Chapter 14 Alt Title: In Which I do Nothing Much

After a good bout of messing with the Doctor, I decided to find some more heroes to help fight Teridax, since he'd obviously be busy trying to puzzle out the changes to his Universe for a good, long while.o

Spotting one, I passively scanned the Universe and found its inhabitant to be one Displaced Ben 10. And, he had just been freed from...a four thousand year imprisonment? Harsh.

Entering, I noticed that Ben had just fallen asleep, so I waited in the shadows for the opportune moment.

Some Eight Hours or so Later

As soon as Ben woke up, he was immediately hit in the face by the combined Tokens of Kat Shifter, Auric, Ghost Rider, and Michael Faraday.

“Now, where did you come from?”

And there was my opportunity.
Present Tense Activated

“Probably from other Universes, Ben.”

“GAH!”

Hah! Wuss!

“Wh-who or what are you?”

Oh, he looks freaked out, let's introduce ourselves, eh?

“My name is Umbra Shadow-Walker, System Administrator of the Multiverse, Rank: Assistant CEO of Branch 445903 Beta. Serial Number: 11092748357 Alpha Delta Z. I am a living manifestation of the space between Universes, colloquially called a ‘living shadow’. So...the question is, Ben, what are you going to do with those Tokens?”

Nailed it.

“Tokens? What?”

He looks back to the bed and point at the myriad of Tokens on his bed.

“You mean the things that hit me in the head?”

Jeez...he really hasn't seen the Multiverse yet? Wow...such timing, much punctual.

“Yes. They are...how should I say...calling cards for other Humans...Displaced in Equestrias not your own. Using them, one is able to call upon the respective Token owner for aid.”

There, that should provide a basic enough explanation...I just wish I could explain it better, but seeing as I don't need no goddamn Token, I don't really know exactly what they are.

He blinks. “Wait, so I’m not the only shmuck that got sent to Equestria? Well an Equestria? Is this the kind of thing Voiceless was trying to show me?” He said the last part more to himself than anything, but I still heard him.

“Most likely, Ben. Though, your Voiceless doesn’t quite Understand all the full implications of it, now does he? Tell me, has he ever told you that you could make your own Token to travel to other Universes?”

Oh GODDAMMIT OF ALL THE FUCKING TIMES THIS COULD HAVE HAPPENED.

Oh wait, Ben is still talking

"Really? You are seriously asking me if a guy named ‘Voiceless’ spoke to me?”

I'mnotpissedoff,don'tsnapathimI'mnotpissedoff,don'tsnapathimI'mnotpissedoff,don'tsnapathimI'mnotpissedoff,don'tsnapathim....

“You know full well what I meant, Ben; do not test me. I’m not in the best of moods today; my boss has put me on a very tight schedule, and I’d appreciate if you didn’t make this more difficult than it has to be.”

Oops.

He puts his hands up defensively. “Woah, woah, ok. Don’t flip out on me, you’re gonna harsh me out. I don’t like that. Sorry, but yeah I get what you’re saying. And no, Voiceless rarely ever shows me more than images of the Multiverse, most of which kinda just flew over my head. But, really, what’s got you in such a tight knot? You act like you’re in the middle of a war or something.”

Perceptive lad, ain't he?

“One: My boss has given me the task of fixing the fucked up coding of no less than thirty local Universe clusters. Two: I am in the middle of a stressful, petty war between two beings from across the Equestrian Cluster. Now can we move on? I’m on a schedule.”

Normally I never get pissed off, even the slightest bit. I wonder why I'm mad today?

“Um, okay, but I’m not exactly sure as to why you’re here. And I’m sorry you’re so stressed, if there was any way I could help, I’ll gladly lend you a hand.”

I must keep this one away from Lyra.

“Hmm...well, that coincides nicely with my next point. Ahem. Ben 10; you have been selected to ally with Auric Fulcrum in the War of Understanding. Your enemy will be Makuta Teridax, Lord of Darkness. Are you a bad enough dude to save a Universe?”

He blinks. “Woah, that’s heavy. I did offer, though, so I guess I’m in. I’ve been out of comission for a few millennia, but I’m raring to go. I don’t speak for the other guys, but I don’t think they have a choice if I agree.”

Oh yeah, those voices in his head...almost forgot about those.

