Clarifications and Author's notes for this story will be placed at the end of the chapter as to not butt into the story and waste time.
A common day in the city of Bellwood, a bright day that entailed the citizens of the humble city to be up and about within the city proper. However, if one were to look closely one would notice that all of the people on the streets were headed in the exact same direction in a calm and orderly manner.
"Out of the way!" a rough voice exclaimed, before a humanoid figure fell onto the street and skidded before coming to a stop thanks to a car.
Kevin Levin was not having a good time, he peeled himself off the pavement. Before giving himself a once over, the stone armor that covered him had not chinked or broken in any way.
"You okay, son?" an older voice asked. Kevin nodded, and took the hand that had been offered to him by Max Tennyson. "Good, take five if you have to."
Kevin shook his head. "No need, Gwen's still fighting." Kevin cracked his neck, and aimed himself at the pair of humanoid robots that had tossed him away this far. Standing at twenty feet tall, the pair were simply wreaking havoc on the town. Kevin growled, what kind of idiot just makes stuff like these robots just for the express purpose of destruction.
Though he really didn't need anyone to answer that question for him, after all the logo of their creator was plastered right on their chests. A yellow N with a solid black background, the logo of Carl Nesmith aka Captain Nemesis.
The Plumbers in Bellwood had been sent in force, and despite the gap in technology. The former hero's robotics work was still able to keep up with state of the art Plumber Tech.
Kevin spotted his girlfriend a little ways off, giving instruction to Plumbers who were trying to subdue the robots. However, that was easier said than done, especially when one of them was constantly peppering them with blaster fire.
"Hey! Hands off my girl!" He exclaimed, turning to the car he had crashed into earlier. Before grabbing it, and tossing it at the chest area of the bot keeping Gwen pinned. That seemed to be enough to attract the robot's ire, as both suddenly began to rain blaster fire on himself and Max who happened to be nearby.
Kevin dove in front of the older man, and pushed him into an alley where they were relatively safe from the onslaught.
"Thanks." said Max.
"No problem." Kevin peeked out from the alley, and narrowly avoided a blast that chipped a piece of the stone armor that coated his body. "I'm not above saying this, but where the heck is Ben?"
Max fished out his Plumber's Badge. "Ben, where are you? We could use some help, sport."
"Incoming." Was all that was said from the transmission, a raspy voice that Kevin recognized as Jetray's.
Kevin grit his teeth, not wanting Gwen to get caught in the crossfire of what was to come. He absorbed the concrete at his feet to strengthen his armor, and then ran into the street. "He's coming in hot!" Kevin exclaimed, and that was all the others needed to hear.
Gwen had quickly urged the Plumbers into another alley, while Kevin simply jumped behind another one of the parked cars nearby. There was a rip in the air, he'd been in this line of work to recognize a sonic boom just by the sound.
Kevin braced himself.
A flash of green light, and suddenly the robots were gone. Flattened like a soda can that had been stepped on. "Took you long enough." Kevin dismissed his armor as Humungousaur at his full height straightened himself out.
"We're not finished here yet." the dinosaur man replied, before shrinking down and slapping the dial of the Omnitrix on his chest. Now Lodestar stood in Humungousaur's spot, and sent a wave of magnetic power in a general direction.
Kevin squinted his eyes, and spotted a humanoid figure rigidly suspended in the air.
Lodestar brought his hand forward, and the figure was forced into a seated position. "Well well well, Cappy Nem." Kevin taunted. "Nice of you to drop in." Which prompted Gwen to elbow him in the ribs. "What? I had to."
The orange armor around the man was peeled off, and clattered to the ground leaving him in a gray undersuit. After which a Plumber officer had stepped forward, and cuffed the man in question.
"You'll regret this Tennyson." Nemesis snarled as he was hauled away, Ben did not even flinch or paid him any mind as he turned away and transformed into XLR8 in a flash of green light.
"Woah there sport." Max stepped in front of his grandson. "Where you headed off to in such a rush? New Sumo Slammers movie come out?"
"Just a quick run around the planet." XLR8 replied. His visor slipped down into place and he moved to the side of his grandfather.
"Alright then, just remember we're having dinner at your folks' tonight." The shape-shifter nodded, then he was gone.
"Grandpa?" Gwen asked the older man.
"I tried, Gwendolyn." Max sighed. "But at least he'll be at dinner later."
She nodded. "Right, he'll finally get to relax. He really needs this, if not then I don't know what I'll do."
Dinner at any of the Tennyson households were always intimate affairs. Ever since that fateful summer all those years ago, weekly family dinners seemed to be the norm. It was a time to get together and be open with one another.
Or at least that was their intention.
"Knock knock." Greeted Frank Tennyson as he and the rest of his family came through the door.
Sandra approached and greeted her brother and sister in law with a hug. Then glanced over to Gwen and offered her a smile that threatened to falter.
"He hasn't shown up?" Gwen asked.
"No he's here, he's just in his room." Sandra sighed. "He barely comes out whenever he's at home, and to make matters worse he won't talk to me or Carl."
"I'm sorry Aunt Sandra." Gwen began. "I want to fill you in, but I don't know if its my place to tell."
"It's fine Gwendolyn." Sandra replied. "Why don't you go get him? We're about to start dinner, I think the roast is just about ready."
Gwen simply nodded and headed down the hall. Pausing at the door to Ben's room, she knocked to let herself be known and entered. There she found her cousin seated at his desk, quickly switching his attention from his phone, to his laptop, and then to his television.
"I didn't think you liked the news that much." Gwen began.
"I don't." Ben switched his television to a different news channel.
Gwen sat down on his bed, and watched Ben's stoic expression that were only contrasted by the light bags under his eyes.
"Have you been sleeping?"
