Disclaimer: Image used is not mine.

XXXXX

It all started with a watch on a summer night...

"Please be a cute alien girl, please be a cute alien girl." a ten year old boy muttered like a mantra over and over again as he made his way to the crash site of that meteor or whatever. In the crater, he found a capsule, "Cute alien girl?" he asked as the pod began to open...

Things only escalated from there...

"I'm sorry Ben but I... I just think it would be best if we split up. We're just... just so distant now and... you..."

Benjamin Tennyson was many things. A resident of Bellwood, a local hero of Bellwood, a planetary hero, a universal hero, a messiah on one occasion, a 'legit' play boy at one point, he was just an all-around hero really. Those titles didn't ease the pain though. He honestly felt at his lowest and not even the refreshing taste of a Mr. Smoothie's smoothie after bagging and tagging the maniac zombie clown Zombozzo with his cousin and brother-from-another-mother could ease his aching spirit. Breaking up with a long-time girlfriend you even went on a death defying adventure with could do that to a guy. He really did come to care for Julie. Maybe even...

"Yo…" and speaking of which, the couple returned to the car with their bags of food, "How ya holdin' up?" Kevin was naturally easy going after the whole "Psycho Phase" of his younger years passed but he was never soft spoken, especially to Ben, but this was a super sour case and Ben was a cool guy.

Ben hopped off the hood of the car, "Better than earlier," he replied, mustering up a smile.

Gwen saw right through that fake smile and placed a hand on her cousin's shoulder, "Ben, you know you can't lie to me right?" She asked rhetorically before pointing towards the drink in Ben's hand. "You've only had two of those."

Kevin winced at Ben's lack of smoothie consumption, the guy was defiantly shutdown, "Jeez."

Ben sighed, "That obvious huh?" he idly twirled the now empty cup around before tossing it in the trash, "You'd think the guy who took down world ending tyrants could handle himself better," he muttered in a scolding tone as he put his hands in his pocket, not facing the couple as he spoke. He didn't mean for his partners to hear it but they did.

Gwen and Kevin gave each other a worried glance before the former spoke up, "Ben if you need us to stay-"

Ben knew what she was going to say and swiftly cut her off as he turned to face her, "hey, don't let my problems slow you guys down," he said, holding his hands up while he mustered up another smile, a tad more genuine, "I'll bounce back like always." He already felt weak as it is, so halting his cousin from her studies would only make him feel worse, make him feel weak. He saw this as his personal struggle and no one else's.

Gwen wanted to protest a little further but Kevin put an arm around her shoulder while his eyes were locked with Ben's, "Okay man, but call anytime you need to chit-chat. I'm serious."

"Of course." Ben chuckled before he gave Kevin a teasing glare, "gotta make sure you treat my cousin right."

Gwen snorted while Kevin lazily rolled his eyes and said, "Whatever." He then held out his fist and Ben returned the gesture to completes the fist bump.

Gwen walked up and gave him tight hug which Ben returned without hesitation, "Take care, Ben."

"You too." Ben replied as they broke apart. Ben watched the couple go into the car and drive off to start their own adventure. Without him. Ben smiled until they were out of sight and started his trek home as the evening came while the sun had nearly departed. Now he felt utterly miserable. No girlfriend and no team. Cash and JT were cool but not exactly hangout material for Ben. Being a hero meant a lot of explosions and both of the boys, being normal civilians, were quite allergic to that. And just because he was famous didn't mean he had a big social clique to choose from. In fact, it probably decreased it do to the amount of fan love he would get in comparison to genuine love.

Ben was officially alone now.

He grumbled to himself as he reached his home, "Looks I'm in for a lame time."

If only he knew.

XXXXX

"Remember… Rook, right?" Ben asked as the Plumber transport landed in what appeared to be an abandoned Midwestern town in the middle of a barren plain. The next day, Ben had got an assignment to check out a disturbance of an alien variety.

