"Ben, it's for the best." said Katara. 

"I know." Ben muttered as he sat on the front door of the Village's Main house, staring at the rain pouring outside. 

"Look, you did great." said Katara. "First time Aang had to deal with a spirit, it succeeded in capturing Sokka and hiding him in the spirit world, you actually managed to save Sokka before that happened."

"I've had experience, you know, with rescues." Ben muttered. "Beating people up and saving them, that's what Ben Tennyson is good at."

"And it's a great thing to be good at." said Katara. "It's like you said, you're a super hero."

"Yeah, but not the hero this world needs." said Ben. "Sokka was right, I was no closer to solving the problem with that spirit than anybody else was. Beating it up probably just made it angrier. And that makes it worse. Azmuth made the Omnitrix not to be a weapon but to bring the galaxy together. What I did last night just proved I learned nothing."

"Sokka is right about one thing Ben. You're not the Avatar, and maybe the Avatar is better equipped to deal with the Ladies and the Spirits as a whole. But that doesn't dismiss what you've done in your era. You can do so many things we can't. You're amazing. I'm not surprised that the Universe thinks you're a legend. Heck I think Shivura was afraid of you when she first realized who you were."

"Look, Katara, you don't need to cheer me up. I'm like Batman, and Aang is like Harvey Dent." Ben said. "Batman's amazing, he can beat up criminals, do detective work, and be a freaking ninja! But Harvey Dent was the only guy who could actually make what Batman was doing unneeded permanently, and in the end, even though Batman was the hero Gotham deserved, he wasn't the one they needed, which was Harvey Dent, though I hope Aang doesn't suddenly turn evil and have a half burned face or anything."

"I have no idea what you just said." said Katara. "But, yeah I guess?"

"I'm just not used to being the side character." Ben said. "I'm used to being the one everyone relies on. I used to be the guy everyone looked at, expecting a plan when the bad guys were about to take over. I was the guy who saved the whole entire universe. But now I've fallen asleep and woken up ten million years later to find everyone's gone and I'm now the sideshow."

Katara shrugged. "Well I've never been a super hero, so I'm not sure I can relate unfortunately. But maybe being the side character isn't so bad."

"Yeah, you're right, it's just me being spoiled I guess." Ben said with a shrug. "Anyways, being the main guy isn't very nice either. People are always going after the people I love or me when its like that.  If anything I should feel relieved. In fact I think I do feel relieved in a sense. Relieved and frustrated at the same time. How weird is that?"

"It's not weird at all. Humans feel multiple things all the time." said Katara. "Get some rest. We'll head out the moment the rain stops."

Ben nodded as Katara walked back into the house. 

For a moment Ben continued to watch the rain patter over the mud. 

But then another sound began to mix in with the patter of the rain. 

It was the sound of a string instrument, and a man singing, rather poorly actually. 

https://youtu.be/jzcsYOSFLJ8

"Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall~. Four Seasons, Four loooooves." the singer sang. 

Ben looked out into the rain. There was an elderly man. He was rather large, in fact his build reminded him of his own grandfather, though this man seemed to be shorter.  

He possessed a large gray beard, and wore a wide brimmed bamboo hat over his balding head, his face filled with serene peace as he strummed on his instrument, the rain wetting the ragged coat he wore over his clothes. 

"Oho, hello there young one." said the man, smiling at Ben. "Apologies for the strange scene. When I started my stroll today, the sky was unusually clear. Had I known that it would rain only minutes later, I would've brought a bigger hat. Heheheheh."

"Why don't you come under the roof?" Ben said. "Warm up a bit."

"That's quite generous of you." said the man. "I might just take you up on that offer. The owner of this house is also quite a kind man. I don't think he would mind me dripping upon his floor just a tiny bit."

The man settled down next to Ben, letting out a huge sigh. "Ahhhh that's the ticket. Nothing like the calm patter of rain and a good conversation to ease the mind and soothe my old joints."

"Wish I could be as content as you." Ben muttered. 

"Hmmm something seems to be bothering you, perhaps I can help." said the old man.

"It's nothing I should bother you with." Ben said. "Sorry."

"Oho, do not underestimate the ears of an old man dear boy." said the man. "Age is like a fine book. When it just starts out, they are merely  blank pages, clean and crisp as an apple on an autumn's wind. But by the time the author is finished writing, it is filled with wisdom, and grammatical errors, but that's what my Nephew is for! Hahaha, he's the editor you might say."

