Ben 10: Alien Rebirth

by B.E.A.T.N

It started with an alien device that did what it did. It stuck itself upon his wrist with secrets that it hid. Now he's got super powers, he's no ordinary kid. He's Ben 10! My retelling of the Ben 10 series, with various changes throughout the story, including: mild cursing, some mild violence, skipped and altered episodes, etc. Find it, Titans: Elemental and other stories on AO3!

40. Chapter 40

Ben 10: Alien Rebirth

Chapter 40: Don't Drink the Water

It was a dark and stormy night outside of an old magic shop.

A familiar figure in a red cloak staggers towards the place with an ornate staff in hand.

They were breathing heavily as they slammed the door to the shop open as lightning struck in the sky behind!

The light reveals the figure to be an old and weakened Hex.

The naive shopkeeper says, "ah, welcome weary traveler. What can I do for you?"

Hex staggered in, growling, "I seek magic that can turn back the clock on my mortal coil."

The shopkeeper, "ah, you seek magic that can make you younger, hmm?"

Hex staggers over to the front table.

Hex, "what do you have that can do so?"

The shopkeeper, "that depends…. What are you willing to pay?"

Hex, "I'll pay, once I see what it is that I'm paying FOR."

The shopkeeper grinned as he pulled out a small vial and said, "water, straight from the fabled fountain of youth."

Hex, "how can I know this is true?"

The shopkeeper, "it is said that even a single drop can rewind one's age by a year! Go ahead and try a drop."

The shopkeeper used a dropper to extract a single drop for Hex to try.

Hex opened his mouth and let the drops fall onto his tongue. He blinked, before he felt a few years younger all of a sudden!

He growled, "yes…. Yes! Ha ha! Tell me, where can I find more of this water?!"

….

Meanwhile, in St. Augustine, the next day….

Ben, Gwen, Grandpa Max, Hope, and Xylene are in a tour group.

The tour guide, "San Juan Ponce de Leon arrived with Christopher Colombus on his second voyage to America in 1493. While in Spain, de Leon heard stories of the Fountain of Youth and made it his mission to find it. He located this stream, here in St. Augustine, Florida. But he never found the fountain."

Ben, "what I'd like to know is, where can we find the Fountain of Soda?"

Gwen elbows her cousin as Hope chuckled.

Xylene is utterly enthralled by the history lesson, given her fascination with human culture.

Max put on a pair of eyeglasses and moved closer to the board in order to see the words.

Max muttered, annoyed, "now why do they have to make the words so darned small…?"

Ben and Gwen both give sympathetic looks at their grandpa, worried about him getting older and older.

Soon afterwards, they passed by a park fountain.

It sits right in front of a carnival set up in the area.

Ben grinned eagerly.

Ben, "hey, sweet! A carnival!"

Hope, "ooh, it looks fun!"

Xylene, "shall we take a look?"

Max responded with a nod, "well, I guess it couldn't hurt."

The group then made their way into the carnival.

There were many rides and booths around the area.

The kids were excited to try some of them out.

Max ran behind them, but found himself feeling winded just trying to keep up. Xylene stayed close, asking, "Max? Are you alright?"

Max, "I'm fine…. Just a little winded. Sometimes my body just decides to feel as old as I am….", although as he glanced ahead, he smiled, "I think I might know a way to cool off."

Up ahead was a dunk tank.

The group approached the attendant of the dunk tank, a younger man with black in a ponytail and a nametag that read, "Hector."

Max, "mind if my grandkids try to dunk me in?"

Hector gave him an odd glance, "... are you certain you want to do that?"

Max, "why not. I could use a nice cool dip."

Hector gave an uneasy glance and said, "alright…. I guess a small dip is alright."

Max smiled as he began to climb into the dunk tank.

Ben grabs three balls and says, "ready to cool off, Grandpa?"

Max, "ready as I'll ever be. Let it rip, Ben!"

Ben winds up, and throws the first ball.

But his aim is off, and the ball bounces back into his forehead! He staggers back for a moment before shaking his head and reorienting himself.

He growls and throws the next ball. This one misses and lands in a bush.

