CHAPTER 1 - THE DEATH OF MAX TENNYSON
Ben slammed into the asphalt road and skidded across the cracked surface, sparks scraping beneath his sneakers.
A searing beam of red plasma tore through the air where his head had been a split second earlier.
The explosion that followed rattled the forest.
Smoke billowed into the sky. Trees burned like torches. Sirens screamed somewhere in the distance as the battlefield descended further into chaos.
Ben groaned and rolled onto his back, staring up at the dark clouds of smoke.
"Yeah… this day just keeps getting better." He said sarcastically.
Another blast struck the ground beside him but he rolled out of the way just in time.
Across the battlefield, his grandfather stood firm.
Max Tennyson fired a handheld Plumber blaster with the precision of a veteran soldier, bolts of blue energy lighting up the smoky battlefield.
"Ben!" Max shouted. "How's that thing coming along?!"
Ben ducked behind a fallen tree trunk as another laser bolt whizzed past.
His eyes dropped to the watch on his wrist.
The dial glowed a dull, mocking red.
"Still recharging!" Ben yelled back.
A metallic blur suddenly slammed into the ground nearby.
The alien bounty hunter.
Sixsix rose slowly from the smoke, his armor reflecting the flames around them. Twin cannons mounted on his arms hummed with lethal energy.
Ben cursed under his breath.
"Great. The walking arsenal is still here."
A purple barrier suddenly flared to life beside him.
"Hey dweeb."
Ben turned.
His cousin stood there, hands glowing with mana.
Gwen Tennyson looked tense and far more serious than usual.
"You might want to hurry up," she said.
She gestured toward the massive containment structure behind the battlefield.
The Null Void prison generator.
Its containment field flickered violently.
"If you haven't noticed," Gwen continued, her voice tight, "the thing holding Vilgax inside the Null Void is not gonna save itself."
Ben stared at her with a blank face and then groaned loudly.
"Yeah, no pressure or anything."
He began slapping the face of the watch repeatedly.
"Come on… come on… come on!"
The red glow mocked him.
"Anytime now you worthless piece of junk!"
Sixsix raised an arm cannon to blast his skull open.
Max fired again, forcing the assassin to take cover behind a burning tree.
"Any time you want to lend a hand, Ben!"
Ben gritted his teeth.
Then—
BEEP.
The watch lit up.
Green.
Ben's eyes widened.
"Oh, it is so hero time!"
The device on his wrist—the legendary Omnitrix—rose slightly as its dial unlocked.
The most powerful piece of alien technology in the galaxy.
And right now?
The only thing standing between Earth and total disaster.
Ben rotated the dial quickly until a familiar silhouette appeared.
A grin spread across his face.
"Oh yeah…"
He raised his hand toward Max.
"How about I lend you Four Arms?"
He slammed the dial.
Green energy erupted outward.
Ben's body dissolved into glowing particles as the Omnitrix tore him apart at the molecular level and rebuilt him into something stronger.
His bones stretched.
His muscles expanded.
His skin turned crimson red as two additional arms burst from beneath his shoulders.
A second pair of eyes opened on his face.
Ben flexed his new form.
"FOUR ARMS!!"
The ground cracked beneath his feet.
Gwen rolled her eyes.
"About time, dweeb."
Four Arms grinned.
Before he could reply—
"BEN!"
Max's voice cut through the chaos.
"Take out Sixsix! I'll distract him!"
The alien bounty hunter launched into the air.
Four Arms charged.
The battlefield exploded into motion.
The fight was brutal.
Sixsix moved like a machine of war, missiles tearing through the forest while plasma blasts scorched the ground.
Four Arms smashed through trees, hurling boulders and ripping chunks of earth from the ground to throw back.
Explosions rocked the forest.
Plumbers clashed with alien mercenaries across the battlefield.
While the battle raged on the Null Void generator flickered violently.
And then—
Everything went wrong.
Sixsix launched a missile directly toward the containment core.
Max saw it first.
"NO!"
He ran towards it.
Ben saw him sprinting toward the generator. "Grandpa, wait!"
Max dove forward and shot at the missile causing it to detonate. A blinding explosion consumed the containment field.
Reality tore open like glass shattering.
A swirling vortex erupted above the battlefield.
The Null Void had been breached.
Shockwaves blasted everyone backward.
Ben slammed into the ground hard.
His Omnitrix flashed red.
Then his transformation ended.
He stumbled to his feet, his breath ragged.
"Grandpa?!"
Through the smoke—
He saw him.
Max Tennyson stood near the broken containment core.
But something was wrong.
Sixsix stood behind him with a glowing blade pierced through Max's chest.
Ben froze.
"...No."
Max coughed, blood staining his shirt.
Sixsix withdrew the blade leaving Ben to watch Max collapse on the ground.
Ben's legs moved before his mind could catch up.
"GRANDPA!"
He dropped beside him, grabbing him.
Max's breathing was shallow and weak.
Yet his eyes remained calm.
The same calm they always had.
"Ben…" Max whispered.
Ben's hands trembled.
"No no no… you're fine. You're gonna be fine. Gwen! GWEN!"
Max grabbed his wrist.
His grip was surprisingly strong.
"Listen to me."
Ben shook his head violently.
"Don't talk like that! I can fix this! I'll transform—"
His eyes dropped to the Omnitrix.
It had already recharged.
He could transform again.
He could fight.
He could stop this.
Max smiled faintly.
"You already did enough, kid."
Ben's vision blurred.
"I wasn't fast enough."
Max looked at him one last time.
"You were… always a hero."
His hand fell.
The light faded from his eyes.
Silence filled the battlefield.
Ben didn't move.
Didn't breathe.
Didn't speak.
The Omnitrix began to beep again.
Ready.
Waiting.
Calling.
Ben slowly looked down at it.
This watch.
This power.
This responsibility.
It had never been enough.
Not today.
Not when it mattered.
His fists clenched tightly.
Gwen managed to find her way towards him and when she saw them her eyes widened in shock as she dropped to her knees in tears.
"...I hate this thing."
With shaking hands, Ben reached for the dial and tore the Omnitrix off his wrist causing it to sizzle with green surge of electricity.
The device clattered across the cracked asphalt.
Ben stayed there in the smoke and fire, staring at the body of the man who had raised him. He could see Gwen crying right next to him but he could not comfort her.
Something inside him broke.
Not loudly.
Just quietly.
The hero inside him was gone.
Only Ben remained.
And a darkness growing inside him.