"So if I might peruse said book?" Ben said, raising an eyebrow. 

"Come now, don't be shy." said the man. 

"It's just, back where I came from I was the greatest hero in the world. I mean it wasn't all fun, people came after me, and I was saddled with a lot of responsibility when I was still a kid." Ben said. "But I was the guy who could do anything, solve any problem. I loved helping people, I loved being that person. I loved that I could make as much of a difference as I could.  But.. but.."

"But?" said the old man with an encouraging smile. 

"The truth is, I was also always constantly afraid." Ben said. "My friend Tetrax once asked me, if I became a hero because I loved helping people, or just for the thrill of being a hero. Truth is, while I did have a few thrills, I was constantly afraid of messing up. People were going to die if I couldn't get there in time, if I didn't pick the right alien. If I couldn't beat the insanely strong warlord. Heck there was a point where I thought my grandfather died.  The entire Universe was at stake.  And now that I'm here in this world-."

"You feel relieved that the responsibility goes to the Avatar and not you." said the old man. "And yet you feel guilty  that you are relieved."

"Yeah." Ben said, dipping his head.  

"I see." said the Old man.

"I haven't told anybody this, not even Katara." Ben muttered. "I'm kind of wondering why I'm telling you, and how you even know the Avatar is related to this."

"Like I said, don't underestimate the mind of an old man like myself, heheheh." the man chuckled. 

"In any case, I feel like I shouldn't feel relieved, I should be seeking to do more, and because of that I should do more." Ben said. "But I can't. I can't solve the spirit problem. For the first time, I'm not the solution, and I'll never be the solution. I have so many different super powers in this watch, and yet all I can do now is punch people when I shouldn't be punching people."

"That is a dilemma. There are multiple different things that go into such a feeling. On one hand, guilt over not wanting to be involved in the heart of the danger, and yet an inability to get involved and absolve your guilt." said the old man.  "There is nothing right or wrong with those feelings. Every person does not want to involve themselves with trouble on purpose. It is only natural after all. Those who want to are either crazy or plain stupid."

"Which one am I?" Ben asked. 

"Neither. You don't want to involve yourself in trouble, you never have, even if the fight in the heat of the moment is fun, the circumstances around the fight are probably not so thrilling." said the old man.  "Perhaps if you were just fighting for fun, things would be different. Not to say being a hero isn't fun. But every time you think about what's at stake, perhaps it is easier to use your powers to cheat at a game of paisho instead of taking responsibility over the lives inside a burning building."

"Yeah, guess you're right about that." Ben said. 

"However, you do what you do in spite of not wanting to. That puts you in a different category. That is the mark of courage." said the old man with a smile. "Courage is not the lack of fear, but the ability to do something in spite of fear. The man who fears the dark void, and yet still leaps into it to take the hand of the weak little one who cannot get out, that is a hero.  Drinking terrible tea in spite of how horrible it tastes so that you can show politeness to your dear friend is also it's own form of courage, then again, I am quite a coward in that regard, because instead of drinking it I tend to just pour it in the potted plant behind me heheheh."

Ben laughed. "Ha! Chicken!"

"Indeed!" said the old man laughing along with Ben. "You are a courageous young man, my Nephew would be more than glad to befriend somebody like you. Have faith in that. And it is because of that you will realize that your role is not as small as you think, and perhaps unfortunately, your relief will be short lived."

"What do you mean?" Ben asked. 

"Think about it for a minute." said the man. "Avatar Aang has been missing for a long time. It has almost been an entire year since he disappeared at the hands of The Great Matriarch who dwells in infant alliance known as Republic City. It only takes a day for a spirit to go mad. They have emotions too you know. Perhaps if you had woken in this era earlier Mr. Tennyson, you might've been able to just say finding the Avatar was enough. But this problem has been left to fester for far too long."

"In other words, its so bad now that I have no choice but to play Substitute Avatar." Ben murmured. 

"Indeed." said the man. "And you're the only one strong enough to do it. It must be you."

"But I can't do that stuff. I'm not fated to help people like Aang was. I'm not some chosen one by a prophecy." Ben said. "I'm the chosen of an old grumpy alien with a super advanced watch."