Ben groaned, "come on. Third time's the charm…."

Ben threw the third ball, and managed to hit the target!

Max fell into the water as Ben exclaimed, "alright!"

Hector, "no…. No, NO!"

Ben, "dude, it's alright. He'll dry off."

Max climbed out of the tank as Hector gave a very worried look.

Gwen, "how's the water, Grandpa?"

Max wiped some water off his head with a chuckle, "could've been a little warmer on these joints of mine."

The group began to walk off as Hector glanced nervously at the dunk tank.

As they walked along, Max seemed more energetic then he'd been earlier.

Max beamed, "heh…. I feel pretty good!"

Xylene, "I haven't seen you this energetic since that night on Galvan Prime."

Ben, Gwen and Hope weren't eager to hear more about that.

Luckily, (at least for them), their train of thought was interrupted by the sounds of panicked screaming. Ben and the others turned around and saw Hex floating above the crowd as they all ran for their lives.

Ben, "grr! Not this bozo, again!"

Hope grew frightened and angered upon seeing her uncle again.

Gwen, "how the heck is he here?"

Hope, "he must've found a way to escape the charm!"

Hex saw the group and growled, "you…."

Ben commented, raising an eyebrow, "... he looks older, actually…."

Hex growled, "our last encounter forced me to tap into my life force! I was nearly drained dry from escaping my prison!"

Ben, "maybe, but we kicked your butt before, and we'll do it again!"

He growled, "I'll be sure to put that on your tombstone! GALEKI, HIROK!"

Hex held out his staff out and fired a blast of magic. The resulting energy caused massive rocks to sprout from the ground and knock Gwen and Ben backwards.

Hope and the others quickly yelled, "Ben! Gwen!"

Xylene began using her telekinesis to start tossing various items at the maniacal magician.

Hex turned back to avoid getting hit and fired off another blast at Xylene.

Hex growled, "I do not have TIME to play with you meager insects! At least, not right now!"

He sends a table flying at Xylene! Hope quickly throws up a shield of magic to shield Xylene. The table shattered as Hex flew towards Hector!

Hex, "too much time has passed already. Where is the fountain?!"

Hector, "I'll never tell you!"

"Someone doesn't know the word 'please'", Ben remarked as he got back to his feet and charged at Hex, ready to go hero.

Hex, "RETOF ALAGORIA!"

He pointed his staff at a tilt-a-whirl ride. The resulting magical blast sent one of the ride seats flying off and right towards Ben.

Hope, "BEN!"

She jumped forward and pulled him to the ground as the seat sailed into a brick wall!

Ben looked up at Hope with a blush.

Hope, "are you okay?"

Ben, "y-yeah."

Hope smiled as she helped Ben up.

Meanwhile, Hex used his magic to make Hector float in the air!

Hex, "the location! NOW!"

Hector, "I…. I was sworn to keep it a secret!"

A grim smile crossed Hex's lips, "it's not nice to keep secrets…."

"Hey! Merlin the Malicious!"

Hex turned and was suddenly blasted back by Max, who was holding a blaster in his hand.

Hex grunted as he pulled himself to his feet, and glared daggers at Max.

Hex, "AQUATIS MEXINA!"

Suddenly, the water from the dunk tank rushes out of the tank and sends Max flying! He hits a picnic stand, and the large umbrella falls over him!

Ben, "GRANDPA!"

Ben got hit with a splash of water for a second.

Hope, "he might LOOK older, but he's still pretty powerful."

Ben declared as he got ready to go hero, "well, we'll see how tough he is next to Cannonbolt!"

Ben pulled down his wristband and dialed up Cannonbolt on the watch. He quickly slammed down and was engulfed in a green light!

Standing there was Cannonbolt, who growled before rolling up and out towards Hex!

He sent them both flying onto the Tilt-a-Whirl ride, and they rolled around wildly. CannonBolt kept rolling after Hex as he flew away from him as fast as he could.

Meanwhile, Xylene helped Hector to his feet, "what does he want with you?"

Hector, "something SO powerful, that if the truth were revealed, the world would never be the same."

