The Loneliest Number…

Disclaimer: I don't own Ben 10, plain and simple as that. I don't own the Omnitrix either. (It would rule if I did) But Jeremy and his future foes are mine.

Full Summary: Takes place before the events of Ben 10. For as long as he could remember, bookish 10-year old Jeremy Diecilly has been a subject of bullying, disrespect, anxiety and above all, loneliness. Now as the school year is at it's second semester he grudgingly accepts the fact he'll always be a lone loser. And that the girl he loves (who happens to be his best and only friend) will never be his. But when he's nearly crushed by a shooting star during a walk in the local woods and against his better judgment, decides to investigate. He discovers it to be a charred alien corpse and strangely enough, a red watch-like device attached to its wrist that seems undamaged by he crash. Before he can react, the device springs from the dead alien and latches itself onto his wrist. Much to his amazement, he discovers that the device gives him the ability to transform into 10 alien forms, each with their own special abilities. But he soon finds out that such a thing has a price. And now Jeremy's solitary mind is about to have some company, lots of company.

Author Note: This story is both an adaptation and a prequel to Ben's story. It depicts how a person more responsible, but less confident and optimistic would use the Omnitrix. (or in this case, a very dysfunctional prototype of it) And how he'd cope with the burden of not only trying to combat the sinister alien forces that are trying to take over his own body, but also the monumental task of using a weapon of mass destruction for noble causes and to serve others, rather than selfishly using it for his own personal gain.

Man, this is one long author note, but at the end of each "Episode", there will be a brief bio on each of the aliens that are presented in it. Also, it the Pilot Episode of The Loneliest Number is well received, I may make more. Enjoy.

Pilot: Ten Little Letters Part 1

Location: Limax Ship, Depths of Space

The ship the Limax had stolen was quite an impressive sight. They had stolen it from a space port while it was refueling in a backwater part of the galxy. It was huge, a prison ship

With a single, secure cage.

But it had a control system that allowed it to be piloted by a minimum of 4 pilots.

That was okay, they were 15.

The Limax had planned to use it to invade primitive planets that would hopefully have a multitude of old, crunchy primates. It was well armored, with several beam cannons, eight missile launchers, warp drive (surprising for a ship of that size.)

Not too surprising.

Well stocked mess hall and every single member of its new owners were completely and utterly dead.

Heh.

They say that space is the final frontier, a whole new front for new discoveries and advances. That was true, but it was also cold, cold and unforgiving.

Suits them just fine.

The Limax pirates were never too enthusiastic about the coldness of space. As they had built heated environment suits and increased the temperature of ship to keep themselves in a comfortable, heated environment.

For all the good it did them.

You're probably wondering what kind of grizzled, jaded individual is thinking these thoughts. In one of the ship's well-hit hallways that seemed to stretch far into the non-existent horizon, a lone masked figure lay slumped against one of the large windows on its side and cast a glance at the starry void. If he were to stand up, the figure would've resembled a muscled bounty hunter, with his tattered black cloak, graying hair that peeked out at the bottom of his metallic mask and an old, harpoon gun that's blade and attached rope were still strong even after years of wandering. He wasn't one though, a bounty hunter that is. He preferred the term, old-fashioned. He was one of the few that wished to remember when it was still on the loose. When even after its era had ended it had proceeded to wreak havoc across the stars until it was stopped. Stopped, but not destroyed. Caged, but now free.

And as he gazed into the blackness of space, his mind began to wonder. If he were to fall out of the ship, would he implode? No, he thought. That only happens in space suits. Would he explode, shrivel up, atomize or just drift, without the anchor of gravity, floating. After experiencing a lifetime of battles, high speed chases and betrayals, he couldn't help but snicker at these peaceful thoughts and regretted not thinking of them earlier. He was glad he thought them, because as he heard a computerized voice announce that the ship's power core had malfunctioned after a significant drop in the engine room's temperature, saw the hallway darken before the emergency lights turned on and saw the wall opposite of him being covered by frost, they were probably the last thoughts he'd ever have, ever again.

One of the dead Limax pirates laid down in front of the slowly freezing wall, still encased in a block of ice. It was one of the few corpses he had seen that appeared to have died fighting the creature as an energy pistol lay next to it. The hunter reached over and tentatively took hold of the pistol and examined it closely. The battery had three shots left. "It'll have to do," he thought as he put it in his empty holster. Now all he had to do was wait. It wouldn't be long now.

