A/N: Should be the last Introductory Arc. Will make a Poll soon on what you all want the Next Arc to be.
Chapter 3: Job To Do
Day four of me being here. Ben stared around the Guild Hall, and looked at everyone with their stamps. Ever since he appeared into this world and told everyone his story, many people tried to comfort him and tell him that everything would be fine. He stared at the ceiling and recounted the days in this new world.
Day one was when everything changed. He remembered on how he had passed through the Dimensional Barrier due to a freak accident, and how he burned a chimp with Heatblast. It made sense at the time, since the chimps in his world were hairy. The battle took a few minutes, sure, but Ben had no qualms about it. The only qualms he had was that the memory felt eerily similar to Rex's universe; How he entered a parallel dimension on accident. Oh yeah, there was a battle there too. He smiled at that, since it tied into the only link within this world. It was the one with Natsu and Lucy; The only battle that he was in. There were some rogue hooded non-wizards, and they brought assassins to kill them should the plan had gone wrong. Good thing I was there. Otherwise there would have been a death on me, again. Ben stopped smiling and looked over at the Job Board.
"Those are for members of the guild. They help others, and in return, they get rewarded with Jewels." Mirajane popped out of nowhere and explained.
"Jewels?" Ben inquired curiously, turning his head to look at her.
"The currency of Fiore." Mirajane smiled cutely. Ben looked back at the Job Board, remembering the reward was pretty mediocre for a job. "I'm still surprised at what you announced a couple of days ago." Ben nodded. He felt the memory pass him by; a jolt of electricity in his brain.
"Oh boy, Where do I begin?" Ben began. "Well, I suppose to begin with how I came here, right?" He looked at those who surrounded him, some of whom he didn't have names for, while Natsu looked eager to listen and learn of Ben's mysterious origin. In fact, most people were curious about him. "Let's begin then." Ben then sat down on a chair nearby, and began to do his thing.
"Today began with me at my home, and how tired I was from helping other people." The story had started, and Happy raised his hand. It's hand? Ben didn't know and care. "Yes, Happy?"
"I thought you said you didn't have a home?" All of a sudden, everyone started chattering, following Happy's contradiction.
"It'll be explained later in the story. Where was I?"
Ben looked down to his Omnitrix, with its many DNA forms trapped within ready to be unlocked at a moment's notice. He put his hand down, and walked out of the guild hall for a breather. He then pulled up his Omnitrix once more, this time, while running away from the guild. He transformed into XLR8, speeding off to the mountain nearby and climbing it to a perfect place of relaxation that was safe for a human. He transformed back into his normal teenage self and sat down, reflecting on that story time.
"Oh yes, I was at the place I called 'home'." Ben cleared his throat. "I was on my couch, sleeping off some of my late-night heroics, and hoping for a break from fighting."
"Why would you want a break from fighting? Makes no sense." Natsu loudly interrupted, with the voice of a person speaking through a megaphone.
"Will you, flame brain, please shut up?" Gray whispered. He had the right idea, whispering instead of talking.
"To answer Natsu's question, it's because they're all human. They, like me, don't contain magic and can break really easily." A collective gasp had occurred, and Ben realized that wasn't what happened exactly. Everyone's jaws reached the floors, except for Lucy and Happy. They seemed genuinely shocked. It was as if there was nobody without magic. "I don't understand. Why's everyone shocked?"
The girl who was drinking an entire barrel earlier, Cana, stared down Ben with a lot of surprise. "Where did you say you were from, again?"
Ben chuckled. "I didn't." He sat up straighter, and continued. "Okay then. Let's continue." The Omnitrix Wielder started to rub his hands. "I got a call from my cousin urging me to stomp some criminals in an abandoned area, followed them to do some heroics and knocked them out until the authorities came. Then I got picked up by someone that I knew, went to a Lab and saw a giant box." He stopped. "Now, this cube is quite important to the story."
Ben looked up at the sky, suddenly realizing he spent a few minutes on a mountain as a human and possibly worrying the Guild mates. He stood up, dusted his head off and made his way off the rock face, and walked back to the guild hall.
"Why is a cube more important than fighting?" Natsu once again interrupted, making Ben feel like strangling the Dragon Slayer.
"Shut up, you brainless flame." Gray half whispered. Ben felt very irritated. The Omnitrix wielder was about to throw hands with someone.
"Have you heard of the Multiverse Theory?" Everyone shook their head. "Right, you are all less technologically advanced." Ben whispered so they wouldn't hear. "The Multiverse Theory is essentially, a group of universes that are beside each other, or even right on top of each other, but unable to interact with each other." Some people understood, but the other people in the room had no clue. "Essentially, you can see a friend, but cannot interact, or talk to them, or acknowledge that they are there."
