I do not own the Ben Ten franchise.

I took all but the last two riddles from the Internet. But I can't remember the exact place I took them from. Just know that I didn't come up with them.

Joke's On You

The sun filtered through the crack in the dark green curtains, a yellow ray breaking through the darkness of the room. Ben grumbled sleepily and cracked one eye open, flinching as the light invaded his unprepared vision. He slowly sat up and squinted at the small alarm clock resting on his bedside table.

"Nine," he groaned after reading the glowing green numbers, raising his arms and stretching. "I can get up early on a weekend, but it takes forever to get me out of bed a half-hour earlier on a weekday. What's up with that?"

With no desire to go back to sleep, he rolled out of bed and went into his bathroom. He ran a comb through his tangled brown curls.

And froze.

Green eyes wide, he stared at his reflection in the mirror. His right hand was holding the plastic comb to his head, his left arm resting on the countertop.

His bare left arm.

Blinking, Ben stared at his left wrist. He gave it a shake, as if by some miracle his Omnitrix would appear out of thin air. "Okay…weird."

Dropping the comb into the sink and trying to ignore the sick feeling rising in his stomach, he went over to his bed and threw off the blankets and pillows, searching the folds for his treasured possession. But it wasn't lost in his bed, nor was it underneath.

The Omnitrix had been on his wrist when he went to sleep nine hours ago. Which meant that, sometime during the night, someone had snuck into his house and stolen his Omnitrix.

No, no, he tried to reason with himself before he launched into a full-blown panic mode. The Omnitrix works best when I'm the one wearing it.

That doesn't mean no one else can use it, returned his inner voice. This isn't like the old Omnitrix, where it took Azmuth himself to get it off. You can slide your new one on and off. And if you can do it, someone else can do it. DNA signature or not, there are other geniuses out there who can break the code.

Which meant one thing.

"I lost the Omnitrix!" screamed Ben in terror as the heavy weight of this realization struck him.

The most powerful device in the universe was who-knows-where, and it was all because he was a heavy sleeper.

"Oooh," whimpered Ben, pacing up and down his hardwood floor. "Azmuth is going to kill me. What am I going to do?"

Wait, maybe Azmuth is the one who took it! To make updates or something!

Clinging to this glimmer of hope, Ben grabbed his cellphone from his dresser and dialled Azmuth's number. Just have to play it cool…

"Ben?"

"Myaxx," said Ben, trying to hide his relief. "Hey."

"I'm guessing you're looking for Azmuth-"

"No!" shrieked Ben. He coughed and hastily said, "No, I just wanted to ask you a quick question. Azmuth wouldn't happen to have some updates or something to make to the Omnitrix, right?"

"No…why do you ask?"

"Uh…no reason. Just curious. So Azmuth has no reason for wanting the Omnitrix in his possession in this moment."

"Again, no. Is something wrong?"

Yes. I'm going to be killed by a furious Galvan in the very near future.

"No," he managed to get out. "Everything's fine! Peachy. Uh, don't let Azmuth know I called. Just 'cause this won't interest him, so it's not worth bringing up. Yeah. Thanks bye!"

Ben hastily hung up and buried his head in his hands.

What am I going to do?

A glint of red caught his eye and he looked up. A piece of paper was taped to his bedpost, which he hadn't noticed before. He peeled it off of the wood and opened it, green eyes eating up the words written.

If you want to see the Omnitrix again, you're going to play a little game. Solve five riddles, and you will find your Omnitrix.

'What travels around the world but stays in one spot?'

-Riddlemaster

"You gotta be kidding me!" wailed Ben, staring at the riddle in annoyance and disbelief. "Who the heck is behind this one?"

How about you figure that one out after you find the Omnitrix?

"Good point," he answered himself. He quickly got dressed in a pair of jeans and his green jersey. He put his phone in his pocket and shrugged on his white hoodie so that the long sleeve would cover his bare wrist.

"What travels around the world but stays in one spot?" he mused as he jogged down the stairs. He went out the front door and over to his green vehicle. He slipped in the driver's seat, stuck the key into the ignition but did not turn it. "Uh…"

So…where am I supposed to be going?

Ben leaned back in the seat, a frown on his face. "Well…lots of stuff travels around the world…but what stays in one spot as it travels?"

