A Plumber Among Marvels

by yurei king

A man lost in despair is given an offer by a master of time. A chance in a world far removed from the realities he has seen, to begin anew surrounded by marvels and horrors the likes of which he couldn't imagine. You can't go home again, but maybe, just maybe, he could build a new one.

5. Chapter 5

Greetings and welcome to another chapter of Plumber Among Marvels which just barely scraped past being called the Marvelous Plumber because I thought it was funny.

Well everybody I have nothing to say in my defense for taking so long other than I am sorry it did take so long. I was torn how far to go with this chapter, but it's been taking so long that I kinda got upset about it. I've been pulling as many shifts at work as I can so I can afford to live too.

There's also the fact I've got SO MANY FIC IDEAS rolling around my head like a million pinballs all in the same machine and it gets hard to focus. Plus I have become a fledgling dungeon master for a D&D group, so I've been trying to make something work there, never done THAT before so it's an all new experience. Wish the players luck.

Still, that's all personal stuff and I won't go to farther into it. I will say there is an announcement at the bottom. Other than that, thank you for coming and I hope the chapter was worth it to y'all.

On that note, on with the chapter!

XXXXX

Monday, a day cursed by many for various reasons. For it is this day when those lucky enough to not be employed with a job requiring one to work on a weekend must return to the daily grind. Children required to attend school must drag themselves from the warm confines of their beds to prepare for the week's coming lessons and homework.

For one intergalactic and inter-reality traveler known as Benjamin Tennyson, his Monday began surrounded by beautiful young women…and a few men. Sitting at the dining room table with a fresh cup of coffee, Ben took in his audience with a raised eyebrow. Jean, Scott and Rogue were who he expected to join him for this little lesson as he had arranged with Charles after finding Rogue the afternoon before and making the same offer he had to Jean. He even expected Charles there, as the professor had a certain interest in matters of the mind and a new concept in using and protecting one's mind would definitely be like dangling a fat mouse in front of a hungry cat. But Ororo and Wolverine were sitting at the table as well, watching him avidly as they waited for the lesson to begin.

"Right…well this is a bigger turnout for a brief lesson than I was expecting." Sipping at the warm, dark liquid he leaned back in the chair. "I understand Charles being here with the telepathy on top of these being his students. Would one of you please explain why this subject would interest you?"

The three adults shared a brief glance, before Ororo nodded as if accepting a role as spokesperson. "As I have said, the codename I chose to use is Storm. My powers give me a permanent psychic link to our planet's atmosphere. I can manipulate it, creating weather phenomena which I use for combat." She smiled, recalling a certain memory. "I even discovered a way to fly using this ability, an exercise I greatly enjoy. Unfortunately, the permanent part of that factor means I have to maintain control of my emotions, lest a bout of sudden anger throws the weather systems around me into chaos."

"Yeah, I can see why you would want to use this method to gain some control." He glanced to Logan who sighed.

"Let's just say I have my own control issues and Charles thinks this could help me."

"Fair enough," he breathed deeply, taking a moment to consider his next words. "First off, I am going to say that my original intention was to wait to have this little talk until I had more information about how the mutations worked in your bodies. Something I was hoping a device I have plans to build could help with. However, Jean informed me of how your powers work Rogue—" a nod to the girl in question who returned the gesture, expression a study in reluctant, yet almost desperate, hope "—and I decided it couldn't hurt to at least grant her the benefits to mental organization this could give."

He leaned forward, elbows propping on the table and hands folding just before his chin. His lips thinned and his eyes seemed to glow as he stared them all down. "I need you all to understand, in no uncertain terms, that this technique is not guaranteed to grant control like you may be hoping. It was originally designed as a mental guard and memory enhancement combined. When a member of my grandmother's race uses the technique they are able to think more clearly, as their bodies are what essentially a mass of energy given form by a will it was important to have control of one's mind. I do know it works on other sentient life, those possessing mana at least. It's for that reason I decided to offer this as an experiment. I need to make sure you have all the facts before we proceed, is that clear?"

They all met his stern gaze, and he was secretly pleased to see that all of them were considering his words instead of recklessly jumping into things. Still, before he could let them answer he had one last thing to reveal.

"There is one other aspect of this spell and its effects that you need to be made aware of. Building a mindscape is…the best word to sum it up is that it can be 'Revealing.' Your subconscious, all those little thoughts that pop in your head you're not proud of, your doubts, your fears, the things about yourself you don't want to admit. All of these and more are going to be represented there in some fashion. The mindscape is a mirror of the person who has created it. You won't be able to stop them, you will have to face those parts of yourself and give them a place in your mind. They will never truly be gone, because they have always been a part of you in some fashion or another. But while they cannot be erased, they can be controlled. Remember this, because if you try to just erase or lock away a part of yourself it could cause irreparable damage to your mind."

Once more he paused, letting the last warning hang over them as he leaned back in his chair. He thought he saw Charles' lip twitch as if wanting to frown but it was so minute he dismissed it. "Now that you know all of this, are you still willing to go through with this experiment?" They shared glances, each asking that same question in their eyes. Finally, one by one, they all looked back to Ben…and nodded. "Alright then. First off, is the image you will need to have in order to begin building the mindscape. The Seed, as I explained to Jean yesterday, will be where you start to build from. There really aren't many rules for what your Seed Image can be. In fact, there's only one. It has to be something significant to the person in question. As an example, I used the throne room of a character in a movie series I greatly loved as a kid in my home reality.

"Three movies, all building up to a climactic culmination where a villain was brought down, and a heart long thought lost to the darkness was able to once more step into the light before passing on. It was these movies that left me enamored with the concepts of justice and becoming a hero. Not to mention space given its setting was in a 'galaxy far, far away' and it was because of their effect on me that I chose that room as my Seed. Yours could be similar, or maybe your room here, a place back in your hometown where you felt safe. A favorite vehicle, a book that you love with all your heart for one reason or another. What it is doesn't matter, as long as it is important to you."

