Ben 10: My Story

One Saturday afternoon, I was outside my house trying out my new stun gun model when I began to wonder: "What would happen if I activated my stun gun when it wasn't touching anything?" So, pointing my stun gun to the clean, blue sky, I pulled the trigger and 'BOOM!' I'm blown off my feet by a huge force. "What just happened?" I said to myself. So, I looked up into the sky and saw a bolt of lightning traveling through earth's misty atmosphere. 'It was my stun gun,' I realized. To test my theory, I picked up my, now smoking, stun gun, aimed it at a bush, and pulled the half-jammed trigger. Once again, I was blown off balance and onto the ground. When I looked up, the bush I aimed at was now on fire. "Wow," I said in amazement. I had just invented the first electricity-firing stun gun! But, little did I know, the adventures had just begun.

I was overjoyed with the success of my new stun gun model! The thought of where my first bolt of lightning had gone hadn't yet crossed my mind but, when it did, I began to worry.

As it did enter my mind, that very same bolt of lightning had almost completed its journey through the earth's atmosphere and into the vast, emptiness of space. But, sitting in its path, was a huge spaceship. It was unlike anything anyone has ever seen before! Well, unlike anything I've ever seen before. Inside the ship, there were about three hundred aliens of all different shapes, sizes and colors all following one alien leader, Vilgax. He was the captain of the ship. He stood about 7 ½ feet tall and had on red and black platebody armor and matching platelegs but they seemed to attach to his legs instead of strapping on, considering there were no straps. Along with his intimidating features, he has a "beard" of 6 long, green tentacles.

When the electric bolt I fired out of my stun gun reached the ship, all the aliens heard was a huge 'ZAP!' and the spaceship shook vigorously, the lights went out and the aliens went frantic trying to regain control of the ship.

"What in the worlds is going on!" Vilgax yelled at his employee.

"I'm not sure," he replied, "but I'm led to believe that our ship has been hit with a bolt of electricity of some sort."

"Well I want all of these electrical problems fixed NOW!" Vilgax exploded. Suddenly, the alarm telling the aliens that there is an intruder in the ship began to shout. Since nobody could see, they all started shooting wildly in all directions in hope they would hit the imaginary intruder. Somewhere in all the commotion, one of the aliens stumbled over a dead body and hit the 'Launch Capsule' button and one of the most important capsule in the history of the universe was launched into the vast, emptiness of space and towards Earth.

Back on Earth, I was trying to fix the bugs in my new stun gun model when I heard something coming down from the sky. I thought it might've been my lightning bolt but when I looked up, I saw a huge mass of steel about to smash into the earth. Out of pure terror, I quickly jumped to my left and the bug hunk of metal missed me by an inch.

Once I had gotten off the ground, I turned to the smoking hunk of space metal, which made a surprisingly small crater. It was still hot so I waited a minute for it to cool off. Once it did, I attempted to open the spherical capsule but it wouldn't budge. I looked for another way to open it. I looked on the top, the back and on the sides of the capsule. On one side, I found a button, "This should open it!" I said to myself. So I bent down and pressed it. When I did, a panel of some sort slid out from the front of the capsule.

"Please place your hand onto the scanning pad," the pod said in a feminine voice. I did as I was told and placed my hand on the scanning pad and felt a tickling feeling on my palm. It was scanning my hand. "Scanning complete. Now opening containment hatch." Immediately after that was said, I saw the scanning pad retract and heard the sound of compressed air being released, like when you open a can of soda. I looked over at the capsule and saw it slowly opening. When I looked inside to see the content of the capsule, I saw a watch. It wasn't any ordinary watch though. It was green with a black, leather strap. On the face, instead of the time, was a black hourglass shape with a green background. It seemed familiar. Like I had seen it somewhere before. But, the most extraordinary thing about this watch was that the green on the watch was glowing! When I reached in to pick it up to examine it closer, it jumped up and latched onto my wrist. AH!" I yelled. I tried with all my strength to get the mysterious space watch off my wrist but it was holding on tight. After trying for a while to get it off, I gave up. "Well," I said to myself, "since I'm gonna have this thing stuck on my wrist, I might as well figure out what it does."

The next day, before anyone in my family was awake, I shot out of my bed, threw on some clothes, and darted out the door towards the woods behind my house to my favorite place to sit right next to an extension of Crabtree Creek. When I got there, I sat on a stump and began to tamper with my futuristic-looking space watch. It was then when I noticed a small button face of the watch. I hesitated at first, but decided to press it. When I did, the black hourglass shape disappeared, the face lit up and a picture of what looked like the silhouette of an oversized lizard appeared on the face surrounded by the glowing of the green on the face. I had also noticed that the face of the watch had come up slightly so I decided to push it back into place. But when I heard the "click!" of the face, I saw a flash of green light that came from the newly repositioned face of my watch and the silhouette vanished. Then, I felt a changing sensation. "Ah!" I screamed. I had no idea what was going on. I felt changing first in my left arm where the watch was and then it traveled to my chest and down into my legs and right arm. Then, finally, the changing sensation traveled up into my head. Once the sensation ceased, I looked down into the creek and saw a horrible blue lizard! "AH!" I screamed again, but in a deeper voice this time. I had transformed into the big lizard on my watch.

Once I got over the traumatic incident, I examined myself. What was I? How did I become whatever I am? Do I have any powers? I took a big sigh but, instead of air, very cold water vapor came out of my mouth and froze part of the creek. "Whoa. Cool!" I said. I was tempted to do it again but I didn't want to freeze the creek anymore. Then, I looked down and saw the symbol on my watch. I touched it and I changed back into me. Well, human me anyway. "Whoa," I exclaimed, "Why am I back to my human self?" It was the symbol. I needed to think this all through.

When I arrived home, my family was still asleep. I plopped down on the couch and stared at my watch, trying to remember where I had seen the symbol on its face before. So I thought. And thought. And thought. And went to the bathroom. And thought some more. Then, I knew exactly where I saw it before.

About an hour after lunch, I asked my mom if I could go see Nanny and Granddaddy (my grandma and grandpa).

