Author's Note: I love the Bens but I do understand that in writing, it can be very difficult to keep track of too many characters at once. There will only be a couple scenes where all the Bens are present and actively participating in the story and then they will be in the background and smaller groups. There are some links on the ao3 version of this story to help with following the dialogue.

For reference, the Bens in this chapter will be Prime, 23, No Watch, Mad, Bad, Zarro, Nega, Reboot, Gwen 10, and Argit 10. Rook Prime, Rook 23, and Zed 23 are also present. All of those characters will be referred to as they are in this author's note and the characters from the timeline we see in this fic will be referred to as normal, except in dialogue. For example, the Ben and Rook from the universe where Rook has the Omnitrix will just be referred to as Ben and Rook in text but other characters may verbally refer to them as Plumber Ben and Rook 10.

Ben was a bit miffed he got left behind on the beach trip.

Sure, he knew there were only five seats in Kevin's car and it'd be a tight fit with two aliens. He appreciated that his cousin and best friend were spending time with his girlfriend without him. He understood that Eunice wanted to spend time with Rook, someone she thought of as family apparently. But all that didn't mean he wanted to miss out on a ride to the beach and a day with his friends! They didn't even tell him they were going.

Whatever. Ben wasn't one to hold grudges. Okay, that wasn't true but Gwen, Kevin, Eunice, Rook, Scout, and Ship weren't even here so he'd save his pouting for later. And all of them being gone just meant he got to spend some time with his other friends.

"So this is Sumo Slammers Smackdown," Ben said, gesturing to the animation on the lounge's television. Malware looked at him from his seat on the floor, nodding with interest. Okay, maybe Malware wasn't his first choice but the Amalgam kids were on a mission and Ben didn't exactly want to hangout with Argit. Besides, Malware and Eunice were close. He'd earn brownie points for trying to get to know him better, right? He already knew Rook plenty after their time on Anur Transyl but he didn't know squat about Malware. Felt like something he should do at some point.

"This is a children's game," Albedo commented and Ben kind of wanted to smack him but Malware and Albedo were kind of a package deal, apparently, and Ben didn't want to ruin things right off the bat. "Weren't you at the top of your class at the Plumber Academy? I'd expect you to have less, uh, childish interests."

"I gave up Sumo Slammers for years to be a Plumber. Let me have this," Ben snapped. Malware flinched back ever so slightly and Ben forced himself to take a deep breath to recenter. "It's Earth culture! And fun. Being a Plumber doesn't mean plumbing is your entire life. Sometimes you gotta indulge."

"Plumber duties are not called plumbing," Albedo muttered, turning away, but Malware leaned forward on the floor, legs crossed and front hands planted on the ground like an excited kindergartener.

"I've enjoyed every part of Earth culture I've seen," Malware piped up. "Your grandfather visited Galvan Prime many decades ago and shared his Earth stories. I found them quite enjoyable. They founded my relationship with Rook, actually. If your Sumo Slammers are anything like my books, I'm sure I'll like it."

Ben would have to ask Grandpa Max about that later. He hadn't realized his grandpa had met Malware before and he was curious to know what kind of books would have such an impact on an alien like Malware. "Well, uh, there are Sumo Slammer comics? Those are books. I could lend you some later if you want. But this is a video game. I figured you two would like this more since it's, y'know, technology."

"Earth technology," Albedo grumbled but at least he was facing Ben so he considered that a win.

"Okay, so, um, video games. You use these controllers to control an avatar that appears on the screen here," Ben explained, tapping the side of the television with one hand. "The controls let your character do a lot of stuff like running, jumping, and picking up items but you usually fight a bunch of enemies on every level and there's this really tough enemy at the end called a boss."

"Why are we fighting all these enemies?" Malware asked, sounding genuinely curious. Ben felt himself getting excited. "It sounds like we're seeking them out. Wouldn't it be easier to just not fight them?"

"There's this whole story in the game. You learn more and more of it as you beat more and more levels," Ben explained, a smile growing on his face. "No spoilers but the bad guy's this dude named Kenko. Ishiyama's trying to stop him from taking over the world. See, Kenko destroyed his village and… well, actually in one of the movies, they revealed- it's a complicated storyline."

Malware's eye was wide with interest. "So it's an interactive story?"