"Hard to sleep when there's a crisis happening every hour or so." Back to his phone. "Did you need something, Gwen?" Ben shot up from his seat. "Did something happen?!"
"Ben nothing has happened." She assured him. "Your mom just told me to call you for dinner."
Ben sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. A blip from his laptop sounded off. It was a message from Julie.
"Aren't you going to respond?" Gwen asked.
Ben sent an uninterested glance back at his laptop. "Oh, she's just checking in." Ben sighed. "I told her I'm fine a few days back. I don't want to talk to Julie too often, Herve might get the wrong idea." Ben sighed. "Last thing I need is to ruin more people's lives."
"Ben-"
"Dinner right?" The teen sighed, and fished up his old green jacket that had been draped over the chair in his room.
Gwen could only sigh as she followed him into the dining room. She took a seat next to her cousin as usual, and then dinner went on as usual. The table was ripe with conversation of how the daily grind went on, but then it became apparent that Ben hadn't spoken a word nor had he eaten too much.
"Food not to your liking, sport?" Her uncle Carl asked.
"Not too hungry dad." Ben replied.
He sighed. "Ben, what's going on?" Gwen saw Sandra place a hand over her husband's. An attempt to keep him from pushing.
"I'm fine dad." Ben assured. "Just been busy with Hero work."
"We know, and we're proud." Carl continued. "But you're not yourself, we can see it in your eyes. You look tired, you don't talk, you're coming home late."
"I've just got a lot on my mind, dad." Ben assured.
"Tell us, we can help you." Gwen saw the hand that was on the table top. It was balled up into a fist that trembled. "We're here for you, we'll understand or at least try to-"
"You can't!" Ben snapped, his hand smashing into his plate. He took a breath, and took note of the broken plate, then the food that had splashed those at the table. "I'm sorry…"
Ben slowly got up, and fiddled with the Omnitrix. A flash of light later Clockwork stood in his place. He pulsed green for a moment before the broken plate and the mess that came with it reverted. Once that was done Ben moved to touch the Omnitrix, but paused.
He felt something.
It was like an echo. Clockwork turned to the door. "Call Kevin." He said before turning into XLR8. "And mom, dinner was great."
Sandra nodded, then Ben was gone.
At the borders of the town of Bellwood, Ben Tennyson eyed the abandoned military base known as Los Soledad. It was remote, and seemed to be the locale for cretins of all kind.
The Highbreed Invasion.
Aggregor Absorbing the Andromeda Refugees.
The Erasure of all Ben Tennysons.
And now standing face to face with Ben. "Eon." Ben called out. "Whatever it is you're doing here. I suggest you take a rain check on whatever you're planning."
"A warning?" Eon chuckled. "I'll admit there haven't been many Ben Tennysons that have offered me one of those. However, I'm afraid my plans are set in stone." Eon stepped forward and with a snap of his fingers two figures appeared beside him. "These are my allies, I'm sure you've met."
Ben's eyes narrowed. The two figures who stood at Eon's side were Vilgax. One was the one from his childhood, the Cybernetically enhanced warlord that he recalled overpowered Heatblast and everyone else he tried to use against him.
The other was Vilgax from a few years ago. The one who had conquered ten worlds and stolen the powers of their greatest warriors.
"I've beaten them both before, and I'll do it again." Ben declared. The Omnitrix glowing green as it activated. "Then I'll deal with you if you don't stop what you're doing."
"You've grown arrogant with age, Tennyson." Cyber Vilgax stepped forward. "But you of all people should know that I am your better!"
"You're out of the loop." Ben slammed down on the Omnitrix. Diamondhead took the young hero's place, his citrine eyes narrowed and shimmered dangerously much like the rest of his crystalline body. "You haven't been better than me since I was ten years old."
What came next could only be described as brutality personified.
To the conqueror of ten worlds, he'd done battle with some of the greatest warriors in the galaxy. Defeating them in single combat was an accomplishment that would lead to his greatest triumph, and now he'd have his moment.
However, to the Cybernetically enhanced warlord. He was appalled. The level of mastery the child had in using his Petrosapien transformation was staggering, he was capable of pushing himself back in order to deal with his older counterpart.
Ben Tennyson was no longer the same child that he'd dealt with before.
He was now an extremely competent fighter that sent him reeling. Shards of living crystal erupted from the ground, projectiles pierced his armor and cut his flesh.
Tennyson had sent his counterpart flying with a punch then turned his attention to him. "Out of the way." Said Ben.
"Threats don't suit you, Tennyson." The conqueror of ten worlds called out from behind. He brandished his sword and took a step forward, but that was enough to attract the Petrosapien's ire.
Diamondhead shot out more crystals, most of which shattered the moment they came into contact with Vilgax's blade.
Cyber Vilgax on the other hand had taken the opportunity to rush behind Ben and held him in place with a full Nelson. Then older Vilgax came onto him, peppering the Petrosapien with blows that started to crack his nigh impenetrable skin.
"You lose, Tennyson."
Diamondhead spat out a chunk of crystal from his mouth, then glanced at the alien warlord before him.
"I think he begs to differ."
Get your claws off my grandson!
Cyber Vilgax was sent flying by a concussive that came from one Max Tennyson. Ben took the opportunity presented to him in stride, and quickly formed a bludgeon with his crystal fist and slammed it into Vilgax's skull.
"Ben, are you okay?" Max rushed to his side.
"Yeah, I'll be fine." Ben assured, then saw Gwendolyn and Kevin dealing with the conqueror of ten worlds. He sighed. "Thanks for coming, Grandpa."
"I'll always be there for you, Ben." He offered a hand to his grandson then stood up.