CannonBolt had just managed to knock Hex into a wall as he, Gwen and Hope surrounded him.

Hex, "miserable children! Do you REALLY think you even have a chance at beating me? I WILL retrieve what I have come looking for."

Hope, "and just what is it that you're looking for, uncle?"

Hex smirked evilly, "wouldn't you like to know…."

And with a snap of his fingers, he vanished in a cloud of red smoke.

The kids cough as Ben's Omnitrix beeps and he transforms back to normal.

He quickly pulled up the wristband and asked, "where's Grandpa?!"

Max, "over here!"

But for some reason, his voice sounded a bit higher than it had before.

The group ran over to the umbrella and lifted it up for a very shocking sight.

Underneath was Max…. But he was much smaller, his clothes were a little too big for him, and his hair was completely brown.

Max, "what are you guys looking at?"

Xylene whispered, "somebody catch me….", before she fell backwards, having fainted.

Gwen, "Grandpa?! You- you look ten years old!"

Max, "what are you talking about?"

Gwen held up a hand mirror that showed Max's reflection.

Max, "whoa! I…. I'm ten years old!"

Gwen, "yes! That's what we just said!"

Hope, "how the heck is this happening?!"

Max, "good question. But I'm definitely gonna enjoy it", he exclaimed a few seconds later, "whoa! I just did a somersault!"

Xylene slowly sat up and said, "this could be a problem…."

Gwen, "COULD be? I think we're past that,"

Max was tucking into some ice cream he'd just bought.

Hope, "we should search in the spellbook for a way to turn Max back to normal."

Max took another lick, "wait! No aches, no pains…. I wanna enjoy this for a little while!"

Max ran off, giggling in excitement.

Ben, "okay, now I know how you guys feel when I act like that."

Gwen, "we'd better make sure he doesn't hurt himself."

The others all nodded in agreement.

So they had to keep an eye on Max, who was intent on having as much fun as possible by skateboarding, eating junk food, and playing video games.

It was absolutely maddening!

Ben, "... okay, this is getting annoying!"

Gwen, "Grandpa! We need to get you back to normal!"

Max, "why? This is awesome! No aches. No pain. No responsibility."

Xylene, "being ten also means no driving, no drinking, and no fun with your hot alien wife!"

Max gave a horrified look.

He quickly turned to Gwen, "so how do we fix this?"

Gwen, "whatever happened to you, I don't think Hex had much to do with it."

Ben, "what could it have been?"

Gwen, "maybe that water he got covered in?"

Xylene, "we should scan it to see what it is…."

"That won't be necessary…."

The group turned to see Hector walking towards them.

Hector, "I know what's caused your grandfather's current predicament."

Ben asked, "you do? How is that?"

Hector was about to explain, when the group heard some police sirens.

As Ben turned towards the noise, he accidentally slipped and fell into a puddle of water!

Gwen exclaimed, "we gotta get moving! I don't think we can do much answering questions without those cops thinking we're nuts!"

As Ben tried to stand up, he accidentally activated the watch!

Hope sighed, "... great."

Ben is engulfed in a bright green light, but what was seen next was NOT what the group expected.

FourArms stood there, but he now looked like he was ten years old, being only a foot taller than Max!

FourArms, "what the…."

Hector, "you fell into a puddle of that water."

Gwen, "now you're younger too, just like Grandpa!"

FourArms exclaimed in a definitely higher pitch than was normal for him, "this is nuts!"

Xylene, "everyone, to the RV!"

The group, with Hector in tow, ran to the RustBucket as fast as they could as the police arrived on the scene and drove off.

Hope looked at Hector, "alright, start explaining yourself."

Hector, "that water in the dunk tank was a very special kind. I usually have an 'out of order' sign up to keep anyone from getting on it, but I'd lost the sign today. We need to head to the warehouse where I usually store the tank, before that madman gets there."

Gwen, "then let's hope we get a head start!"

After a few minutes, Ben's Omnitrix beeped red, and he transformed…. Into a four year old Ben….

Ben said in a high pitched voice, "oh man!"

Hope was freaking out as she said the situation out loud.

