A Boy and his Watch
By TheAlienBrony22

The Reality Master,
Part 3

[Bellwood, Outskirts]

As the RV moved along the road, the other three humans had awakened and were filled in on what transpired just a little bit ago. Needless to say, everyone, even Max, was bewildered and very confused by how Ben didn't handle the situation like they had initially thought that he would. It was like a breath of fresh air, and a kick to the groin all at once.

"So, let me see if I heard all that right," Gwen rubbed her eyes and looked Ben in the eyes, feeling a wave of confusion and disbelief wash over her like a freezing cold shower. "You tried to make amends with Charmcaster, even as she was trying to defeat you?"

"That's the shortest abridging you can come up with, so yes, Yes I did," Ben smiled as he sipped on a cup of water. "I figured, since I don't really have a lot of memories of who I once was, and you four are the first few people who haven't tried to kill me, I might as well try making friends. Not even to mention, she couldn't lay a good solid hit on me with how I was using Warlock Trot anyways, so she didn't have an actual chance to hurt me--"

"Whatsalock?" Lucy asked, perplexed by the name. "I'm guessing that was one of your new aliens, right?"

"Well, I wouldn't call them aliens per se, but--"

"Remind me, what other new aliens have you been turning into, after all this time?" Gwen interrupted. "I definitely want to know what that other alien was, that crystal guy, I mean, the one you used to knock the bravado out of Fistrick. He looked like a more fluorescent and skinnier Diamondhead."

"Diamond-what?" Ben asked, equally confused. "Are you talking about Gemstone?"

"Gwen, Lucy, maybe let's ease up on the questions. Let him speak for a little bit, and then we can ask him a bit more," Ken stated. "But, I do have a question myself, Ben. Gwen was able to show us some of your memories, the memories you accumulated from Equestria. We were wondering if maybe transferring our memories of you to your head will help speed up the process, what do you think?"

"Well, to answer this question about my memories, I need some time to lament on the idea... It feels so strange to be around other humans, and not ponies, so I'm still kinda bothered, and maybe just a little bit uncomfortable," Ben remarked, slowly letting everything sink in. "Let's start with refamiliarizing myself with my supposed 'Human Family'. Tell me a bit about our ancestry, if you would ever so kindly."

"It'll be a long talk, but hopefully we'll be able to fill in the holes that a simple memory transference spell simply can't do," Gwen took a deep breath and sighed, "But, I'll tell you on the condition that you'll tell us a little bit more about Equestria."

"Fair enough, if talking was related to alchemy, this would be the law of equivalent exchange." Ben remarked.

[Bellwood Museum of Historical Anomalies; 15 Hours before the heist]

The villainous trio soon arrive on the scene, right around the museum's closing time. The van is parked in an alley, directly on the side of the museum, with only a singular wall of concrete bricks and mortar between the building and the van itself, keeping the van shrouded in darkness, and undetected. Rojo gets out and opens the back doors to the vehicle, revealing Charmcaster and Kevin getting some gear ready.

"You dummies ready to make history tonight, and make a massive pay-out as a bonus?" Rojo asked with a sinister grin.

"As ready as we'll ever be," Kevin morphed his arm into a red muscular reptilian arm with furry canine claws that looked like diamonds. "Someone has to pay the bills this month, and I know for sure it isn't gonna be one of you two. Remind me, what's the route we going with? Stealthy and Undiscovered, or going in loud and proud?"

"Stealthy and Undiscovered. Problem is, we gotta wait till mornin'. My sources tell me that they found this statue in an abandoned military base, something about an experiment gone wrong or something, I dunno." Rojo abridged the explanation, seeming to not really care for the history. "I didn't care for the nitty gritty, all I know is that the quartz that this statue is made of, it's gonna make us tons of cash, and since my dealer is willing to purchase it per every crystal we can keep intact on it, we can sneak it out the moment it's set up for its unveiling ceremony. We'll take it before they notice it's gone, and make out like masterminds."