It was then that Ben glanced to the clock on the wall, realizing it was pushing seven already. "Alright, you kids need to get ready for school and I have work to do. I want everyone to consider a Seed Image. Starting this afternoon, everyone will meet with me separately each day and I will cast the spell in order to begin the construction. Once I've planted the seed I will telepathically enter your mind and guide you through the steps to begin expanding the construct. Any questions?"

"May I ask why you will be doing such things one at a time like that?" Charles asked.

"Because this is going to be incredibly personal, normally something like this is done by a family member in my grandmother's culture. Seeing as I'm the only one around who knows how to do it, I'm going to be seeing something close to the heart of each person, helping them forge a mirror of what is, essentially, their soul. I want to give everyone as much privacy as I can because of that."

Charles let his hand drop, nodding in satisfaction at the answer. "Well, like Mr. Tennyson has said it will time to leave soon. Morning sessions will begin tomorrow, do you have a first student in mind Ben?"

"Evan, we'll be working mostly on finding an upper limit and target practice."

"I will let him know to report to the Danger Room at five thirty then. Now with a plan in motion, I do have work to attend to myself so I must be on my way." The professor left as the others began to go about their daily routine, Ben chose to wait a while longer, stepping back into he kitchen where a smaller table was sitting. In the mansion's past it was where servants would have rested to take their meals, and now served as a place the students would grab a quick bite when all residents were gathered in the dining hall for meals. He was just in time for a rather interesting story.

"Search continues for the mysterious green character social media has dubbed The Hulk continues after his appearance on the campus of Culver University in Willowdale, Virginia."

The woman who had been speaking vanished as the video feed showed a bit of video. It was shaky, and not of great quality. Most likely taken on a cell phone, he sipped at his coffee while watching a massive humanoid step into view.

What little he could see of the image was at least ten feet tall, if not larger, had colored an interesting shade of greenish gray. Soldiers surrounded him, using everything from pistols to rifles and even a fifty-caliber machine gun only to simply bounce off the giant's thick hide. The rough imagery was only able to give a vague semblance of this individual's expression, but the roar he gave to the world, as if in challenge to all of creation, could not be made any clearer.

Then the video was switched, another cell phone but apparently of higher quality as he was able to see the giant wielding two pieces of jagged metal. No doubt some type of modern art structure repurposed for a far more…interesting use. The large panels whistled through the air propelled by arms thicker than some tree trunks, and a human was spring boarding off of them like the world's greatest gymnast. Dodging and weaving in feats of incredible flexibility he managed to keep up with the behemoth, even one time pulling a perfect split when caught on the ground to avoid being cut in half on a downward strike.

Suddenly the soldier propelled himself backward, rolling with the inertia and kipping back up onto his feet to begin running away. Enraged, the green man took off after his assaulter. Lost in the lust for battle he never noticed the two heavy machines unleashing some sort of wave catching him in a crossfire.

It was like the air itself was being sent in waves, crashing over the titan as he clutched his head in obvious agony. 'Sound,' he quickly deduced. He had used his Echo-Echo form enough times to recognize a sonic attack when he saw one. 'I didn't know technology had reached even that level yet. I need to find out who made those.'

"Never took you for a monster movie type Ben," Logan's gruff voice pulled the younger man from his thoughts and he glanced to the side where the shorter man was just taking his own seat. A mug of coffee of his own to his lips while a fresh newspaper was gripped in the other hand.

"It's actually the news," he corrected, turning his gaze back to the story just in time to see a helicopter crashing as the giant knelt to face away. The video cut out immediately after that, but he could have sworn it was like he had pulled something to his chest before the fireball could engulf him. "Truth is stranger than fiction indeed."

The unapologetic Canadian snorted as he opened the paper to begin his daily routine. "Preachin' to the choir bub. So, what are the plans for while the tikes are at school?"

Ben muted the television as it moved to a commercial break. "For now I've got an idea or two of gear I can hand out, mostly it's just stuff I packed before being sent here but I saved plenty of schematics for things."

"Like what?"

"There's an amped up version of a taser they issued to the main Plumber forces. Has a setting for human, who are among some of the least tolerant, to the more…robust types. I figure giving them a nonlethal option will be good, especially considering they're teenagers."

"They'll be less likely to hesitate if they know it's not gonna kill someone," Logan agreed, flipping the page to continue the story. "What about protection? I have my own ways of dealing with damage getting dealt to me, but those kids don't have my advantage."

"And spandex does not make for a good protective layer. I only brought along the suit I was using, but it can give me some ideas for now. But what I'm really concerned about is this brotherhood you and the others keep talking about."

"What about them?"

"Teenagers are some of the easiest to convince in some ways, and the most difficult in others. From what little you seem to know, or at least seem willing to share with me this early, this Mystique person is teaching them that their powers make them automatically superior to those without. That is an incredibly dangerous mindset, disregarding others as little more than insects makes you underestimate them. Humans are among some of the most contradictory species I've ever encountered. Hatred, love, we are so capable of both these to terrifying extremes but one trait we share with many others in my home reality is the ability to adapt. I have no doubt there are governments already trying to put together ways to track, corral and even eliminate them. Believing yourself superior will immediately ingrain a sense of arrogance that will make them overlook something like that."

"Speaking from experience?"

"More than I'd care to admit," he glanced to the innocent-seeming watch attached to his wrist. "There is so much I can do with this, so much power, that I have to be careful not to let myself become too reliant on it. I've let my ego and pride get too far ahead of me and it's cost me a lot." A hand rose to trace a finger around its dial.

"And I've learned the hard way letting my emotions get the better of me in a fight can have terrible consequences. So I'm a bit worried what exactly she's leading them toward…and if she's really the one leading them."

