Near Albedo’s concealed spacecraft, a sudden flash of multi-dimensional red light illuminated the clearing.
Punctuation appeared out of thin air, securely holding Vilgax’s heavy golden gauntlet.
With a final tap to the Ultimatrix crest, the towering, vibrating alien reverted to Albedo’s familiar human form in a flare of crimson energy.
“Well then,” Albedo announced smoothly, slipping the newly acquired gauntlet into the localized sub-spatial storage of his Ultimatrix.
“Vilgax has been thoroughly humiliated, the Earth is saved from a fiery impact, and you three are breathing.
I assume you’ll be on your way now?”
“Yeah, everyone’s safe,” Kevin said, crossing his arms with a relieved sigh.
“I’d say this whole disaster actually ended up being a per—”
Kevin suddenly bit his tongue, his eyes darting over to Ben.
The word “perfect” died instantly in his throat.
While Kevin had been miraculously cured of his chaotic mutation and Gwen was unharmed, Ben had sacrificed the Omnitrix.
The universe’s most powerful device—the very thing that had defined him as a hero—was currently sitting at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean as a pile of melted, useless scrap metal.
Kevin smartly decided to keep his mouth shut out of respect for his friend’s loss.
Albedo, on the other hand, possessed absolutely zero tact and even less empathy.
“A complete, absolute success!” Albedo declared cheerfully, a wicked, mocking grin spreading across his face as he looked at Ben.
“Although, Tennyson, it does seem you’re currently experiencing a slight deficit in the hardware department.
Oh my, whatever will the great hero do without his precious toy?
Why don’t you try begging me?
If you ask nicely enough, I might consider building you a replacement.
Someday.”
Ben glared at him.
For the very first time, looking at Albedo’s unbearably smug expression, Ben realized just how incredibly punchable his own face could be.
Man, I really want to hit him, Ben thought, clenching his fists at his sides.
But I don’t have any aliens to back me up, and he still has a fully functioning Ultimatrix.
I’d definitely end up getting tossed into a tree.
Just as Albedo let out a haughty laugh, a sharp, raspy, and incredibly irritated voice cut through the clearing.
“Is it considered acceptable Earth custom to completely ignore the presence of your elders?!
My time is exceptionally valuable, and you are currently wasting it!”
All four teenagers jumped, spinning around in surprise.
Standing on a mossy log just a few feet away, with his arms crossed tightly behind his back and a deep scowl etched across his wrinkled, amphibian face, was Azmuth, the First Thinker of Galvan Prime.
“Azmuth!” the four of them yelled in unison.
Even Albedo, whose composure was usually absolute, looked genuinely startled by the sudden appearance of his former mentor.
“Yes, it is I,” Azmuth grumbled, his tone dripping with his trademark arrogance.
“It is somewhat comforting to know your primitive, meat-based brains are still capable of basic facial recognition.
I am the creator of the Omnitrix.”
Knowing Azmuth’s notoriously prickly and sharp-tongued personality, Ben, Gwen, and Kevin wisely chose to stay quiet.
Azmuth completely ignored the humans.
His large, horizontal-slit eyes snapped directly to Albedo, narrowing sharply as he studied the sleek, crimson device strapped to his former assistant’s wrist.
The First Thinker let out a quiet, grudging hum of approval.
“A clever piece of engineering.
Your functional integration is excellent, the synchronization matrix is highly refined, and the completion level exceeds standard Galvan parameters.
You even incorporated several bypass nodes I had not previously considered.
While it violently deviates from my original intention of the Omnitrix functioning as an inter-species ark of peace…
from a strictly scientific perspective, it is a formidable piece of hardware.”
“Tsk.
I don’t need you to tell me that,” Albedo scoffed, crossing his arms and turning his head away.
But internally, his heart swelled with immense pride.
Receiving direct, unfiltered praise from the smartest being in three galaxies was an exceptionally rare honor, and the original Albedo’s deep-seated obsession with earning Azmuth’s validation flared brightly.
“Furthermore, Albedo,” Azmuth continued, his tone remaining strict but slightly softer.
“Judging by your tactical decisions and your willingness to coordinate with Tennyson during this crisis, it appears my previous assessment of your character may have been excessively harsh.
You are not a degenerate lifeform.
You are, at the very least, marginally more competent than Ben Tennyson.”
Albedo bristled slightly at being compared to Ben at all, but since Azmuth technically placed him above the human, he swallowed his retort.
