I do not own the Ben Ten franchise.
Knowledge Is Power
Ben slurped lazily on his smoothie, head lolling against the arm of the couch. It was roughly one in the afternoon, and he had the house to himself. His mother was out running errands and his father was at work. He could watch television to his heart's content.
The best part was that it was a Monday. He was currently missing third period calculus, not that he cared. He wouldn't ever have to worry about calculus again. In fact, he wouldn't have to worry about any type of math, science, English, history, geography or sociology for a while.
After accumulating a large amount of missed days and classes, he finally decided to drop out of the eleventh grade. He wasn't doing that well anyway, and he held no interest in the academics-never had. His heroics took up a lot of time, and after promising his parents that he would take his GED in a few years, they allowed him to temporarily forsake his education. They understood that being a universal hero was important to him, and could not deny that saving lives on a daily basis was more important than learning algebra.
They hadn't put up much of a fight, which was a relief to Ben. He knew that he'd drop out either way, so it was nice not to have his parents snapping at him the whole way (not that they did much snapping to begin with).
His Grandpa Max, however, had not been pleased.
But all he could do was give his grandson a stern and disappointed lecture, which Ben half-heartedly listened to. Ben was sixteen, after all, and his parents weren't objecting.
So now he was an official high school dropout-not something he was terribly ashamed of. He'd done worse things.
A contented smile curled across his lips as he watched cartoons. "Oh yeah. I could get used to this."
"Tennyson!"
The furious tone snapped Ben out of his lethargic state. He was flying over the back of the couch and cowering behind it before Azmuth fully materialized into the room. Nervous green eyes peered overtop the edge. "What's up?" Ben asked hesitantly, trying frantically to figure out what he had done recently that would make the Galvan so mad at him.
"Would you care to enlighten me as to why you've dropped out of school?"
Stunned, Ben stared at his mentor, who was glowering at him from the glass coffee table situated in front of the couch. The television was still blaring, and with an impatient huff, Azmuth stepped on the off button on the remote control. The television flashed to black, and silence descended upon the room.
Finally, Ben found his voice. "He told!" he accused. "Grandpa Max blabbed!"
"His choice of informing me was done out of concern for you," snapped Azmuth. "And I am glad he told me. I will not have my wielder being an ignorant, uneducated moron."
"It's Earth high school!" Ben protested, panic welling in his stomach. He knew very well how much value Azmuth placed in education and the gift of intellect. He hadn't expected him to learn of his dropping out so quickly. "What do you think I'm learning? Seventh-level intergalactic robotic engineering?"
"It is still important," Azmuth said firmly. "It may not be of high quality, but it is still an education."
"I'm not missing much," insisted Ben. "I mean, how is math or history or science or English going to help me in the long run?"
It was a stupid question, and he knew it the second Azmuth levelled his onyx gaze on him.
"History is for you to learn the origin of your country," said Azmuth coolly. "To understand the politics so that you can enforce them, to appreciate the heritage you share with others. To remember the greatest follies of mankind so that you can strive not to repeat them. All mathematics are important, so that you can learn how to figure out complex situations in the real world-"
"What situations?" Ben cried.
Azmuth arched his brow and glanced briefly at the Omnitrix strapped to Ben's wrist. The boy flushed and pouted. "It's too advanced for me," he muttered feebly.
"Earth equations and theories underlie even alien thinking," Azmuth informed. "If you continued taking advanced math and science, you would begin to understand the workings of the Omnitrix. As for English, it helps you to broaden your mind, sharpen your analytical skills. Do you need me to continue?"
"No," Ben said hastily. "Please don't."
"Very well. Let us return to your idiotic decision to abandon your educational pursuit."
Ben gave a groan and rolled over the edge of the couch, collapsing on the cushions on the other side. "Why should I bother? You wouldn't understand!"
"Try me," Azmuth said dryly.
"I'm too busy," the boy explained. "I don't have time for school. There are villains to defeat, mobs to soothe, plans to foil, so on and so forth."
"I'd like to point out that you are not the only Plumber on this Earth."
"No, but I'm the only one with an Omnitrix."
"You think your fellow Plumbers can't handle intergalactic threats like you can? You think that their graduation from Plumbers' Academy means nothing?"
"You're making me sound like an arrogant, self-centered jerk!" Ben wailed.
"You are, sometimes."
"What's it gonna take for you drop this?" Ben asked, green eyes brightening with hope. Azmuth was a busy Galvan, and the teen knew his mentor would rather be tinkering in his lab then be scolding and lecturing him. "I mean, you're going to be here for a while. I'm not gonna cave on this."
"Very well," came Azmuth's short response. "I will not waste my time."
