#kevin is technically a living omnitrix

[sparklinpixiedust]

The omnitirix : trying to sample and store the osmosian DNA from Kevin

Kevin: sampling and storing the DNA from the omnitrix.

[seas-storyarchive]

More things for the au

OG series

The Rustbucket has a bunk over the driver and passenger seats - Gwen claimed it

Because they are hybrids, Carl and Ben (by association Sandra too) are treated unfairly on their planet - Sandra's family disowning her because of it

Ben longed to stay on Earth, because he had family that loved him there

This version of Ben is friends with Cooper - mainly because Cooper fixed his holo-belt when it malfunctioned

There was a brief love triangle - with Kenny (who didn't like Kai and kept encouraging Ben to give it a shot with her), Kai (who wanted to be with Kenny because he got bit by a werewolf and showed werewolf traits that led to his new alien Snarlfang, and had no interest in Ben) and Ben (who was a bit jealous of Kenny who got attention from Kai because he wanted attention from Kai) which ended after that adventure because kids do be kids

Xylene pays a visit, getting attacked by Kenny and Gwen as Max gets Ben to help him change a tire on Rustbucket. Ben is excited to see his grandmother. By the end of that whole thing, Kenny and Gwen are allowed to call her grandma if they want

Ben asks Kenny and Gwen not to tell their grandparents, their dad or his parents what he told them about living on Ringa Morr - his family being treates as outcasts because Carl and himself (technically) are hybrids

Ben has a core fear unlock: clowns

Ben has unlocked: bullies (Cash and JT, during the baseball episode- he's used to it, but he still wants to stay on Earth)

After that summer, Cooper's family played host to Ben when they were moving to Earth. Gwen and Kenny no longer want to visit their mom, because that summer taught them that their "weird" family was way more important than their mother's ideal vision of a family

AF/UA

When the trio is teens, Gwen is in karate, Kenny is in baseball (sans Omnitrix) and Ben is in soccer

Kenny/Julie is a thing (the Necrofriggian babies thing doesn't happen)

Kevin/Gwen is a thing

Ben will just roll up to any event with a smoothie

Omniverse

During Omniverse, Kenny/Julie is still going strong as is Kevin/Gwen

Kenny is partnered with Rook

Ben is in Plumber training and these days doesn't wear his disguise as much

Rook.exe stopped working the moment he laid eyes on Ben. It took Ben a few adventures with the duo to get on Rook's level of romance

When Ben/Rook becomes a thing, everyone is relieved because they were worried that Ben wouldn't find anyone

Cooper is the most supportive of his bro and his bro's bf. It's sweet and hilarious

[duckapus]

Ben 10: Hero Time

My own take on the Ben 10 universe, which is honestly barely fleshed out.

Ben’s Aliens

Swampfire- Bigger and bulkier, has less defined three fingered hands, and doesn’t have a mouth at all.

Ripjaws- Has a breathing tube thing over his gills so he’s actually useful on land.

Diamondhead

Brainstorm- About the same size as Ben’s human form, claws are actual crab claws instead of thin crescent shapes, has a weird speech pattern (speaks in short, clipped sentences, uses a lot of technical terms, says “this one” instead of “I” or “me”)

Ball Weevil

Wildmutt- Has stripes now

Ghostfreak- Skin is more saggy and separate looking with the tentacles occasionally poking out from underneath to show that it’s an outer layer hiding something

4-2-Go- A small mechanical alien called a Ferrograde. I’ve posted about them before.

Gravelanche- A massive seven-limbed creature that looks like its made of boulders. has a bit of a centaur body plan with the seventh limb as a prehensile tail with a grasping appendage on the end

Doll Face- Basically a creepy talking Mawile.

Ben- the kid with the watch. Constantly looks like he hasn’t slept in a week, but that apparently predates all the alien stuff. Wears a dull green hoodie with a big white X on the front, jeans, and sneakers. Kind of has Omniverse Ben’s hairstyle. The Omnitrix has its original design, but in the dark you can see thin green veins stretching out from it up Ben’s arm and across his hand.

Haven’t figured out concrete designs for Max and Gwen, but their personalities are close to the reboot versions while their abilities(and Max’s backstory) are more like the classic version.

Dr. Animo gets a more prominent role as Ben’s main human villain, though his personality’s largely unchanged.

Kevin’s got yet another change to his powers, this time ending up with Skurd(who in this was Animo’s attempt at making a living Omnitrix replica and is more like a really smart pet than a really annoying person. crucially, he can’t talk.), which allows him to partially transform himself into Ben’s aliens. He shows up after Ben unlocks his 11th alien so he can still call himself Kevin 11.

Dr. Psychobos and Malware show up early, with Psychobos having the same speech pattern as Brainstorm and being a bit more imposing, while Malware has a very different backstory and is actually, legitimately Psychobos’s partner in crime.

In this universe, the Omnitrix actually crashed years ago and when Ben found it on the first day of summer the pod was overgrown and half-buried. Meanwhile Vilgax’s ship went down in Antarctica and he went into emergency cryosleep. His drones activated automatically when the Omnitrix became active, but Vilgax himself was still stuck in stasis until Mojo Jojo of all people found him.

...Oh, yeah, this is also a huge crossover between a bunch of Cartoon Network properties(basically as many of them as I can while still making the world make sense), even if it’s going to stay primarily centered on Ben 10.

[hapalopus]

Ben 10 reboot watch guide

The reboot is mostly filler, but contrary to what some might think, it’s not just filler and does have a mild over-arching plot! I’ve now watched every single episode, so I figured I’d make a guide for those who don’t have time to sit through like 30 hours of a kid’s cartoon but still want to watch it.

