Chapter Text
It was a pocket dimension full of horror. Floating islands, freaky plant growths, the occasional cosmic storm in some areas, and the dangerous folk lurking around every corner; Ben Tennyson could never really get used to it.
It was easy to play it off as a kid; morality was a lot simpler back then, and bad people clearly deserved to be punished, so the Null Void was the perfect place to stick them. They wanted chaos and absolute freedom to do whatever they wanted, so a place like this granted that wish…in a Spider-Monkey’s paw kind of way.
The question he had, once he got older: was this really necessary? Other than the native immigrants, there were two major groups of people sent to the Null Void: those who committed lesser crimes, and those who committed greater crimes that required crazy strength and/or intelligence–the kind that could help you survive here a little too well.
And that’s what Ben suspected when he got that call, about the Null Guardians amassing in an area where the barrier between dimensions wasn’t stable, too many all at once to be handled by the typical crowd.
But he couldn’t let on that things like this bothered him. He had a job to do, and whining about his problems never accomplished anything; Rook Blonko, his partner-in-crime-fighting, hailed from a salt-of-the-not-Earth culture and did everything by the book; his cousin Gwen was at college and had her own problems, balancing her own hero work with maintaining her GPA and about a gazillion different extracurricular activities; his best friend Kevin had a job and an alien dog to care for, and would tell him to shake it off, given his own long history of feeling sorry for himself.
And then there was Grandpa Max, once his biggest advocate and mentor. Now that he was back on the job after a long retirement, the man Ben once admired was now replaced by one of professionalism and duty. Maybe it was the stress, or the exhaustion, or maybe Ben just needed to grow up and deal with his own problems already–with everything else on his mind, this was the easiest conclusion.
Ben preferred to focus on the now, as the portal from Headquarters closed behind Rook and himself, leaving them on this tumor-shaped asteroid in the middle of No-Tetramands-Land. “So, any ideas about what’s causing it?”
Rook gave him a quick shrug. “None that are ratified, but Magister Patelliday is still at the Incarcecon sector, investigating the security breach from a few days ago."
That information was fresh in Ben’s mind. A routine medical examination of all of the prisoners had occurred recently, and one of them was recorded to be short of an entire pint of blood. Which usually wasn’t strange, given that prison fights were the main spectator sport in that place…except that it was Aggregor, someone who was known to be in solitary confinement; with powers like his, it was important keeping a distance from other people…pretty much forever, one of the cases that didn’t make Ben feel conflicted.
“Yeah, right.” Ben noticed a stray platform of rock drift their way and quickly hopped on, as his partner followed suit. “They won’t call us in Special Ops when stuff is actually happening–only to clean up the mess afterwards.”
“We are not in charge of the detective work–our specialty is to act as a response team.” Rook reminded him. “One of the core values of the Plumbers Initiative is delegation, both for functionality and to set an example for the galaxy that nobody has to handle things alone.”
Right, nobody. They always say that, right before throwing Ben to the wolves and getting upset when he limps back home covered with teeth marks. “So they tell me.”
The asteroid’s path was clearing over the cancer-shaped pillars of rock that stretched from the sky down into endless depths below them. From this new position, a new mass of land could be seen from down below, riddled with houses and buildings carved from the rock, and fused with whatever metal and bricks could be salvaged from garbage heaps.
Ben recognized it all too well. “Vacuity Village. You think someone’s trying to bulldoze it or something?”
“It is difficult to imagine someone having such a purpose.” Rook put a hand to his chin. “It is well-hidden, and its inhabitants are peaceful, so their presence here goes largely unacknowledged.” There was a glint in his eye as he said the next part. “As humans might say, ‘it is no skin off of one’s nose’, for the other people here.”
Ben chuckled at that; there was something precious about when Rook tried to understand Earth sayings the way he did. “Yeah, I guess it isn’t.”
“Although…” Rook then went on. “I understand the meaning of the idiom, but the original context remains a mystery. What kind of situation would bother a person in such a way, that could cause them to lose skin from their nose? I suppose it would have to be a common and distinct one, enough to explain the commonality of this specific choice in phrasing.”
