https://youtu.be/qOb6DC20dBw

Rem silently sat upon the Earth Dragon drawn carriage. The boy's head lay softly on her lap, mumbling in his sleep. 

On her other side, her sister, now dressed in spare peasant's clothing, snored loudly, as if not caring about what people thought even in her sleep, though Rem knew better than anyone how that was just a front. 

In the seat across from them, the knight now made fugitive with dark green hair frowned as he eyed what was left in his coin purse.  And all the while, Halibel, one of the last Shinobi in the world silently smoked on his pipe.

Ben continued to mumble in his sleep as Rem stroked his hair. 

Audible words included things like "No.." and "Vilgax." and "Stop" and "I'm sorry." 

Rem's expression softened as she stroked the boy's head soothingly, trying to provide him with what comfort she could.  

She knew this was how Ben slept every night now. When she watched him sleep the night after she got the proto tool, he had muttered in the same way. 

Every night he relived his worst moment in his dreams. It couldn't be healthy, and Rem wasn't sure how she could give Ben peace. 

Ram told her what had happened, what she had experienced within Ben's memories. It wasn't pleasant. 

Rem couldn't help but feel a little envious to know what Ben was like when he was younger however. 

What kind of people raised him? Who did he idolize growing up? There were things like these that Rem felt curiosity over the more she got to know Ben as he was now. 

His deep seated trauma, his amazing strange powers that didn't possess an ounce of magic. 

But for now there was one thing she absolutely knew about Ben, herself and Ram. 

"We can't return can we?" Rem asked. 

"Hmmm, I don't think so Rem-chan, at least not for now." said Halibel. "We are going to Kararagi to lay low for the time being."

"Why are you helping us?" Rem asked. 

"Hmmmm, perhaps after a good look at you all I felt you had plenty of promise and quite a lack of sinister qualities. Julius also seemed quite keen to let you go in spite of his duties, in fact I think was rather relieved I showed up, a proper excuse not to pursue you immediately.  I have no doubt he and Reinhard will seek the investigation you are hoping for. Until it bears fruit its better not to go back to Lugnica. "

"I see." said Rem.

"Plus, after a good look at that boy's eyes even when he was a plant man, he seemed just about at his limit."

"Really?" muttered Bartholomew. "Tennyson was practically immune to all of Julius's attacks. Don't tell me there was a limit to Swampfire's regeneration that we didn't foresee."

"Oh nothing like that. He was actually having a major anxiety attack, that's what worried me." said Halibel as he stroked his japanese pipe ruefully, blowing out a bit of smoke. Any further I suspect he might've devolved to panic. "

Rem lowered her head. "Yes, he's been trying to get over that. He was doing better lately, but I guess after fighting the Arch Bishop of Sin and then Julius on top of all of that.."

"Hmm, seems repeated battles one after another are still an issue for him." said Halibel. "I might be able to help if I knew what his trauma was. We shinobi do have our ways of coping with trauma from disastrous missions after all, even in the face of extreme casualties."

"If Bartholomew shuts his ears then perhaps I will reveal it." said Rem. 

Bartholomew frowned. "Hmph, I came to save you all you know."

"While I cannot deny that fact, you still need an attitude adjustment, and I cannot just hand out Ben-kun's personal secrets to anyone." said Rem stiffly, glaring at Bartholomew. 

Bartholomew sighed, put his hands over his ears and began going "lalalalalalala" 

Rem, certain that Bartholomew wasn't faking, turned back to Halibel, "His parents and lover were captured and tortured into insanity before his very eyes."

Halibel nearly dropped his kiseru (think long japanese pipe) as his jaw dropped. "Well well, even for shinobi that's extreme. The one who tormented his loved ones must have intended it in order to directly hurt Ben-san quite brutally.

Rem nodded. "I believe the one who did it was an enemy of his called.. erm.. I think it was Bill Gacks."

"Vilgax." muttered Ram, one of her eyes opening sleepily. 

"R-right that."

"I've never heard of a Vilgax before." said Halibel thoughtfully. "What is he like?"

"My view of him from Dog Pee Boy's memories wasn't completely clear, but his was massive in size, perhaps 12 feet tall or larger." said Ram. "Armored, with burning red eyes. From what I surmised in the memories at the time, he was powerful. Estimating from the memories alone he could be on par with even Witches of Sin, as he had a reputation as the most dangerous being in the galaxy."