For the first time since sitting down Logan looked up from his paper to glance at Ben. The, much, younger man was frowning in thought, and he was putting together things Logan had been considering for a while now. He had taken some of these concerns up with Charles, but the man kept his cards close to chest. It had annoyed the Canadian, but he considered Charles to be one of the few friends he truly had, something that gave him a strong loyalty. Plus, he knew the kids needed his expertise if they were going to survive until they could stand on their own feet. Maybe…with Ben asking the questions too they could finally get some answers from the stubborn man.

"What're you cooking in that brain of yours Ben?"

"You've mentioned Mystique's transforming abilities, and from some of the comments I've heard the kids saying about her students she's obviously a capable teacher. But I don't know if she'd choose to be here if her skills lay more in the direction of espionage. She's not here just to teach them…I think she might be here to keep Charles' attention more focused here."

Logan blinked, a rush of mild concern rising in the back of his mind but before he could open his mouth to continue the mental voice of the professor himself sounded in his mind. 'Logan, I need to go into town. Ororo has gone on an errand already, are you available to drive?'

He couldn't stop the growl at the timing of this request. Something he was more than aware Charles could feel considering he kept the connection to hear an answer. 'Sure Chuck, I'll get the car ready.' He let the paper lie on the table, gulping down his coffee in one go as he did. "Chuck needs a ride to town," they shared a glance but in some mutual manner both simply nodded, they still intended to discuss this later.

Ben finished his own coffee but before getting up the headline of the page Logan had been on caught his eye. Hunters Victim of Animal Attack. He figured it wouldn't hurt to take a look, picking it up to read the article.

Apparently some men living in the city had gone on a hunting trip over the weekend. When they hadn't called home their families had contacted the authorities who had sent someone to the location of the camp to see if anything had gone wrong. They had found the camp in shambles and all three of the friends dead, names were being withheld for now to give the families time to grieve, but the police had offered a statement in that evidence leaned toward an animal attack. People are warned to stay in town and avoid being out alone at night, the usual warnings when something like this happened along with promise of the police searching for the animal or animals responsible.

Concerning, he thought, but not something to be too worried about if they were out hunting for it. Instead he departed for his room to begin a personal matter. The seabag he had carried when first stepping into this reality had partially been a cover. Carrying his normal clothes, toiletries and similar items one had on them whilst traveling.

The expanded bag that had been holding the items he had used earlier, items pertaining to his more…excitable occupation, was what he pulled out now. Unzipping the mouth he reached in and found the items he was searching for immediately brushing against the palm of his hand. It resembled a briefcase of dark gray metal, the bright green hourglass of the Plumbers marking each side. This case was placed onto the bed but instead of reaching for the locks holding it closed the young man let his thumb rest upon the top half of that symbol. It flashed once, identifying the fingerprint before a soft beeping rang out. The locks snapped open letting him lift the lid, and gaze at the items kept within. A Plumber's badge slightly larger than Ben's hand rested in its own cache, next to a belt lined with pouches and small metal cylinders. Below the belt were a pair of bands to go around his wrists, though one specifically looked spaced to allow it fit around the Omnitrix.

The badge was lifted first, and Ben turned it over in his hand examining the item. His mind threatened to wander back into the memories it represented, the friends made, oaths taken…and broken. However, he shook them off with the control gifted through meditation and his grandmother's techniques and placed the badge's backing against his left pectoral.

Immediately upon contact a hiss of released air sounded and the uniform he came to know very well seeped out of hidden openings seemingly like liquid. Nanites created to form the perfect adaptable uniform soon solidified as per their programming, taking the form of a short-sleeved shirt ending just before his elbows and a pair of matching pants that were just loose enough not to resemble spandex that included covers for his feet. As he stood examining it he felt the sections over his torso growing mildly thicker, forming a protective layer to cushion any blows that could harm his ribs and the organs protected therein. Similar areas rose to cover the jugular in his neck and the femoral arteries in his legs.

This was the product of several genius members of the research and development branches of the Plumbers organization. A special protective suit of nanites fabricated from Infinitum, an alloy whose creation made the Tetramand race infamous for its nigh indestructible nature, with adaptable functions allowing it to fit most aliens in their forces.

The suit had two settings. The first was the terrestrial function, which Ben was wearing at the moment, which functioned as simple body armor. The second function covered its wearer from head to two and was used in tandem with oxygen tanks, for races requiring such things, to serve as a suit in outer space. Next he took the wrist bands out, slapping them on and watching as they expanded to form a pair of fingerless gloves and armguards covering half of his forearm. Finally, the belt was buckled around his waist, its buckle the same symbol as the one on his chest.

That done, he lifted the cushion that had been holding his suit to reveal a wide black disk with no discernable features other than its highly reflective polish. A hoverboard, similar to the one he had been working on the other day, but much hardier in construction. The one before was made more for recreation and sales to civilians, this thing could serve either as a board for a single rider or be expanded further to act as a gurney should immediate transport for wounded be required. This board was held against his right shoulder blade where the suits nanites responded by creating a small suction cup to hold it in place with a minor magnetic field.

Properly equipped, he closed the box and returned it to the depths of his satchel which he then hung on his belt from a custom hook prepared for it. A strap at its bottom edge looped around his leg to keep the item from bouncing loosely should he need to move fast.

Leaving the room he moved to the elevator and promptly pressed the button to send him down to the Danger Room. It was time for a little personal training of his own. Didn't want to get rusty after all.

The room had a basic target range setting, perfect for keeping his skills sharp, but he wanted something a little more complex. A few flips through the computer's stored situations and he had selected his option. Walls sprouted from their cubby holes, forming the maze design. The distinct whir of the hardlight projectors coming online in several areas told him the moving obstacles would be waiting for him.

"Rules for training encounter," he said aloud while his hand pulled what looked like another badge from where it hung on his right hip. "Task is to reach center of maze in…let's say ten minutes. Transformations allowed…let's go with only after the seven-minute mark. Make it a bit more challenging." With the press of his hand against the button the little shield whirled to life, pliable metal shifting and folding as the weapon he had chosen came into its primary form.