"Ok," she immediately responded, "but be home in time for dinner. I'm making a roast beef."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." I sassed and darted out the door. Luckily, my grandparents only live a couple of blocks from my house so all I had to do was hop on my bike and I was off.

After about 5 minutes of biking, I pulled into my grandparents' driveway, parked my bike in its usual spot and dashed to see my loving family. Inside, up a few stairs in the kitchen, was my grandma preparing their lunch.

"Hey Nanny," I said

"Ellis?" she said in surprise, "I didn't know you were coming over. You should really call first."

"Sorry, Nan. I was in a rush to see Granddaddy."

"Oh, he's downstairs," she said, as if she could read my mind.

"Thanks," I replied as I leapt down the 2 stairs that led to Granddaddy's 'man cave'. When I got down there, the first thing I heard was the 'clickity-clack' of keys on a keyboard. "Hey Granddaddy," I said.

"Hey Ellis!" Granddaddy said while I received a big hug. "How have you been?"

"Good. But I have a question," I told him.

"Alright. What is it?" he asked.

"Well," I started, "I was outside my house testing a stun gun that I invented which shot a bolt of lightning into space and hit some spaceship which dropped a pod."

"What was in it?" he asked.

"If you really wanna see…" I responded as I reached for the left sleeve on my long-sleeved shirt. As I pulled it back, I saw his expression change from wondering to almost horrified and I heard a gasp.

"Do you know what that is?" Granddaddy asked.

"No. I recognized the symbol on the watch from around here so I came to ask you," I replied.

"That 'watch' on your wrist is the space-famous Omnitrix, the most powerful thing in the universe!" he said in awe.

"The Omni-who-zi-what?" I confusingly replied.

"The Omnitrix can change the wielder into the selected alien displayed on its screen," he explained. "Go ahead and press that button there." So, I did as I was told and pressed the button on the front of the devise and, as before, the face came up slightly and a picture was displayed only this time it was the silhouette of a tall, plant-based alien. "Now you can turn the dial and change the picture on the screen. When you find the alien you want to change into, just smash down the face of the Omnitrix and you'll be transformed into that alien." Granddaddy continued. "Here, why don't we go into my lab for this next demonstration?"

"Your lab?" I asked, knowing he was hiding something.

"Well, I guess since you're wielding the Omnitrix, you deserve to know," he said as if he regretted telling me. "I am a retired plumber," he admitted.

"You used to fix peoples' toilets?"

"No no," he said with a chuckle, "a plumber is like the space police. If aliens get onto Earth, we would 'take them out'," he explained, putting air quotes around "take them out".

"And by 'we' you mean the other plumbers, right?" I guessed.

"Exactly. Let's go ahead to my lab," he said. So I followed Granddaddy to a nearby closet and watched him move some china plates in storage to reveal a leaver. He reached over to it, pulled it, and a hole appeared under us. The next thing I knew I was sliding down a metal slide to Granddaddy's lab.

"Whoa!" I screamed as we slid down the long, metallic slide.

When the ride was over, we slid out onto the slick, shiny floor of Granddaddy's laboratory.

"Wow!" I said in amazement. When I stood up, I looked around and saw computer after computer after computer. In one corner, I saw a prototype teleportation device. I asked if I could try it out but Granddaddy just stared at me. I took that as a 'no'. On one wall, I saw racks of weapons. Blasters, bazookas, everything. You name it and it was up there.

"THIS is your lab?" I finally asked.

"Yep. All mine," he replied." "I've been coming in and out of this place for 30 years."

"Thirty years?" I asked.

"Yep. Sometimes I'd come down here to get weapons. Other times I'd come to do research. But sometimes I would come down and do this," he said, pressing a button on the wall close to where we slid out of the metal slide. "I give you the Holigramifier 3000." I stood there, mind blown, as a giant, red machine emerged from the floor.

"You step onto the pad and pick a scenario," he explained. "The walls close around the machine and the machine generates the chosen scenario. Pretty cool, huh?"

"Way cool! Can I try it?" I pleaded.

"I don't know," he hesitated.

"Pleeeeease!"

"Oh alright. Knock yourself out!"

"Yesssss!" I said as I quickly ran over to the machine and jumped onto the pad.

"Please choose a scenario," the machine instructed. A hologramic screen came up in front of me. There were so many choices. There was 'Picnic in meadow', 'Outer Space', 'and 'Red Carpet Movie Debut'. But the one I chose was 'World War I, 1917'. I touched it with my hand, hoping that would do something and the walls closed around the machine. It did. The inside of it was a lot bigger than I expected it to be. When in place, the walls showed a very realistic battle scene. Soldiers with super old weapons, black powder cannons controlled and loaded by 2 men each, horsemen with bayonets, and soldiers with rifles stood everywhere. One soldier fired in my direction as if I didn't even exist. The machine made the scenario so real that I heard the bullet wiz by my ear.

"Alright, I'm outta here!" I said in shock, "Granddaddy, where's the 'off' button on this thing?"

"Just yell 'stop' and the machine will turn off," he instructed.

"Stop!" I screamed to the machine. The scene paused. The walls turned black and were slowly lowered.

"Thank you for using the Holigramifier 3000," the machine said as I heard the 'clunk' of the walls hitting the floor, creating a ramp for me to walk down.

"Did you like it?" Granddaddy asked, "Pretty real, huh?"

"A little too real if you ask me," I responded.

Granddaddy just chuckled and motioned me over to a huge empty square in the middle of his cramped, cluttered laboratory.

"So… why is there a huge square of nothingness here in the middle of your lab?" I asked. "Why don't you put stuff on it? Your lab has a lot of stuff in it and you could probably make room by putting stuff here."

"Well, if I did that, it might block this," he said as he pressed a button on a nearby wall. As he did, the square in the floor rose out of the floor and began to hover. Also, on each side, three "planks" came up and hovered at different heights creating something almost like stairs. "This is my training arena. Now, I know what you're thinking. 'But Granddaddy, how are you supposed to train on just a metal floored battlefield?' Well, instead of battling on the plain, metal floor, you can choose different terrains. For example, you could battle in a blizzard, in the Grand Canyon or even in the Sahara Desert. And it also has battle drones that adapt to each terrain so you can have the best opponent possible.

"Wow!" was all I could say before Granddaddy interrupted.