"How touching." Eon called out. "It seems that this timeline is rather interesting, but still rather droll." The purple time walker took a few steps forward. "I thought this Ben Tennyson would be different, an instance that used the power of the Omnitrix without restraint." A chuckle escaped Eon's lips. "A pity, I suppose I'm in the wrong timeline. If you were as ruthless as I thought, then perhaps Tealupa would still be a planet."
There was a physical snap that Ben heard. His thoughts had gone to static the moment Eon had the nerve to mention that name. Perhaps it was from Diamondhead clenching his jaw, but Ben didn't care.
"You want ruthless?" He asked. "Fine." Ben's hand met the Omnitrix dial on his chest, and a flash of green light later Diamondhead was replaced by a tall white and green robotic humanoid. His features were mechanical, but somehow exclaimed the rage that was boiling underneath.
This was Atomix, one of the strongest transformations within the Omnitrix. A living nuclear reactor that could invoke nuclear winter with a thought. And now Atomix was aimed right at Eon.
Atomix rushed forward, fist primed and bubbling with energy and swung. There was a moment that Atomix had registered Eon in front of him then he was gone, instead replaced my a circular device that had seemingly come out of nowhere. It had quickly latched onto him and kept Atomix in place, the green glow that surrounded his fist vanishing.
"I was wrong." Eon had sauntered out from behind him. "You are ruthless, in a timeline where I let that blow land you would have atomized me."
"Then let me go, and I'll finish the job." Atomix grunted.
"I'll have to decline." Eon replied. "Do you recall the erasure of all the timelines? While Vilgax was rash, he had a point. Ben Tennyson is a thorn in my side, so why not remove him?"
"Good plan, erase yourself." Atomix grunted. Then used his free hand to slap the Omnitrix dial, but to his surprise he remained as Atomix.
"Don't be so surprised, I've taken the liberty of putting a chrono-stagnation barrier around you. You will remain in this form for as long as I see fit." Eon stood before Atomix. "You will power my device, and watch as countless Ben Tennysons from infinite timelines be erased. With the exception being me."
"You already tried that, won't work a second time." Said Atomix.
"And pray tell why that is?"
Atomix began to glow a vibrant green. "Call it a feeling." A mechanical whirring began to sound off all around Eon and Atomix, but the timewalker simply chuckled.
"You're powering my machine even further, I think those blows Vilgax gave you were too hard."
"Wrong." Atomix began to glow even more. "With all your power, and advanced technology. You forget the most basic principles of these things."
"Enlighten me then."
Atomix's eyes met Eon's. "Its that the more energy these devices contain, the more volatile they become." Atomix seemed to whir, and the device he was attached to absorb more and more of his energy. "And it would be a shame if someone were to hit it the wrong way."
All hell broke loose. Even Eon hadn't reacted in time, as a single energy blast came from behind Atomix and directly hit the device.
"Direct hit Rook!" Max called out using his communicator. "Coordinate the assault now!"
Now free Atomix fired a blast of Nuclear Energy at Eon who countered with a blast of his own.
"You fool!" Eon cried out. "I thought you had more sense than that! The fabric of space-time is too thin here! Without that machine-"
A crack, a literal crack formed where Eon's machine once was. Then it split open. Eon who was closest to it was pulled into the rift first.
Cyber Vilgax who had been rendered unconscious was next.
All those present were hanging on for dear life.
Then Max Tennyson was hurled into the air. A flash of green light and Humungousaur had grabbed onto the Plumber, and grew to his maximum size in order to keep them both from being pulled in.
"Hold on." The Vaxasaurian's voice boomed, but even he was having trouble. He was slowly being dragged into the breach. Ben prayed it would close on its own, but that didn't seem to be happening anytime soon. Ben was afraid to transform into something bigger, the loss of mass would mean in that instance Max would be out of his grip and would be sucked in.
Beep
Humungousaur's eyes widened.
Beep
"No! Not now!" He roared.
Beep
Beep
Beep
"Gwen!" He cried out.
Power depleted, entering recharge mode.
He felt Max slip out of his grip the second he transformed back. Then Ben flew back, he was flying into the breach. Then by some miracle he'd grabbed Max's hand again, and saw the pink Mana tendril barreling towards him.
Then the breach shut.
His lifeline cut short, as he and Max rolled in throughout the swirling void orange energies.
Ben turned to the man he'd grabbed. "Grandpa…I'm sorry."
"Don't worry sport." Max smiled. "We'll get through this together-"
Then Max vanished.
Ben's eyes widened as he fell out from the void and out into a clear night sky. "G-Grandpa…" he couldn't believe it, he was gone. Grandpa Max had disappeared right from his hands.
Ben felt numb, he didn't reach for the Omnitrix as he approached the ground. He simply stared forward, and waited.
Then he stopped.
He floated above the ground, a red haired woman about his age with green skin hovered with him.
"Get out of here!" She exclaimed then pushed him aside.
"My grandpa…where is he?!" Ben desperately screamed. Max couldn't be gone, if he was gone then he should be too. The Omnitrix hadn't activated its failsafe, he remained human meaning there wasn't anything in that void that could've harmed him.
"I'm sorry, there's no time to explain." The woman said. "You need to-"
"Uncatalogued DNA detected, would you like to scan?" The Omnitrix beeped.
"Make time." Ben demanded. He raised a hand over the Omnitrix. "Or else."
The woman sighed. "Dont blame me if this hurts." Her eyes glowed green as Ben saw images enter his mind. This woman her name was M'gaan or Megan as she liked to be called, and she and her friends were currently in a battle to save the world.
Klarion the Witch Boy and a few other of their enemies had somehow split their world in half. One half only adults resided, the other only children.
"Point me in his direction." Ben snarled.