"And what's gonna happen if he shows up to stop us?" Charmcaster interjected, "He claims he doesn't know me anymore, but I can't say the same for you two."

"If he does come around and tries to stop us, we'll just kick his butt and knock him off a cliff. It'll buy us loads of time." Kevin remarked, igniting his other arm in what looked like a viscous, yet flammable mold of bright purple fire and magma.

"So all we gotta do, is get up to the roof, and station ourselves above the statue's potential display room. Since it'll be guarded from the outside of the room, we can cut a hole in the roof, and snatch it when we get the chance. Then, it's smooth sailing from here on out." Rojo explained simply, smirking at her own genius planning.

Kevin and Rojo began to make their way around the wall, dressed in casual clothes and obscuring their faces with medical masks, all while Charmcaster was beginning to develop cold feet. Begrudgingly, the magical girl dressed herself into more casual clothes and obscured her face as she followed the two towards the Museum's front doors.

[Bellwood, Residential Neighborhood]

"Wait, wait, say that again," Gwen said, looking like she just heard the strangest and most unforeseen sentence in her life, "You fought an eldritch blob..."

"Yes, with some assistance." Ben confirmed.

"An Eldritch blob, that was turning ponies into zombies..." Gwen continued, questioning if she actually just said that.

"Yes, and believe it or not, it's from sampling this eldritch abomination, that I got one of my stranger transformations, because it looked nothing like what I was fighting down there." Ben remarked.

"What did you call that transformation, by the way?" Ken asked.

"Shellusk. It was like a big ol' rolypoly bug, yet it felt more like a mollusk with a sturdy shell." Ben explained, showing the icon of said transformation to the three individuals.

"Ben, that's Cannonbolt! He was the first alien you ever unlocked, and you used him to fight off a giant planet draining alien tick, and win!" Gwen stated.

"And nothing like that is coming to mind, seriously. If I truly went through something like that, surely I'd be able to remember it, right?" Ben asked curiously.

"This isn't gettin' us anywhere, lemme try!" Lucy butted in, moving Gwen to the side as she morphed her arm into... a huge purple mud tentacle!? "Ben, let me educate ya on how you, and your family, prevented a peace treaty from going south."

"I don't think I like where this is going!" Ben said panicking.

Before anything else could happen, the RV came to a halt, showing a somewhat classy suburban home. Ben looked at it for what felt like an eternity, and for a moment, Ben felt as if his heart did two beats at the same time and caused a sharp pain to be sent throughout his body. He felt a couple more tears form in his eyes, and as he let them cascade down his cheeks, he felt the old man, known as Max, guide him outside, and towards the home's front door.

'I can't do this, I can't do this, I don't know these people and it'd be disrespectful to claim I'm their son... I- I don't know what to do, but I need to get back home... As Soon As Physically Possible!' Ben thought to himself in a panic.

"Hey, it's okay. They're not gonna hurt you, and neither are we... you're home, Ben. Go on, knock on the door!" Gwen encouraged with a smile.

Mustering up what strength he had, Ben formed his hand into a fist and lightly knocked on the door. He was scared, in an unfamiliar world that had people like him, yet despite that, he didn't feel like he belonged here. If this was where he came from, Ben seriously felt like he didn't belong here. When the door opened, it revealed a man with brown hair and faded green-ish brown eyes, and a blonde woman with blue eyes.

"Hey dad, what brings you out here so late, and who's this young man?" the man asked, looking at Ben. Ben instinctually waved awkwardly at the married couple, an uncertain smile forms on his face. Ben has no idea what to do, let alone what to say.

"Carl, Sandra, I think I remember how distraught you were when Ben disappeared... so, by unexpected luck of the draw, we found him. Or rather, he found us." Max stated with a smile.

Carl and Sandra were shocked, and were quiet as they looked at the young man standing before them. He looked a little bit like Ben, despite some obvious changes. Same eyes, eye color, same messy brown hair, and of course, the one thing they got used to, for a time, was a certain watch on his wrist, which made Carl reminisce about when he first found out... and how much the repairs cost to fix the entire house.