"Pretty cool, huh? You can come down here anytime you want and train against the training drones. But, right now, we're gonna battle!"

"What!" I said in shock, "I've never battled before and I'm not even close to being used to any of these aliens! Plus, you've got, like, 30 years of practice. How am I ever gonna beat you?"

"Just try your best and I promise not to hit you THAT hard," Granddaddy responded. And, with that, Granddaddy went into the back of his lab to get his armor on.

"Wait, don't I get armor?" I shouted to him.

"Nope," he shouted back.

As he entered into the back room, I frantically began scrolling through the pictures of aliens available for use on my Omnitrix. There were big ones, small ones, strong ones, fast ones; the list goes on. But, I finally decided to go with the strong, fire-looking alien. He stood tall & confident. His body looked as if it were made of coals as well as his head and arms. His body looked as if it were made of molten lava as well as his hands and feet. His flaming head had a battle-ready expression. I knew this was gonna be a good fight.

"Ready to fight?" Granddaddy shouted as he emerged from the back room of his lab, clothed in silver, metallic, medieval-looking armor. His helmet, although not a full helm, looked just as intimidating as my alien's expression. In his hands, he held a wooden shield lined with metal and a blaster of some sort. And his chest and leg plating was nothing to laugh at. And little more medieval then I imagined but I didn't question it.

"Standard plumber material," he described it.

"So this is it, huh?" I asked as Granddaddy entered the hovering arena.

"You and me…"

"…are gonna fight. But not to the death, right?"

"Of course not!" he reassured me. "You've got potential as a future plumber!"

"You really think so?" I asked hopefully as I stepped onto the battlefield.

"Well, I guess we'll find out now."

"So how do we start the battle?" I asked.

"Arena activated. Terrain: Arctic Tundra. Battle will commence in 10 seconds." said a voice that seemed to come from the arena.

Oh no! I thought. My fire alien won't last 2 seconds in an arctic terrain. I've got to choose another alien and quick! I began frantically scrolling through the aliens on my watch but, before I could I could choose an alien, the whistle indicating the beginning of the match sounded so I smashed down the face of my Omnitrix and felt that same changing sensation as before. When the arctic terrain finished forming, I finished changing, only to find out that the alien I randomly chose turned out to be a huge, muscley dinosaur-like alien that could beat the living crud out of anything! He stood about 9 feet tall, was all brown with a white stomach and a long tail. He also had ridges on his back where his spine was.

"HUMONGOUSAUR!" I yelled out of instinct, assuming that it was the name of the alien.

"Nice choice," Granddaddy said.

"To be honest, it wasn't really my choice," I responded in a very deep voice. As soon as that was said, I was hit with a blast from Granddaddy's blaster (which did NOT feel good) and was thrown back into the side of a mountain. "Hey! That hurt!" I yelled to my opponent.

"Sorry. It's a battle, remember?" he shouted back.

After I got up, I looked around for something to throw at Granddaddy and noticed a few big rocks that came from the mountain I smashed into. I walked over, picked it up and chucked it in Granddaddy's direction but he blasted it before it got too close. I knew everything I threw at him was gonna be blasted and destroyed so I looked around for something I could use to defeat him. Then, I saw a big mound of snow on top of a cliff not too above Granddaddy. So I chucked a rock once again in Granddaddy's direction but it missed him…but not my target.

"Ha! You missed me!" Granddaddy yelled.

"Who said I was aiming for you?" I wittily responded as a huge pile of snow fell onto my grandfather. "Take that, gramps!" I said as the arctic tundra changed back into my grandfather's lab and the snow disappeared. Since the battle was over, I decided to change back to my human self so I touched the Omnitrix symbol on my chest and changed back into regular, 6-foot, 15-year old me.

"Good game," Granddaddy said as he shook my hand. "Where'd you learn to battle like that?"

"I'm not sure," I responded, "I guess Humongousaur's instinct took over. Hey, how about a rematch?" But, before anything else was said, I heard the big grandfather clock in the center of the lab chime 5 times.

"Uh oh, 5 o'clock! I gotta go. See you later, Granddaddy."

"Ok, I'll see you soon," he said as I ran up the exit stairs, located behind the arena which was now repositioned into the floor. Before I knew it, I was back on my bike headed for home.

"HOW COULD YOU LET THE OMNITRIX BE LAUNCHED OFF THE SHIP!" Vilgax boomed at his intern.

"W-w-well, sir, th-there was an electrical surge. You know about those. Anything could happen," said SixSix, Vilgax's most loyal employee. Standing about six-foot-six and wearing full-body purple platearmor, similar to Vilgax's. With a jetpack and blaster, this guy would scare the pants off of anybody. Well, anybody except for Vilgax. SixSix had three eyes strategically placed on his face covered by a computerized face mask. His blaster, which was strapped to his back, was big and intimidating enough to be illegal in all 50 states and Puerto Rico. Lucky for him, he lived in space where nothing was illegal.

"WELL I WANT YOU TO GO AND GET IT BACK NOW!" Vilgax yelled at the top of his lungs (if aliens even have lungs, that is).

"Right away sir. But how will I track it?"

"I've installed a tracking device into your face mask that is homed in on the Omnitrix's signal. You come back with the Omnitrix and you get to live another day. Come back unsuccessful…

Vilgax didn't even need to finish his sentence. SixSix knew it was bad news if he upset his master. "Yes sir," he said with a gulp.

"Now, fetch me the Omnitrix." Vilgax commanded.

First things first, I thought to myself, I need to get into the house without mom seeing this… Omnitrix thing. As I pulled up to my house on my large, black mountain bike, I saw my mom standing at the door.

"Hi, honey!" my mom shouted at me as I parked my bike in our carport.

"Hey, mom," I responded as I rushed passed her into the house and in the direction of my room.

"What's the rush?" she asked while grasping my wrist (fairly tight if I might add). "Sit down. Have some dinner." She gestured to the kitchen table which was now covered with all sorts of foods. Chicken, roast beef, fruits, vegetables, even desserts.

Something fishy's going on here, I thought. "Sorry, mom, I'm not hungry."

But, before my mom could say anything, I heard a muffled scream that came from upstairs.