“Ugh…” And once again, Rook was losing the forest for the trees getting distracted. By now, at least Ben knew not to get him started. “Let’s just find out what’s going on already.”
And with poetic timing, the two Plumbers got their first clue. A pretty obvious one, since an entire flock of Null Guardian roaring at the same time, was pretty hard to miss. Looking to their left, less than a city block away from the village borders, they saw a focal point on a different floating asteroid, the nucleus of the Guardians swarming down from above.
There was no need to transform yet; Ben hated it when Rook was right, but he knew better by now that he should save the Omnitrix’s power until he knew more about the culprit. So a quick trip across more floating platforms wasn’t so bad, using the dexterity he’d picked up from years of fieldwork, until they came upon the chaotic scene down below.
Null Guardians: giant purple-colored versions of Wildmutt, with tentacles and wings instead of legs. Ben wasn’t even certain that they were intelligent enough to even be scanned by the Omnitrix, since the watch had yet to try. But regardless, this was another case of someone else trying to harness them.
It was a human, from what Ben could tell, with white skin and an entire cloud of gray hair upon her head, held in place by a stiff band across her hairline with a gemstone in its center. She wore purple overalls with a white shirt underneath, and a simple pair of boots–certainly not dressed like one of the native inhabitants. Well, that…and she was in way too good of a mood being surrounded by predators like this--the others knew better than this.
“Come on, now–fall into line!” The woman shouted up at the flock, putting her hands to the band and pressing in with two fingers on either side, resulting in a barely-visible shockwave of clear energy into the area. “There are vital minerals just on the other side of that ridge, and I’m going to need help in mining them.”
Ben missed back when the villains felt original. A British person, in the midst of the typical wealth and power grab, with a coin-flip success rate–could she be anymore of a colonizer? And this time, the coin landed on tails, because the Null Guardians were not buying it. The ripples of her thoughts managed to get their attention, but only enough to have them in disarray. Some of them were crouched on the ground close to her, writhing and screeching as they fought against the pull, while the others simply orbited around the place in a swarm.
Ben scoffed, as he and Rook found an opening in the swarm and hopped from the final asteroid onto the island. “What’s the matter, miss? Feeling too foggy to do evil properly?” He crossed his arms as he casually closed the distance. “Maybe your brain would be in better shape if you read more often…”
“Evil?! Good heavens, no!” The woman gawked at him. “I’m doing no such thing, I can promise you that! I’ve heard that these creatures are artificially made, designed specifically for subordination.” The sense of eagerness then returned to her. “So, what’s the harm if I borrow their power for a while? It’s not like it bothers them at all.”
A series of screeches punctuated that line, making the three of them grimace. Rook then gave the woman one of his cold expressions. “How could you think that you are not harming them? You are trying to subdue them under your mental control like a tyrant, rather than earning their trust organically. Do their screams of pain mean nothing to you?”
A pang of guilt crossed the woman’s aged face for a moment, but it disappeared as she let out a PFFT sound. “Oh, I’m sure that it’s only temporary. Just a knee-jerk response to an outside stimulus, no matter how positive.”
Yep, Ben's heard that one before; the only question was whether it was one of his villains, or someone from a movie. Then again, art imitated life, so Ben thought it was valid either way. “My partner is right: you shouldn’t be controlling their minds.” He then turned over towards Rook with a mocking expression. “She’s even wearing the device in the wrong place–what is this, amateur hour?”
Rook showed confusion for a few seconds, before recognizing that this was just a wise-crack, easily the most important part of this job…because it kept Ben from going insane. And speaking of insanity, the woman tilted her head curiously. “Wait, am I? Where does it go, then?”
“Well…” Ben began, pointing a finger towards the device before moving down the expanse of her face. “...like my associate here said, appeal begins with the heart.”
“Uh-uh?”
