Chapter Text
“You just found it?” Gwen repeated incredulously as she and Grandpa Max sat across the way from the transformed Ben.
“Yeah?” He shrugged, “So what? Or,” He placed one of the claw-like digits to his respirator, like someone putting a finger on their chin in thought, “It found me, I guess.” At Gwen’s scathingly inquisitive eyebrow, he went on. “It was a shooting star, right? Only it did a turn in the air, like a lightcycle!”
“Lightcycle…” Gwen repeated slowly, her voice so quiet she almost couldn’t be heard.
Grandpa Max turned to her, “From the movie Tron.”
“You haven’t seen that movie?” Ben inquired, causing Gwen to cross her arms at him.
“You have?” Gwen rolled her eyes, “Nerd.”
“Dweeb.” Ben let out a sound that sounded like the bubbling of an office watercooler. “…that was supposed to be a raspberry.”
“Whatever you say,” Gwen began as her eyes twinkled mockingly. “Fishbowl man.”
“Fishbowl Man?” Ben repeated, sounding utterly affronted. “That’s a horrible name! No…” He looked down at his hand, wiggling his fingers, “Water Hazard.” No, wait, he already used that one, “No… I think I’ll call this guy… Overflow.”
“Seriously?” Gwen questioned, “You’re naming it?”
“Uh, yeah, I can’t just be ‘the water guy.’” The optics in Overflow’s armor rolled in exasperation. “People wouldn’t know who they’re talking about.”
“People!?” Gwen raised her voice. “Who’s gonna be talking about you, dipshit?”
“Gwen!” Grandpa Max gasped, clutching his proverbial pearls. “Language.”
The girl shrunk slightly, crossing her arms over herself. “Sorry.”
Grandpa Max cleared his throat, moving on. “While I wish she would’ve said it a bit more delicately, Gwen’s right – you planning to take that somewhere, sport?”
“Well…” Overflow twiddled his thumbs, a metallic clinking being produced. How did he tell them? That he found the Omnitrix before, knew how to use it, what it was capable of, and just how good he was at it?
The answer, of course, was that he couldn’t. But in this strange, new universe, the only thing Ben wanted anymore was something familiar.
Hero Time was that, if nothing else.
He had to make it happen.
“You saw what this guy could do,” Overflow defensively replied, “It’s like I have superpowers! Maybe I could use them to help people… really help people.”
“You’re kidding,” Gwen shook her head, “Ben, you couldn’t even figure out how to work your iPhone. What makes you think you can work a piece of alien supertech?”
“Well, you don’t have to be a negative nancy…” Overflow crossed his arms in return.
“I’m being realistic.” Gwen gently replied, placing a hand on his arm, swallowing and visibly fighting the urge to pull away at the touch of the cold, alien metal. “We don’t know what that thing is, where it came from, or even how to turn you back. If you can turn back.”
He looked down at the symbol on his chest. Well… only one out of three wrong on Gwen’s account wasn’t bad. Overflow moved his arm to the Omnitrix badge and pressed it.
In a flash of light, Ben was sitting on the log, entirely human again.
He grinned, kicking his feet up on a stump nearby. “Touching the dial makes me an alien – ergo, touching the dial while I’m alien makes me human.” And the best part about it was, the Omnitrix didn’t even have to go through a complete recharge cycle because of it. So much trouble could’ve been avoided if he discovered that feature back when he was 10.
“Or, you could’ve activated a self-destruct mode!” Gwen gestured wildly.
“…nooo, that’s…” Ben stammered and cleared his throat. “No.”
Gwen took in a growling breath, looking toward Max. “Grandpa, can you please get the cogs in his brain working?”
“Gwen’s right,” Grandpa Max said to Ben, causing the teen to snort, “We don’t know enough about that thing to go messing around with it, willy-nilly.”
“Pssh, I’ve got it under control!” Ben nonchalantly shrugged, smiling as he reclined slightly, glancing at Gwen. “Two ‘Gwen’s right’-s in one night. That’s gotta be a new record.”
“Because I am right, doofus!” Gwen huffed, throwing up her hands. “I don’t understand how you can be so calm about this!”
“Gwen-“ Grandpa Max began, before clearing his throat, realizing what he was about to say for a third time. “I’m pressed to agree.” He looked at Ben sternly. “I’m a little concerned you’re not taking this seriously.”
“Grandpa, come on, it’s me!” Ben smiled and shrugged again, “When have I ever taken anything seriously that didn’t involve Sumo Slammers? It’s just… one of those things I’ll have to learn to live with, now, I guess.” He continued on, his tone of voice betraying just how happy he was to have found the Omnitrix again, and so soon to boot. “If the thing’s fused to my arm, I doubt we could get it off anyway, it being alien supertech and all. I’ll just have to learn how to work it, no biggie!” Never mind that he did know how to work it.