The necessary/highly recommended episodes are bolded, the unnecessary-but-still-neat episodes are italicised. In case you really really care about spoilers, don’t read this list.

Season 1:

Waterfilter - Introduces Overflow, Heatblast, and Cannonbolt

The Ring Leader - Introduces XLR8 and Four Arms

The Filth - Introduces the Bugg Brothers and Grey Matter

Freaky Gwen Ben - Introduces Hex, Diamondhead, and Upgrade

Animo Farm - Introduces Dr Animo, Animo’s Alphas, and Stinkfly

Clown College - Introduces Zombozo

Rustbucket RIP - Introduces Billy Billions and Wildvine

Ben 24hrs - Ben becomes able to jump directly from alien to alien

Riding the Storm Out - Introduces the Weather Heads

Shhh! - Character development? idk, i just think it’s nice

Brief Career of Lucky Girl - Hex appears and Gwen gets development

Villain Time - Character development for Ben

Bright Lights, Black Hearts - Introduces Michael Morningstar. Not necessary, just it’s really enjoyable

All Wet - Frightwig and Gwen’s friendship!

Story, Bored - Hex!

Bad Penny - Mild, enjoyable character development

Zombozo-Land - Zombozo, Frightwig, Thumbskull, and Acid Breath all show up! There’s a callback to this episode in season 2 too

Omni-Tricked part 1/2/3/4 - Vilgax! Tetrax! And Phil

Season 2:

Out to Launch - Vilgax and Omni-Enhancements

Screamcatcher - Hex

Vote Zombozo - Frightwig, Thumbskull, and Acid Breath are back!

Mayhem at Mascot - idk i just like this episode

Animorphosis - Vilgax and Animo

The 11th Alien part 1/2 - Shock Rock! Vilgax! And more!

Bomzobo Lives - Hints at Max’ past

King Koil - I just like this episode

That’s the Stuff - Space museum

Bounty Ball - Tetrax, Sixsix, and Kraab are back!

The Charm Offensive - Charmcaster is introduced and Gwen gets development

Super-Villain Team-Up - Vilgax and Zombozo

Ye Olde Laser Duel - this episode is just....a lot ok

Ben Again and Again - Technically not plot-relevant because time travel, but a necessary watch because time travel

Innervasion part 1/2/3/4/5 - Culmination of the Shock Rock plot, and a new main(ish) character is introduced :)

Season 3

Omni-Copped - Phil returns and Slapback and Forever Knight are introduced

This One Goes to 11 - Kevin and Humungosaur are introduced

Moor Fogg - Ben realizes Overflow (and Grey Matter and Wildvine) have been removed from his playlist, replaced with Slapback, Humungosaur, and Rath

Rath of Con - Rath is back! And also, can we appreciate the pun on Rath’s first episode “con of rath”? genius

King of the Castle - Forever Knight

Welcome to Zombozo-Zone! - Forever Knight and Zombozo

Bridge Out - Forever Knight and Simon Sez

Charm School’s Out - Forever Knight and Charmcaster

Franken-Fight - Forever Knight and Kevin

Which Watch - Kevin and Charmcaster

Mutiny for the Bounty - Tetrax

Buggy Out - Kevin

Introducing Kevin 11 - New alien!

Four by Four - Just filler, but some nice Kevin+Ben team-up

Forever Road - Forever Knight

The Bentathlon - Forever Knight

The Night Ben Tennyson Came to Town - Forever Knight

Prey or Play - Forever Knight and Billy Billions

Roundabout part 1/2 - Forever Knight

Xingo Nation - The only good Xingo episode

What Rhymes With Omnitrix? - Charmcaster

Adrenaland Jr. - Character development

Season 4

Summer Breakers - The Omnitrix gets Omni-Kix enhanced. Minor character development for Ben.

Gentle Ben - Jetray shows up, replacing Stinkfly on the playlist

The Monsters in Your Head - Really enjoyable, good Kevin moments

Chicken in Chichen Itza - Character development

It’s Story Time - Gwen uses magic. Also just an enjoyable episode

Cosplay Day - Forever Knight

Bottomless Ben - Kevin/Ben teamwork

Tales From the Omnitrix - No plot, it’s just really really enjoyable.

Party Poopers - Frightwig is back!

The Hex Factor - Hex is really good in this one

Speed of Sound - Background for ‘Mock 10′

Xingo’s World - Alright this Xingo episode is really solid too. Makes me worried that the creators are being held hostage by CN though

Players of the Lost Park - Not plot relevant but it’s the only Glitch-centric episode and it’s great!!

De-Fanged - Kevin is back. Really enjoyable episode.

Mock 10 - Again, not plot relevant, just... just please watch this episode it’s hilarious

Buktu the Future - Phil

Ben 10 Versus the Universe

Season 5

Ben 10,010

Ben Gen 10

Alien X-Tinction

Alien Worlds webisodes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQgdnaQIu_E

