When 10K, Argit, and Paradox pulled him into their Warp, Rook expected to find himself on Galvan Prime. The moment his power touched theirs, he knew that was not the case. They were going somewhere else entirely.

Sometimes, Warp just knew where he was going, even if he didn't before he teleported. The information would just flood his mind and he'd understand his new surroundings perfectly. That wasn't what was happening though. Rook didn't have the faintest idea where he was.

The other Omnitrix bearers were with him, plus Paradox and No Watch. They looked just as thrown off as Rook felt. Even Ben Prime. That was disconcerting. Rook was really relying on them to be his guide here. "Where are we?"

"My home," Paradox answered, stepping to the front of the group. "A place for those who exist out of time to rest."

Rook looked around. At first glance, the terrain looked like any other patch of land on Earth, which he supposed made sense considering Paradox was human. Probably, at least. Everything else was pretty clearly inhuman though. Namely, the inhabitants. There were a few dozen Warps and XLR8s around but there were also these green blobs and starry humanoids that Rook didn't recognize. The most perplexing thing, however, was-

"Hey! Contumelia," Prime said, pointing at one of- Rook didn't even know what to call it. Whatever it was, it was flickering so much it made it hard for Rook to look at. The Bens similarly looked discontorted looking at it. Noticing this, Ben quickly explained. "Contumelia are kind of like the creator of the universes. The human mind can't comprehend seeing them so we just see whatever we love most."

That didn't make Rook feel any better. He didn't see anything, just a mass he couldn't understand. What did that say about him? Why wasn't he seeing… Actually, he didn't know what he expected to see. That was probably why he wasn't seeing anything. He hadn't seen his father in a number of years, or any of his family for that matter. Scout was his best friend, a constant at his side all these years, but he was a companion in life, not the center of it.

"Mine's Mister Smoothey!"

Okay, that made Rook feel a bit better. So what if he was uncertain about what was most important to him? It just meant he cared enough to… He didn't know. He still felt pretty bad.

"The Contumelia are who we're here to see. To some degree, at least," Paradox told them and began making his way toward the nearest cluster of them. "Give me a moment to plead our case."

"What exactly is our case?" Mad asked, though not loudly enough for Paradox to hear. "What are we even doing here? We all just got our asses handed to us. We should be out there fighting!"

"Wait, I thought the Vilgax in your world was a good guy?"

"What? No. Where did you get that idea?"

23 merely shrugged, making Mad shake his head and lose track of whatever thought he'd started with. It didn't matter much though because most of the Bens were focused watching Paradox and the Contumelia. Their discussion was looking rather animated, like a climax was nearing.

One of the Contumelia turned, facing the assembled Omnitrix wielders, and suddenly all of their Omnitrices activated. Rook was forced to take a few big steps back to avoid clipping into another body, only for his strides to shorten mid step. "Archfiend!"

He tried his hardest not to fall over but it was pretty hard for an alien of Archfiend's size. The trick was to never get unbalanced. Once he lost balance, it was all over. One of the Bens behind him tried to catch him but Rook didn't have the chance to see what form he'd taken and whatever it was, it wasn't strong enough to catch a creature as big as Archfiend. He ended up fully falling on top of him. "Ow! Hey!"

"Forgive me," Rook apologized and tried his hardest to get off him but Archfiend's stoutness made it difficult. Two Bens stepped forward and offered him a hand. Pyronite hands, the both of them, and Rook abruptly realized everyone had turned into Heatblast but him. Another wave of embarrassment crept up on him. He had no reason to be embarrassed over something like this but he was. Heatblast was a multiversal constant, almost as much as the Omnitrix, and Rook didn't have him. Even Benzarro had turned into Heatblast and Rook had definitely seen him transform into Archfiend a number of times.

Paradox was back, Rook noticed as the two Heatblasts got him up. He seemed pretty amused by the whole thing but sobered quickly. "Run along now."

"What?"

"The Omnitrix is an object but it is more than that. It has much to teach you," Paradox told them, "as do the beings that have made themselves at home here. You must master the way you use your Omnitrix before we even consider facing Vilgax again."

Rook frowned, not quite getting it, but 10K was shooing them away and several Heatblasts were using their flames to propel themselves into the sky so Archfiend had to move to avoid getting hit by them. He didn't really want to leave but he also didn't want to get swept up in the wave that was Heatblast, especially when he wasn't a Pyronite himself. "Why does everyone else have Heatblast and I don't?"

"I may have something to do with that."