"Uh-huh." Story wasn't what Ben usually played for, that was what comics and movies were for, but he was glad Malware was interested. "You want to play?"

Malware nodded but seemed shy suddenly. "I've never played a video game though."

"Don't worry, I'll teach you," Ben assured. "There's a tutorial level for new players and we can start at the beginning. And you've got me backing you up if you get into trouble! I'm sure you'll be alright though. I've played with some Mechamorphs on the extranet and they've always been really good. I think they're using their powers to merge with the controllers and cheat which is kind of a bummer. I mean, I don't really care if you do since we're just having a game for fun but if you're playing online- Is something wrong?"

Malware was looking down and it seemed to be more than just shyness but Ben wasn't familiar enough with Galvanic Mechamorphs to read his expression. He knew Galvans though and Albedo looked worried and maybe just a bit annoyed. "Malware is… I suppose you could say he was born with a disability. Azmuth and I have taken great efforts to help him achieve a more normal life but he is still unable to merge with and adapt technology like other Mechamorphs or fully mimic technology the way envoys like Ship can, nor can he create them himself."

"Oh. Sorry." What was he supposed to say to that? Some part of him wanted to ask if that was why Malware was red instead of green but he imagined that was a sensitive subject. Gentle yet firm words from his mother in his youth taught him to respect others' business and he was sure that human politeness would be appreciated here. "So, do you want to play some Sumo Slammers?"

Malware perked up. "Y-Yeah."

"Cool. Albedo?"

"I'll watch," Albedo responded and Ben supposed that was the best he could've hoped for. The whole situation was far better than he'd hoped for, actually. A day left alone turned into some fun. Maybe that was why he didn't notice the portal opening until a hand was lifting him off the ground.

"This is the guy that evaded us for so long? Really? He looks just like Prime."

"But look, he's got Rook's armor. Maybe he's a Plumber."

"Or he killed his Rook and took it. Oh, this one's my favorite Ben if he killed his Rook and took his armor."

"Don't joke about that! Some Bens are sensitive about their Rooks."

"Sorry. I- hey his wrist is empty."

"Check his other one!"

"We all wear it on the same one! This guy ain't it."

"Really? Aw man."

Rook really didn't know how to describe what he was seeing when he burst into the residential wing's common room. There was… Well, there was Albedo, Malware, and Ben but there were also eight other Bens. And a human child that looked sort of like Gwen. And an alien that looked a lot like Argit but was definitely not the same Argit he met on his first day here. And an Anubian Baskurr. And two Revonnahganders that looked exactly like him.

One of the Bens, one with spiked hair and dressed in orange, was holding the front of Rook's Ben in his fist, hoisting him off the ground, inspecting him, as two of the other Bens pawed at his wrists. Those two looked pretty young but the orange one looked pretty rough. A lot of them did, actually, including one of the Revonnahganders. He was wild, fur totally unkempt in a way that no Revonnahgander parent would approve of their child going out with. That wasn't important exactly in the whole scheme of things but it was focusing on that or the inexplicable, unsettling wildness about him and Rook didn't really want to think about the circumstances that would lead to the latter.

The other Revonnahgander looked a lot like him though, so close that Rook could've sworn he was looking in a mirror if not for his ever so slightly broader shoulders and the proto armor that hung around his frame. Rook never tried to picture himself in it– after all, the armor was Ben's– but it looked like he was born to wear it and Rook found himself wishing he'd spent more time looking for gear. With the Omnitrix, he never felt the need and he was never one for vanity but this Revonnahgander made him rethink his whole approach to his appearance.

This Revonnahgander looked far calmer than the other, hanging back from the rest of the group to stick close to a Ben in a white and green hoodie. This one looked important, Rook knew that from one glance, but he couldn't pinpoint why. There was just something about him. There was another one that looked the same and dressed in the same hoodie but lacked the aura of authority and confidence the other had. Rook didn't get it.

Another Ben clung close to the wilder Revonahgander, almost like how the calmer one stuck by the lead Ben. Rook had to think there was a theme there but he was distracted by the Anubian Baskurr that hovered between them, constantly glancing between them. The three of them really didn't look like they belonged together at all, the Ben's prim and proper garb completely contrasting the Revonnahgander's messiness and the savage obedience in the canine's eye. Yet, they looked like one. How peculiar.