The creature entrance, was, in a word, dramatic. It broke through the now completely frozen wall and had punched its way through it. A shard of ice had struck the above emergency light, breaking it and shrouding the hunter and the creature in darkness. Obscuring its features. That was fine, he had seen this form more than enough times. The only thing that could be seen of it was a glowing, red circular emblem with a symbol resembling an hourglass on what was assumingly its belt. The place began to get very cold, very, very cold. He didn't need to see it to realize it was prepared to strike, he didn't see its arms but knew they were raised, he didn't see his face but knew it was smirking. By now its eyes were used to the darkness. Perfect, he thought. And with that, he threw a small orb at the floor and the room was filled with a blinding flash.

It was small, it was childish but it worked. The creature was temporary blinded and misfired its blast at the ceiling. The hunter wasted no time in unslinging his harpoon gun and shot a harpoon at the hole from which the creature came in from. The bolt lodged itself into the next room, the attached rope held fast and firm. The creature had managed to regain enough of its vision to charge up a second attack. But it was already too late. The hunter had pressed the "Open Hatch" button of the door he was leaning on.

The creature was sucked out into space, almost instantly. The vacuum had surprised it and it didn't have time to anchor itself. Frozen Limax carcasses and loose equipment followed suit. The hunter was luckier. He had managed to keep a firm grip on his harpoon gun. The rope still held, and with tremendous effort, he turned and took out the laser gun and attempted to shoot the Hatch control door button.

First shot, missed. Second shot, missed again. One shot left. He aimed carefully, keeping a strong hold on the laser gun and fired. The hatch door closed as quickly as it had opened.

The hunter's body crashed to the ground and lay there, resting for a few moments. He was tired and it was over…for now. He wished he could stay longer but reminded himself that this ship was going to shut down completely and would trap him inside of it. He couldn't afford that, he had gone too far. They would be weakened when he would meet them again, he couldn't lose that chance. So with a sigh he dislodged the bolt from the wall, slung his harpoon gun on his back, dumped the laser blaster on the floor and casually pressed a button on one of his gloves…and disappeared, leaving behind an empty ship, floating in the void of space.

Location: Earth

"Jeremy!" a voice shouted. The voice was clearly that of a girl's, possibly ten years of age. A worried and concerned girl. "Jeremy!" she called out again, trying to find where her friend was hiding. "Come out Jeremy! It's me. There's nothing to be afraid of!" she announced. "It's getting late, your mom's going to be worried. And you know how she gets…" She was right. It was already getting dark. If she were to look up she would've seen the stars twinkle through the crooked branches of the trees. "Jeremy!"

But Jeremy did not answer. He had hidden himself behind a tree trunk deep in the park's forest. Not too far that he didn't hear her, but not close enough to be seen. And that's what Jeremy wanted, not too be seen. Not now. He needed to be alone. Just his luck, that's what he was for the worse half of the day and now when he actually wanted to be alone someone always had to interrupt. He couldn't blame her though. She was a good friend, a great friend and on a normal day he'd be the happiest guy in the world if he was spending time with her at the library or the mall. This time though, he was satisfied (not happy mind you) to sulk.

"Jeremy!" he could hear her give off a frustrated sigh. "Fine!" she yelled. "If you want to stay here for the rest of the weekend, that's your decision! I'm going home, you hear me? I'm going home! And don't blame me when your mom gets the entire police force searching for you when she finds out your not in bed by your curfew!" she stomped on a particularly hard leaf that made an audible crackling sound "Sometimes I wonder why I even bother trying to talk with you! I'm wasting my time! You're wasting my time! It's like you a big waste of time!" That last comment struck him pretty hard. She trudged away, her feet made crunching noises as they stepped on the leaves that dotted the forest floor.

He was just about to get out of his hiding place when the footsteps stopped. "Sorry about that last part. I kinda lost my temper on that one. It's just that, I really want to help you, understand you, but you keep saying that you don't need help and there's noting much to you. But…I just want you to know, that you can always talk to me about…anything. Anything that's on your mind… If you have any problems just tell me, okay?" Jeremy struggled not to answer her plea. "Sorry about today, have a safe trip home." The crunching noise of crunched leaves continued until they couldn't be heard anymore.

When he was sure she was gone, Jeremy came out of his hiding place and started up the dirtpath that led to the other side of the forest. A few minutes later, he sat on the roadside and put his face in his hands.

Jeremy was a boy of 10 years of age. A gangly bespeckled boy of average height with black hair, striped black shirt and blue jeans, he looked quite...normal. Except for his paint smeared shirt and pants that is. He was young, well-groomed and felt terrible.