A stamp! his mind proclaimed, rather proudly.

Ben felt a flare of hope. The answer made sense, as while a letter travelled around the world the stamp stayed firmly in one spot.

He started the car and pulled out of the driveway, his destination in mind. There were a few post offices in Bellwood, and he wasn't sure which one to hit first. Heck, he wasn't even sure what he was supposed to be looking for.

"Why do these things happen to me?" he muttered to himself, eyes glued to the road as he cruised down the street. He came upon the nearest post office, a small square building with a large mailbox situated on the curb.

Ben rolled his green vehicle into a free parking spot along the sidewalk. He climbed out and entered the post office. He was dismayed to see that the air-conditioned space was empty, the only person besides himself was the woman working at the counter.

When the bell above the door chimed softly from his entrance, she looked up with a pleasant smile. "Hi! Can I help you with anything?"

Ben hesitated for a moment. As embarrassed as he was to ask, he knew he could spend quite a while slinking around the store, searching the shelves and through the card stands. And that would just look suspicious.

Plus, he didn't have all day. He needed to find out what happened to the Omnitrix as soon as possible, before Azmuth found out.

"Uh, this is gonna be a weird question, but did anyone…or anything come in here and leave a red piece of paper?"

The blonde studied him thoughtfully for a moment. "Are you Ben?"

"Er…do you know that because I'm a universal hero or because someone suspicious left something for me?" questioned Ben.

She laughed. "Someone left something for you." She reached behind her and picked up a red envelope that was sitting on the counter. She held it out. "What's it about?"

"That's what I have to find out," said Ben, taking the next riddle. "Thanks a lot. What did the guy or girl or whatever look like?"

She shook her head. "Sorry, but I'm under strict instructions not to reveal anything."

Ben frowned. "You weren't threatened or anything, were you?"

"Oh, no, nothing like that. I was just told you have to figure this out for yourself. You're playing a game, right?"

"Yeah, a game," the teen sighed, trying to keep the bitterness out of his voice. "Thanks a lot."

He left the post office and tore the red envelope open. He removed the matching sheet of paper and read his next clue.

'How can you tell if an elephant is in your bed?'

-Riddlemaster

"What the heck is this?" cried Ben in frustration. "This is the stupidest thing I've ever seen in my life."

He stood still on the sidewalk for a moment, staring at the piece of paper as the gears in his mind worked overtime. But he while he figured the answer had something to do with peanuts, he had no idea where to go.

"I guess it would have to be a place that's really popular for peanuts, or some sort of peanut factory," theorized Ben, though he was dubious. He didn't know much about peanuts-wasn't a huge fan of the snack food.

But you know someone who is.

Brightening, Ben pulled out his green cellphone and scrolled through his contacts. Jimmy Jones loves peanuts almost as much as he loves me. It's worth a shot.

He tapped the young boy's name and held the phone to his ear. After a few rings, Jimmy answered. "Hello?"

"Hey, bud. It's me. Listen, I got a kinda odd question for you."

"You figure out the riddle, then?"

Gaping, Ben pulled the phone away from his ear so he could stare at the electronic device. "Wait, you know?!" he shrieked in a rather unmanly tone.

"Sure," replied Jimmy. "I've been waiting for your call."

Ben scowled. "Okay, then, where the heck am I supposed to go?"

"Oh. I thought you already knew that… I'm not supposed to say."

"…I'm supposed to come to your place, aren't I?"

"Maybe."

Ben sighed wearily. "I'm on my way. You better have snacks waiting."

Ten minutes later, Ben was shuffling up the stairs to Jimmy's bedroom, having been greeted enthusiastically by Mrs. Jones before being sent on his way. He walked into the preteen's room and found Jimmy typing away at his computer.

"Alright, how did you know about the riddles?" demanded Ben, dropping onto the boy's bed and grabbing the plastic bowl of potato chips that rested on the bedside table. "And thanks for the snacks."

"No problem." Jimmy twirled around in his computer chair so that he was facing his hero. "And I know because someone told me."

He held out another one of the blasted red envelopes. Ben snatched it and glared at it. "Who is the Riddlemaster?"

Jimmy shrugged. "I dunno. I just know that he's using me to mess with you. What's the deal?"

