" he asked in an accent typical for a Chronosapien, and whilst he tried to remain calm, Ben could tell that for whatever reason he was quite nervous.

"Y-yes, thank you." the Doctor nodded in surprise, clapped his hooves together so the doors would close and then promptly put the spaceship out of sync, this time properly, and it disappeared from sight. Soon after him and Albedo left with Ben, Kai, Gwen and Kevin to discuss things in private, leaving a rather confused audience behind. Paul on his end however immediately defused the situation regarding the onlookers and knowing some details about Ben's current situation sent everyone away, but even he couldn't stop wondering what exactly this scene was.

'I'll just nag Gwendolyn about it later.' he shrugged as he left to do his current mechanic work that was put on hold because of the commotion.

Gwen's 'Office', Conference Room, Colony Evacuation Shelter, Pacific Ocean, Earth, Summer, 2014 A.D.

As the group entered the office space, everybody but Albedo and the Doctor took one side of the table whilst they took the one facing them. An eerie, at least for the alien duo, silence permeated the room around them as even the Doctor was beginning to grow anxious. As Gwen sat down she reached for her head and let out a pained sigh as the duo of aliens looked away from each other and the ones in front of them like children caught doing something bad.

"Where do we even start here?" she asked accompanied with a frustrated sigh.

"How about a greeting?" the Doctor suggested jokingly.

"Doctor, this is really not the time." Albedo sighed, though he was smiling at the idea.

"A man can try." he shrugged.

"Albedo, I have to agree with him on this." Ben pointed out, "Who is he?"

"Oh, allow me then." the Doctor responded with a polite smile, "I'm known as the Doctor, I'm a Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey. A planet from a rather different constellation, the constellation of Kasterborous, which... is not from this world."

"'Time Lord'?" Kevin asked with air quotation marks, "So wherever the hell you come from Time is controlled by ponies..?" his eyes went wide.

"No, this and that are completely unrelated." the Doctor chuckled despite the situation, "My current appearance is due to some special circumstances, however it would take quite a while to explain."

"Maybe not that long."

"What do you mean?" the Doctor couldn't help asking.

"First, I'm Ben. This is Gwen, my cousin, her boyfriend and my best friend Kevin, and my girlfriend Kai, hello Doctor." Ben promptly introduced everyone to the Doctor.

"Ah, so you are Benjamin! Albedo has told me quite a lot about you and the device you bear." the Doctor smiled widely, "I must say I am amazed by the technology of this world!" he then suddenly deadpanned before coughing, "Now before I go off on another tangent, what did you have in mind?"

Ben however just grinned much to everyone's confusion, and just turned towards Albedo who seemed to catch on, "You wouldn't happen to know of a method would you?"

Albedo grinned at the crafty method his newfound enemy-turned-ally thought up to save time, "Actually." he held up a hand almost on impulse, "Could you help me out here?" he asked from seemingly no one as his left eye turned completely black.

"Of course." Death responded, he too having realized their little charade's meaning, as he raised their left hand and connected the minds of the four in front of them with theirs, "I will now share our memories of the various conversations and events of the past day with you. But are you sure about this? You are still not fully recovered."

"Go for it, the occasional headache I have gotten used to by now." Albedo nodded.

"Hey, what do you mean 'recovered'?!" Ben snapped, "What happened?"

"Just a second Benjamin. It will all be clear to you soon enough." Death answered as a brief line of blue energy coursed towards all of them, surprising most but Ben. "There, that should be all that had happened this past couple of hours to us... Well hours in the time of the world we arrived at."

What Death had shared with the four was mainly the memories of Albedo and the Doctor talking to each other, them spending most of the day in Equestria, learning about what had transpired in that world and by who. Albedo healing and fixing everybody at the cost of his own wellbeing... And the portal opening up and taking Jeff and the Doctor's friends with it. All so they could spare telling the story themselves as to not rob anyone of their times.

"A world full of pastel colored ponies." Kevin shuddered at the thought.

"I don't know Kevin, it seems like the best thing ever." Gwen commented honestly which to all seemed quite out of character, but given the situation not even Albedo commented on it.

"I... I lost Jeffrey." Albedo remorsefully declared.

"C'mon Albedo." Ben smiled, trying his best to cheer the alien up, but after how he himself was feeling earlier that day that was proving to be a troublesome task, "It wasn't your fault, besides if you two could get here on your own accord, then maybe the Doctor's ship thing could help you find them a lot easier now."

"Exactly!" the Doctor nodded, although he was not exactly pleased by the use of 'thing' referring to his TARDIS, "The trial run may have been the worst of its kind, but at least we determined that it is possible for the TARDIS to dimension travel to totally different worlds as well. All I had tried before were parallels to the one I now call home." he turned to Albedo, "We can find them!"

