I watched as a metallic object fell towards earth and right at me. I calmly took a few steps back and watched it crash down where I was once standing. "Great, after ten years of radio silence, now I can finally get things moving." I said to myself as I approached the container. I held out my hand as it opened and watched as a black and green device attached itself to my left wrist. From it's original position, a hologram came on.

"Hello, Phoenix," said a small grey alien in a holo-recording. "Gallio informed me that you can be trusted, and I'm inclined to believe him. Keep the Omnitrix safe. And try not to abuse it. Also, the Master Control is locked to you. Can't make things too easy, now can I?"

"Nice to see all geniuses are dicks."

"I hope you don't do anything stupid with the Omnitrix, how Ben Tennyson Prime managed to operate it while only breaking it twice is remarkable. Try not to break it yourself, especially to spite me."

"Oh, shouldn't have said that…," I grinned as the holo-recording shut off and went back to the RV where my grandfather and cousin, in this life at least, were.

My name is Phoenix Mason, but in this life, It's Benjamin Kirby "Phoenix" Tennyson. I am a powerful being known as a Verser, basically a god of reality to save you a long winded explanation. The original Benjamin Tennyson, who I am now replacing, was never born, leaving the world undefended from his greatest enemy, Vilgax, a galactic conqueror of great power. To save this world and prevent Vilgax from potentially learning of existence beyond his single universe.

"Phoenix," I heard my cousin, Gwen, calling out. "Where are you?!"

"Oh, this is going to be fun." I accessed the Omnitrix and turned the dial to a figure I recognized. "Hehehe." I pressed down dial and a green light surrounded me and changed me into an alien with red skin, four arms and eyes, and raising my height to about 10 or 11 feet. I grinned and tossed a rock behind me where I heard Vilgax's drone hovering, searching for the Omnitrix after destroying its pod. I slipped as much from sight as I could for a ten foot alien. When Gwen walked passed, I jumped out in front of her and smiled. "Boo."

"Ahh!" she screamed as she stumbled away from me in fear. I laughed and grinned.

"Ah man, you should've seen your face, Gwen!"

"Phoenix?!"

"In the flesh!" I smiled as she stared at me.

"What happened to you?!"

"I saw this comet looking thing land nearby. When I went to investigate it, and found this watch, it latched onto my wrist and as I was trying to get it off, I turned into this."

"And you just chose to scare me?!"

"Yep!"

"Grr! You're such a doofus!"

"Ooh, shouldn't have called me that!" I grabbed the back of her shirt.

"Hey!" I hung her from a tree branch and grinned as she struggled. "Get me down from here!"

"Take back the doofus remark."

"Fine! I take it back! Just get me down!"

"Calm down, calm down, I'm getting you down." I got her off the branch as the Omnitrix started beeping and flashing red before turning me back and making her fall on top of me. I groaned as my head hit the ground. "Ow…"

"Serves you right, Doofus!"

"Can you get off! You're heavy!" Gwen glared before climbing off of me and helping me to my feet. "Thanks." I looked at the device and saw its screen was red.

"At least you're not stuck looking like that thing forever."

"I wonder what else I can turn into."

"Phoenix, no. You're not messing with that thing. We should show it to Grandpa Max, see what he thinks you should do."

"Fine," I said as we started to head back to the Rustbucket, Grandpa Tennyson's RV.

"There you kids are!" said Grandpa Max, a man I've looked to as a mentor in this world. "Where's you go?"

"Went for a walk, saw some wild life, found a cool watch from a canister that fell from space, no big deal."

"What was that last part?" I smiled and held up the Omnitrix showing him the device and the Intergalactic Symbol of Peace on it, the symbol on a Plumber's Badge.

"Watch this." I pressed the buttons on the side of the face, lifting the face.

"Phoenix, maybe you shouldn't do that," said Grandpa Max.

"I'll be fine." I turned the dial to another shape as Max stepped closer.

"Phoenix…" I slammed down the face and the Omnitrix flashed green before turning me into a being made of stone and covered in flames.

"Awesome!"

"What kind of monster are you now?" asked Gwen.

"He's not a monster, he's an alien." Gwen looked at him, surprised. "Well, look at him. What else could he be?"

"Could be a demon," I said as I idly tossed a fireball back and forth between my hands.