"Rook Blonko is my full name but you may refer to me as Rook," said the alien man in blue armor and carrying some type of tool or device stepping out of the cargo hold alongside Ben. Speaking of which, Ben was simultaneously given a new partner to train. He didn't want to do this but he knew his career choice would eventually call for this and thus, he sucked it up and rolled with it. No point in complaining since he was a hero after all.

"Right." Ben nodded as he spoke and wrapped an arm around Rook's shoulder, bringing him closer to eye level. He chuckled, "Lighten up, newbie. I'm not a working stiff."

"I assumed you were limber and do you think I'm over encumbered?" Rook asked as he brought up his device, "because I only brought my proto-tool and some medical paste."

Ben stared at him for a few seconds before clapping his hands together, "How often did you leave the farm?"

"Other than my time in the plumber academy and the Plumber base, this would be my first time truly out." Rook explained.

Ben released a breath and placed a hand on Rook's shoulder, "You and me are gonna have fun." He said sarcastically. Ben didn't dislike Rook, he just disliked the idea of not working with his usual crew. A bad break up, his cousin and best friend leave for college, and now he's gotta look after a new guy fresh off the farm with no experience to Ben's type of social interaction? Needless to say, Ben was very displeased with the status quo change.

Rook grinned, clearly not understanding sarcasm, "I'm pleased to hear this. I was afraid you'd see my naivety as aggravating."

Ben shook his head as he lead the rookie to the location of disturbance. Under better circumstances, his sarcastic comment would actually be genuine. He couldn't outright dislike this guy but damn the timing! Slowly, Ben decreased his walking pace as the sound of ripping and tearing of buildings became louder along with deep inhuman snarls. Cautiously, Ben and Rook, holding onto his proto-tool, turned the corner.

Lumbering over a small, torn down building was a large centaur like alien around sixteen tall, colored reddish brown with a black underside. His lower body was like that of a canine while his upper body was vaguely more humanoid though his hands sported large talons as well. Spikes of varying sizes resided on his humanoid back and clustered around the larger spikes running down the spine. The alien stopped in his tracks and turned to reveal his visage, a set of blazing red eyes on a canine like face lined with vicious teeth.

A deep snarl rumbled from his throat as he spotted the hero, "Ben Ten."

"Taka-Han, my main chef!" Ben guffawed as he stepped out into the open. Rook halted as Ben held out a hand, signalling him for him to stay in his current place, "been a while."

"Not long enough, insect."

"Insect?" Ben parroted in an exaggerated tone of hurt and placed his hands over his chest, "I thought I was a morsel."

"I would never lower myself to consuming you... at least not in that form." he spoke as he slowly approached Ben. He looked towards Rook and a malicious grin etched itself on his face, "Your friend on the other hand looks like an exotic snack."

Ben dry heaved in disgust, "First off, don't say it like that. You and Kevin sound waaay too much alike…" then he pointed towards the now confused Rook, "Second, I'm sure Rook doesn't swing your way."

Rook's head tilted in confusion, "Swing his way?"

Taka-Han snorted in disdain at such a joke but Ben paid him no mind and laughed, "We'll discuss it later, Rook." Ben held up his Omnitrix and went through his alien selection, "I want you to hang back for this one. This'll make for a better demonstration really. Maybe even take some notes on this class 10 Tennyson beatdown while you're at it."

Rook gave him a salute and retreated back to a "safer" distance. He mentally scolded himself for not having anything to take notes with. He should've known better.

Taka-Han snarled, his hands morphing into blades as he closed the distance between himself and Ben, "You believe the fight to be in your favor!?"

Ben couldn't help but get more smug at this question, "Didn't I kick your scaly hide when I was ten? With a prototype Omnitrix might I add?"

"My species grow stronger with loss," Taka-Han rumbled, raking his arm blades together in a threat display and roared, "History will not repeat itself!"