"Galaxy!? Now that's quite a feat depending on how populated the galaxy is. If we're the only ones out there then it's just the same as most dangerous in the world, though that's still quite a feat."

"We aren't alone out there." said Rem solemnly. "Ben-Kun is proof of that."

"Hmm, I'm still having a hard time believing the alien stuff." said Halibel. "I've seen quite a few fantastical things in my lifetime, plenty of which even exceed the fire throwing plant man. What you call aliens, others might call bygone races from ages past."

"It is aliens." said Ram without doubt in her voice. "Master Roswaal believed it was, and he is usually right."

"Hmmm, Roswaal L. Mathers, yeah he can be a reliable source of information, granted he isn't lying. Unfortunately the truth is something that usually dances a bit where he's concerned. Then again, he isn't the type to outright lie, more like conceal the truth when it benefits him. So if he says its alien, then it probably is alien." said Halibel with a shrug. 

"Can I open my ears now?" Bartholomew moaned.

"NO." said Rem and Ram at the same time. 

"Oh confound it all!" Bartholomew snapped, folding his arms anyways. "It can't take that long to discuss one idiot's personal issues."

"On the front of resolving the issues, I do have a way to help Ben-san, and possibly speed up the process of returning you back to your previous lives." said Halibel.

"And your personal interest in going through all this trouble?" Ram asked.

"Hmm, can't I just be doing this out of the goodness of my heart?" Halibel asked with a good natured laugh. 

"I suppose Halibel-sama could be doing something like that, but it is sort of out of the blue." said Rem. 

"Well I have a vested interest in seeing that one particular member of the Witch's cult taken care of. The one called Eltanin Draconis." said Halibel. "Arch Bishop of Pride. He's the newest out of all the Arch Bishops, only joined around 50 years ago, but he's played an important role in the Vertilot family for far longer as the ambassador between the Oni House and Human House that made up the family."

"I heard of that, yet a disaster wiped out the Onis of the Vertilots, thus forcing us to marry in onis from outside the family to fill back in our part oni heritage." said Bartholomew. "The strength of the onis was part of what made many in my family famous. Though I prefer to win by my own strength and technique instead of inheriting horns like some of my younger siblings have."

"Some of your siblings have oni horns?" Rem said.

"Yeah, Dad allowed Mom to have sex with a few onis in an attempt to make more part oni children. I'm the only pure bred human between the two of them.  Not a lot of survivals from the way they've attempted to breed part oni heirs like barn animals.  Plenty of inbreeding and the taking in of oni slaves occurred too. You and Ram would've ended up the same if we didn't leave."

"That is sick." said Ram. 

"No shit, there's a reason I hate my family." said Bartholomew. "Speaking of which, Wilhelm has also convinced Miss Crusch to look into this though. Hopefully my boss can help resolve the whole fugitive mess."

"There's only so much a princess candidate can do when in this deep a hole." said Ram quietly. "We can't count on whatever help she gives being entirely impactful."

"Which is why the solution I'm offering is being brought up at all." said Halibel. "If half of what you tell me about Ben-san's power is true, then I think he has the potential to defeat Eltanin."

"And what does defeating Eltanin do for us?" Rem asked. 

"Well other than removing a crucial member of the Witch's Cult which would be a happy event for everyone, it obliterates the Vertilot family's best tool for covering up your innocence." said Halibel. "If Eltanin were defeated in full knowledge, then the Royal Guard would be able to freely examine his resources and connections, as the Vertilot family would no longer have their number 1 enforcer to perform coverups."

"True enough, mother is not that good at coverups or making things look presentable. If anything, I always wondered how she performed so many A grade chess moves that were way too smart for she herself to comprehend." said Bartholomew. "Without that bishop guiding her moves, and father home to watch her, she won't be able to hide evidence sufficiently against the guards. And on that note, she doesn't even know how the puzzle feature works in our very house."

"So Eltanin's the key to Elain who is the weak link." said Ram. "However if this is truly the Great Halibel of Kararagi, why does he need Dog Pee Boy to do what he surely could do himself?"

"I am retired as a shinobi, and also my type of combat abilities aren't well suited to going up against Eltanin. His Authority wouldn't mesh well for me, I have too many people I've met in my life who had absolutely horrid pasts.  And it doesn't matter how strong a person you are in any case."

