Episode 2: A Blast From The Future
Summary: In an attempt to stop Dr. Animo from ruining the world, Kenneth Tennyson has been accidentally sent from the future and into Ben's time line! What will happen when future father meets his own flesh and blood? Will it help the past Ben or cause nothing but trouble?
Chapter 1: Hi, I'm Your Son
(Bellwood city) (30 years into the future!) (City docks)
Dr. Animo, the deranged scientist of earth who was bent on turning the entire world into a living experiment was hiding in one of the old dock's warehouses creating his latest experiment. After being captured and defeated by the Tennysons for the hundredth time, he decided that it was time to change his plans a wee little bit.
As he put in some sort of code inside his super computer, the gizmo that looked like some kind of portal gateway began to activate. "At last… once I send the space time contingency to the right coordinates… I… Dr. Animo, will return to the past and alter the future as it is!" his mutated animal army began cheering at him, hailing him like some god king. "Yes, my lovelies… you will all have your chance! Once I open the portal, you shall all rush in and destroy everything in your path!"
But then suddenly, the main entrance suddenly burst open. Even though it was made entirely out of steel, the force on the other side was able to tear it down like wood. As Animo coughed off the smoke, he soon realized that the intruders were none other than Ben 10,000, his son Ken 10 and adopted son Devlin and Gwendolyn Tennyson.
"Dr. Animo…" Ben 10,000 began, "Sorry to interrupt, but I didn't know it was 'bring your pets to work' day"
"You again Ben Tennyson!?" the villain said in disbelief, "But how did you defeat my…"
"That wooly mammoth of yours?" Ken interrupted grinning with his buddy Devlin, "After realizing that it was just a robot, I just went Upgrade and shut it down from the inside. Way… too easy"
Animo gritted his teeth in anger as he knew he was messed up. He couldn't take on the whole Tennyson family alone and his mutant animals would only delay the inevitable. "But you won't get me this time Tennysons!" he yelled out in pure anger, "Once I've completed my time machine, I will go to the past and destroy you and your stupid cousin once and for all!"
"Hey! That's a great idea!" Ben 10,000 said amazed, "Usually I don't mind the whole… changing the past thing, but if you can get Gwen out of here, I'd be more than happy to…yeow!" Gwendolyn simply elbowed him on the sides, "What? It's a great idea!"
"You never grow up… do you?" the girl asked with a ticked off face. The others simply laughed at this.
"No time for idle chitchat" Devlin called out as the mutant army prepared to attack, "Looks like they aren't coming peacefully"
"Go my pets! Feast on their bones and marrows are sucked dry!" The mutant animals quickly attacked the Tennyson force with their claws, fangs and what other weapons they had.
"Time to show these guys, who the boss of this town really are!" immediately Ben 10,000 turned into Benmummy while Ken 10 turned into XLR8 and while Kevin turned into his mutant form. "Let's do it!"
The battle was probably a sure win for the Tennysons. With two wielder of the Omnitrixes fighting side by side along with the most powerful sorceress and a streetwise gangster mutant soldier, they almost literally creamed the chimeras into oblivion.
"You know…" Gwendolyn began, "Don't you think fighting is getting kinda old?"
"What do you mean?" Ken asked while beating some of the mutant birds with his fast paced speed.
"I mean it's always the same thing" she sighed, "A bad guy comes in and puts the world in danger. We investigate and then we come in and stop him. It's really getting kind of old"
"I know what you mean" Ben 10,000 smirked, "Fighting the same bad guys over and over and over again must be exhausting. Hmm… I guess you really are getting old Gwen, whoa!" the man nearly got hit by a metal bar that Gwendolyn threw out, "Hey watch it!"
"Sorry… my hands must've slipped" she said sarcastically before charging back at the chimeras.