"Umm… Mom, what was that?" I asked in extreme curiosity.

"What was what?" she replied, pretending like it was nothing.

"That noise upstairs. It sounded like someone screaming with a piece of duct tape over their mouth."

"I really don't know what you're talking about," my mom said, trying to keep me from going upstairs. But, despite all her efforts, I powered passed her, stomped up the stairs, and threw open the door to my guest bedroom, only to find my mom and my brother, Parker, tied up and duct taped.

"Oh my…" I didn't know what to say. But then it hit me, "Wait! If that's mom," I said, pointing to my real, tied up mom, "then who are you?" I said, pointing to my fake, non-tied-up mom.

Before anything else could be said or done, my "mom" began to transform, much like I do when I activate the Omnitrix. First the legs, then the body, and finally the transformation made its way to her head. When the transformation was complete, the alien I thought was my mother had changed into an ugly, purple, 6-and-a-half-foot alien. It was dressed in what looked like some sort of futuristic armor plating and was wielding a hand-gun-looking-blaster-kind-of-thing.

"What the…" I tried to say but I was in so much shock that my vocal chords stopped working.

"Give me the Omnitrix, boy!" the alien commanded in a raspy voice.

"I would if I could but it's stuck on my wrist!" I replied, scared out of my mind.

But then, out of pure anger, the shape shifting alien threw me against the window, which shattered against my body and I was sent hurtling toward the ground.

"OWW! I yelled out in pain.

"Now," the alien said as he jumped from the 2nd story, walked over and stood over me, "you're gonna give me the Omnitrix whether you like it or not!"

"Not if I can help it!" I announced as I rolled away and smashed down the face of my Omnitrix. I felt that changing sensation as I transformed into a giant, red, four-eyed, four-armed alien. "FOURARMS!" I yelled. "Hmm, I guess that named fits," I said as I looked at my four beefy hands.

"You will not defeat me, human!" the alien exclaimed, pulling out its blaster, much like Granddaddy's. Before I could get out of the way, the alien blasted me in the chest, right where my Omnitrix symbol was, changing me back into my human form, throwing me back into the street and disengaging my watch from my wrist. The blast from his blaster was a lot more powerful than I expected it to be. Still lying in the street, I struggled to get up to fetch my Omnitrix. When I finally found the strength to get up, the only thing I saw was the purple alien that I once thought was my mother picking up the Omnitrix, pressing a button to reveal a jetpack, and flying up into the atmosphere with a look on his face that said "Mission accomplished".

That night, when everyone in my house was asleep, I snuck out, hopped on my bike and rode down to my grandparents' house. When I arrived, I parked my bike in the usual spot and quietly approached the door. With luck, my grandfather would answer the door. It was about midnight when I rang the doorbell. To my relief, Granddaddy answered the door.

"Ellis? What are you doing here at this late hour?" Granddaddy asked, half-asleep.

"I need to borrow some plumber materials," I responded.

"Why do you need my plumber materials?"

"Well… when I went home this afternoon, I ran into a shape-shifting alien that blasted my Omnitrix symbol while I was Four-Arms and…" I pulled up m sleeve and showed him my bare wrist. The only response I got was a gasp. If he wasn't awake before, he was now.

"He took your Omnitrix?" he said, taking his time to respond.

"Yeah and I need to get it back! It can't…"

"…fall into the wrong hands," he interrupted, finishing my sentence, "you're right. Come with me, I've got something that might be of some use you." He gestured me to the same closet he opened the day before and we slid down the metal slide into his lab again. We walked over to his wall of weapons and Granddaddy handed me a belt with 2 blaster holsters, 2 blasters that fit perfectly into the holsters, a nice-fitting, non-metal battle suit for protection (because I didn't have my Omnitrix), and a cloaking device. I put on my battle suit over my clothes which fit perfectly, then my belt which adjusted to my waist and my cloaking device fit into a nice little pocket in my belt.

"Oh and one more thing…" Granddaddy said, pressing a button on a tiny remote that seemed to magically appear in his hand. When he did, a giant garage-type door that I never knew existed began to open along with an equally large door next to it that led into Granddaddy's backyard. Behind door #1 was a super cool spaceship-rocket-kind-of-thing. It was green with black stripes (reminded me of my Omnitrix) and a ramp coming out from its underside leading up into the cockpit of the ship.

"No way!" I yelled in excitement, "You're giving me this? But I don't even know how to drive it…"

"You won't need to," Granddaddy responded with a humored look on his face, "I'm coming with you."

"Seriously?" I was baffled by the fact that I would get to fight next to my grandfather, one of the greatest plumbers (even if I still wasn't sure what a plumber was) that ever lived!

"Well I'll just be flying you to the location of the Omnitrix and flying us home. I won't be fighting. I told you I was retired."

"Aww, come on! You just gotta fight with me!" I pleaded.

"Trust me, I've seen you fighting. You're a natural. You can do this. I believe in you."

"Ok. But what do I do? How do I defeat… whoever or whatever it was who took the Omnitrix?"

"You'll know soon enough." Granddaddy said, as if he knew. As if he knew I was meant to have this watch, this opportunity to fight for something that I haven't had for more that a few days but care so much about.

As I was riding home, it occurred to me the real reason Granddaddy decided not to fight along side me. He knew as much as I did that the wielder of the Omnitrix had to be responsible with so much power. Power that could easily destroy anything and anyone in the path of its controller. But, if it's used correctly, it can destroy even the worst of evil. He knew if he helped me battle for the Omnitrix, I wouldn't understand the full responsibility I needed to have to wield this amazing piece of technology.

The next morning, I woke up and almost forgot the most important thing about the end of the weekend: school. Considering the weekend I had, I was absolutely NOT ready to go back to endless hours of sitting in what teenagers everywhere consider "prison". I was tired and still a little beat up from the fight I had with Granddaddy the day before. Once I convinced my tired and aching body to get out of bed and get in the shower, I felt a lot better. When I exited the bathroom to go downstairs to eat breakfast, I noticed my suit, belt and blasters hanging on the back of my bedroom door. I can't believe I'm doing this… I thought to myself. After eating breakfast, I heard a honk outside. It was my girlfriend and her mom picking me up from school. I quickly scooped up my dirty dishes, threw them in the sink, grabbed my backpack and bolted out the door. Off to another day of torture, I thought.