"See? That's the attitude you need to have more often!" Ben chuckled.

"Look who's talking." Albedo and Kai said in an eerie unison to shut Ben up, and in turn make them look at each other in shock before laughing. "What a depressive bunch us two are, eh Benjamin?" the alien chuckled.

"What are we gonna do with you two?" Kai asked jokingly, becoming more familiar to the fact that Albedo looked like her boyfriend, and now that most of their personality is roughly the same, the Navajo girl felt like she just learned about a brother she never knew Ben had.

"I suppose you just have to put up with our shenanigans for a bit longer." Albedo shrugged with a smile.

"So the reason the Doctor... 'regenerated' to this form, could also be because of our portal?" Ben asked.

"At this point that's the working theory yes." the Doctor nodded, "However that would mean it appeared in my world prior to its documented initial appearance here, in this world. According to all out information at least."

"Time travel, and anything related to it is just so damn confusing sometimes." Kevin grumbled.

"You took the words right out of my mouth young man." the Doctor nodded, "If we stick to this theory, then however terrifying the thought is, it is safe to say that this portal opens not just through tears in space but in time as well."

"Yes initially we just thought that the world's just have a different flow of time overall, but..." Albedo continued.

"That time with Jane and Kate when we met Jeff." Ben's eyes lit up, "They said you left that world two years before that, but you..."

"Yes, indeed. At first, I did not give it much thought, but now it seems more and more evident. The portal is opening wherever and whenever in the multiverse it so pleases... And as it turned out it even interferes with other technology capable of doing the same."

"It sent my TARDIS to a parallel dimension to the one we were in."

"Whatever this thing is, it's way too high tech." Kevin added, "If it's artificial or anything like that... Than the one who made it either really has it out for the multiverse or."

"Or there is a reason behind its openings? Is that it?" Albedo mused.

"At this point it's just my theory to add to the table." Kevin shrugged, "Anyhow, I'd love to chat more, but I'm behind on some work so if you don't mind."

"No, of course!" Albedo nodded, "You go do your thing, we were the ones who messed up the schedule. Quite bombastically I might add."

"You came here to get Hope, didn't you?" Gwen guessed with a small smile.

"That was my intention yes." Albedo smiled, thankful but somewhat weirded out how Gwen seemed to know that information. One look at Ben and his face saying 'You get used to it.' however was all it took for him to inwardly chuckle.

"How is hope going to help us here?" the Doctor asked with a raised eyebrow causing Ben, Gwen and Albedo to just chuckle, Kevin smiling in the background, "What is it?"

"Doctor, Hope is the name of the sorceress we told you about." Albedo clarified, "And also my honorary sibling."

"Aaah, I see. My bad then."

"Woah, when did that happen?" Kevin asked dumbfoundedly.

"Well, when you are stuck for a good month in a different world, bonds are formed." Albedo shrugged with a small smile, "We learned we were quite similar to each other, almost to a surprising degree. Both without anyone to really call family, so we decided to became each other's. If anything... it really is good to know that there is someone out there who loves you unconditionally." he added, "That was rather 'sappy' was it not?"

"Nah." Ben waved his hands dismissively, "I'm just happy you found someone you feel safe to call family."

"Haha, indeed. I never thought it would happen after-" he shook his head causing Ben's smile to falter a bit, but he didn't blame the alien. However, Albedo soon locked crimson red eyes with bright green ones, "I am happy you are finally smiling again Benjamin." he declared, but the sentence itself could have easily been a blow to Ben's heart. Gwen's eyes went wide even as she tried to hide it, Kai and Kevin as well looked at the alien in surprise. But the one who was most affected was Ben himself.

'Even you...' he thought as a small smile formed on his face before he reached for his chest and gripped his shirt tightly, the number 10 scrunching up under his fist, 'Even you noticed..?'

"Anyhow, yes we think of each other as siblings now Kevin." Albedo smiled, upon seeing how Ben was acting, he figured it was better to let him figure it out. "I hope there is no problem?"

"Why would there be?" Kevin shrugged with a smile, Albedo realizing at this point that even the one he would carelessly label as a 'brute' in the past was as kind as he would have liked to hide it, "See ya around." he left with a two finger salute, to resume his tasks.

"That's really sweet." Gwen smiled, honestly relieved for the second time that day, "I often used to worry about her even when we weren't exactly on speaking terms... Please be there for her." she asked, "Do that for me? Or just for her?"