Sandra walked up to Ben, holding his face in her hands, looking like she's about to cry an entire river.

"There's just one small problem..." Ken remarked, awkwardly scratching his head.

"What do you mean? If this is Ben, then there shouldn't be a problem, regardless of how small. We have our son back, that's good enough for me." Carl stated with a smile.

Ben finally felt it. Some kind of invisible metaphysical weight on his shoulders, keeping him from moving away, and he was about to snap under that pressure. Ben, without thinking, quickly got some distance between himself, and the numerous people he was surrounded with, the people he was supposedly related to.

"I guess we overwhelmed him a bit. But hey, c'mere son and give me a hug!" Carl called out, stretching his arms out. Ben was, needless to say, unable to respond. "C'mon Ben, it's alright, you're home. If you're scared about the house getting trashed again, don't worry. Remember, we took care of Vilgax, together."

"I... I-I...I'm not...n-n-not..." Ben was struggling to get the words out. Ben felt a sudden torrent of emotions wash over him, as well as something coming back to him. Ben felt ill, seriously ill. He fell to the ground, sitting on the sidewalk as something came rushing back to him.

Ben began to remember something.

[Bellwood, Tennyson Residence; 9 years ago. 2 Weeks before Ben's disappearance...]

Memories...

In the midst of a ruined house, a tall squid-like humanoid creature in armor, presumably this 'Vilgax' person he's heard about, fends off a huge round ball, covered in a type of shell. Ben knew this form as Shellusk, or as Gwen called it, 'Cannonbolt'. A man in a green shirt, presumably his supposed father, runs out of the house as the shelled sphere rolls out, letting the house crumble all around the huge squid-like creature.

It hurts too much to remember...

Ben can't hear anything, but can see the motion of the creature talking to the man, they're talking about something, but it's too muffled to hear clearly. Ben couldn't hear what he was saying, let alone figure out what he was saying in the first place, yet he felt as if it was important... yet somehow, he could hear and see something that didn't seem like it was supposed to be there...

He wasn't there before...

Out of the corner of Ben's eyes, on his right, was a statue made of quartz. One that had a very distraughting accurate look to Paradox, down to the face shape, the accessories, but why was it made of quartz?

This isn't right...

NOTHING about that seems right...

Flashes of numerous lights clouded Ben's vision, and all he could hear, was Paradox screaming something, screaming in what could only be compared to as a fit of undesirable rage. All the while, the statue he was looking at, was beginning to crack, and the screaming got louder.

Got to find a way back home.

"You WILL Remember who you are, and when you do, I'll keep you in the world you belong in forever!! There's no debating this, I will fix this timeline, and Equestria, and its inhabitants will be a lucid dream, nothing more and nothing less! No matter what you do, no matter what you attempt, I. WON'T. LET. YOU. GO BACK!!! You don't belong there, Benjamin Tennyson! The sooner you come to grips with this, the better you will be!"

The screaming echoed around Ben constantly, to the point where Ben himself felt like his head was about to pop. He felt like he could hear a hushed whisper amongst the constant screaming, and Ben tried to reach out to where he could hear it--

Ben sat up, his eyes wide and breathing heavily, his face drenched in sweat and a slight blue hue being recognized on his face. He saw the numerous people standing around him, concerned about what just happened. Ben didn't have an idea on what exactly he saw, but that quartz statue and Paradox's words were seared into his mind.

"Ben? Are you okay? You kinda fell backwards and started to mumble as your face turned blue." Ken asked, kneeling down to look at his cousin.

"Ben, do you remember us?" Carl asked, holding Sandra by his side.

"I... I think I remember a small bit, but at the same time, something doesn't feel right... I feel like somehow, I remembered something... wrong. I don't legitimately know how to explain it, but for some reason, I need to sit down and watch... uh... What's a TV?" Ben asked.

Everyone looked at each other, seeming very concerned, but helped Ben to his feet and brought him inside the house, setting him on the sofa as they turned the TV on.