Hope, "my uncle is looking for the fountain of youth, Max is stuck as a ten year old, and my boyfriend is four years old! How could this get any worse?!"

Ben pulled her pant leg and said, "I have to pee."

Gwen, "I think that's how."

Hope cringed and said, "Max, please take him to the bathroom."

Max nodded as they led the younger Ben away to the bathroom.

Xylene rubbed her temples, "please tell me this warehouse is close by?"

Hector, "about five minutes away."

….

Soon, the Rust Bucket arrives at the address.

Hector began leading them inside.

Max, "we're here."

Ben, "my feet hurt. I don't want to walk anymore. I'm tired!"

Gwen, "stop being a baby."

Ben glared at Gwen.

Xylene asked, "so why are we here?"

Hector said, "I have a small reserve of the water here. We need to make sure that madman didn't get any of- IT!"

He was suddenly lifted into the air by Hex, who stood atop a bulldozer!

Hex sneered wickedly, "that might just change."

He looked a few years younger!

Hope, "he must have used the water!"

Ben, "going hewo, uh, hero."

Ben slammed down and transformed into WildMutt…. Who was as small as a cattle dog.

Hope squealed, "aw, he's so cute!"

Gwen, "great. Just what we need, WildPup. What are you gonna do to it, lick it to death?"

WildPup just retorted with a dismissive, higher-pitched growl before he scampered into battle.

Hex flies into the air with Hector in his grasp as his magic spreads over the bulldozer.

Now enchanted, the bulldozer's engine roars to life, and its only mission is demolition.

WildPup manages to jump atop the bulldozer thanks to Hope using her magic to lift him higher.

He begins slashing the roof as Hex grabs some sort of map Hector had on him!

Hex, "well, well, well…. Thank you for this…."

He then tossed Hector in front of the bulldozer! Xylene quickly ran in and pulled Hector to safety as WildPup managed to tear their way to the engine and bite into it. This electrocuted them and sent him flying into the air with a yelp!

Hope, "Ben!"

She quickly jumped into the air and grabbed WildPup! She used her magic to safely get to the ground.

WildPup whimpered as Hope pet him.

Hope petted Ben and said, "it's okay. I've got ya."

WildPup started purring as the others gathered together.

Hector, "he got the map. We need to stop him!"

Xylene, "stop him from what? Where is he going?"

Hector sighed before looking at an empty tank and said, "the fountain of youth…."

….

Meanwhile….

Hex has just arrived outside of a dark cave in the middle of a jungle, surrounded by foliage.

He smirked as he looked upon the map and entered….

….

We later see Hector driving a jeep through a jungle area.

Xylene, "just what is Hex after?"

Hector, "the fountain of youth. One sip will give someone the ability to live forever. Or at least a VERY long time."

Hope, "and you know this; how?"

Hector, "because I've been guarding the location of the fountain for thousands of years. That dunk tank was what I used to stay alive all these years."

Gwen, "so, the fountain of youth is real? What's next? Dragons?"

Hector, "... you live long enough, you see a lot of things."

Max, "so I'm guessing Hex wants the fountain."

Hector, "indeed. Although he may see living forever as a blessing, I see it more as a curse. I haven't been able to find love or a family due to using the fountain…."

Xylene, "I'm so sorry, Hector."

Hector nodded.

Hope, "well either way, we can't let my uncle use the fountain!"

Hector, "we'll have to hurry then…."

He revved the jeep up and moved faster.

….

Hex, as he was chanting a spell, seemed to sense our heroes, and snapped his fingers.

….

Roots slowly began to follow the jeep.

Hope notices this and says, "uh, guys? Might wanna go faster!"

The vines then grabbed the jeep and began to lift it up into the air!

Hector replied as the jeep was being airlifted, "kinda hard to do that since we're NOT ON THE GROUND!"

Gwen, "I recommend we get outta this thing and fast!"

Ben quickly starts dialing the watch as the jeep begins shaking.

Ben, "come on! Come on!"

The jeep is suddenly torn apart as everyone is thrown out of it and grabbed by vines!

