r/ben10butgood

As an old friend of mine said, "there are so many different ways to tell a story but that's what makes them so interesting. you can never predict how they're going to turn out."

So here I am, pondering the question, what if some of our characters didn't turn out the way they were supposed to. What if their story went down a different path. A path of normalcy.

In an alternate universe where Oswald Silverbolt never got kidnapped by Servantis, Oswald went through his life normally, Oswald actually finished school in this universe, he picked up jobs left and right trying to find his place in the world.

Eventually, he found himself a gig in the private investigator business. At first, he struggled many, many, many times, but then he improved. He could do multiple cases at the same time due to his clones, he could earn more taydenite due to him taking more cases. He even became one of the best detectives in multiple systems!

That was until he died during one of cases...

He was tasked with investigating an illegal goods trading on some random backwater planet called Earth. At the time, Earth was barely known to the public eye, only criminals knew about it since they used the planet as a hidden hideout. Detective Silverbolt, now in his 30s, snuck onto a trading ship. He was doing good work as usual, until the big man arrived.

The Methanosian Kingpin himself.

He tied Oswald to a wooden chair in a dark and cold room.

Marra: "I've been expecting your arrival, Mr. Silverbolt... You've been on my ass for quite awhile now."

Oswald: "Everything all led to you, Juana. What happened to you? You were doing so good as a bounty hunter."

Marra: "Yeah well, times change.. The ol' bounty hunting business just ain't cutting it no more, so I went higher, I sought out a new business, a business EVERYONE will partake in."

Oswald: "Everyone? Even the ones who aren't a big fan of drugs?"

Marra: "Obviously not everyone, I was exaggerating. No matter, of course.. you know far too much now. You know exactly what we do with nosey detectives like you."

Marra formed a sharp knife from his hand and pressed it against Oswald's neck.

Marra: "You should've known this was serious business, kid. Your kind wasn't made for the dark criminal world."

Oswald: "I was told that before, but then they would get smacked on their head by a frying pan."

Marra: "A frying huh?-"

Suddenly an Oswald clone came from the vents of the room and smacked the kingpin with a crowbar.

Oswald 1: "Dude, I said frying pan, not crowbar."

Oswald 2 unties Oswald 1.

Oswald 2: "Well, they didn't have any frying pans here so I had to figure something out."

Oswald 1: "Yeah, but the joke doesn't land as well without it."

Marra gets up.

Marra: "Why you... You DARE mess with me?"

Oswald 1: "We can talk about this later-"

One of Marra's goons is about to grab Oswald 2.

Oswald 1: "-On your left!"

The goon tries to bash Oswald 2's head in, but he manages to dodge him.

Oswald 2 punches the goon in the face, knocking him out.

Oswald 1: "Where are the others? They're supposed to be here right now."

Oswald 2: "They're busy with another set of goons."

Marra: "What's wrong, Splixson? Are you getting too old that it's getting tiring to split apart? Here, allow me to assist you."

Marra grabs Oswald 1 using his vines as two more goons grab Oswald 2.

They force Oswald 2 to watch Oswald 1 getting ripped apart by Marra's vines.

His screams were so loud, they could be heard from the next rooms over.

Oswald 2: "NO!"

Marra walked towards Oswald 2.

Marra: "Chin up, you'll be seeing him very soon."

Marra killed the rest of the Oswald clones not that long after.

With the end of that story, that brings us back to my original question. Without the one thing that made your character who they are now, who would they be?