Ben settled his pointer finger in front of the left-side of the woman’s chest. “So...that pretty little rock…belongs–BOOP!” He then swung his hand up, and instead of hitting her nose (as the prank usually went), he clipped the band with his fingertip, flipping it up off of her head and into Rook’s waiting hand, as Ben's voice then turned serious. “...in the hands of the authorities.”
“What? No!” The woman grabbed for it, but Rook yanked it out of her reach, and then stepped off to the side to look at it more closely. She watched in horror as the Null Guardians flew away with a murmur of growls, clearly uninterested in such a small target now that she was powerless. “Come back! We were making progress!”
“Yeah, yeah, I’ve heard it before.” No sense in listening to her blubber about it. “Now, let’s get you to the Incarcecon branch and put back inside whatever cell block you escaped.”
“Escape? Oh, no no!” The woman quickly assured him. “I’m not from any prison–well, I am a wanted woman back home due to a little misunderstanding…or two now, I guess. But I’m only in this place for exploration purposes!”
Ben sighed. “Seriously, you think that telling me that you’re wanted by the law, is gonna make me sympathize with you?” To be honest, a little part of him wanted to, but he had to ignore that for the sake of the job. “I’m Ben Tennyson, wielder of the Omnitrix. They don’t send me to places unless it’s important.”
Yeah, he was acting like this was his idea, like his partner hadn’t just reminded him of this five minutes ago–Rook was probably rolling his eyes while Ben’s back was turned. But the woman simply raised an eyebrow, “The Omni-what now?”
“You know, the Omnitrix!” Ben held up his left wrist, displaying the square-shaped dial and band attached to it, designed in the image of modern-day smartwatches on Earth. “Created by Azmuth, turns me into aliens, I use it to fight evil–I saved the universe, like, five times!”
“Hold on, a device that allows you to shapeshift? And a watch no less!” The woman suddenly seemed very excited. “I know a girl back home who has one just like it!”
“Really? A girl?” Maybe this woman hailed from one of the Gwen 10 universes.
“Yes, and she used it to stop my experiment!” Her enthusiasm then turned to conflict for a second, but then into curiosity. “But your design looks to be more advanced; it’s less bulky, less space wasted, less…interesting.” She raised an eyebrow. “Honestly, if you’re going to design a watch with 'alien' forms, you might think of adopting the other’s more otherworldly aesthetic.”
“Yeah, well…” Ben didn’t want to admit it aloud, but he agreed with her a little bit. Azmuth claimed that this model was up-to-date, meant to counter every situation with optimal efficiency. But couldn’t he do that and keep the retro look? “I’m not in it for the image. So, who are you supposed to be? Are you Dr. Animo, but…like, as a British lady?”
“I’ve…never heard that name.” The woman shrugged, before regaining her confident attitude. “I am Victoria Van Gale! Head of the Greater Trolberg Meteorological Bureau…formerly.”
Yep, he’d seen that before, too. “Let me guess: you spent years predicting the weather, and then you tried to control it, but bit off more than you could chew?”
“Wow, you’re good at guessing!” Victoria seemed oddly excited about her plan being revealed. “Among other things, yes, I do tend to get carried away with…certain aspects of my research.”
“You can say that again.” That explained what she was doing here. Obviously, he wouldn’t be needing the watch to solve this problem, but if the opportunity to play two guitars as Four Arms came up again as a possible solution, you wouldn’t find him turning it down. “And…you don’t see the irony here?”
Victoria went to rebut, before conflict arose again on her face. Like she wanted to argue this point, but her sense of reason had come back all of a sudden, and had now reduced her to a regretful position, one hand rubbing her opposite elbow with a sigh. “I suppose this does feel familiar. But that other chap said that it was a worthwhile project, so I chose to trust him.”
“And what ‘other chap’ was that?”
Just then, Rook spoke up to his left. “Ben, come and look at this.” He held up the band to where Ben could see it, flipping back the cover to show the rhombus-shaped ruby inside. “These wiring patterns are too delicate to have been constructed by mechanical means, but they are consistent with neurological electrical patterns. Not just in function, but also in assembly.”