All except for Ben, who races towards the ground as he slams down on his watch and is engulfed in a green light!

As the light fades, Ben has turned into a pint-size StinkFly!

He exclaimed, "before there was StinkFly, there was STINKYFLY!"

He began to fly around, spreading gas everywhere, killing the plants one by one.

Hope and Gwen quickly perform spells that make them all descend safely to the ground as StinkyFly finishes off the last of the vines in a matter of minutes.

As he finishes off the last one, the watch starts to blink red!

StinkyFly, "oh no!"

He transforms back into Ben and starts falling towards the ground with a scream.

Xylene quickly uses her telekinesis to catch Ben in midair and float him safely down.

Ben, "phew…. That was close!"

Hector, "come on, this way. The fountain isn't too far from here."

The group raced off and soon made it to the cave.

Hector, "here it is. The entrance to the fountain."

Hope, "c'mon! We gotta hurry before my uncle gets his hands on the water!"

The group raced into the cave.

As they got inside, they reached the edge of a cliff towering over a tremendous pool of water.

Hector, "there it is. The Fountain of Youth."

Max, "one of life's greatest mysteries…. Solved."

Ben, "it looks dirty."

Gwen, "way to kill the mood, Ben."

That's when they started to hear some dark laughter across the cave.

Suddenly, there was a rumbling, and a rock wall burst open. From within, Hex emerged, floating towards the group.

Hex, "you are too late! With control of the water, I shall become IMMORTAL, my powers becoming greater than you could EVER imagine!"

Gwen quickly casts a spell, but Hex is easily able to redirect it back at the group, sending them all flying backwards.

Hex, "that was merely the beginning."

Hex smirked as he conjured a massive energy shield and began to power up.

Max, "what do we do now?"

Gwen, "give up. There's no way Ben would stand a chance against Hex as a baby alien hero."

Ben, "hey! Who you callin' a baby?"

Ben, "I'm just saying. Even if you went Heatblast to melt Hex, he'd just blow you out like a birthday candle."

Hope glanced at Gwen, who just gave a knowing wink.

Ben, "ig, yeah?!"

Ben turned the dial, and slammed it down, changing into a pint-size Pyronite: a half-sized HeatBlast!

He starts angrily shooting small balls of fire at Hex, who is easily able to deflect each one with ease.

HeartBlast groans and whines in anger as none of his attacks land.

"Dang it, dang it, dang it", he fumed as he rocketed towards Hex. The evil sorcerer simply punched Heatblast aside without even batting an eye.

Hex, "now this is thirsty work."

Gwen, "told you, Ben. Told you, told you, told you!"

Heatblast fumed again as he gritted his teeth.

"STOP IT! STOP IT! STOP IT!"

He roared as he started powering up a massive supernova energy charge.

Gwen and the others ducked behind a cavern wall.

Gwen, "I knew he'd go supernova-hot. All four-year-olds have meltdowns."

Xylene, "good idea, Gwen."

The water in the fountain begins to evaporate from the intense heat!

Hex roared, "NO! I MUST BE ETERNAL!"

Alas, he was caught up in the blast as it shot out of the ground, and sent him skyrocketing away

A huge burst of water that evaporated in a matter of seconds made the group run out of the cave as fast as they could.

Xylene, "y'know…. The phrase 'Too Hot to Handle' comes to mind."

Ben lightly grumbles as Hope says, "so, the fountain of youth is officially gone. What will you do now, Hector?"

Hector, "I guess I'll finally be able to grow up. The Fountain's effects only last as long as you keep drinking its water. So your relatives should be back to normal shortly."

Ben, "thank God!"

Xylene, "well, in any case, we wish you luck, Hector."

Max, "and if you're ever looking for work, pop into Bellwood some time."

Hector smiled, "I might just do that", and then began walking away.

….

A little while later, Max and Ben were back to their normal ages.

Max, "well, I can honestly say this whole experience has taught me something about appreciating my age."

Ben said, "same here", as he held Hope's hand.

Xylene, "what say we get back on the road?"

Gwen, "now that's an idea."

The group then headed towards the Rustbucket, another adventure wrapped up.