"Hey, a super old grumpy alien might be just as much a big deal as some old mystical force." said the old man. "And just so you know, even divine mystic forces start out pretty small. Spirits need to be born too. They have children and they die just as we do."

"And I guess Azmuth is pretty amazing." Ben said. "But I don't know what to do. I'm not some bridge like the Avatar."

The old man chuckled once more. "Now Mr. Tennyson. Consider two artists. One was a man who was born with the prodigious gift of painting anything without practice or even being taught. And the other was just a man who was skilled at using chop sticks better than any other.  One day the artist fell dreadfully ill, and so he turned to his friend, the chopstick user to help him make his deadlines."

"That's scary." Ben said. 

"Yes indeed." said the old man. "However, the chopstick user was so skilled with his chopsticks, that he realized he could could hold two brushes like chopsticks, and with a little training under an art teacher, create masterpieces just as fine as his friend. With that he was able to meet his friend's deadline, and after that, teach his friend how to master catching a fly's wings, by holding his chopsticks like he would a brush, heheheheh."

"I don't get it." Ben said. 

"You and Aang, like the two artists, both share one thing in common. You are unique people with unique abilities that only you two can possess, and while they are both meant for different things, one can always find a way to do the other's job if they are creative enough." said the old man. "Just because you weren't born to do it, doesn't mean you can't eventually get good at it. Talent is just an illusion. Though I won't lie, having talent can be quite convenient."

"But we don't have time for convenient." Ben said. "The world's messed up right now, and I need to fix it, even if I wasn't born for the job. I just need to find a way which my powers can let me do that."

The old man nodded, smiling broadly. "You've got it."

"One question." Ben said. "How did you know my name? I didn't tell you."

"An ancient stealth secret that is only perfected through years of practice." said the old man.

"What is it?" Ben asked. 

"I hid behind that tree and eavesdropped." said the old man. "it's harder than it looks you know. I mean look at the size of that tree compared to my belly! I really needed to control my stomach muscles!"

"What's your name?" Ben asked.

The old man smiled. "You will know it soon enough. You are off to see my Nephew after all. I'm sure we'll meet again in the Fire Nation. I look forward to that day."

"You're pretty smart, actually you're a bit like Grandpa, only less guru-ish." said Ben.

"Oho, is your Grandpa's belly also a raging storm around lunch time?" asked the old man.

"You bet." said Ben. "Only he fills his stomach with some uhh, questionable delicacies." 

"Not bad tea I hope." said the old man. "Tea should always be something one enjoys to its utmost perfection. On that note, if you're ever in a big city, don't be afraid to visit the Jasmine Dragon. We have many locations all over! Even in the Northern Water Tribe. Show them this, and they'll be sure to grant you some extra services, some even go beyond just selling tea."

The old man put what appeared to be a wooden game piece in Ben's hand. The piece seemed to have a white flower on it. 

"Just tell them that an old man with a few words of wisdom sent you." 

"Is this a lotus?" Ben asked. "That's a weird way to give a tea discount to-."

Ben looked up.

The old man had disappeared, almost as if he evaporated into thin air.

"Jeez." Ben muttered. "And now you're the Batman, and I'm Commissioner Gordon."

Ben grinned. "And I think I know how to think creatively."

Later, Ben stepped into the barn where Sokka was stuffing their camping bags through the Rust Bucket's door. "We're not leaving."

"Seriously!?" Sokka exclaimed. "I told you, there's nothing we can do for-."

"Sokka, I'm stealing your role. Right I'm the funny, sarcastic Plan guy! And I'm also the Alien Super Hero guy who can't help but be the MC because nobody else can step up and do it right now!" Ben said. "Just because I can't be the Avatar, doesn't mean I can't find a way to do it in my own way, the way I do it best! Come on! We're going hiking!"

"We're not going hiking-."

"Too late my feet are already moving! Bye!" Ben exclaimed as he walked off. 

"C-COME ON NO FAIR!" Sokka stammered. 

Once more, after 30 minutes of brisk hiking, the group found themselves at the obelisk. 

"What are we doing here?" asked Toph. "Are you going to try meditating or something?"

"Nope, I have no idea how to do that. I'm going to do it the Ben Tennyson way." said Ben.

"And that is?"

"Time hax." said Ben as he activated the Omnitrix. 

"Time what!?" said Toph. 