"By that logic, you should be unbeatable!" The hero guffawed to Taka-Han's ever growing rage. Suddenly Ben's smirk fell and his jovial attitude was gone, replaced by the more serious side of him due to the displeasure he currently felt, "So, what brought you here anyway? Answer me and you may not end up in critical condition."

Taka-Han roared again, "I will tell you nothing! My reasons are my own, Insect!" with that, Taka-Han charged forward and Ben slammed his hand down on the Omnitrix. A flash of green light erupted and momentarily blinded the alien as he brought down his arms on Ben in an effort to dismember him. Instead of gore and viscera, teal colored crystals greeted his eyes.

"Ultimate Diamondhead!" Ben's form had transformed into an evolved Petrosapian right before Taka-Han's eyes. His body was less bulky than before but he was harder, more compact. He now had four spikes protruding from his back and his outfit consisted of black pants with a green top that ran black along the sides. The Omnitrix symbol, if course, resided on his chest, "Have it your way then. Hope that regeneration eases the hurt that's gonna drop on you."

"Rraargh!" Ben jumped back as Taka-Han swung his arm blades down again. Ben's hands morphed numerous jagged spikes and started blasting off like a minigun towards the larger alien's upper body. The first volley of crystals struck his body with ease until Taka-Han raised up his arm blades to block the other shots. To Taka-Han's utter dismay, the arm blades didn't deflect the shots but were simply pierced themselves, albeit the crystal shards didn't embed themselves deep into his arms, "What treachery is this!?"

Ben's smirk grew, "Evolved petrosapien, bro! I'm harder than ever!"

Taka-Han snarled and his body pushed out the crystals, "You'll die just like any other petrosapian, cretin!"

"See, Rook!? This is what I like to call fight dialogue!" Ben yelled as he and the alien were locked in a clash of blades, Ben moving to and fro to avoid being struck directly while making counterattacks of his own. Taka-Han was nicked and even stabbed on occasion but his flesh would regenerate anew in seconds. Still, at this point, Ben was only warming up and felt the need to work off some stress with a prolonged fight since no one was in danger from the combat.

"I've made a mental note, Mr. Tennyson!" Rook replied from the distance atop one of the buildings, making all the mental notes of every word said and action taken. 'Magister Tennyson was correct in his statements regarding Ben's more... unorthodox style of handling aggressors.'

"It's just Ben!" the hero yelled as he parried a slash and slid under Taka-Han to surprise him. Another green flashed and, "Ultimate Humongosaur!" the transformation allowed Ben to toss Taka-Han into the air before catching him by his hind legs and spin around, "Ready for a 'round the world' special!?" he asked, spinning and gaining momentum as his spin went on and on.

"Release me, beast!" Taka-Han growled and neighed in protest, uselessly clawing at the ground as dizziness began to make his vision blur, "I said release me!"

"As you say!" Ben mockingly replied by the tenth spin, releasing his grip and throwing Taka-Han face first into a building. Ben chuckled, dusting his hands off to further taunt his currently floored opponent, "Catch that one, Rook!?"

"No... and I don't believe I could without being crushed, Ben!" Rook was starting to become concerned. Did the watch make Ben lose some parts of his rationality and thus make him more destructive? Rook shook his head, that couldn't be it. As Magister Tennyson put it, there should be a method to his madness.

"I wasn't being literal!" Ben called out as his hands turned into rocket launchers. Taka-Han crashed from the rubble, bits of wood being dislodged from his flesh and foam leaking from mouth thanks to his literal frothing rage, "Ready for another trip? It'll be a blast!" Ben started unleashing a rapid volley of rocket fire towards the charging alien. To Ben's surprise, Taka-Han only lost bits of flesh and his charged barely slowed.

"Explosives are futile!" Taka-Han thrusted his blades up to rend Ben's head from his shoulders but the hero caught his arms and roughly brushed them aside. He grabbed his enemy by the shoulder and lifted him overhead.

