The heroic life isn't necessarily glamorous. Ben didn't get to fight the most recent alien to pop out of a pocket wormhole, because it collapsed shortly after arrival. The weird quadruped (a hand at the end of its tail, eyes where its nostrils should be) is currently doing nothing more than sleeping the trip off. But the Plumbers need to know what it's doing here -- and as long as it's asleep, there's only one means of interrogation available. Which requires using one of his least-favorite forms, but... that's the heroic life for you.
It's just that someone's already invaded that alien's dream.
And she has no problems with telling Ben how bad he is at it.
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Chapters (4)
Before I begin, what is this a crossover WITH? You’re pretty good at making it unnecessary to know but I might want to skim a wiki or something.
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Ben 10. I fell off the series before this particular alien showed up so I'd need a wiki myself in order to be more specific.
Oho, poor Ben is suffering from a severe masculinity crisis.
Ben 10 and mlp…. Where have you been all my life!
Thanks for the excuse to rewatch Ben it’s “Ben” an age sense I watched it.
Principal Luna is in the house, and if Ben thought he could skip out on his education, he's about to get schooled. And Ahuizotl gets to play experimental subject for their lessons. Poor guy.
You ain't kidding. According to Wikipedia, 97% of birds have no external penis.
Most reptiles have 2 (although they typically only use 1 at a times).
Could be worse. A lot of invertebrates, the male DIES during sex.
Ah. Contingency DD.
I can't help but compare your Twilight. She'd either have to learn to let go quickly or have a three-pound unusable burden clamped on a foreleg for the foreseeable future.
Definitely looking forward to seeing where you go with this. It's always a treat to see your signature style of thinking things through with devastating thoroughness applied to another series. Poor Ben has no idea what he's getting into.
wow! Didn't expect this crossover!
And Luna and Ahuizotl came through a portal, into this universe. Why? Why do the interrogation on an alien world...
So many questions, etc! This is gonna be fun!
EDIT: And apparently there are male and female Nemuinas! Heh.
https://ben10.fandom.com/wiki/File:Female_Nemuinas.PNG
Ben would think about the meaning of a name, since he has to come up with so many.
I have been starving for well-written Ben 10 content! Most of the fanfic kinda suck, and all of the shows have attacks of mediocraty somewhere in their runs.
Honestly, by Omniverse I thought Ben had graduated, but apparently he's supposed to be sixteen. I guess he goes to the same school the Teen Titans and Huey, Dewy, and Luie all go too.
And there's lots of diffrent sides to this too! Because on the one hand, this is Ben's life at this point. He's a Plumber, and this is one of the rare universes that lets its superheroes collect a paycheck. And Ben does take Plumbing seriously, despite appearances; but we know where that leads. The original Ben 10,000; a Ben so obsessed with Hero Time that he stopped turning human altogether. Of course, Grampa max didn't go on that adventure, but he's still so good at understanding Ben.
Love seeing Ben the amateur Xenoanthromorphologist. He hates studying and reading, but he does love learning things. When he got the master control he didn't start raising cain (compared to what most kids would do) he started learning about his aliens and comparing them. He was asking childish questions, but it was still science-y. That mindset is why he got to keep the Omnitrix Prototype and the Ultramatrix, before Azmuth gave him the offical model before Omniverse. (The offical model kinda sucked but that's a whole other thing)
Okay, but actually, by this point Ben had a hoodie instead of the jacket, which is super vital to who he is as a person and furthermore--
*is yoinked off stage
Alright, the Ultramatrix only needed to do a scan, but Azmuth complained about the shoddy craftsmanship. Getting a direct sample like in the OG is probably safer than doing a scan, but Albedo didn't care because all he wanted was his true form back.
Ooo, deep cut!
I really like it when Ben's aliens have non-combat roles, especially by this point when he's up to. like. Sixty-three?
Rook never met Ben as a ten-year-old, and is therefore slower to torture him.
He probably changed the interface from Omniverse's, which is good because it doesn't look good and isn't practical.
YES.
Desite being the most obviously interesting thing about writing Ben 10 in prose, I haven't found any stories that explore what it's like to turn into a fucking alien. THIS is everything I want so much.
Honestly, not a bad opening. Might have worked? I wonder if Pesky is actually inexperienced or if not-thinking-about-it is more related to it's powerset.
Ben the brony.
He caught on to Lunas' core personality traits quick.
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"Don't worry, Ben is really good at not thinking."
"you're not funny, Kevin."
Wow, I didn't know I needed this. but wow.
This is what being brainwashed by the school system looks like.