The one that looked like Argit and the human that looked like a smaller Gwen stood out to him. None of them were Bens yet they were both deep in the cluster of them like they belonged there, attitudes bouncing off the other Bens' big personalities and sharp tongues keeping up with the rest of them. Well, except the smallest Ben. His gusto felt totally different from the other four Bens clustering Rook's Ben, so much so that Rook was hesitant to even call him a Ben, assuming that's what all the others were.

The four remaining Bens moved like part of a whole, just like the others, but these four seemed even more cohesive than the rest. There was the orange one Rook had noticed first but two more with black hair, one donning a black hoodie and the other in a black t-shirt, and the fourth in purple and… Actually, now that he was looking right at him, Rook didn't think he was a Ben either. He clearly wasn't human, even if he was shaped the same as the rest of him. Honestly, Rook thought he looked kind of like a Transylian only… Rook didn't even know how to describe it but he wasn't sure if he liked it.

So, eight Bens, two Revonnahganders, Anubian Baskurr, a tiny Gwen, and a bolder Argit, several of them holding onto Rook's Ben and the rest surrounding Malware and Albedo. Clearly not friendly. They hadn't noticed them yet but they'd gotten in here somehow and Rook didn't want to wait for backup in case they made off with Ben before any other Plumbers made it here. And that meant fighting.

Rook had a lot of aliens that were good for fighting crowds but at this point he had so many that he really had to think about which alien would be the best fit for the fight. Slapback was his usual go to these days but they were heavy and did a lot of damage, which he didn't want to do indoors. Funguy's spores were a great way to end a fight before it began but Ben, Malware, and Albedo were in them and Rook didn't want to hit them too. Skele-TON could disarm them all pretty quick but Rook had never fought multiple opponents with that form and he wasn't all too confident he wouldn't accidentally kill them all. Similarly, he didn't have enough experience using Whampire to ensure he'd be able to control so many foes without frying their minds.

That left the classics and Rook had no complaints about that. Terrorsaur and Antigravitesla would be pretty good here but not perfect so that left… "Kringl the Summoner!"

Fifteen heads snapped in his direction, all of the humans looking surprised. The littlest Ben spoke first. "Did that guy just turn into Santa?"

"I do not know who Santa is but I suggest you leave your hands off Ben," Kringl warned, summoning a dozen energy homunculi around the room. Kringl thought it was intimidating enough to drive his point without being threatening but apparently he was wrong. Red light flashed, momentarily blinding him, and the next moment there were two Anubian Baskurr lunging at him.

"Don't attack Santa!" one of the Bens shrieked, the short one with the blue vest. Kringl ignored him, punching the Anubian Baskurr out of the air and bouncing onto the ground with a yelp each. This Ben didn't seem to like this. "No! No one hurts my doggies! It's Gyro Time, Trunkman go!"

Kringl had no idea what any of that meant but that Ben raised a wrist and slammed his hand down on a very familiar device. Blue light flashed and Kringl realized he was in trouble right before an elephant-like alien slammed into him with a loud trumpet through his nose.

"Get off him!" Scout snarled before letting loose a powerful howl, knocking Trunkman clean off him. Kringl sat up quickly, getting another look around the room. Each of these Bens, plus the young Gwen and weird Argit, had an Omnitrix on their wrist. And all of them were dialing up aliens.

"You show 'em 23!"

"Alright! I've always wanted to kick Santa's butt! Never giving me the Sumo Slammers I ask for…"

"The elves look like Jak. No one go Articguana or Big Chill. Ice won't do a thing."

"Then I'm going Heatblast!"

"Someone make sure Zarro doesn't bite anyone!"

"Not it!"

"I'll do it, I guess."

"The duality."

There was a lot of shouting but they were remarkably coordinated, each of them transforming simultaneously.

"Let me tell ya something, Santa. Rath is about to show you why he deserves coal!" An Apoplexian. Kringl knew this one. He had Rath in his Omnitrix too, only this one already seemed pretty angry before he transformed. That wouldn't translate to Rath's rage well.

"Am I the only one being useful here? Someone split me so more Buzzshocks can fight the elves."

"Archfiendzarro!"

"Whatever. The Electric Corpse, I guess?" A Transylian, Frankenstrike. Kringl thought calling him anything else sounded silly.

"You guys sound ridiculous calling out your transformations' names," the little Gwen said as she transformed into Diamondhead.