[princeseerow]

well i cant sleep anyway so im just gonna go ahead list all of the superficial comparisons i can think of between ben 10 os and animorphs

similarities

i mean most obviously is The Premise Of The Series which i cant say is super unique, but: kid(s) are the recipient of cool alien tech as a result of a crashlanding that allows them to transform into other creatures

also because of limitations of the technology, but really just plot reasons, they can only stay in the form of the other creature for a limited amount of time before they have to turn back

and then theres the fact that the series follows an average white american teenager who is unwittingly saddled into this situation with his quicker-to-anger cousin who is surprisingly good at kicking ass. i mean you know, and the animorphs has other main characters but the jake/ben and rachel/gwen parallels are there

they encounter someone who briefly joins their endeavors as the newest addition to the team only to eventually have to turn on this person for being an overwhelming piece of shit who tries to literally kill at least one of the team members (david, kevin -- also kinda funny that they both have stereotypical bad boy aesthetics but thats just kinda narrative shorthand for being untrustworthy)

on that note i guess the auxiliary animorphs and the plumbers kids have even looser parallels if you dont think about it too hard but... thats pretty heavily ben 10 uaf territory and i said im not going there yet

ok but hypocrite that i am i do want to bring up one more similarity that only becomes canon in ben 10 ultimate alien and onwards, which is that one of the main characters (tobias and gwen) is revealed to have alien heritage. and i mean technically ben does too but it doesnt manifest because something something gender

theres a definite comparison to be made between the ellimist and azmuth, as being guide like figures to the young heroes, who are directly or indirectly responsible for leading the heores to their Inciting Event in the first place. theyre also similar in that i dislike them both.

differences

ben from the start actively wants to be a hero and help people even before he finds the omnitrix, whereas none of the animorphs really show signs of this pre-elfangor, and some of them only continue with the war effort out of a sense of personal duty to people in their lives

on that note, because of the mostly villain-of-the-week style of ben 10, there arent a lot of overarching familial stakes for him (and hes also not fighting a literal war). like, as near as i can recall he never has any family members who are personally victimized by vilgax, and if he ever does then certainly not for the same length of time as eva or tom are in animorphs. aside from gwen and max, the tennyson family at large doesnt have much of an impact on the plot on an episode-to-episode basis

and on that note, ben and gwen find themselves in world-saving situations a lot more frequently, whereas the animorphs are, u know, fighting a war. but i also feel like the animorphs' successes are more emotionally impactful than ben's overall, like uhhh, i cant really seem to put it into words that well, but a lot of ben's battles dont involve other people more than just incidental damage. like he can save a whole city full of people on the tennyson summer family road trip but he doesnt know these people, and theyre usually off to a new city by the next episode anyway. the animorphs are constantly at risk of potentially having to hurt the people they love to save them.

okay this next point is kind of a similarity AND a difference so its just gonna go here. anyway, both the animorphs and team tennyson (that is, just ben gwen and max for the purposes of this list) have a certified Alien Expert in their groups. the difference here is that max takes a really long time to actually tell ben and gwen that he has prior experience with aliens which in hindsight is kind of really funny. its like if ax spent the early books after joining the team just straight up pretending to be a human inexplicably and somehow not once ever letting onto the fact that hes an andalite

[cat-scarr]

The Reality of Alien Force

I find that those who say they would rather Ben, post Alien Force’s first two seasons, be written just as he was there for the rest of the continuity are a little insensitive. There are so many “mature” and dark themes within the events of those seasons that, once realized, they should push you to feel a sense of sympathy for the characters and want them to eventually feel better, not go back to what was arguably a very dark place for them.

The Ben 10 series was always captivating because the characters and settings are so familiar to those which we know in our everyday lives, mixed in with that shot of sci-fi - something which may be intriguing to us, but also quite scary if made into the serious reality that is for the characters involved.

The first thing I want to remind you of is the fact that our main heroes, although they may be older then the previous series, are still kids. Ben is fifteen, an age which is usually seen as still quite young and arguably innocent. He is very often praised for being mature and written as if he was an adult. 

But...do you realize that there are no actual adults around to fill that spot at this time? 

Even the Plumbers seemed to be scarce.

I’d like to go over the episode “Plumbers Helpers.” This was season one, episode twelve, taking place after “Max Out”, and continuing the storyline following Ben, Gwen and Kevin investigating all alien things related to the current alien conspiracy. 

Before I continue, just to put it out there, even if the audience has gotten the impression that our protagonists act like adults, they are technically not law enforcement at this time. That doesn’t make what they do less commendable, it just adds a layer of concern to their situation. These kids haven’t had any professional training for their “job”, much less even finished high school. 

They don’t even wear the kind of protective gear and uniforms that actual Plumbers do while on the job. Even those Plumber Uniforms have been shown to not be enough to save a Plumber from being killed - the death of Magister Labrid from “Ben 10 Returns” being a prime example.

Are they aware of the severity of their circumstances, or were they just incredibly selfless? 

“Plumbers Helpers” introduces us to another kind of threat that out heroes must deal with. One that, as of Omniverse, is shown to have been caused by multiple layers of deeply rooted trauma for Manny and Helen themselves. They aren't “evil” in the sense that they want to take over the world or steal Ben’s Omnitrix to do unspeakable things - they hold a grudge against all aliens and have decided to voluntarily commit murder to do the world a favour. 

Manny in particular is shown on screen starting a car accident, adding a layer of hypocrisy to their vengeful mission, putting innocent people in traumatic danger and causing destruction of property.

And now, it is up to Ben, Gwen, and Kevin to get involved, and put themselves in harms way again, because, apparently they are there to replace law enforcement. 

Helen: “You see that? They saved that guy!”

Manny: “Who cares, one of them’s hurt! Now’s your chance to take them!”

Again, they absolutely deserve praise for saving lives, but it should not be considered desirable to have young people act as if they are unbreakable due to a lack of adult guidance and supervision. As I stated before, even those who actually serve as law enforcement aren’t invincible and immune to trauma. 

Gwen: “I’m just worried, that’s all.”

Ben: “About Kevin?”

Gwen: “Well yeah, what else? We need to find him before, you know, before something bad happens.”

Again, if you really think about what people are saying they want when they say Alien Force’s first two seasons were the best, you should realize that, while there where are moments where the characters make it obvious they are aware of the consequences of what they've got themselves into, it shouldn't make it less of a burden on them. You should care about your favourite characters. 