"Of course, Gwendolyn." Albedo nodded, "Otherwise I would not be able to live with myself after what she has done to help me out. You have my word for it."

"Should I-" Ben was about to get up, being able to speak up after letting his inner turmoil settle down again.

"No, no Benjamin." Albedo shook his head, fully understanding that the last thing Ben needed currently was any sort of battlefield. "You stay here, catch up with everyone, take care of your grandfather, spend time with your lovely partner, relax and enjoy yourself as much as the situation allows. No need for you to get involved as well." he smiled warmly.

"I... Alright, if you say so." Ben reluctantly agreed, still not quite sure how to feel anymore, "Don't go getting yourself ki- Oh. Right."

Albedo just chuckled dryly, "Someday Benjamin, we will all get used to it." he declared rather ominously.

'That's what terrifies me.' Ben thought, "Fine, then you better go and get that gluttonous idiot of ours back." he added with a grin, a grin which made Albedo happy.

"You can count on it!" Albedo grinned in turn himself, then turned to the Doctor, "Are we ready to leave?"

"Of course." the Doctor nodded in response and was about to leave before:

"Oh, lest I forget, Benjamin?"

"Yeah?"

"When we get back, mind showing the Omnitrix to the Doctor?"

"Huh?" the Doctor raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"Come now, you kept glancing at it from time to time, I know you are curious." Albedo teased.

"Maybe a little." the Time Lord shrugged, not once trying to hide his curiosity after that.

"I don't mind." Ben shrugged honestly. "See you around?"

"Definitely." Albedo nodded as the strange alien duo left through the door with a small wave. In a matter of seconds after they have left the trio left in Gwen's 'office' heard a rather signature sounding noise reverberate from the main hall before it quieted down.

"Every time he comes back..." Ben muttered, his smile fading and his fists clenching again, "It just gets more and more complicated. Everything around him and this stupid situation." he sighed, "Every time." he locked eyes with his cousin who was visibly just as worried as he was, "What is our world becoming Gwen? What is our life becoming?"

"I wish I knew that Ben... I really do." she answered with a sigh, "Maybe we'll figure it out eventually. Maybe."

"I hope so." Ben nodded as he got up, Kai following him, a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"C'mon Ben, let's continue where we left off, we can think about this in more detail tonight, alright?" the girl offered him a reassuring smile, forcing him to go on and be himself for days on.

"Yeah, yeah. I need to take my mind off of all this." Ben nodded, a small smile creeping onto his face, whether it was forced or genuine however, neither of the two girls could tell anymore, "See you Gwen." he said goodbye to his cousin before he and Kai left.

'Even Paradox is confused about all of this...' Gwen thought, pinching the bridge of her nose again, 'How are we supposed to figure it out then?'

Alright, first of all I would like to wish all of you a belated Happy New Year! I would have liked to get this chapter out to you sooner, but I did not quite have time to work on it. Nonetheless it is here now, and the follow up is hot on its tail (I hope that is not a false promise, but exams are starting next week so I'll see what I can do) with our newfound adventuring trio following the steps of the seven unfortunate travelers.

Nonetheless I am quite happy with how this chapter had turned out, and would like to keep this going. I realized that the way things were going, Ben was eventually going to break down, that's why I had Albedo suggest to him last chapter to go and spend some time with Kai, because even if they are not the most apparently lovey-dovey couple around, Kai was the only one who could help Ben collect himself, what with Max being out cold, Gwen having already a lot on her plate, and Sandra and Carl being in a different shelter (I know that part was not exactly mentioned yet, but it is the case), Kai was the only one with enough wit to talk some sense into this sack of depression that became of Ben. This chapter as such focused as much on the new world our duo found themselves in as it did on Ben. This is a version of Ben who despite all his best efforts lost someone precious to him, and as it is quite evident it affected him greatly. Albedo on the other hand is getting constantly bombarded by everyone he meets, so at this point he's just joking around, not that he really isn't the pessimist he appears to be, for now at least.

On the other hand, Jeff being the one to get separated with the girls came about later in writing this chapter, and the main reason for it was to one: let the readers know that something was up with the world Albedo comes from, and two: to have Jeff become a bit more independent. I think you all know or at least have an inkling of how he will meet certain characters next time with his antics.

I'm sorry if it wasn't so action packed or anything, this was supposed to act as an exposition chapter to set up what was to come, I hope I can deliver on my promise to make this entire Arc as interesting as I have imagined it.

Now as a closing point, I once again would like to clarify that this rendition of the MLP characters and the Doctor are all the courtesy of The 1597 Faceless Writer and are used with permission, I just hope I can somehow write them similarly to how they used to.

See you around!