"What about body slams!?" Ben roared excitedly as he fell backwards to slam the alien down which caused a cloud of debris to rise from the powerful impact. Taka-Han groaned in pain as he slowly began to rise, barely noticing another green flash from behind him, "Ultimate Diamondhead! As fun as this is, I think it's time for you to tap out."

"A Hasei never retreats!" Taka-Han said shakily as he rose up to his full height to look down at Ben who began to unleash another volley of crystals towards him. Taka-Han channelled all his rage from within, making his muscles swell and glow red, and began to slash at a rapid pace while his skin around his arms managed to harden further, allowing him to deflect most of the crystals with the exceptions of a few that pierced his body, "It'll take more than that!"

"What about all that?" Ben cockily retorted as he pointed behind the enraged alien. Taka-Han quirked a brow and hesitantly looked at his surroundings. The crystals he deflected were now floating around him, nearly hundreds of them poised to impale him at the snap of Ben's fingers. Actually, Ben didn't even have to do that. One mental command and they came all at once, making Taka-Han screech in both agony and fury, "And now for the grand finisher!" Ben yelled as he clasped his hands together.

"No! No!" Taka-Han roared as the crystals began to grow on his flesh, quickly trapping him in an unbreakable prison. In one last attempt to kill Ben, his arm blade came down to behead his target. Ben didn't even flinch since the blade stopped an inch away from his neck and the last of Taka-Han was imprisoned in a crystalline formation.

"Now that's art." Ben comically gasped as he reverted to normal, "Alright Rook, show's over!"

"That was indeed an impressive show of strength. Though..." Rook stopped to take a gander at the wrecked scenery, "I believe you could've ended that fight earlier and saved up on damages."

Ben went into a thinking pose the shrugged, "Yeah. But that wouldn't be as fun."

"Noted," Rook replied in a dry monotone before taking a glance at said work of art, "I'll contact the plumber base and let them know Taka-Han Bhan has been subdued and in need of transport."

"Cool. I'm gonna take a few pictures. Become the next Donatello maybe." Ben jested only to realize his jest was completely lost on his audience of one.

Rook quizzically quirked a brow, "What does that mean? I thought you liked your current name."

"... Nevermind." Ben replied in a dull tone as he walked to the currently encased alien with his phone out, "One quick pic and then I'll see what this guy's fuss was all about."

Meanwhile, Ben's other unknown observer let out a sinister chuckle as he put away some type of binocular device that also functioned for recording, "Ben Tennyson. Truly the greatest prey this galaxy has to offer so far," the figure gave off a soft whistle which drew a dark blue doglike alien towards him which he idly began to pet and caress, "but I must remain patient. I need to witness more personally."

It didn't take too long to get back to the plumber base along with the criminal chef and with help of Ultimate Diamondhead, they broke the crystals off of his body... partially, enough for him to talk, eat, and use the restroom, more importantly, figure out why he was rampaging in that area in the first place "A dinosaur perfectly encased in crystal under that town... and you wanted to make it into ingredients for some type of stir-fry!?" Ben yelled at Taka-Han, who was locked up in a plumber cell more attuned to his species size and needs, "Are you braindead, imagine the money you could make!"

Taka-Han took offense to this question and snapped back, "My passion is fuelled by the creation of the most intricate cuisines with my noble blades! Monetary gain means nothing to me, Insect!"

"You must be to your kind as Blukic and Driba are to the galvans!" Ben yelled as his gestured to the duo next to him as they ran maintenance of the upper level cell.

"Hey!" yelled Driba, the more portly and short galvan.

"Not that's uncalled for." Spoke Blukic, the taller and slender galvan.

Ben sent a withering glare their way, making them shiver, "Don't drink my smoothies then, you amphibious gnomes," he said dryly. Sometimes he regretted introducing the duo to his favorite drink. It was nice to bond over at first but they eventually could get a little carried away and steal his. Not cool at all.

"Gnomes?" Questioned Rook as he came to the scene after delivering the criminal report.

