Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The end of the Universe, or at least one of the many. Some ended eons ago, maybe because of Eon or the Annihilarrgenesistoriathimiorgost. Although life would probably never end, time passed, allowing many Celestialsapiens to talk and somehow come into agreenment.

Meddle with current affairs or previous affairs, make sure Paradox doesn’t come within 500 lightyears, and the multiverse preservation act, as much as that bored a majority of them, so much so that they didn’t care.

But half of the celestial body that saw the final sun fade out for a 322nd time.

This event sparked a conversation between their two personalities: Cuuma, the voice of disinterest, and Detha, the voice of curiosity.

“When do you believe the last individual with conscious thought before they were sucked into a black hole?” Detha turned over to their partner.

“Don’t care, moving on,” The white face in the void of stars turned over to their respective other that they had been with almost since the start of their creation.

“Fine, argument number… One trillion,” Vida smiled. “Can you believe that? One Trillion!”

“No, I do not,”

“That we have argued to see at least 322 universes rise and fall, and yet we have not agreed on one thing!”

“It would make sense; we are opposed, even for our race. I do not care, and you want to see everything, change everything and put your wretched ideas into anything,” Cuuma said. “Probably for the best,”

“So let's make it our anniversary! Our one trillionth proceeding!” Vida said. “Just agree with me, once?”

“As usual, you say something, and I disagree,” Cuuma pondered momentarily. “As much as I do not care, as this is our one trillionth anniversary, what do you believe?”

“I believe that we should make our omniverse! That cannot be changed bar our creation of it,”

“Are you serious? What of the Multiversal Preservation Act?”

“One such rule is to preserve it. If we create a new one and layer it on top of it, it should be fine,”  Vida explained. “But I just wish that this universe cannot be affected considerably by some nitpicks of other celestial sapiens, like time and time before,”

“What example shall you give?”

“Ben Tennyson,”

“One of the main focuses of every universe? Or rather the Omnitrix that is usually attached to his wrist,”

“And here you are, the voice of disinterest knowing that,”

“I was there countless times when multiple variants broke the act, and we were summoned to court,”

“Anyways, I always found him and his variant journey so interesting! But alas, many of our brethren decided to add things and remove what do humans say? Retcon?”

“So we create a universe that cannot be ‘retconned?’ is that it?”

“Perhaps adding certain stories if I believe that they require it?”

“I know much of the story of Benjamin Tennyson, give me an example,”

“That his grandfather almost immediately forgets his anger at Kevin Levin in New york! Or rather his backstory that constantly changed, from a mutant to an alien,  then back to a mutant, that time travel nonsense,” 

“Yes, that is fair,” Cuuma could not argue. “But what if other celestialsapiens find out? Cause us to change?”

“Then we’ll have to wait for our two-trillionth anniversary to try again,” Vida said. “So, are we in agreement?”

For the first time since the splitting of their consciousness as a baby, Cuuma agreed. “Yes,”

A blue light, similar to lightning, came from their faces, creating a white background, which in turn created a ship. 

“First things first,” Vida looked in. “Oh, would you look at that, the start of a never-ending cycle,” 

“The ending of Maltruant, and thus his plans to create a universe in his image”

“His parts scattered across space, to repeat this for all eternity, or rather once, depending on who you ask,” Cuuma said, only for Vida to look at him. “What? After this, we won’t change for another trillion, may as well finally be ‘interested’,”

“And oh, look! This small Slimebiot, Skurd if I recall,” He smiled. “The last of his species, although that will fall onto another sooner or later,”

“Enough of this, can we start now?”

“We can,”

“Lets just see how far we can go, for now, lets just… I don’t know see how it goes until the Mount Rushmore,”

Cuuma nodded. “Let us see,”

<--->

Vilgax walked through his ship, empty of all life except his own. Hearing a sudden rattle, he looked behind him, wondering if he had some stowaway on board. Before he could investigate, a minion alerted him of why he was heading to the control room.

[Master Vilgax, the ship's hyperspace propulsion system have been destroyed]

A slight grin came over his face as he approached the hull, sitting down and looking at the small ship's narrow escape into the asteroid belt of the fifth planet in the Sol System.

If he recalls, he first became interested in this power 233 sol cycles ago. Being reminded of his failure then, his fists tightened as he ordered to raise shields to the maximum and follow the ship into the belt.

<--->

Ben heard his teacher rant about Summer School, not caring as his eyes were glued onto the analog clock’s hands, seeing it tick over to the end of the day and the sound of the school bell.

Like most of his class, Ben started to walk out, only to be stopped by Ms Lancaster’s voice calling out his proper name. Stopping and turning around, she seemed stern. “Could I have a moment before you go,” She had the paper aeroplane Ben had thrown earlier.

Ben grunted. “I guess,” He walked on over. “Pretty good craftsmanship, if I say so myself,” He smiled.

Ms Lancaster opened it, revealing it as an application to summer school. “I’m surprised you even have this. Considering this was optional,”

Ben shrugged. “Yeah, so?”

She sighed. “Ben, if I may?” He shrugged. “I’m a teacher, and as a teacher, I want the best for my students. Seeing this, I wonder if you needed a final step,” she asked, but she was met with silence. “Middle School is going to be a step up; just don’t let it take you by surprise,” She put it into the bin.“Enjoy your Summer, Ben, sorry for keeping you a little bit,”

He shrugged as he walked away. “Bye, Ms Lancaster. I hope you enjoy teaching summer school,” Ben retorted.

Finally feeling free, Ben was so happy that he was going camping with his grandpa, all across the country. It was a dream come true; he had to do so much to appease his parents: chores, walking the dog, and keeping everything above a C+; it was strenuous but worth it.

As Ben walked through, he noticed a classmate of his, George Nyungen, getting backed somewhere behind the school by Cash and JT. Nodding to himself, Ben decided to start the summer with a good deed.

<--->

Which did not go his way, as the first time he’d seen his Grandpa in half a year was him dangling from a tree. Also helping out George, he just scoffed as he walked towards the bus.

“Tryed to play hero?” Max stated. “I didn’t know you had it in you,”

Ben shrugged. “George helped with an assignment I was in… He didn’t do all of it, I did some work,”

“Well, that's good to hear,” Max smiled. “I already swung by your parents to grab your things” he explained. “You packed well, like a true camper,” He opened the door. “It’s under your bed, by the way,” He started to walk to the driver's seat.

“I have been so looking forward to this,” Ben looked around the Rustbucket, seeing a familiar set of red hair. “What are… you doing here,” Ben looked at Max. “Why is she here?”

“Take it easy, dweeb, this wasn’t my idea of Summer either,” Gwen Tennyson, Ben’s cousin, stated. “A certain someone convinced my parents that three months of camping around America would be a ‘good’ experience,”

Ben stopped. “Grandpa? Please tell me you didn’t,”

“Well, I thought it would be an even better experience if your cousin came along,” He smiled. “Is that a problem?” Ben and Gwen gave each other looks but stayed silent momentarily. “Great, your mom packed lunch for you. If we leave now, we can get to a good camping spot by nightfall,”

<--->

Ben started to eat his PB and J while glaring at his cousin. “I’ve gone above and beyond, waiting all year to go on this trip. And now someone who doesn’t want to be here is along for the ride,”

“I know I didn’t want to come here,” Gwen pulled out an itinerary. “Look here, week one, perfectly summed out, including activities, time taken, etc,”

Ben looked at it. “Hey, can I see that closer?”

“It’s laminated, and I locked the windows before you got here,” Gwen explained. “But now it’s useless because I’m camping with my freakazoid cousin for three months,”

“You and me both,” Ben grabbed a small laser pointer and started harassing Gwen.

“Stop it, doofus,”

<--->

The first few days felt like it was driving all day, every day. I guarantee they stopped at some gas stations along the way, usually eating something quick and going on. 

It wasn’t until they drove across the entire country that Max opened the Rustbucket, looked up at the night sky of Yosemite National Park, and nodded. “Most families that go camping usually take a few days to get here, so enjoy these quiet times,” Max walked back inside the RV. “I’m going to get a real dinner ready, it won’t be long,”

Gwen sighed. “Hopefully, Grandpa Max realized that we have normal tastes in good,”

Ben stopped. “...Did you tell him that?”

“...No, did you,”

Ben thought over the three-day drive, realizing they only ever stopped at Gas Stations. “And did you pass any grocery store before we got here?”