I believe this should have been made into a bigger deal than it was because, alien powers aside, they were almost always in harms way. In the first two seasons, Ben alone had suffered loss, gotten a black eye, and even what seemed to be a concussion, just to name a few incidents. 

I have only come across one other person in this fandom who had discussed Ben’s rather brutal injury in this episode, and, going into further research about it, I can say that he did in fact show many of the listed symptoms of a concussion. That fact that, according to this article, “some concussions cause you to lose consciousness, but most do not” and that “it's possible to have a concussion and not realize it”, points to the alarming conclusion that his particular injury might have been on the worse side. And this is just supposed to be brushed off because, apparently, it is an everyday thing for a fifteen year old boy to handle alone. 

He deserves to be titled a “hero”, but he is not a cop just yet. And because there is no adult supervision or guidance, there is no one to tend to injuries such as these, unlike cops who are injured in the line of duty. 

Eventually, the single Plumber officer who apparently has over 300 planets under his watch, Magister Prior Gilhil, does become aware of our heroes’ activities up until this point in “Darkstar Rising.” And, as I had stated earlier, because they were technically not law enforcement yet, they could have been under arrest for “impersonating Plumbers” had it not been for them simply trying to protect people from alien attacks. 

As much as we might want to be on our heroes’ side due to the fact that we’ve watched them come this far and sacrifice their own well being to keep the world safe, Magister Gilhil is speaking on behalf of intergalactic law, and that can’t really be argued. 

Ben and Gwen argue that their Grandpa Max was a Plumber, and Magister Gilhil says that it doesn’t mean they are. At this point, they didn't have any training, and arguably didn't even realize that ‘Magister’ wasn't a name but a rank. Their lack of intention to commit crime saves them in this case, but it should be realized that the law isn’t as forgiving in cases where the person in question has offended before, such as Kevin. By the end of the episode, they are “drafted as the only law in the quadrant”, meaning that only from then on could they be seen as law enforcement until they finish their official training in Ultimate Alien. 

In conclusion, context is important. Although it is understandable to prefer media where characters are portrayed in a realistic and mature manner, it must be acknowledged that they act this way in accordance with their equally mature circumstances. Just like the realistic characters they are, they will eventually move on from this part of their lives in order to obtain character development and experience. If they did not change with the circumstances of their lives, then they would have plateaued, preventing them from improving and moving forward. 

Going back to the beginning doesn’t allow them to recover from all that they have faced.

[emperorsfoot]

Ugh. I’m having so much trouble writing this one scene in my fic. I have had to delete the scene and start over twice now. After two deletions, this will be the third time I’m trying to write this bitch. 

But enough complaining.

How would you guys like to deleted content? Exclusive for my Followers here on Tumblr. AO3 and ff.n ain’t gonna see this shit! 

Click the “Keep Reading” for shitty deleted fan fic content!

At first I had Kevin attacking first. In canon, he’s always been the aggressive one and having lived in the Null Void for as long as he has, he would have learned from experience that hesitation would get a person killed. But I scrapped that idea when I remembered that Kevin is -technically- supposed to be one of the good guys, and good guys don’t hit first. So, that’s why this draft was scrapped.

Kevin didn’t wait for the other two to attack. He went on the defensive first, morphing one arm into a spiked mace and the other into a hammer. Blunt melee weapons worked better in the close quarters of the cave passage.

Ducking low under the tattoo guy’s blaster –an almost ancient piece of tech that probably didn’t have enough charge to do more than stun anymore- the Osmosian delivered a sharp uppercut to his chin with his hammer-hand. Knocking the tattooed alien backwards, causing him to drop his gun. Kevin kicked it away immediately.

The other one came up on Kevin’s side with twin knives. Mean looking things, double edged, with hooked tips, and serrated on one side. The Osmosian threw up an arm to avoid being stabbed in the eye –one of the only place on him not covered in stone armor. The rock of his armor cracked and chipped away under the serrated edges of the twin blades.

“Ooh, look out. We got a badass over here.” Scoffed the Osmosian, not impressed. He’d had his armor chipped off and even broken by enemies before, it was nothing new or special. Hell! A Forever Knight once chopped his whole fucking hand off! Using his enemy’s closeness to his advantage, Kevin head-butted the alien, his stone forehead colliding with the alien’s fleshy nose-hole.

He staggered backwards to where his tattooed companion was picking himself up off the ground. Both aliens paused, looking Kevin up and down, reassessing the enemy they’d stumbled upon in the cave. Without even looking at each other or making any visible signs of agreement, both men began backing out of the passage slowly. They did not turn their backs on Kevin and Ben, not even when they were practically back outside.

“Well, that wasn’t so bad.” Ben commented to his own companion.

Kevin shot him an exasperated look. “There’s more of them out there, dumbass. Those were Neths. They travel in packs of five to seven and they don’t take kindly to being beaten by people who aren’t members of their tribe.”

Admittedly, they didn’t like being beaten by members of their own tribe either, but that was an immaterial detail. A more material detail that the Osmosian chose not to share was that they were also cannibals. They survived –some might argue thrived- in the Null Void by eating other sentient beings. They would not hesitate to eat Kevin and Ben if they beat them in a fight, and the two of them would definitely be outnumbered.

“I’m sure we could talk to them.” The Hero of the Universe assured him in his best ‘symbol of hope and justice’ voice.

Kevin placed a hand against the cave wall to reapply his armor, repairing the cracks and replacing the chipped bits. This was gonna be a fight he would not enjoy and from the sound of it, Ben wasn’t gonna be much help. “Hey, Tennyson, remember that time when we were kids and forced to fight in a no-holds-barred death match, and I bit some guy’s head off?”