The Proto-Tool, the Swiss Army Knife of the Plumber Corps. Capable of shifting into various functions to suit a wide array of situations. The prototype had been given to his former partner Rook. Its constant success in the skilled hands of the Magister had led it to receive glowing recommendations. Before everything changed the Plumbers had been on the fast track to making the tool standard issue for those ranked Magister and above. This had been a gift, a tool Rook had bought from the Galvans himself and gifted to Ben in a celebration of their time as partners battling the aliens bent on starting some measure of chaos. Now in the rifle configuration it rested easily in the grip of the Plumber as he prepared for a training run. A flicker of light had him look up, and he couldn't help but chuckle at the massive "10:00" displayed over the maze. "Give me a countdown room," he ordered, shifting his body slightly into a combat stance, rifle in shoulder and at an angle to the ground, finger off the trigger to avoid a misfire.

'Confirmed. Simulation begins in 3…2…1.'

A buzzer sounded, the clock began to count down and Ben moved. Straight down the corridor, moving with a quick stride just shy of actual running. He kept his side close to the wall to limit exposure and paused at the first change, a T intersection. He couldn't see anything down the long corridor to the left but dared not stick his head around the corner, instead one hand left where it was supporting the front of his rifle, fishing out a small mirror like a dentist would use from a pouch. Holding it out at an angle to let him see past the wall it reflected only an empty hallway, so he returned it to the pouch and moved out.

He was quick, never letting himself focus on just the right as he moved into it. Constant glances to the rear were given, Charles had mentioned his friend was crafty and the young man wouldn't bet against having a sudden ambush be waiting at some point. He was halfway to the next hall when his words proved somewhat prophetic evidenced when a turret popped out of each wall to fire upon him. These weapons used hard light projectors to unleash short bursts in place of actual bullets. Hard enough to leave a stinging bruise but without the cleanup issues of paintballs or rubber bullets.

He had a second to react and used it as only Ben could, jumping as high as his legs could propel. At the apex of the jump a small platform of blue light manifested beneath one foot to let him push off in a jump forward out of the ways of the crossing streams of fire. He fired while midair, one bolt of plasma slamming into the turret on his left destroying its base and sending it falling to the floor. He hit the ground rolling and came up with the rifle shifting into its sword form to stab its counterpart. A quick glance to the area for any more surprises and he was off again with rifle ready to blast.

The next couple minutes passed in similar manner, sometimes the turrets were in numbers of four and popped up in all directions. There was actually a point where Ben was thankful the maze didn't have a ceiling incorporated or he'd have to worry about one popping up right over him. It was about that time the taser-tipped tentacle popped out from the opposite side of a wall and reached over in an attempt to tag him from above. Ben had cut that thing off very fast and made no more attempts to goad lady luck into abusing him.

But things got a little more harrowing when he turned down a longer dead-end hallway. Cursing he made to backtrack only for a panel large enough for a leg to slip through dropped open beneath his left leg. No matter what the camera may have recorded Ben had shouted at that occurrence, no unmanly yelps were uttered, and he would get rid of any evidence detailing otherwise. He hit the ground hard, losing grip of the Proto-Tool which skid just out of reach.

Two turrets immediately popped out of the dead-end and Ben was forced to create a dome of magical energy to block both their fire and the three popping out from the hallway's open end. "Okay either Reed was a paranoid and thorough bastard, or this configuration was upgraded by Logan." Even without his weapon and still time left until he was free to use his alien forms Ben was far from defenseless. Something he demonstrated by creating a surge in his barrier, forcing two concentrated beams of mana to burst out and rip through the turrets that had first appeared. That issue dealt with left him able to focus on the remaining three so while maintaining the barrier covering the empty side, you never know after all, he split the barrier in two and sent the free half sliding down the lane to crash into all three at once.

The hand dropped, canceling that half of his construct and pushing himself out of the hole. Once standing, with an admittedly sore leg, he used a small whip to retrieve his weapon and moved on. Only this time he kept the remaining construct as a compressed form of a small round buckler shield on his left arm. "Adapt how you move to how the environments respond to you," he quoted, one of the man little motes of wisdom from several teachers. "Learn what works best to keep you ready so you keep surviving."

In human form, the ready shield would most likely become a constant from now on. Though maybe find a way to compress further for mobility. He made note of the point to train at a later time and turned the next corner just as the buzzer marking the seven-minute mark had been reached. Without thinking Ben sent a thought to the Omnitrix and it reacted, the watch-like face unfolding into the form reminiscent of the Ultimatrix as designed originally by Albedo, a Galvan with a serious mad-on for Azmuth. Through a convoluted series of events the creator had been forced to hand over the item to Ben to prevent yet another cosmic disaster.

He and Azmuth had tinkered with it since then, allowing it to have a 'civilian' mode of the watch design to better avoid suspicion when trying to be low key. When activated it possessed the same ability to create Ultimate Alien forms, a key ability that had saved his bacon more times than he cared to give number to.

With the Omnitrix ready he had the tool return to standby mode, turning into a gauntlet to wear on the man's right wrist. There was a chime from the green and black device before the tell-tale flash of green enveloped his body and the alien form of his choice was left in the human's former position. The light faded, but the green did not.

A gelatinous form that stood about the size of a tall human but composed entirely of the jellylike substance. Hovering over a head minus any features save for a pair of eyes was a small device similar to that of stereotypical UFO art. A white disc sporting the Plumber's symbol on its flat top, a single spike protruded from its bottom pointed directly towards the cranium of the Polymorph. "It's been awhile since I took this form," a high-pitched voice claimed from the hovering device. "But energy projectiles like they've been firing are perfect for someone like Goop to get through."