"Fuck!" Argit screamed as he transformed into a Polar Manzardill. "Articguana was the only one I didn't want! Stupid Argitrix, I thought you were supposed to have Master Control!"

"What's Master Control? But don't worry, Heatblast's got you covered!" the littlest Ben said and transformed into a Pyronite. "Oh thank Xingo, it would be so embarrassing if the Omnitrix gave me the wrong alien after saying that."

Kringl's eyes flickered around the room. On his side, there was Scout, Gwen, Kevin, Eunice, Ship, Ben, Malware, and Albedo. Not all of the Bens transformed or looked interested in fighting but there were nine transformed aliens on the battlefield plus the original Anubian Baskurr. They were outnumbered, and Albedo and Ship weren't very good combatants. This was not looking good. Hopefully Tetrax or the Amalgam kids would show up soon.

They split up. Kringl wasn't exactly aware of who was fighting who but the Anubian Baskurr were circling him and Scout was howling in Trunkman's ears to keep him off Kringl's back. He could leave his elves to keep the Anubian Baskurrs busy, as long as they stayed high enough to avoid getting snapped at, and that meant he could fight someone else. Who would Kringl make a good opponent against? Not Archfiend or Heatblast. His energy homunculi were already fighting Buzzshock. That Ben said Artiguana would be a bad matchup but it hadn't sounded like Kringl was a particularly good opponent for Artiguana either so that was out. Kevin could handle Frankenstrike and Gwen's mana was a good counter for Diamondhead's ranged attacks. So that left-

"Let me tell ya something, Rath's making good on his promise!" Rath howled and threw himself at Kringl. Kringl side stepped him and brought an elbow down on his back, narrowly avoiding the plates protecting his shoulder.

"I cannot tell you how pleased I am to see Rath wearing clothes," Kringl said, voice full of honesty. It was inappropriate, maybe, but it was the only thing on his mind right now.

"Eh? Your Rath fights naked? Despicable! Let Rath show your Rath how it's done!"

It was tempting to transform but Kringl's elves were keeping three other opponents busy. He couldn't afford to let them fade right now. "Maybe later."

"Rude!" Rath responded and pounced.

"Friendly fire!" Albedo yelled and Kringl turned just in time to see him fall off a turret-shaped Ship, courtesy of Articguana. "Sorry Rook!"

A laser blast grazed Kringl's shoulder and he was thrown off balance just enough for Rath to get a direct hit, tackling him to the ground and trying to pin him under his weight. "Stupid Rook. A Ben would indulge Rath!"

Kringl didn't know what to make of that and instead charged up a cold blast in his hands and tried to press his palms against Rath's body where he could, making the Apoplexian flinch back and howl. Smirking, he sat up and pressed forward with his ice. "I know, I know. Rath hates the cold."

Rath yowled and scrambled away towards the fight between Albedo, Ship, and Artiguana. Skidding on all fours, he stopped just long enough to pick the three of them up and hurl them at Kringl before scurrying off to tackle Malware. Kringl cut off his blast and caught Ship and Albedo easily, letting Articguana hit the ground with a heavy thud.

"Ow! Mad, you jerk!" Artiguana complained as his Omnitrix smacked against the ground, transforming him into a Vulpimancer. Kringl had never seen one himself but he was sure their sensitivity would leave them vulnerable to a few ice elves so he summoned a few and sent them dancing around the Vulpimancer's head as he set Albedo and Ship down.

"Sorry," Albedo apologized again. "I'm not used to fights that are such, uh, brawls."

"Do not worry. No one can hold it against you," Kringl assured. "Stick to the edges. We will… We will figure out something."

Albedo nodded and hopped on Ship's back, riding him away from the center of the room and leaving Kringl to figure out who his next opponent was. Albedo was right, it really did feel like a brawl. In such close quarters, there was no room for ranged attacks, banter, or rest. It was just strike after strike, block after block. And with how much power each Omnitrix bearer was packing, Kringl doubted any of them would fall anytime soon. Should he try some widespread attacks and risk hitting his allies? At least he knew how strong those hits would be. There was no telling with all these Omnitrix bearers.