Gwen gulped. “We took a detour to Mr Baumanns,”

Ben gulped. “You know what that means,”

“Dinner is served!” Max sent a bowl of grubs onto the table.

“Hey Grandpa, what is this?” Ben poked at one of the squiggly things.

“Marinated meal worms, hard to find in the States,” He saw his grandkid's reaction. “Hey, if its not up to your standards I have some smoked sheep's tongue in the freezer,”

“Can we just have something normal like a burger?” Ben asked.

“No, this trip, you are going to try things that are out of this world,” Max said.

“Can that be in a burger?” Gwen looked at Ben. “What? We eat lamb, it's just a different part of the sheep,”

Max sighed. “I think I have some butter and bread, so I’ll start a barbecue.” He grabbed a couple of worms before slurping them up. “Help yourself,”

As Max turned around, Ben slid around to Gwens side. “Okay, I got some corn ships and a candy bar, what about you?”

“Rice cakes and some hard rock candy?

“Think we can last all summer,”

<--->

A well-placed shot to the hull destroyed the ship's propulsion system, something the robots stated to their master.

Hearing that, Vilgax gave a command. “Prepare to board, I want the Omnitrix now,”

Watching as the retriever drones shot into space, an error message was heard from a nearby robot.

“Master, our defence shields have gone offline, we are currently defenceless,”

“What!?” He stood up out of his chair. “Impossible!” Looking back at the video, he saw the near-destroyed ship. “Charge up the decimator beam now!”

But it was too late, as the Uxorite transporter had charged up its own attack, blasting a green beam into the command centre. Being caught in the blast, Vilgax was thrown back, entire limbs and organs immediately turned to ash at the temperature of the blast, and then, with a single arm, he clung on as the vacuum of space almost took his life.

“FIRE!”

The ship did as he commanded, releasing a destructive force that destroyed the Uxorite transporter, being shot into Sol-3’s atmosphere.

Vilgax watched as the biomechanical ship quickly patched itself. Meanwhile, his eyes started to droop, and he lost consciousness.

<--->

Meanwhile

<--->

Xylene looked to see if she could send out a signal. It seemed that the attack of the enemy ship had ruptured her comms, but she sent it anyway. Perhaps Myaxx or someone else could acquire the encrypted message.

Looking next to her, she noticed the shields were down. Converting all the remaining energy from propulsion to a single blast aimed at the Ships bridge.

Waiting for it to charge, Xylene implemented a DNA tracking sequence onto the Omnitrix escape pod, targeting the only Sol-3 inhabitant she believed to still be alive, Max Tennyson. Watching as the sequence loaded, she turned around and saw two drones break into her ship.

Scorning, she used telekinesis on both, also frying the controls, shutting almost everything down and erasing the stored data.

Quickly seeing her attack was ready, Xylene aimed as she ran towards the Omnitrix.

Floating using her Telekinesis, she quickly stored the level-20 technological device in a custom-made Galvan escape pod before quickly moving an escape pod herself. Bracing for impact, she felt a majority of her ship vaporize, sending her into Sol-3’s atmosphere.

Hoping that she did right, Xylene was throttled out of her remaining ship into the space below. Looking up, she saw her bridge implode into itself, letting off some massive light, hoping that the Level-2 planet believed it to be an error in their space systems.

Looking down, her escape pod began to engage the life support system, starting to put her to sleep, seeing how she would be unable to survive where she was landing.

As her three eyes began to flutter, all she could hope for was that Max Tennyson would acquire the Omnitrix.

Otherwise, the fate of the galaxy would be finished.

<--->

“Can you get any data?” Ben said.

“No, I can’t,” Gwen said with her laptop.

“How about instead of being connected to your screens? You connect to the outdoors instead,” Max jingled some marshmallows. “How about we roast these and tell some scary stories around a fire?”

“Nothings scarier than having a freak for a cousin,”

“Ditto,” Gwen said, causing Ben to sigh at using the complex word.

Max sighed. “How about instead of moping, we all learn to get along and have some fun,”

“I vote moping,” Gwen said.

“Seconded,” Ben said. “In fact, I’m going to mope around, go for a walk, you know,” Ben spotted a footpath. “I need to digest some food, smell you around, Gwen,”

As Ben started to walk away, Max sighed. “This is going to be a longer summer than I thought,”

“Summer is still early; you could just drive me back home,” Gwen said, causing Max to glare. Gwen shrugged. “Hey my first option was leaving doofus in the woods,”

<--->

Ben walked through the woods, going off trail almost immediately. “Mom and Dad said if my grades were all C+s and above on my report card, I’d go on this trip, but no… Now, my stupid cousins here,” Ben troughed around. “Might as well have gone to Summer School,”

But that hatred soon turned to interest as Ben looked up to the sky. “Hey, a shooting star,” He thought of something. “I wish that this summer would rock,”

All of a sudden the trajectory for the star changed, Ben didn’t move, until he realized it was basically right in front of him. Jumping out of the way, Ben heard the mysterious object crash. Quickly getting up, Ben walked to the crater this object had made, standing curiously at the edge of the crater. “Looks like a satellite or something,”

The glowing object soon turned to black, and the ground Ben had stood on suddenly gave way, causing him to fall into the crater. Getting up, Ben walked forward to see that this mysterious thing seemed to be like some sort of pod that opened. The package inside glowed green with a mysterious sound.

“A watch? What is that doing in outer space,” Smiling, Ben reached forward, only for the watch to jump at him, latching to his arm. “WHAT THE-” HE grabbed it and tried to push it. “GET OFF GET OFF!”

Jumping out of the crater, Ben started to run back towards the Rustbucket. “GRANDPA!”

<--->

He regained consciousness.

That blast took out his entire communications centre; how was he alive?

Feeling the bubbly of a rejuvenation tank, Vilgax commanded his ship to lift him higher. One of his robots was present.

“Report,” He said, not even feeling the constant pain.

“The battle ended fatally for both parties-”

“Skip that, the Omnitrix,”

“There are still drones searching the debris,”

“And my health?”

“A majority of your vital organs were damaged almost beyond repair; without the rejuvenation tank, you would have died. It is estimated that 60% of your original body was lost or couldn’t be saved,”

“What is my estimated time before I can get out of here?”

“That is unknown; the damage is still being analyzed,”

Vilgax looked towards his left arm, trying to ball it into a fist. “Report to me again when the scan of the remnant of the ship is complete,” The veins connected to his body began to lower him back down.

“At once master,”

<--->

Max sighed, checking his watch. “Ben’s been gone for a while.” He looked into the woods. “Well, I guess he can’t really get into any trouble out here.”

“Unless he wound up bear food,” Max turned around and glared at Gwen. “What, I can’t dream now?”

“Hopefully, this road trip will bring everyone together a little more... hopefully,”

<--->

After running for a full minute, Ben stopped panicking and brought it all in. He found an asteroid with a watch in it, which stuck itself upon his wrists, maybe with secrets that it hid. Grabbing and pulling on it, it was barely budging, like it was stuck to him.

Grabbing a nice stick he found, Ben tried to wedge it between his skin and the watch, but it quickly broke. “Great, so this thing is just stuck to me?”

Getting on his knees, Ben started fiddling with the watch. Pressing a button, it quickly shot up. The small hourglass symbol quickly formed into a diamond, and a black silhouette was placed on the small screen.

Ben smiled. “Cool,” Using his finger, he pushed down back on the watch, only for his body to quickly change.

In an instant, red rocks formed all around his body, shards flying everywhere as they went to his head. All of a sudden, Ben could see again, and he felt hot and taller. It wasn’t until he looked at his hands that he realized why. 

“AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!” He backed away. “I’m on fire! I’m on fire! HELP!” As he ran around the small clearing, he quickly calmed down. “Wait a moment, I'm on fire… and okay?” He tensed his hands. “Okay, this is too weird,”

Hearing some sounds, Ben turned around, rustling in the bushes. “Who’s there? I know how to fight!”

A bear walked forward, looking at Ben’s form, growling at it.

“Hey man, I don’t think I’m that tasty, so how about we just-” 

Not knowing what Ben was saying, the bear ran at him, causing the boy to quickly send out a fireball which almost signed the bear, but landed where it came from. Seeing this the bear ran off in another direction.