"Yes, that is true." said Ram with a quaver in her voice. "You experience the memory holder's pain and emotions, not your own. So even if you have an iron clad will, if the memory is from a weak person, your will shall be the same. I felt Ben's pain as if I were Ben not as if I were Ram."

"It is a very conditional Authority though." said Halibel. "For instance if you are the weakest out of those you've ever met, and all those you had contact with had an iron clad will that allowed them to go through pain and trauma like it was nothing,  then there's no way Eltanin could make you suffer as much as you should have. You would experience those memories as if you were those stronger people who endured through it regardless. "

"So it's only a dangerous ability if you've met people who had horrible traumas that they themselves couldn't handle." said Ram. 

"Yes, unfortunately we come into come into contact with many people in a single day, even blatant strangers." said Halibel. "Who all contribute to the loads of bad memories that the Authority can select from.  Even a person who we don't remember meeting, who we've met for just a split second, contributes to Eltanin's authority. Reinhard himself would lose out to the authority."

"Then how does Ben have a chance?" asked Ram.  "How do you intend for Dog Pee Boy to beat that when he lost out to memories of my torture?"

Halibel smiled. "The authority has a weakness. There's a time limit to how many times it can be used a day, and also, there's another vulnerability. Eltanin has to make sure he doesn't hit two targets at once, or he risks a Primal Intervention."

"Primal Intervention?" asked Rem. 

"It's only happened a few times to Eltanin, but his ability has a range, he has to be careful that who he hits isn't near another person, or his intended target automatically goes to their own most painful memory instead of another's." said Halibel.

"That doesn't help at all, especially if Tennyson's worst memory was horrible enough to effect Ram to such a degree." said Bartholomew.

"But here's the key difference." said Halibel. "This time the other person becomes part of the memory and has the ability to move freely and help fight back the memory. And if they do so successfully, the both of them gain the Protection of Pride and are unaffected henceforth by any Pride Authority. It is the unfortunate unique weakness to Eltanin's factor, his curse you could say, that those who recognize that the only way to fight pride, is to give up their own pride and call for the help of others."

Halibel let out another puff of smoke from his kiseru. "I can train Ben to fight without emotion, or to fight with a singular thing in mind that will allow him to take on Eltanin with all his strength, and one of you can help Ben when Eltanin uses his authority as a last resort.  It won't help if you end up fighting the Greed Sin Arch Bishop, but against Eltanin and most of the Arch Bishops, it will make him a force to be reckoned with."

"What happens if Tennyson fights the Arch Bishops in his current state?" asked Bartholomew. "I mean he is quite formidable-."

"He'll die simple as that. It doesn't matter if he can turn into something to match Reinhard, or if he can turn into a god. Simply being an alien causes him to slowly devolve into a panic attack, making his powers essentially have an unhealthy and debilitating time limit that gets worse as he pushes himself. There's even a chance that this PTSD would cause him to die of a heart attack."

Ram's eyes lowered as she sweat a little, and Bartholomew shook his head, but Rem gave Halibel a determined look. "If you believe he can do it, then please Halibel-sama, train Ben-kun."

Halibel looked at Rem curiously. "You all say that Rem's presence has managed to keep Ben more stable than usual."

"Yes?" said Ram. "What of it?"

"I would like Rem to be present for most of his training, if possible." said Halibel. "There's something I would like to try-."

"Brrrvvvpp."

The serious conversation was suddenly interrupted by a strange sound. 

Rem brought out the Proto-Tool, blinking. "Again, it's making that sound."

"Sound?" asked Ram. 

"Yes, ever since the fight with Julius ended, it's been making odd noises, and I can't make heads or tails of them." said Rem as Ben shifted in his sleep and opened his eyes dimly. 

"Ugh, eh?" Ben muttered drowsily as he lifted his head and took the Proto-Tool from Rem's hands. "That's weird. Don't tell me it's coming to life."

"C-Coming to life!?" said Rem. 

"Er, there was this one time when a Galvanic Mechamorph, er that's Upgrade's species, was in a real tight spot so he made a tiny little Doppelganger from his body we called Ship. By that logic there's always a chance that anything I er.. blorp.. from my body could come to life. I mean they are living cells, even if they are biomechanical cells. "

"Dog Pee Boy, if we are witnessing the birth of your child-." said Ram.