"Wait no! It's too dangerous." M'gaan pleaded. "Let us handle it." Then she froze. "I'm sorry Aqualad, there's a civilian here."
Ben didn't linger, he supposed he could follow the sound of combat. He turned into XLR8 then dashed forward.
"Say again, Miss Martian." Aqualad was concerned. "Did you say a civilian?" He didn't get a chance to hear the reply before a strong gust of wind blew past him and barreled into the Witch Boy.
The object had bounced off the barrier around Klarion and landed in a flash of green light. Once his eyes had adjusted, he saw something that baffled him. A tall ape like creature that was covered from head to toe in fur that went from a cream to a black then gray.
"What in the-?"
The creature let out a burst of electricity that slammed into the barrier, but showed no signs of damaging it.
"I didn't know the Justice League hired fleabags." Klarion mocked.
Miss Martian arrived not too long after, immediately coming to Aqualad's aid. "Miss Martian, who is that?"
She shook her head. "I have no idea. I thought he was just a normal person, but then he turns into his thing and runs off."
"Whoever he is." Superboy chimed in through the psychic link."He's giving us a hand. We'll worry about him later."
"Agreed." Aqualad turned to Miss Martian. "Add him to the link."
"Ben?" Miss Martian began, the creature flinched.
"You're in my head." The thick Canadian accent permeated through their psyche. "Whatever, how do we take this guy down?"
"A fist to the face seems like a good start." Superboy suggested.
"Already tried that." Artemis cut in. "Takes explosive arrows like they're gusts of wind."
"I've got something in mind." The newcomer named Ben suggested.
"Do it." Aqualad drew his weapons and formed a pair of blades from the water. "The rest of us support Ben, and keep an eye out for other ways of damaging Klarion."
As the Team sprang into action Aqualad could only eye Ben for a moment. His hand reaching for the hourglass symbol on his chest, before a similar flash of green light from earlier filled his vision.
"Chromastone!" He cried out. A deep purple rock humanoid stood triumphantly then charged at Klarion. Ben tore through the barrier that shielded the Witch Boy, much to Klarion's surprise.
"A changeling, eh?" Klarion cackled. Then fired a blast of chaos magic at Ben's chest. But to his surprise, Ben remained standing and continued to push through the barrier. "No! No! No! You're not supposed to be able to do that!" Klarion whined.
"Believe me I don't want to." Ben grunted. "Absorbing your energy blasts hurt! But not as much as this!" He lifted a crystalline hand then fired a rainbow colored beam that even Klarion had to shield himself from.
"Get him!" Superboy yelled the second the barrier went down. The full force of the Team charged at the Witch Boy.
"Just kidding!" Klarion cheered then let loose a blast of chaos magic in all directions. The Team was sent flying while Ben held his ground, a mild grunt of pain escaping him as he absorbed the energy. "So you can absorb energy, so let's see how you like them Adderalls!"
Klarion's cat mowed at his side.
"Apples! They knew what I meant." Then fired a continous stream of Chaos Magic at Ben. Finally the newcomer fell to his knees, now fighting back screams of agony. "You may be able to absorb energy, but mine hurts you. Let's see how much you can take before you pop!"
Elsewhere Billy Batson had just come from nowhere arriving beside Miss Martian. "The gem!" He cried out.
Miss Martian's hand went over his mouth. "Billy I've linked you to the others telepathically, no need to shout."
"Cool." He smiled. "The gem, the one at the center of the pentagram. Its the one keeping the dimensions split."
"That's all I needed to hear." Zatana said. Then reached forward and donned the Helmet of Fate.
Ben never thought something was physically capable of making Chromastone feel pain. It was such an intense feeling, as if his body was being bitten by fire ants at first, then he felt such an intense burning sensation like when boiling water would splash onto skin.
But this was worse.
"No!" Klarion's attack had stopped, and Ben had immediately turned back to human and fell onto his back.
With his blurring vision, Ben could see a figure in blue and gold take the fight to Klarion.
"Ben!" M'gaan had rushed to his side, accompanied by a red headed boy in yellow spandex.
"We need to get him help." The boy in yellow said.
"There is no help." A blonde woman in green chimed in. "No adults, no doctors. We need to end this, now!" She turned to the fight, and Ben could see her gritting her teeth. Why was she so angry?
Severe physical trauma detected.
"Did his watch just talk?!" Said Yellow.
"Wally focus!" The blonde screamed.
Initiating life preservation protocol.
Ben felt his body shift, suddenly all the pain he had felt from earlier was gone. He was suddenly alert once again, and lifted his hands.
Shiny and a viscous green.
"Goop?" He questioned. Wouldn't have been his first choice, in all honesty Swampfire might have been a better candidate, but with the state he was in he couldn't afford to be picky.
"Ben, are you okay?" M'gaan asked.
"Who cares?!" The blonde in green exclaimed. "Zatana put on the helmet, she gave herself up to Naboo."
"What's happening?" Goop asked.
"What's happening: is our friend just sacrificed herself to stop Klarion!"
"Artemis, calm down!" M'gaan pleaded.
Sacrificed. Ben didn't like that word, it often meant that someone had to die to get the win. Putting on the helmet seemed to be a big deal, meaning it was alive or cursed at the very least.
"What's the deal with the helmet?" Ben quickly turned to Wally.
"Whoever puts it on becomes the vessel for Doctor Fate." He explained. "Lots of power, but Naboo; the helmet's consciousness won't let the wearer go." His expression fell. "There's some powerful forces there, and if Naboo won't let her go. Then we might never see her again, the rest of her life just…gone."
That was enough.
That was enough of a reason.
He wouldn't hesitate, not when a life is this close to being cut short.
Goop had turned back into Ben, and stepped forward. He grabbed Artemis by her shoulder, her scowl still on her face.