When SixSix got back up to the ship, he knew he had to immediately report to Vilgax. Running past other aliens similar to him, they all looked very confused. He assumed they weren't informed of the mission and kept on running. When he reached the cockpit of the ship, he slowed to a walk and entered the double doors of Vilgax's chamber.

"Have you retrieved it?" asked the voice of Vilgax from behind the large chair that sat in front of his desk.

"Yes. I have retrieved the Omnitrix from the Earth boy." SixSix responded.

"Excellent," Vilgax said as he rotated in the big desk chair he was sitting in. He then got up from his comfortable-looking chair and was given a box by SixSix. He placed his hand on the top of the box, which was noticeably smaller than his giant hand, and it disappeared, leaving the contents of the box in Vilgax's hand. "Yes. The all-powerful Omnitrix is MINE!" boomed Vilgax. "But I mustn't use it now." With that, he entered a back room to put the Omnitrix in a safe place.

"But when..." SixSix started.

"Soon, my henchmen," interrupted Vilgax. "Soon."

After school, I told my mom I was going to Granddaddy's. "Ok. Be home in time for dinner," was all she could say to me before I was half way down the street with my bike underneath me and my battlegear in my backpack.

When I arrived at Granddaddy's house, I parked my bike in the usual spot and went inside. Once again, I was greeted by my grandmother who was in the kitchen making dinner for her and Granddaddy.

"Hello, Ellis!" she said with a smile.

"Hi, Nanny," I responded, also with a smile followed by a hug.

"Are you here to see Granddaddy again?" she asked, practically already knowing the answer.

"Yeah," I hesitated, not wanting to upset her.

"He's downstairs. You can go on down."

"Thanks, Nan!" I shouted as I bounded down the stairs to meet my awaiting "trainer".

When I got downstairs, I noticed a lack of Granddaddy. In the chair where he normally sits was a note. It read:

Ellis,

I'm in my lab preparing for our training.

Come on down when you're ready.

~Granddaddy

I immediately threw the note to the ground, ran to the closet with the hidden lever, pulled it and flew down the metal slide.

I'd been excited about training ever since the moment I'd heard that we were training. I was a little afraid of my blaster but I was also interested in how powerful it will be. I mean, if Granddaddy was going to give me something to beat a league of aliens, it ought to be something good.

"Ah, Ellis, you're here!" Granddaddy said when I slid out of the slide and into the lab.

"Hey Granddaddy! You ready to train?" I eagerly said, on the verge of jumping up and down in excitement.

"Yes, yes," he said with a chuckle. "Now, to start off your training, step onto the arena," he said, gesturing to the already floating arena with strange purple rocks all over it. The floor was earthy; much like dirt here on Earth but it was purple just like the rocks.

"Hey Granddaddy, what's with the purple rocks?" I asked as I put on my battlesuit over my clothes.

"Well I've done some research on the alien that took your Omnitrix. His name is SixSix, one of the most high-ranking generals in the entire galaxy," Granddaddy explained. "Using your Omnitrix as a homing beacon, I traced him and his alien army to a small, remote planet not far from Earth. And, if my research is correct, what I've set up here is precisely what the planet looks like."

I nodded and looked around at the purple replica of the planet I'd be visiting soon. "So, who am I gonna be fighting?"

"I was hoping you might ask that," he said as he pressed a button on the wall. Almost immediately, four aliens came out of the back room and jumped onto the floating arena, making it shake a little.

It was amazing to me how well these drones were created. Granddaddy had obviously done his research because he programmed them to act just like the alien I battled just a few days ago. Instead of the full purple armor I was used to, they wore all red, which I assumed was the standard armor for all aliens. In their hands they held blaster very similar to the one SixSix had.

"So I'm gonna be… fighting these?" I said, hesitant of my past decision to do this. I was pumped about training until I saw these. They looked real. Too real.

"Yeah. Unless there's a problem," he rhetorically asked.

"No, no problem," I said, now more courageous.

"Alright. If I think you're in too much trouble, I'll stop the drones," he said. He pressed another button on the wall.

"The battle will commence in 10 seconds," the computerized feminine voice from the Holigramifier 3000 said. I gripped my blaster tight, hoping for the best. "3… 2… 1… Go!" After that, all I heard was blasters.

Instinctively, I jumped behind a rock, avoiding the blaster shots. I knew I had to make a move or I'd be toast. I could feel the aliens slowly destroying the rock with their blasters. I saw another rock about 10 yards away. 'Can I make it?' I wondered. I counted to three and ran for my life, blasting at the aliens repetitively during my run. When I got to the rock, I noticed that I managed to hit one of them in the leg, which didn't seem to do much. I saw another rock and did a second dash, and a third, and a fourth, slowly getting closer to the aliens. On my fifth dash, I hit the same alien as before but this time in the chest, knocking him back into a rock wall. One down.

'If I can make one more dash, I think I can get close enough to defeat them,' I thought. So, with blaster ready, I ran for the rock closest to my enemies. With adrenaline pumping, I didn't notice the blaster shot coming straight for me. Next thing I knew, it had hit me on my left side and I was on the ground about 20 feet back. The battlesuit had protected me from the full impact of the blast, but it still hurt. The aliens approached me. I attempted to get onto my knees but one of the aliens put its foot on my chest, pushing me back onto the ground. I thought this was the end. Then I realized the other two aliens were standing right next to my feet. That gave me an idea. 'I hope this works' I thought. I pushed up with my hands, knocking the center alien back and sending my feet into the heads of the other two. 3 down.

"Man, these Tae Kwon-Do lessons are seriously paying off!" I said to myself. I stood up and found myself face-to-face with the final alien. I put up my blaster, pointing it at his chest. He did the same. I didn't have the best aim in the world so, if I missed this shot, he, who had significantly higher accuracy than me, would win.

'Wait!' I thought, remembering one other thing Granddaddy gave me. Still pointing the blaster at the alien, I looked down at my belt and saw a small pocket. I reached inside and pulled out a metal box which fit perfectly in my hand. The only thing on it was a large, red button which took up most of the top of the box. So, hoping it would do what I wanted it to, I smashed down the button and became invisible. 'Yes!' I thought in excitement.