Icing the ground may buy him an opportunity but he was fairly certain none of his allies knew how to fight on ice. More homeculi? But they were already fighting with such little space and it wasn't like the elves were all that powerful. Should he transform? Maybe Wildvine could tie them up or Terrorsaur could trap them in their minds. No, that was too risky. It left too wide of an opening for one of the other Omnitrix-bearers to get a hit off.

"Echo Echo!"

Kringl had been so caught up in the fight and then strategizing that he hadn't even noticed that one of the remaining Bens had transformed into a Sonorosian and cleverly placed copies of himself in key points around the room. Sonic waves ripped through the room, forcing everyone to take a knee and clutch their ears. Both sides, Plumbers and Omnitrix users alike. Kringl knew he shouldn't be all that surprised but he was. It seemed like they all got along. He hadn't expected intentional friendly fire from them and maybe that was a mistake on his part.

Only, it wasn't all that bad. Yes, it hurt and it was enough to make them stop fighting but the only ones that seemed in real pain were those with sharp hearing: Scout, Rath, the Anubian Baskurr, and- Oh.

"Stop!" he shouted as his Omnitrix, along with all the other fighters' in the room, began beeping and he was returned to his Revonnahgander form. Immediately, the sound hurt tenfold but Rook didn't care at the moment. "The Galvanic Mechamorphs-!"

"Don't worry. I made sure they were out of the way," Echo Echo said, seizing his scream. Rook's eyes scanned the room and found Malware and Ship well out of range. Had this Ben moved them? If so, he had to thank him. Rook didn't know what he'd do if anything happened to Malware or Ship. "I've had my nanites scattered before and believe me, I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy. Not that we're enemies."

The Echo Echoes merged, combining back into one, and the little alien slammed the Omnitrix on his chest, reverting back into his human form. It was the Ben in the white hoodie, the one Rook had assumed was a leader before. Immediately, the Rook in proto-armor and the other white hoodies Ben were at his side but this Ben didn't seem to need the backup. Something about his presence commanded everyone to stand down, Rook included. What was that about?

He took a few steps forward, offering Rook a hand, and smiled. "I think we got off on the wrong foot. I'm Ben but you can call me Prime."

Rook took his hand slowly and allowed himself to be helped up, despite this Ben being much shorter than him. "I believe we have a lot to talk about."

"We do." The Ben– Prime– put his hands on his hips. "You guys got Mr. Smoothy in this dimension?"

"Mr. Smoothy?" Rook blinked. "Wait, what do you mean dimension?"

Getting from the Plumber base's lounge to Mr. Smoothy was a huge hassle.

Hassle may not even be enough to describe it. All the Omnitrix users were disoriented after their forced time out so calming everyone down and making sure they were all on the same page took awhile, doubly as long for the rougher Revonnahgander and the Anubian Baskurr. Then they needed to convince the Plumbers that they weren't fighting anymore, which involved Tetrax arriving and putting a massive barrier in every doorway approaching the Bens. It was a good strategy but talking through layers of crystal wasn't easy and it took some time to take down the barriers once the Plumbers agreed not to attack the Bens.

Getting there was an even bigger problem. Rook thought they could just find an empty conference room but no, the Bens all wanted Mr. Smoothys once it was mentioned and wouldn't have it any other way. The Amalgam kids, the Argit Rook was familiar with, and the Galvan techs had wanted to come and the Magisters had wanted at least one of them to be present but none of Rook's team or the Bens wanted the oversight so they eventually decided only Tetrax would come, much to Rook's pleasure, but the Galvan techs kicked up such a fuss that Albedo had to promise to bring back grasshopper smoothies for them.

Transporting so many people was hard at any time but nearly every one of the newcomers had a loud enough personality that it just slowed things down exponentially, not to mention certain ones wanted to ride together and others refused to ride together. The wild Rook wanted to be with his Ben and the Anubian Baskurr, the Ben without an Omnitrix had to be with the hairless Ben to stop him from biting anyone, Argit ended up on Tetrax's lap to avoid pricking anyone in the cramped space, the little Gwen wanted to talk with the other Gwen… It was a whole thing.

They got there eventually but then came smoothie ordering and, even though all the Bens were smoothie enthusiasts, not all of them wanted to know what they wanted. The angry orange one seemed overwhelmed by it all, saying something about not having had a smoothie in over five years, while the short blue one claimed he didn't even like smoothies, prompting shocked gasps from all the other Bens and an argument that was far longer than it should've been.