At least… he knew how to work the recalibrated version of it. But it’d be fine! He may be a bit rusty with it, but it was still the same old Omnitrix. Smelled the same, too, like… burnt rubber with a hint of rust. The point was, it wasn’t the new Omnitrix that came after the Ultimatrix.
That damn thing’s scrollwheel was so sensitive, he ended up overshooting the aliens he wanted more often than not.
It figured an alien super-genius would build something so complex, then forgot to add something as simple as sensitivity controls.
Then again… it was probably his fault for not bothering to read the manual.
“Well,” Grandpa Max nodded authoritatively, but approvingly, “As long as we’re on the same page about that. Still, I’m not sure you should be in such a rush to use that thing without knowing what in Sam Hill it is. Turning you into aliens like that could be ripping you apart from the inside out.” The campsite fell silent, as Gwen looked at her Grandpa with a stunned, blank look, and Ben had a dopey grin plastered on his face. “What?”
“How do you know it’s alien?” Ben probed, like he knew, because he did.
Grandpa Max, however, if there was one thing that could be said about this new version of him, was a tremendous actor… That, or he genuinely had no Plumber ties, in which case: “It fell from space, and technology like that’s the realm of sci-fi. I should know - I still have my collection of Buck Rogers comics in the Rustbucket’s air conditioning unit.”
‘Yeah, play it off.’ Ben thought to himself with a fond eye roll as Grandpa Max got to his feet. “So, we’re all agreed, then? Aliens? Or maybe it’s time travel! Or a secret government experiment!”
“There’s only one way to be sure.” Max took one of the lanterns set up around the site, and pushed the top down, turning it into a flashlight. “I’m going to go have a quick look at the crash site. The two of you stay here and get the camper packed back up. When morning comes, I’d prefer to hit the road as soon as possible.”
“Mmm-hmm.” Ben hummed with his arms crossed as they watched the old man walk into the woods. “So… Does Grandpa know about aliens, or does he know about aliens?”
“What the-!?” Gwen choked on a marshmallow, wheezing. “No!”
“Come on,” Ben leaned on her with a conspiratory grin, “Didn’t he used to fly planes out of Area 51 back in the War? You know he’s gotta have some cool UFO stories…”
“Okay, one: Get off me.” Gwen pushed him away slightly, but allowed him to remain on the log with her, at least, “Two: Area 51’s a facility dedicated to the construction of experimental, human, military aircraft-“
“That’s just what They want you to believe.”
“Ben, they tested the B-2 Spirit there.”
“The stealth bomber?” Ben blinked in recollection. Planes were cool, especially planes like that – the ones that looked like UFOs. “Awesome!”
“Three:” Gwen continued, “We’ve got to pick up, like Grandpa said.”
“Aw, you don’t want to sit here, shooting the breeze with me?” Ben held his arms outstretched with a cutesy smile.
Gwen stared back, unamused. “Going to shoot you in a minute.”
“Oh, yeah, you and what-“ Ben began, before Gwen, without hesitation, reached into a bag nearby, and pulled out- “What in the- is that a pistol!?”
“Yes,” Gwen bluntly answered, before pointing it at Ben, and pulling the trigger. Ben flinched, squeezing his eyes shut…
…before a small jet of water splashed him in the ear.
“Ack- hey!” Ben went red in the face, as Gwen laughed.
“It’s a water pistol, doofus.” She waved it around for emphasis.
Ben, thoroughly unamused, shook the water off his arm. “Yeah, well, we’ll see if it’s so funny when you get a Super-Soaker to the face coming out the bathroom when you least expect it…” He muttered to himself, as he took one look at the campsite, and made a quick decision:
He was not wasting time doing it the old-fashioned way.
“Ben?” Gwen’s voice took on a warning tone, as she noticed him looking down at the watch with a mischievous expression. “You’d better not be thinking about what I think you’re thinking…”
Ben grinned widely, activating the Omnitrix. He quickly cycled through to the option he wanted, and slammed his hand down.
In an instant, where he had been standing was the velociraptor-like, streamlined frame of a Kineceleran, and one of Ben’s old favorites.
“Ben!” Gwen put her hands on her hips, with that chiding pout on her face that always made Ben want to act out even more. “Grandpa just said-!”
“What?” XLR8 shrugged in the blink of an eye. “He said he wasn’t sure I should be using it, not that he didn’t want me using it at all. Plus, watch this!” His visor went down over his face, before he moved. In a black, blue, and green blur of motion, XLR8 dashed between the corners of the campsite, into the Rustbucket, and back out, again and again, leaving streaks in the ground as he moved, crossing his own backblast several times over.
In mere seconds, the campsite was cleared, and XLR8 turned back into Ben, who stood with a proud, smug expression on his face.
“…okay,” Gwen granted him that little bit of leeway, “I guess some of those things have their uses.”