Everyone stood on the sidelines and watched Ben, looking at each other with genuine concern. No one really knew what to say, let alone acknowledge about the situation, until Lucy spoke up.

"Am I the only one feeling like something clearly ain't right 'ere?" Everyone turned towards the blonde teenager, "C'mon, look at him. Something's goin' on in that brain of his, and by the looks of it, it's nothing good. Gwen, you need to look into his head, see what he just remembered, maybe that'll give us something to work off of when gettin' Ben to remember who he is. If it isn't anything pleasant, then it might not be worth dwellin' on."

Gwen slowly approached the sofa and sat next to her cousin, who seemed to be hyper-fixated on the current program. Gwen saw Ben in numerous states before, even under hypnosis, but she's never seen him be so focused, even on the video games he used to play.

"Ben, I--" Gwen was interrupted by Ben putting his index finger up, then turning the volume up on the program.

"--Well look no further, fellow Anomaly Searchers, because tomorrow morning, at the Bellwood Museum for Historical Anomalies, we're unveiling the biggest and most unexplainable Anomaly yet. Racking in a cash worth of six point three-trillion dollars, is the statue of stone that's got everyone abuzzin'! Behold, the 'Para-Quartz'! Also known as, 'The Quartz Man of Los Soledad'!"

The screen shows an image on-screen, and Ben's eyes go wide, dropping the remote as he could feel every nerve in his body, every valve in his heart, every drop of blood in his body... he felt so cold, Gwen could swear she saw Ben turning a bit blue all over. The artifact itself looked like some kind of copper and quartz statue. It looked like a man wearing some kind of garb, shrieking with mortal terror in his eyes. In one of his hands, there seemed to be a pocket watch, and in the other, was a cane.

Ben remembered seeing that statue in whatever in Tartarus he could even call that re-surfacing memory. Somehow, deep within his soul, he knew that statue wasn't there all that time ago, yet he could see it on the screen of the television, clear as day. Ben could feel a devastating chill running along his spine, and Ben found himself clutching the Omnitrix, almost as if he was expecting it to do something.

"According to several former military staff, including scientific researchers who have come forth recently to document what this anomaly is, there was a super secret project being done at Los Soledad, the abandoned military base. Sometime back in the 1950s, a nameless man who seems to have his information expunged from all possible sources, and his assistant, Hugo, received government funding to break a hole in the space-time continuum, simply dubbed, 'Project Paradox', or something like that. It sounds like absolute science fiction, ladies and gentlemen."

"It really does, and most of this stuff is fake." Ken remarked, sitting down as he watched the program.

"However, a slight miscalculation, according to several reports, and an explosion accidentally caused by Hugo, who was beginning to panic when something went wrong, accidentally threw his partner into the event horizon, and that was the last thing anyone ever heard about him... until now. Recently, our loyal and hardworking Anomalous Archivers have been scavenging and searching all that remains of Los Soledad for one more piece to the puzzle. But this statue, it may just have given us another mystery to solve! This statue, according to a few researchers, have analyzed that this statue is comprised of three different materials. Copper, Quartz, and what can only be described as 'Preserved' human remains. It's unclear as to if these rumors of human remains being apart of it are true, but there's a true horrifying fact about this statue that's come up, as of recent discovery. If you put your hand up to where its heart would be, you can feel the warmth, and the beating of a heart--"

The TV was shut off. Ken and Gwen looked at Ben, who looked pale in the face, terrified, and very uncertain. Ben got up and made his way to the front door, only to stop when Max got in the way.

"Something wrong, sport?" Max asked, seeming unnerved by how pale Ben was, and concerned by how terrified he seemed to be. "If something's not right, you can tell us. We can help--"

"I need to leave and get some air... I need some time by myself, please." Ben stated directly, not making eye contact as he continued to keep his grasp on the Omnitrix.

Max moved out of the way slowly, only for Ben to rush out the door, running down the street into the cool air of the night.