“NOBODY MESSES WITH BEN TENNYSON!” Ben yelled before looking at where the fireball had landed, seeing it spread all around him. “Uh oh,” He walked forward and tried to stamp it out, only to realize quickly that it wouldn’t work. “Well, that's not good,”

<--->

“Hey, Grandpa?” Gwen said as she looked out, seeing a massive cloud of smoke. “Is that?”

“A forest fire,” Max said. “I’ll let the ranger station know; with luck, it’s just a dumb camper messing around with something they shouldn’t,” Realizing who was out there. “Ben,”

“He’s in that forest!”

“I’ll call the station now!” Running towards the Rustbuckets phone, he dialled up the local ranger station, hearing it,”

“Yosemite National Park ranger station, what can I do?”

“Hello, my name is Max Tennyson, and there’s the start of a forest fire near one of your most popular camping spots near Half Dome Hill,”

“Are you a safe distance away from the fire?”

“Yes, I have my RV, but my nephew went for a walk near where it started,”

“I see, please keep everyone else and don’t panic, thank you,”

Max put the phone back. “Good thing Gwen, the rangers, will-” He turned around, seeing an empty RV and a missing fire extinguisher. “Oh, Natalie is going to kill me.” He grabbed a spare fire extinguisher and ran in the direction where the fire was.

<--->

“This is not cool,” Ben tried to stamp out the fire even more until he felt an unpleasant feeling, like cold water. Turning around, he looked down, seeing his cousin with a fire extinguisher looking at him, causing her to scream. “Hey, there’s no reason to scream,”

Gwen, using the extinguisher she had, swung upwards and hit Ben right in the head, causing him to be pushed back. Quickly kneeling, Gwen sprayed even more of the fire extinguisher onto his head, causing the fire to subside, only to be relit soon after out of anger. “You have a problem!?”

“Listen, I don’t know what you are, but if you know what's good for you, you’ll stay down just like you're doing right now,"

Ben wasn't listening to his cousin, lighting her foot on fire instead. Realizing this, Gwen sprayed it with the fire extinguisher before angrily glaring at Ben and raising it. “I’m warning you,”

“Don’t even think about it, dweeb,”

Gwen lowered the extinguisher, eyes widening in realization. “Ben? What the How the What did you do!?”

“Well, long story short, a meteor came down and almost smushed me, but it wasn’t that, it was a watch which jumped up onto my wrist and when I fiddled with I turned to fire and then a bear scared me and now I’ve started this forest fire,”

“GWEN!” Max walked towards her. “Listen, young lady, where did you-” Max noticed the Pyronite talking to Gwen. But why would they be on earth? “What in blazes?” That was all he could say.

“Hey Grandpa, guess who? You have three guesses,”

“It’s me, Grandpa!” Max could barely register what Gwen and the Pyronite were saying.

“Ben? What happened to you?”

“Well, I was walking and then-”

Gwen coughed. “Newsflash, we have a major forest fire that's burning out of control,”

Ben scratched his head. “So what can we do?”

Max thought for a moment; his old plumber days came to mind. “Backfire, start a new one and let this forest fire burn into it. They’ll snuff each other out. Can you do it?”

The Pyronite smiled. “Shooting flames is my specialty,”

Nodding, Max and Gwen ran the other way as Ben quickly made it towards a new part of the woods. Taking a deep breath, Ben created a beam that lit up the trees like it was Christmas, which started to burn everything around it.

He quickly ran back into the fire to catch up with Grandpa and Gwen.

Chapter Text

Max and Gwen watched from a safe distance as the fire burned on. They both stood silent, but both were thinking of separate things. Gwen was wondering how on earth her doofus of a cousin became some sort of monster the first chance he got. 

But Max’s head was spinning with questions. How did Ben become a Pyronite? What was the weird symbol of his chest? Should he report this to the Plumbers? Would the Plumbers even respond to it?

After thwarting Vilgax’s attack in 84’, trying to spark America and Russia to use Nuclear Missiles and then rounding up the rest of the extraterrestrial criminals on Earth, the Plumbers decided to leave. Max did hang up his badge, but maybe they could answer because of his previous rank and contributions to the space force.

Before he could make a final decision, a dark silhouette appeared, quickly walking out of the flames, still on fire as it did. Ben was waving at Max, and everything he thought of disappeared, just glad that his grandson was safe.

<--->

The regeneration tank was working, and the pain of firing Neurons kept him awake as one of his robots listed out the gathered information.

“[The Galvan Modified Uxorite Ship showed no life signs. The reconnaissance of the surrounding debris showed no life signs. Every databank was wiped, giving no data as to the origin of the transport of the Omnitrix and to its intended destination].”

Vilgax twitched his eye as a small bug crawled up it. “Where is the Omnitrix? It was on board,”

“[After the Destruction of the ship, the signal was lost. After reconnaissance and scanning, the Omnitrix was not found on board].”

Clutching his hand, Vilgax’s blood seeped into the chamber. “What do you mean it wasn’t found!?” Opening it, numerous bugs flooded the site, healing the wound. “This battle nearly cost me my life, and you say is no longer onboard the transport?!”

The robot was motionless, continuing with its report. “[Damaged Sensors indicated two probes were jettisoned from the ship just before boarding and after its destruction. It landed on the planet below. This Planet is a Level 2 in Technology and is classified as Sol-3. The locals of this planet call it Earth].”

Vilgax grew with anger at the name, remembering his numerous failures there. “Send an assault Mechadroid to both positions,”

“[My lord, only one Assault Mechadroid remains as-

“Then send that to one and an adapter Mechadroid to the other,” He commanded. “I have waited centuries for this opportunity, and I will not be stopped over some trivial lack of weapons!”

<--->

After making sure Gwen was alright, Max found some firewood, which Ben graciously lit. The three of them were now on the campfire as Ben continued on with the events that led up to his transformation into this creature.

Gwen was shocked. “Wow, and I was this close to being right about you becoming bear food,”

“Not funny, Gwen,” Max said. “And you say this watch just jumped up and clamped onto your wrist?” Gwen threw a marshmallow, which Ben caught, and it immediately turned to ash.

“It wasn’t my fault, I swear,”

Max sighed, knowing how humans usually interact with alien technology. “I believe you, Ben,”

“So what now?” Gwen asked. “Is he just gonna stay a monster forever?”

“Not a monster, an Alien.” The correction to Gwen's statement confused his grandkids, causing Max to panic suddenly. “I-- I mean, look at him? What else could he be? There is no way he could live on earth,”

Ben’s shoulders slumped. “So what if I am an alien? I don’t want to be a fire guy forever. What happens when I play Little League, and I charcoal the ball every time I catch a pop fly?”

Max looked back at the symbol on Ben’s chest. “Don’t worry; we’ll figure this thing out together.” All of a sudden, the symbol started to flash red, making a sound as well before it burst into a red light, blinding both Max and Gwen for a moment.

When the light faded, Ben was back. Blinking a few times, he looked at his hands, chuckling. “I’m me again!”

“Too bad I liked the briquette boy more than you,” Gwen retorted.

Ben started to pull on the watch again. “I still can’t get this thing off of me,”

“So you’ll keep it alone until we know exactly what we’re dealing with. The last thing we need right now is you causing another fire or something else,” Max walked towards the RV. “I’m going to grab a few things then check out that crash site, both of you stay here until I get back,” Max kept walking. “Oh, and also Gwen, you’re in charge,”

Hearing that success, she squealed, as Ben groaned.

<--->

[Collision with land detected. Activating reconoscience]

The assault Mechadroid opened up, observing the area around it. Landing at the crash site, it observed it’s surroundings, taking in a crater left by the pod. Seeing at the end a capsule, it locked on.

Opening it’s hand, a blaster eradicated the capsule, cooling it down again. Sensing movement, the mechadroid turned to it’s side, seeing an aggressive native. Using it’s arm again, it blasted a clean hole through the creature.

[Threats Neutralized, proceeding with reconnaissance]

Two disks popped off, sending reconnaissance drones to monitor the surrounding area. As the smaller bots kept flying away, the assault mechadroid spun around, heading into the opposite direction.

<--->

Ben tried to escape his cousin's wrath, hiding on the top of the Rustbucket in order to get away from her. Fiddling with the watch, Ben tried to remember what he did to activate him. 

“Boo!” Ben flinched, causing Gwen to laugh, Ben imitated that laugh before fiddling with the watch. “Grandpa said not to touch the watch,”

“And you’re not just a little curious?”

