Remaining time: 1 minute
Reduction percentage per switch: 30%
Number of switches: 2
Calculation: 1 * (100% — 30%)2 = 0.49 minutes
Approximation accounting for the time elapsed after transformations: Less than 30 seconds remaining
----------------------------------------
Green lightning struck the forest floor, scorching the ground. A red flash followed, and Ben lay there exhausted, his Omnitrix glowing red as it entered its cooldown mode.
Moments before the massive explosion, Ben had transformed into Snare-Oh, utilizing the mummy alien’s regenerative abilities to survive the searing heat and devastating blast wave. Suspended in the air, his bandaged form burning and regenerating simultaneously, he endured the excruciating sensation of being torn apart and reformed repeatedly. As his time nearly expired, he made one final transformation into Buzzshock, using the electrical alien’s speed to reach the ground safely.
Now back in his human form, every movement sent waves of agony through his body. Though he had prioritized healing his fatal injuries during his time as Snare-Oh, his body remained a battlefield of wounds, both external and internal. Many of them stayed lethal, though not immediately — giving him time to transform again for a complete recovery.
His internal organs bore the scorching aftermath of the fight, while his skin displayed patches of charred flesh — a painful reminder of Heatblast’s OVERHEAT special move.
His right arm hung uselessly, twisted into an unnatural U-shape from executing Armodrillo’s ROTARY DRILL IMPACT special move — a dangerous combination of the alien’s vibrations and drilling capabilities. During his training at Mt. Rushmore, his instincts had warned him against attempting this combination, and now he understood why — the move had nearly destroyed his arm.
These weren’t the natural abilities of his alien — Ben had pushed his transformations beyond their natural limits, which Ben Prime never or barely did. He called them “special moves” for a reason; they weren’t only techniques to be simply mastered. Each transformation needed to physically and mentally adapt to these extreme abilities if such adaptation was even possible.
Sweat and blood trickled down his temple as he gazed at the green smoke-filled night sky.
‘I hope that explosion was enough to finish him.’ His fingers dug into the soil. ‘If he survived somehow…’
His twisted arm throbbed painfully, a reminder of his calculated risk. He could have detonated Ball Weevil’s explosive sphere earlier, but he’d deliberately waited, ensuring Kevin was trapped within its devastating center. The damage to his arm was the price of that decision and his resolve to get rid of Kevin 11.
‘He won’t show his face anytime soon, in any case… Kevin isn’t my main concern, but eliminating any threat is still beneficial. At the very least, he’s out of commission for now.’
His eyes drifted to the Omnitrix, still pulsing red. ‘Should I try to track him or his corpse once it turns green? I can barely stay conscious at this point… and he or his remains could be anywhere throughout the city.’
He yawned. ‘It would be funny if he actually got reduced to dust.’
'...'
'...Could we have talked this through?’ He thought back to all the destroyed buildings and flipped cars caused by Kevin when he was too slow as Heatblast to stop him. Thinking about it, Ben didn’t even bother trying to save people.
‘No, this was the right call. Kevin would have caused more destruction. Removing the water instead of stopping the source would have been stupid… However… Should I feel worse about… everything?’
An answer came to his mind. ‘Why pretend to care?’
The thing with this Ben was that despite not minding saving people in need and despising criminals… that was all. He wouldn’t feel too bad, nor would he help people if there was even the slightest inconvenient obstacle in his way. Even if perhaps it was indirectly his fault, since he hadn’t even tried to reason with Kevin before attacking him.
At the end, they were random strangers. His anger toward Kevin stemmed mainly from the latter’s senseless killing. Life was still precious — too precious to be ended without purpose or reason.
Gwen and Max knew this to some extent, but not his near-complete indifference.
‘Come to think of it… Mt. Rushmore… what actually happened there? How did Kevin get to me?’ With trembling hands, he retrieved his phone from his pocket. It was powered down despite having enough battery. He pressed the power button, watching the startup screen illuminate. His first instinct was to call his grandfather, but his expression darkened as he stopped his finger mid-tap.
‘Everything is his fault! I’d rather hear from the annoying bitch first.’ He pressed on the contact labeled “Annoying bitch (worst cousin)”. Living in the same RV had forced him to keep the insults in check whenever they talked. Their mutual dislike was obvious, but stirring up trouble with someone sleeping five meters away wasn’t exactly smart.
The answering machine said the number wasn’t currently available.
'...Then he’d better explain himself.’ He pressed the contact “Grandpa Max”, it rang several times before a familiar voice answered.
“Hello, Ben. I was worried. How are you?” The voice was devoid of emotion, but it was without a doubt Max’s.
