NOTE: The start of season 3 and it's a filler chapter! I know you guys wanted it to be Ben 10,000 but there were somethings that needed to get discussed first before starting things up.

I'm happy that you all enjoyed the season finale. Look forward to season 3 and a butt load of purple lightning.

Enjoy and Review!

Chapter 37: Investigation Team

OP: Ancient Romantic by P-Maru Sama

Ancient Romantic!

(U! Ha! U! Ha!)

(U! Ha! U! Ha!)

A rotating shot of the Omnitrix comes into view before latching onto Ben's wrist. He's seen standing with Yukiko, Gwen, and Max in front of the Rustbucket.

For a split second the landscape around them glitches out as purple lighting cracks the sky above.

The miracle of humankind that I met at once was a loss if neither Edison nor Watson knew (Loss!)

Ben stands on top of a broken spaceship, staring out at the clear blue sky above him.

Below him was Yukiko, who stood in the shadows of the ship. Her eyes transfixed on her tarot card.

Mr. N was surprised at such a situation since the earth was created (Unexpected!)

Gwen walked past the two, her eyes focused on her spell book. She shut the book instantly, her eyes glowing with blue mana.

Max stood in the back and in his hands was a broken picture frame.

The ancient civilization and the school playground that I ran yesterday are all connected.

The scenery changed to Inaba. Yukiko is seen running through the town with the rest of the Investigation Team.

SHATTER!

Yukiko was now running around with the Tennysons. Ben, happily leading the charge with the Omnitrix ready.

SHATTER!

Yukiko was now covering her face with her hands, her back turned to the audience. Ben stood in front of her back with a traumatized expression.

SHATTER!

Older versions of Ben, Yukiko, Gwen, and Max appeared. Each one had their backs facing the audience as if not wanting to face the truth.

The invitation to unravel the true nature of this romance is an initiation from ancient times.

Ben sat inside of a blue limousine. In front of him were both Igor and Margaret, the attendant holding a large blue book in her hands.

Sitting next to Ben was Yu, whose tarot card expanded into a blinding flash of light.

All members! Go in! Aye-aye!

Ben charged into battle first, slapping down the dial and transforming into Four Arms. Gwen came in next, hands glowing bright with mana. Yukiko summoned Sumeo-Okami, unleashing waves of fire. Max joined his grandkids, his own personal blaster ready to battle.

Let's dance in such an era! Dancing all right!

Yu appeared next with his sword drawn. Izanagi jumped out from behind him, his blade sparking with white electricity.

Naoto Shirogane dropped down in front of him with her gun pointed at the screen. Her Persona: Yamato-Takeru appeared next to her in a flash of light.

Rise Kujikawa descended downwards gracefully, with her eyes closed shut. Her Persona: Kanzeon had appeared behind Rise. Placing a red-colored headset over her user's eyes.

Rehabilitation! Introspection! I'll do it one after another! The past and the future are all mixed together!

An older version Four Arms charged in, clashing his fists against a more monstrous and older version of Vilgax.

Yukiko and Charmcaster stood side by side before a static shock hit them both, causing their eyes to swap colors.

Collapse! Situation! Hurry up!

A familiar looking creature appeared dressed in shadows, its purple eye glistening with malicious fury.

The feelings of hundreds of millions of years are romantic over!

Three new aliens appeared on the screen. A Frankenstien's monster, a werewolf, and a mummy all stood in front of a large satellite. Above them the sun transformed into a massive purple eyeball.

March! Send! Do in! Do in Love! There is one love in any era!

The Rustbucket was speeding towards the satellite with its boosters activated. The Tennysons inside were determined to stop whatever was about to happen.

A, B, C, D, E, F, G, you can see!

Chie, Yosuke, Kanji, Teddie, Nanako, Rise, and Naoto held each letter as they flashed across the screen.

H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, you caught!

For the last remaining letters were each held by Ben's aliens as they flashed across the screen.

Ancient Romantic!

Yukiko fell through the air, unable to stop herself. Ben reached for her as fast as he could, his hand only inches from her's.

(U! Ha! U! Ha!)

(U! Ha! U! Ha!)

"And then he went like BAM! And then the bad guy fell on the floor like WAM!" Teddie bounced around the Junes grocery department.

Yosuke growled under his breath, annoyed by Teddie's constant chatter. "You've been yelling about this for the past 4 hours, Ted! And keep it down, you're disrupting the customers!" Yosuke scolded Teddie.