“Ah, that’s right; you have those other voices in your head. No, they don’t really have a choice; but, if you agree, I can guarantee them temporary bodies if they aid you. I think they’ll agree to those conditions, don’t you think?”

They had goddamn better not, Saving Auric from possible destruction'd be a lot easier with their help...possibly.

“I doubt that any of them could refuse an offer like that, but that is something that’ll probably be discussed while I’m sleeping next. You see, they can’t hear anything I do, not since they were given forms, nor can we communicate mentally, except when asleep.”

He taps his head a few times.

“It gets pretty messed up in here. Though, those bodies better be temporary; I don’t want any of them running free longer than they should.”

I smirk a little bit. Who the hell does he think I am?

“Alright then. Now, we need you to make yourself a Token, I’ll deliver it to Auric later. Simply focus your power on an object of your choosing, and add a message to it. If you need assistance, I can just program one into existence for you.”

Simple enough, right?

He taps his chin in thought...I do wonder what he is thinking about...probably nothing important enough for me to care about.

“Got it!”

That was fast.

He begins to scroll through the Omnitrix, “I learned this trick a while back,” he explains as he taps in a few commands. “Press that there, pull this one here, and scratch that one down, and… ta da!”

Why is it glowing green? Oh look, a Plumbers' Badge! I've got several thousand of them.

“One instant distress beacon!”

Such amaze, much wow, very shock.

“Great. Now focus your power into it and add a message. Hurry, Princess Twilight is going to wake up soon.”

In about five minutes to be more specific.

“Uh, okay. Let’s see. Thinking, thinking, thinking... Ah! Got it!”

This is gonna be just as bad as so many other Displaced Token messages, isn't it?

“This is the great Ben 10, bringer of peace and hero to all! Simply tap this token three times and I shall come to your aid and bring peace to your land! How was that?”

Looks like I was right, ugh.

“Corny and ostentatious to the extreme. But, I suppose it’s not any worse than the others. Hand it over.”

Oh look, I basically ate the damn thing...with me torso....yeah,,,

“There’s something I wanted to ask of you. Who are these others whose tokens I received anyway?”

“Well, the Diamond Token is from Kat Shifter, a Gravity Manipulator. The Coin is Auric’s, use that if you need to contact him. The Chain is Ghost Rider’s, and the Hourglass is Michael Faraday’s. I suspect that other tokens will one day make their way over to you as well.”

They had goddamn better. Wonky Time is only an excuse for the time it's taken for even these to appear.

“Okay, they sound pretty cool, especially if there’s a Ghost Rider out there. This is so cool! I haven’t had this much fun since I taught Tia and Lulu how to troll!”

Oh thank gods the Princesses have senses of humor here, Celestia and Luna back home are so stuffy and...bureaucratic....bleh.

“Quite. Well, Princess Twilight is awake, as are Spike and...Nyx? Oh my, it’s a variant of that Universe. Interesting. And you say you taught Celestia and Luna to troll? My oh my… I should teach mine to, maybe they’ll loosen up some.”

“Definitely helped them out, then again that was my job. By the way, you get around a lot right? Did you ever pick up anything cool?”

“Actually, yes. Give me a moment, I always have time to make a profit. Here we go! Welcome to Umbra’s Endless Artifacts!”

With that, I brought my revamped shop into existence. I had to, Teridax fucked up my old one.

“Awesome!...Wait, ‘profit’? You mean this stuff is for sale?!”

Is this kid slow or is it just me?

“Right, I didn’t mention that I was also part of the Interdimensional Shopkeeper’s Guild, did I? Well, I’ll give you a discount, since you look like you don’t have much of worth on you at the moment. Speaking of valuables, do you have anything of worth stashed anywhere? Sentimental and/or monetary, of course. I deal in both.”

I guess it's a combination of both.

For some reason, Ben pales and starts to swat his pockets.

“Oh please still be… yes!”

Holy shit, did he just pull a sack of bits out of his left back pocket!? Bet you thought I was gonna say ass, didn't ya?

“Sweet! Tia’s enchantment still works! You take bits?”

Enchantment? That would explain it.

“Bits work...so would those diamonds that your Petrosapien form fires off...have you unlocked that one yet?”

He should have...the scans said so, at least.

“You mean Diamond Head? Yeah, got him after three hundred years, give or take. That’s one breakfast conversation that I don’t think we want repeated, even though it was… several times.”