As more and more of Dr. Animo's mutated animals came in, the villain himself prepares to warp back into the past so that he could permanently alter the future. "At last… my time machine is finally ready!" he then turned back to the Tennyson force, "You may have won this battle Tennysons, but I will the one who wins the war! I'll make sure to send your regards to your past self! Ahahahahahahahahaha!"
"Why don't you send this along with it!?"
When Animo turned around, his face was immediately greeted by one of Devlin's four fists. "You think brute force can stop me child!?"
"No, but it can make you squeal in pain until you give up!" he shot back charging a fireball in his hands. It wasn't long then till Kenny (XLR8) arrived to aid him, "Nice one dude! If we can beat this guy now, he might still have enough time to catch the movies!"
"Such reckless youth" Animo began, "If I can't destroy you in the past… then I guess I'll just have to destroy you here in the present!" with a slam of a giant red button, the entire facility began to tremble like there was an earthquake beneath it.
"Warning…" came the computerized voice, "Self destruct sequence activated. Warehouse destruction in… twenty seconds. All personal, please evacuate the facility on the nearest exit"
"AHAHAHAHAHA!! Witness my final act Tennyson!" Animo grinned from ear to ear as spoke out, "This facility is wired directly to the city's nuclear power plant! When this facility blows up, it will cause the catastrophic meltdown that will send this entire city into chaos AHAHAHAHAHA!"
Ben gritted his teeth as he knew that this was bad. There were still some of Dr. Animo's chimeras lying around and to dismantle a bomb in just twenty second was something he couldn't possibly do.
"Twenty seconds?" Kenny replied humorously, "Plenty of time for XLR8!" and while he was still in his Kineceleran form (combined with the words kinetics and accelerate) he quickly began tinkering with the machine hoping to find some sort of deactivation key or something. "Now let's see… press this button here and this and that. Break a few wires here and there"
Animo saw this and quickly began to worry, "No! What are you doing!?"
And then suddenly the power in facility closed off, shutting down both the time machine and the self destruct sequence. "Oh yeah! Who rocks baby? Ken 10 saves the day once again!" the boy let out a loud cheer, but it was soon cut short when the time machine began to go haywire. "Huh?"
"You fool! The time machine requires constant power to maintain its stability! Now it is overloading with all the plasma energy! You just doomed this entire city block!"
"Uhh…… oops?"
"Everyone let's get out of here now!" Ben 10,000 ordered. The group gladly agreed and began evacuating the facility, ignoring the chimeras along the way. But just when Kenny was about to leave, he noticed that there was an image coming from the time machine. He could see something Bellwood, 30 years ago, when Ben was still a freelance vigilante and wasn't a full time hero. But just as he was about to dash away, a sudden explosion occurred, sending a shockwave at him, pushing the boy into the portal. When Ben saw this, he quickly dread about what might've happened to his son, "Kenny!"
(Bellwood city) (Present time)
Grandpa Max was driving through the city streets of Bellwood to pick up his grandkids from school again today. With both of their parents busy with work, it has become a routine for him to pickup and drive his kids to their respective schools. "We'll be coming around the city when we come" he sang out his favorite sing-along as he drove through the empty streets. "We'll be driving around the Rust Bucket when he come!" but just when the old man was about to take a sharp turn on the corner, a great big flash of light appeared, blinding him completely. "What in the world!?"
Luckily the flash only lasted about two or three seconds when it finally died down. Max first thought that it was just some sort of a firework show or something so he didn't mind it. "Darn kids don't know when to play with fireworks" but just when he put his eyes back on the road, he noticed that there was a tanned skin boy right in front of him, "AHHH!!" he yelped out to the top of his lunges as he stomp the breaks with his two feet.
Fortunately, the RV managed to stop a few inches away from the boy, however… the boy was so in shock that he fainted. Max saw this and immediately became worried. He came out of the RV and checked if the kid was ok. "Hey kid, are you alright?" he carried the boy in his arms and shook him to see if he would wake up. "Hey… wake up… hey!" but then suddenly when the boy's arm fell, Max heart almost stopped for a whole fifteen seconds. What was attached on the kid's left arm… was the Omnitrix… and it was still working.