"THAT MAKES NO SENSE! WHAT'S YOUR POINT?!" Ben put his hands over his eyes. Natsu was becoming an increasing annoyance.
"I'M FROM ANOTHER DIMENSION, AND IT HAS NO MAGIC!" Suddenly, silence. Ben had raised his voice for the first time. They stared at him with shock and fear.
"We've seen you do Take-Over's though." Lucy responded quietly.
"That's because of the Omnitrix, my device." Ben responded. "It can essentially make me like any of the aliens in it. I've unlocked about seventy of them, and there are a lot more."
"H-How many...?" Cana, a brave soul. Ben saw her face was in complete shock.
"About a million." Everyone's jaw either dropped or they emitted a massive "HUH?". Ben was really confused now. Was there nobody really like him?
"I'd hate to be against him in a fight." One person said.
"Didn't you hear? Most of them were locked." Another tried to whisper. Ben grew tired of most of these people trying to listen.
"That's my story. That's how I got here." Ben stood up from the seat. "I'll take a place to stay."
The Omnitrix Wielder faced the guild hall. It was hours after he left, and he felt the need to enter it again.
...
Ben's Universe
Kevin was at the last known location of Ben, according to Gwen. The empty Lab looked so plain and boring, like any other Earth Lab, holding a -
"Gwen, problem." Kevin stared at some thing that should have been there. "It's gone." Kevin looked around the lab for a few more seconds, and then ran out in a hurry to go to the second-last known location.
It took almost an hour for Kevin to run there. He didn't have a car, since the incident with Ben happened to destroy his. Again. Out of breath, he began to enter the hangar, and didn't see the Cube. He noticed the old Mustang, and shook his head, trying to focus on finding it. "Later, my dear, sweet, girl." He looked around for it once more, before taking to the perimeter. The Osmosian turned right, and noticed a fence with vines and plants obscuring it, as well as a bright white light emitting from inside.
"Gwen, was the Box emitting a white light?"
...
Ben entered the hall looking down and avoiding all of the inhabitants. Natsu walked up to him, held him in place, and spun the Omnitrix Wielder to face him. Ben stared at him with a forced blank look, and stared down the Dragon Slayer. Natsu however, smiled.
"Let's Battle!" Ben turned away before sighing. "Come on, you've made me want to battle since I met you! Let's go!" Ben pushed his arms off.
"Three conditions." He held out his fingers. "One, we go outside. Two, if someone gets harmed, we end this. Finally, WE NEVER BATTLE AGAIN." Ben's eyes seethed anger. For a second, Natsu Backed down, but flared up once the terms were stated.
"Alright!" Both of them headed outside, and immediately, everyone crowded.
"The Battle between Natsu and Ben is Beginning! Place your Bets!" Someone in the guild announced. Ben only held up his Omnitrix and played around with the Holo-ring.
"Go!"
Ben slapped down the core as Natsu attempted to tackle him. Instead, Natsu got a face full of Air as he passed through him.
"Big Chill, huh?" He stared down at Natsu and breathed out some air, encasing him in a block of ice. Natsu burned through it, and Ben hit his Omnitrix logo, lighting up the area in emerald light. "I hope you're enjoying this, Natsu. I'll be bringing out the Big Guns." Immediately after, Ben fired off some plant seeds. "Wildvine!" Natsu dodged some of them, getting hit by one and rebounding almost instantly. The Florauna merely dug his feet into the ground, and everyone began to act out.
"He can change in between them?!" Elfman remarked.
"He's more powerful than any Take-Over Wizard!" Cana replied incredulously.
Lucy gawked. "He's only ever turned from beast to human." She squinted and moved a bit closer. "Now that I think of it, it kinda seems like Erza's Re-Quip powers..."
Gray snapped his head towards her,eyes wide. Someone like Ben having that much power? If he joined the Guild, the destruction would be massive.
Ben dodged Natsu's punches by digging underneath with his roots. It took a while until he reappeared, this time behind Natsu as magma appeared beneath him. "Heatblast!" He blasted some fire before recounting Happy's explanation on Natsu's ability to eat fire. Natsu smiled as he absorbed it.
"Thanks a bunch! Now I'm all fired up!" The Pyronite looked at Natsu with an irritated look on his face. Everyone laughed at Ben, and he only chuckled.
"Well, that was a mistake." Natsu jumped up in the air as he put his hands in front of his face.