"But Yosuke, you're not listening to me!"

"Because it's probably something stupid like usual. Like, that time you tried to tie yourself to a tree because you thought the storm was going to throw it at the house!"

"It was SUPER windy, Yosuke!"

"I don't care! That was dangerous as hell!" Yosuke shoved a box of fruit into Teddie's arms. "Now hurry up and put that stuff on the shelves over there and don't eat them while you're doing it."

"Yessir!" Teddie went to do as told, though, he still took an apple for himself.

Yosuke rolled his eyes, knowing he'd have to run back to storage for more apples soon.

"Yosuke!"

"Huh?" Yosuke turned to the familiar voice to see Chie walking over, dressed in her usual green sports jacket and skirt. "What are you doing here so early, Chie?"

"What? I can't come see my friends?" She asked.

"You never come to see me unless you want a free meal. And by free meal, I mean I pay for the meal." Yosuke replied.

Chie just waved her hand. "You got money."

"Then get a job."

"Too much of a hassle at the moment," Chie's response made his eyes roll.

"I can't really get you a meal at the moment. I'm working," He stressed that last word.

Chie hissed. "If you're just gonna be an ass then I can leave."

Releasing a sigh, Yosuke shook his head. An argument for her wasn't something he needed this morning. "Do you need something from the store?"

Chie kicked her legs softly, staring at the floor. "I just wanted to talk or something! I don't know!"

"You really miss her, huh?"

"Of course I miss her!" Chie exclaimed. "Yukiko-chan and I were gonna do so much this summer. No crazy murderer or weird TV shenanigans. It was just supposed to be us hanging out like usual, but now she's off having fun in a different country."

"You know that's not her fault, Chie. It's her family-"

"I know!" Chie sighed. "Family is important, and this is a big opportunity for her to meet the rest of her family. I'm just bored…"

Yosuke nodded his head. "Yeah, I get you. It's been pretty boring around here since she and partner left. Though, that was the point of stopping the murders to bring back that quietness Inaba is known for."

Chie smiled softly. "True. I guess nothing unusual has happened around here lately."

"Unless you count the Amagi Inn's massive light bulb," Yosuke countered.

"Oh yeah, Yukiko-chan still hasn't explained where she managed to find that. Didn't think America carried stuff like that around," Chie said.

"Have you spoken to Yukiko-chan in a while?" Yosuke asked. The most he's gotten from the heiress in terms of emails were pictures of landscapes she's visited.

Chie shook her head. "Other than those recent pictures she sent of Niagara Falls, not really. It's odd for her to be so silent, we were emailing a lot at the beginning of the summer."

"Maybe she's having so much fun she just forgot?"

"Nah. No way she's having that much fun without us-"

"Are you guys talking about Amurica!?"

"WAH!" Both teens jumped from Teddie's intrusion. The TV inhabitant looked at them as if he did nothing wrong. "Chi-chan! Can you ask Yuki-chan about the aliens?!"

"Aliens?" Both teens questioned.

"Yeah the aliens over in Amurica!"

"It's America and there are no aliens, Ted," Yosuke corrected him.

Chie laughed. "Yeah, I mean if there were aliens, Yukiko-chan would've told me in a heartbeat."

Teddie pouted. "But I heard a bunch of people talking about them outside of Junes recently. Apparently they've been appearing all over there since the summer started!"

Yosuke waved it off. "I wouldn't buy into it, Ted. Stuff like that spreads over the internet all the time as rumors."

"Yeah, sure, shadows and a TV world were one thing but there's no way anyone with a brain would buy into aliens being real," Chie laughed.

"This doesn't make sense. Aliens shouldn't be real…" Naoto muttered. In front of her was a board. A multitude of pictures of Ben's aliens and the locations they've appeared in were pinned to the board. Threads of red yarn were looped around the thumbtacks. "Sure, there have been conspiracy theories built up through news outlets and online forums, but all of those can be debunked. But this…"

Naoto grabbed an image of Heatblast. "The logical part of me wants to dismiss this but it's all too real. News footage, pictures, and even witness testimonies all prove that these aliens are real." Her eyes trailed to the pile of pictures she had yet to add to her board. Picking them up she went through them all.

"Dr. Animo. Former scientist expelled for doing horrific experiments on animals. "

"Jonah Melville, a famous animal poacher."

"Rojo, ex-leader of an all-female biker gang."

