Notice: I don't own the Ben 10 franchise, that belongs to Man of Action and Cartoon Network. This story however, is my own (even if it's a recap of that Ben 10 Episode).


/20 years in the past – desert landscape – USA – currently on a ship (Rustbucket III)

'A wild trip down memory lane for sure' - Ben Tennyson chimed at the thought. Having just met his younger self, who at the time was cocky, brash, but full of vim and vigour, he was surprised at how 'in-step' he was with the rhythm of this era in his life. Then again maybe that's because he had a pretty strong recollection of this particular event, since it was well before the ordeal with Old George, Dagon and acquiring the new (albeit old for him) Omnitrix. 'He has no idea does he? Well why would he?' Ben sighed, before one-two punching a... ninja? And over-arm throwing another coming from his left 'Phew glad Red and the Plumbers really drilled in my hand-to-hand combat skills.' He could see Kevin struggling to keep control of the ship, so decided to give him a helping hand...from the outside!

/Moments later

"Hey how did you do all of that, without transforming!?" 16 year old Ben, questioned his older self. Ben could see the puzzled look on his younger self's face and was happy to answer.
"Haven't needed to for years, not since I found my best transformation!" Ben could see his younger self, not quite grasping the concept yet. He looked over to his cousin, and knew she could.

"Ultimate Ben?" not surprising you'd say that Red. The signs of recognition coloured young Ben's face.
"So what powers come with that?" Far more than you know kiddo, and that's just this Omnitrix device.

"Pretty much all of them, you'll find out one day," Ben casually shrugged his response.

'Hmm I wonder how far Eon has messed up the timeline, and if this is actually my past or some sort of c-' his thoughts were broken when Old Professor Paradox zapped himself onto the ship

"Hello young ones!" The time travelling professor announced his arrival, in typical Paradox fashion.

"Professor Paradox!" the trio exclaimed in unison.

'Figures he'd pop in about now, but since he did this means this is my own past,' Ben sighed, before keeping as close to his recollection as he could.

/A few minutes later - Eon's reveal

"Where I am the only Ben Tennyson in existence!" Eon removed his helmet, revealing the face of the older Ben.

'OK, so when did I become a time travelling psycho again!?' Ben was surprised to see a megalomaniacal version of himself, and he could tell his younger self was thinking the same.

"NOT. SO. FAST" blinking back into this time frame, Paradox appeared near Eon. The dark mirror of Ben, Eon glared at the man.

"Time Walker! You cannot interfere. And you know why..." The Professor looked on defiantly. "True, however if you do this, there is nowhere in existence you can hide from me!" Eon huffed, seemingly dismissing Paradox's threat. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it." Eon refocused his gaze on the two Ben's.

"Now I have a couple of Ben Tennyson's to absorb."

Ben and his younger self readied themselves for the fight of their autonomous lives...

/In the thick of fighting Eon and his Ninja Ben's

'Still creeps me out having to beat up all these versions of me,' still in his Ultimate Form, Ben decided to get creative and use a bit of magic. From behind a makeshift barrier, Ben quickly thought of a solid spell to use. He decided to use a spell that will (hopefully) incapacitate his other selves.

"Contego!" a pulse erupted from Ben's hand, with enough concussive force to knock down several of his other selves. He then quickly surveyed his environment, finding that Gwen and Kevin had a decent handle of the Ninja Ben situation. Looking at the time based artefact (the Hands of Armageddon), he realised at about the same time as his young self, that the Hands of Armageddon was the focal point of Eon's invasion. "Ben focus an energy beam on the hands!" Ben utilised the powers of Clock Work, while young Ben used Jetray and both Ben's simultaneously focused their energy beams on the artefact – destroying the device. "NO!" Eon/Evil Ben screamed. The Ninja Ben's zapped away, while Eon glowed a sickly purple before erupting in a purple light – seemingly defeated.

/After the fight

'Phew glad that's finally over. I have a feeling Eon/Evil me will be back again, but probably not for a while and perhaps not the same as he was here.'
Young Ben walked on over to Ben, and his cousin and best friend followed suit.
"You knew what would happen right. Cause this happened to you?" He could hear a mix of caution and optimism in his younger self's voice.
'Hmm how should I put this, without arousing suspicions,' Ben cleared his throat. "Well I couldn't be sure. Eon looked like he messed the timeline up so bad, I wasn't sure if this was an alternate timeline or not," Of course Ben knew this was his past – he does have an eidetic memory after all.

For years Ben didn't live up to his full academic potential but by the time he hit college (and with A LOT of help from his cousin) Ben was a solid B+ to A- grade student, with a few degrees to boot. Thanks in a very large part to using his eidetic memory properly.

Paradox appeared right next to Ben. "I can confirm this is the correct timeline, but young Ben has lost so much in this battle. Losing Way Big and Swampfire to Eon..." Paradox had that trademark forlorn expression he puts on to force Ben into doing certain actions.

'Laying it on thick Professor!' "Yeah, yeah I get the hint..." Ben wandered over to his teenage self, and started tinkering with the Ultimatrix.
"H-Hey what are you doing?" Young Ben was visibly surprised that his older self could even tinker with the alien device.

"Me? Well I'm just restoring the aliens you lost back into the device's systems..." Ben had that trademark mischievous grin "And I installed a couple of new ones (you're going to need them)...that's sure to make Azmuth angry!"

Teen Ben was amazed by the help from his older self. Marvelling at his renewed Ultimatrix.

"But doesn't this change the timeline or something?" Teen Ben inquired. Ben just shrugged a response. Everyone besides Ben and Paradox were puzzled.

"Come along, Ben. And safe journey young ones," Paradox waved Ben over to him. Before Ben reached Paradox, Gwen grabbed onto his arm. Using a telepathy spell she communicated with her older cousin.

What aren't you telling us Ben?
You were always so shrewd cuz. How did you know?
How did I!? Of course I knew! We're family!
Whoa, whoa easy there. Okay I can reveal a little bit, but only because I did...before
Spill!

So Ben told his younger cousin of some of the great battles to come – summarised of course – and also told her to be careful, to NOT overdo it using her Anodite powers. He knew that particular warning would push her to do what she needed to do. As a final warning he told her not to mention anything to his younger self. He knew she would never tell him what was said here, because he didn't know until now what was said. Ben smiled and nodded at his red-headed cousin. Gwen was stunned for a little bit, but she eventually turned serious. She nodded her reply in return.

Wandering over to Paradox he was ready to get back to his time, but knew Paradox would say "Beware Old George. Beware the Creature from Beyond" in such a serious and straight manner. Before quickly turning jovial, waving out a "toodleloo!"

And just like that, this particular time travel adventure was over, but Ben knew there was many more adventures to come. For him and his younger self.