Plus, the Revonnahganders, the Anubian Baskurr, Argit, Albedo, Malware, Ship, and Tetrax were all clearly alien. Rook assumed humans on this Earth were somewhat aware of alien presence and there were no laws ordering their capture on sight or anything like that but the first cashier fainted when they arrived and Rook didn't think it was just the numbers. Several of the Bens offered to transform into aliens to help but that just ended up overwhelming the store's staff further.

Eventually, they all got their smoothies and Prime shooed most of the other Bens off to run around the parking lot, sounding like a tired parent telling their kids to go play. At this point, Rook could sympathize and told his friends to hang back. There were far too many people present for everyone to be active in the conversation. In the end, it was decided Rook, Scout, and Tetrax would speak with Prime, the Rook with proto-armor, the Ben with the blue watch, and the Ben without an Omnitrix.

"I've never seen Ship without Julie around," Prime commented as the wilder Rook transformed back into an Anubian Baskurr to sniff the little Mechamorph. Ship glanced back at Scout questioningly, waiting for the okay, before yipping in excitement and beginning a game of chase with the two alien hounds. "Did something happen to her?"

"Who is Julie?"

"Ship's owner. She found him when he, y'know, split from Baz-I. At least in my timeline."

"I've been the only one to take care of Ship," Scout responded almost protectively.

"You used the word dimension earlier and now you say you are from another timeline," Rook said, setting his smoothie down on the picnic bench they'd commandeered. It was good and he was definitely coming back next time he came to the surface but work came first. "Which is it?"

"I think we should introduce ourselves before we start explaining," the Ben without an Omnitrix said, scratching his head. "All these other Bens hopped right on the idea of alternate dimensions and timeline divergence right off the bat except me. I know how overwhelming it can be. Knowing everyone's name makes it a lot easier to keep straight."

"You already know Ben Prime. I'm Ben 23, you can just call me 23," the shorter Ben spoke up with a friendly smile. "That over there's my Rook and Zed. Rook likes being in his, uh, what's it called again?"

"Anubian Baskurr," Prime, Rook, the other Rook, and Scout all said in unison.

"Right. That. He likes turning into that form to play with Zed but you can tell them apart by their collars. You can call him Rook 23 so you don't confuse him with Rook Prime. Or you I guess."

"I am Rook Prime," the Rook in proto-armor said with a smile, looking Rook up and down. "I must say, I am interested to finally meet a Rook Blonko with an Omnitrix after meeting so many Bens. I imagine your story is an interesting one."

"Believe me, he's plenty of a handful," Tetrax said good naturedly. Rook ducked his head, slightly embarrassed, but kept his eyes on the final Ben to hear what he had to say.

The third Ben held up his hands, showing his empty wrists. "Where I'm from, there is no Omnitrix. Call me No Watch."

"No Watch," Rook repeated, trying not to frown. The Ben seemed to like the name just fine but it sounded odd like an odd way to define oneself to him. But who was Rook to question it? "And the others?"

"Um, so I guess Gwen 10 and Argit 10 are the easiest to point out," Prime started, holding up his fingers to start counting. "The one in orange is Mad Ben, the one that looks like me with black hair is Bad Ben, the one with a hood over his head is Nega Ben, the zombie Ben in purple is Benzarro, and the kid me is Reboot."

"Reboot?" Rook echoed. That was even odder than No Watch.

"He's new," 23 shrugged, "and we haven't had the time to pinpoint where the timeline diverged. Too much is different in his dimension."

Rook, Scout, and Tetrax exchanged a glance. Rook sensed a headache coming on.

"I guess I should start since I got all this dumped on me sort of recently. Any of you, feel free to jump in anytime," No Watch said, scratching the back of his head. "So you guys know the multiverse theory?"

"It suggests that our universe may not be the only one," Scout recited. "Each one will still include everything that exists, but there may be some differences between them. There's a lot of debate on how similar they'd be and how they'd coexist though."

"I've heard Chronosapiens believe that when the universe is destroyed, the next one is born from that destruction and the Annihilargh is the only thing that survives," Tetrax spoke up. He paused and glanced between the Bens. "Though I suppose all of you being in one place disproves that theory."