What the hell is he doing now? Looking for Diamond Head?

“I really wish I figured out the master control on this thing. Bet it was that stupid chip that weird guy gave me that kept me from figuring out the code. Damn him.”

Oh shit...not him again

“Weird guy? Creepy merchant guy, ran a prop shop at a convention?”

“Comic Con..."

Hey, I met him at Comic Con too!

"..."

You look shocked, kid...you alright?

"How did you know!?”

Oh yeah, he doesn't know yet...wonder when he'll get that packet that Auric sent out...

“Every last Displaced in every Equestria that I’ve met so far has told me of the same guy. Different appearance each time, but always described as a creepy merchant. Besides, I met him too...and he’s in the Interdimensional Shopkeeper’s Guild...punched him out as soon as I learned that he was in the Guild too; bastard made me spend half my cash on a shitty wooden mask that made me what I am...Half my goddamn cash. I only had two hundred on me!”

I'm still bitter...just a little.

“Huh, weird. I bought a microchip off him for a buck. That’s what sent me here. If you see him again, tell him thanks from Ben 10. Though it sucked at first, coming here is the best thing to ever happen to me.”

A buck!? Damn him...damn him to hell.

“Will do, by the way...you want that Master Control? Also...here, have this, I think it’s called a ProtoTool...I get the feeling you might like it.”

Gift time! He better take this or I'm gonna...gonna...do jack fucking squat

“A real ProtoTool?! No way! How much?! And thanks for the offer, but I think I would rather just keep messing with the watch until I get it to work; got me some of my best forms in doing so. Plus it kept my little sisters on their hooves”

Well...at least he'll take the ProtoTool.

“Just like Auric, never taking the easy way. Tch. Heroes and their stupid nobility...Well, I got a hint for you: Konami code with the buttons, switch A and B for left and right turns respectively, Select and Start with popping the faceplate up and down respectively. I’m not going to tell you what it does, though. It could be a new form, it could be the Master Control...I’ll leave you to find out. And the ProtoTool is, with your discount, thirty bits. With taxes, that comes to thirty three bits. Would you like a receipt?”

Really it's just a formality, but I have to ask, lest I lose my Guild position.

“Nah. Good thing some of this is my own. Don’t want to alert my sisters that I’m alive, yet.”

Another one with a falling out with Celestia and Luna? Jesus, is this a common trend or what?

“Had a falling out, did you? Don’t worry, plenty of Displaced have had the same problem. Auric was one of them. Just make sure you get all the facts before you do anything stupid...and explain your position thoroughly too...by the way, what exactly happened?”

“They walked in on a mistransform and saw Rath in my room”

Oh, ouch, that ain't good

“They thought he killed me so they blasted us into stone. Not their fault, I would have probably done the same thing if that happened to one of them.”

Overprotective older brother figure is overprotective.

“Tsssss...Ouch...Yeah, just go explain things to them, I saw your little freak out yesterday...If you want, I’ll come with you for support...and maybe protection.”

He rubs the back of his head like a typical Shonen Teenage Hero Boy.

“I don’t know Umbra. I never could bring myself to tell them about the voices. I mean, how are they suppose to take that their big brother has voices inside his head that take on alien forms and go on rampages? I don’t want to put them through that; not that I really wanted to make them think I was dead either, but… that one I couldn’t help with.”

UUUUUUGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

Y'know what, I feel like today is a meme day.

“Let me give you two important pieces of information; one: the Princesses have had over a thousand years to mature...well, maybe not in Luna’s case...they should be capable of handling it. Two: maybe you don’t want to put them through any sort of drastic revelations about yourself, but sometimes you just need to tell someone about your problems. Besides, it was just a simple misunderstanding followed by hasty action due to a lack of information...information that you failed to provide, might I add.”

Heheh...I love Kill la Kill, that crazy anime...

“Jeeze, you act as if I’m mad at them or something.”

...what?

“...Just tell them you twit, they can handle it.”

...maybe I'm getting a little frustrated...just a little.

“Maybe you’re right. It has been nearly four thousand years, maybe they have finally grown up a little more. But I should probably take it slow, maybe just start with finding out a little more on what I missed. I should probably get to know where I’m staying too, ya know, since I’m stuck here at this castle.”

Oh I know exactly what to do right now, and it's gonna be sweet.

“...Information upload authorized; Proceeding with upload. Warning, this may be painful for the next 3.14159 seconds. Brace yourself.”

