Far above Earth, a massive, menacing spaceship hung silently in orbit.
The master of this vessel was none other than Vilgax.
Inside the ship’s bridge, Vilgax was currently testing a group of bounty hunters he had commissioned.
One of the alien warriors stepped forward and pulverized a massive security robot with a single, devastating punch.
Watching the display, Vilgax let out a low, satisfied chuckle.
“Impressive.
Most impressive,” Vilgax boomed.
“You are all hired.”
With a wave of his hand, the giant display screen in the center of the room flared to life, bringing up a crystal-clear image of the strange watch clamped onto Ben’s wrist.
“Your sole objective is to retrieve the Omnitrix from this human.” Vilgax glared at the screen.
“The one who successfully brings it to me will claim the bounty.”
Without a word, the three newly recruited alien bounty hunters turned and boarded their drop pods, hurtling straight down toward Earth.
Meanwhile, back on the surface, Grandpa Max had set up a makeshift training course to put Ben through her paces.
He had rigged up a series of basic target obstacles out in a secluded field.
Looking at the course, Ben offered a confident smirk.
She tapped the faceplate of her watch and slammed it down, her body shifting into Diamondhead.
“Remember to think before you leap, Ben!” Grandpa Max called out from the sidelines.
“Don’t just rely on raw power.
Brute force is rarely the best solution.”
Hearing her grandfather’s lecture, Ben casually transformed Diamondhead’s right arm into a sharp, crystalline spike.
“I know, Grandpa.
I know.” She gave him a sly grin.
“But come on, brute force is way more fun!”
Before she could finish her sentence, Max activated the mechanism.
A barrage of empty aluminum cans launched from a hidden launcher, flying straight toward her from behind.
However, these petty targets posed absolutely no threat to her.
With effortless precision, Diamondhead fired a rapid succession of razor-sharp crystal shards from her hands, perfectly piercing every single target and pinning the flying cans to the wooden backdrops.
Having cleared the course with room to spare, she casually lifted her fingers and blew on them like a smoking gun.
Watching the flashy display from a lawn chair while applying sunscreen, Gwen couldn’t help but deadpan, “Ugh.
Show-off.”
Blake, standing nearby, could see that Ben was growing sloppy.
She was treating the training like a game instead of a serious exercise.
He cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted, “Stay focused, Ben!”
Ben merely waved a dismissive hand back at Blake.
“Relax, I’ve got this.”
But her cocky attitude lasted all of two seconds.
A stray truck tire, launched by a secondary spring mechanism, caught her completely from behind, sending Diamondhead crashing face-first into the dirt.
The impact caused her arm to twitch, sending a wild volley of stray crystal spikes flying in every direction.
One of the sharp shards zipped right past Gwen, piercing clean through the bottle of sunscreen in her hands.
Luckily, Blake was quick enough to grab the leaking bottle before the entire contents spilled onto the grass.
Realizing she had genuinely messed up, Ben reverted to her human form and nervously scratched the back of her neck.
“Yikes…
sorry about that.”
Back inside the Rust Bucket, Gwen was still fuming about the near-miss.
“You literal rockhead!
You almost turned me into Swiss cheese out there!”
Ben, completely unbothered, rolled her eyes.
“I already said I was sorry.
What more do you want from me?”
Grandpa Max kept his eyes glued to the road, his expression deadly serious as he drove.
“Ben, we need you to be far more serious and responsible when it comes to that watch.
It isn’t a toy.
You need to think carefully before you choose to transform.”
Hearing his words, Blake sighed internally.
The Omnitrix was arguably one of the most powerful Level 20 weapons in the entire universe, yet early-season Ben treated it like a cool arcade gadget.
Grandpa Max’s lecture was entirely justified.
“Oh, come on, give me a break,” Ben groaned, throwing her hands up.
“You guys have seen me fight.
I’ve basically been taking down every single bad guy across the country.”
She kicked her feet up onto the dining table, leaning back with an incredibly proud grin.
“I’ve kicked so much alien butt this summer that my feet are literally sore.”
Gwen reached over and violently shoved Ben’s legs off the table.
Propping her chin on her hand, she shot her cousin a sour look.
“Yeah, well, if you keep acting like a conceited brat, you’re going to get your butt thoroughly kicked one of these days.
I just hope I’m there to see it happen.”
“In your dreams, nerd queen,” Ben shot back.
Grandpa Max glanced over at Blake, who was sitting quietly in the passenger seat staring out at the scenery.
“Ben, you should take a page out of Blake’s book.
Notice how he doesn’t feel the need to brag?
Taking down alien threats isn’t a badge of honor to show off.”