"..." Ben paused, his grip tightening on the phone. The last thing Max would be right now is expressionless. Since Kevin somehow got his hands on him, it wouldn’t be much of a stretch to assume that other villains could also have been at Mt. Rushmore.
“Sublimino?” Ben frowned as he said it, his voice laced with suspicion. He heard a slight gasp at the other end. “Listen, you little shit. If you don’t release my Grandpa from your mental control, I—”
“You’ll do what, Tennyson? Can you even find me?” Sublimino’s voice cut in, mocking. “And even if you do, I assure you that fixing your grandfather won’t be as simple as breaking my watch like in the Prime universe.” His voice sounded like that of a human trying to imitate a magical dwarf, ridiculous yet menacing.
“What do you want?” Ben exhaled, his patience wearing thin. The night couldn’t get any worse.
“That’s simple. Your Omnit—”
Ben hung up before Sublimino could continue. With pain, he pressed himself against a tree, feeling the rough bark through his shirt. The weather was cold, but not unbearably so.
He yawned. ‘I want to keep going but I really need to sleep.’
He pondered, even without Brainstorm, he could more or less form a plan.
‘First thing when I wake up and heal: learn about phone signals online, then track down Sublimino using a device I’ll build or customize as Brainstorm.’
His expression darkened. ‘Then I torture him with Buzzshock, Snare-oh and Heatblast…’
‘No… why complicate things? I already know the most sensitive parts of human anatomy, and Brainstorm can control electricity precisely enough to cause maximum pain without killing. Perfect for interrogation.’
‘Anyway, the little shit spills everything I want to know, and I free Grandpa from his physical and mental restraints… simple enough.’
The ideas kept coming. ‘But maybe I should just straight up kill him to avoid him mentally controlling me and figure out how to free Grandpa on my own.’
A spark of inspiration hit him, and he sat up straighter. ‘I see! I can knock him out quickly with Buzzshock then prepare a room to torture him without any proximity… Maybe a metallic room where electricity can freely pass through… Or an oven where I can heat the whole room from outside? Why think about it? Let’s do an electric oven!’
He considered more complications. ‘I should also prepare a speech-to-text AI in case his voice is enough to control me over prolonged periods… Then prepare a text-to-text AI model to give me the text information in the absurd case the text itself can control me… No, too paranoid. Anyway, now my plan is foolproof!’
Ben leaned his head back against the tree, closing his eyes for a moment with a small smile as he thought of Sublimino’s future expression.
All lives were precious… except those who wronged him… or just needed to die.
'...I trained hard at Mt. Rushmore! Why did Grandpa knock me out?! Wasn’t I worthy?! Too incompetent for him?! And thinking about it…’
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
Ben looked at his left arm where a small, nearly invisible dot mark remained, still causing residual pain. ‘I was also administered some drug to keep me unconscious… Did Grandpa want to steal the Omnitrix from me? MY OMNITRIX?!’
Anger filled him, but he forced himself to calm down. ‘Grandpa Max will explain himself when…’
A new realization struck. ‘If Sublimino had Gwen, he would have mentioned it.’
‘The most likely culprits would be Charmcaster, her uncle Hex, or both — which would be much worse — or Darkstar.’ His fingers unconsciously traced the bark of the tree as the possibilities came flooding his mind. ‘And thinking about it, all of them are likely to leave her dead or barely alive due to her awakened bloodline…’
He shook his head. ‘She doesn’t have magic and she isn’t a participant. So either I’m wrong… or she lied…’
Eyes narrowing, Ben burst out in laughter of derision, anger, and exasperation. ‘Which isn’t surprising when I think about it. I shouldn’t have taken anything she said at face value… no wonder she asked more details about the Omniversal war.’
‘I wonder if she caught onto my bullshit long speech about wanting everyone to be free.’ Actually, Ben hadn’t lied about what he felt in his speech; the only deception might have been how devoted he appeared when making it.
Telling someone I’m fucking bored as justification to participate in a war was… far from ideal.
Since the beginning of the summer holiday, Ben had been bored, very, very, very bored. The Omnitrix changed that; the feeling he experienced when he burned the forest as Heatblast was godly. Watching the Ben 10 saga while knowing everything the Omnitrix could do was beyond satisfying.
So, the whole Restriction camp was obviously his enemy. It was one thing to follow a path, but another when the path was rigged — that would be boring, even if he were the one doing the rigging.
‘But does magic exist to begin with? … Yes! The only proof of magic’s existence that I have is the description of Snare-oh.’
----------------------------------------
Humanoid looking like a mummy made of magic bandages. Can use his body, his bandage as he wishes. Extremely resistant. Of course, he can’t be squashed. Able to learn use magic.
----------------------------------------
‘So magic exists and Gwen has some explaining to do when I rescue her…’ He concluded.