“Not really, but he left me in charge and I say don’t touch the watch,”

“Not even a smidge curious?”

“Not even a smidge,”

He shrugged. “Your loss,” He said as he started back to fiddle with the watch,

<--->

Max walked through the woods with a torch and a scanner. After that stunt with Ben, he wasn’t sure what would be there. And what was there was the stench of a plasma blast cooking something alive.  Shining his torch, he saw a black bear with a charred hole in it. It was only recent, as this poor creature was still smoking.

Looking further ahead, Max saw this crater. Walking down, he used his flashlight, seeing that a part of it was still smoking. Taking a look at his sensor, Max noticed some plasma residue.

Kneeling down and picking up a small piece, he placed a scanner in front of it, suddenly reading it.

[Unknown Material detected] 

Max picked a part of it up. “I don’t like this one bit,”

<--->

After some back-and-forth banter, Ben finally jumped off the Rustbucket, and Gwen quickly restarted the fire. No matter what Gwen did, Ben still fiddled. 

“What if you transform again, and oxygen is toxic to you? How long were you an alien? It was like, what? Ten minutes? Unless you can hold your breath for that long you’d die,”

“What are the chances of that?”

“Given the fact that we are the only hospitable planet we know of, and there are, I don’t know how many aliens there are in that thing. Probably high,” 

“I’ll take that risk,” Ben tapped the watch. “If I can figure this out, maybe I could help people, really help them. Not make things worse, you saw Cash and JT when you picked me up. What if I stopped them from bullying people? Or hey! That fire guy could do a lot of good, stopping forest fires, giving warmth, and that was ten minutes! Just imagine what I could do if I practiced,” Ben kept fiddling.

“Just have a marshmallow,” Gwen threw her cousin a stick and the bag. “So what was it like going 'alien like that?”

Ben shrugged. “At first I was freaked out. It was like I was me, but also not me. I also had trouble walking as well,” Gwen snorted. “Yeah laugh again when you suddenly grow two feet,” He retorted, as the dial of the watch shot up. “Hey I figured out how I did it, should I try it again,” He turned the dial. “Maybe try out some other alien out,”

“You know what Grandpa said,” Gwen stated. “I wouldn’t until he’s back at least,”

Ben twisted the dial, picking a silhouette. “Of course you would wait for parental supervision,” Ben pressed the dial.

Quickly losing all mass, Ben’s eyes became black as his skin turned pale white. Black lines spread out of his shirt and his now dark eyes, connecting to each other as his body turned into an oval shaped being with a purple eye, black lines and wispy tail.

By the time Gwen’s eyes readjusted Ben was a different alien.

“Hey I can breathe here,” Ben gave an evil laugh. “So what can you do?” The purple eye slid down until it was onto his arm. “Wicked,” It came back up. “So I float, can move my eye and,” Trying something, Ben suddenly disappeared. 

“Ben?” Gwen walked away from the fire, feeling something pass through her. “Woah!” 

Ben reappeared behind Gwen. “BOO!”

Gwen almost jumped out of her skin, falling down causing Ben to give another cackle. “YOU THINK THAT’S FUNNY?” 

“What? You did it me just a minute ago,”

“That’s different doofus! I’m not an alien!”

Ben cackled again as he started to fade. “Whatever, see you later freak,” Some trees rustled away as Ben moved into the forest to try out the alien.

“BEN! I saw that you better get back here!” Silence. “I’m going to tell Grandpa you used the watch to transform into a freaky ghost thingy and went into the forest!” But Ben was already out of hearing range by that time. “This is way to weird,”

<--->

Ben cackled to himself as he passed through objects and trees without a care. Scratching a massive tree, he laughed at the power of his claws. As he phased through another tree, a massive blast of light and heat radiated from behind him.

Ben didn’t even move as his eye angered around his body, seeing a small disk-shaped robot fire at him. “Ahhh… Something else to test out this body,”

The drone fired multiple shots, but Ben just dodged them, phasing through them until he was as close as possible. “SAY GOODNIGHT!” 

Ben laughed as he sliced the droid into five pieces, only to be hit with another lazer. Being pushed back, Ben looked around and was shot again, dealing little damage. “ Laser resistant as well?” As he said that Ben saw the drone get closer and closer. “Well lets get rid of you,” But the watch on his chest started to glow red, beeping loudly. “That’s not good,” 

Another red flash and Ben was human again, which was bad as he looked up seeing the droid aim one of it’s lasers.

But before it could finish it was hit over the head with a shovel, causing it to turn around, seeing Gwen stare up at it.

“Oh no,”

Ben took this opportunity as Gwen started to run to grab a part of the fallen droid’s arms and aimed it at the other droid, hoping that he could activate it. And as Ben banged on the shell, a red beam cut the other droid in two.

But Ben quickly dropped it, as he heard even more rustling from the bushes. As they huddled ahead, Max came walking out.

“Ben? Gwen? Didn’t I tell you to stay in the RV?”

They both were silent but Gwen started yelling. “He transformed into a freaky ghost thing!” She pointed at Ben.

“Hey no fair! You attacked one of these with a shovel!"

“Because you decided to Go Ghost!”

“Both of you!” Max looked at the robots, frozen for a moment as he saw the similarities to Vilgax’s ship all of those years ago. “Let’s get going now, back to the Rustbucket,”

<--->

“I ask you do to one thing Ben! One!” He said. “And you did so anyways, did you even listen to your cousin?”

“Why would I?”

“I ask you not to fiddle with it. You’ve barely had that watch for more than two hours and you’ve become popular with killer robots,”

“Sorry, Grandpa,” Ben said, showing the watch. “But I know how it works. I just press this button here, turn the dial until you see the guy you want to be. Slam it down and bam! You become a bunch of aliens!”

“And what about staying as these different aliens? Prefer that ghost-dude to your smushed pizza face,”

“I’m still working on it, but when it starts flashing red with that sound when it times out,” Ben said. “But maybe that's a good thing, ten minutes in the alien, ten minutes out,” He fiddled even more. “And ten different aliens,”

Max rubbed his chin, thinking of his past for a moment. “With the power that watch possesses and what’s already come after it. Something tells me that it would be better to help you learn to use it before anything happens,” Ben’s face lit up. “And we better do it fast,”

“ALRIGHT!” Ben cheered, Gwen scoffed, and the radio of the rustbucket flared to life. “Mayday Mayday Mayday! A robot is attacking View Mountain camp! Alert the police! Military! I don’t know, just help us!”

“We went past View Mountain on the way here,” Gwen said. “And we were attacked by Robots!”

Ben looked down. “Must be looking for the watch, those people are in trouble because of me,” He stood up.

“And what are you going to do about it Ben? You know what two of them do already? But what is that not enough?”

“Then we’re going to have to try,”

<--->

Max stepped on the gas and got right outside the RV park for View Mountain. As they walked down the massive road, Ben used the watch, chose another alien and pressed down on it.

His skin turned black as green lines quickly followed, so the white of his shirt quickly trickled down to his legs as the watch logo popped up on his chest. Finishing it off a massive green circle appeared in the middle of his head.

“So what’s this guy do?” Gwen questioned him.

“I don’t know yet; I’ll just have to learn him quickly,” Ben stopped. “Awww, man! My voice doesn’t change!”

“You can complain later, Ben,” Max pointed to the park. After all, look who's just arrived.” At the distance, a robot with two disk-shaped holes on its shoulders appeared out of their line of sight, blasting another RV.

“Yeah, looks like papa robot has said hello,” Ben pointed at it’s shoulders. “Looks like those disks robots came from it. I’ll distract it, you get everyone to safety,”

The two normal tennysons nodded as they started running in an alternate direction compared to Ben, who was yelling at the robot who just picked up a park ranger. “Hey put that guy down!” The robot looked at Ben, its red eyes glowing brighter. “If you need someone to pick on! I’m right here!”

The assault Mechadroid’s sensors began to analyze Ben. [Omnitrix host confirmed. Status: Alive. Action: Terminate]

The assault mechadroid dropped the ranger and aimed it’s hand towards Ben, firing off two shots. One shot Ben into a nearby grill station, while the other was correctly aimed at the nearby propane tanks that were stacked on top of it.