A flash of green light later, and Ben had turned into a large bronze robot-like alien, with a large cylindrical body, a smaller head with a wind-up dial on top. Within the center of the alien's body was a green transparent window showing turning gears. It was like a walking bronze robot clock. 

Temporal Automaton, Clockwork. 

"Alright." Clockwork lumbered over to the shrine. "Here's where things get interesting."

Clockwork's dial began to turn, and as it turned, a green holographic energy shimmered over the shrine, green images of the shrine appeared, and it became like watching a video on rewind.

Dust disappeared off the shrine, grass grew and died, then grew and died again..  it was-

"Time." Katara whispered. "You're turning back time!" 

"You can DO That!?" Sokka stammered.

"Yeah, I could, but that would make a lot of problems in the time stream, so I'm just rewinding the image and shadows of time, think of it like a recording."  said Clockwork.

"What's a recording?" asked Katara.

"Uhhhh, think of it as an imprint of something that happened once, it's a bit hard to explain right now." Clockwork said. "Ahh here we go."

They were back several months. Here, two large furry rabbits could be seen. They were the size of bears, cute and fluffy, each of them possessed large transparent glowing blue butterfly wings. 

One of the giant bunnies was crying out, caught in a massive metal net that burned with electricity as women in kabuki masks approached it, while the other bunny was being driven back by fire bending soldiers. 

"I don't believe it." said Katara. "Twin spirits."

"Look." said Clockwork. "The other spirit's leaving, the Fire Benders drove it away.. and the spirit in the net."

They watched as the winged bunny ripped its way out of the metal net and flew off towards a tree, disappearing in a flash of light. 

With that, the Time Vision ended, and once more the Stone shrine stood dusty and burned with the traces of the Ladies. 

"How does this help us?" asked Sokka. "I mean we know why he's mad now, but his twin is gone!"

"I'm figuring it out now." said Clockwork. "And as for his twin, sometimes we gotta learn to think creatively, we saw a flash of light, but we didn't see a definite confirmation of disappearance. If they truly cared about each other, there's no way they'd willingly be apart."

Clockwork looked at the tree where the spirit had disappeared. There was a hollow on the side of it. 

Clockwork then looked back at the shrine. There were a number of flowers laid on the base of it that weren't there the day before. 

"I have a feeling that our next meeting with Haipa is about to go a lot better." Clockwork said. 

Later that night... the spirit sure enough, visited again..

Haipa came out of the shadows of the forest, screeching viciously as it scuttled into the village, its multiple eyes roving around. Ever so quick, it approached the main building, as if desperate to exert its rage on those who lived in the physical world. 

"BOOOOM BOOOM BOOOMMM!" Haipa was suddenly sent reeling back as multiple explosives buried under the ground erupted, set off by the pressure of Haipa's weight. 

They were non-lethal landmines however, only throwing out concussive force and not heat, throwing up dust clouds as they went off, meant to keep Haipa from going too far. 

Haipa screeched and approached another building, only for more concussive land mines to go off. 

"That won't work, all the buildings have been walled off by my mines."

The earth erupted, and Fragon slithered out of the ground, towering over the Haipa, possessing equal height to Humungousaur on all fours. 

"We're gonna have a talk, just you and me." said Fragon. 

"RREEEEEEEEEEEE!" the creature fired silk at Fragon, who suddenly disappeared into the earth faster than one could blink.

"That won't work. As long as I'm on solid rock or soft earth, I can move under your feet as easily as a fish in water."  Fragon's voice echoed. "And I can set mines anywhere, probably even lethal ones, right where you're standing.."

The creature's eyes widened as it raised on of it's legs slightly, and the sound of a "clink" issued out. 

"Oho, pressure plates on these bad boys, you shift your weight too much and boom goes the dynamite." said Fragon.  "So, we gonna sit still and talk? Or can you teleport fast enough to not get blown up? "

The spirit went silent, staying absolutely still. 

"Good." 

Fragon burst out of the ground in front of Haipa, and a flash of green light later, Ben was human again. 

"You like to thrash around more than listen, and I'm not the Avatar, so I don't think you'd be inclined to pay me any attention unless you had to." Ben said. "So sorry about that. But I get it now. The people of the village told me about who you really are. You're Mi one of the twin spirits who watch this forest, and your twin sibling is Fong. You're the spirits who help lost travelers find their way when they get lost in the woods. You've helped and loved humans. That's why you felt betrayed when they captured your sibling and hurt you. That must've made you furious. But the thing is, those weren't humans.."