"Where'd you go?" I heard the alien say. I didn't think Granddaddy programmed the drones to talk. It's voice was deep and wraspy, much like SixSix's.

I didn't know how long the cloaking device would last so I had to take advantage of the time while I was still invisible. I slipped the device back into my pocket, aimed my also invisible blaster at the alien and pulled the trigger. Unfortunately, I missed and the blast hit a bunch of rocks, breaking them into little pieces. They felt like needles hitting my arms. My visible arms. "Uh oh," I accidentally said, desperately wanting it to have been a thought. The alien ran over to me. I stumbled backwards and tripped over a rock. Again, my instinctive Tae Kwon-Do side took over and I threw my foot up and knocked the aliens blaster out of its hand. Taking advantage of the opportunity, I took my blaster out of my belt pointed it at the alien and pulled the trigger.

"Battle over," I heard the voice that I now associated with Granddaddy's lab say. "Now changing arena back to default terrain."

"That was AWESOME!" I shouted as I ran down the levitating stairs.

"I bet! You were a natural up there!" Granddaddy complimented.

"Thanks. I just wish that could've been the real deal."

"Why don't we go tonight then?"

"Tonight? But I'm not…"

"You are ready," Granddaddy interrupted. "I think I would know. I HAVE been doing this for 30 years."

"That's true…" I said, thinking about the decision I was about to make.

"We don't have to if you don't think you're ready."

"No, you're right. I am ready." I said, still pumped from my fight.

"Great! Just meet me here tonight at midnight."

"Will do!" I said as I grabbed my backpack, threw my blaster and belt inside and ran up the exit stairs, struggling to get my battlesuit off while I rushed up the long flight of stairs. When I finally got it off, I threw it in my backpack, got on my bike and rode home to prepare for the long night that lay ahead of me.

That night I lie in bed, waiting for my mom to walk downstairs to go to sleep. When she finally did, my bright blue LED clock read '11:43'. I needed to leave soon or I'd miss the deadline and, quite possibly, the opportunity. I waited for about 2 minutes. I heard no sounds so I leapt from my bed, grabbed my backpack and a flashlight for good measure and quietly walked downstairs. I tip-toed to the door, un-chained and unbolted it, and slowly opened it. It creaked once, but not loud enough to wake my brother or my mom. I slipped out the slightly opened door and slowly closed it back, taking a key with me, in case I got home before dawn, which I hoped I did. I then hopped on my bike and rode as quiet as I could down the street to Granddaddy's house.

When I arrived, I looked at my watch. 11:56. I made it! I walked up to the front door and was going to ring the doorbell (my grandma is a HEAVY sleeper) but I noticed a note on the door.

Ellis,

Come around to the backyard.

I'll be waiting there.

~Granddaddy

I took the note and shoved it in my pocket. Walking around to the back of the house, I saw Granddaddy standing next to the same green spaceship he showed me before. It seemed bigger out in the yard.

"You ready to go?" Granddaddy shouted over the loud roar of the engine.

"How is this not going to wake anyone up?" I also shouted as I approached Granddaddy.

"I pulled some strings with the government a while ago. Everyone that lives on this street can sleep through anything. Come on, let's get going. The more time the better." He pressed a button on a remote and a convenient ramp opened on the underside of the ship that led up into the cockpit of the ship.

When we got inside and we were ready for take-off, I began to become nervous. I'd have to fight… who knows how many aliens. I may have done 'extremely well' as Granddaddy put it, but I began to have doubts.

"You okay, Ellis?" Granddaddy asked as he finished his pre-flight checks.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. I'm just nervous." I said, feeling unconfident.

"I'm not surprised. This can be very nerve-wracking for a kid your age but I believe you can do it."

"You do?" I said in amazement.

"If I didn't think you could do it do you think we'd be sitting in this ship right now?

"I see what you mean. Come on, let's get this show on the road!" I said, feeling a lot better.

"That's the spirit!" Granddaddy said as he pushed a button on the dashboard of the ship. We taxied over to the street and Granddaddy paused a moment, as if he was waiting for the airport to clear him for take-off. When he finally got the imaginary confirmation, he gripped the car-like steering wheel and we moved forward. The ship's take-off was very similar to a plane's take-off. A quick acceleration and a slow ascent. Unfortunately, Granddaddy miscalculated the distance we would need to get airborne and we almost ran into a house. Luckily, we barely avoided it. As we flew through the atmosphere of Earth, that feeling of unconfidence returned.

"We're almost there. You should get ready," Granddaddy suggested as the big, purple planet came into sight. Without saying a word, I got up, retrieved my backpack from the storage compartment, got out my battlesuit and began to put it on. The ship was installed with its own gravitational pull similar to Earth's so I wasn't floating all around the room. This made putting on my battlesuit a lot easier.

"So, this is it, isn't it?" I rhetorically asked.

"Yeah." He paused. "I know you can do it. Look, you can see the ship from here. It doesn't look to be that big and, according to my research, the planet was void of life before they landed."

"Alright. Let's do this." I said as be begun to descend towards the strange purple planet.

"The oxygen levels here are similar to those on Earth so you should be fine when it comes to breathing," Granddaddy said as we touched down. We decided to land in a crater far enough away so we couldn't be seen but close enough where, if I needed him, Granddaddy could come to aid me. He brought a large blaster and a battlesuit similar to mine. When the ship was securely landed, the flat walkway to my right lowered to form a ramp onto the earthy, purple soil.

"Hey, Ellis." Granddaddy said as I began to exit the spaceship. I spun to face him. "Good luck out there." He smiled and saluted to me. I did the same back and, with blaster in hand, proceeded towards the soon to be intense battlefield.

As I approached the base camp of the alien fleet, I noticed most of their equipment was packed into their ship. Perfect! Now it'll be a lot easier to get in! I thought.