EDIT: That's an alarming number of mindless downvotes.
Love me some ben 10 related fics
Really, Luna? You lambast someone who has no knowledge of the person you are observing, not giving them Time to actually answer or explain themselves? You also don't think that maybe, just maybe, some group on the other side of that portal/wormhole Azuhoitl (?) went through might just have questions and a way to ask them of someone asleep?
Where the hell do you get when you shout at someone following the protocol they have for contacting someone in their dreams? Not like they could know you where already in there yourself, after all.
Oh I’m really looking forward to this.
Ok, this is one wacky crossover and I love it but it's the premise that sold it to me. Luna, Ahuisolt captured by the plumbers and Ben need to communicate with them.
That's so perfect.
One, Luna (her dream self) and Ahuisolt are in another universe and planet but also under custody of the locals authorities. Try to exert your right as a ruler on foreign soil Luna, let’s see how it will go.
Two, what Luna is doing is sketchy as hell and is basically keeping someone in dream against their will.
It's going to be a blast.
An interesting start for a cross-over with a property that I know nothing about. Love the use of Ahuizotl!
Pretty good start to the story but one critique ben really wouldn't care about the whole pesky dust gender thing he would just use it full stop with no fuss but that's just one person's interpretation character
Estee, this is why I love your work XD
Which, coming from a respected older family member, is basically forcing.
aka the best kind of empathic tool
Yes, more please!
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To be fair, she had no reason to expect Ben to disappear. I imagine her next words if the omnitrix hadn't started beeping would have been to ask what he was doing.
Ok this will complicate things. I wonder how long it will take them to find a way to completely remove the time limiter because that will only keep hindering him. Plus I doubt Ben and Luna are going to be able to stand each other for quite a while.
...at the very least, Ahuizotl isn't covered in a layer of ablative kittens...
Not your usual fare Estee, I didn’t recognise the content until the end. Not bad, I shall follow with interest.
Yup. Azmuth was perfect in this, and I know I'm going to have fun here.
Not many good ben 10 stories on this site.
Do enjoy how much you dive into how Ben's transformations work and how he feels in them, or rather the lack of feeling.
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you *didn't* recognize this incredibly distinctive writing style?
Nice.
Oh, you naive fool. Though it's not like he could have known.
Not quite the best at what he does.
Professional pride is a double-edged sword. Especially when yelling at amateurs blinds you to the implications of having someone to yell at.
A fascinating take on Ahuizotl. One that explains much, and one whose accuracy Ben may see for himself. In and out of universe, so many long for the Omnitrix's power. And that's before considering whatever he actually came to this world to find.
Wuhoh. I'm getting Vilgax nostalgia.
Hmm... Many things here!
Magic exists, on both sides, and while the Plumbers aren't willing to use magic on the portal, using magic / telepathy on Ahuizotl or Pesky or something isn't as dangerous.
Irrefutable rules of the universe
Let him have his hobby
Less mean, though
mare :p
accurate
I should not be surprised there's a pony with that name
And Ben just gave Ahuizotl a treasure to look for. I also guarantee Ben's given AT LEAST one of his transformations the same name as a Pony.
I love getting more tactile lore like this! (Though if we're being pedantic, I don't know if Smart Phones were common in the early 2000's?)
It can't look that bad, can it?
I love how Ben doesn't even consider how weird his smoothies are. It doesn't even register.
I'm loving this too! The bluster. Ben generally knows he's full of it, he's trying to control how people see him, because he's got a surprising control freak streak buried in him.
Sometimes I feel like charactor voices get buried under you're style, but that sounds just like Yuri Lowenthal.
So much goes unsaid between them.
Really digging the sonic antenna addition.
Also nice to see someone push back a little against Luna. When Sunbut does it, it's too personal.
Oh, honey.
Oh, I might steal that one.
"...Well, Kevin?"
"Nah. Too easy."
"Then why didn't you ever have Grey Matter hack the Master Control, if he's so smart?"
"Come on, Kevin!"
"What, you need air? Lame."
I really wish the show remembered that Ben usually has a reason for the things he does.
I like the way Luna is talking like a teacher.
For ten-ish minutes, let's be cool.
Luna. Baby. I love you, but all you needed was "He stole ___ and he will use it to ___." That was at least two minutes of speechifying.
One of his living gemstone aliens might get through. The Echo Echo's are made of silicon instead of organic matter, and so is Nanomech... and obviouly Goop and The Worst can survive anything.
He could send an Echo Echo through and keep the rest on his side, but it makes sense that they'd interrogate the prisoner first.