Ben bowed his head, intending to show respect. "The Ladies burn and destroy everything in the name of control. Because they believe everything not from their planet is inferior. The humans who work for them will face their fate one day, but that shouldn't be a reason to punish the innocent ones. I know the pain of losing my family. My family is gone, and I'll never get them back.. but that doesn't mean you can't have a new one."

Ben held a hand out and as the sun peeked over the horizon, its light fell on the people of the village who were all peeking out from between the buildings, smiling at Haipa. 

"The people of this village still drop by to pay their respects to you and your sibling, because they are grateful for all you've done for them, and they want to return the favor to you. You don't have to be alone. "

The spirit went silent, as it began to grow smaller. It watched as a little girl sitting on her mother's shoulders waved. 

"Besides." Ben said. "Its not like you were ever alone. You gotta learn to be more observant, you're twins for God's sake."

Out popped a familiar little bunny spirit with butterfly wings, wiggling out of Ben's jacket collar and fluttering over to Haipa's mask, making purring sounds.

"He was hiding in a tree right next to your shrine, I guess his injuries made him take a bit of a size check, but maybe he just needs time to heal." said Ben with a grin. "We had a long talk about making your siblings worry, so don't scold him too much."

Haipa stared at Ben for a moment as the bunny spirit landed on its mask. 

There was a shimmer of light and Haipa's form faded away, becoming a large fluffy bunny spirit the size of a bear, it's butterfly wings fluttering as it joined its sibling in the sky, flying off until it disappeared into the forest, it's anger gone. 

"I thought you set a mine to go off under it." said Sokka, walking out to join Ben. 

"As a good diamond headed friend once said to me, it's called Selective Disinformation." said Ben.

"Huh?" 

Ben picked up the two pieces of metal he had found at the shrine which he had fused together using a certain technology controlling alien to make a fake pressure plate. "I lied."

"Oh, Aang wouldn't have done that." said Sokka. 

"Yeah, well I'm not Aang." said Ben. "So I had to make do. He figured out it was a lie in the end anyways when his body went into lighter cute bunny form and he didn't blow up."

Sokka rubbed the back of his head. "Look, I'm sorry I doubted you. Maybe you can play Substitute Avatar, at least till Aang turns up."

"No, not substitute Avatar." said Ben. "Super Hero. Cause Super Heroes don't just fight bad guys, they make things right when things go wrong. And right now, Aang being gone is something pretty wrong, and I'm gonna do what I can to put it right."

Ben held out a hand to Sokka. "Deal? Mr. Sarcastic Funny Plan Guy?"

"Sure." said Sokka, taking Ben's hand. "Mr. Turns into Monsters, and does the Hero stuff Guy."

"Great, but we need to come up with a shorter name." Ben said. "Cause that's a mouthful."

"Ben 10 then." said Sokka. 

"I thought you said that was stupid." said Ben.

"Yeah, well I'm changing my mind." said Sokka. 

"WHO ARE YOU!? WHERE AM I!?"

Ben and Sokka turned to see that a bunch of people had emerged from the forest, all of them looked confused, one of them was a small elderly looking man, holding a bunch of map rolls, shivering as he looked around twitchily.

"I'm guessing those are the missing people and our map maker." Katara said, walking over. 

"M-my village!? Is that you all-!?" the map maker began to run over. 

"WAIT WAIT THAT'S WHERE I SET THE-" Ben exclaimed

"BOOOM!" the map maker flew into the air as a non-lethal  concussion mine went off. 

"MY LEG!" cried the feeble man in  the distance as Ben winced and the crowd of villagers went "oooooooooo."

"I think I need practice with this Standing In For The Avatar stuff." Ben said. 

"Yeah that's why we're here." said Sokka. "We'll get you in Substitute Avatar state in no time.. hero. For example, lesson number one, maybe an earlier warning about land mines!"

"Sokka, that's just life in general, not just Avatar stuff." said Katara. 

"Either way, it fits into the job description." said Sokka. "Now, can we talk about arrow tattoos to sell the bit?"

 Ben frowned and said the only response he needed to know. "NO."