"I'll get your friend back." He fiddled with the Omnitrix. "I promise." Then slammed down on the core.
The world was silent, it was as if someone had told all of creation to be silent for that one moment.
To the magically inclined, the new arrival of power was too great to ignore and had momentarily paused their battle.
To those who were raised on earth, they were in awe. Something truly otherworldly had just arrived, a mixture of awe and fear.
To M'gaan she fell to her knees, almost in reverence as she laid eyes on the being before her. A body that displayed the infinite cosmos. A being she'd only heard of in legend.
A Celestialsapien.
"Alien X." It had exclaimed. "Reality reversion, Motion Carried." A simple wave of his hand and suddenly several other people had arrived.
Batman, Zatara, Red Tornado, and an older man in white armor that M'gaan didn't recognize.
Klarion and Doctor Fate had stopped their battle. The Witch Boy for once looked nervous and took a step back. "You filthy cheater!" He whined.
"Motion Passed." Alien X spoke. "Engage the Witch Boy in combat. Motion carried."
"You will do no such thing!" Doctor Fate interjected. "The balance of Chaos and Order cannot be tipped in favor of the other."
"I'm not sticking around!" Klarion quickly vanished.
M'gaan stood astonished. Did Doctor Fate just allow that to happen, and was Doctor Fate flying towards the Celestialsapien?!
"We will have words." Said Doctor Fate.
"You blew it kid!" Bellicus roared.
"I'm in agreement, Ben." Serena nodded.
Ben was at a loss. Did the two just agree of their own free will?
"What do you mean?" Ben asked.
"You made such a mess that even we can't ignore it!" Ben had to move back a little as Bellicus got in his face. A golden ankh appeared within the space and out came Doctor Fate. "Oh great, Naboo."
"You know each other?" Ben questioned.
"Your kind is not meant to interfere." Said Fate.
"You'll have to be lenient, Naboo." Serena spoke. "Ben Tennyson does not know of our agreements."
"Nor does he bother to ask." Bellicus offhandedly said.
"Regardless, you interfered with this reality and the battle against chaos and order." Fate continued. "I had come to understand that the lords and your kind had come to an agreement."
"Wait, back up." Ben cut in. "I thought Celestialsapiens were all powerful?"
"Even we have laws, Ben." Serena smiled.
"Laws that we have to follow more closely than others." Bellicus boomed."Especially after your escapade of remaking reality!"
"Now now, it isn't entirely young Ben's fault." A new voice had chimed in, a familiar middle-aged man in a lab coat had appeared within the deliberation space of Alien X.
"Professor Paradox?!"
"Timewalker." Bellicus growled.
"Before you threaten to erase me, please allow me to inform you that powers greater than you have interfered." The timewalker sauntered up to Ben. Then looked to all those present. "Celestialsapiens are nigh omnipotent, but even you cannot tamper with a greater destiny itself."
"Cease your riddles." Fate commanded.
"Was I speaking in riddles? Terribly sorry." Paradox smiled. "Its hard to keep track of when I should be giving away answers or be cryptic."
"Professor, what's going on?" Ben asked.
"Many things in the omniverse must happen, Ben. You getting the Omnitrix, your battles with Vilgax, and even Maltruant's defeat." Paradox waved a hand and changed the landscape of the deliberation space. "However, there are outliers. Events that must take place despite how wrong they may seem. A world where Gwendolyn receives the Omnitrix rather than you. A chance meeting between two heroes from different realities and becoming friends."
"Rex." Ben couldn't help but smile.
"Indeed." Paradox nodded. "And more recently, arriving in another world where heroes are common place. To give the status quo a good shake as they say."
"You mean to say my coming here is…destined?" Ben asked.
"It is a requirement to balance out the rather volatile nature of space-time." All those present still didn't looked too convinced. "The interference of a Celestialsapien is cause for concern, but please rest assured that this is necessary. Your agreements are still in place, believe me."
Fate remained silent for a moment then relented. "Very well." Fate turned to the voices of Alien X. "I will overlook this, but there must be consequences."
"We agree." Serena spoke.
"Do not speak for me, Serena." Bellicus grunted. "But yes, we agree. Motion to bar Ben Tennyson from using Alien X for the next 6 months."
"Seconded!" Serena beamed.
"Wait, no!" Ben paled. "What if I need to use Alien X!"
"Didnt you once say, you had 9 other guys who could do it better?" Bellicus mocked. "Use one of them, besides kid. Six months isn't much, its practically a time out for a Celestialsapien."
"That's our cue." Paradox grabbed Ben by the shoulder, and in a flash of green light returned Ben to his human form. He looked around and saw the group of teens he had worked with earlier in dealing with Klarion as well as a few other caped crusaders.
Though Ben only focused on one person for the time being.
"Grandpa Max!" Ben threw his arms around the older man, holding him in a tight embrace. "I thought I lost you…"
Max only returned the embrace. "I'm sorry I worried you sport, but you should know it'll take more than that to deal with me."
"I just couldn't lose anyone else." Ben choked back a sob.
"I'd hate to break up the reunion, but we have much to discuss Ben." Paradox cut in. "And I suppose this involves all of you as well." The timewalker turned to the man in a cowl. "Batman, I would like to assure you that no harm is to come to you and your compatriots so I would like your assistance with this matter."
"Just like that?" Batman asked.
"Quite right." Paradox smiled. "The reality in which Ben and Maxwell are from was made unstable by a rather unsavory individual. Your reality underwent a similar ordeal, but was more stable by comparison and in turn placed Ben and Max here as a way to stabilize the fabric of space-time."
"Anyone getting what he just said?" Superboy crossed his arms.
"To put it simply: your two realities were coming undone, and these two." Paradox gestured to Ben and Max. "Were ejected into the most accepting reality in the omniverse that could house them with regards to the circumstances."