"Please don't make it more awkward than it is." muttered Ben. "But in any case, when Azmuth taught me how to use Galvanic Mechamorph powers to their fullest he said it shouldn't happen as long as I didn't intend it to happen, so I don't know what-."

https://youtu.be/_9yOTJ7GCeU

"MGGGGAAAAAAAH!!" suddenly, a small gray head the size of the tip of somebody's thumb, burst from one of the green buttons of the device in a burst of metal sludge.  "YES!! BLUKIC! I TASTE THE FREE AIR AGAIN!!"

"AAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Ben yelled throwing the Proto-Tool, which Halibel caught in one hand, his eyes now completely open in surprise. 

Two gray frog-like beings shoved themselves out of the Proto-tool, which auto repaired itself in a quick "Screeep" sound as the little aliens fell to the floor of the carriage.

One of them looked a little fatter and shorter than the other. With amphibious green eyes, gray skin, and a black and white jumpsuit. 

The other looked taller, with little tentacles on his chin that could've been seen as a beard, a little headlamp. and a pair of mechanic's overalls, and a skinnier body. 

"Ugh, Driba, I think I still have Galavanic Mechamorph particles in my underwear." muttered the taller one. 

"Well you don't have to mention it out loud Blukic!" said the fatter one fussily. "Take off your pants and dump it in the woods quietly, then burn it!"

"Then what am I supposed to wear?" Blukic asked. 

"The natives of Earth are infinitely kind and understanding! Especially in New York, steal some of their clothes! They'll appreciate the lesson!" said Driba. "Wait, or was that Canada?"

"Blukic!?" Ben exclaimed. "Driba!!?"

"Ben Tennyson!?" said Driba, looking up at Ben. "Oh for heaven's sake! Can we steal your clothes? Unless you aren't Canadian."

"Uh, no." Ben muttered.

"Th-they look like Grey Matter." said Rem. 

"Well we are Galvan." said Blukic, going slightly cross eyed as he tilted his head. "Ya know. Dem extra smart beings in the Galactic-whatever."

"Dog Pee Boy, I thought Grey Matter's species were supposed to be super geniuses." said Ram. 

"Well Blukic and Driba are smart for human scientists." said Ben.

Ram raised an eyebrow.

"And that's pretty much it." said Ben. 

"Oh." Rem, Ram, and Bartholomew muttered.

"Blukic, I do believe I detect pity in their voices." said Driba. 

"Dat can't be right." said Blukic. "With dem bein' so damn ugly."

"Yes, I mean have they even seen their own faces?!" said Driba. "It almost gives indefinitely shaped protoplasm a good name!"

"We're right here." said Bartholomew with a scowl.

"See now there's your problem!" said Driba as if he were tech support showing an old man how to operate Microsoft Word. . "The obvious solution to being insulted is to be out of earshot so you don't hear the insults! My, my, humans sometimes, I just don't get why they don't take the logical approach."

"They're smart." Ben said. "Really, but mostly just with machines and science and stuff. Common sense is something they kind of lack."

"Yeah!? Well then Ben Tennyson! Give us ONE instance where we lack this common sense you speak of!" said Driba. 

"When you once designed the new entrance for the Plumber's Base in Mt. Rushmore, it ended up being only large enough for Galvan to walk through." said Ben.  "When it was obvious already that Galvan are some of the smallest race in 12 Galaxies."

"W-we rectified the situation!" said Driba.

"By blowing it up with da sub energy so it was jus' a big hole in da wall." muttered Blukic. 

"Whose side are you on!?" Driba exclaimed. 

"I dunno, whichever side explains where da' heck we are?" Blukic said with a shrug. "This a Plumber mission?"

"Guys you know I already retired from the Plumbers before you two suddenly went missing, which I really gotta ask about." Ben said. "What happened to you? And what the heck were you doing inside a Proto-Tool that was inside Upgrade to begin with!?"

"Weeeeelll during your last physical inspection, we might have neglected to turn off the interdimensional object scanner that we were using to give your Omnitrix its yearly checkup and-." Driba said, twiddling his gecko-like fingers. 

"Long story short, we got trapped in da Omnitrix for a while. We had to survive on DNA residue, runnin' around in the Omnitrix's pocket dimensional core for ages. Running from dem security failsafes." said Blukic

"Security failsafes? Oh don't tell me, like you were attacked by a dozen Humungousaurs weren't you?" Ben muttered.