"I'll show you later," Sighed Ben as he started walking away with the revonahgander in tow. Said revonahgander noticed how the young man wasn't as "pumped" as earlier this morning. He looked more forlorn really. That didn't fit his description at all.

Rook decided to point it out, "You seem less lively than usual. Does something trouble you?"

"What?" Ben Squawked. He mentally cursed himself for nearly moping in front of the newbie, "No, It's fine. I haven't energized myself yet."

"Ah," Rook reached into his pouch and pulled out a Plumber issued energy bar, "Would this help?"

Ben wretched and motioned for Rook to put the bar away, "I require chili fries, dude. Those are what sustain the stud in front of you. Also smoothies."

Rook nodded in understanding, since he didn't like the bars either, and put the bar back in his pouch, "If that's the case then perhaps we should stop by the mess hall or one of the earth restaurants?"

Ben patted him on the back, "Good idea. I got the perfect place in mind."

XXXXX

"Two large chili fries and two large smoothies my good man!" Ben yelled as both him and Rook came to the Mr. Smoothies serving window. Today, Rook would learn the glory of one, if not, the greatest restaurant in the galaxy. Maybe even the universe. Rook doubted this claim but wisely kept his doubts regarding Mr. Smoothies to himself.

"Coming right up, sir!" replied the ever friendly fast food worker.

Ben and Rook immediately took a seat at one of the tables. "So, Rook, what do you think of Earth?"

"It's proven interesting so far…" Rook answered, a pinch of excitement in his tone, "My first official assignment with Ben Tennyson and that assignment lead to an encounter with a Hasei. Not to mention seeing the Omnitrix function first hand."

"And buddy, it tends to get crazier." Ben replied mirthfully before he spotted someone come over to their table with the tray of food, "Talk about fast food." Ben quipped. It was about to be set down when multiple police sirens went off in the distance and halted the duo. With a groan Ben asked, "Can we get these to go?"

Nearby the duo's location, a squadron of police cars were chasing down a building hopping figure in a purple coat with white fur lining and a face mask carrying a capsule on her back with a glowing, red ball inside it. The figure leaped from building with ease and was more than capable of outmanoeuvring the standard police force. The police cars tried to regroup but had to stop around a random and inconvenient truck overturned in the middle of the road. Numerous officers exited their vehicles and looked on in frustration as the target was escaping.

"Yo!" Ben called out, approaching the police in his standard laidback fashion. The cop either released breathes of relief or cheered as he came, "Take it you guys got a runner too slick to catch?"

"You don't know the half of it." A portly Scottish officer replied, "The perp stole some type of nuclear device and booked it. None of us could reach the slippery thug."

"Don't worry chief, me and the newbie got this." Ben said as he tapped on the Omnitrix and turned into, "Crashhopper!" He transformed into an insectoid alien, resembling that of an earth grasshopper, "Don't think I'll need an ultimate form for this," he said before hopping off towards the target.

"I'm not the chief." The cop muttered rather bitterly. He turned to Rook and said, "Be careful, sir."

Rook nodded with small smile and primed his proto-tool, "Of course. That's a prerequisite for Plumbers."

Meanwhile, Ben was hot on the person's trail, easily closing the distance between him and the runner, who he could now see was female, "Hey, you know running from the cops is illegal on this planet right?" He immediately went to grab her but she leapt over him, "You're a quick lady." he stated as he went for another grab only for her to slide under his arm.

She fell off the building but thanks to her stretchy arms, she grabbed on a beam for a building under construction and flipped onto it. She ran all the way to end and stopped to see an approaching Ben with a cocky grin on his face, "Looks like you're at the end of your rope, hot stuff."

She grinned herself, "Not really, hot stuff." Ben got a feeling she was trying to pull a fast one and charged. She was a faster by a fraction of a second and flipped over him again, losing her mask in the process. Ben got a good glimpse of her attractive pink face, locking his green eyes with her purple ones in that instant. Hot stuff indeed.