Archfiend's head snapped up, not having realized there was someone nearby. Actually, he wasn't sure if he should call it someone or something. The figure before him was an absolute amalgamation of aliens. Necrofriggian wings he recognized right off the bat. The same went for the scythe-like hands and hunched posture that Rook knew belonged to Warp. They were too big for him not to notice. The Galvanic Mechamorph markings were too familiar to miss either. The multiplicity of eyes, all glowing with fire, were eerily similar as well. Why was this being so familiar?

Then it clicked. The base form, the one under all that alien, was one he knew very well. It was a Revonnahgander and Rook didn't have to stare long to realize it was him. This freak of an alien before him was none other than Rook Blonko.

The figure smiled but there was no emotion to it. Bits of fire leaked from his lips, fire Rook had felt before as Pumpkin King. "I imagine you have a lot of questions."

Rook couldn't bring himself to speak. The alien didn't seem to mind.

"I'm a future version of you, one that no longer exists. That's why I'm here," the figure explained. Rook's mind glazed over the contractions, something deep inside pinging him to tell him it was wrong but his consciousness not caring enough to dwell on it. "Don't worry, you'll never become me. I made sure of it."

Now the questions began flooding Rook's mind. "How… How did you get like this? And how did you…?"

This future version of him held up an arm, the one where Rook's own Omnitrix sat. Rook's Omnitrix was bulky compared to most of the Bens' Omnitricies but this one was even bulkier. The metal was warped around the edges, the band digging deep into Revonnahgander flesh. It looked painful but the alien didn't seem to notice.

"I used the Omnitrix in ways I shouldn't have, I stayed in forms longer than Azmuth intended anyone to stay in… It got damaged and some of the forms bled into me. I made a lot of mistakes," this future Rook told him. His eyes, as difficult as they were to read, grew hazy and distant. "Did you know Warp can travel through time? It took me a long time to realize that. It's pretty hard to find one to teach you but I figured it out. I came back in time and tampered with your Omnitrix. Yours won't malfunction like mine did."

"And you gave me different aliens than the other Bens," Rook realized aloud.

The other Rook nodded. "I did. It was a minor change but Azmuth intended the Omnitrix to be a learning tool. You grow differently in different bodies. You'll be more ready than I was when the time comes."

Rook swallowed. He wasn't sure if he liked the sound of that. "What happened that made you- What mistakes did you make?"

The other Rook was silent for a long moment. "I'll tell you another time. Maybe if you come back. Right now, I need to train you."

"Train me?" Rook echoed, the shock wearing off and the memories returning. That was right. Paradox told them all there were teachers here for them. They needed to master the aliens in their Omnitrix if they were to fight Vilgax again.

The future Rook nodded. "Archfiend was the first alien you turned into, yes?"

Rook nodded. That was why the Contumelia transformed into this form and not Heatblast like all the others. "I think I know Archfiend fairly well but I am not certain. I felt something different when I helped the pumpkins on Anur Transyl."

"That is hellfire. That's why I choose to replace Heatblast with Archfiend. Heatblast is a very versatile alien but Archfiend will get you out of any trouble you get into. Hellfire never stops burning if you don't want it to." The future Rook was suddenly consumed by a green light, transforming without even touching the Omnitrix. A blink later and another Archfiend was towering over him. "Now, let me show you how to find that fire."

Rook nodded, steeling himself to start searching for that fire he'd only felt once before. Brallada, that felt like so long ago. Maybe it was. Maybe it would be even longer until he returned to his own time. All the more reason to commit to this training. Vilgax wouldn't know what hit him.

When these battles ended up in the history books, there were always pictures of Scout leading ships into battle. That image was pretty far from reality. Scout was the Omnitrix bearer's partner but he was barely a Plumber graduate. He hadn't even worked with the Plumbers in a long time. Scout had no place taking a leadership position here. He was hardly even present in the war room, let alone taking charge on the battlefield.

At some point, he had to though. Be on the battlefield, that is, not join the war room. They needed people to fight and a Loboan was a lot less puny than the humans on the planet he was trying to protect. He could take hits they couldn't and that put him on the front lines, at least when things started getting dire. And they were getting pretty dire. Even with the Anur System's forces fighting on their side, Vilgax's ships were still getting pretty close to Earth.

Then, after all these months of fighting, the world warped again. Scout embraced it gladly, comforted by the knowledge his best friend was back, and let it carry him wherever he needed to be for Rook. And apparently, Rook needed him on Khoros, that Khoros of the future, the one they'd all watched the Omnitrix-bearers face off against their respective Vilgaxes. They were back in the stadium, back in their very same seats. Scout could feel Albedo and Ship brush against his fur and he scooped them up quickly. He didn't want to lose them in a warp again. Thankfully, they didn't complain.

"Let the Conqueror's Challenge begin!"

