Ten Over Ten Thousand/Part 1

Scene 1
Gwen: “C’mon Ben, we’ve been out here for hours. We are definitely lost now.”

Gwen and Ben wander aimlessly through a dense forest.

Ben: “We’re not lost, we just need to find the river again then follow it back to the campsite!”

Gwen: “The river was back that way.”

Ben: “Nah pretty sure it was this way.”

Ben points towards an opening in the trees.

Gwen: “Why don’t you use Stinkfly and find out for certain before we get ourselves COMPLETELY lost out here.”

Ben turns away from Gwen and checks the Omnitrix. Its dial is glowing red, timed out from his previous exploits.

Ben: “Don’t need to. I know where I’m going.”

Gwen: “Really? Cos I have about three hours of wandering behind me that says otherwise.”

Ben begins walking away in the direction of the opening.

Gwen: “Look, It’s gonna get dark soon so you better find the river quickly.”

Ben: “Yeah yeah whate-ahh!!”

Ben suddenly trips and falls down a hill- the opening having actually been a drop that he did not notice.

Gwen: “Ben!”

She runs over to the edge of the small valley. At the bottom, Ben picks himself up from the dirt. He brushes himself off to little effect, before his attention become fixated on a cave in front of him.

Gwen: “Are you alright down there?”

Ben: “Do you see that?”

Gwen: “What, the cave?”

Ben: “Well yeah, but I mean inside the cave.”

Ben walks cautiously towards the dark mouth of the cave. Gwen stumbles down the slope to join him. Inside the cave, a glint of light reflects towards the two children.

Gwen: “That’s what you’re distracted by? C’mon Ben you’re not a magpie, it’s just a piece of metal. Let’s go. Grandpa Max will be getting worried by now.”

Ben: “No Gwen, it’s not just the reflection. Look closer.”

Gwen: “I can’t see anything. Let’s go.”

Gwen grabs Ben’s arm and tugs him quickly to try and convince him to move away from the cave. Instead, Ben walks towards the cave.

Ben: “You really don’t see that?”

Gwen: “Ben there’s nothing in there. C’mon. I don’t wanna be caught out here when night falls.”

Ben disappears into the cave.

Ben: “Woah!”

Gwen: “Dangit Ben...”

Gwen follows him inside. When she is finally enveloped totally in the darkness of the cave, her eyes adjust and she gasps in short startlement as she sees what Ben had seen all along. Inside the cave stands a tall stone golem, at least as tall as Ben and Gwen standing on each other’s shoulders. The rock is nearly black inside the poorly lit cave. Ben reaches into his pocket and pulls out his phone. The camera flash turns on, illuminating the rocky tomb. Gwen slaps her forehead, before bringing out her own phone to use its torch.

Gwen: “And only now do I remember we have GPS...”

Ben: “What do you think it is?”

The golem is as round as it is tall. At the top of its body it has a flat head with a sunken face. Its arms and legs have black etchings in them, the upper arms and legs appear to be ribbed with bands of stone around them. Strange rib-like etching run up the sides of its body. There is a circle in the center of its chest that acts like a window into the inner workings of the statue.

Gwen: “I don’t know, the inside looks like a clock. Maybe it’s one of Steam Smythe’s creations?”

Ben circles the statue, almost tripping on a metal decoration that had been discarded on the floor. He picks it up. The decoration has a weird semicircle shape with a notch missing from the middle of the rounded side and what looks like a stand on the flat side. It has two circular holes in it.

Ben: “Why would Steam Smythe build a stone robot and leave it in a cave in the middle of a forest?”

Gwen: “Do you know anyone else that builds clockwork robots?”

Gwen notices that Ben has now climbed on top of a rock and is now trying to insert the ‘base’ end of the decoration into a keyhole on the back of the statue.

Gwen: “What are you doing?”

Ben: “Trying to fit this key into its hole, but it won’t fit.”

Gwen: “Why?”

Ben: “Well because this looks like a toy soldier’s key. Thought it might fit.”

Gwen: “Well be careful. We don’t know what this thing is or what it might-- DON’T CLIMB ON IT!”

Ben has pulled himself on top of the golem’s shoulders.

Ben: “Hey there’s another hole up here!”

He holds the decoration over the hole in the top of the statue’s head. The hole is exactly in the center of the golem. Ben slowly lowers the metal fixture into the golem. When it feels like it has sunken in as far as it will go, Ben lets go carefully. He pulls his hands away slowly, before the key whirs into life. It rotates in place, accelerating quickly.