"Don't worry about it," returned Ben, wanting very few people to know about his predicament as possible. "And don't tell anyone about this. No hot news alerts going on your blog. Got it?"

Jimmy slouched in disappointment, but nodded. "Yeah, sure thing."

"Thank you," said Ben sincerely. He opened up the envelope and scanned the riddle that awaited him aside.

'I am thinking of four numbers, such that;

The sum of all the four numbers is thirty-one.
Only one of the numbers is odd.
The highest number minus the lowest number is seven.
If you subtract the middle two numbers, it equals two.
There are no duplicate numbers.

What four numbers am I thinking of?'

-Riddlemaster

"Oh, give me a break," groaned Ben, rubbing his forehead. "Jimmy, are you good at math?"

"Currently failing," admitted Jimmy.

"That doesn't help me." Ben suddenly frowned. "Wait a minute! Where the heck am I supposed to find the next riddle? This isn't going to lead me anywhere!"

Jimmy silently held up another red envelope. Ben lunged for it but Jimmy dove backwards. "Sorry, but I can't give it to you," he said apologetically. "You have to figure that out first."

"Who's gonna know?" snapped Ben.

"They will know," said Jimmy seriously. "We have to play by the rules."

Ben faltered. While he knew he could overpower Jimmy in a heartbeat, he didn't really want too, and he also didn't know what kind of madman he was dealing with. "Fine then. What are the rules?"

"Er…well, for sure I can't give you the answer. Which I don't even know in the first place."

Thinking for a moment, Ben pulled his cellphone out again. He dialled his cousin's number and waited for her to pick up.

"What is it, Ben?"

"I've got a question. There are four numbers. The sum of the four numbers is thirty-one, only one of the numbers is odd, the highest number minus the lowest number is seven, if you subtract the middle two numbers it equals two and there are no duplicate numbers. What are the numbers?"

There was a beat of silence. Finally, Gwen spoke. "Are you trying to get homework answers out of me?"

"No."

"Yeah, sure."

"Gwen, I'm serious!" insisted Ben. "I'm not cheating. I have a math riddle and I need you to answer it."

"Where did you get a math riddle?" asked Gwen in amusement.

Ben scowled. "Look, if you're gonna press, fine. Some jerk snatched my Omnitrix and now I have to go on a clue-hunt to get it back!" He swung a finger to Jimmy, who was now staring with wide eyes. "Not a word on the blog, Jimmy!"

"Hold on a second. First of all, what? Second of all, why are you with Jimmy?"

"Because Jimmy is involved in this stupid game and can't tell me anything. I really don't know what's going on myself, so I can't answer your questions. But you can answer mine!"

"Are you allowed to ask for help?"

"Probably not!" called Jimmy. Ben shot him a 'shut up' glare.

"I don't think I should help you. Who knows what the consequences might be? You could be being watched right now. Just think about the riddle and-"

"DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND?" shouted Ben, his temper snapping as the full realization of possibly not getting the Omnitrix back struck him. "I LOST THE OMNITRIX! IT'S WHO-KNOWS-WHERE IN THE HANDS OF WHO-KNOWS-WHO! IF AZMUTH FINDS OUT, I'M SCREWED! HE'S GONNA KILL ME! HE'S GONNA CHOP ME UP INTO LITTLE PIECES AND FEED ME TO THE VOLITICUS BIOPSIS! WHEN THAT HAPPENS, I HOPE YOU'LL BE HAPPY WITH YOURSELF!"

He hung up on his redheaded cousin before she could respond and furiously shoved his phone in his pocket. He stood up, grabbed Jimmy by the collar of his jacket and tossed him ungracefully onto the bed. Jimmy yelped as he struck the mattress and watched in bewilderment as Ben took over his computer.

"What are you doing?"

Ben did not answer. He typed away furiously, eyes staring at the screen intently. Jimmy pulled his knees up to his chest and watched the teen work in bemusement. After five minutes, Ben turned around, pointing victoriously at the screen.

"The four numbers are twelve, five, six, and eight. Give me the next riddle."

Not wanting to argue with the teen when his eyes were flashing in that particular way, Jimmy obediently handed the next envelope over. Ben wasted no time tearing the flap off and yanking out the piece of paper.

'What beverage contains all four food groups?'