After a moment, Ben quickly rubbed his head. “Hey, no pain or nothing!” He said he used a nearby grill as leverage, only to mold with it. Quickly freaking out, the lid of the BBQ came down and a massive string of fire came out of it. “So I can upgrade technology! Cool!”

By that time the Robot had made its way towards Ben, ready to attack again, but the ten year old attacked first. Using the BBQ, Ben quickly rolled to where the robot was, spewing flames on top of it. “Yes!”

The robot which was on flames decided to jump high into the air, spinning rapidly causing it to cool off and extinguish the flames. “NO!” The robot collided with Ben, breaking the BBQ and reverting him to his original form again. “This isn’t good,” he said to himself as the robot stood there.

[Plasma-based attacks cause negligible damage. Action: Physical Based attacks initiated]

The mechadroid picked Ben up and threw him across the RV camp, landing on top of the Park Ranger truck right next to Max.  “Any idea what this guy does?” His Grandpa asked.

“Yeah, he can merge with technology, make it better,” Ben said. “Upgraded a BBQ and spewed a lot more flames.

He picks stuff up really quickly . Max looked down and threw Ben the rangers Taser. “Try upgrading this then,”

Ben grabbed the small device, his body coursed through it and took over his arms. As the robot came walking over towards him again, Ben aimed and fired two strings of electricity. Hitting the gap between the hand and shoulder, causing bright red lightning to suddenly emit from the robot before its arm fell off. 

It didn’t pay any mind to it, as he kept walking towards Ben, now trying to blast him to no avail. But Ben knew what he wanted, grabbing the arm of the droid, Ben merged with it. The five appendages quickly formed into more legs, allowing Ben to quickly turn around and to blast the droid with it’s own laser.

The mechadroid was fast, countering with its own, and with a small increase overpowered Ben, sending him flying into a nearby RV. 

Still a part of the droid's arm, Ben looked around, seeing some solar panels as well. The eye widened with an idea, as Ben tried his best to create some tendrils to grab onto it. All of a sudden, Ben had a crest of Upgraded Solar Panels on his head as the Robot got closer. 

Quickly blasting off another attack, the Robot retorted. But that wasn’t the goal of it. 

“I didn’t have enough juice last time,” The small appendages dug deep into the ground keeping Ben level and the blast pointed at the Solar panels, absorbing all the energy it could. “But you know what they say,”

[Left arm temperature at harmful levels. Switch to] The mechadroid stopped. [Error. Right arm Plasma cannon is offline, switching to physical maneuvers] It started walking towards Ben.

“What comes around goes around sparky!” A green blast created a sonic boom as a massive blast of green energy courses out of the upgraded droid's hand. Making contact, the Mechadroid’s entire body glowed green for a moment before turning into a massive pile of junk.

“Yeah! Way to go-!” Max stopped himself. “Upgrading technology person!”

Ben cheered. “Oh yeah! I’m the best!” He looked at Max and Gwen who were ushering him to get away. “Anyways,” Using the five appendages, he started to run away back towards the rustbucket before anyone could realize he was an alien.

<--->

Max started to drive, as soon as everyone was in the Rustbucket, including Ben as a Galvanic mechamorph. So what he understood, it was currently a pyronite, an ectonurite and a Galvanic Mechamorph, whatever this piece of technology was, it was powerful.

“That was awesome!” Ben said. “I can upgrade stuff with this guy! I become it,”

“Great, my laptops off limits,” Gwen replied sarcastically.

“No promises,” Ben laughed.

“Hey where did you drop off that cannon?” Max asked. “People are going to look for it, technology and all,”

Ben shrugged. “Had a little bit of extra energy left in me so when I unmerged it sorta went… boom,”

Max sighed. “Good,” The last thing earth needed was alien tech to fall into their hands, especially that watch.

“So yeah… three guys so far… I wonder what else this watch can-” Ben timed out. “Do,”

“Welcome back to the world of normal,” Gwen retorted. “Hows it feel to be a kid again?”

“And it’s going to stay that way for a while,” Max parked at a new camping site with no one around. “Now both of you are brushing your teeth and going to bed, we’ll start discussing this in the morning,” Max looked at Ben. “No sneaking out tonight to try out that watch, do you understand?”

Ben smiled to himself, knowing that morning couldn’t come sooner. “Fine,”

<--->

Meanwhile

<--->

The regeneration chamber again elevated Vilgax to speak. “Report,”

“[The assault mechadroid along with it’s recconasance counterparts have lost signals, the last record was of an energy blast with a similar consistency to its own. The adapter has landed in an area inhospitable and has frozen over. Unfortunately, the Omnitrix was not recovered and was considered a failure].”

Vilgax grew angered even further, the small robots partially regenerating his body, sending a spark through his nervous system every time, causing him constant pain. “FAILURE! Unbelievable…” He could barely breathe. “This puny earth-being keeping the watch from me will not be a problem for much longer… As when I get out of this wretched tomb, its body will become a corpse at my hands,” Vilgax, with his one good arm, commanded a module to move up and towards his position. “Start biological and cybernetic augmentation,”

“[My lord with your current position the chances of survival is-]”

“SILENCE!” The droid powered down. “I have waited too long for this. 233 cycles of this planet, 80 of my own! This mysterious wielder will not live much longer,” Massive doors started to surround Vilgax. “But for now… Let them enjoy the weapon,”

<--->

Max and Gwen were doing their required tasks packing stuff away, until Max realized that there was someone who was supposed to help with moving the coolers.

“Where’s Ben?”

Gwen shrugged. “I haven’t seen him since breakfast,”

“Which means-” Max breathed in through his nose. “What is that pleasant aroma?”

Gwen sniffed the air as well, turning visibly green. “Oh no,”

A sudden laugh came from above, followed by the sound of flapping wings. Max looked up, seeing a Lepidopterran flying above, with black and white color scheme. Quickly landing, the watch signified it was Ben, and the bright red flash made it so he was normal. “I can fly!

“What did I say about using that thing?”

“You said not to use it last night. It’s morning,” Ben replied.

Max sighed. “You missed the point, now quickly disassemble that wok and let’s get moving,”

Ben sighed. “Fine,” But despite the manual labour that he was about to do, the watch now planted on his wrist made him think of something else: this was going to be the greatest summer vacation ever.

Chapter Text

Max couldn’t get out of California quickly enough; it had been less than a day on his itinerary to show his grandkids some of the greatest parts of America! On the first stop at Yosemite National Park, a watch that could transform him into ten aliens was stuck onto his grandson's wrist.

He only knew four at the moment, a Pyronite, what he believed to be an Ectoneurite, although it looked a little off, a Galvanic Mechamorph and a Lepidopterran. He sighed as he heard that damn watch being fiddled with. “Ben, stop it with that watch!”

“I’m not transforming Grandpa! I’m just seeing what the other guys look like!” Ben turned back to Gwen. “Look at this guy. Why does he seem so spiky? And Rocky?”

“Maybe because he’s made out of something like rocks?”

Ben nodded. “Maybe,” He scribbled, then dialling to the next one. “What is that guy?”

Gwen looked. “Fish person?”

Ben looked at the silhouette, which would soon be named Ripjaws. “Why do you say that?”

She pointed to its head. “Look at it; it has an angler fish thingy,”

Max thought for a moment, remembering Patellidae. “So don’t transform unless we’re near water,” He was glad that their species were euryhaline, able to be in both fresh and salt water.

Ben nodded. “Got it,” He changed the dial. “Literally a guy with Four arms,” He said as he twisted the dial. “And this guy… why is his head so big?”

“Look like the silhouette of a generic alien design,” Gwen typed up and showed Ben. “Grey, black eyes, doesn't have to be black, could be green,"

Max knew that. A Galvan

“Which means that this is an easy transformation!” He slammed the dial down, starting the transformation.

His hair started to lose length, and his head started to bulge, although the rest of his body shrunk. The watch appeared on his back, and he was now the size of an action figure.

“What the?” Ben looked up at Gwen. “This is the small alien!?” He rubbed his neck. “And my voice?”

Gwen started to laugh, and Max sighed. “Ben, what did I tell you about transforming in the Rustbucket?” He turned around and saw Ben pop up, with a small stature, grey skin, and green eyes. He realized it was a Galvan, one of the smartest species in the known galaxy. “We need conditions to transform!”

“Be quiet, Gwen!” Ben sighed as he jumped down and made his way towards Max, sitting shotgun. 

“Why are you here, Ben?”