"Phoenix! Be careful!" shouted Gwen. I extinguished the fireball before sighing.

"Relax, Gwen. I'm not an idiot." I snapped and formed a flame above my fingers before seeing it turn white along with the flames all around my body. "What the…"

"What happened?"

"Not sure. It doesn't feel like anything's changed."

"Maybe it's whatever made your hair white and eyes silver?" said Max. 'And chalk another thing Soul Magic can do, altering any form I may take on in the future. Wonder what else it affects besides color.' The sounds of screams drew our attention to where other campers were. 'Uh oh. Sounds like Squid Face is acting earlier than he usually does. Wonder what triggered it.' I didn't even think, I just ran towards the screams, ignoring my cousin and grandfather as they called for me to head back. As people started running passed me, I found what was causing all of the commotion.

One of Vilgax's robots wreaking havoc and trying to locate the Omnitrix after Vilgax is alerted by the first drones destruction. I duck as a piece of debris from a car flies overhead and look at the bot, keeping the Omnitrix from it's view. 'Damn timing, I thought Lucy's blessing was supposed to improve my luck, not worsen it.' I glanced at the watch, away from the bots view and look. 'Still red. Gotta stall for time.' I grabbed an abandoned picnic blanket and tore a few strips from it. I wrapped one strip around my face, blocking my features and wrapped another piece around the Omnitrix. "A ten year old me vs a 20 foot robot, no back up, no weapons, and a transformation watch on cooldown. Must be a Friday." I grabbed a rock and used the rest of the blanket as a sling. I spun it as fast as I could and hurled the rock in front of a laser aimed at a girl. "Pick on someone your own size, ya overgrown tin can!" I slung another rock, this one larger than the last as it fired another laser at me. The rock shattered and I hid as its scanners were blocked.

I spotted Gwen and Grandpa Max running over and waved to them to get behind cover. Max saw the drone and pulled Gwen behind a tree. I got to the girl as the bot looked for me and moved her away from the robot. When she was safe I went back over to the robot and looked around for something I could use. I spotted a tire iron that was blown from the trunk of a car and a broken off sideview mirror. I grabbed both and used Soul Magic to enlarge the mirror and tire iron and strengthen them. "Fore!" I swatted a rock with the tire iron and hit the bot in the head, turning it towards me. "Hit me with your best shot!"

"Phoenix," shouted Max. "Get out of there!" I swatted a rocket back at the bot and dodged as it fired a machine gun at me.

"It never had those in the original show. Something's up." I saw rocks getting thrown at its head and saw Gwen and Max getting it's attention. "No! Don't get involved!" It turned to them and fired its laser. "Dammit." I moved in and intercepted another laser blast aimed at Gwen. It hit the mirror and shattered it, knocking me back. I grunt as I hit a tree and Max drags me away from its field of view.

"Phoenix, what the heck were you thinking?!"

"I said not to get involved." I moved the cloth on my wrist and looked at the Omnitrix. "Still red. Gotta stall for more time."

"No, you're not going back out there. It's too dangerous."

"I have to. Someone needs to take care of that thing."

"And you think you can do it?"

"With the alien watch, yes I can. I just need to wait for its cooldown to finish." I looked at him, determination in my gaze. "Trust me on this, Grandpa. I'll turn into that fire guy, or this four armed alien from before, and wreck that thing." Max thought about it for a while as the robot tried blasting through the trees to get to us.

"…Alright. But be careful, I don't want to have to explain to your parents that you died fighting a giant robot."

"Of course."

"Phoenix," said Gwen. "Be careful."

"What's the worst that could happen?"

"Please don't ask that." I grinned and went back out to where the bot was. It started firing in all directions, trying to destroy everything in the area, just to try and locate the Omnitrix. I spent 8 minutes baiting the thing with every trick I could think of, even a few tricks using Soul Magic and Umbramancy outside of my family's vision. When the 8 minutes were up, I hid behind another tree and pulled up the dial, seeing it turn green.