Suddenly the statue jumps into life. With a crunch, its right leg moves up from its slightly entrenched position. Ben stumbles and falls off of the automaton in front of Gwen. The stone creature’s smooth skin begins to warm from its grey colour into bronze as its sunken face begins to glow green. The clockwork inside its chest also whirs into life, humming the same green tone. With a positive chime, Ben’s Omnitrix comes back to life.

Gwen: “Ben! Do something!”

Ben: “On it!”

The face of Ben’s alien wristwatch rises, only to be slammed back down by his right hand. His body grows tremendously as his skin turns a deep crimson. He sprouts a second pair of arms as his eyes turn bright green. The golem takes a step forwards towards Ben and Gwen. Ben holds out two of his black-gloved hands in front of Gwen to guard her.

Four Arms: “Keep your distance clockwork!”

A dial suddenly illuminates on the robot’s torso, revealing a familiar hourglass shape.

Gwen (shocked): “It-It’s another watch user!”

Ben slams his hands together, before cracking his knuckles

Four Arms: “Not for much longer!”

Four Arms charges the bronze golem. He swings his fists... Only to stumble through the other side of where it had been standing. He turns back to see the robot staring back at him from exactly where it had always been stood.

Golem: “It’s good that you’re afraid of me, children.”

The green hourglass symbol on the robot’s chest glows red. A monotonous beeping precedes a bright flash. The bronze golem disappears, replaced by a tall bearded man with brown hair.

Man: “But you shouldn’t be!”

Four Arms: “Who are you?”

Man: “You don’t recognise me?”

The man is wearing a black shirt, the left half of the torso is bright green with a white ‘10k’ inside a green circle overstepping onto the black half. He has a strange silicon belt that stretches over the top of his trousers. The belt has a green hourglass symbol on the front of it, with white bands running around the sides. He has murky green trousers.

Gwen: “Ben?”

Four Arms: “Yeah?”

Gwen: “I think that's you!”

Four Arms: “Me? But he's old!”

Adult Ben: “There's an alien wristwatch on your arm and time travel is somehow out of the question?”

With a green flash, Ben reverts to his human self. He scrutinises his adult self’s clothing closely.

Ben: “So you are me?”

Adult Ben: “Ben 10’000! At your service!”

The adult Ben’s Omnitrix is slightly more advanced looking than Ben’s own, but nonetheless the same device.

Ben: “This is so cool! Am I famous? Rich? Who was that alien?”

Ben 10’000: “Y’know, I felt proud when I came up with the name for this alien. I'd forgotten I'd already named him here today.”

Ben: “Wait his name’s Clockwork?”

Ben 10’000: “Yep!”

Ben: “That's kinda lame. What powers does he have?”

Ben 10’000: “Ah… I really shouldn't say, but I have a feeling I'm going to have to tell you to explain a few things. Also, I'm pretty sure we forget about today after it happens anyway. He has time powers. Forwards, back, slowing, accelerating. You get the idea.”

Gwen: “So that's how you arrived here in the past. You used Clockwork!”

Ben 10’000: “Exactly!”

Gwen: “But why?”

Ben 10’000 goes to answer but stops himself. He looks out the mouth of the cave. Night has fallen and it is now totally dark out.

Ben 10’000: “I’ll tell you later. We need to get you two back to the RV, Max’ll be getting worried. Ben, give me your phone.”

Ben: “What, why?”

Ben 10’000: “Because I don't trust your sense of direction.”

Gwen: “Ha! Told you we were lost!”

Ben holds out his phone. His future self twists the dial of his Omnitrix, before pushing the dial down. He becomes a black and purple humanoid with circuit patterns running along his body. He takes Ben's phone and absorbs it into the palm of his right hand. A map of the area appears in the palm of his left.

Ben: “I am going to get that back, right?”

Upgrade: “Of course.”

The alien begins to walk out the mouth of the cave, the children both following closely. As Upgrade steps into the open night his eye illuminates, assimilating the torch of the phone.

Scene 2
A bright orange campfire illuminates the side of the RV. Max stands confused as the two Bens stand next to each other facing him. Gwen roasts a marshmallow over the campfire, sat on a log stump.

Max: “So there are two of you know?”

Ben 10’000: “Just one technically. I'm him but from the future.”

Max: “How’d you find a way into the past?”

Ben 10’000: “I have more than ten aliens now. One of them can time travel.”