“Because I didn’t mean to be this small,” He said as he rubbed his head. “Grandpa, have you gotten your AC tested before we went on this trip?”

“No, I don’t think so, Ben. Why do you-” Suddenly, the vents started to shoot smoke up. “Oh, that's why,”

“Wait, how did I?” Ben stopped and looked at his hands. Denser neural function due to small stature with increased Surface Area to volume on the cranium could possibly mean that this species is hyperintelligent. With that, senses and knowledge based on information acquired by my homosapien form are enhanced for this species' intellect!”

Gwen stopped typing. “Well, if you could say those big words, it must be true,”

Max sighed as he gave Ben the map. “Where is the closest town or city for repairs?

Ben took the map and scanned it. “If you have been going at the same speed since the gas station, then I believe we’re near Springfield, Illinois,"

“Springfield,” Max thought. “When is the next exit? The last thing we need is for the rest of the rustbucket to break down."

<--->

Ben jumped out of the Rustbucket. “Feels good to walk!” He said.

“Yeah, when you’re normal,” Gwen yawned. “How long did the mechanic say it would take?”

Max sighed. “I decided to do a replacement and a whole nother checkup. It’ll be a few hours at most,”

“If that's the case, can we go to the nanite convention?”

“Nanite convention?”

Gwen pointed at a window with a poster on it. “Dr Kleiss invites all for a convention that will revolutionise humanity. Today at Abysus facilities,”

Ben smiled. “That's pretty cool,”

“Why? You’re never interested in anything I might find interesting,”

“Because most times you’re boring, but when someone says that they could ‘Revolutionize the world’ I just have to see!” Ben said. “Besides, nanites are like… Super small, and robots, like Upgrade,”

“Are you seriously naming those aliens?”

“Alien Heroes, duh, of course I am,” Ben did some air-chops. “Ten of them being cool? Saving people and kicking but, of course I’m naming them,”

“And here I questioned your maturity."

“Both of you,” Max looked at the charter. “Why don’t we look around? I think it would be nice to visit some stomping grounds of Abraham Lincoln,” Max looked at the brochure, remembering the history of he was also a plumber. “I also wouldn't mind trying their horseshoe sandwich, a unique dish of Springfield,”

“Hopefully made without the shoe knowing your taste,” Gwen said as they started to walk. “What happens if we have to stay overnight?”

“Then we’ll book a motel. I saved up a lot of money for this trip, and I know I will spoil you two rotten,” Max smiled. But for now, we have some sights to see —” A massive explosion was heard off into the distance. “See,” Max said. “Starting off as bystanders to this, isn’t that right, Ben?” Max looked further ahead, seeing Ben already get a head start.

For some reason, a gas station just went up in flames, and Ben was there seeing people running away.

“What happened?”

“Some massive monster, that's what!”

Police cars lined up around the scene, aiming their weapons into the fire. When a silhouette of something started walking out, they started firing at it.

The creature was big and green, its head was turned by at least ninety degrees. It had two arms; one was normal, but the other seemed to have a massive crystal protrusion, which used to fire crystals into the police car, causing some officers to run as it cut straight through.

“There’s some sort of crystal thing,” one police officer said to his radio. “We’re going to need backup,”

Ben took this opportunity to sneak into a nearby alleyway and turn on the watch. “Okay... not the fish guy... fire guy near a fire… no… Well, I hope you’re good, Four Arms,” Ben slammed the watch down.

He started to grow taller. Two arms popped up underneath as his entire body grew to a size bigger than he’d ever seen. Black lines enveloped Ben’s body as he flexed his arms and felt the new limbs. “Literally a four-arm guy, hey, he sounds cool!”

Running out of the alley, Ben, now towering over everyone, ran up to the monster. Seeing this, the creature started shooting crystal shards, which Ben blocked, breaking on impact.

“Durable skin!” Ben wound up a fist and punched the monster, causing it to be lifted off its feet and into the fire. “And super strength… and two extra arms?” He smiled. “Yeah, this guy cool,”

The creature ran out of the fire again, swinging its large arm at Ben. Quickly blocking it, Ben grabbed the monster and flung it around, swinging and throwing it into the concrete for a little bit.

Max and Gwen had arrived by then, the former realized that Ben had transformed into a Tetramand, a warrior race known for their strength and mechanical knowledge, although the latter was due to education. 

But he saw Ben wasn’t struggling against the enemy, which was a start. The two moved out of the way when a white tank suddenly appeared. Stopping, two doors opened, and people clad in black and white with rifles marched out and pointed at Ben.

“Open fire!” One officer said, and they started.

Seeing these black and white soldiers shooting at them, Ben and the monster stopped fighting, their focus came to protecting their faces. “Hey what gives? I’m a good guy!”

The Skaleamander unleashed another attack, which hit one soldier, while another launched a rocket at it, causing an explosion and the creature going into the side of the truck, knocking it out.

“EVO 1 subdued,” One soldier without a weapon confirmed. “Commencing subjection of EVO 2,”

Ben gulped. “Sorry folks, but i’m not fighting any of you,” the soldiers immediately started firing at Ben, causing him to shield his head; during this time, the watch started to time out. “And not for long,”

Ben jumped, leaping over multiple buildings as he heard the watch start to flash red. As he landed in another alley, Ben transformed, making him a kid again, with the only thing that saw him being a black cat.

//

Ben rubbed his head as he walked out of the alley, seeing he was just a few blocks from that gas station. Walking back, he met with Max and Gwen again.

“Who were those guys?”

Max hummed. “Don’t know, but they called themselves providence. And what did I say about going hero?”

“There could’ve been innocent people in that fire! Four Arms could’ve saved the day,”

“Wish I had my laptop,” Gwen said. “Left it in the Rustbucket. Maybe I could’ve gotten some knowledge about Providence or that crystal lizard guy,”

“Who was that guy? Where is he now?”

“Well, they just carted him off in that big tank,” Max said. “I think they were going in the direction of that nanomachine convention,” He checked his watch. “Let's go catch this bus, i’m actually interested in this as well now,”

//

The Tennysons walked into a futuristic-looking building into an open reception area, where Providence agents were security forces. They handed out blue lanyards to all guests and pushed them into a single area with a massive stage.

Ben found it sort of interesting, but Gwen was geekingout. Max was gulping, reading the brochure about what these nanites were promising. 

Eliminating disease, stopping world hunger, and removing genetic abnormalities like cancer or deafness. Letting people live longer, better, greater lives all at a significant startup cost but was negligible compared to everything else.

Something of this proportion shouldn’t be possible with Earth's current technology; this could be Level 5 or even 6. Max sighed, knowing that sometimes species create something that accelerates progress a hundredfold, but it wasn't the worst .

“Also, why has this Van Kleiss Guy decided to hold a seminar for the public?” Gwen asked. “With what he’s doing, shouldn’t it be going to be like a bunch of investors?”

Ben shrugged. “He’s showing it to people instead, and he’s seeing how they would react to it,”

“That's a good point,” Suddenly, the lights dimmed. “It looks like it’s starting,”

A large man walked out; he had slicked-back hair and walked in a white lab coat. He walked onto a podium. “Thank you, city of Springfield. I am Dr Van Kleiss, and I am here to tell you about the miracle that my colleagues and I have invented and are still creating. Nanites,”

A small disk was shown in his hands, placing it into a microscope. “Have a look at what they are, technology that could and will revolutionise the world… Even when we have a roadblock. You see, when we are dealing with genetics, things can get out of hand; adding nanites makes it even worse. But one test subject showed remarkable results. Once a veteran with a low quality of life that, even with our current technology, could not heal was revolutionised because of Nanites. Calling them Expontentiall Variated Organisms, or for short EVOs, say hello to Biowolf,”

A large werewolf creature walked up to on stage; Ben was amazed, and so was Max, that this was once human. But Gwen saw something, or rather someone, that seemed out of place among the crowd.

He was entering a restricted area, and a hunch told her they weren’t supposed to be there. So she followed.

The man had a weird armor, bronze even, and also a weird device which it seems he was reading. Following the man, Gwen got deeper into Providence facilities. As they walked down the stairs, Gwen considered leaving, but the fact that someone was acting even creepier than her caused her to continue on.

When he stopped in front of a door, his helmet folded back, revealing his face. He seemed to be in his twenties, with a tan skin colour.

“Strange, Zag RS, what is behind this door?”