"Hero time." I turned the dial and transformed into a white Petrosapien, an alien made of a diamond like mineral. "Alright, time to go to work." I formed a pillar of crystal under my feet and launched myself at the drone. "Looking for me Tinny?!" I turned my arm into a blade and stabbed into its neck as I landed. I watched its scanners zoom in on my face and on the Omnitrix symbol on the black and white jumpsuit covering my body. "That's right! I got the Omnitrix." I brought my face closer to its scanners. "Come and get me, Squid Face. I'll be waiting." I brought spikes out of my arm, shredding the drone from the inside out. I jumped away and encased the drone in crystal as it exploded. I made the tedonite go back to the earth as people surrounded me their faces locked in an awestruck look.

I grinned and launched myself up into the air with another pillar of crystal and towards where I knew the RV was and landed next to it. I hid myself from where any one might come following and waited for the transformation to time out. Gwen and Max ran back over as the Omnitrix flashed red and I reverted back into my normal form for this world; a ten year old boy with a black and white shirt, silver eyes, and white hair. I sighed and fell back onto the ground, exhausted. "That was really reckless, Phoenix," said Gwen.

"I got the job done, didn't I? And no one else was hurt since the robots attention was on me."

"You still need to be careful," said Max. "We don't know what that watch can do or what the robot wanted. 'You'll need to tell us soon, Grandpa,' I thought to myself. I sighed and stood back up before heading into the RV.

"I need to get some sleep. See you guys in the morning." About an hour later, as Gwen was sleeping, I turned to Max as he was about to head to bed. "Grandpa."

"Yes, Phoenix?"

"Is there something you're not telling us? Earlier, you pointed out the fact that the fire being was an alien, and your eyes widened slightly when you saw the symbol on the watch."

"Its nothing, Phoenix. Don't worry."

"Alright, good night, Grandpa."

"Good night, Phoenix." As he closed the door to his bed in the RV I sighed.

"Old men and their secrets. Somethings never change."

A few days later, we found ourselves in DC, and I was scrolling through the beings listed in the Omnitrix. 'Azmuth had to be a dick and not unlock the master control, didn't he? Dammit. Guess it's trial and error time.' I avoided Zs'skayr's form and turned into the Galvan form. I looked around as I was now only a few inches tall. "This is a weird point of view," I said, my voice now high pitched. "That's gonna get annoying whenever I need to speak.

"What can this one do?"

"I appear to have a very advanced intellect, there are a number of equations running through my head right now, some of them I'll never be able to understand when I return back to normal."

"Can you give my laptop an upgrade?" I went over to it and started going through its files and memory stores while also looking up the basic components used for the devices operation.

"Sorry, some of the stuff I'd need to make this thing more advanced we don't even have here in the RV and are only experimental or used in the military. Fat chance of us getting anything from them."

"Oh well, it was only me musing." She grinned as she noticed my size and decided to try and get me back for the tree thing a few days ago when our road trip with Grandpa Max began. I ducked under her hand and jumped over the other.

"Can't catch me!" I started running up her arm and hid out of her reach.

"Hey!"

"Stop trying to manhandle me!"

"Both of you, behave!" shouted Max behind his shoulder as he was driving.

"Sorry Grandpa," said both of us as I jumped onto her head. I jumped to the ground as she tried swatting me and changed back to normal.

"And he sticks the landing!" I grinned as she glared at me.

"Why can't you be normal?" Before I could make a retort, I looked outside and saw a building on fire.

"Grandpa, stop the RV." He looked where I was looking and saw the fire. When he pulled the RV over, I got out and looked around before seeing a way in and returning to my regular form.

"Ben, what are you going to do," asked Gwen.

"Something stupid," was my only reply as I ran off and avoided getting noticed by the fire fighters. I got into the building and looked at the watch. "God I hope this works." I reached out with my mind, which had been enhanced with several pieces of tech in my travels as a Verser, and connected with the Omnitrix's interface, only to be met with a very angry A.I. program. She looked to be about ten in appearance and had green skin, green and black eyes, and was glaring at me, my mental form that of a 25 year old man. "Gah! Wasn't expecting an A.I. in here."

"Of course there'd be an A.I. stupid. How else do you expect a complex piece of machinery to adapt itself and find a suitable user?"

"Considering you're a prototype, I guessed Azmuth wouldn't put an A.I. in until he was sure that it could work and that it wouldn't interfere with the user or the devices main systems."

"Well he did add one, thank you very much."