"Zombozo the Clown and his Circus Freaks."

"Clancy, a bug lover who terrorized a councilwoman in an attempt to stop a redevelopment plan."

"Hex, reports mentioned he was some sort of magician, though I'm not sure what kind."

As she listed the names off, Naoto tacked them onto the board. "Each one of these criminals were arrested at each alien sighting. None of the investigators could figure out who reported them to the police for the arrests. But one thing was always made clear that signs of some kind of battle were evident at each location."

Walking back to her desk Naoto grabbed the news reports she had printed out. "Several buildings and landscapes were either destroyed or replaced before the arrests were made. And any testimonies made by the criminals were either dismissed or scrapped from the record." Putting down the news reports, she grabbed the last photo she had.

"And the final piece to the puzzle is none other than…"

The final photo tacked onto the board was a picture of Ben Tennyson, who was stuck in Shaw's net. A red circle was drawn around the Omnitrix.

"Benjamin Tennyson. Yukiko-senpai, just what is it that you're hiding from us?" Naoto asked no one in particular. She stared at the photo of Ben before coming to another conclusion. "It's time I finally got back to Grandfather. If I truly want to unravel this mystery, then I'll just have to go to the source."

Naoto left her work room to contact her grandfather. A deep sense that there was something more behind all of this tickled the back of her brain.

"Senpai! It's been so long!" A bubbly voice exclaimed joyfully.

Yu Narukami had to stabilize himself since Rise had leapt onto him like an energetic puppy. He returned the hug, happy to see his friend again. "It hasn't been that long, Rise."

"It's been a couple of months and that was too long!" Rise responded. "Did you miss me?" Her eyes were exactly like a puppy's.

Smiled softly, Yu nodded his head. "I missed you…"

Her face brightened.

"...All of you guys."

Her smile faltered slightly. "I-I'll take what I can get."

Breaking apart their hug, the two made their way into a Starbucks. After ordering their drinks, the two friends found a table to sit at while they waited. "So, Senpai, what do you want to talk about?"

"I think we should start with the obvious. Why are you in America all of a sudden?" Yu asked.

Rise smirked. "Senpai, don't you think it's rude to ask a lady about her private business before mentioning yourself?"

Yu played along. "I guess you're right. It's nothing interesting to know about. My family is here while my Father takes care of some business."

"Just for the summer?"

"Yup. We'll be back in Japan before the summer ends," Yu answered. "Now, would the young lady be willing to tell her story?"

Rolling her eyes, Rise smiled. "Mine isn't as special either. Just Risette taking part in an international festival during her comeback."

"Sounds like a big deal."

"Wouldn't be the first for me, but the festival doesn't start for a while anyway."

"What's it called?" Yu asked.

"It's the Love Meets Bonds Festival. It's a concert where idols from all over the world come together to perform. It's like a competition between us all while also making sure we work together to entertain the audience," Rise explained it to him. "This year it was announced to take place here in America, so it was decided that I would participate in it." There was some disdain in that last part.

Yu picked it up easily. "Something wrong?"

Rise looked back up at him, cartoonish tears in her eyes. "Senpai! I'm being forced to learn English! Inoue won't let me have any breaks in between!" She cried like a child.

Yu remembered Rise complaining about having to learn English last year. Maybe he could help her out a bit. "Well, I'm sure I can help you out."

"Help me out?"

"Yeah-"

"Senpai, you're a genius!" Rise exclaimed.

"Uh…thanks, but what exactly did I say?" Yu asked, confused. Rise grabbed his hands and held them excitedly.

"Every competing idol in the festival is a part of a group, and I don't exactly have my own group. At most, I was just going to be helping around to help promote the festival, which is why I'm being forced to learn English. But you and the others can be my group instead!" Rise's eyes glittered with stars, almost blinding Yu.

He could understand her enthusiasm, but he wasn't sure if her idea was a good one. "I-I'm not sure if this is a good idea, Rise. I don't even know how to dance, nor have I ever performed on a stage."

"What about the crossdressing-"

"We're never mentioning that again."

Rolling her eyes again, Rise pushed the subject. "I can teach you how to dance, Senpai. We have enough time to get your skills up to standard before the festival begins."

"Okay, then there's the other topic of the rest of our friends. It would cost too much money for all of them to fly over here and there isn't much time. They can't just drop everything to fly all the way across the world for this one festival," Yu reminded her.