“Yeah…?” Ben ventured cautiously. That was back when Kevin was a bad guy. Back when he was a mutated and deformed, emotionally unstable, and mentally unbalanced pubescent child with more power than his small body could hold or that his young mind could understand. In short, back when Kevin was bat-shit insane and expressed himself through violence.

“That’s it.” The Osmosian shrugged.

Fresh armor applied, the Kevin sprinted to the passage entrance, hoping to get out into open ground before the rest of the raiding party came in after him and Ben and they were pinned in.

There was a total of five of them. The two males Ben and Kevin had already met and three females –also all from different species. Five of them and five Null Guardians –including Kevin and Ben’s own from Incarcecon. Kevin’s Null Guardian was struggling against two aliens pulling on its bridal. No doubt trying to steal the beast for themselves. Already broken and trained Null Guardians were valuable in the Void, and if an animal refused to be obedient to new masters, it could always be eaten as food instead.

The two from the cave passage ran up to the rest of the group. Kevin caught up to the slower of the two, the one covered in tattoos, grabbed him with one arm, morphed the other into a blade, and stabbed the alien in the back. Blood spurted out from the exit wound theatrically, spattering the ground and the water with dark violet droplets.

Letting the body drop to the ground, the Osmosian stepped over it and raised his now bloody stone blade, pointing it at the two trying to steal his Null Guardian. “Get your fucking hands off my ride!”

They were paying more attention to the body of their companion he’d just killed than his face. They didn’t recognize him as Kevin 11,000.

Ben came up to Kevin’s side. “Did you kill him!?” He demanded, horrified at his frienemy. “Why’d you kill him? I told you we could talk to them instead!”

The Osmosian just shot him an exasperated look. Ben just didn’t understand the Null Void.

That exasperated look was about all Kevin had time to reply with. The remaining four aliens recovered quickly from seeing their companion stabbed, and drew weapons of their own. Long curved knives, giant heavy axe-like blades, chains with spiked maces.

The one with the mace on the chain attacked first. Spinning the chain rabidly to build up momentum as she rushed forward to close the space between her and the Osmosian. She threw the chain, the momentum of its spin and the weight on the mace entangling it around Kevin’s stone shoulders like a bolo-snare. The Osmosian snarled wordlessly and flexed his muscles, trying to wriggle free of the bonds, but all he succeeded in doing was crack the stone of his armor.

The other three closed in on him, the two other females and the pierced, bone-jewelry wearing male from the cave.

Seeing that they were focusing all their attention on him –basically writing Ben off as a non-threat- Kevin changed his tactics. Dropping the stone of his armor for a hot second, the Osmosian instead absorbed the metal of the chain holding him, exchanging the rock for a more effective alloy armor. This time when he flexed his muscles, the chain broke.

Just in time for Kevin to dodge an attack from another one of them.

Throwing himself at the ground and rolling away before the Bone-Jewelry could bring his hooked knives down on Kevin’s neck.

“A little help would be nice, Tennyson!” The Osmosian snarled at his own companion. “You gonna go alien or what?”

“If you hadn’t attacked first, I wouldn’t have to!” Ben snapped back, his hand going to the Omnitrix. There was the trademark flash of green light. Where Ben had been standing before there was now- “Big Chill!”

“Back to calling out your aliens’ names, I see.” Kevin observed. That was something the Hero didn’t do over a year ago when they fought after Devlin helped him escape the Null Void.

Ben did not comment. Kevin had his angsty phases that lasted years at a time and Ben had his. It wasn’t worth discussing –especially not in the midst of a battle.

Their four attackers paused, seeing the human transform into a Necrofriggian. They didn’t recognize Kevin as Kevin 11,000. But they sure as hell recognized Ben as Ben 10,000. But they didn’t hesitate long. Ben 10,000 might not have put any of them away in the Null Void personally, but other Plumbers had and Ben 10,000 was the poster boy for the Plumbers. So he was the lightning rod for all the hatred and vengeance towards the Plumbers. Not just condemning them to the Null Void in the first place, but placing the Rooters in the Void, releasing Way Bads into the Void, abusing the prisoners of Incarcecon, dealing out judgment and sentence as if they were a law unto themselves. Every way the Plumbers had wronged them or members of their group was projected onto Ben.

Forgetting Kevin for the moment, all four of them pounced on Ben.

The guy with the knives slashing at Big Chill’s chest and belly. While the woman with the axe-like blade tried to bring her weapon down in his head. The woman who’s chain Kevin had broken picked up on of her spiked mace balls and threw it as Ben. The Necrofiggian dodged all of these attacks with a kind of clumsy franticness, moving one way to avoid a slash, turning intangible for the axe to pass through him. Before finally remembering that he had wings and jumping into the air.

“Hey!” Ben said, shouting at Kevin, not his attackers. “I thought you said you weren’t gonna let anyone else beat the shit out of me!”

“That doesn’t mean I wouldn’t let them get in a couple good licks.” The Osmosian informed his companion.

But, still, it wasn’t wise to play around when your opponents were Neths.

Picking up a length of the broken chain, Kevin came up behind its former owner. He had the links around her neck before the woman even knew what was happening. Pulling tight, cutting off her airway. There was always some variance between different species of the universe. But, generally, if a creature walked upright and had a neck raising its head above the shoulders, then squeezing said neck would cut off its air supply and –if not kill it- at least cause it to pass out. It seemed this female’s species was no exception to this rule.

The moment she realized what was happening, the her own weapon was wrapped around her throat, and she couldn’t breath, she began to claw madly at the chain and Kevin’s cold metallic hands.

The Osmosian only pulled tighter.