-Riddlemaster

Ben knew this answer instantly.

"Smoothies!" he hollered, flying up. "ByebuddyI'lltalktoyoulaternothingoesonyourblog!"

Jimmy blinked at the jumble of words as the teen barged from his bedroom. "I kinda feel sorry for him," he said sympathetically.

Ben made it to his car in two heartbeats, the engine roaring and speeding off to what was quite possibly his favourite place on Earth.

The glorious Mr. Smoothy sign soon came into view and Ben did not make the greatest parking maneuverer of his driving career. He tumbled out and raced over to the front counter, eyes rather wild as his adrenaline and fear (Azmuth can't know gotta find the Omnitrix now now now). "Where's the envelope?!"

"Right here, dude," the server on the other side of the counter squeaked, hastily shoving the blasted red envelope towards the universally recognized hero.

Mumbling incomprehensibly under his breath, Ben irritably looked at his final riddle.

'Quantum Uranium Antimatter Catalyst Kinetic.'

-Riddlemaster

Biting his lip in agitation, Ben went over to the nearest table and collapsed into the hard chair. "My brain is not equipped to deal with this stuff," he whined softly, staring at the collection of science terms on the paper. "Does this make a compound or something?"

Guess you should have paid more attention in science class.

"Shut up," he grumbled to his inner voice.

For the next twenty minutes, he stared at the black letters, hardly blinking. The longer he stared, the more something stood out to him. The first letter of each word was capitalized. Tilting his head slightly, he pictured the capitalized words in his brain to see what they would spell.

QUACK. Quack.

"Ducks!" he shouted, triumphant. "Freaking ducks! Ha ha ha ha ha! I got it!"

He raced for his car and cranked the keys in the ignition. Not bothering with his seatbelt (and not paying much attention to his speed) he navigated through the streets of Bellwood. The wide expansive field of Central Park soon came into his sights, in all its naturalistic glory.

"Please, please, please," he chanted, swinging his car into the parking lot and turning off the engine. He jumped out and hightailed it to the circular pond, which was well known to inhabit several ducks. Getting down to his hands and knees, he started to crawl through the dirt in a rather frantic motion, rifling through the reeds and tall grass in search for his beloved possession.

He finally unearthed a chunky red envelope from a nest of tall green grass. Heart pounding in his chest, Ben opened the envelope with trembling hands and tipped it upside-down. Out fell his Omnitrix.

His broken Omnitrix.

Bile rising, Ben stared numbly at the broken watch face. There was a sizable crack down the middle of the screen, the silver mechanisms exposed and wires sticking out of the right side. Not even the strap was unscathed. The white metal was scratched and dented in various places.

There was no way it was going to work.

That sick, twisted jerk. Playing with me all morning only to freaking screw me over.

He was furious. But for all his anger at the Riddlemaster, his fear and anxiety overpowered it. He was going to have to reveal this to Azmuth.

He's going to kill me.

For a long moment, Ben just sat there, heart thudding painfully in his chest and tears threatening to spill over. The Omnitrix had been entrusted to him, and this wasn't the first occasion where he had let something happen to it. While it hadn't technically been his fault, he should have been more alert. If he could sleep through someone stealing his Omnitrix, then this was deserved. Totally uncool and unfair and infuriating, but perhaps deserved.

Azmuth would certainly not hesitate to lay full blame on him. And Ben couldn't argue. What could he say in his defense? When he realized what happened to the Omnitrix, he immediately attempted to rectify the situation himself instead of informing the creator.

His phone suddenly buzzed, indicating that someone was calling. Ben mindlessly pulled his phone from his pocket and answered it. "Hello?" he said hoarsely.

"Ben?"

"Grandpa. What's up?"

"Sorry to bother you, sport, but Azmuth just dropped by. He received some unusual data readings from the Omnitrix and wants to take a look at it himself. Can you come by now?"

There's no way out of this. "Y-y-y-yes," he managed to get out.

"You okay, kiddo? You sound a bit off."

No. I'm not fine. "I'm okay," he said, this time sounding relatively normal. "Be right there. Bye."

He hastily hung up. Sticking his phone in his pocket, he clutched his damaged Omnitrix to his chest and made his way to his car. His legs felt like they were being weighed down and he was finding difficult to move.