Ready to continue Goop immediately let his form drop into the amorphous blob Earth's gravity normally reduced him to, and the tip of his anti-gravity generator glowed its normal green light pulling its creator along as it launched from wall to wall. Turrets reacted immediately by unleashing their hard-light projectiles, but against the gelatin body of Goop it just as much good as trying to shoot the wind. He passed them, little hovercraft dodging and weaving like the world's greatest dogfighter as the room's computer recognized it was controlling the assailant. What few rounds managed to actually impact the thing bounced off, it had taken blows from a giant robot and was capable of unleashing enough gravity to actually assist in holding a planet together…a hard-light bullet wasn't enough to even scratch it.

Up, over and sometimes through the obstacles he moved. He even melted through a couple of walls the room tried throwing in his way before it calculated the futility of such an effort. Not long after taking the form one of the alien's large green palms slapped down on the button in the maze's center. Goop remained standing there as the maze deconstructed itself, its job completed, and the room would wait until its next use. A flash of light engulfed the alien and Ben returned to his original form. "Nine minutes and forty seconds," he read from the display. "Damn I really got rusty didn't I?"

Still, he had the day until classes were over to shake off some of that rust which is exactly what he intended to do. "Danger Room prepare an obstacle course with a five-minute timer," he spun on his heel as he spouted the new order. "Throw whatever you can at me. Try and keep me from reaching the other end of this room!"

Ben took a runner's stance just inside the doors of the room as the computer began to create his next session. These kids, and this world, needed what he could bring to the table. He didn't know exact details, Paradox wasn't allowed to go into such things for good reason, but he had given enough of a clue that things were escalating. That meant Ben needed to be in top shape. The countdown began, the buzzer rang, and Ben ran.

XXXXX

"Simulation terminated."

Ben froze, rifle at his shoulder and prepared to fire at the target that just sank back into the floor. With a slight frown he relaxed his posture, the Proto-Tool shifting back into its gauntlet mode. "Kids are back from school," Logan's voice called through the control room's intercom. "You're little brain trust is ready to get started, you comin' up top or do you want us down here?"

"Does this room have a setting for stuff like that?" Instead of a verbal answer, the room suddenly came alive. A series of chairs rose from holes opened in the floor, a long table rising between them. A quick whirling of the projectors and suddenly Ben was standing in an office or briefing room. "That'll work," was his only reply as he took the seat at the table's head. The doors opened soon after, the same group from their morning gathering filing in to once more await his instructions.

"As a brief recap, when we talked this morning I told you to pick an image we would use to build your mindscape around. Has anyone chosen an image?" They all gave nods, which he responded to with a small smile. "Alright then, I'm going to have the room create a partition. Each member and myself will go into the room and I'll begin laying foundations. Do I have a volunteer for going first?"

"That'll be me," Logan had chosen to remain standing and stepped around the table to walk with Ben. "I figure if something's bound to go wrong I can heal from any backlash."

"Fair enough." A moment later the two men were stepping through a new door into a meditation room. A single cushion rested on the floor to which the young man directed his first patient to sit on in any manner he felt comfortable. Surprisingly enough, Logan chose to sit in a position Ben recognized as the seiza, a style where one sits with their legs bent so they were sitting on the lower legs. This caught his attention because he knew the position was one of the traditional positions in Japan. Realizing the man must have adopted some habits from his time abroad he shrugged it off and moved to stand behind Logan.

"Alright, most of what's to come will be me working the spell. All I will need you to do for now is to focus on the image we will be using for your Seed." When Logan nodded to show he understood, Ben cleared his throat and raised both hands to chest height. His next words were of a language the man did not recognize, and there was a layering to his voice as if he were saying multiple words at once. Unseen by the meditator, blue light began to shimmer around Ben's hands, while similar glow emanated from behind his closed eyelids. Slowly, as he began to direct the gathered energies, the blue light began to rise up from his skin, moving between his hands to become like mist.

Tendrils of this mist wafted down from the gathering point, without a sound they brushed against Logan's temples, the sensation making his cheek twitch ever so slightly but otherwise he did not move. Soon the mist had several tethers between the two men and Ben's words, undiscernible as they were, began to gain a more forceful tone.

All the while Logan focused on the image he recalled. It was something he could only barely remember, something from the edge of dream and memory. The image he had chosen was a cabin, made of logs he swore were cut and placed by his own hand. This cabin rested in the forest just beyond a little village in the mountains, he never saw the people in his dreams, only this cabin.

Occasionally he would vaguely remember the smell of a well-cooked meal, the calluses on his hands from the chopping of lumber, and just the ever-present scent of pine from the mountain dwelling. This place in his mind was one of the few that set his wild heart at ease, the constant need to roam that lingered in the back of his mind would calm for just a moment when he called up that image. And yet, in the farthest reaches of his mind there lingered a sense of…unease. As if he could smell danger on the horizon. It kept his senses alert, his guard at the ready. A memory that both eased the beast yet kept it wary for sudden threats, if there was a better place to base this seed thing on he couldn't think of one.

Ben knew none of this as he performed the spell. He felt a moment of pride when his magic found a strong hold, meaning he had found a solid image to hook the energy around. The seed had been planted, and now he switched the incantation from 'search' to 'grow,' channeling the cobalt energies to form the structure in his patient's mind. First came the foundation, the epicenter. In his mind's eye it was like a small glowing spark hovering in a void. His mana seemed to take on the form of two ghostly hands which cupped that spark.

Disparate energies hung around them. The mental power of the two men, Ben's glowing the cerulean color of his magic with traces of vibrant green flashing among them, while Logan's were earthy browns and the subtle greens of forest colored with the reds, yellows and oranges that begin to ring a leaf's edge come the fall. This variation in color meant that for as disciplined the shorter man's mind may be, there was chaos here.

One misted hand remained with the spark, holding it aloft and safe from the storm of memory, anger, and other emotions of the mindscape, while its partner reached out into that force, gathering the man's life energy, the mana which permeated most life in the universe yet unique to himself due to his own character and experiences. This gathered essence was pulled from the rest, and like clay on the potter's wheel it was molded into the shape necessary for the procedure.