"Don't you mean Multiverse?" Robin asked.
"No." Paradox replied then turned back to Batman. "Ben and Max's identities do not need forging, after all they exist in this reality as well."
"Robin." Said Batman.
"Already on it." Said the Boy Wonder. Tapping away at the holographic display on his wrist. "Got it, Benjamin Kirby Tennyson. Age 16, and is currently in France attending the McDuffie International Institute of Education. Looks like he's working for college credit to get into their advanced Iron Worker's Course."
Ben and Max shared a look. "You know something Grandpa?" Ben asked.
"It's where a few of my old Plumber buddies went." Said Max. "Its a one way ticket to the big leagues, Ben."
"Hey Robin, was it?" Ben called out. "Do you have a recent picture of this Ben?"
The display quickly changed to a picture of Ben standing in front of the Eiffel Tower. His eyes immediately went to the rather naked wrist.
"Well I'll be damned." Ben scoffed. "I know where we are."
"Of course you do, Benjamin." Paradox nodded. "After all I brought you here many months ago."
"Wait, what?!" Wally nearly doubled over.
"Indeed, I brought Ben here to partake in a war. Obviously we won, as we're still standing and conversing."
"I would interject, Timewalker." Doctor Fate spoke. "These two are not of this world, they disrupt the balance. Take them back to their reality."
"Were you not listening, Naboo?" Paradox sighed. "To do that now is to doom their reality, they must remain here."
Doctor Fate grumbled, seemingly defeated in the debate and rose off the ground.
"Aren't you forgetting something?" Said Paradox. "Release the girl, Naboo."
"No." Fate's tone of voice was final. "If you insist on giving your wards asylum in this reality. Then Doctor Fate must remain to keep the balance."
"Kent would never agree to that!" Wally cried out.
"Kent Nelson did object strenuously, which is why I released his soul into the afterlife."
The appalled looks of the Team were enough to tell Ben about the severity of the situation.
"Then take me." An older man dressed as a magician stepped forward. "My body is stronger, my powers are already at their peak. I would be a more suitable host."
"All true." Doctor Fate nodded. "Should I take off the helmet, what guarantee would I have that you would don it?"
"My word." Was all Zatara said.
Ben opened his mouth, he moved to speak but Paradox had stopped him. A hand in front of him and a simple shake of his head.
"I'm sorry, Benjamin." He said. "I've interfered too much. Any more and reality itself would come undone."
Ben could only watch as Doctor Fate took off the helmet. The father and daughter embracing before suddenly tears welled up in Zatanna's eyes as her father grabbed ahold of the helmet.
"Take care of her." He had said. "Etaf fo temleh eht no tup."
A flash of light later Doctor Fate stood tall in Zatara's place. Leaving his daughter a heartbroken heap, and Ben furious at himself. He reached for the Omnitrix-
"They won't let you transform into him." Said Paradox. "You have no one that can undo this, Ben."
Ben grit his teeth.
Paradox placed a hand on his shoulder. "Let things unfold naturally, and you'll see that there is more underneath the surface."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"You'll know in time." Ben fought the urge to roll his eyes at that line. "One more thing before I go, Benjamin. I will not discourage you from searching for a way home yourself, but for your sake I hope you know what you're willing to risk if you do."
Before Ben could inquire any further, Paradox vanished in a flash of white light leaving Ben and Max alone with the people they'd just met.
Ben could feel the eyes on him. Zatanna's in particular. She was glaring at him.
"If you could've ended this sooner, we wouldn't have needed Doctor Fate." She spat.
"I wanted to see first if I could end it without using him." Ben tried to defend himself. "It-"
"So this was just you testing your limits?!" Zatanna shot to her feet. "Did you even care that people were suffering? You didn't even take this seriously."
Ben's knuckles turned white. "I'd like to see you do better when you're given omnipotence." Those that had heard that could only go wide eyed.
Ben's hand never touched the Omnitrix before he was enveloped in a green light and flew off as Jetray.
Ben could only stare forward blankly at the wavy bay area. His eyes somewhat squinted due to the wind.
He looked down.
"King Kong would be jealous." Ben offhandedly remarked, then continued to sulk. He'd run away, because he was hurt. Zatanna was right. Why didn't he end it when he had the chance?
"All the power in the universe and I still can't save everyone."
"You too?" Ben quickly turned around, his hand going for the Omnitrix. A man was looking at him.
A flying man.
Ben mentally scolded himself, he could do that too. Why was he surprised? Maybe it was the outfit that caught him off guard, after all none of his aliens wore bright red and blue.
The flying man hovered down to meet Ben. "If you wanted to see the Daily Planet, there are less dangerous ways to do so. I know for a fact they give out tours every Wednesday."
"Who are you?" Ben asked.
The man blinked in surprise. "Oh, really?" Ben nodded. "Wow, I don't get to introduce myself much. People around these parts know me as Superman."
"A bit on the nose, don't you think?"
"A little." Superman motioned to the spot beside Ben.
"Be my guest."
Uncatalogued DNA detected.
Superman glanced down at the Omnitrix, and raised a brow.
"Don't worry, it does that sometimes." Ben assured. "So…you're an alien?"
"More or less." Superman turned to him. "So are you by technicality." Ben supposed he shouldn't be surprised that Superman knew. It made sense that superheroes shared information with each other, back home they did the same thing.
"Did the bat guy send you?"
"Batman, and yes. Your grandfather was worried when you flew off." Superman placed a hand on his shoulder. "I know that when you can't save someone it feels demoralizing, but you can't forget all the good you've done too."
"It wasn't about that." Ben sighed. "Its just…"
He glanced at the Omnitrix. The most powerful device in the universe, and he still felt like a failure.
