Jack stared at himself in the mirror for a long time.
The little blue alien stared back.
Big round eyes. Tiny fin arms. A dorsal fin running down its back.
Two thin legs that looked like they belonged on a completely different creature.
Jack slowly raised one fin.
The alien in the mirror copied him.
"...You have got to be kidding me."
He had watched Ben 10 in his past life. He knew all the aliens.
And among all of them — this one was the worst.
A fish.
Not a cool alien. Not a powerful alien.
A very small fish.
Information appeared in his head like the Omnitrix was sending it directly to his brain.
[ Species: Ickthyperambuloid ]
[ Home Planet: Aqua Neth ]
[ Abilities: Slippery body, enhanced durability, underwater breathing, acrobatics ]
"Acrobatics."
Jack looked at his tiny legs.
"Sure. That'll definitely save me from Thanos."
He tried to walk.
Step.
Slide.
"Whoa!"
His legs shot out and he nearly crashed into the wall.
He grabbed the table just in time.
Right. Slippery body.
That ability didn't only work on other people. It worked on himself too.
He tried again. More carefully.
Step. Slide. Step. Slide.
Within seconds he was gliding across the floor like a hockey puck.
He bumped into the couch and stopped.
"I can't even walk."
He sat on the floor and looked at the ceiling.
A timer appeared in the corner of his vision.
[ Transformation Time Remaining: 07:31 ]
Ten minutes total. Then one minute to recharge. That matched the cartoon.
"Well... I'm already transformed. Might as well test everything."
He pushed off the ground.
His body flipped. A full mid-air spin. Clean landing.
"Oh."
He tried again. Jumped higher.
His body twisted twice before landing perfectly on both feet.
"Okay. That's actually really good."
The acrobatics weren't average. They were automatic. His body just knew how to move.
Like the alien form had built-in instincts that came with it.
He started jumping around the room. Flipping off the couch. Rolling across the floor without slipping once.
In the air he could spin and twist like gravity was optional.
If anyone looked through the window right now they would see a tiny blue alien doing gymnastics in someone's apartment.
Jack landed and caught his breath.
Then he walked straight into the wall.
Thud.
Nothing. No pain.
He hit it again. Harder.
Still nothing.
"The durability is real."
Even a weak alien was still an alien. The body was naturally tougher than a human.
He couldn't fight anyone with this form. But he also wouldn't break easily.
The timer blinked.
[ Transformation Ending: 00:08 ]
Green light wrapped around his body.
In seconds he was human again.
He looked at his hands. Normal. Ten fingers. No fins.
[ Omnitrix Recharging — 60 seconds ]
Jack sat on the couch and let out a long breath.
Reincarnation. Marvel Universe. Omnitrix. System. Hero Points.
"My life just became a web novel plot."
He almost laughed. But he wasn't complaining.
He thought about school for a moment.
He had been going to Midtown High his whole life. Quiet. Kept to himself.
He knew people by face the way you know anyone after years in the same building.
There was a girl in his class who always carried a guitar case.
Blonde. Blue eyes. Confident the way some people just are — not loud about it, just solid.
He had seen her a thousand times. Never spoken to her.
Gwen Stacy.
His past-life memories told him who she was.
Not a shy nerd. Not a quiet genius. This version of Gwen played guitar in a rock band.
She had the kind of presence that made a room feel different when she walked in.
And there was Peter Parker. Sat two rows over. Always reading something.
Smart in a way that didn't need to announce itself.
Jack knew the name from his memories and from three years of sitting in the same classrooms.
They had nodded at each other a total of maybe twenty times.
That was everyone. Classmates. Faces. Names without real conversations.
But things were different now.
Jack stood up and cracked his knuckles.
"If this is the Marvel Universe..."
His eyes went sharp.
"Then I'd better start becoming someone who can survive it."