"You're not totally wrong," Prime told him, setting down his smoothie to begin gesticulating. "So basically there are these dudes called Contumelia– they look like Mr. Smoothys to me, actually– who go around in this ship and create universes by dropping the Annihilargh– hey, I said it right– these empty pockets that are… I dunno, just around and those spots become universes. And then there's the Null Void and Ledgerdomain between them. I don't really know where one is and where the other is or if it even works that way but yeah. Multiverse.

"A lot of people use Null Void as a prison and magic leaks out of Ledgerdomain constantly so it's not all that hard to access other dimensions if you know they're there," No Watch continued. He stopped for a moment, trying to figure out where to go next. "I guess that brings us to timelines? We're all from different dimensions but none of us are identical. Somewhere along the way, something changed in the timeline that made us and our dimensions different."

"There are a few multiuniversal constants. One of them is that Ben Tennyson encounters the Omnitrix. Oh, that's because of me, by the way. That's why I'm called Prime, because I'm from the Prime timeline where everything happened like it was supposed to. Anything else is a divergence from the baseline I created," Prime explained. "In 23's timeline, he lost his Grandpa Max and he ended up being a rich, famous hero. In Mad's, there was an apocalypse and he was trained by some bad guys so he ended up a dictator. And… I don't really know about the others."

"Gwen 10's is quite clear. She is from a timeline where she found the Omnitrix instead of you," Rook Prime continued. "I believe Argit 10 bought the Omnitr- forgive me, Argitrix from Azmuth, Master Control and all. Benzarro is from a world where there was an outbreak of a zombie virus."

"I think Bad Ben is just supposed to be you with less of a moral compass. I never asked his backstory or anything," 23 theorized, tapping his chin. "Nega Ben is just an emo Ben. He's not a bad guy really, just going through some stuff."

"That's why my timeline and Reboot's are so weird," No Watch jumped in. "For me, Ben Tennyson encountering the Omnitrix is a constant so it's weird that I didn't. For Reboot, there's no clear point where the timeline diverged. A lot of stuff is just… different."

"Different how?"

"It doesn't really matter, especially if you don't know all the details of how the story's supposed to go. It's a lot of little stuff. And I mean a lot." Prime waved him off, grabbing his cup with his other hand to take a long sip. "So. You."

"Me."

"Your timeline is clearly one where the Omnitrix ended up on your wrist instead of Bens," Rook Prime said, eyes glowing with interest. "Tell me, did you find it on Revonnah or after you'd joined the Plumbers and come to Earth?"

"I found it on Revonnah." Rook paused. "Wait, how did you join the Academy if you did not discover the Omnitrix?"

"Nuh-uh, you two can talk boring later, Prime interrupted. "We just talked so much. I want to hear this Rook's origin story."

Rook supposed he couldn't be upset about that. "I found the Omnitrix during my thirteenth harvest. I accidentally transformed into Archfiend outside a neighboring village and caused a fire. I got attacked by Vilgax's drones and had to escape as Tidetail Wave."

"Classic!" 23 exclaimed, looking amused. "Every Ben starts off burning something and fighting Vilgax's drones. Except Reboot. And normally it happens with Heatblast and Wildmutt."

"I thought only Zarro had Archfiend," No Watch said thoughtfully. "And who's Tidetail Wave?"

"He is an Earth creature. A dolphin."

"You got a dolphin?" Prime's eyes were bright with excitement. "Wicked. Why didn't I get a dolphin?"

"I'd bet it's because Rook isn't from Earth. The Omnitrix was built to be a tool to learn about new species," Tetrax explained. "It wouldn't make much sense for such a tool to be used to interact with a species the user is already familiar with."

"I guess," Prime grumbled but didn't seem all that upset. "Hey, I bet Argit can turn into a human then. I really want to see what the Omnitrix thinks our human transformation should look like."

"My Hero Watch's Revonnahgander looks a lot like Rook but with my face. Except, y'know, a Revonnahgander."

"You have a Revonnahgander in your Omnitrix? All of you get all the cool stuff!"

"We are getting sidetracked," Rook Prime reminded gently.

"Oh. Right. But I still want to know what aliens Rook 10 started with."

Rook wasn't totally sure how he felt about being called Rook 10 but he didn't argue. "Tidaltail Wave, Archfiend, Antigravitesla, Terrorsaur, Four Arms, Juryrigg, XLR8, Bloxx, Kringl the Summoner, and Wildvine."