Paradox's voice rang through the colosseum. It was quickly deafened by cheering but Scout knew they'd all heard it. He glanced at his friends, tipping his head in confusion, and asked, "Begin? Didn't this happen months ago?"

"Yes, but they don't seem to think so," Albedo answered, pointing at the bleachers full of cheering Vilgaxes behind them. Scout spared them a quick glance before refocusing on the battlefield. Vilgax was there, of course, but Archfiend had replaced Warp. Vilgax was sneering, just like he had before, but Rook had a whole new demeanor. With a single motion, Archfiend raised a hand and set the arena ablaze.

"Woah!" Bahrvad looked impressed. He put a hand on Kevin's shoulder, stopping him from leaning forward before he could even try. "We didn't teach him that, did we Xylene?"

"We didn't," Xylene confirmed. Without looking, Scout could tell she was smiling. She was proud, Scout could hear it in her voice. "Looks like our Blonko has been training."

A green light flashed– green, not red, Scout had to remember that– and Archfiend vanished, Terrorsaur taking his place just long enough to give off a burst of its hallucinogenic energy, before transforming into Diamondhead. Scout nearly did a double take. He'd never seen Rook transform that quick before. Changing his form while he was already an alien ate up the Omnitrix's charge. Had Rook unlocked that Master Control thing Argit and 10k had? Or was he just playing it risky? Scout hoped it wasn't the latter.

Rook was doing well though. The fire was limiting Vilgax's movements, especially now since Diamondhead was free from getting burned, and Terrorsaur's psychic attack had thrown him off enough for Diamondhead to close in. Vilgax was getting pummeled. Scout wasn't even sure if he was getting any hits in himself. It was an absolute massacre. Total opposite of what went down last time.

It was an anticlimactic victory. Scout didn't know what he was expecting, or if there was anything to expect. The story of how Rook, Shar, Wat-Sen, Da, and Tetrax defeated Vilgax the first time was so exciting. There had been a big finale with Tetrax knocking him into the Null Void. There was nothing like that here. Diamondhead just hit Vilgax until he couldn't get up anymore and then encased his limp body in crystal. He didn't even say anything, just stepped over him and walked toward the bleachers.

Okay, Scout wasn't actually bothered by that last part. Rook timed out and he was looking right at him, grinning. The groans and jeers of all the Vilgaxes behind him deafened Scout from anything Rook had to say but Scout didn't care. Rook was back with him and that was all that mattered.

"Where are all the warships?"

"What?"

They were back on Earth, back in Bellwood. Rook's Earth, in Rook's Bellwood. It'd probably mean a lot more to all the Bens but the only Ben here was the one Rook had met on Luna Lobo. The rest had gone home, or at least he assumed. He hoped they did but he didn't care enough to try to find out. Right now, it was just him and all his friends from his own dimension.

"The warships," Scout repeated, as if that would help Rook understand it any better.

"The Vilgaxes were invading," Ben clarified. "We had all the Plumbers fighting them, plus the Anur forces…"

"Anur forces?" Rook echoed, surprise enveloping his face.

"Yeah. I got our friends back h- er, back in the Anur System to help out. You couldn't look up in the sky without seeing someone," Scout told him, looking up as if to emphasize his point. "They're all gone now."

"I warped us back to before… We are back to only a few hours after we went to the future," Rook explained, turning so he didn't have to see the looks on his friends' faces. "Forgive me. I should have consulted you all or at least told you. I did not think anything of it."

"It's…" Scout trailed off for a moment before shaking himself and snapping back to the present. "It's fine."

"Maybe even for the better," Eunice pointed out. "It was- well, it was war. It's probably for the best that it didn't happen."

"You're probably right," Scout admitted. "I'm guessing that no one but else remembers?"

"I do not think so," Rook answered. "Why?"

"Because the Anur alliance was pretty cool. Maybe even a step toward getting us into the Plumber union."

Rook could hear the disappointment in Scout's voice. He was happy they weren't at war, that all the sacrifice they'd made was eliminated, but he was still disappointed by what they'd lost. Opening the Anur System's borders had been Scout's dream. Somewhere along the way, it'd become Rook's too. "At least now we know it's possible."

Scout brightened visibly. Not by much but still visibly. "You're right, Rook. You're absolutely right."

Author's Note: Paradox's home comes from the comics. Rook 10K comes from an idea I had when someone asked me how Glitch would fit into this story. I don't want to include Glitch in this fic, not in the main story at least, but I'd like to write Rook 10K's version of the story eventually and this was just a nod to that. Also, apologies for the short chapter and anticlimatic ending. I've been writing this fic for a long time and I want to give it the ending it deserves but I really just want to finish it at this point, or at least reach enough of a finishing point that it's not unsatisfying if I come back at a later date.