Her eyes rolled back in her head, as strangled choking sounds came from her throat. Her body making desperate attempts to gulp in air through a pipe that was being pinned shut.

...

This second attempt I had both Kevin and Ben on the defensive, both protecting each other and the Null Guardian that was carrying them around the Null Void. I deleted this draft because the way things were flowing it felt like Kevin and Ben could win (and win easily, too) when I wanted it to be either a hard win that Kevin would have to use his powers of absorption on one -or more- of their opponents to beat. Or else, have Kevin and Ben lose and have Kevin have to absorb one of the aliens in other to escape. Basically, I wanna force Kevin into using the aspect of his powers that he never uses unless he’s already a bad guy. I wan good!Kevin to absorb living beings. So, that’s why this scene was scrapped. 

The Osmosian shoved him out of the way facing the cave entrance. One hand pushing Ben behind him like a helpless civilian in need of protection, the other hand groping at the rock wall to absorb the stone and cover himself in armor. His eyes did a quick scan of the cave, even though he already knew that there was only one entrance and exit. So long as there were hostiles poised outside, they were pinned down and trapped –and Kevin knew they must be hostiles, because this was the Null Void. It did not serve to give people the ‘benefit of the doubt’. Even ‘good people’ had to look out for themselves and more often that not, that meant having to steal from or kill other people.

No sooner had Kevin done this, then two aliens appeared in the passage, weapons already in hands, eyes alert, to scout the cave. A Null Guardian wearing a saddle outside meant there was a rider inside.

Kevin pressed Ben farther behind him, forcing the other man flat against the wall. With his armor made from the same stuff as the asteroid, Kevin could blend in and camouflage easily, especially in the shadows of the dark cave. Ben, in all his white and electric green would stand out like a neon sign saying ‘Please kill me’.

The Osmosian took the opportunity of the intruders not seeing him yet to study them. Both alien, but of two clearly different species. Wearing clothing made from mismatched pieces of leather, or at the very least hideof some kind. Wearing jewelry made from bones. One sported a necklace made from a Vulpimancer rib, with matching earrings that dangled Vulpimancer teeth off wire links, an eyebrow piercing that looked like a Quilcupine finger with one end filed down, and a chain of mismatched vertebra from different aliens around his waist. The other was much more conservative when it came to jewelry, just a lei of fingers around his neck, but every bit of visible blue skin was covered in interlocking tattoos. Some just abstract lines looping around each other, others very clear and distinct images, aliens they had killed or enemies they’d beaten, perhaps figures from his mythology.

It was a quick study. All at a glance, really. But one glance was all the Osmosian needed to know who they were.

Neths.

A Neth raiding party had stumbled on them.

Being one of the few locations with naturally occurring water in the Null Void, the asteroid saw a relatively large amount of traffic. The chances of running into someone here were almost guaranteed. But running into Neths was just plain bad luck!

“Who are they?” Ben asked in Kevin’s ear.

Unfortunately for them, even the soft whisper echoed off the wall Ben was pressed against, drawing the attention of the two Neth scouts. Both aliens pointed their weapons at the part of cave the sound had come from and finally noticed the odd man-shaped rock formation that was Kevin.

The Osmosian suppressed the urge to groan. Ben really didruin everything.

The pair didn’t hesitate. The moment they saw movement, they knew they had found the riders of the Null Guardian outside. They rushed forward, weapons up and ready for the kill.

Kevin blocked the first onslaught with his stone body, the rock of his armor cracking under their weapons.

The tattooed one swung at him with the butt of an old and outdated blaster rifle. The thing was so old its power chamber was rusted shut. It might be gun shaped, but it wasn’t useful for much more than a club now.

The one with all the bone jewelry went low. Ducking under his companion to stab up at Kevin’s kidneys with twin knives. Mean looking things, double edged, with hooked tips, and serrated on the back side. If Kevin hadn’t been covered in a thin skin of rock, there was no doubt in his mind that the blow would have penetrated him and he already be bleeding out. If the initial stab didn’t do him in, being torn up by the serrated edge, or the hook ripping out his insides on the withdraw definitelywould have.

Luckily for him, all the attack did was crack his armor with the uncomfortable scraping sound of metal against stone.

In his peripheral vision, the Osmosian caught the tell-tale flash of green light that meant Ben had just transformed and Kevin would be lying if he didn’t admit that a feeling of complete and total relief washed over him. Calm, even. Ben might be an obnoxious glory hound with an ego the size of a To’kustar. But, gosh darned it, he was the Hero of the Universe, damn it! And he rarely lost a fight. As long as Kevin had Ben on his side, the two were practically invincible.

There was a gust of frigid air that even the Osmosian could feel under the rock of his armor. Then the tattoo guy with his blaster-club was frozen in place. Ice covering him from feet to shoulders.

Both Kevin and the remaining Neth attacker looked at Big Chill, the Necrofiggian filling the narrow space of the corridor with his impressive wingspan.

“Personally, I wouldn’t have chosen a flyer in such close quarters.” Commented the Osmosian.

“I was trying for Spidermonkey.” The Hero admitted.

The Omnitrix might be perfect now and no longer malfunction, but Ben would still always be Ben. A little clumsy and prone to mistakes. Asmuth had confirmed that any time the Omnitrix gave Ben the ‘wrong’ alien now, was due to human error and not any fault on the part of the device. Ben was just dumb. But then, he wouldn’t be Ben if he weren’t.

Seeing that his companion was now frozen and immobilized, the Neth quickly realized that he was out numbered, and out gunned as far as powers went too. He began to back up out of the cave entrance. Making a tactical retreat to where there were reinforcements outside and completely abandoning his companion still frozen and unable to move.