“Wait, what?!”

And then Ben screamed like a little bitch for the next three seconds, then shouted incoherent ramblings for the next minute. This also had the unfortunate effect of waking up Twilight and her...kids?

“What in the gods’ names just happened?”

“Well, you did mention something about catching up on what you missed.”

What the hell am I doing? Why am I cracking myself up so much? Oh gods this is hilarious.

“Did not mean all at once! Now it’s like I have a continuous looping blur in my head of history that I don’t completely understand! I bet it would take Hum, BS, and Voiceless days to finally Understand all that!”

What a whiny little bitch.

“Well excuuuuuuse me, Princess.If you're going to be such a baby about it–” I snap my fingers, “–Then there, one seamless, perfect, instantaneous integration of four thousand years of history. Better?”

“Technically, it’s prince, and don’t use Link on me! I don’t know how old you are, but boy don’t be startin’ nothin’ with me! Wait a second! Woo, sorry about that. Rath channeled through for a moment. Hate it when that happens. Sorry for snappin’ at ya man, totally not cool.”

Tch...it's alright, I'm chiller than Big Chill right now. Insult away.

“I’m a pretty chill guy, so no harm done. So, you gonna tell the Princesses now?”

“Well, based on some of this history you gave me, that still kinda hard to go through (it’s a lot to dump on a guy at one time), there’s some holiday called Nightmare Night coming up soon. Apparently, Luna is supposed to be coming to town that day, should be the perfect chance to show her that I’m alive. Hope I don’t make her cry, Lulu has always been a little sensitive.”

Oh man...if ever there were a way to make a woman cry for sure...it's seeing a loved one long since presumed dead alive and healthy again.

“Well, I’ll leave it to you, then. But...I’m fairly certain that she will cry, females usually tend to cry a lot when they see someone they thought lost, in my experience, at least.”

“I was afraid of that. This is not going to be fun at all. Man, haven’t been this depressed since I failed to find my only living relative back on Earth.”

“Cheer up, at least you get a second chance to be with your sisters, right? I hear absence is good for the soul...or was that absinthe?”

Hey, I got a positive reaction to that joke! Finally!

“You’re a pretty good guy, Umbra. Thanks for everything, and I’m gonna make this ProtoTool work to the best. I just hope that I can be of help after all this, I’ve let too many down before, so I can’t do it anymore. Heh, that rhymed.”

Oh my gods, it did. Holy shit, what.

“Hey, any help is good help...just don’t make too many stupid jokes...Auric and I have that covered already. By the way… Princess Twilight is outside the door, she was attracted to your girly screams of pain...and your unintelligible gibbering. Should I let her in?”

She's knocking pretty hard out there...'s getting pretty difficult to keep her out and block the sound.

“First off, do you want me to let out Rath? Second, I think I’ll just ignore her for now. She can wait until we’re done; it’s rude to not give your full attention to a guest.”

Tch; empty threats.

“Well said. Also, I doubt any of your Voices other than Voiceless could do even the slightest bit of harm to me...and I very much doubt that you want to destroy your landlady’s castle over a perceived slight to your manly pride.”

“Curse you Umbra. Curse you and your logic!”

Hah! I think I like this kid!

I smirked again...

“Wait...oh shit!”

“What?! Wassa matter?”

Nononononononononononononononononononononooooooooooooo please, pleas don't let me be like them now, please!

“Something I had hoped I’d never do. I’ve developed a physical tic...just like Auric and Teridax…”

“Let me guess, they never stop nodding?”

“Yep. And now I can’t seem to stop smirking...I don’t understand, this didn’t happen before...I wonder why it’s happened now?”

“Maybe it’s only because of certain people you meet. Maybe it means a sign of friendship”

Oh look, he wants me to shake his hand. Well, t'would be rude not to oblige.

“I highly doubt that, Teridax doesn’t like me at all...That aside, Time is of the essence, so I’ll leave now. Either I or Auric shall contact you when the final battle is about to occur. Until then, train and train well. Make sure all of your voices Understand the situation, lest I be forced to delete them from existence. Until next time, Ben.”

VWORPLE

Well that was fun...Time to get back to work...I think I hate my boss a little...

End Chapter 14

Author's Notes:

Thank you DJSkywalker726 and your story Ten Against One for helping to write this chapter.