The Legend of Ben 10: Book 1, Sentience.

Chapter 1: A Substitute Avatar (Part 2).

"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. 

"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.