I decided to start off with a sniper method: using my scope (which Granddaddy graciously installed onto my blaster), I sat behind a rock and, using the skills that I developed from playing hours of Call of Duty, aimed at different aliens packing up materials. When I had one in my sights, I hesitated hoping it wouldn't draw attention, but pulled the trigger. The blaster was louder than I expected. I quickly ducked behind the rock before I could see if I had hit anything or anyone. I waited a full 30 seconds. I didn't hear anything close to me so I slowly peered over the top of the rock and saw that I had taken out an alien. There were aliens around it trying to save their friend. Yes! I thought. I began to aim again but before I could pull the trigger, the aliens began looking for the source of the blast. They saw me. I, once again, quickly ducked behind my rock. I could hear the aliens as their oddly shaped feet came closer and closer to me. When I heard them get close enough, I pulled out my cloaking device and smashed the red button. Right after I had become completely invisible, I looked up and saw a very familiar alien face. SixSix, I realized. I quickly and quietly got up, aimed my blaster at the rock the aliens surrounded and pulled my trigger. The aliens were both surprised and stunned. The blast had knocked large chunks of rock into all of the aliens, knocking them back and onto the ground. Out cold. Just as I planned. With no aliens in sight, I ran toward the entrance to their ship. I slowly peeked in before entering the massive ship. I figured the captain of the ship had my Omnitrix, so I headed towards the front of the ship.

There have to be hundreds of aliens in this ship, I thought. There were dozens of rooms on the hallway I was walking down. One of the doors was left open. Inside, there were roughly 20 beds. I continued my journey towards the front of the ship, hoping I wouldn't have to confront any aliens. They must not know I'm here, I assumed. If they did, there would've been some sort of alarm. I pushed it to the back of my mind and continued forward. I rounded a corner and, to my surprise, were 2 aliens with their backs to me. I quickly went back around the corner but, I then saw 2 more aliens coming out of their room further down the hall. I was cornered. I decided to sneak up on the aliens with their backs to me. I attempted to blast them both in the back but, on the second shot, I missed. The second alien turned around and quickly pulled out its blaster. I then saw the other aliens running in my direction, blasters drawn. I reached down for my cloaking device. It was gone. I had left it back at the rock I first was at. The three aliens approached me. I was scared out of my mind. Then I remembered something I picked up on during training. As the aliens came in closer, I pulled out my blaster, causing the aliens to take a step back. I then jumped and did a Flying Sidekick (a kick I just learned) into one of the aliens, knocking it out. I immediately grabbed its blaster and blasted the other two in the chest. One of them was knocked out immediately but the other was able to blast at me one time before it, too, was knocked out. The blast missed any vital parts of my body but it was still able to skim my arm, tearing my battle suit, and my epidermis. I grabbed my wound and attempted to hold in my screams of pain. Despite my efforts, a small whimper managed to slip out. Luckily, no one was around to hear me. I looked down at my wound. It wasn't bleeding too badly but I needed to cover it up. I then looked down at the unconscious aliens and got the perfect idea. I quickly jumped out of my battlesuit, folded it up, and shoved it in my pocket. I was wearing cargo pants so the pockets were big enough to hold it. I then picked up one of the aliens that was about my size, leaned it up against the wall, and stripped it of all its neon purple armor. The alien fell over a few times but I managed to get the armor off quickly. It fit perfectly on me! Finally, when all the armor was on my body, I removed the aliens face mast, revealing a disgusting, green face. Eww, I thought. I put the face mask on and carried to three aliens to an open dorm room. The face mask was hard to see through, but it would have to do.

As I got closer to the front of the ship, I passed another alien that looked similar to the ones I fought earlier. I tried to play it cool, and I did, until the alien turned around to talk to me.

"Hey!" he yelled from behind me. I froze. "You haven't seen any intruders, have you?" I began to panic.

"Uhh... no, sir. I responded in a deep voice. My panicked self must've thought aliens have deep voices.

"Well, if you do be sure to report to Vilgax immediately," the alien said as he turned and walked away. Vilgax. I thought. He must be the pilot of the ship. I walked on, hoping I wouldn't have to do any more fighting.

I was wrong.

I approached a door marked 'Cockpit. Authorized Personnel Only.' I ditched the armor and face mask and put my battlesuit back on. The hole on the arm of the battlesuit was still there and the air on my wound felt weird. Now would be a really good time to have my cloaking device, I thought as I pushed a button that I hoped would open the door. It did. Inside was a large, empty space. Odd. 15 feet in front of me, still standing at the door, motionless, was the windshield and a large, black chair facing the nose of the ship. The very front of the ship was about 20 feet wide. The dashboard that ran the length of it had a multitude of colorful, flashing buttons, all with a specific purpose.

"I've been expecting you," said a voice that seemed to come out of nowhere.

"Wh… Who said that?" I asked, trying to be brave. The big, black chair slowly spun around, revealing a green, slimy, almost battle-ready alien. I gasped as he stood up from his "throne" and in front of me, standing almost 2 feet over me. "Vilgax," I sad quietly.

"That's right. And you're… Ellis right?"

"I took a deep breath and stood tall. "I'm here for my Omnitrix," I commanded.

"Well, if you want it, you'll have to fight me for it!" I took a step back, attempting to run but he scooped me up and threw me against, and then through the wall. I hit the purple planet about 10 feet away from Vilgax's ship with a loud thud. Vilgax stepped out of the large hole he made in the wall, picked up my injured body and threw me as far as he could away from the spaceship. I landed a good distance away from the ship; around the area I encountered the first batch of alien scum. I tried to soften my landing, but I still hit hard. After a full minute of lying there, hoping I could muster up enough energy to at least stand a chance against Vilgax, I sat up, immediately noticing a small object protruding from the ground. My cloaking device! I grabbed it, threw it into my belt pocket and ran back toward Vilgax.

When I got close, I pulled out my blaster and pulled the trigger twice. Two bright, blue blaster shots flew towards Vilgax. He'd obviously been practicing because he dodged both shots like a pro. He ducked under the first one then did a backflip over the second. I managed to get one more shot in, which he dodged once again, before he pulled his blaster out. Western Showdown music played in my head. I was hesitant to pull the trigger because, if I missed, I was toast. I aimed right at his chest and… Boom! Our two blaster shots collided in the air and a huge explosion went off between Vilgax and me. We both flew backwards. I hit the ground and slid into a large rock with a decent impact. Vilgax, however, was knocked back but managed to keep his collision with the nearby spaceship to a minimum by using his superhumanly strong legs to cushion the blow. Although dazed, I managed to stand up. I tried for one last shot but Vilgax blasted the blaster right out of my hand. He menacingly walked over to me, trying to look intimidating before he finished me off. I stepped back, trying to get away, but I tripped over myself and back onto the ground.