….

Elsewhere, a slightly younger Hex is walking through the woods, dragging his staff behind himself.

He growled, "ugh! Of all the times for my brother's words to be correct, 'be careful what you wish for, Hex!' Ugh!"

That's when he heard, "hello there…. Hex…."

Hex turned to see Driscoll standing with Rojo, Animo, and now Clancy, looking more bug-like with a tattered brown coat over himself.

Hex asked, "who the heck are you!?"

Driscoll said, "I am Driscoll. Of the forever knights. And we could use your magical abilities."

Hex, "for what?"

Driscoll, "to finally end Tennyson and his little friends. Including your treacherous niece."

Hex grew an excited evil smirk and asked, "what's my first job?"

Driscoll, "if you have a resurrection spell at your disposal, we need you to bring back a man by the name of…. Zombozo…."

….

Reviews:

ultrakid202020: yes, Ben will try to jailbreak the watch. Yes, Ben will only date Hope. No breakups. No drama. No love triangles. The Secret Saturdays will be mentioned in Alien Force and Ultimate Alien.

Guest: you're welcome for clarifying. I like Rook to. I don't think Lumi will gain Ultimates other than for Big Chill.

Monkey D. Conan: thanks. Glad you're so excited. And I'll take tour ideas into consideration.

Ultimatrix 105: cool.

Guest: thanks. I'm glad you liked me keeping Xylene around. Ben will stay a responsible and small leader throughout the story. Ben will use Arctiguana and Spitter after Ben 10,000 Returns. XLR8 and his ultimate form will replace FastTrack in all of his scenes.

OMNISENSE95: thanks.

Guest: Ben will probably not go to Galvan Prime to have Azmuth finish the Ultimatrix.

Guest: well, Squidstrictor and Rocks won't be in this story.

Guest: I know what Wikia/Fandom is. But I don't really use it aside from transcripts. And I do NOT wanna become an admin for it. At all. Ever.

Ushindi: thanks. Glad you're so excited. 1. Eon will be a Ben from an alternate universe that was mostly destroyed, stuck in a corrupted Chronosapien form. 2. A mix of both.

Guest: I'm using mostly the same original designs for the ultimate aliens, minus a few like Wildmutt and CanonBolt. Most of the new ultimate I'm adding are from Ink Tank's videos.

LugoD321: no. In this continuity, only the females get the powers Xylene has. Similar to Anodites.

Guest: not at all. Awesome voices for them.

Death fury: thanks.

Guess: I plan to rework Vilgax in Alien Force to be more like his original personality.

Guest: Kickin' Hawk and Pesky Dust will be unlocked in a original episode that'll most likely replace Outbreak.

epantoja521: I like how Driscoll is gathering: thanks.

PhantomWorks- Stories division: thanks. Glad you are. And yeah, I was thinking of having Heroes Unified cross over with my Generator Rex story. And my takes on Alien Force, Ultimate Alien and Omniverse will be split into successive sequels.

Guest: yep, Ditto is here! I'm glad you liked the ending scene with Driscoll slowly building up the Negative 10. I made it clear that Xylene's human disguise is an ID Mask.

Guest :

….

So the ending is different, due to CharmCaster being good.

Hex has now joined the Negative Ten!

The story includes an OC named Ken Takamoto. This poll is to decide his romance for the story. I left out Velma, Daphne and Crystal. 1, since I plan on Velma x Marcy and Daphne x Fred in these stories. 2, Crystal and Shaggy's romance is too adorable. 3, I know that if I put them on the poll, they'd win hands down.

The options include;

Thorn

Dusk

Luna

All three Hex Girls

Lena Dupree

Lena and the Hex Girls

Mary Jane from Scooby Doo 2002

Miyumi from Samurai Sword

Shannon Blake, (Daphne's cousin)

Madelyn Dinkley, (Velma's sister)

Minga Sherpa from Chill Out Scooby Doo

Sadie Mae Scroggins

Alice May from Mystery Incorporated

Misty Swiss

Googi from Reluctant Werewolf

Angel Dynamite

Choose 4 please!