"And 30 Vulpimancers just last week, a few Evolved Arachnochimps actually cornered us around the Fourth Dimensional maintenance doorway 2 months ago!" said Driba. "But we're small as Galvan are. And after plenty of hyper intelligent work I doubt any of you earthlings would understand, we finally clawed our way out using the DNA of your Galvanic Mechamorph form!"

"Only to end up squished up in some sorta weird Proto-Tool copy the moment we crawled to freedom." said Blukic. "Out of the fryin' pan and in to a second fryin' pan I spose."

"Today just keeps throwing more and more surprises at me hmmm?" said Halibel. 

"So in other words, they are dumb tadpoles that hitched a ride with Dog Pee Boy over from his homeland." said Ram. 

"Yep." said Ben. "Pretty much."

"Driba's eyes blinked several times as he heard Ram's voice and then looked up at her. "M-my.. doth my eyes deceive me? This giant Human Woman."

"She's an oni." said Ben. 

"This giant pink haired bride of the heavens!" Driba continued. "Is this an illusion?"

"I dunno Driba." said Blukic. "She and da blue haired one look identical to me."

"That's because you don't possess a refined palette for females Blukic! No, this, angelic being! E-even among the large brutish races that lumber upon the soil, she is incredible!"

Ram gave Driba an odd look, blinking, before looking uneasily at Ben. "Please translate this for me Dog Pee Boy, is this some odd alien method of expression?"

"Uh, no." said Ben, snorting with amusement. "Wait, Driba, do you have a crush on Ram?"

"Crush!? Oh don't be ridiculous Ben Tennyson! This beautiful specimen is merely something I have acknowledged to have innate and outer beauty suitable of an interspecial marriage!" said Driba. 

"Dat's a crush Driba." said Blukic. "Like I mean she's jus' as ugly as the da blue one.."

"Blukic! Do not speak ill of this angel! She is obviously the kindest-."

"Dog Pee Boy, I request permission to take your alien frogs and roast them slowly over a fire as a special ingredient in tonight's dinner." said Ram. 

"The most well mannered-" Driba continued. 

Ram yawned and began using her pinky to pick her ear.

"-Hard working-." Driba said. 

"Zzzz.." Ram began to snore once more. 

"-Humanoid female in this side of the galaxy! And I will fight anybody who says otherwise!" said Driba. 

"Ben-kun, Driba-san has a good eye for women, though how he refers to my appearance feels a little hurtful." said Rem. 

"Oh boy." Ben muttered. "Well I'll try and explain the situation best I can later, just uh-.. wait, how long was I asleep? Where are we?"

"We passed over the border into Kararagi about a few hours ago." said Halibel. "You've had a good long rest Ben-san, hahaha. Though I can only say that it was a good thing you did too. Hmmm, it might've been a bit more shocking for you otherwise to learn your little friends there hitch hiked in such an odd manner."

As the carriage continued onwards Ben began to catch sight of a town. 

It resembled a Japanese Edo period town, with mostly japanese buildings, people and Demihumans dressed in Kimonos, and Ben thought he even caught sight of a few two horned oni people conversing and laughing, as rare as they were. 

"Welcome to Banan." said Halibel. "I have own a tenement house here, you could consider it my job when I'm not working."

"In other words, you just sit around accumulating money simply by owning rooms that others live in." said Ram. 

"Ram-chan that's just a harsh way to put things." said Halibel.

"Harsh! No the angelic Ram is correct!" said Driba fervently. "Surely you don't accumulate money in such a lazy manner do you!? Tenements! Yeesh!"

"Driba, yer mom owns an apartment complex on Galvan Prime.." Muttered Blukic. 

"Well yeah, but she also does jumping jacks in the afternoon! Totally different!" said Driba. 

"You do know I'm a shinobi right?" muttered Halibel, looking down at the two tiny aliens. 

"so what are we going to do here?" Ben asked. 

"Simple." Rem said, smiling at Ben a little. "We'll lay low for a while."

As the carriage continued into the town,  a figure stood upon a hill overlooking the group's journey forward. 

Petelguese Romani Contee, Arch Bishop of Sloth let out a wide grin as he eyes bulged out of his head. "My brain is trembling.. eheheheh.."