A Brief Mystery of Time is the fourth Ben 10: Alien Force comic published in the Cartoon Network Action Pack series, published by DC and Cartoon Network. This story appears in issue 33 of the series.
Plot[]
Finding himself in the middle of a battle between six DNAliens and his friends Gwen and Kevin, Ben transforms into Spidermonkey in order to help fend them off.
After he's done webbing two of the aliens that Gwen was dealing with, he's shocked to find her shooting Mana past him, only to be thankful that she was getting a DNAlien who was about to sneak up on him. Kevin and Ben use their powers in tandem to "wrap up" the battle, with Kevin making bad puns all the way. But before things can end, one of the aliens surprises them with a weapon of some kind, and before they can do anything about it, the weapon fires.
Finding himself in the middle of a battle between six DNAliens, this time with a sense of Deja Vu about him, Ben and his team fend off the foes, with Ben transforming into Spidermonkey.
As Gwen shoots mana past Ben, he's quick to thank her, already knowing her plan to taking out the alien sneaking up on him. While Kevin and Ben use their powers in tandem to "wrap up" the battle, Kevin's a bit disappointed to hear Ben finishing his jokes for him. But before the battle can really end, the trio are ambushed by a DNAlien wielding a weapon of some kind, and before they can do anything about it, the weapon fires.
The word "Gumball" interrupts the flow of things, with Ben having been brought out of the battle by one Professor Paradox, watching himself from afar, transform into Spidermonkey, and repeat the same battle again.
Witnessing this, Ben assumes it's Paradox's fault, but is told that the DNAlien's weapon is actually a "Time Loop Generator". The two try to figure out how to break out of it, with Ben deciding that instead of transforming into Spidermonkey, he would instead turn into Chromastone.
Back in the fight, Ben sees the DNAlien preparing to fire the "weapon", but this time is able to absorb the projectile, firing it back at them causing them all to disappear.
Protected by Gwen's shield, the three are left alone, with Kevin wondering where Ben got that Gumball.
Characters[]
Villains[]
Aliens Used[]
- Spidermonkey (x3)
- Chromastone
Allusions[]
- Professor Paradox offers Ben gumballs, an allusion to Doctor Who, where Tom Baker's incarnation of the character similarly offered Jelly Babies.
Errors[]
- Professor Paradox has grey hair, as opposed to his black hair seen in Alien Force, though he is shown to be greying by Omniverse.
- Kevin's jeans are blue throughout, despite his clothes also getting covered in whatever material he absorbs.
Trivia[]
- The Time-Loop creating device is said to be Level 7. This is on the same level as ID Masks and Plumber Ships.[1]
- Spidermonkey is said to smell, and that his webbing is as strong as steel.