A globe, similar in fashion to a snow globe or the crystal balls you would see a fortune teller use in a television show. Like burnished, colored glass the mana solidified at his directing to protect the little kernel of light, creating a protective bubble. This bubble he let hang amongst the tide of Logan's mind, where it now floated easily where once the torrent of his mind threatened to overwhelm it if he had just left it and withdrawn. Now he watched as the strings of mana began to curl around and cradle the seed image. The foundation for Logan's mind was ready. Now came the next part, and with a quick incantation both men were opening there eyes to find themselves sitting in chairs before a small fireplace where no fire yet burned.

"A cabin is an interesting choice," Ben said as he rose from the chair. He stepped toward a window but instead of any sort of landscape found he could only see the translucent barrier of fall colors he had created. Beyond that vague image was the swirling ocean of Logan's mind. "But it was a strong enough image I was able to lock on pretty easily. From here my interaction is pretty pointless except for little checks to the structure. The rest you need to build with meditation and organization. A few hours each night should help with it."

"Build?" Logan joined the magic man at the window. "What do you mean exactly?"

"You see the storm beyond the barrier? That's the rest of your mind, I can see hints of control, probably a mix of your own self control and meditation coupled with the professor helping you out. What you're going to have to do is pull in bits of that mental energy and give it purpose in the construct in order to be fully organized. The cabin is your conscious thought given some solid control in this area, its up to the individual to further stabilize the rest. If I were you I'd start with things you won't have trouble facing, like your morals and principles. They can add to further your stability in the mindscape. An example is something you hold as a staple to yourself becoming the ground for your cabin. Then add trees on which fruit grows, each fruit is a memory and picking the fruit lets you experience it. Then the fruit just regrows for the next time you need to call it up."

"Will all that fit in this shiny ball you got set up?" Logan's expression made it plain he highly doubted it.

"I made that 'ball' out of your own energy tough guy," he retorted. "Meaning as you expand, so will it to make room." He slapped the man on his shoulder. "Well class that's all the lesson I've got for you, the rest you'll just have to do as homework. Shall we get back to the rest of the students? I do have to give them their assignments too after all." The two shared a chuckle before Ben snapped his fingers and they suddenly woke up back in the Danger Room.

"No problems Chuck," Logan informed the group as they stepped back into the meeting room and resumed his former position against the wall, arms crossed. "Kid got it done easy, no pain, no fuss."

"Very well, then I believe the one most anxious of us all should have her fears somewhat mitigated." He nodded to Rouge, the goth-dressed girl letting some of the tension in her shoulders lessen at the positive sign. "In fact, despite Logan's desire to ensure our student's safety, I believe chivalry dictates that the ladies be allowed to go first." Rogue couldn't help but smile as the professor waved her on and she became the next to follow Ben into the room. She was told to sit on the cushion, choosing to take the expected crossed legs position of meditation one would normally imagine.

"I know you're anxious," Ben chose to try and help her relax more before starting things off. The brunette knelt across from his fellow dark-haired individual, though hers was more reddish and sported the seemingly natural skunk stripe in said hair and gave her his best warm smile. "Given what I've heard I can understand how important this is to you and I promise you now I will do everything I can to give you back your freedom to really experience the world again."

He took one of her gloved hands in his own. "Now I'll give you a little explanation just so you know what's going to happen and why certain sensations will be felt." He hadn't bothered with Logan as the man had not been worried about anything, healing factors tended to make one not only used to pain but gave them quite a high capacity to tolerate it as well. "The spell creates a construct of my mana which is used to forge a connection between us. Whether you want to call it a meeting of the minds or souls there will be a connection between us during the process. I just need you to focus on the image we're going to be building on. The clearer your conscious mind is focused on that image, the easier it will be for me to find it and the less time you'll feel someone rooting around in your head, alright?"

She nodded and, with one final squeeze to her hand, the young man stood and walked around her. "Give me a nod when you think the image is clear enough to begin." Some moments later Rogue had calmed her breathing to a steady rhythm. As soon as she felt a firm grasp she gave the nod and, once again, Ben began the incantation.

When he managed to see into the mindscape of the southern gal, Ben found her mind's wave patterns to be even more chaotic than Logan's. All the colors he could imagine and some he was pretty sure had no name swirled around like a hurricane at its greatest strength. Much like a hurricane he found the eye, a swirling mass of green and yellow which he realized to be Rogue's own mind and memories, the cacophony around this must be the remnants of those she had absorbed.

'So they don't really dissipate after she works off the energy,' he mused while gathering his will for the next step. A pang of worry and sympathy shot through him. 'Damn, if these…echoes keep stacking like this without some kind of regulator this girl would become the world's worst case of multiple personality disorder. And if she found a way to bring back their powers to use with their minds…that's an utterly terrifying thought.'

While Ben moved to gather the kernel of light that was Rogue's image, the girl herself was experiencing sensations she had never felt before. The professor had entered her mind upon her first joining his students. He had wanted to make sure her mind was alright after taking in the memories and powers of others, concerned for both his new student and possible harm that could be done to her or the others in the Institute. Willing she may have been, it had still felt like an intrusion when he helped gather her psyche and somewhat separate it from the extras left behind.

The touch of Ben's energy on her mana, it was like the gentle hand Irene would use when she would comb her hair as a little girl. An inherent kindness that warmed her heart and made her lips quirk in a small, subconscious smile. Despite such distracting sensations, the girl managed to maintain her focus on the image until she felt the energy that had connected to her shifting around. She was no telepath, despite her brief time in contact with Jean to use her powers and wasn't able to truly witness what Ben was doing at the point where the astral plane integrated with her own mind and was not sure when she had gone from sitting on a cushioned floor to lying on a couch.

…

Wait.