"I shouldn't be thinking about this now." Ben got to his feet. "That's a problem for tomorrow, I should just get to grandpa Max and figure things out from there."
"That sounds like a plan." Superman stood by Ben. "Your grandfather is waiting for us by a small town named Bellwood, do you know where that is?"
"Of course I do." Ben smiled. "Its home."
Then jumped off the side of the Daily Planet, a flash of green light later Ben hovered before Superman.
"Think you can keep up?" Astrodactyl squaked.
Superman smirked, then darted off past Astrodactyl. He blinked for a moment, then flew off after him.
Ben decided he liked Superman.
After a long day, the Team had finally found the time to retire back to Mount Justice. A somber mood hanging over them, and they supposed it was fitting. One of their own had suffered a difficult loss.
The Team sat around their common living space, and sat in silence. It was customary to do this after a mission at the reference of Black Canary. A way to decompress after particularly difficult missions.
Some days it would only be Kaldur, M'gaan, and Conner, maybe Robin would join in if he had time.
However, everyone was present with the exception of Zatanna.
"I'm sorry we are keeping you, Wally." Kaldur started. "I know you must want to rush back home to see your parents."
"Its fine." Wally assured. "This is important too, and even if I have to leave it'll at least give me some things to think about."
"Where do we even begin?" Artemis asked.
"Let's start with the elephant in the room." Said Robin.
"The shape-shifter." Said Kaldur.
"Ben." M'gaan said, though she felt herself become somewhat embarrassed when she'd cut in. "His name is Ben." She repeated, albeit a bit quieter.
"Yes, Ben."
"Do we know anything about him?" Wally asked.
"Just a few surface thoughts and memories." M'gaan's eyes glowed green. Allowing the images she'd seen to be projected into the minds of the others.
They'd recognized some of them as simple childhood memories, riding a bike with his grandfather, attending a concert in hippy garb, and even what looked like a baseball game.
"Guy sure likes his grandpa." Conner commented.
"It makes sense regarding the context." Said M'gaan. "When I first saw him he was so panicked, I think he'd thought he lost Max."
Then the images around them changed. "Though throughout the battle, I kept getting images from Ben. Very strong and complex thoughts that were just stewing there."
Suddenly a large dinosaur like humanoid had come barreling down at them. Wally had nearly jumped out of his seat, while Conner had prepared to fight. But the dinosaur man had just passed them and slammed its large fist into an image of Klarion and his barrier.
"That never happened, right?" Wally asked. "I'm going to be so upset that I missed this."
M'gaan shook her head. "No it didn't, this was a thought."
The dinosaur man had vanished, replaced with a humanoid made of molten rock and fire. Then a walking suit of armor that revealed a glowing orange being hidden inside it. Then a gray skinned ghost creature.
All of them repeating the same action: trying to get through the barrier.
"Was he…strategizing?" Artemis blinked. "All this in during the fight?"
"It honestly caught me off guard." M'gaan admitted. "I recognized some of them." The image of the dinosaur man was brought back.
"This is a Vaxasaurian. They're a race of aliens that are incredibly strong and resilient, I've even heard they can survive in space without protection for a few minutes."
"I could probably take him." Conner huffed.
M'gaan's eyes simply flashed green, the dinosaur man had suddenly grown in size, growing scales and armored plates.
Conner did not comment once he'd seen that.
"Wait back up." Wally waved his hands. "Are you saying this guy turns into aliens?"
"It appears so." Kaldur nodded.
"What about the one he called Alien X?" Artemis asked.
M'gaan shook her head. "I don't know much about them." The thought that she'd actually seen a Celestialsapien was enough to scare her. After the awe had worn off, the fear of someone having that kind of power honestly scared her. While Ben seemed like a good person, she didn't know him well enough to make a proper judgment of his character.
"Can you tell us what you do know?" Said Kaldur.
"They're basically gods." The images around them vanished as M'gaan held herself. "Not like the New Gods, but more akin to the gods of Earth religion. Omnipotent beings that change the very nature of space and time on a whim."
"That's not good…" Wally gulped.
"No it isn't, but at least they don't do it too often."
"Meaning?" Robin asked.
"Celestialsapiens have voices in their heads. To agree on change the voices have to agree on the decision."
"Of course!" Robin shot up from his seat. "That's what he meant when he said "Motion Carried." Every action they take is debated."
"Yes." M'gaan nodded. "If a Celestialsapien doesn't act, they can spend eons just suspended as they debate."
"You know, for someone who doesn't know much. You know a lot." Artemis smirked.
"So now what? Do we find the guy?" Conner asked.
"Actually no need." Robin's wrist terminal flashed. A message from an unknown source appearing on screen.
It read:
Superman is with him, rest easy.
"Who sent this?" Artemis asked.
"No idea, but it might be that guy in the lab coat–" Wally thought for a moment. "-Paradox."
"If the League doesn't seem to be taking action against Ben, then we should not worry." Said Kaldur. "Let us adjourn for now, and hope that tomorrow is a better day."
Wally was the first to get up. "Good night everyone!" Then rushed off in the direction of the Zeta Tubes.
The rest of the Team hoped that it would be a good night.
"Sorry I ran off, Grandpa." Ben said, wrapping Max in an embrace. They'd met up about a block from Ben's family home. There Max decided to fill Ben in on the plan.
"So let me get this straight." Ben shook his head. "We're just going to go explain everything and hope they let us live there?"
"Yes." Max quickly said. "We don't have much choice, your parents are the more open minded ones in the family."
That part was true enough. Uncle Frank and Aunt Natalie were good people, but they weren't exactly too accepting of everything the first time. He could still remember Aunt Natalie giving him weird looks for the week he'd revealed his powers during the fight with Verdona.