He repositioned himself mid-fall and landed on the roof of a building, missing the pool by a couple of feet. Thank goodness for his natural armor and strong legs, "Shoo shoo, go away." A middle aged woman told him.

"Sorry for the intrusion." He laughed. He turned back to the girl who once again used her stretchy arms to stop her fall and land back on the beam.

"You're never at the end of your rope when you've got the reach!" She stated. Her cocky smirk immediately died when the glow item in the container fell from the capsule on her back and down to the street below. Ben let out a quick, "Ha!" and went below to get a good glance at it.

Judging from the way it melted into the ground, touching it as Crashhopper was out of the question. Before he could transform into some alien that could hold it, the girl used her elastic arm to retrieve the ball of energy and place it back in the capsule. The heat had no effect on her or her clothes, which themselves seemed out of place in this hot weather, so it was safe to assume she was a heat based alien, "Hey, Ben! Fun fact, I prefer your true form over that one! It suits you much more!" She winked and parkoured out of sight.

Ben was stunned for a moment before he let out an amused snort, "She made off with a fusion device." Rook calmly told Ben as he ran up next to him with his proto-tool in scanner mode to track down the stolen core, "It's defiantly in our best interest to get that back."

"Ain't got to tell me twice," Ben said as he reverted to normal, obviously to Rook's amusement, "What's got you giggly all of a sudden?"

"Our thief's earlier statement and you returning to her preferred form of you is all." Rook said in joking manner, surprising Ben.

"Teasing me over a cute alien girl's compliment already?" Ben questioned with a laugh and slapped Rook on the back, "And here I thought you were more of a by the book stiff."

"How did I appear stiff?"

XXXXX

First off, A big helping heap of love for my boi Guikoi!

My first Ben 10 Fanfic! Alright, let's establish some things:

-For Ben, Kevin, and Gwen's looks, I'm sticking to Ben 10 Ultimate. However, Ben wears the white and green hoodie now while Gwen while wear the cat shirt. That is all regarding looks.

-I wrote this after feeling inspired by DMC but obviously this isn't a crossover in any way. I'm also reimagining things for Ben 10: Omniverse with these what ifs: What if Ben was treated like the genuine threat he really is? What if the show did more with the alien Waifus? What if Omniverse didn't throw away character development? What if Ben paired with a likeable girl(s). I don't hate Kai, I hate what the show did and how they used Kai. Even if you ship them, admit it, what the writers did was trash. Seriously, I question a lot of the choices the writers made for Omniverse as only thing really great about it was the Waifus and Rook, let's be real y'all. The series before Omniverse was great. Omniverse was a let down in so many ways compared to the series before it. As for the reboot, it can at least do some interesting things and character traits. Don't care for that redesign though... Reboot is also a let down by the way.

-Yes, this takes place in Omniverse. But I'm gonna do Omniverse differently: Ben isn't going to be an immature idiot... in a sense that it feels like Alien Force and Ultimate never happened. And the people will actually treat Ben like he's a real threat/celebrity a good chunk of time. Because he is and the show kinda forgot that. Second, more Waifu use. Third, Ben will be more flirtatious and well, like Dante and fight like Nero from DMC. I mean, I could see him developing like that, especially in his teens. Yes, by the way, I'm shaking young Ben up for the fun of it. Plus, I thought it would be cool and hopefully, you'll agree. Fourth, Ultimates shall be used. Because those are cool. Lastly, Ben and Rook will have a teacher/student relationship.

-Taka-Han is the Samurai Chef alien from Ben 10 (2016) reboot only redesigned by me to be more monstrous and given a name along with a species name, which is Hasei. I was feeling inspired from Berial from DMC4 for his redesign. Go DMC!

-Anyone who gets my reference with that Dinosaur trapped in crystal earns a cookie.

-Finally, Julie won't be bashed. I don't want to make the relationship like that. Fun fact, people break up but they aren't always assholes to each other after.

'Kay, bye now.