"I don't know what just happened. He just looked at that stupid statue, and all of a sudden Ben's running away," Gwen lamented on what transpired, and could only come up with one question, and had a somewhat regretful look form on her face. "Are we trying too hard to make him remember? I don't think he's feeling well with being swarmed so much like this."

"I guess he's just used to having some time to himself... hopefully he'll be fine," Ken remarked.

"Benjamin Tennyson, are you here?" A voice rang out, showing a man in a labcoat, with an unsettling grin on his face. ~~Professor~~ Paradox. "You seem to have gotten away from me, and I need to talk with you."

Everyone was, needlessly to say, very uncomfortable and seemed to feel an existential sense of dread from the man. The man's smile soon became a frown, and he looked a bit surprised. "You can see and hear me, can't you?" The man asked, seeming displeased when everyone shook their heads yes.

"What a pity, and dare I say... WHAT A WASTE OF MY TIME!!" Paradox's voice boomed, causing everyone to jump, though Lucy and Gwen got ready for a fight, in case things escalated. "I succeeded in bringing Benjamin home to his original universe, and yet he continues to defy me, saying that he wants to go back home, when he won't realize that I did in fact bring him HOME..." Paradox took a deep breath, and his frown turned into more of a scowl. "I'm starting to get right properly annoyed by this, and he won't listen, not even to his biological family, his real family."

"You think that maybe Ben has been away from here so long, that the only place that feels like home, is Equestria? I don't understand why he'd think like that, but I get the appeal. Compared to here, Equestria sounds like a good place to be. No criminals to deal with, no destruction, and no psychotic alien weirdos." Ken remarked.

Paradox shifted his glance towards Ken, and just stared him down. Paradox sighed and walked to the door, only to look in Gwen's direction.

"Gwendolyn, if I were you... I'd go after Benjamin Tennyson, now... before he does something he might regret... later." Paradox hissed, and without another word, he vanished without a trace as he walked through the door-way.

Everyone was terrified, and Gwen, she gritted her teeth and her eyes began to glow blue. She had to find Ben, and she had to find him now.

[The Null Void]

Celestia rests on a small floating rock the size of a small island, writing something down on a piece of parchment paper she took with her.

'Plumber's Log: Day 12,

I am so close to finding Ben, but I fear that I may show up too late. I've had minimal issues of losing the trail of magic, and the closer I get, the stronger the magical output is made. Soon, I'll get Benjamin Sparkle back, and then we'll return to Equestria... I have much to explain, not just to my sister, and not just to my most faithful student and her friends... but I have the most to explain to Benjamin himself... Mother, give me thy strength once more, the strength to persevere.

-Princess/Magister Celestia'

Celestia rolled the parchment into a scroll, tucking it into a satchel as she focused on the trail of magic. She felt it fluctuate, just a smidge, but she was right at the cusp of entering another world. The alicorn took a deep breath, and flew up as fast and as high as she could muster, and saw a fluorescent yellow portal open up above her, and she lunged right through it. The portal soon closed, and the hardest part of the mission was now in-effect.

Locate and Rescue Benjamin Sparkle.

Failure was not, and nor was it ever an option.

Author's Note

Well, this was a long time coming. Getting back into the swing of things can really be difficult sometimes, but the more you try, the easier it tends to be.

I'm not sure when the next chapter will be out, but hopefully it won't take me several trillion centuries to get it out.

And while I'm here, I may as well post an updated list of Ben's current available transformations, because why not.

Starburner ---> Heatblast

Beelzebeast ---> Wildmutt

Ghooligan ---> Ghostfreak

Cyberpunk ---> Upgrade

Smart Toad ---> Grey Matter

Fourest Fighter ---> Four Arms

Halibite ---> Ripjaws

Speed Demon ---> XLR8

Gemstone ---> Diamondhead

Skunksquito ---> Stinkfly

Warlock Trot ---> Unicorn Transformation

Shinzilla ---> Dragon Transformation

Shellusk ---> Cannonbolt

Heavy Hydrant ---> Overflow

All-Sight ---> Eye Guy

Prismatikk ---> Chromastone