Max walked over to the man of steel and held out his hand. "Max." He introduced.
"Superman."
"Would you mind helping us explain the situation?"
"Of course, it's the least I can do."
A short walk later, the trio knocked on the door of the Tennyson household. A few moments later the door swung open revealing Sandra Tennyson.
"Max? Ben?" She said his name with more surprise, then noticed the third individual. "Superman?!"
"Good evening, ma'am." Superman began. "Would you mind if we came in?"
Ben was silently cringing the entire time, it just felt so wrong for some reason. But everything was the same, from the furniture, the paint on the walls, to even that one hole in the drywall that Ben used a potted plant to cover up. He was still wondering how no one ever noticed that.
"Gwen?" Ben called out as he saw his cousin seated at one of the chairs. She went through the same emotions as his mother the moment she saw their little group.
"What's going on?" Gwen asked.
"I don't know, but it isn't anything serious." Sandra turned to Superman. "Right?"
"It isn't anything dangerous, but it's still a heavy discussion."
It was tense, even more so when Ben's father had arrived and saw Superman. Everyone had huddled around in the living room and sat in silence.
Ben didn't know how Superman was going to break the news to his parents. That he wasn't their Ben.
"This Ben and Max aren't your Ben and Max." Superman said. "They're from an alternate reality."
Ben supposed ripping off the bandaid was an option too.
"I know this might be a bit jarring." Superman continued. "But I can assure you, they're the same people you know and love."
Bad move.
Gwen and his parents just stared at Ben and Max. Then back to the Man of Steel. He couldn't blame them, but with the amount of weirdness he'd been through Ben was pretty much used to it.
Before anyone could raise any objections, Ben had slammed down on the Omnitrix. In his place was now a small blue skinned fish creature.
Those present were dumbfounded.
"Superman isn't lying." Walkatrout quickly turned back into Ben. "Grandpa and I are from another universe, and we're stuck here."
"We wanted you to at least know." Said Max. "Knowing Ben, he'd leap head first into danger the second someone cried out for help. We didn't want you to worry if you suddenly saw Ben on the news and turn into Humungousaur."
A few confused looks went around.
Ben half expected to have his mother yell at him. He didn't know the reason why, but he felt it would've been appropriate.
Sandra had walked up to Ben and locked eyes with him. "Are you my son?" She simply asked.
"No." Ben shook his head. "But I'm Ben."
She grabbed his hand. "And Ben is my son." Sandra smiled. "Alternate universe or not."
Ben couldn't help but smile and wrapped the woman in an embrace.
When things had calmed down Sandra hadn't let go of Ben, and continued to do so until Superman had given them most of the details. It honestly felt strange to Ben, in his many universe hopping adventures he'd never really had to stay in one long term.
Though he was sure he'd make do.
"Ben?" Superman called out. "Is everything alright?"
Ben glanced around the room, looking at his parents, Gwen, and Grandpa Max. People who loved him. Ben simply smiled.
"Yeah, I think everything'll be okay."
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
Ben's Personality:
Ben's personality in canon is…difficult. We know that Ben is a good guy, a bit arrogant at times but he's a good guy at his core. What I went for here is a Ben that's somewhat reminiscent of the Classic Ben 10,000. I'm pretty sure most of you can figure out the in story reason why Ben is acting like this, but I assure you it's something I wanted to try my hand at.
Why Young Justice?:
I just really like the show, it's probably the only other show I watched religiously as a kid and loved even more as an adult. And the other option was BNHA, but there's a lot of those fics already and I kinda lost interest in it after All Might and OFAs showdown. Side note I had a somewhat decent draft of just one scene.
Picture it:
Ben and Max appear in BNHA. Conveniently during the slime villain attack. Max is taken with Bakugo by the villain, the scene plays out same in canon. However, Max is injured in the aftermath. Ben hulks out and All Might and Humungousaur have words with each other the only way they know how.
I dropped BNHA as the crossover partner cause I don't really see myself enjoying writing that story.
Max with Ben:
Barring Gwen and Kevin and by extension Rook. Max is the only one who I can say has a really good narrative dynamic with Ben. Even though Ben grows into his own person through UAF with Max's absence, he still relies on Max for advice when things get difficult. Like when Ben decided he was going to try and end Kevin.
Max just gives more depth to Ben as a character since Max is the one Ben's morals and ideals stem from, and it would be interesting to say have Max as an adviser to the Team and perhaps even the Justice League if things play out differently.
If you want to read a story where Max is involved in the plot I'd suggest "A Result of Consequence." Its a BNHA crossover, and Max's role in the first few chapters is that of Ben's guardian but its done in a way that I really like and feel that captures what Max is all about.
Transformations:
Pretty sure this is the one people would want to know about. Ben's current Omnitrix is based on the Omniverse Omnitrix with all the aliens unlocked after the series finale.
There will be Original transformations, and even non-canon transformations such as Portaler and Hippopotamass. I'd also like to mention that on occasion I might even use transformations from "5 Years Later" which is probably the biggest fan work we know of.
Just to be clear, any unfamiliar sounding aliens if they come from another work like 5YL will come with a disclaimer in the author's notes after the chapter saying that they aren't mine.
General Thoughts:
Ben might be acting OOC in this one but at least there's somewhat of basis. Ben is going through something and its making him more viscous and calculating. Basically I'm giving him traits of the classic Ben 10K. I wanted to go down this path instead of the tried and true method of killing everyone Ben loves cause I don't have the stomach to kill off Max.
Basically I'm jumping through hoops cause I'm soft.
Just putting it out there, I needed to get this out of my system just so I could write Remnants of Fate. I won't update this until I get to the Volume 1 Finale.