(Opening theme) (ahehehe)
(Madison Elementary school grounds)
After the final school bell had rung, Ben and his classmates immediately left their classrooms so that they could head back home. After school time was always the boy's favorite time of school. It felt so right and so… free. "Oh yeah… nothing like a good perfect day to start off with a bang" he said to himself as he took a whiff on clean air up his nose. "All that's missing now would be a double cheese burger and a bottle of soda.
As the boy walked through his school grounds, he was immediately greeted by some of his schoolmates and classmates. After the boy 'single-handedly' won the game against the Bellwood Bees the other day, he had been getting some respect from his fellow students. He was popular to some and was probably even considered a celebrity for a day.
But his glory hogging time was soon cut short when he noticed the Rust Bucket parked right up in front of the school. It was odd for Grandpa Max to come by this early. Usually he would be at least twenty or thirty minutes late since he also needed to pick up Gwen from her school as well. "Ben!" the old man shouted from the side window, "Get in here quickly!" Ben knew right away that something serious was going on. The tone of Max's voice was stern and strict, meaning that trouble was not too far away.
"Hey gramps, what's the emergency this time?" the boy said casually as he entered the RV. Max didn't answer yet. He simply drove off and made sure that they were taking a easy way home. Noticing the old man's worried face, Ben decided to turn to his cousin Gwen who was sitting on the dining table. "What's up with grandpa?"
But Gwen simply shifted her shoulder, "Dunno… he's been acting like that ever since I got in here" she replied, "Maybe there's been another alien attack or something" but little did they know that they were going to get themselves a big surprise.
After a few minutes of driving through the main road, Max decided to put the RV on auto pilot so that he could talk with his grandkids. The two of them were ready to face off any opponent, but facing a serious grandpa Max was probably a whole different kind of story. "Ben…" the old man began, "Do you still have the Omnitrix with you?"
Ben raised up a quizzled brow when he asked that. Of course he still had it. The thing was latched onto his arm and there was no way to remove it unless you rip his arm off too. "Uh… yeah… why?" he asked a little confused.
"Good… because there's someone I want you to meet" immediately there came a flush from the toilet which alerted the trio of another presence in the Rust Bucket.
"Hey, great grandpa" came a voice similar that was about ninety percent similar to Ben, "The toilet's broken again" when the figure came out of the lavatory, Ben and Gwen opened up their jaws so wide that Max could've swore he saw a mosquito pass went through. What stood before them was probably a tanned skin version of Ben. He was wearing the same black and white T-shirt and baggy pants and had the same green eye as them.
The three of them continued to stare at each other for a whole minute unable to move from the shock. After a whole three minutes passed by, Gwen was the first to recover, "Whoa… total weirdness" she said calmly, "Grandpa… who… is that?" for a moment there, Gwen was thinking that the boy might've been some sort of long lost relative that appeared out of the blues. Ben on the other hand was thinking that he was some kind of genetic clone modified like in those movies he saw. Of course, that kind of cloning capability was far beyond the limits of man… was it?
Max let out a soft chuckle and he rubbed the back of his head, "Ahehe… Ben… allow me to introduce you to Kenny… your future son"
(Time skip ten minutes later)
As the gang finally managed to settle down at the dining table, Ben and Gwen sat on the opposite side of Ken while they allowed Kenny to explain the reason why he was here. He told them things that only they should know so that they won't alter time itself. Heck, just him being here is probably altering time itself already.
"So that's what happened" Kenny finished off explaining, "When Animo blew up the facility, I got sent back here through his time machine"
"Ok…" Ben replied still unsure on how to talk with his own son, "Let me get this straight… so you're my son…"
"Yeah!" Gwen yelled, "That's what he's been telling us for the past ten minutes!"