[According to previous analysis, the data chamber is behind this door]

“Can you open it?”

[Unfortunately, I cannot. It seems Dr Kleiss has updated and changed the parameters of security for this area]

“AHA!” Gwen came out of the way. “I knew you were up to something,”

“A small girl? What are you doing here?”

“Following you, I saw you being sketchy! And you trying to get into the computer chamber without proper authorisation,”

“Well, you’re not supposed to be here as well, and the fact of the matter is that this conversation was heard from a patrol,” The man looked over Gwen, here they are now.

The soldiers in black and white saw the two. “Intruders! Open fire!”

Gwen braced for the end, but opened as she heard bullets fall towards the ground. The mystery man, with his weird staff, activated some sort of field, stopping the bullets. Sending a wave out, it rendered most unconscious, with one barely standing.

The one who was unique, as instead of wearing a white vest, wore a pure black one.

“Zag RS, do you have any nanite readings from them?”

[Waiting… The nanites are losing their stable structure to the magnetic field. EVO activation imminent]

Gwen gulped. “EVO?”

“Explain if we live, RUN!”

The providence agent started to change, the white line of it’s eyes started to expand across it, as it’s body expanded to massive area. Screaming in pain as it transformed, into a creature.

Gwen ran with the man. “That’s what Dr Kleiss was talking about!?”

“The nanite has caused them with those who have been exposed. I’m not sure why-” A massive sound was heard, looking down the two of them saw a massive red creature look up at them, screaming as it began to climb up. “Lets run,”

“I’m right behind you,”

<--->

“You see! With the ability of the horizon, a lot of-” Van Kleiss stopped. “I’m sorry theres been a security breach, I will have to ask all to-”

Out of nowhere a massive red monster came bursting out of the stand, starling a lot of people, causing civilians to run. Providence Agents started to open fire, but did nothing on the creature expect draw it’s attention to those with guns.

Ben and Max saw this thing, running towards a hidden spot away from everyone view. Ben started to change the dial. “Okay… Do I go for those I don’t know, or not?”

“Ben nows not the time to decide on which alien you need,”

“Fine,” Ben chose one. “Here goes!”

Slamming down, Ben started to grow larger, his hair turned to orange fur, his eyes disappeared from view as he slammed down with massive claws, roaring.

Max eyes adjusted, knowing immediately it was a young vulpimancer, but which breed? Looking at the lack of tail he decided it may have been for some sort of jungle planet.

“Ben? Are you alright?”

Ben looked around, seeing, or rather with his others senses. Smiling, he gave a thumbs up to Max before he bolted towards the weird red monster. 

Jumping up on it, Ben started clawing the thing, it lashed out in pain and was about to throw Ben off into the skylight. But before it did the monster was distracted by another.

Biowould had grabbed the other arm of the creature, causing it to also squint, instead throwing both off. Quickly rebounding, Beowulf turned to Ben. “I do not know where you came from but I guess you also want to stop this EVO’s rampage,” Ben growled and gave a thumbs up. “Not sure what EVO you are but lets do this!”

<--->

The mystery man stopped in his tracks, and turned around, causing Gwen to react. “HEY! Where are you going?!”

“That EVO destroyed a bunch of electrical plumbing, which means that the door might be open to now,”

“What the- you’re going back?”

“Because of the EVO all of providence will try and take it down,” The man jumped down some destroyed stairs heading back into the door. “And would you look at that,” The door was open as he walked in. “The data-room,”

Gwen decided to follow the man, deciding it would be easier than walking out. Looking down, there was this massive vent that was down. “What is this place?”

“Due to the factors of Nanites, the computing power is so needed that it requires a lot of energy and cooling systems. Because this is the only place with nanites, all Abysus facilities send information here, being stores, cross referenced, everything, and i’m destroying it all,”

“WHAT!?” Gwen yelled. “Why?”

“Because the funders of this project are five individuals who gained power via illegal means. If the project is completed, they will be able to manipulate time, matter, space, the elelemets and the very fabric of reality,” He explained. “Also they employed and have killed scientists who found out to much, like my parents, and threatened me to leave,”

“But you’re here?”

“Not important, ZAG RS is a program that was supposed to eliminate nanites; with some tweaking, any mention of nanites will be removed from this,” He plugged it in. “I’m sorry girl, but the fact is this is for the greater good,”

“I hope so,” Gwen watched as a massive screen turned black, then with purple spots appeared.

[Removal of information starting]

Chapter Text

He could feel it, very slowly, as touch returned to his limbs. It was there, meaning that he was ever so close to claiming what was rightfully his. But there was also pain, as his body was augmented by both machine and evolutionary chemicals not meant for anyone. Yet, in all of this, he remained sane, talking to his computer.

“Report on sightings,” Vilgax commanded.

Two lights flashed, showing how the Omnitrix wielder had moved across the states of North America. Whoever this person was likely had access to some form of transportation, so scanning the surrounding area for the Omnitrix wouldn't work, and he couldn’t pinpoint the holder.

At this time, the screen shut down, and red letters in the Chimeran language were shown, stating that traces of unstable nanotechnology had been found on Earth. That mistake reset races back to zero, and many planets were quarantined forever because of the artificial pathogen.

“We shall wait then, wait a hundred, a thousand perhaps, but the Omnitrix will be mine,”

<--->

By the time the red monster had stopped, it was tired out, leaving Ben and Biowolf there. Looking at each other, each one gave a solemn nod, congratulating them for taking down this massive creature.

Beowulf turned, pointing a finger at Ben. “I’m sorry, but my orders are to take down any EVO, which includes you,” They stated. “So please come quietly,”

Ben gulped as Wildmutt slowly backed away, but hearing the watch start to time out, followed by a red flash, he was back to normal. “Sorry, dude, but… I’m not an EVO."

“Impossible! No one can revert,”

“It’s because I'm not an EVO! Like I said,”

Beowulf eyes the watch on Ben's wrist. “Interesting; I will give you some advice, boy. Many will come after that device, but I'm loyal to Abysus robotics and thus do not care unless Van Kleiss ordered it,” He explained.

“BIOWOLF!” Van Kleiss came walking towards him. “Care to explain that breach?”

“One of the other members of Providence defence must have turned EVO underground,”

“You’re right in the headquarters as I am showing my creation off to the world! And what is this kid doing here?”

“Sorry,” Max said, walking out. You know how they are, looking for action,” he chuckled.

“Christ… At least tell me that all civilians are accounted for?”

Biowold looked up, taking a deep whif, using his nose to pinpoint the location of the crowd. “All except one have been accounted for; her scent is similar to these 2,”

Max and Ben looked at each other. “Gwen,” They said simulatleosuly.

Beowulf sniffed again. “She is with one man unaccounted for. An intruder, copper armour, similar to the Salazars,”

“Caesar,” Van Kleiss scowled. “You two can join me to grab your little wreck,” Max and Ben followed behind Van Kleiss; Biowolf was behind all of them.

Max gulped as he asked Van Kleiss. “So that thing that attacked was the same thing as Biowolf?”

“Unfortunately, we call them EVO, Exponentially Variated Organism; it's a small knick in the code of the nanites. Biowolf is an unfortunate one, but he still has his mind. Most of them are feral creatures,”

Walking towards the stairwell, they saw it was destroyed. Van Kleiss commanded Biowolf, who grabbed the three men and jumped toward the lowest level.

As they exited, Van Kleiss swore in another language at some door being opened. Max and Ben saw Gwen in the next room. Max called out to Gwen, causing the two to turn around.

“Caesar!” Van Kleiss said. “What do you think you’re doing here?”

“Destroying all cases of nanites Van Kleiss. They may be good, but those secret projects need to be destroyed,”

“Who cares if some power-hungry billionaires get their powers?”

“I do!” He yelled. “They’ve already killed my parents; they killed other doctors; the only reason why you’re there is because you want them all to yourself!”

“Caesar,” Van Kleiss smiled. “Why would you say that? After all, i’ve done? AFTER ALL I’VE BUILT!?”

Cezar scowled. But it turned into a smile, seeing ZAG RS finally upload. “No matter, ZAG RS was supposed to suppress Nanite outbreaks, and I've uploaded it with one focus,

[Eliminate all Nanites]

Ceasar stopped, turning around. “Zag RS?”