Ben 10’000 turns to see his younger self holding his phone up in the air. On the screen, he sees an image of both him and his younger self together.

Ben 10’000: “What are you doing?”

Ben: “Trying to take a selfie. Say cheese!”

Ben presses the camera button on his phone, followed by two simultaneous flashes. One white flash, from his camera, and one green flash, from Ben 10’000’s Omnitrix. The tiny grey alien Grey Matter jumps away from the camera’s view before shifting back into his human form. Young Ben looks at the photo. It’s just a malformed mess half enveloped in green light. He deletes the photo.

Ben: “What was that for?”

With a flash, Grey Matter returns to his human form.

Ben 10’000: “I’m not even supposed to be here! I can’t let you keep a memento of what your future looks like, do you have any idea how that could affect the timelines?”

Ben: “Not really.”

Ben 10’000: “Well neither do I but it can’t be good.”

Ben: “Okay, I’ll fight you for the selfie.”

Ben 10’000: “What?”

Ben: “You heard me. If I can beat you in a fight, you owe me a selfie!”

Ben 10’000: “That is beyond stupid. You don’t even know why I’m here yet.”

Gwen swallows a marshmallow before speaking up.

Gwen: “Why are you here anyway?”

Ben 10’000: “Because I was fighting a very monstrous creature with the power to pursue me across eternity. I decided to send him back in time to give me more time to think about how best to fight him, thinking that he would find his way back to fight me in my present day. What I did not realise was that I’d just sent him to hunt my past self, so I came back in time to protect you. Unfortunately I overshot and ended up having to sleep off a few decades in that cave.”

Max: “O~kay. This is all a bit beyond me, so I’m going to get some more marshmallows for Gwen.”

Gwen: “Wait Grandpa, I have plenty--”

Max walks into the Rustbucket, shutting the door behind him.

Ben: “Okay but if I was in any danger, wouldn’t you cease to exist? Wouldn’t that then prevent this creature from ever being sent back in time?”

Ben 10’000: “It doesn’t take Grey Matter to know that waiting to figure that out for myself would be a terribly bad idea.”

Ben: “Okay so about that selfie...”

Ben 10’000: “No! What’s wrong with you? Why is this selfie so important to you?”

Ben: “Because when I show the internet I’ll explode in popularity!”

Ben 10’000: “And they won’t just assume I’m your older brother?”

Ben: “No.”

Ben 10’000: “Are you sure about that?”

Ben: “Yes.”

The adult Ben’s patience visibly wears thin as he rubs the bridge of his nose with his thumb and index finger. He sighs loudly.

Ben 10’000: “You challenged me to a fight? If I win you never ask for a selfie again. If you win, you get a selfie with me.”

Ben: “Yes!”

A wide smile is painted across young Ben’s face.

Ben 10’000: “Fine. Pick your poison.”

Ben quickly searches through his aliens, twisting the dial on his Omnitrix to do so.

Ben: “You have more than ten aliens, right?”

Ben 10’000: “Yes.”

Ben: “New rule: You can only use one of our original ten aliens.”

Ben 10’000: “I don’t care.”

Ben continues to scroll through his options before arriving at the wide, angled silhouette of Overflow. He slams down the dial of his alien watch. His skin turns a deep crimson as his forearms bulge outwards into huge gauntlets. Metal pipes burst out of his back, wrapping under his shoulders and connecting to a grey nozzle that has formed over his mouth. His eyes turn green and his body grows out as the transformation completes. The Orishan stands menacingly before the future Ben. Ben 10’000, in one swift movement, brings both of his wrists together and he presses down the dial of his own Omnitrix. When the green light fades, he too has assumed his Orishan form.

Overflow (Young): “Well I wasn’t expecting that...”

Overflow (Adult): “Get on with it.”

Young Ben raises both of his arms forwards and fires two powerful streams of pressurised water at his older self. Ben 10’000 simply raises both arms straight upwards and the streams arc over both him and the rustbucket. They rain back down as a fine mist. Slightly shocked by this, Young Ben watches as Ben 10’000 casually prepares his attack. The adult Overflow pushes both of his arms forwards, and a seemingly invisible force propels young Ben backwards into a tree. Ben 10 collapses onto his backside.

Overflow (Young): “What was that?!”

Overflow (Adult): “Overflow is made of metal, shell, and water. He also controls water.”

Overflow (Young): “I demand a rematch!”