He did briefly consider broadcasting across the extranet that Azmuth was an emotionally stunted workaholic who had been dumped by his girlfriend, Zenith, but ultimately decided against it.
Azmuth, completely unaware of the petty, malicious thoughts swirling in Albedo’s head, finally turned his attention to Ben.
The tiny Galvan stared at the teenager for a long, heavy moment without blinking.
The silence stretched out, the pressure mounting with every passing second until Ben finally cracked.
“Uh…
hey, Azmuth,” Ben stammered, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.
“When did you even get here?
I didn’t see your ship.”
“I have been observing since the exact moment you foolishly surrendered my life’s work directly into the hands of Vilgax,” Azmuth replied flatly.
Ben’s stomach dropped. Read this novel at g.com for the best experience.
Great, he thought miserably.
He saw the whole thing.
He knows I gave it up and blew it into pieces.
“Frankly, Ben Tennyson, regarding your conduct during this entire catastrophic incident…” Azmuth began, his voice dropping to a serious, authoritative register.
Ben squeezed his eyes shut, bracing himself for the legendary dressing-down of a lifetime.
“…it was, surprisingly, acceptable,” Azmuth concluded.
Ben’s eyes snapped open.
“Wait…
what?”
“As Max has often argued,” Azmuth sighed, shaking his small head.
“You possess a unique suitability for the Omnitrix that defies standard logical analysis.”
“But…
Azmuth, I handed it right to Vilgax!” Ben argued, completely baffled.
“And then I purposely blew it up!
If Albedo hadn’t fed me the technical specs for the overload, everything would have been destroyed.
Shouldn’t you be furious?”
“I would only be furious if you had abandoned the lives of your companions to preserve a piece of machinery,” Azmuth corrected sharply.
“The Omnitrix is merely a tool, Ben Tennyson.
It is the wielder who must be the hero.
You made the correct, albeit reckless, choice.”
Ben’s face lit up.
Earning praise from Azmuth was rarer than finding a Taydenite diamond on Earth.
A spark of hope ignited in his chest.
If he’s not mad at me for breaking it…
does that mean he’ll build me a new one?
Seeing Azmuth turn as if preparing to leave, Ben panicked and stepped forward.
“Wait!
Azmuth, before you go…
I really need to ask.
Is there any way you can build me a new Omnitrix?”
Azmuth paused, glancing back over his shoulder with an expression of profound irritation.
“My time is far too valuable to waste on redundant tasks, Tennyson.
I am not building you a new device when Albedo has already prepared one for you.”
Ben, Gwen, and Kevin all blinked in unison, slowly turning their heads to stare at Albedo.
Albedo groaned, rolling his eyes in absolute disgust.
“Tsk.
Fine.
Ruin the surprise, you old grouch.”
Albedo had fully intended to drag out Ben’s misery for at least a week before handing over the replacement, but with Azmuth spoiling the reveal, the game was over.
Muttering complaints under his breath, Albedo turned and walked up the boarding ramp into his spaceship.
A few minutes later, he strolled back out.
Resting in his palm was a sleek, dark-green device that resembled a high-tech digital gauntlet rather than a simple watch.
(It was structurally identical to the Ultimatrix design from the original timeline, but for the sake of simplicity, it would still serve as Ben’s Omnitrix.)
As Albedo approached the group, he noticed the mossy log was empty.
“Where did the old man go?”
“He said he had important Galvan matters to attend to and just teleported away,” Gwen replied.
“Tsk.
Fled rather quickly.
Typical,” Albedo muttered.
He stopped in front of Ben and unceremoniously tossed the green device at his chest.
“Here, Tennyson.
Catch.”
Ben fumbled for a second, catching the device before it hit the dirt.
He held it up in the moonlight, examining the heavy, gauntlet-like design.
“Hmm…
I gotta admit, it looks cool, but I kind of prefer the classic watch look.”
“Take it or leave it,” Albedo snapped coldly.
“If it offends your delicate aesthetic sensibilities, you can hand it right back.”
Ben quickly strapped the device onto his left wrist.
“No take-backs!”
Eager to test his new powers, Ben tapped the side buttons and pressed down on the central dial.
Nothing happened.
The green hourglass symbol remained dark and unresponsive.
it’s broken,” Ben said.
Albedo sighed, slapping his forehead.
“Right.
I haven’t initiated the bio-lock sequence yet.”