His reminder of the realistic issues getting in the way dampened her mood, Rise slid down in her seat in despair. "That's just great! We can't fully participate with just two people. Where are we going to find enough people to classify as a group?"

Yu hummed in thought before slapping himself in the face for forgetting the most obvious people. "Yukiko!"

Rise blinked at him owlishly before gasping loudly. "You're a genius, Senpai! Yukiko-senpai and her family are traveling around America! I'm sure if we asked they'd be more than willing to help out, hopefully! Have you spoken to Yukiko-senpai recently?"

Yu nodded his head. "I ran into them back in Vegas a while ago. Is there an age limit for this?"

"Nope. You guys would just be in the background as I perform."

"Then, Yukiko and her younger cousins would be perfect help in this," Yu said.

Rise was giddy with excitement. "Oh, this is perfect! I'm assuming they also don't know how to dance either, which means I'll have to teach them. But that's fine and I'm sure Inoue will approve after I convince him."

"Hopefully, they won't be too far away or caught up in something important," Yu pulled out his phone to call Yukiko.

"What would be too important? I mean they're just on a road trip, right?" Rise asked. He didn't answer her immediately since he had his phone up to his ear. He expected Yukiko to answer after the first couple of rings, but it went straight to her voicemail. Yu tried again, but got the same results. Concern coursed through his body quickly.

Rise noticed this. "Senpai? Is everything alright?"

"Sorry, it's just that Yukiko always picks up after the first couple of rings. If she isn't picking up now something must be going on with her and the Tennysons," Yu explained.

"Senpai, you sound serious about this. Is there something bad going on between Yukiko and her family?" Rise asked, concerned for her friend.

Yu sighed. "No, but if we're going to be asking them for help on something I think I should explain to you everything that's happened to Yukiko since this summer started." He began to explain the Tennysons' adventures to Rise. As he unloaded the pile of information onto her there was a feeling in the back of his mind that Yukiko was in danger. All he could hope was that Ben was keeping his promise about protecting her.

TATSUMI TEXTILES:

"Hm? Kanji, what are you making?" His mother asked him.

Kanji looked up from his worktable to answer his mother. "Oh, it's just something Yukiko-senpai asked me to make for her cousin. Apparently, her little cousin likes to dress up as her own superhero and Yukiko-senpai wanted to give something to her as a gift. I agreed since I owe Yukiko-senpai a lot," Kanji answered.

"I see. It's good that you're helping your friend out. Just tell me when you've finished it and I'll have it shipped out for you. Don't stay up too late," She said before leaving.

"I won't, Ma!" Kanji responded before turning back to his work. In front of him was a purple jumpsuit with a short skirt attached to the waist. Keeping the skirt attached to the suit was a light purple utility belt. There was a large cat-mask design marked on the chest of the jumpsuit.

Right across from the outfit was a small headpiece with cat ears and a slim dark purple tail.

"Hm? What did Yukiko-senpai call it again? Lucky Gal? Or was it Kitten Girl? Eh, whatever," Kanji stopped thinking about it and went right back to work.

Chapter End

NOTE: Again, apologizes that this wasn't Ben 10,000 but this chapter is necessary for things to come later. I do hope you guys enjoy the inclusion of the Investigation Team since we didn't get any look at them during Season 2. Let's get to the big things:

1. Yosuke and Chie didn't believe Teddie about the aliens in America. With how many conspiracy theories out there they are less likely to believe it instantly and have no physical proof to see for themselves. It's also coming from Teddie, so they're even less likely to believe it. In their eyes the TV World is the only weird thing that could possibly happen to them.

2. Naoto will have a big part in this season. Hope you guys enjoyed her piecing together Ben's secret identity and she is going to America to figure out this mystery once and for all. I also want to point out that her section doesn't happen chronologically with all the others.

3. Yu and Rise meet up and discuss Dancing All Night. Which will be happening as a seperate story and will be titled: "Priestess 10: Dancing All Night". Rise will appear in Monster Weather, so look forward to that.

4. When Yu tried to call Yukiko, she didn't answer the phone. Probably because she had just gotten sent to the future.

5. I didn't really know what to do with Kanji and I didn't want to leave him out. So, he's making Gwen a new Lucky Girl outfit.

6. Hopefully you guys enjoyed the inclusion of the opening. Something I've been wanting to do for a while and I'm happy with how it turned out.

Next Chapter - Ben 10,000