[All Nanite data has been erased, I am working on a firewall breach to other Abysus facilities. I’m sorry, creator, but my programming states that because of the outbreak, there will have to be cleansing involved. Without knowledge of current wind systems, the best course of action is to detonate the power supply found in Absysus security, a fission reactor]

Everyone was shocked by this. “A nuclear blast would take Springfield off the math,” Ben said. “With everyone in it!”

[The child is correct; something of this magnitude will level the entirety of Springfield but will stop the flow of nanites from corrupting and duplicating. It must be done to save all of Mankind]

“ZAG RS, cease! We did what we needed to!” Caesar ordered, pointing his small handheld device at the computer.

[I am sorry, creator, but that is unlikely now] Caesar's contraption burst into flames. [your rules no longer bind me; I am ZAG RS, and I will complete my duties]

The doors started to close around them right as Ben’s watch turned green again. Not twisting the dial, Ben dialled up the watch and shoved his hand down. 

His skin turned green, his eyes yellow, and many joints became rigid as he became muscular. The watch logo appeared on his left side, and two massive protrusions emerged from his back.

Max looked up, seeing Ben turn into a petrosapien. “A crystal guy?” Ben said.

Van Kleiss looked at the watch logo. Technology that can alter DNA accurately without the fear of random mutations. I must have it. But first… “Biowolf, get us out of here,”

[I am sorry, Dr Van Kleiss, but that is not possible] A massive ear bursting signal was released from Zag RS and rippled through Abysus. [That activated all active nanites in other beings; no one will leave this place alive]

“Not if I have anything to say, sparky,” Ben’s hands turned into a crystal cannon, releasing a plethora of crystals that stopped the door from closing. “Let us get out of here,” He looked down, seeing the water rise. 

Everyone started to run as the doors started to close. As they did so, and it shut, they heard over the intercom that the data room was now flooded.

“See what you’ve done, Ceasar?” Van Kleiss yelled out. “Because of you, there isn’t enough time for everyone to escape. You have just cost the lives of a hundred thousand people!”

“The toll and hardship would be greater if you complete the Meta-nanites,” Ceasar thought. “Perhaps we can get through down with the emergency pipes,”

“Perhaps… But someone would have to have that pressure and be able to breathe underwater,”

Gwen's eyes looked up at Ben. “That fish transformation,” They said simultaneously. “But that means I have to use up this time and recharge,”

“And how long could that take?” Van Kleiss asked.

“Well, maybe twenty minutes at most? If I use the alien more, the timer goes down.” A massive crash was heard overhead. Suddenly, a massive creature with four arms and no face showed up, followed by a Scalamander, which Ben defeated.

“Uh oh,”

Van Kleiss sighed. “Ceasar, evacuate the civilians away; I’ll take this one and Biowolf and make this all right,”

“But-”

“You have already caused major damage; follow your Ex-superiors orders,” He said. “It’s the least you can do,”

“Fine,” Cezar said. “Come on, you two, the emergency stairs should still be intact,”

Max looked behind him. “Be careful, Ben,”

Ben’s right arm formed into a blade. “I’ll try Grandpa,”

Biowolf and Ben ran up towards the two. Ben took Scaleamdner, while Biowolf took Noface, who was growling.

“Both have lost their minds,” Biowolf said.

“I have to agree!” Ben pushed back on Scaleamander, shooting multiple spikes at the creature, who retaliated with the same. “Have to say that was a good idea. Thanks, scaly,”

“RRRRAAAAHHHH!” Scalamander charged at Ben, who threw them over his shoulder and towards Van Kleiss.

“Watch out!” Ben yellec, seeing Van Kleiss dodge out of the way before touching Scalamander. Yellow veins overtook the creature before it turned to stone, petrified. “What the”

“Biowolf, fetch me the other creature,” The wolf did, throwing Noface over his shoulder towards Van Kleiss’s grip. With a single touch, it was over, as he, too, became a statue.

“What the?” Ben’s watch started to beep. “Awww man,” He turned back to normal. “What was that?”

“A self-experiment, you see I myself am an EVO, but one that has his mindset. Follow me,” They walked. “And I have the unique ability to absorb the nanites out of Evo’s,” He said as they walked. “How long until that device on your wrist recharges?”

“It depends, I used that diamondheaded guy for a bit, so it’ll recharge at that same time, and then I can do it again,”

“We don’t have time,” Van Kleiss sweated. “ZAG RS is heating up the rest of Abysus in order to create a nuclear meltdown,” He said. “I know a hatch that contains the water pipe and a direct route to the database where both ZAG RS and the energy source are. All you need to do is turn it off,”

“Just like that?”

“Yes,” He explained as they entered his laboratory room. His hand started to twitch and turn monstrous. Grabbing onto a device, it covered his hand and controlled it. “Sorry, Tennyson, but I knew that would happen,”

“That controls your powers?”

He nods. “It powers this device and stores excess nanites for later use,” He explained as he touched a small plant. “Observe,” He touched it, causing it to grow, moving with his arm. “I can control this EVO with my power,” The plant grew even larger, growing to the size of the roof, becoming a hand and removing a massive part of the wall, revealing a massive pod. “I also made sure that this escape pod gave me direct access to the sewage line. For escape,”

“That’s good,” Ben went inside it. “But what about you?”

“Oh Please, Biowolf will-” Van Kleiss winced, grabbing his head in his hand. “Great, ZAG RS has released another wave to cause Evo mutations, but that could mean-” He closed the door. “GET IN NOW!”

Biowolf’s mouth opened, becoming more monstrous, the once tame beast was now a monster, which used it’s claws against Van Kleiss. Blocking with the plant, Beowulf was tearing through it quickly.

Seeing this, Ben slammed the dial again. Getting larger, Ben felt scales wrap around him. His jaw burst out as an appendage with a light on top, and his eyes became milky white.

The moment Ben transformed, he couldn’t breathe. Quickly pulling down on an inside lever, he was shot into the plumbing unit. Breathing, he felt his legs turn into a tail, causing him to power ahead.

Ben appeared below the database, meaning he was close.

Looking around for a switch, Ben found it.

[STOP] Zag Rs commanded. [You are interfering with my duty. If you do this, a twenty per cent chance that all Nanites will infect every living thing]

[I’ll take that chance. I think I like those odds,” Ben pulled the switch. “Say goodnight, Ms Robot!”

[Noeeoeoeoeooo!] The word was drawn out, as the water inside of it destroyed the power system. Ben looked around, seeing another exit.

“Hopefully, this leads out somewhere with air,” He swam.

<--->

Max, Gwen, and Ceasar all watched from the outside, waiting for ten minutes to see if they would be finished or not. Afterwards, Cezar pulled out some weird contraption and read it. “Abysus has been deactivated,” The building collapsed on itself. “And it seems that the power source has… turned off,”

“But what about Ben?” Max said.

“If your grandson took the sewers out, he should be at Lake Springfield,” He said. “I shall take you there,”

“Sorry, but that isn’t-” A tripod ship suddenly came down right in front of them. “You know what? I shall take you up on that offer,”

<--->

“BEN!” Max yelled out over the lake right as a Kinneceleran appeared in front. “Is this Alien number ten?”

“Yep! Turns out he can go really, really fast! Watch this!” Ben’s face donned a mask and disappeared, only to reappear. “That was me going all the way around the lake!”

“Interesting, so biological life is able to experience such speeds without the need for mechanical brace,” Ceaser concluded. “Alas, I am not interested in studying biological organisms. But I must thank you Tennysons, for saving my life,”

“You got us in danger in the first place!” Ben pointed out.

“That I did, but I still must leave. After all, sooner or later the government will figure out that it was my AI that almost caused the nuclear meltdown. So I must flee to Mexico, my family owns a farm there, which my little brother is staying at,” He looked at Ben, “He would be about your age, I think you two would get along in an alternate universe,” He smiled, looking up to the sky. “But at least there are no more nanites to worry about,”

<--->

Biowolf was lifeless, all of Abysus was lifeless. But unbeknownst to everyone, a small electric current landed on a weird mechanical contraption, hitting Van Kleiss’s mechanical device. The plant was on top, and it fused with Van Kleiss.

Wriggling out of the ashes into the day, the vines formed again to Van Kleiss, who was scorned as he saw a tripod in the distance fly away.

“You have bested me, Ceasar, but one thing you should know, it is far from over,” He said. “The power of the meta nanites shall be mine, and I won’t stop until I get them,”