Ben chuckled, taking the lead toward the camper’s door, “Come on. Let’s play Super Smash Bros. or something until Grandpa gets back.”
Gwen let out a puff of air, but followed him with a slight smile, up into the Rustbucket.
As she trailed behind him, Ben smiled to himself. Sure, it might’ve been with a copy, but… well, this almost made him feel at home again.
Almost.
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“That’s bullcrap!” Ben raged, resisting the urge to throw the controller as he shot to his feet, pointing at the TV. “I was this close to the edge, why didn’t he grab on!?”
“That’s what you get for playing Little Mac,” Gwen smiled with faux innocence, fluttering her eyelashes smugly. “Looks like I win. Again.”
“You cheated!” Ben called her out furiously, “You picked Fox!”
“Yeah,” Gwen snorted, “Because you told me to, because you know if I had picked Captain Falcon, I would’ve creamed you even quicker! What’s the matter? Mad you lost to little old me?”
Ben rolled his eyes. “No.” He really wasn’t, he was just egging her on at this point.
He missed these little arguments over stupid crap. Nothing world shattering, just… normal stuff, with her.
He still had Grandpa Max, and Julie, and then he met Rook… But Gwen might as well have been his rock, and Kevin was his brother. When both left, it tore at him more than he cared to admit. He couldn’t even manage a proper goodbye, in the moment.
Now, he’d never get the chance.
His throat suddenly felt very dry as he put down the gamecube controller, sitting down.
“Ben?” Not-Gwen asked him in concern, “Is something wrong?”
“No,” He shook his head, wincing. He was a terrible liar, plus, he didn’t want her sympathy: He wanted the real Gwen, the real Grandpa Max, the real Kevin, and Rook, and Julie – he wanted all of them back, where they belonged, “I just… need to think for a second.”
“…does it hurt?” Gwen softly asked.
Ben, in a moment of irrational panic, looked up, thinking ‘She knows.’ But as he looked at the grass green eyes she glanced down at the Omnitrix, and it quickly went away as she strayed away from what he feared she’d dredge up.
Good… but also disappointing. Because if she knew, that would mean she was Gwen, and all this was some big act, and not a new universe pulled and stretched to fit a mold he made for it.
“That thing, on your wrist,” She carefully reached out to touch it, “Does it hurt?”
“Huh?” Ben looked down at the Omnitrix, before he shook his head. “No.” It was bulky, but it was no heavier than the rest of his arm, and it just kind of… sat there. Like all the others, it didn’t feel like it was even there.
If anything, it hurt when it was gone. Like… well, everything else.
Ben gulped, looking down with a sigh. “Gwen, listen, there’s… something I need to tell you.” He could tell her about it now, right? They found the Omnitrix, her eyes were opened to aliens, maybe she could still use magic – use it to send him back in time to fix everything.
Paradox wouldn’t approve… But, then again, the good Professor was supposed to be the Guardian of the Timestream, and this universe was wrong. Paradox would probably help more than anything.
But… it was probably a moot point anyway. The Annihilargh going off probably wiped Paradox out with everyone else. The only difference was, Paradox was probably able to witness the whole thing go down from the outsider’s perspective.
Though before Ben could even get the words out, the door to the Rustbucket opened, allowing Grandpa Max to walk inside.
“Nevermind.” Ben shrunk into his seat, as Gwen focused a look at him that made him want to explode and admit everything. Original Gwen or not, that look was scary.
Before Ben could spontaneously combust, Grandpa Max climbed up the steps, holding the same, circular metal pod that the Omnitrix had arrived in.
“Grandpa?” Gwen looked at him curiously. “What is that?”
“I found it at that crash site,” The old man answered, turning to look at Ben expectantly, “This is the pod that watch showed up in, right?”
“Uh,” Ben self-consciously scratched the back of his neck, like he was worried Max would find something to take issue with about it, “Yeah.”
“I don’t see any propellors or control surfaces,” Gwen frowned, touching the sphere experimentally, “Are you sure it just veered toward you like that?”
Ben bristled like Gwen had just accused him of telling a lie. “Uh, yeah? Why would I lie about that?”
Grandpa Max shook his head, opening his mouth before Gwen could come up with a snappy retort. Just as well, too, Ben really didn’t feel like arguing anymore. “She didn’t say you were lying, Ben.” The Omnitrix’s pod was held under his arm like a basketball, catching and reflecting the light from the Rustbucket’s interior.
Ben looked around with an absent-minded frown, wondering just why it was called the Rustbucket in this timeline. It wasn’t old, or run-down, maybe-
“Ben!” Gwen snapped her fingers in front of Ben’s eyes, causing him to jump.
“Huh!?” Ben snapped out of his reverie, looking back to Grandpa Max. “Sorry, I was just… Thinking about lightbulbs.”