"But if you really are my son… what's my favorite alien form?"
"That's easy" Kenny replied with a smirk, "Right now, you're about my age so I think you still have… Fourarms, Wildmutt, Ditto, Diamonhead, XLR8, Wildvine, and ohh how about Ripjaw? Nah… he always needs water. It's either got to be Fourarms or Diamondhead"
"Hmm… close enough" Ben replied holding up a smile, "But how did you get the Omnitrix?" he gestured to the boy's Omnitrix which was similar to his.
"Oh this?" Kenny raises up his Omnitrix and showed it to him, "You gave it to me on my tenth birthday" he explained, "It's totally cool! I got myself about fifty aliens in here! There's Snakepit, Sandbox and Atomix! That one is probably my favorite!"
"Ok… enough about the Omnitrix" Gwen interrupted, "Now that you're here, we should try to find a way to bring you back! If someone stays in the past for too long, it could indefinitely alter the time stream"
Ken simply gave out a confused stare at her as she finished. "And who are you supposed to be again?" he asked innocently which was replied with a chuckle from his great grandpa, "That's your aunt Gwen" he answered to which the boy gave out a shocked face. "WHAT?! No way! You're aunt Gwendolyn? But…but your hair it's… way… too short and I'm sure she didn't wear that silly outfit back in the future. But I guess everyone here is different in the past. I'm sure great grandpa Max wasn't that big when I first met him" Gwen quickly took a look at her own clothes while Ben was busy laughing at her.
"Hey! What are you talking about? These clothes are still in style!" she shot back fuming
"Yeah… for dweebs" Ben mocked stiffing up a laugh. "Maybe we are related after all" he motioned to Kenny.
"Oh… and you think you know fashion better than I do?" she stretched out the 'oh' word a little bit to express her sarcasm.
"With that kind of fashion sense, I'd rather take advice from a clown" both Ben and Kenny laughed out loud followed by a good high-five. "Man… maybe you and I are related after all" he said to his future son with a smirk.
"Yeah, great grandpa Max always said that you and I were alike, but I never thought he meant it to be so literally" Kenny replied holding a similar grin as his father. "Man, I can't believe I'm seeing my own dad… as a kid again"
"Ok, but what are we going to do with you?" Gwen asked seriously annoyed of having two Bens in the RV, "We can't exactly bring him back to Ben's house and say: Hey mister and misses Tennyson. This is Kenny, your grandson thirty years from now. Can he stay with Ben for awhile while we try and find a way to bring him back to the future?" the other three members of the family simply looked back at her with a curious eye.
"Gwen is right" Max admitted, "Kenny will be staying with me until we can sort this thing out. You two however, need to get back home. We'll talk about this tomorrow"
"Aww… can't I stay with Kenny a little bit longer?" Ben begged, "We were just getting to know each other"
"Sorry Ben, but you have school tomorrow and I believe that you have some assignments to finish" the old man replied knowing full well the danger of Ben being with his own future son. If Ken came into his house, who knows what kind of questions the boy will ask.
"No prob gramps" Ben stated out, "I finished my homework back at school. I just turn into Gray Matter and poof… instant A (plus)"
"Me too!" Kenny added, "Its so way better than studying. Maybe you are my dad after all"
"Alright, alright you two. Enough" grandpa ordered as he messaged his temples. Having one Ben was already a handful, but two Bens will somehow lead him to an early grave. "We're coming up on your house now. And remember… not a word about this to your parents… ok?"
"Sure thing grandpa" Ben and Gwen said in unison.
"Like my parents will even believe that my own son came from the future" Ben added.
"I'm just surprised you even got married" Gwen mocked back.