"FIRE DRAGON..." He leaned back, before going back forward. "ROAR!" A steady burst of flames erupted from Natsu's mouth, headed toward Ben. He stood there, taking the full force of the attack.
"Well, Ben is down. Pay up." One guild member announced.
"Not yet, man. We still don't know if he's actually down."
"Whoever said that is right. Because I'm not down at all!" Heatblast stood at the same spot, unfazed. "I'm immune to fire attacks as Heatblast."
Natsu looked shocked. "Whaaat? That's cheating!" Ben slapped the Omnitrix once more and green light began blinding everyone once more. "HOW LONG CAN HE BE TRANSFORMED FOR?!"
"Water Hazard!" The Orishan sprayed water at Natsu, and the Dragon Slayer dodged them with ease. "Pretty fast for an average human in this universe." Water Hazard used his water to propel himself in the air, and Natsu ignited his feet. New move. Pay attention.
"Fire Dragon Claw!" He boosted himself with his flaming feet, and set his whole body on fire. "Fire Dragon Sword Horn!" Water Hazard hit his Omnitrix, and for the final time, a neon green light engulfed them. "Damn it!"
"I'm ending this with Cannonbolt!" The Arburian Pelarota took the hit, and curled up immediately with Natsu in his grasp. "I hope you don't vomit, Natsu! It's going to be a really bumpy ride!" He began rotating, and falling down very quickly.
"Time for..." He increased his speed some more, falling faster. "Meteor Drill!" One second passed and they had hit the ground, digging a small hole. "We are done here." The Arburian Pelarota uncurled, and transformed back into Ben, as he walked into the guild and everyone was silent for one single second. After Ben had entered, everyone stormed the guild hall with questions to ask him, only to find him mysteriously disappeared.
"How does he do that?" One guild member asked.
"He's so weird, yet heroic."
"I find it hard that someone like him has equal footings to some of the strongest mages." Gray muttered. "He's always so melancholy."
"You try being happy too if you were dragged from one world to the next with no chance of coming back." Lucy retorted. They didn't know that Ben was nearby, hearing every word that they were saying.
"You're right. Maybe he'll ease up on himself." Gray chuckled. "After all, he did whip up Natsu a fair bit."
"Indeed he did." Makarov joined in on the conversation. "Didn't I tell you all not to bother him?" An angry look on his face appeared, before he sighed. "I was only gone for a few moments, and Ben here defeated Natsu.
...
Ben entered his temporary room (still invisible as ChamAlien), to find Mirajane there. He closed the door silently, then transformed back into his teenage self. "What do you want?" He talked quiet and tired. "I'm ready to pass out anytime soon, and hopefully something will happen." Mirajane pouted.
"Oh come on, Ben." He stared away from her, and continued moving. "You can't do this to yourself." He stopped and faced her with a bored look on his face. "If you keep beating yourself up, then you might as well give up."
"No!" His outburst shocked Mira. "I'm not giving up. There's a city that I have to get back to."
"Can't you leave it to the auth-"
"Exactly why I can't, Okay? The villains there? They were very, very powerful." Ben thought of the painful memories. "More powerful than when I first got this Omnitrix."
...
Ben's Universe
"I'm telling you what I saw." Kevin felt so tired just repeating that. "T-The-That cube, box, whatever it is? Bad news. Very bad." He was worked up, something that was rarely occurring nowadays. He recounted the white light and how he had ran away from the Cube. It felt like Charmcaster all over again. He stopped pacing for once and turned to Gwen. "Gwen, while you were searching the files, did you find any traces of magic in there?"
"Almost, why?" A skeptical look over Gwen's face made Kevin look away.
"I thought that Charmcaster may have -"
"Ugh, Charmcaster, that thot." Gwen seethed out an angry aura, pissed that Kevin would bring her back up.
"Has she been to the abandoned hangar?"
"What do you mean? The Cube is at the lab."
"I saw it at the Hangar."
Gwen looked shocked. "Is it still...?"
"Oh no..."
...
"What do you mean by that, Ben?" Mirajane was curious.
"Ugh. This is an updated version. The prototype was attached to me when I was ten."
Mirajane paled. "Ten?" To her, he was an enigma. Something she needed to solve.
"Yeah. I'm sorry for this, but I need to..." He yawned, before collapsing to sleep.
...
The morning after was rough, even for Ben. As usual, his sleep schedule woke him up before anyone had arrived at the guild, and he stepped out of the cellar to see sleeping bodies near his door. He chuckled, knowing their determination was almost unshatterable. He stepped over the sleeping corpses, and began walking outside for his daily lap around the city of Magnolia.