‘Since Gwen is the most likely to die soon, I should prioritize her… but without having any counter against magic or at least some basic understanding? Stupid…’ He scratched his head.
“If only… If only I had an annoying cousin who knew about magic…” He said out loud, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
‘I don’t even know how to find her or if she’s even kidnapped to begin with. As far as I know, she isn’t trustworthy… and neither is Grandpa now. Even if I rescue them… then what? What should I do?’
‘Thinking about it, what about Phil, Blukic, and Driba?!’
The more he thought, the more annoyed and tired he became.
‘Let’s think about it tomorrow.’ His eyelids grew heavier, yet a thought stopped him from falling asleep.
‘Why did Kevin look surprised when he was searching for me and only looked down at his immediate surroundings? He didn’t know I was underneath in the ground crack as Snare-Oh but…’ His unease grew stronger as he opened the Omnitrix menu.
----------------------------------------
▷ Notification (1 new notification)
----------------------------------------
'...' Ben clicked on it and read the notice about the war.
“The day…” He stood up with pain, he was tired but couldn’t afford to sleep. “COULDN’T BE ANY WORSE!!!” His voice echoed as he made his way out of the forest.
Not only were several disasters — both used and unused plots from the Prime universe — happening simultaneously, but the number of participating slots was far higher than 10. This meant having allies would be crucial, especially considering they’d have to collaborate with all participants regardless of their camp in the Multiversal war, only to become enemies in the Omniversal war.
But currently, a certain detail infuriated him. The location of the Omnitrix was being displayed to all participants throughout the universe!
“AI! What kind of crap is that?!” He shouted at the Omnitrix. No voice answered him except the basic AI of the Omnitrix, not the war AI. ‘Of course, it wouldn’t. It would be too convenient if it answered.’
He gritted his teeth.
‘If the position of the Omnitrix is displayed, then is it the Omnitrix sharing my position? Or is some celestial power tracking me?’ Ben paused, reflecting how since the beginning, the whole thing with the war AI had been both convenient and inconvenient. For example, the protection against anything that Azmuth, his assistants, and anyone else could do to the Omnitrix was convenient.
Then there were the tweaks — basically additions and modifications to the Omnitrix’s functions. With the new OS, there was no master control or hidden functions, only these tweaks to unlock.
‘Like rewards in a game…’ He frowned, he should have put more thought into it.
The last and only tweak he’d received was the “life equation” mode switch. Since then, nothing… which made sense, since he hadn’t achieved anything particularly noteworthy. Even surviving Nemesis wasn’t a great achievement in retrospect, and the tweak he’d received then had been purely practical for his situation: being able to use Snare-Oh’s or another alien’s regenerative abilities to heal.
‘That tweak… it wasn’t about reward or achievement, was it? It was just more… marketable to have me whole instead of being a quadruple amputee.’
‘Everything follows such a natural progression… like a game or a book…’ He gritted his teeth harder, making some small parts go away. ‘Am I just being controlled right now?’
“THE WHOLE POINT OF THIS WAR IS TO NOT BE CONTROLLED!” He yelled at the Omnitrix.
[Nothing changed. And you already reached the same conclusion at the start. But perhaps I should have made clear that the entity can control some aspects of the war.] A familiar cold and sarcastic robotic voice finally answered.
Ben looked at his watch, refusing to answer.
[In the end, it’s entertainment for it, while the stakes are real. Why do you seem angry now?]
“I don’t know… Maybe because it is actively making it entertainment! No one controls me! Is anything about the stakes of the Omniversal war even legitimate? As far as I know, the whole story is made up, just to see people battle each other.”
‘Which isn’t that bad, but still… I won’t throw my life away for that… I think? No. Not if I’m controlled like a puppet.’ Ben kept the thought to himself. His fatigue made him forget that the Omnitrix could read his thoughts.
However, it chose to ignore it.
[No. But even if I was allowed to show you certain footage that led to the war’s creation… Would you fully believe it?]
“No, I guess. Making proofs would be far too easy.” Ben shrugged. ‘But the plot would be pointlessly complicated if everything is fake… Making it an arena with diverse games would have been more practical…’
The tone suddenly changed, the voice was no longer robotic, it belonged neither to a man nor woman, ethereal yet furious.
“[The future has changed… The events at Mt. Rushmore were altered due to the notification coming sooner. …This fucking clown! Even when dead...!
You are somehow alive now but your actions will amount to nothing and trying to resist is the very definition of madness!]”
“What the—”
----------------------------------------
Notice update
----------------------------------------
Missions
1. Twenty slots for wielding the original Omnitrix. (Completed)
— Location: Main Dimension — Earth
— This slot will transfer to anyone who obtains the Omnitrix.
