Fanfic #123 A Reflection by Wolfal_E_Hinsley(Ben10XYoungJustice)

This fanfic is a crossover between young justice and Ben 10 following Albedo and Ben in the world of Young Justice. I really like this fic because it takes an interesting look at Albedo, a character I never really thought about, and brings out interesting parts of his character through a redemption arc. I also really like the way that Ben's experience is shown throughout the fic.

Synopsis: While chasing after Ben 10 with Eon, Albedo finds himself caught in an explosion that sends him and Ben flying across multiverses. Trapped together in a universe full of heroes, the look alikes must set aside their differences and work together if they ever want to get home.

Rated: T

words: 43k

https://archiveofourown.org/works/30683690/chapters/75711746

Here's the first chapter:

It was a bargain he couldn't say no to.

Helping in catching Ben Tennyson in exchange for being aged back up, freed from Galvan Prime, and another shot at getting his hands on the Omnitrix. Then again that's all it seemed to be for him these days. The next best convict offering up the next best bargain. It was getting tiresome and even mind numbing. He didn't have much choice. He couldn't stay human. It was practically the death sentence for him.

So here he was again, chasing after Tennyson. Albedo had taken extra care to shut down the boy's comms so that Rook Blonko couldn't come barreling to Tennyson's rescue. Eon hired Albedo to corner him. To keep him from transforming and detain him long enough without Paradox showing up so that Eon could step in and take Ben Prime himself at long last. In exchange, a moment with the Omnitrix, and he'd be right back to his old self again. Whatever happened to Ben or the timeline next was none of Albedo's concern as long as he stayed alive and was a Galvan again and Ben and Azmuth were out of his hair.

Forcing the watch into a time out and shutting the comms down without alerting Tennyson had been tricky, but Albedo managed it. Now, with the stun gun in hand and Tennyson more than aware that Eon was not far behind Albedo, Tennyson was on the run. Albedo kept hot on his tail, weaving through the alleys and doing his best to corral the boy away from any Plumber safe points.

Albedo spotted Ben as he ducked into a smoothie shop.

"Odd… that Mr. Smoothie isn't on my map…" Albedo muttered, but he didn't let himself be lulled by the temptation of the delicious drink as he closed in on that location, knowing Tennyson likely had very few options left. Albedo burst into the smoothie shop, ordering the cashier, who was oddly enough, an alien in a top hat, out of the store. Albedo wasn't phased by the cashier being alien. In Bellwood, alien human relations had actually gotten to a great point thanks to Undertown's existence. Aliens walked and worked in Bellwood just like any human did.

The cashier was quick to leave the store and point Albedo to where Tennyson had fled, aka, the kitchen. Albedo followed in hot pursuit. He crept inside just as he heard Tennyson calling on his watch for help. Seemed the boy was still trying to fix his comms. They'd be back up in an hour, Albedo knew, but that was an hour Tennyson did not have.

"Um, Rook? You there? I'm kinda in a sticky situation here. I'm at store 23, Eon and Albedo are right at my tail. Um, Albedo is somehow sixteen again and Eon wants to do the normal… make me one of his little lackies. Take over all timelines and whatnot. Is aligned with Albedo currently, he just forced my watch to time out. I am a sitting duck until I get it back online. If you're there, please send back up. Please and thank you Rook!"

"Yeah, I disabled it completely, Tennyson. That wasn't just a normal time out. I thought having it offline for a few hours would be enough for us to get to you." Tennyson swerved his head over towards Albedo, who was now standing next to one of the supply shelves with a wild grin plastered on his face and his stunner leveled in Tennyson's direction, "No one is going to be coming to your rescue this time. Now, before Eon shows up, let's see about getting a hold of that Omnitrix." Tennyson, of course, didn't seem keen on sitting still and waiting for Albedo to knock him out. Because that nuisance of a child couldn't make anything easy.

Before Albedo even had time to pull the trigger, he had darted to the side, grabbing a hold of the shelving and pulling down. Albedo yelped, rolling out of the way as tons of smoothie supplies and the metal shelving smashed into the ground. Tennyson made a dash towards the door, only to discover that Albedo had thought ahead and had jammed it. He helplessly pulled at the handle, trying to get it free. Albedo took his time standing and shook himself off.

He leveled his weapon in Tennyson's direction.

"Nowhere left to run." Albedo muttered. Before firing. Tennyson dodged. Honestly Albedo had forgotten how fast and slippery Tennyson could be when he was stuck in his human form. He watched Tennyson sprint for another shelf, toppling it behind him and ducking behind some machinery. Albedo fired rapidly after him before pausing upon hearing a warning alarm of some kind go off.

"What the…" Albedo climbed carefully over the shelving so he could get a better look at the machinery he'd accidentally shot. Albedo's expression went slack. To his absolute confusion and horror, he realized he was staring at a misfiring, malfunctioning dimensional displacing field generator. And Albedo had just shot off the regulator.

"Why the heck is this in a smoothie shop!?" Albedo cried out, before frantically searching for where Tennyson was hiding, now more than desperate to find the kid and get the heck out of there. He spotted some green and lunged, just barely grabbing the collar of Tennyson's jacket. The kid went to ditch the jacket, but Albedo didn't let him, pulling him in close and dragging the kid back towards the door.

"Stop fighting you idiot!" Albedo managed, "I doubt either of us want to be in here when that thing blows." Tennyson stilled at that.

"It's going to blow up?"

"No thanks to you!" Albedo hissed.

"You're the one who shot it!"

"Well if you had just sat still for a few seconds!" The alarms really started blaring and the lookalikes were snapped out of their arguments. Albedo let go of Tennyson and for a moment they seemed to call a silent truce as they scrambled for the jammed door, both trying to get it unjammed.

The alarms got even louder and Albedo felt the air around them charge. He realized, much to his horror, that the door wasn't going to budge in time, and he raced for some possible solution.

"The Omnitrix, of course!" Albedo realized. He grabbed Tennyson again, pulling the boy in front of him. Tennyson immediately fought back, but Albedo hissed for him to stop.

"If you want to live, you'll stay still!" Albedo growled, his hands flying for Tennyson's Omnitrix as he turned the dial rapidly, trying to key in the correct combination before they ran out of time. Just as the generator blew, there was a flash of green, and everything went dark.

There were a few moments where all Albedo registered was the ringing in his ears and the form of Tennyson slumping into his arms. Then when his vision cleared and his senses returned, Albedo realized they were outside, standing in the pouring rain. Tennyson was out cold. Albedo lay the boy down, quickly checking his pulse. The boy was lucky. He was alive, but with the Omnitrix taking the brunt of the blast, he had been knocked out almost instantly.

Albedo decided to act before Tennyson woke up. He dragged the boy into the nearest building, which happened to be some sort of abandoned warehouse littered with graffiti. He set to work tying him firmly to a support beam inside. Albedo replaced his weapon and went for the dead Ultimatrix on his wrist, twisting it to verify his location with Eon. He stopped when his map told him he was nowhere near Bellwood. His frown deepened as he expanded his map, and discovered the constellations, though similar to the ones he was used to, were slightly variant. And many of the systems he recognized and knew were completely gone. New systems where in places they had no business being.

Horror settled in the pit of Albedo's stomach, and he found himself sliding down, sitting with his back pressed against some crates as exhaustion and a new, terrible reality settled on him.

"No…"