“Follow him.” Kevin commanded. “Neths travel in parties of five to six. We’ll be out numbered, and in here we’re trapped.”

Ben moved quickly. He might be idealistic, naïve, and a little dumb –ya know, standard Hero personality- but he knew when to differ to his partner’s expertise. Kevin had spent far more time in the Null Void than Ben ever had. Kevin had livedin the Null Void! He knew what kinds of people also lived here, how dangerous they were, and what to do when you met them.

Flapping his dark blue wings, the Necrofriggian flew out of the cave just on the heels of Bone-Jewelry-Guy.

Outside there were three others waiting for him. So Kevin was right, these guys did travel in parties of five. They were all different species, no two of them from the same race. So, a group formed by alliances between prisoners sentencesed to the Null Void, not families that chose to immigrate like the Settlers.

Or, at least, that’s what Ben assumed. He didn’t spare much thought to it, they were in the process of pulling on the bridal of Ben and Kevin’s Null Guardian, trying to get the beast to come over and join their own mounts –of which there were only four. Five aliens, but only four mounts. So, someone was riding bitch and would likely want a ride of their own. Since the Null Void was populated by criminals and degenerates, Ben had no problem believing they were trying to steal his and Kevin’s Null Guardian. Preventing their main mode of transportation from being stolen took president over understanding the origins of such a diverse group.

“Hey!” Ben shouted at them, fluttering down –practically on top of the group- to place himself between them and the Null Guardian. “Anybody ever tell you that stealing’s wrong?”

He landed just as the one who attacked them in the cave came running up to the group, his bone jewelry clacking with every quick step, both serrated hook knives still gripped in his fists.

“There’s two of them.” He said, eyes flicking to Ben then back to the cave. “This ice moth, and a stone man.”

That was when Kevin came sprinting out of the cave. He morphed one arm into a hammer and the other into a long blade, ready for a melee. “’Stone man’? Try again, asshole!”

The group erupted into a bit of chaos.

Kevin went for the Neth holding the bridal of their Null Guardian. It hadn’t taken him long to come to the same conclusion as Ben, that they were trying to steal their Null Guardian. Raising his blade arm, the Osmosian would have chopped the woman’s hand clean off if she hadn’t dropped the strap and leapt away. She did a rather impressive backflip away, actually. Her spine bending in a way that would have left a human paralyzed after.

She landed on all fours, hands and feet with fingers and bare toes spread to absorb the impact of her landing. She hissed at Kevin, an unnerving sound somewhere between an angry cat, and a hostile snake.

Unintimidated, the Osmosian just snarled back. Open-mouthed, teeth displayed, showing that he was only stone on the outside, but inside he was soft, fleshy, meat.

Taking a step back, not taking his eyes off the enemies that surrounded them, Kevin stepped closer to their Null Guardian. He risked dropping his stone armor just long enough to absorb the metal of its bit and bridal.

The leaping hissing alien blinked at him for half a second. “You’re wearing Rooters armor.”

For the half a moment that was exposed in between matter release and matter absorption, his black proto-tech armor was visible, and clear, and very very indefinable as having been Rooters issued.

“Maybe I killed a Rooter and took his armor.” The Osmosian smirked at her.

“I’m gonna take your armor.” She smiled back at him. After all, proto-tech armor was virtually indestructible, pliant enough to stretch to multiple sizes and body shapes –within reason- and near impossible to come by honestly in the Null Void.

She did an unnerving little sideways scuttle that was uncomfortable for Ben to watch and he found himself having to look away for half a second. He really shouldn’t have. In the half-second the Hero of the Universe was looking away from their enemies, one of them came up on the Necrofriggian’s left and plunged sharp, curved, yellowing claws into his wing.

Ben yelped in pain and leapt back into the air, flying sort of lopsided now on account of his injured wing. He pounded a blue fist on the Omnitrix symbol on his chest, trying for a different flyer who hadn’t been injured. Like Jetray, or Stinkfly maybe. Instead, he plummeted back to the ground in a heap of blue fur and multiple limbs as Spidermonkey.

“See, now that would have been a good alien to use in the cave.” Kevin informed his frienemy.

“Oh, shut-up, Kevin!” Ben snapped at the older man. “No one asked you!”

There was the slightest of pauses as all four of their opponents exchanged a look, as if to ask each other, ‘Did he just say “Kevin”?’ But the pause was so slight, it was there and gone before either man had the chance to notice it. Besides, who cared if one of them was called ‘Kevin’. He clearly wasn’t theKevin. Kevin 11,000 –the King in the Void. Or else he would have just transformed and killed them all already.

The scuttling woman with the unnerving hiss leaped at the Osmosian, and wrapped all four limbs around him, arms and legs. Her limbs constricting tighter the moment her hold was firm. Squeezing the air out of him as if she were a terrestrial snake, constricting its prey. Kevin gasped for air, his eyes going wide when he realized what her plan was.

Gritting his teeth, the Osmosian focused on the metal armor covering his body, on the layer of metal covering his skin under her arms and legs. Usually, Kevin only shifted the shape of his hands or arms, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t capable of shifting his whole shape.

The alien woman yelped in pain, leaping back from the Osmosian to get away from the halo of sharp spikes that erupted out from his body.

Kevin gasped for air, oxygen flooding his system as his lungs were no longer constricted anymore.

Spidermonkey saw an opening and shot a web of sticky fluid at her, gluing the alien woman’s hands and feet to the ground. She hissed at them again, that same inhuman cat-snake hiss. But was able to do little else.

[cat-scarr]

Why does everyone always expect Ben to have the answer to everything? 

I know that technically he is the leader of his team. But, I still believe it would be more appropriate for everyone involved to help find a solution rather than just put all the responsibility on him and wait on him to rack his brain for an answer. 