(Ten minutes later)
Right after both Ben and Gwen returned to their respective homes Max quickly made sure that his future great grandson was comfortable during his stay here. After driving back to his original campsite, he quickly brought out some of his blankets from the closet and set it out. "Alright Kenny" he began, "You'll be staying with me for tonight, so try to make yourself feel at home"
"No worries great grandpa" the boy replied in a very Ben-like way, "Back when I was eight, you used to take me around the world on the Rust Bucket…… of course… it was a lot roomier in the future"
The old man chuckled, "Ahehehe… I guess the future isn't exactly set in stone as you thought it'd be" he then stood up and walked towards the kitchen, "Are you hungry? I can fix you some supper if you want" Kenny quickly held out his mouth and stomach as he knew that his great grandpa Max wasn't exactly the best chef in the world. He was good with mechanical weaponries and computer science stuff but when it comes to the kitchen, he's as terrible as a witch cooking a poison for snow white.
"Uh… no thanks" the boy replied quickly, "I uh… I had a big lunch when I came" he then retired himself to the bedroom where it was cozy enough for human standards.
As Max cleaned up the place a little, he couldn't help but wonder what Gwen had said before she left. True… Ben had a son, but then who was the mother. He wanted to ask, but that would only ruin the future and spoil the greatest surprise in the universe. The man had to constantly curse himself for just even thinking about it. If there was a way to make him close his mouth for the rest of his life, he would've done long ago, but every time he looks at Ken, that same question would pop in over and over again making him go whack.
After a few minutes later, he finally submitted, "Umm Kenny… do you mind if I ask you a question?"
The boy looked back at him confusingly before replying, "Yeah, sure gramps"
Max rubbed the back of his head a little guilty of asking this question but his curiosity seemed to have gotten the best of him, "I know I shouldn't be asking this, but I got to know: Who's your mother?"
Kenny's mood seemed to have saddened when Max asked him that question. His usual happy go lucky smile immediately turned into a deep frown and his cheerful expression vanished from his face.
Grandpa saw this and immediately began waving out his hands defensively so that he wouldn't look like a criminal when Ben and Gwen finds out. "But if you don't want to talk about, I completely understand!" he said in a very fast pace.
"Dad never really talked about mom" Ken began with his eyes hiding behind his hair, "Whenever we talk about it, he usually changes the subject. I don't really know much about mom. He never mentions her to me or anyone. He likes to keep secrets sometimes…" Max's heart seemed to have been ripped that night. He could see that his mother was a touchy subject for both him and Ben in the future and he hope that he would never know why.
"I… I'm sorry" the old man apologized feeling a lot guiltier than he was before, "I guess secrets runs in the family" he should know this because he's been keeping secrets from his family too.
As they both sat down, Kenny continued, "I don't even remember how mom even looks like. Dad hid all the pictures and probably destroyed them too. One time, I got so fed up with him that I went to search her on my own. But as you can see, I wasn't exactly the brightest kid around. One time I got so curious that I even asked you to tell me. But you promised my dad to never tell. Same goes for aunt Gwendolyn too"
"Maybe there was a good reason for him to do that" Max reasoned, "Sometimes… when people hide a secret, they usually do it to protect others. Some secrets are sometimes too dangerous"
"What's so dangerous about knowing my own parents?!" Kenny shot back raising his voice slightly above its usual tone, "I just wish my dad would trust me more. He shouldn't keep secrets like that, it's never fair!"
"Yeah… I know how you feel" Max agreed unable to deny that truth, "To keep something from someone is like a slow pain building up inside of you. It eats you inside for a long time until you finally got to spill it. Give your dad time… maybe someday he'll tell you"
"Yeah… that's what you said to me thirty years in the future"
After they had finished speaking with each other, Kenny quickly found himself on the bed, drifting slowly to sleep. The thought of his mother took its toll on his mind, making him feel drowsy and unnerved. It would still be a long time before he would forget this conversation with his great grandfather.