“Wait, I have to turn it on?”
“Your previous prototype bonded automatically,” Albedo explained, grabbing Ben’s wrist and rapidly twisting the new dial back and forth in a complex sequence.
“This is a custom build.
It requires manual activation.”
Albedo continued adjusting the settings, his fingers flying across the interface.
“I’ve ported over the core operating system.
All your previous voice commands remain functional.
I also added the Evolutionary Function, allowing you to access Ultimate forms, much like my Ultimatrix.”
“Whoa, seriously?!” Ben beamed.
“Yes.
And I’ve bypassed the primary lockouts.
Every single alien DNA sample you’ve ever accessed since you were ten years old is fully unlocked and ready for use.”
“That is amazing!” Ben cheered.
“Don’t celebrate just yet,” Albedo added, a highly suspicious, wicked smirk spreading across his face.
“I also took the liberty of adding a few new DNA samples to your active playlist.
For example…”
Before Ben could pull his arm away, Albedo slammed his hand down onto Ben’s dial.
A brilliant flash of green light illuminated the forest.
When the light faded, Ben was no longer standing there.
In his place was a tiny, knee-high, bloated blue alien that looked remarkably like a smooth, legless pufferfish.
It had tiny, useless stubby fins, a small tail, and wore a green harness with the Omnitrix symbol on its chest.
“Hahahahaha!” Albedo burst into cruel, uncontrollable laughter.
“What do you think, Tennyson?
I felt this specific genetic profile perfectly matched your inherent dignity!”
Ben—now transformed into Walkatrout—tried to step forward to yell at the clone, but his tiny, stubby legs couldn’t support his bloated body.
He took two waddling steps and immediately face-planted into the dirt with a wet smack.
Kevin couldn’t hold it in.
He burst into howling laughter, clutching his stomach.
“Oh man…
Ben, that is a great look for you!
Very intimidating!”
Gwen pressed a hand over her mouth, trying desperately to remain supportive, but her shoulders were shaking with suppressed giggles.
Furious, Walkatrout scrambled to stand up, waddling aggressively toward Kevin to give him a piece of his mind.
But the alien’s skin was incredibly slippery; he lost his footing after three steps, slipping backward and landing flat on his back, his tiny fins flailing helplessly in the air like a stuck turtle.
At that point, Gwen completely lost her composure, bursting into laughter alongside Kevin.
Because Walkatrout’s stubby arms couldn’t reach the Omnitrix dial on his chest to time out manually, Ben was forced to lie in the dirt for the next ten minutes, enduring the relentless laughter of his friends and the smug, victorious smirking of Albedo.
Once the watch finally timed out and Ben reverted to his human form, he glared absolute daggers at Albedo, brushing the dirt off his jacket.
“Alright, playtime is over,” Albedo said, looking completely satisfied with his petty revenge.
“This incident is officially concluded.
You three have no further business here, so I am sending you home.”
Albedo tapped his Ultimatrix, selecting his 26-Dimensional profile.
A familiar, glowing red dimensional aura began to manifest.
“I’m locking onto the spatial coordinates of the warehouse where Kevin parked his car,” Albedo stated.
“If you ever find yourselves with free time in the future, Tennyson…
kindly refrain from seeking me out.
In fact, if you actually need me, don’t seek me out either.”
Before any of them could offer a retort or a goodbye, Albedo snapped his fingers.
In a flash of brilliant red light, Ben, Gwen, and Kevin vanished from the forest, transported instantly back to Bellwood.
Standing alone in the quiet clearing, Albedo let out a long, satisfied sigh, turning back toward his ship.
The Omnitrix was replaced, Vilgax was defeated, and he had secured a massive boost to his personal research funding.
All in all, a very successful night.
Alien Data Files
Walkatrout
Origin: Taken from the DNA sample of an Ickthyperambuloid from the planet Gilli-Perambulous Promenade.
Anatomy: A diminutive, bipedal alien resembling a bloated, blue pufferfish.
It stands less than two feet tall, featuring extremely short, stubby legs, tiny useless fins for arms, a small flexible tail, and a shark-like dorsal fin on its back.
The Omnitrix symbol is located on a green harness around its waist.
Abilities: Walkatrout possesses virtually zero offensive or defensive capabilities.
Its only notable biological trait is that its skin is incredibly slippery, making it exceptionally difficult for predators or enemies to grab or hold onto it.