I've noticed this is usually true in situations when the problem at hand is quite serious and endangers the lives of more than just a couple people. 

This is why Ben is so important...

Ben 10: Alien Force episode “The Final Battle” (part 2)

After losing the Omnitrix to save his friends, an event that would already have a very large impact on Ben, the team doesn't really seem to come up with any great ideas about what to do next. Kevin literally asks Ben “what’s the plan, Tennyson?”  To which, understandably so, Ben reacts quite angrily. 

There’s already so much for him to be upset about. And now it’s up to him completely to fix it too? 

But that’s not even what he’s upset about. He wants to find a solution to fix everything. He literally runs away from them so that he can have some time to come up with one. And what happens in the end?

“I've got a plan.”

Ben 10: Ultimate Alien episode Absolute Power (parts 1 & 2)

This is a very controversial part of the series, and before I say any more, I just want to clear up that Ben did not WANT to kill Kevin. 

I can prove this because not only did he never say he wanted to, but he was very clearly VERY conflicted about the possibility that this might have to all end with that conclusion. So much so that he took out his anger on other bad guys because he was so mad at everyone and himself for this turn of events.

He blamed himself and knew that if it all came down to it HE would have to do it. He had many chances to finally put an end to Kevin, but he never finished him. He couldn't bring himself to do it. 

But that brings me to my point, they are all depending on Ben for an answer and solution to the problem. And he definitely over analyses every possible option because he knows this. It affects him greatly. 

Ben 10: Omniverse  episode “The Frogs of War” 

Ben was gone for about a month and, although the rest of his team was still working undercover, they didn't really seem to have an immediate solution to the problem. The Earth is literally enslaved. They had no contact with Ben since he was ejected into space, so they had to have come up with something to stop the invasion, but like I mentioned, there wasn't much that seemed to be fixed about the situation.

Even the Plumbers can’t seem to do much without Ben!

They even locked Max up in one of the Plumber’s own cells!

Things seem to get noticeably more under control when Ben comes back. As soon as he comes back, he jumps right into action and does what he’s gotta do (aka what everyone was waiting for)!

This is especially important since news of Ben 10′s return would definitely have aggravated the Incusions, and might make them increase the severity of their attack out of that anger. The fact that not only does Ben come back successfully undetected, but puts a quick end to it all is astounding. 

Ben 10: Omniverse episode “OTTO Motives”

This episode is a continuation of what was mentioned in “Mud is Thicker than Water” where Ben is seen frantically running out of the Plumber Base to go help Kevin and Rook with their situation. 

He wasn't even a part of what was going on but once again, Ben was the reason for their problem to be solved. Their solution seems to be driving away from their opponent, until they literally get thrown down into a ditch and there’s literally nothing they can do as implied by their panic. 

Meanwhile, Ben is pretty calm as he scrolls through his aliens and...

And after he fixes everything again, there is a bit of a ceremony or celebration for his success. This dialogue ensues:

Gar: Ben Tennyson, you have once again demonstrated why you are the greatest hero in the universe! 

Ben: Oh, please. You’re too kind. But I couldn't have done it without my friends here! Kevin’s car got totally messed up. 

Even though I’d say Ben did most of the work, he still points out his friends and gives them credit. (so why u guyz keep saying he doesn’t??)

Ben 10: Omniverse episode “Breakpoint” 

(I’ve been told this episode is based on a popular movie plot, so the characters are “supposed to” act the way they do. But in the context of Ben 10...)

Ben volunteers to go undercover on the mission, to learn more about Fistrick’s operation and find a way to stop them directly. Throughout the episode, both Max and Rook constantly pick on him  for “doing things wrong” but at the same time they depended on Ben to solve the problem. 

First of all, throughout the entire episode all the other characters did was make him feel inadequate. They said he had “no self control.” They implied that he always chose the “wrong alien” (Wildvine vs Fourarms). They didn't trust him or believe in him, and literally were harsh towards him because they thought he was “getting to close to the case.” 

But realistically, even though Fistrick was a bad guy, he made Ben feel included…or that he was good enough to be part of something. But at the same time, they really messed with his head with their obsession of perfection.

It’s important to realize that Ben put himself in danger. Fistrick could have killed them all with that rocket…and all that is focused on is what Ben’s doing “wrong.” He isn't even being what would be considered “cocky.” I'm sure both Max and Rook should know that even as reckless as Ben may be considered sometimes, he’s just as reliable and trustworthy.

You know how I can prove that?

Well...Ben’s been undercover this whole episode, and at the end we learn that Rook also tried to follow Ben’s lead, but he got caught. This leaves Ben to make a decision - either fight Fistrick or save his friend. 

In the end it all works out and thanks to Ben, Rook is safe and they both defeat the criminals, successfully stopping their operation.

But please realize Ben was extremely important in this episode (as well as all the other ones I mentioned above). If you take the time to just put yourself  in his position, you’ll realize where he is coming from when he (even if jokingly) says that he saved the Universe “like a million times.” 

The way everyone depends on him to ultimately “save the day” proves the show would not be better without him because without him, there would most certainly be something missing. 

And finally, I’d just like to mention that this kind of dynamic is not only portrayed in the series. It seems to be something so in character for the other characters that it is included in fan works, whether that was intentional or not. 

There is a great web-comic which shows exactly this! I’m sure it’s quite popular by now. The following pages accurately display Ben’s team depending on him and how that affects him:

5YL: Fold page 18 

5YL: Fold page 31

5YL: Fold page 35

And even if it affects him in the way it does, and he claims to “not have a plan”, he still points his team in the right direction and motivates everyone to believe in themselves. 

It’s what he always does.