Normally, words like those might go right over Ben’s head…if he didn’t have a photographic memory, and hadn’t peeked at a few Plumber files one time when he was bored. Neurological electricity, red gemstone, mind control, Null Void…
This wasn’t a movie; Ben had definitely fought a villain like that before, in his real life. “Servantis!”
Victoria let out a small gasp of joy. “Oh, Servantis, yes! That’s the name of the chap I met.”
Another villain Ben had no sympathy for–he wasn’t even sure the man was still alive, left stranded in a place like this with his remaining henchmen. “You saw him?!” Ben turned over to face Victoria directly. “Tall guy, black uniform, swollen head made from a crab shell, beard that looks way out-of-date?”
“Well, I wouldn’t say that about the beard, but the rest sounds accurate.” Of course, that was mostly Ben’s opinion, one that she didn’t share. “But would you look at that! The three of us have all met the same person, and that’s something we have in common.”
What was she expecting that to accomplish, like she wouldn’t be arrested if she buddied up to them? Or was she just not taking this seriously?
“Was he with anyone else? A flying woman with red skin and eyes, or a tall guy with a lead furnace for a face?”
Victoria shook her head. “No, he was all on his lonesome. He seemed awfully intrigued to have found another living thing in a place like this, who could talk about science with him. Granted, I didn’t understand all of what he said, but otherwise he was a good chap.”
Ben growled in frustration. “That guy isn’t good! He’s a criminal mastermind, and we have to find him!” Given the break-in at Incarcecon and the missing pint of Aggregor’s blood, it made sense for it all to point to his creator. “Which way did he go?”
“Um…well, let’s see.” Victoria took a glance around them, putting a finger to her chin in thought. “These islands are always revolving and changing direction at random, so it’s kind of hard to tell. Now, was it–”
Victoria’s unhelpful words were cut off then by a strange sound; that of reality being warped, not unlike the portal Ben and Rook had come through. But this was different than the one before, one he’d heard too many times not to recognize.
He turned around to face it–the cerulean opening in space-time, and a familiar face coming through it, and that even more familiar labcoat. “Benjamin, and Rook Blonko! It’s good to see you again.”
“Professor Paradox.” Part of Ben’s brain went to why he was here, but then settled on the fact that Vacuity Village was nearby, so that would probably concern him on a regular basis. So, that left one other question: “What happened to the…you know, your steampunk makeover?”
“Oh, that.” The man let out a wry chuckle. “I’ve been on an errand in a foreign place for some time now, so I decided it was better to blend in a bit more.” He lifted his right arm, which surprisingly looked normal…until he pressed a button under the white sleeve.
And sure enough, the phony skin color faded away like a hologram, revealing its true robotic state. “I’m looking after a new wearer of the Omnitrix, who’s barely a month and a half into the job, and the last thing she needs is some interdimensional being drawing too much attention to her.”
“‘Her?’” Rook’s voice came from over to the side. “What kind of variant is she–an alternate Ben, or a member of his family?”
“Oh, I’m afraid that it’s not that simple.”
Ben grumbled. “Of course, it isn’t.” Things were never simple whenever Paradox showed up. “So, what brings you here?”
“Well…” Paradox then turned over towards the mad scientist Ben had just foiled. “Ah, if it isn’t Victoria Van Gale! I had a feeling that your trajectory would’ve led you out around here.”
“Really?” The woman tilted her head. “You mean, you knew I was going to find my way into this place?”
“Well, ‘knew’ is a strong word.” Paradox summoned his walking stick from another of the same kind of blue void, and leaned on it. “When it comes to points in space-time being joined by the Ehrenfest Gap of all things, the chain of causality can get a little tangled, you know?”
Ben didn’t know, and he wasn’t sure about Rook, but apparently she did. “Well, I’m not sure about that name for it–depending on whether the experiment succeeded or failed, I was either going to call that part of it ‘Van Gale Central Station’ or ‘No-Nisse-Land.’” Her tone rose and fell as she said that, as if she was trying to show off about it.