Her eyes snapped open to find her senses were not confused, she had just been lying back on a couch. A very familiar couch, as it was in a place she had taken solace many times in her teenage years. "I'll admit I wasn't expecting…is this a store?" Green eyes snapped to the side where Ben was looking at a counter where a cash register would normally sit waiting to ring up sales. Shelves and tables filled the space while against a far wall the doors to what appeared to be closets stood waiting for use.

"It is," she answered after taking a moment to steady her heartbeat. She was most certainly not expecting a sudden shift in location or awareness and it took a moment to find her equilibrium. "It's a record and book store owned by this old man in mah' home town. Stan, he was a good man, let me hang out even when I wasn't planning on buying anything. Ah' think he was just happy someone my age still wanted to read and listen to music that wasn't rap. It felt nice to just come here and relax after school got a little too much and I didn't want to go home yet."

She couldn't help but chuckle at the memory of the store's owner. She could almost see him with those noise canceling headphones, sorting through the books almost completely oblivious to the goings on around him. She still swore a full-on battle could go on in the store and if Stan had those headphones on he would never notice. But he always had a kind word for his visitors, no matter if they were customers or just browsers.

"Well you've got a perfect setup for storing your memories and such," Ben's voice cut through her reminiscing and she glanced his way to show him waving to the empty shelves. "Records, books, CDs. I recommend you make sections for each person you've absorbed. Lock them down with something so they only come out when you need them. But that's about all I can suggest. Any questions or do we go ahead and return to the outside?"

She had none and soon Rogue was replaced by Scott. It didn't take very long for their session, the two-eyed Cyclops having chosen the Danger Room's control center as his foundation. A rather interesting idea as he could use his memories as scenarios to play out on the windows as if they were screens. In time he may incorporate the actual room for stuff to work into his mindscape, but for now his control room would suffice.

Xavier had chosen a room in the institute himself, one Ben had yet to see. The supercomputer and its adjoined headset were a contraption he called Cerebro. This thing boosted his own telepathic abilities while its software had been designed to monitor the edge of the astral plane, seeking out the brainwave patterns matching those of newly awakened mutants. The professor had explained he intended to use the helmet as a way not only to access his memories, but also to provide a control for levels of psychic defenses. While he maintained a basic barrier, he would construct a special panel with a series of switches, each activating newer levels of defense depending on the situation. An impressive idea and allowing for quite the versatile setup.

Ororo, surprisingly, had chosen what looked like a village in open country. When asked she had explained it was the village she had once been worshipped as a goddess in Africa. This place had been where she finally met a kind soul, a woman who took her in and taught her to be responsible with her powers. They shared a few ideas for her memories, having them represented by animals kept there or perhaps plants she would tend to while learning to control her powers. She would come to a better decision once she had better strengthened her foundations.

Ben couldn't help but smile as the white-haired woman stepped back into the meeting room. He had been a bit concerned when the process began, seeing as this would be the first time he was using this kind of spell on a person from this reality, but everything seemed to be working smoothly…right up to the moment Jean sat down in front of him. The spell wouldn't take.

Several times he reached out with the mists to forge the connection, but it was like something was keeping him from completing it. As if it was blocked, or more like there was a part of her mind that her own mind seemed unaware of. Frowning, he told her to keep the concentration, saying the repeated performances were straining his reserves so as to ease any worry she might feel. Once she re-centered herself, Ben began to chant again, but this time the spell was different. Instead of forging an obvious connection, Ben left a mental command for his body to continue the gestures and lights to appear as if maintaining the spell before letting his astral body slip out into the air. A body of cobalt light invisible to the naked eye unless he chose to manifest, it made accessing her only partially trained mind almost too easy.

He was greeted by a sea of green and yellow, hints of red passion flitting about amongst the tides. But the ebb and flow didn't seem…natural. It was so calm, far calmer than a teenager of any sort should have. As regimented as Scott had seemed he still had the tumultuous thoughts of hormonal, red blooded males. Rogue had her own teen angst area in the flow, but Jean…it felt like she was forced to keep a calm mindset. Unseen by either of them, Ben's expression began to cloud, a dark suspicion beginning to niggle at the back of his mind.

These suspicions were all but confirmed when he found it. A patch of the young lady's subconscious area, far on the outskirts. A thick net of white tendrils had been packed together so tightly it was like a heavy mesh. This mass sported tentacles of mental power that hung out like fishing lures in the rest of her mind and as Ben watched they filtered out tumultuous rises and falls, forcing them to shorten and break down before they could truly take hold. If all this wasn't enough to confirm its unnatural origin, he could see some of the mental energy being drained into itself to keep it intact.

But the mesh had developed cracks and tears, as if some great beast were trapped inside and its constant thrashing was beginning to tear into it. He watched the cracks fusing themselves back together, using the siphoned energy to repair the hold but where a crack disappeared a new one wasn't far behind taking its place, a battle of attrition between prisoner and prison.

Fearing what may be beyond, and yet knowing he had to find out, Ben let his astral form drift closer against the tide suddenly trying to keep him away, to turn his attention and convince him nothing was there, until a cobalt hand brushed against the almost volcanic tear.

Fire.

At once, and only for a brief second, Ben saw Fire. Life at its most concentrated form blazing with a passion that could burn the universe if not restrained. A cry, as if a bird of prey were declaring its victory of the hunt from a long distance away, rang out and for a moment he swore he saw the conflagration form a pair of wings as wide as all creation, and then he was in his body, the magic fading from his hands as he stumbled, gasping for air.

"Ben!" Jean's worried voice sounded, and he felt hands gripping his shoulder and back to support him should he fall. On instinct one hand circled her waist, drawing on her to keep himself upright.

"I'm alright," he finally managed to say, his vision beginning to settle. He straightened his back, meeting the concerned eyes of the redhead with what he hoped was a reassuring look in his own. "I'm alright, I think…whew…I think I've just overstrained my mind doing the exercises over and over. Can you give me a few days, recharge get some things in order and we'll come back to it?"