“Oh, you’re wondering where to find more to replace the ones you lost up here?” Gwen tapped his forehead, before she turned to Grandpa Max, stage-whispering. “I think that thing’s melting his brain, now. He picked Little Mac while we were playing Smash.”
Grandpa Max blanked for a moment, unable to put together in his head how picking something that sounded like a rip-off of a Big Mac would mean Ben’s brain was melting, before he shook the thought away, and got back on track. “Ben’s fine, I’m sure, even taking his spacing out into account. I’m more concerned about this pod.” He held it up with both hands. “I don’t see any actuators, control flaps, or reaction wheels. Nothing that could explain it just shooting toward you like that, Ben.”
Ben shrugged, figuring as much. Still, he wasn’t entirely uninvested. They never took the time to really examine the pod that first night, not when Vilgax’s drones started shooting the campsite up. Later, when they ran into Xylene and the truth came out that the Omnitrix had originally been sent to Max, Ben just kind of assumed the pod locked onto him and adjusted its course.
But that begged the question:
“But if there’s no technology driving that pod, then how did it get to Ben?” Gwen wondered aloud, unintentionally voicing what Ben himself was wondering at the moment.
“It could be some alien tech thin enough to fit in the shell of this thing,” Grandpa Max theorized, “But I don’t want to go taking a buzzsaw to this thing until we know what exactly it’s made of.”
Ben snorted, “That’s a bit too cautious, don’t you think?”
“Son,” Grandpa Max began, turning to him, “The thing survived a fall from orbit without getting a single ding or scratch on it. We start taking powertools to it, and we might be the things getting torn open, not the pod.”
Ben slumped in the seat with an eye-roll. “Okay, sure, whatever. So we’re going to find out what it’s made of without taking it apart. Yeah, no, that makes perfect sense.”
“There’s an old buddy of mine who lives out in Chicago,” Grandpa Max answered sternly, “A metallurgist. “I’m sure he has the equipment to figure this out.”
“And if it’s alien?” Gwen inquired.
“We know it’s alien, this is just to make sure we don’t cause an enormous explosion trying to cut into this thing.” Grandpa Max replied, “This could be made of a metal that reacts explosively when coming into contact with aluminum for all we know, so, we be careful.”
Ben narrowed his eyes suspiciously. Then again, it was possible Grandpa Max really didn’t know what the pod was made of, or what tech was inside it.
“All right, windy city, here we come!” Ben put as much excitement as he could muster behind it, though he was sure it came out a bit too snidely.
“Careful,” Gwen smiled, patting him sweetly on the shoulder, “You might want to get some ballast so you don’t drift away in the wind.”
Ben frowned, looking at her curiously. “Why would I need ballast?”
She grinned, tapping him on the head. “All that empty space – you’ll float away like a balloon.”
Ben rolled his eyes, turning to Max. “Can we leave her there, please?”
Grandpa Max chuckled, shaking his head. “Both of you, get some rest. I’ll tuck this thing away in one of the storage compartments, then, we’ll hit the road in the morning.” His words left no room for argument as he descended the steps to exit.
Immediately, Ben turned to Gwen.
“Dweebwhohastosleeponbottombunksayswhat?” He bit out quickly.
“Wha-“ Gwen began, before realizing what he said, and he rushed over to the beds and folded down the top bunk. “Ben, seriously?”
Ben jumped up, turning to look at her with an unbothered smile and shrug. “You snooze, you looze.”
She rolled her eyes. “Are you five?”
“Uh-you slumber, cucumber.” Ben absent-mindedly kicked his legs. The smile on his face this time was real, unbidden by worries or regrets – for just a moment, it was like he was ten again, not having to worry about the fate of the universe and all the people in it.
Gwen crossed her arms, unamused… before she got a wicked smile on her face, and Ben paled.
He knew that face. He had nightmares about that face. The ‘Ben Tennyson, I can’t physically harm you, but I’m thinking of a thousand different other ways to make your life a living hell if you don’t do what I say, so help me-‘ look.
“Okay,” Gwen smiled innocently, “Have fun up there.”
“Gwen, wait-“ Ben gulped as she went into the bathroom to get her pajamas on, “I was just kidding, you can have the-“ His voice died as he flopped back on the bed. “I’m dead meat.” He muttered hopelessly, before he found a dopey smile forming on his face… followed by it quickly dying as he remembered that these people weren’t his family.
Without even bothering to change himself, Ben turned over, laying on his side, facing away from the door as he forced his eyes to close.
Again, Gwen, Grandpa Max, Rook, and everyone else - Azmuth, his parents, everyone who he knew – were there, in his sight. They didn’t stare at him, they didn’t shake their heads, or otherwise indicate disappointment.
But they wouldn’t leave.
And as long as he remained conscious of what had happened, they never would.