I wonder if the Plumbers have a magic division? SHIELD had WAND... They did something with the Secret Saturday's, and they're a bit magic.
I don't care about whatever his real voice was, I'm imagining that he's the original Khan.
"Sister, do I come across as... perhaps a little intense?
"...Wow, how about them Red Sox?"
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Moron? Maybe.
Moron = "Person of subnormal intelligence capable of coherent speech + capable of being taught useful labor. ".
Can ANY teenager meet that definition?
Grandpa Max is just asking for a Baked Bad to appear on his plate in the instant he blinks.
If Ben gets into a carefully blended feedback loop with Pesky, would that leave him a Dreamwalker without needing Pesky, the Omnitrix absorbing not just material DNA information that way?
Still no sampling of Auitzotle yet?
As for stresses through wormholes, theres one published collection of SciFi where aliens worked out how to send someone through a wormhole by knitting all theit body into a single threadlike string, and knit it back into a singular physical body at the other end? The big problem I had with that story was the claim that the person waking up on the other end wasnt the person who went to sleep, as they died and ceased to exist. Forgetting that human brains have huge temporal gaps of non existance in conciousness in the millisecond before the neuron can next fire?
If Luna continues to be bitchy with the magic stuff, Max could try to contact his ex-wife, Verdona.
She probably can put the rein on Luna.
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Verdona isn't super trustworthy.
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True. Verdona is probably not very trustworthy if this fall under the Plumber business. But Max probably going using to use the old love spark to try to persuade Verdona for his sake.
Secondly, if Verdona hears that another species try to say they are the master of magic, she probably intrigues by the notion and sought them out.
Part 2 in Estee's unofficial "Crossovers with a teenaged protagonist with reproductive angst" series. And while I can't see Ben having chemistry with Cerea at the moment, I can also see that someone in-universe might ship them if the portal is crossed in that direction.
I liked the canon ending where Azuiholt was actually not a monster but an immortal protector for the ancient artifacts of a long lost civilization thus comming in conflict with archeologists.
To simply relegate him to a monster feel a bit... simplistic.
Let's see if it's like that or the story behind him is more complicated.
This is looking pretty interesting so far.
A question for the penut gallery. I lost interest halfway into Alien Force. What is the current status of the Alien X form and it's universal scale reality warping? I saw a TVtropes summary somewhere that he eventually gained full control of the form and the other conciousnesses in it let him do whatever he wanted. But later the rest of the species put Ben on trial for abusing the powers only to give him a minor community service sentence in the end. I assume that the knowledge that everything he does with the form is being watched and judged by rules he doesn't understand would probably make him consider it an absolute last resort. But, is that the official explination why he doesn't resolve every episode in seconds, or did he lose it later?
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For the record, we have no actual proof yet that he is just a simplistic monster motivated by pure greed. After all, two sides to every story.
Yes, he likely has killed ponies before, but who's to say that didn't happen due being an immortal protector for the ancient artifacts of a long lost civilization fighting off archeologists? Dead pony archeologists tends to get the Sisters upset after all and they likely view him as a monster because of it.
I know that the last sentence was meant to give a suggestion that Ahuizotl was going to become obsessed with the Omnitrix, but it could also simply be a 'In my long life of dealing with powerful, magical artifacts, I haven't encountered one that allows dreamwalking before' reaction.
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My guess? Ben likes looking cool and doesn't use his instant-win forms like Atomix, Way Big, and Alien X unless absolutely necessary. I mean, half the time he defaults to an alien who's abilities amount to 'being strong enough to punch doods.' Also, Alien X's powers probably require a lot of focus Ben lacks, especially in the Omniverse era.
Another headcanon - the two gods in Alien X's head completely forgot about the agreement and can't be convinced they made it, so Ben just uses something less headache inducing. Like Atomix.
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Not to mention Estee excels in giving deep of personality to characters who usually have little.
Sure, just a coincidence
Is he looking for an artifact equivalent to the Rings of Scorchero?
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Lulu being bad with social skills, except intimidation and sarcasm.
In another news, rain is wet.
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New discovery: fire burns
interesting chapter and Luna really needs to work on those interpersonal skills.
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I felt it was hideously contrived and simplistic to redeem him myself. His actions aren't particularly heroic no matter how you slice them. Heroes dont put their enemies in death traps.
However if we *must* keep his artifact-hunter/last of my kind background then we could marry it with a bronze age mentality. Ie: He's a heroic individual...just from an era where you solve every problem through hideous amounts of ruthless violence. Control is desired, bought through might, and via the sword arm is justified right.