It's all over now," Vilgax said with a smirk. "Say goodbye to your pathetic life!" As he aimed his blaster to finish me off, I remembered my cloaking device.

"Wait, Vilgax!" I yelled, half in fear.

"What do you want, human?"

"What's that behind you?"

"What do you mean?" Vilgax said. Confused, he turned around to look for something he wasn't going to find. Immediately, I dug into my belts leather pocket and pulled out the same small box I used before.

"There's nothing behind me you f…" He stopped mid-sentence as he turned around to find that I had disappeared. "WHERE DID YOU GO?" he boomed.

Now being invisible, I felt more energy flowing through my body. I got up off the ground, snuck up behind him, reached into his belt holster and pulled out his blaster. I then tip-toed to a far enough area, waiting for the invisibility to wear off and for my dramatic re-entry.

"Hey, Vilgax!" I said as I regained visibility.

Vilgax spun around to find me about 10 yards away from him. As he stared down the barrel of his own blaster, he couldn't get out one word before I blasted a bright, green blast right at his chest. He flew back, through the hole in the ship and into the dashboard.

"You little snake!" he hissed as he came at me with all his might. Another blast skimmed his leg. He grabbed the now exposed skin of his leg, much like I did when the other alien's blast skimmed my arm. He played it tough and kept at his goal: taking me out.

I blasted him one more time, right in the chest. I could tell it hurt him but he seemed pleased as he stood back up. Then I noticed what he was holding in his right hand. A blaster. My blaster! Uh oh! I thought. I knew now that he had a blaster of his own, along with the fact that we were both damaged pretty badly, I was finished. We were both one blaster shot away from winning. Just one finger determined my victory, and my life. I was going to lower my blaster to surrender, but then I saw something. Something that reminded me of my first ever battle. It was Humongousaur against Granddaddy, who I defeated by dropping a pile of snow and rocks onto from a low hanging cliff. The battle managed to move away from the ship and, much like that situation with Granddaddy, underneath a short cliff. About 15 feet above Vilgax's head was a cliff with a pile of rocks on the edge. I knew that blasting could mean the end of the battle and my life but I had to take the risk. I took one final blast, right to the edge of the cliff. The blast flew way over Vilgax's head.

"Ha! You missed me!" Vilgax yelled.

"Who said I was aiming for you?" I wittily responded as a huge pile of purple rocks fell onto my newfound enemy. As the pile of rocks settled on the ground, there was no movement. "Game over," I said to Vilgax who probably couldn't even hear me. I immediately ran over to the spaceship, jumped through the hole in the ship and began searching for the Omnitrix. 2 minutes had elapsed and I began to wonder if it was even there. What if it wasn't here? What if I wasted all my time and energy for nothing? What if I risked my life for something that wasn't even there? I had looked everywhere in the cockpit except for one place. I noticed a button on the wall next to a door. I walked over to it, praying what I was looking for was behind it. I closed my eyes, pressed the button and, when the mechanics of the door silenced, I opened my eyes to find the most relieving thing I'd seen since I made it onto this planet. My Omnitrix was sitting on a podium, being displayed quite nicely. I took it off of its stand, removed my battlesuit, and placed the Omnitrix on a table. I put my fisted hand inches from the amazing device and, just as it did less than 3 days ago, it jumped up onto my wrist and held on tight.

As I walked back towards Granddaddy's ship, beaten and worn down, open wounds sheered by the wind, I was smiling the entire way. I felt complete now that the Omnitrix and I had reunited.

I walked up the walkway that Granddaddy left open and he sprang up from his seat.

"How was it?" Granddaddy excitedly asked. All I did was smile and held up my left arm, showing my newly regained Omnitrix. He smiled and not another word was spoken until we were passing Jupiter and entering the Asteroid Belt.

"So, how was the fight? I wanna know everything. It's not everyday you fight and win against one of the universe's top evil villains." Granddaddy said.

"Well, at first, I felt like I was gonna lose but, in the end, I used some techniques I picked up on from my old man." I said as I playfully elbowed him in the arm. We both laughed.

"I'm just overjoyed that you won! Hopefully we won't be seeing much of him anytime soon."

When we got home, it was already 4:37 AM. I pulled out my "holy" battlesuit, leather belt and blaster and handed them over to Granddaddy. "You know, Granddaddy…" I said as I prepared my departure.

"What's that?" he responded.

"Although I've risked my life multiple times today, its been a blast being able to work with you."

"Well, you don't think its stopping here, do you?"

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well, with that thing on your arm and the news about you and Vilgax's fight going around the galaxy, I have a feeling there will be a lot more villains than Vilgax coming after your Omnitrix."

"So this means we'll get to fight together?" I said, ecstatic.

"I may have pulled some strings and gotten myself reinstated as an official Plumber."

I was speechless. All I could do is hug him goodbye.

"So, I'll see you tomorrow?" Granddaddy asked.

"Definitely!" I said as I pressed the button on my Omnitrix, chose my alien, and smashed down the face. "JETRAY!" I shouted. I had changed into what I thought looked like a good flyer from his silhouette. I was yellow on my back and on the top parts of my wings and red on the bottom parts and belly. I had giant wings that reached from my wrists to my ankles. I also had a tail that Granddaddy told me could shoot lasers. I decided to test that feature later.

As I flew off into the night sky, I looked back and saw Granddaddy waving goodbye as he always does when someone leaves his house.

It was a nice night, not too cold, so I decided to fly around a while. As I glided through the sky, I thought about what I experienced these 3 days and what was to come. It's a big responsibility but, like Granddaddy said, I was ready. Granddaddy told me there were going to be a number of different aliens from all different planets and galaxies that are going to challenge me for my Omnitrix but, after that night, I wasn't going to let anyone or anything take it away. Not again. And that very night, I vowed to protect the world, and myself, from anything and everything that gets in our way.