"Wow. I have, like, five of those and I have more aliens than any Ben. And only two were originals," Prime said, looking impressed. "Normally we start out with Heatblast, Wildmutt, Diamondhead, XLR8, Grey Matter, Four Arms, Stinkfly, Ripjaws, Upgrade, and Ghostfreak."

"Oh, I have Diamondhead, Upgrade, and Ghostfreak as well."

"Did you ever meet Zs'Skayr? Hate that guy."

Rook nodded. "Scout and Ship got him out of my Omnitrix almost immediately. We dethroned him and took his castle a couple years later."

Ben looked delighted. "Damn, Mad was right. This version of you is cool. No offense, Rook. My Rook, that is."

"None taken," Rook Prime responded and it looked like he meant it. "Though I would like to admit, I am surprised you named your aliens, especially the same things as my Ben. The other Bens usually just call their transformations what my Ben does. I did not think I was one for nicknames."

"I did not name them," Rook said, faintly surprised. "They named themselves."

"What do you mean?"

"I just knew their names upon transformation. Sometimes I would say them when I transformed but sometimes they would just appear in my mind."

"That happened when I transformed into Swampfire for the first time," Prime piped up. "Must be one of those universal constants or something."

"I have different names for my aliens though," 23 said with a frown. He shrugged it off. "Weird. So how'd you get offworld? We kind of interrupted the story."

Rook grimaced. This was not a story he particularly liked to tell. Thankfully, Tetrax came to his rescue. "Vilgax came after his Omnitrix. I was one of the bounty hunters sent to take it but I couldn't follow through. I helped Blonko train to use the Omnitrix and then later we sent Vilgax to the Null Void but Blonko was forced to transform in front of his village. You can imagine they didn't take it well. Some Plumbers we knew had wanted to take Blonko to the Academy and it seemed like a good time to do it."

"That's where you met me," Scout jumped in, shouldering Rook playfully. "We went to Galvan Prime after our first break to meet Azmuth and that's when we met Malware, Albedo, and Ship."

"I wanted to ask about that. See," Prime started, "in my timeline, Malware and Albedo are bad guys and Ship's my ex-girlfriend's pet. Malware took one of my transformations when I was a kid and Albedo made his own version of the Omnitrix, the Ultramatrix, and Azmuth kind of trapped him as a reverse sorta-me. And they both tried to kill me a bunch. Not that I hold anything against your Albedo and Malware! It's just weird."

Rook turned to see if Malware and Albedo were paying attention. His Ben and Gwen were still sort of listening from where they sat leaned up against the Mr. Smoothy building a few feet away but it seemed Eunice, Kevin, Malware, and Albedo had long since gotten bored and wandered off. "When I discovered that the Omnitrix changed my DNA, Malware was the only one who could really understand how I felt. We are like brothers and Eunice is our sister."

"And Albedo and I are good friends," Scout added. "We had kind of a rocky start and we don't get along all the time but I think our approaches to life really build off each other, you know?"

"Weird. So you don't have any real big villains, huh?"

Rook thought for a moment. "We fought Kraab, Sixsix, Sevenseven, and Eighteight when we returned to Revonnah after graduating. Vilgax sent us into hiding in the Anur System after that. I suppose you could say Zs'Skayr was a big villain but we were on relatively neutral terms with him after he abandoned his hold on Anur Transyl. And I have not been on Earth long enough to make enemies. Is it normal for Omnitri- um, Bens to have many enemies?"

"A lot of us go the hero or villain route so yeah," Prime said, pausing before slowly continuing. "I guess you didn't?"

Rook shook his head. "I initially planned on being a Plumber but when that did not work out and I ended up on Anur Transyl, I decided to pursue the Omnitrix's original purpose and attempt to use it for diplomacy."

"How'd that work out?"

"Well, but Vilgax's escape led me to believe I could be of greater use on the battlefield. For now at least"

Prime grimaced. "Yeah. That's kind of what brought us here. The rundown is-"

Rook really wanted to hear what Prime had to say but just before he could get into it, a green, warbling portal tore its way open in the middle of the parking lot, stopping all of the other Bens and aliens' antics as their eyes were drawn to the figure stepping out of it.

"Listen up, Bens! We've got to get moving," an older Ben Tennyson barked out to the crowd. "The Citadel of Vilgax got Paradox!"