Hearing his name brought up, Blake offered an embarrassed smile and looked at the older man.
“Hey, don’t drag me into this, Max.”
In all honesty, compared to Grandpa Max’s legendary past as a high-ranking Plumber, neither Blake nor Ben really had anything worth bragging about.
Unbeknownst to the group, the three alien bounty hunters had already tracked the unique energy signature of the Omnitrix down to their exact coordinates.
The Rust Bucket had been driving smoothly, but out of nowhere, the engine sputtered and died.
Realizing they were completely out of fuel, Grandpa Max managed to coast the vehicle into a dusty, abandoned settlement.
Looking out at the dilapidated buildings, Gwen’s extensive trivia knowledge kicked in.
“This is Slatterville,” she announced in a practiced, textbook tone.
“They discovered silver here back in 1857, and the town boomed for a while.
Once the silver mines dried up, the whole place was completely abandoned.”
Ben let out a dramatic sigh, slumping over the table.
“Why does listening to you talk feel like reading a boring history textbook?”
Before Gwen could snap back, Grandpa Max called out from the side of the RV.
He had found the culprit behind the sudden empty tank: one of Ben’s stray crystal shards from earlier had pierced clean through the Rust Bucket’s fuel line, draining their gas.
Ben’s face instantly fell.
“Grandpa…
I’m really sorry.”
Standing in the center of the ghost town, Blake suddenly felt a sharp, heavy prickle of danger washing over him.
Every instinct he possessed told him that this was a terrible place to linger.
“How about I take care of it?” Blake offered, lifting his left wrist.
He was prepared to transform into Grey Matter to patch up the line instantly, but Max held up a hand to stop him.
“I can handle a simple fuel line, Blake.
We shouldn’t rely too heavily on the watches for every little inconvenience.”
Seeing that Max was firm, Blake dropped his wrist and nodded respectfully.
“Understood.”
Finding herself entirely unneeded for the repairs, Ben immediately perked up, eyeing the eerie, abandoned buildings.
“Well, since you’ve got it covered, I’m gonna go look around!” she called out, running off into the ghost town.
Grandpa Max stopped what he was doing and watched her run off, a deep frown carving into his brow.
“Blake, I think it would be best if you…”
Before Max could finish, Gwen cut in seamlessly, “Go keep an eye on her so she doesn’t accidentally blow the whole town up.”
Max nodded in agreement.
Blake, who had just been scanning the perimeter for an optimal vantage point, blinked in sheer bewilderment.
“Wait, why me?”
Max opened his mouth to explain, but Gwen beat him to the punch, offering a teasing smirk.
“Because she actually listens to you the most.”
“Huh?” Blake stared at her.
Seeing his bewildered expression, Gwen chuckled and added, “Hey, you two are the ones with the matching freak-watches.
Go on.”
Ultimately, Blake couldn’t win an argument against both Gwen and Grandpa Max.
Defeated, he sighed and trotted off in the direction Ben had taken.
A few streets away, inside a cavernous, abandoned warehouse, Ben was leaning against a dusty wooden crate, thoroughly bored.
She lifted her wrist, aimlessly spinning the dial of the Omnitrix.
“Ben?
Ben, where are you?!”
Hearing Blake’s voice echoing from the entrance of the warehouse, a mischievous spark lit up Ben’s eyes.
An idea popped into her head, and she eagerly slammed her palm down on the faceplate.
The very instant the bright flash of energy erupted inside the warehouse, one of the alien bounty hunter who was currently scanning the town with a tracking device, instantly locked onto the fresh Omnitrix signature and headed straight for their location.
Inside the building, Blake heard the distinct sound of the transformation.
He tracked the noise, stepping into the dim, shadow-drenched warehouse.
“Ben?”
The moment he crossed the threshold, the ambient temperature plummeted, turning the air bone-chillingly cold.
Blake immediately realized what she had done, raising his voice in exasperation.
“Ben!
Why are you playing around with the watch again?”
He marched into the center of the room.
“The watch isn’t a toy.
It’s dangerous to trigger transformations for no reason.
You need to think before you use it!”
Hearing his stern lecture, Ghostfreak slowly dissolved her camouflage, materializing in mid-air right in front of him.
She crossed her translucent arms, pouting visibly.
“Can you blame me?
This place is dead boring.
I was just trying to have a little fun.”
Right as the words left her mouth, a sudden, violent tremor shook the foundations of the warehouse.
The wooden floorboards beneath their feet began to rattle dangerously.
Feeling the sudden shift in the air, Blake couldn’t help but mutter a tense complaint, (Man, I really wish Amazon delivery was as fast as these plot events.)