Oh, I'm so screwed.

The ride to Plumber Headquarters was agonizing. He gripped the wheel so tightly his knuckles were white.

Please let him forgive me.

He parked his car for the umpteenth time that day, walked into the entrance to the base (disguised as his grandfather's plumbing business) and took the secret elevator down to the underground base.

When he stepped into the main console room, it was to see Azmuth standing on the back of a tall computer chair, watching Rook type something into the computer. The Galvan turned his head at the sound of footsteps approaching him, and Ben nearly lost the barely-there contents of his stomach then and there.

Oh man oh man oh man oh man.

Azmuth flicked his gaze to the covered-up left wrist of the teen and arched his brow. Ben stopped just in front of him, his trembling noticeable. Unable to come up with any words, he silently held out the broken Omnitrix, his fear coming off of him in waves.

Azmuth stared at the useless watch for a long moment. Onyx then met green, and he snapped his fingers. A flash of green light later and another Omnitrix appeared, identical to the busted one Ben held in his hands.

Holding out the perfectly-functioning Omnitrix, Azmuth said casually, "As you humans say, April Fool's."

Ben's legs gave way as the observing Plumbers burst into laughter. The teen crumpled to the tiled floor with a loud gasp of relief and shock, hands moving to cover his face as he struggled to control his now-rampant emotions.

"I think you broke him," observed Rook, torn between sympathy and amusement as he watched his partner lie limp on the floor.

"He'll be fine," said Gwen, moving from her hiding spot with Kevin, who was howling with laughter.

"I feel sort of bad," chimed in Jimmy, trailing behind the pair.

Ben managed to sit up, his face a mixture of anger and indigence. "Okay, no, hold up. You," he pointed at Azmuth, whose lips curled into a smile, "I will deal with you shortly. You," the finger swung to point at Gwen, Kevin, and Jimmy, "you guys knew about this?!"

"Azmuth figured you'd call me when you got to the math riddle, so he told me ahead of time what he had planned." Gwen grinned.

"HE'S GONNA KILL ME! HE'S GONNA CHOP ME UP INTO LITTLE PIECES AND FEED ME TO THE VOLITICUS BIOPSIS!" imitated Kevin, holding his stomach in mirth. "I have now found my favourite quote in life."

"I did say I was under strict instructions," said Jimmy apologetically. "Not bad acting though, huh?"

"Whatever," groused Ben. He frowned up at his grandfather. "And you knew about this?"

Max smiled apologetically. "Once Azmuth explained his plan I had to go along with it. It was too good to pass up."

Ben glared at Azmuth. "You are so mean."

"As you never fail to remind me," said Azmuth easily.

"When did you make this?" snapped Ben, holding up the fake Omnitrix in distaste.

"Didn't take long to whip up. You do not possess the perception to identify a real Omnitrix from a fake one, so I knew I would have no trouble fooling you."

Ben flapped his arms up and down in indigence. "I nearly threw up. No, I nearly dropped dead!"

"We could tell," informed Azmuth. "You're horrible at masking your emotions."

"Your face was priceless," cackled Kevin.

Ben huffed, face turning a dull red. "This was a horrible trick to do to a person."

"I enjoyed it," said Azmuth with a smirk. He held out the good Omnitrix. "Do you want this back or not?"

Lips now formed into a pout, Ben accepted the alien device and strapped it to his left wrist. Azmuth folded his hands behind his back and hopped down from the chair so that he was now resting on the teen's right knee.

"Rather clever, wouldn't you say?"

For his attempts to keep his irate expression, a small grudging smile broke through. "Yeah, yeah." He levelled a finger menacingly in Azmuth's face. "But just you wait. I'll get you back for this."

Amused, Azmuth pushed the wagging finger down. "I sincerely doubt that."

Ben was grinning now, and Azmuth was internally relieved that the boy wasn't truly infuriated with him for the joke. "Oh, we'll see. We'll see."

Azmuth wanted to play? Ben could play. Even if it took a while to come up with the perfect payback, it would come.

After all, revenge was a dish best served cold.

There will be a Ben's Revenge chapter. If you have ideas, feel free to share. It's also up to you whether you want Ben's payback prank to succeed or fail.

Happy April Fool's Day!