She gave no verbal answer, only an uncertain nod. Ben forced a smile and let go, just now realizing he had been holding her the entire time. It had been…nice…to feel that kind of contact again. He put that out of his mind, instead focusing back on reassuring the young lady. "Honestly, my Spark is adolescent at best when it comes to mana levels. I've more relied on gadgets and my alien forms, so it hasn't had as much work and like a muscle I need to work it to get it stronger. We'll revisit the topic another time alright?" Jean finally nodded, seemingly placated for the time being, and the two stepped out to join the rest.

"Alright, seems I overworked myself a bit. Jean and I will have to try again some other time since it'll take a little bit for me to recharge. Keep your head out of the gutter Logan, don't think we don't see that smirk." The room shared a chuckle at the mildly crass humor, more like implied humor, before moving on. "Now everyone else you have the start, a solid foundation, you have to build on it. I've told you each individually and I'll say it again, spend an hour a day, morning, noon or night doesn't matter but a full, consecutive hour on meditating.

"Your goal for the mediation is to try and locate the area of your mind we have created, enter it, and then begin expanding it. The first few times may be difficult, so I suggest if you have any trouble come either to myself or the telepaths in the room." A quick wave to Xavier and Jean had them both nodding, readily willing to give the aforementioned assistance. "We'll help you get used to accessing it until you can do it by yourself. That may take a couple of days but luckily it doesn't take a lot of mana to do so I can still help whenever you need it. Though I'll probably only be available after your school hours since individual training will be happening in the mornings. Any questions?"

"Yeah," everyone turned to Logan, who smirked. "Are we done? I gotta check the pipes to make sure the girls and the elf haven't clogged our drains with their hair again."

Ben laughed over the indignant squawk of the two younger girls, Ororo having joined in with the soft chuckle of her own and nodded his assent. "Yeah that's all I had for the group. Feel free to go about your daily business just make sure all homework is done, oh and your school work too." A quick word to the computer system had the room returning to its original state. "Oh Charles, you can stay behind a moment? I was hoping to go over some scenarios for a few different lessons."

"Oh course," the wheel-bound telepath waited for the rest to leave, the door closing behind them, before turning to face his newest staff member. "I believe I may know what topic it is you are actually intending to talk about. Will you allow me the chance to explain?"

"Go ahead Mr. Xavier," all pretense of tiredness suddenly faded from Ben's demeanor. He stood straight, arms at his sides and shoulders back. Almost instinctively the Omnitrix unfolded, its complex biometric systems sensing the unease of its bearer and preparing for combat. "Go ahead and tell me why it was a good idea to lock away a chunk of a girl's mind. By the looks of what I saw in there it's been a block existing for years."

Charles' blue eyes locked onto Ben's and widened when he noticed they had begun to glow with a faint blue light. It was then he realized just how tense the young man truly was…and how bad things could go if his explanation wasn't good enough to convince him.

XXXXX—And Cut—XXXXX

Alright ladies, gents and those who identify as Apache Helicopters we're gonna go ahead and cut it off here. I know cliffhanger but in honesty I kept y'all waiting long enough and I didn't want a bout of writer's block or life deciding to screw with me getting the better of me again to keep me away for like three months.

So you get a little work of human Ben and how he operates. I put this in because I noticed even when he didn't have the Omnitrix available, either because it timed out or was shut down for some reason, Ben is resourceful and capable. In this version he's trained to work without it on these occasions, and I gave him the Proto-Tool because admit it, that thing was pretty cool and most certainly it was handy!

For his uniform, google Tetrax in his original outfit. Take off the shoulder pads with that triangle on them, the helmet and shorten the sleeves and you've got what I was going for if I didn't paint a good enough picture. Oh and put the Plumber sign on his chest over the left pectoral.

That's going to be his main conflict outfit in human form. It's light enough he can move in it, strong enough since it's made with the metal of the Tetramand forging, and space worthy. Everything you need for a galactic policeman.

Also you might notice I've been dropping hints for Rogue and Jean maybe getting with Ben. In honesty this is going to be a multi pairing but I hope I have some good reasoning for it when the subject comes up. Kamen Rider and I discussed a few options, one of which is most certainly set in stone, but we also talked about aliens from DC as well to bring in and flesh out the story so there's potential there as well.

So I'm more seeing how things build and looking at fan reactions to get a sense of what would work for this story.

And now for the announcement I mentioned in the starting AN.

I am going to open a Pat R On account. I ask for anyone interested in my work to simply donate, I am not trying to turn a big profit off of my stories as the source material is not my own. I am simply hoping for donations so I can afford to do something I love doing. Rate for content is only to be set at one dollar.

I am going to either put a brand-new story on the account or move one of my existing ones to it instead. The choice is to those wishing to read.

I am cautious about opening this as a poll on the account, so I leave this open to suggestion via PM and Review.

Here are the options for what would appear on the new account:

Sekirei Crossover with Jojo's Bizarre Adventure – Under circumstances to be revealed in story, some characters in the Sekirei world will have the power to create a Stand. Sekirei will not have them, this is a purely Ashikabi ability and not all will have them. Minato in this will have an actual spine, Kamen Rider Arashi and I are planning to try a mix of Jotaro and Josuke.

Different Devil Fruit Luffy – Luffy sets out with a different fruit that is going to have a rather interesting effect on the world at large. Smarter Luffy but still craves a good fight and a good meal. No it is not a Logia, in my opinion it will be a lot cooler, especially when I get to have him fighting Enel (hate that guy, hate him with more intensity than the lightning he uses!).

Those are the options, either those two or I move an existing one to the account. I am leaving the one-month period so I can gauge reactions and see which one seems the most popular. Granted I'll probably put the other out as soon as I finish an existing one.

And that's all I have for today folks. If you read all the way through the AN and didn't just skim then I thank you for coming. Please let me know what you thought of the new chapter, let's hope the next one doesn't take me so dang long right?

It's been a blast that'll hopefully last, this is Yurei King signing out for now!