He disappeared in a flash of blue light and Ben sagged against the cushions in relief. "Well. That was easy. If only-"
He cut himself off, a sudden, suspicious frown curling across his lips. It went easy. Too easy. Something wasn't right.
He snapped his gaze to his left wrist.
It was bare.
"Azmuth!"
…
"He's here."
Azmuth glanced up at his assistant, fingers hovering over the holographic keypad of his personal computer. Myaxx wore an amused smirk, her eyes flickering to the green and white watch resting on the Galvan-sized lab table.
"Entering the atmosphere?" he inquired.
"Yeah. Should land in ten minutes."
"Intercept him and bring him to me."
"Yes, sir."
Myaxx departed and Azmuth finished typing up his report. He had ignored thirty phone calls and fifteen video streams. Two hours later and the boy was finally here, no doubt with some choice words.
Twenty minutes passed before the brunette sixteen-year-old appeared in his laboratory. His fists clenched and unclenched, his mouth opened and closed, his face was flushed with anger and bright green eyes darted between the Galvan and the precious piece of alien technology. Azmuth only stared at him calmly, arms crossed over his chest and brow raised.
Finally, Ben found his words. "You drive me crazy!"
Azmuth's lips twitched, but he did not let the smile surface. "And you me."
Ben pursed his lips and stomped his right foot irritably to the floor. It was entirely childish, and also entirely Tennyson, so Azmuth did not comment. "But it's not fair!"
"I do believe that it's my Omnitrix."
"But you always use it as leverage!" Ben whined. "Whenever I do something you don't like, or even think about doing something you don't approve of, you just snap your fingers and take it!"
"And you learn your lesson," replied Azmuth.
Ben faltered, the fire in his eyes dimming. Yes, he got big-headed. Yes, he sometimes got too reckless. And before he ended up hurting himself or doing something irreversibly stupid, Azmuth was there to remove his most prized possession until he gathered his senses.
"…but I'm an idiot," he finally said in a defeated voice. "What's the point in doing something when I always fail?"
And that was what the Galvan had been waiting for.
He knew that the boy did not drop out of school so he could focus on being a hero. He was not so arrogant as to believe he didn't need to continue his schooling now that he had fame (and admittedly some fortune). Ben might have fooled himself into thinking that school was distracting him from being a hero, but he wasn't fooling Azmuth.
"You are not an idiot."
This sent the downcast expression flying from Ben's face. He stared at Azmuth with wide eyes, attempting to wrap his head around what he had just been told. "But…you always call me an idiot," he said with a frown of confusion.
"Because you act like one," Azmuth said. "You are reckless and impulsive and you act on emotion rather than logic. It gets you into trouble, and sometimes you have difficultly learning from your actions. But you are not an idiot."
"You obviously haven't seen my grades," Ben said flatly. "I'm lucky to be a solid C student."
"You don't try. You don't apply yourself. You're lazy. You get low grades because you don't expect much of yourself, which is rather ludicrous. You know what you're capable of. You've used quick thinking in countless situations over the years. You're clever. You have a head on your shoulders-it's all a matter of how you use it."
Ben frantically tried to process everything he was told. He was in a bit of a daze, to be honest. Azmuth had never really been liberal with praise and compliments, though Ben could usually tell when his mentor was proud and when he wasn't. So to be told he was clever, a quick thinker and capable all at once was a pretty big deal.
"Thanks," he finally said, a soft smile on his face. "So…you really think I can pull out a high school diploma?"
"It doesn't matter if I think so. If you don't, then you won't."
Ben look at his sneaker-clad feet, eyes narrowed in thought. It was difficult, balancing school and being Ben 10, especially considering he had never been very good at the academics, nor did he like them. But admittedly, if he focussed and buckled down, he could improve his grades and get the job done. He was lazy-and that affected his schoolwork the most.
Continuing on and getting his high school diploma would make his parents and grandfather extremely happy. It would be the fruit of his labours, a reminder that even though he wanted to give up, he pushed on and pulled through.
To stop now would mean he was a quitter. He didn't like to be a quitter-especially when so many were expecting something of him.
When he expected something of himself.
"Okay," he finally agreed, lifting his head, the familiar shine to his green eyes. "I'll enroll back in school. I'll get that diploma. I promise."
"I know you will." Azmuth smiled. He took the Omnitrix from the lab table and tossed it to the boy, who happily snapped it on his left wrist. "Now leave. I've got important things to do."
Ben rolled his eyes. "Typical." But he went for the elevator and pushed the button. As he waited for the doors to open, he slid his gaze to the Galvan, who had returned to his computer. "Am I ever going to win an argument with you?"
His mentor replied without looking up from his work.
"Only in your dreams."