With a flash, Ben 10’000 reverts to his human form.

Ben 10’000: “No.”

With a second flash, young Ben also detransforms.

Ben: “Why not?”

Ben 10’000: “In what possible alternate universe would I be worse than you with aliens I’ve had 15 years more experience with?”

Gwen: “Yeah I’ve gotta agree with future you on this one. That’s probably the most stupid thing you’ve done this summer and by quite a margin too. For those keeping track, that’s quite impressive.”

Ben: “Fine. You win. No selfie. I'm gonna go take a leak.”

Ben enters the rustbucket as Max leaves it. Max is holding a bag of marshmallows in one hand and a foldable chair under his other arm. He sets up the chair next to the campfire.

Max: “Alright I’m back. Had to take a minute to think.”

Ben 10’000: “Was I really this obsessive when I was younger?”

Max: “I think he's just excited to meet you. Not everyday you meet your future self.”

Gwen looks at Ben 10’000, smiling.

Gwen: “So… What am I like in the future? Am I married? Is my husband hot?”

Ben 10’000: “No.”

Gwen: “No I'm not married or…?”

Ben 10’000: “No I'm not telling you about the future. I have no idea what the ramifications of me being here are. I don't want to risk ruining anything more than I have.”

Gwen: “Aww…”

Ben 10’000: “And besides, it's past your bedtime.”

Gwen: “AWW...”

Max: “He’s right. Go inside and tell Ben the same. I’ll say goodnight in a minute.”

Gwen reluctantly pulls herself up from the log stump she was sat on and drags herself into the Rustbucket. Max turns back to Ben 10’000.

Max: “So this monster that you sent back in time. Where did you send it? Or rather when?”

Ben 10’000: “Where? I don’t know. For all I do know, it’s possible that it can relocate itself while in the timestream. When? Well for a start I haven’t had Clockwork, my time alien, for very long so I’m not quite sure exactly when.”

Max: “So how will we know when it does show up? Or where?”

Ben 10’000: “We don’t. It’s programmed to pursue me, so I’m kinda banking on that fact and hoping it arrives somewhere nearby.”

Max: “Alright then. Is there anything I can do to help?”

Ben 10’000: “Try to keep Gwen safe. Ben will probably get dragged into this whether we want him to or not, but try and keep him safe as well.”

Grandpa Max smiles.

Max: “Will do.”

His smile fades.

Max: “But what about you? You’re still my grandson.”

Ben 10’000 sighs.

Ben 10’000: “I put myself in this position. I don’t think I’m in any real danger but whatever happens is my own fault. I’ll be keeping watch tonight by the way. Need to make sure he doesn’t show up while we’re sleeping.”

Max: “Alright. I’ll see you in the morning. Be careful.”

Ben 10’000: “I will.”

Ben sits down on the chair by the campfire as Max disappears into the RV. Dark clouds loom over the campsite, obscuring the moon.

Scene 3
The door to the Rustbucket opens slowly and gently. Ben’s curious eyes peek outwards. He can hear his future self snoring by the now-dimming campfire. Ben watches his own feet as he tiptoes over to the campfire, being careful not to step on any twigs. When he reaches Ben 10’000’s side, he takes out his phone and holds it in the air. With a quiet snapping sound, he takes a photo of himself stood over his sleeping future counterpart. He brings the phone down to eye level to take a closer look at the photo.

“Thank God flash was off” Ben thinks to himself “''Wouldn't want him to wake up and see this. Now… Who should I send this to first? What should I caption thi--''”

His train of thought is stopped dead in its tracks by a violent pink lightning strike. A cloud of thick dust obscures the large crater. Ben 10’000 wakes up with a scream. Ben quickly pockets his phone and looks into the sky. The clouds still obscure the moon, but none were overhead.

Ben: “What was that?!”

Ben 10’000 stands straight up.

Ben 10’000: “He’s here.”

A pink glowing figure rises up among the brown dust in the crater. The clouds begin to clear and the pink glow fades. In the crater stands a lavender-coloured Petrosapien. Metal components have been physically forced into its cracked crystalline body. It raises itself to full height and stands in a neutral pose. It speaks in a deep, monotone voice.

Petrosapien: “Recalibration in progress...”

Ben: “Who is 'he'?”

Ben 10’000: “He’s the Time Breaker!”

The Petrosapien’s eyes glow a deep purple. The cracks on its body tighten, healing but not fully.

Ben 10’000: “Time Breaker Tetrax!”