I do not own the Ben 10 franchise.

The Wielder and the Creator

There were few things Ben Tennyson, wielder of the greatest weapon in the universe, was afraid of. Fear of losing was at the top of the list. Peacocks were a close second. And the third thing that made him tremble in his sneakers was a ticked-off Azmuth.

The brunette flinched at the very thought and tightened his grip on the controls. He was currently cruising through space on course for Galvan Prime. For the hundredth time, he rehearsed what he was going to say, only to flinch as he imagined Azmuth's reaction.

Much too soon for his liking he reached the boundaries of Galvan Prime and Azmuth's face, in all its holographic glory, fizzled into view. "Lower life form, you are about to trespass into Galvan Prime territory. Either state your business or turn around now."

Please don't be a recorded message, Ben begged silently. He really couldn't deal with any attacks from Mechamorph guards right now.

"It's me!" he cried into the ship's microphone. He could hear his voice echo through the black space. "Ben Tennyson!" He was relieved to see the holographic projection arch an eyebrow. "The wielder of the Omnitrix," he added lamely.

"I know who you are." Ben relaxed at the mild amusement in the First Thinker's tone. At least he was in a good mood. For now, anyway. "You may pass through."

"Thanks," Ben said. "You know, you really ought to give me your number so I can call ahead."

The hologram hastily fizzled out and Ben grinned. He navigated the ship into the planet's atmosphere and landed it carefully into the designated parking space. The sixteen-year-old tumbled out of the spaceship and found Azmuth waiting for him.

"Hey, Azmuth. Did I catch you at a bad time?"

"You always do," Azmuth responded. "Can't even bother to call ahead."

"If you give me your number, I could do that," Ben stressed.

"And have you call me every time the Omnitrix malfunctions? I think not."

"Er...funny you should mention that." Ben swallowed nervously and played with the alien device strapped around his wrist.

Azmuth closed his eyes. "What did you do this time?"

"I..." Ben fumbled for the words to explain what had happened and found that there was nothing he could say to frame the situation in a positive light. "I...got gum stuck in it."

The Galvan stared at the boy in disbelief. "You must be joking."

"I'm not," Ben muttered, worried that he would now have to face the wrath of Azmuth, the smartest being in three, arguably five, galaxies.

"Wipe that look off your face," said Azmuth with a roll of his eyes. "This is a waste of my time, but you've done worse."

"So you're not going to bite my head off?"

"Not at this moment," said Azmuth flatly. "Let's see what you've done to my device."

He pressed a button on his remote and they teleported directly into the lab. Ben set Azmuth down and lowered to sit on the floor, gingerly crossing his legs and trying to avoid whacking his knee off the Galvan-sized furniture.

"So, invent anything cool lately?" Ben asked.

"Not to your standards, I'm afraid. I've only been adding improvements to Galvan Prime as of late," Azmuth answered.

"That sounds like work." Ben wrinkled his nose. "Don't you ever invent stuff just for fun?"

"What do you think this was?" Azmuth tapped the green and white watch strapped securely to Ben's wrist. "A school project?"

"Huh. Fair point."

Azmuth removed Ben's Omnitrix with ease and snapped off the face of the watch, revealing a wad of gum stuck in the core. "I'm not so sure I want to know how you managed this."

"Okay. It's honestly not my fault. I was just walking down the street, minding my own business. Some guy shoves past me and knocked the gum right out of my mouth. A woman was screaming behind me, saying he had stolen her purse, but she didn't have to say it 'cause it was obvious—"

"The point, if you please," said Azmuth impatiently.

"Right. So I transformed so I could stop the guy and give her her purse back. When it was all over, I tried to transform so I could fly home, but the dial was stuck and I just got an error message. I, uh, didn't realize the gum landed on the Omnitrix and somehow got caught inside during my first transformation." Ben gave a sheepish shrug. "My bad. Are you, uh, angry?"

"You've seen me angry, Tennyson," Azmuth reminded idly as he carefully went about removing the wad of gum from the most important part of the Omnitrix. "I've grown too used to your silly and idiotic actions to get upset over every one of them."

"Okay, cool," said Ben in relief.

Azmuth raised a brow. "Are you scared of my temper, Tennyson?"

"Yes, a bit, as any sane being should. Even Kevin is scared of you."

"Apparently, not scared enough." Azmuth shot the boy a knowing look. Ben flushed, having forgotten that Azmuth knew it was Kevin who had helped try to hack into the Ultimatrix.

"That was a while ago," Ben complained. "And I said I was sorry. A bazillion times. I'm really hugely terrifically sorry."

Azmuth simply shook his head and returned his attention to the problem at hand. He managed to remove the sticky obstruction and hastily dropped it onto the surface of the table, wiping his hands on his robe. "There. A problem so simple Blukic and Driba could have fixed it."

"I love those guys, but I didn't think it would be a good idea to have them tinker with the Omnitrix," Ben admitted. "It never really works out."

"Ah. Smart boy. If only you used your brain more often."

"I do use my brain often," said Ben in annoyance.

"Mmm-hmm. How are your school grades?"

Ben scowled. "Fine. Academics aren't my thing. But I'm plenty street-smart."

Azmuth smirked. "Let's see how far those get you." He handed the watch to Ben, who snapped it back on his wrist. "Now scram. You've distracted me from my work long enough."

"Fine, fine. Are you gonna give me your number or—?"

"Out."

Ben threw his arms in the air. "Okay! Geez." He approached the transport tube and hesitated by the entrance. "You know, my seventeenth birthday is coming up soon—"

"So help me, Tennyson—"

"I'm gone!"

The boy disappeared down the tube and Azmuth let out a sigh. He had barely taken two steps towards his data pad when Ben zoomed back up, a pathetic expression on his face. He held out his right arm and whimpered, "I put it on the wrong wrist."

Azmuth stared at the boy for a long moment before speaking. "You, Ben Tennyson, are a real piece of work," he informed fondly.

If he kept this up, he would drive Azmuth to an early grave. Of that the Galvan was sure.