— One additional slot will be given for whoever:
— Builds an Omnitrix and a -trix variant.
— Wields an Omnitrix and a -trix variant.
— Note: Some -trix may or may not be destroyed at the death of its host.
----------------------------------------
“20?!” Ben paused, not understanding everything but continued. “I’m talking to the famous entity that wants to control all free will? Are you even allowed to interfere to this extent, or is the whole war setup just a joke you made up for entertainment?”
“[I can and I will, I already ẃ̶̡͕̱̥͎͛ọ̵̗̝̖̜̈́̄͆ṇ̸̰̗̓̅͆͆̌̓͘̚.]”
A new voice cut through — ethereal and neutral, distinctly different from the first. “[Just pretend nothing happened, Ben Tennyson. By the way, this is a common occurrence throughout the Omniverse. Don’t feel special; you are no chosen one.]”
“[But, do you best. The Omniverse needs w̴̻̫̳̦̰̽̎̒̈́̚ḭ̸̛̖̀͌̐l̸̺̹̏͜ḋ̵̘̬̻̘̏͘c̸̛̙͛̿͋͘ä̵̖͙̖́̾̿̽r̵̝̜̣͍̱̓̅͆̏d̶̺̊̀̇̕s̵̨̳̮͗̈̾ͅ ̵͖̮̯̩̍̑͜͝l̶͇̄͗̀̕ĩ̵̧̨̫̊̄k̷͙̜̦̈̒͒ę̴̭̩͖̚ ̵͉͓̗͓̎͝y̴̧̨̿̌͐ö̸͙̌̾u̴̥̿͆͆͂.̴͎͚͌̈ͅ]̴̪̟̫͂͒̈́͝”
“What are you talking about?!” Ben shouted, but this time only the basic Omnitrix AI answered.
‘So my Omnitrix is still worth 20 points instead of 1?’
----------------------------------------
Missions
1. Ten slots for wielding the original Omnitrix. (Completed)
----------------------------------------
'...Better than nothing. The priority now is to take full control of the Omnitrix.’ The task wouldn’t be simple; despite Brainstorm’s intellect, the alien still needed knowledge, and there was the time limit. Obviously, there weren’t any Omnitrix manuals just hanging around on the web.
‘Gwen and Max can wait or die, I guess.’ At the thought of them, he only felt annoyance. Actually, none of them were honest with each other, but for Ben, he was only dishonest about what he truly felt. He was truthful about everything else, so he didn’t really consider himself to be a liar — at least not a big one compared to Gwen and Max.
Not that he wanted them dead, of course… but they weren’t the main priority. In the end, they were just linked by blood, nothing more sentimental. However, if it had been his parents, despite Ben not really liking them as individuals… or as parents, they would have been his priority.
Now he was excited; finally, he could focus on what really mattered — the Omnitrix itself.
The training sessions at Mt. Rushmore had provided him a solid grasp of combat abilities for each transformation, but the Omnitrix held many more secrets beyond its shape-shifting powers.
Among the arsenal of 10 alien forms, only one remained an enigma — the last one. This mysterious transformation possessed a single apparent ability: generating shining purple armless smoke. The clouds, however, proved useless even as cover, lacking the density needed for concealment.
Testing the smoke on birds and insects yielded no results (human trials remained off-limits, though the outcome would likely be the same). Despite these failures, his instinct suggested a hidden potential within this form — some undiscovered condition to trigger its power.
‘I’ll figure that out later.’ Right now, the Omnitrix’s functions demanded his attention.
“Ben Tennyson.” A voice cut through his thoughts. With no immediate attack following, Ben turned, maintaining caution despite not bothering to raise his guard — the Omnitrix’s red cooldown glow and his battered state made that pointless.
“Psyphon, how are you?” Ben smiled like greeting an old friend. Before him stood Psyphon — a skeletal alien with black and white coloring, wearing a black armored dress uniform, a sharp fin at the top of his head.
"..." Psyphon’s gaze moved from Ben to the Omnitrix, now emitting red light instead of its usual green.
“It’s nostalgic. We first met in a forest.” Ben continued his shameless smile. “You’ve recovered nicely since last time. I didn’t mean to burn you that badly, but hey — not a single burn remain. So I guess everything that happened no longer matters, right?”
He gestured to his own charred flesh. “See? Now I’m the one who’s burned. That makes us even. Practically best friends, wouldn’t you say?”
"..." Psyphon’s gaze alternated between Ben and the red-glowing Omnitrix.
One small detail worth mentioning: Psyphon happened to be the number one and only servant of Vilgax… who, coincidentally, might have a slight interest in acquiring the Omnitrix.