Paradox chuckled. “Well, to each timeline is their own.” He then turned over towards Ben and Rook. “But, I’m actually here for the two of you. I could use your assistance on a certain matter.”
He then waved his right arm in the air, and a new chunk of blue light opened up in the air. Not a full portal, but more of a veil. And through it, Ben got a good look at the subject.
It was a young girl laying in her bed, curled up under the covers with her arms exposed. He couldn’t tell if it was the veil, or the fact that it was dark in her bedroom, but her hair looked almost…blue?
Sure enough, she rolled over in bed onto her right side, leaving her left arm exposed and…there it was, the familiar black-white band wrapped around her wrist, with a bulky dial with Azmuth’s hourglass symbol. “Yep, that’s an Omnitrix.”
But then something else caught him off-guard, a noise that sent a shiver up his spine and drew his attention away from her watch. The girl was…crying? The sounds were very soft, but hoarse, like she had been quietly sobbing to herself for hours now, and the red marks under her eyes backed up that theory. “Whoa, what happened?”
Paradox sighed. “A number of things, actually. She’s at a very vulnerable time of her life right now, and I think you could be a big help to her.”
Rook then spoke up. “What makes this situation different?” Ben shot him a look, but he quickly clarified. “This is the first time you have asked us to look after another Omnitrix wielder, not including times when the Omniverse itself was in danger.”
“Well, that’s just the thing.” Paradox closed the veil with a wave of his hand. “From where she hails, there are powerful creatures unlike anything you–Ben Prime or the others–have ever seen before. Azmuth has made a few trips in that direction, but I doubt that he ever expected an Omnitrix to land there.”
“So, what?” Victoria spoke up then. “Is Hilda…about to do something bad?”
Paradox grimaced. “Well, not bad, per se–merely reckless, a time-traveling event that has the chance to unleash havoc. And with the Omnitrix on her wrist, I worry that the worst-case-scenario may have a ripple effect on the entire Omniverse.”
“Good heavens.” Victoria all of a sudden seemed remorseful again, scuffing the ground with the sole of her boot. “I know that she once looked up to me, but I never thought that what I did could’ve hurt her so badly.”
Paradox shook his head. “I don’t think so; or at least, not this second time. She’s had a very rough couple of days, so I doubt you’re even in the top ten.”
“Oh!” Van Gale’s mood suddenly lifted, her back straightening out as she wiped sweat from her brow. “Whew! That’s a relief.”
Her large grin also returned in kind, which provoked Rook to give her his best “Are you kidding me?” look.
Paradox then cleared his throat. “Anyway, given the nature of the situation, I see it best to call in some outside help. I’ll have to take you back with me…well, forwards for her, since she hasn’t done it yet. But it’s back in time for you, so we’ll have to wait until potential space opens up to take you to the relative point of…”
Ben cut him off there. “Hey, hey. We don’t need the headache of trying to understand the ins and outs. Just take us to where or when or whatever hypothetical whatchamacallit, and fill us in there.”
Paradox nodded. “Fair enough.” He waved his arm and produced the time void again, this time as a proper doorway to their destination.
Ben and Rook made their way towards it, until the latter spoke up, “Um, what should we do about Victoria? We are in the middle of a case, after all.”
“Oh, you can just leave her be.” Paradox explained. “I have a feeling that things may very well circle back to this location afterwards, or perhaps even earlier than that. So, ma’am, if you’ll just stay put until then, you’ll be doing everyone a favor.”
Now, a younger and stupider Ben might’ve disagreed with this decision, thinking that it would give Victoria the chance to run, and miss their opportunity to hunt down Servantis and foil his plan. But then again, the enigma that he was, Paradox usually knew what he was doing. He was just another person in Ben’s life who was indirect, who expected him to just follow along and play the part.
But out of all of them, Paradox was the one who brought back the most results, and that’s what mattered on the job.