He had fallen prey to another prank. That made 3 times this week and 8 in total counting the previous week. "Great way to start the semester," he thought bitterly. Why did this always happen, he was smarter than this. He was more cautious, more careful. It was just that they chose to happen when she was there. Whether he was walking alongside her or even if she was sitting in the same class, her presence always put him at ease. Always made him think nothing bad could happen, a feeling that quickly abated when something did. Paper clips, spitballs, buckets of paint, he was used to stuff like that. But he had made a New Years Resolution, made it right in front of her when she insisted, that things would be different, things would be better. And this latest prank made him feel like he failed that promise and couldn't handle it. So he did what he always did. Or at least something he should've done the previous year. He ran and hid.

And when she had tried to help him he pushed her away. That's what he regretted most. She was such a great person, maybe she thought he took her for granted, that wasn't true. Jeremy would've given just about anything to gain the courage to tell express how he really felt about her. However, a thought kept keeping him from doing so; "She deserves better." He'd always say when the thought came into his head. Jeremy felt he was unworthy to be near her, much less be her friend. Maybe if he was stronger, faster, cooler or even smarter he'd feel like he'd have a chance at winning her over. But that wasn't going to happen anytime soon.

He let his tear stained face out of his hands and gazed at the night sky. The twinkling stars could barely be seen through the smog and dust that dominated most of the nighttime sky. They were seen though, that was what counted. Then he saw something odd, something he had never seen before, A shooting star, so bright that it shone through the mucky curtain of atmospheric chemicals. This was his first time to see one and from what he heard he was supposed to make a wish. So he did. "I wish I could make my resolution come true. For her." That was when the star decided to stop heading towards the sun and started to plummet, right towards him.

Jeremy let out a yelp and quickly scrambled from where he was sitting and got 12 feet away before the "shooting star" crashed. The impact was much smaller than he had expected, sure he was knocked off his feet but he had expected to be obliterated or at least torn to pieces. In fact, if it weren't for the fire that had just started, he could've sworn nothing had happened at all.

He wanted to run, get the fire department before the whole place burnt down. But he was rooted to the spot. He had never seen a meteorite (if that's what it was) up close. He had seen a few in some museums, but you couldn't really look at them very close. And when the government found out it had crashed, they'd probably quarantine off the area and send it off to some research facility in the middle of nowhere. So against his better judgement he carefully made his way through the burning walls of trees to where the shooting star fell. "Just one quick look, and I'll run, just one quick look," he thought as he narrowly avoided a flaming branch. "If I live, that is." A minute of dodging and running passed, his clothes clung to his body, the heat was making him dizzy when he saw the crater the object had made. It wasn't a meteor.

Jeremy wiped the sweat from his glasses and looked at it again. His eyes must've been playing tricks on him, but they weren't. It was a skeleton. A black, charred skeleton with a large head and three eye sockets. An alien? It was unbelievable that it had survived going through the atmosphere, yet there it was. Still, it was nothing compared to the device on its arm.

At first glance, Jeremy thought it looked like a wristwatch designed by an eccentric company. The device looked like a glowing, red, metallic shackle with a circular emblem on it and below the emblem was a square shaped button. It looked undamaged from the crash and continued to give off a redish hue. Jeremy found himself reaching for it. Struggling to decide whether or not too pick it up. Behind him, the fire was closing in, surrounding him but he didn't notice. It must be scorching hot from entering the atmosphere, it would burn right through him. But he still couldn't make up his mind. He didn't have to. The watch made it for him.

The watch leapt off of the alien corpse, assuming a liquid state before latching onto Jeremy's arm. Jeremy let out a cry and tried to remove the device from his wrist. He tugged, he pulled but it held fast. By now the fire was all around him, nearly touching, but his gaze never left the watch. For its square shaped button had somehow sunk into the watch, its face had jutted open, twisted a few times then went back into its slot. Jeremy felt like his skin was on fire, pain shot out through his body. Then he felt cold, very cold. He looked down and saw his feet were now frozen, covered in ice. The frost continued to grow upward from his legs and proceeded to crawl up his chest and torso. The cold was nearly unbearable. He looked at the watch. Knowing that it was somehow responsible for this. "Wh-what are you?" he asked.

Another voice, raspy and clear answered from out of nowhere.

"Infinitrix."

And though he didn't know it. Jeremy had already fulfilled half of his resolution. Because even though things weren't going to get any better, they were certainly going to be different. Very different indeed.

To be continued…

Author Note: So what do you guys think? Do tell.