(Bellwood 30 years in the future) (Ben 10,000's hero headquarters)
Ben 10,000 was sitting on his computer chair looking at the monitors that surveyed the planet earth on a twenty four hour daily basis. It had been three days since his son disappeared into that time portal and as much as he loved to go after him, he couldn't. The time machine that Dr. Animo designed was simply so sophisticated, that only a deranged lunatic could possibly understand. So now the only way to get back in time was to wait for Gwendolyn to conjure up a time spell, but that process had to take time, and time was not something he had plenty of.
"Ben?" came Gwendolyn's voice from the elevator door. She was in her purple-blue pajamas and her hair was untied to dangle freely behind her back. "Are you still awake?"
The man quickly noticed her presence and let out a smile, "Oh… hey Gwen. Sorry. Did I wake you up?"
The woman shook her head and wiped the sand out of her eyes as she approached him, "Not really… I was going to the kitchen to get a glass of water when I saw the lights in the command room on. Is there something good on television for once?" she tried to set the mood up with a little joke but knew right away that nothing would make her cousin laugh at this situation.
"Very funny Gwen" Ben 10,000 replied trying to act like he was mildly happy.
"Ben…… you haven't slept in three days now. Give it a rest" Gwen tried to reassure him that everything was going to be alright, "I'm sure Kenny is probably with your younger self right now playing a game of tag or something"
The middle aged hero sighed back at her, "That's what worries me the most" he replied, "I know you're working as fast as you can on that time spell thing, but I just can't sleep knowing something wrong can happen any second"
"And since when did the great Ben 10,000 worry so much about the safety of others?" Gwendolyn asked sarcastically which only made Ben 10k grunt angrily, "Hey… come on now Ben. You know I was just joking. I'm sure he's alright"
"Even so… I'm still worried" Ben explained sadly, "When he asked to join in the hero business, I was really proud of him… even though I was totally against it. I guess I know how grandpa must've felt when I asked to become a Plumber"
"Yeah…" Gwendolyn agreed, "But back then you were still a mangy little brat who didn't know how to even use the Omnitrix"
"Hey… its not like the Omnitrix had an instruction manual back then. Cut me some slack here woman" he huffed back her, "I was lucky enough just to get it even working"
"Yeah… I guess luck played a big part in you becoming hero" the sorceress added with a smile, "But seriously Ben… stop worrying too much. You haven't a wink of sleep in three days. I promise, that when the spell is ready, you'll be the first to go in. Besides, I think your son can handle a few goons on his own"
"I know that he can fight Gwen…… but he's still doesn't know what it's like to fight like a Tennyson. He's no ready"
"Not ready?" Gwendolyn asked with a quizzled brow raised, "What do you mean not ready? He helped you defeat Kevin, remember? And don't forget that he also thought of a smart way to remove the Omnitrix's limiter"
"I know that!!" Ben 10k yelled out and for the first time in her life, Gwendolyn was actually scared of him. "He might've gotten a hundred aliens in his watch… but he still doesn't know just how it is to use them. It's not the aliens… it's him…"
"Ben……" Gwendolyn didn't really know what to add to that or how to even counter that statement. It seemed like Ben had won this fight, "I understand…… I'll work on the portal right away. But first… let's get you to sleep. Come on, I'll bring you to bed. I'll even sing you a lullaby if I have to"
Ben 10k shivered at that point, "Please…… you… sing? Ha! Every time you open that mouth of yours, it sounds like a yak with a voice problem" but just before the woman could stretch his hand to him, the Danger Alert warning system began to activate.
"Warning! Danger at factory district!" the computer shouted.
"Duty calls… later Gwen" and with that, Ben 10,000 switched into XLR8 and raced off the window before Gwendolyn could even say a word.
Gwendolyn felt a slight tang of pity on whoever was creating the racket tonight. When Ben is in one of his temporal sad or angry mood, he would blow off some steam on the bad guys like a punching bag-stress reliever. Since Ben couldn't save his son at the moment, he had no other choice but to take his anger on those who would do harm on his planet.