"Right. If you'd be so kind as to change me into the Pyronite, please. I've got a fire to deal with."

"Why the Pyronite?"

"I can absorb the flames in a small area, there's a family the fire fighters can't get to, I'm going to save them. Please change me so I can get that done."

"…Fine." I exited the Omnitrix and felt my body change from a Galvan to the Pyronite.

"Oof, that felt weird. Must be cause she's pissed, though what about, I don't know yet. Now then…" I made my way up the stairs and found a mother and son trying to find a way out but were blocked by flames on all sides. I ran over and caught a pile of debris that was about to crush them and trap them in the burning building.

"What are you?..." asked the kid.

"Just trying to help," I told him with a grin. I tossed the debris away and absorbed the flames around us just as the stairs I came up from collapsed. "Nothing's ever easy, huh?" I looked around and saw a window leading to where the crowd of people were standing. "This way!" I used flames to cut away at the bricks, making a hole as large as large as my current form. I lowered my temperature and grabbed hold of the two of them before getting us out of the building in a swirl of white flames, shocking the crowd as I lowered the flames, showing them unharmed. They all stared at me in awe, much like the people from our first stop on the road trip.

I looked at my hands and blasted myself off the ground with the flames I emitted. "Oh, that's a neat trick." I flew over to the RV and flew next to the passenger window as Max was driving. "What's up?"

"How are you?… Never mind. The fire was a diversion for a robbery at a jewelry store."

"Where are they?"

"A few blocks away from here in a black van," said Max. As soon as he finished speaking, I sped off and found the speeding van. I tossed a fireball at its tires and made it flip, jarring the two robbers. I melted their shoes to the asphalt and landed in front of them, holding a white flame in my hands.

"Just try and get away from me, I dare ya." The two robbers fell backwards, trying to get as far away from me as possible. I fired some flames into words on the ground behind them and grinned as they pissed themselves before flying off as I heard the Omnitrix start beeping. I landed just before I transformed back and watched as the cops arrived and picked up the two criminals and the jewels in the overturned car. "Job well done."

"'Just doing my job to help the boys in blue'," I heard a police officer say out loud, reading my message. "'Signed, Ignis.' Who the hell is Ignis?"

"Whoever he is, he saved us some time in getting these two." They put them into a patrol car as the RV strolled up to me. I climbed back on, grinning.

"What's got you in a good mood?"

"Just getting some recognition for my efforts."

"Ugh, I can practically feel your ego growing," said the A.I. in my head. I ignored it and looked at Max. "How did you guys know about the crooks?"

"I have a police scanner in the dash."

"Huh. Never noticed."

"How did you fly," asked Gwen.

"Used flames as a propulsion device. Handling is a bit weird, but I'll get the hang of it." Max saw the writing in flames and looked at me.

"'Ignis'?"

"My name for the fire alien. Latin for fire. Fits huh?"

"How do you know that?" asked Gwen.

"Video games."

"Why am I not surprised?"

"Because I'm me." I grinned as we pulled up to a discount store. I waited by the entrance as Gwen and Max went to get stuff for dinners for the week. I sat down, bored and chose to speak with the A.I. 'So, what do I call you?'

"What?"

'What do I call you? You've got to have a name, all A.I.s do to have an easy way to identify themselves, unless they have a hive mind. You don't, so you've got to have an identity.'

"Omnitrix Artificial Intelligence Operating Unit One."

'That's too long. I'll call you Aoi.'

"Why that?"

'AND-OR-Invert. Boolean logic gates in electrical engineering. Plus, it's a cute Japanese name. Two things in one.'

"…Fine. Call me Aoi." I could practically feel her blushing as I looked around. I noticed something that was unusual. A girl, about 15, with long white hair and wearing a purple outfit.

'Charmcaster? Why is she here?' I watched as she bought some food, enough for one person, and started heading to the exit. I grinned internally and snapped my fingers away from her view, making a white rose materialize in front of her face, and making her pause. She looked around suspiciously, trying to find the mage who conjured the rose. Her eyes settled on me as I sat nearby. I looked at her. "Can I help you?"

"Your eyes…" she muttered softly. She shook her head and looked at me. "No. Sorry." She grabbed the rose and walked away, a small blush on her pale face.

'See you later, Hope.'

"Aren't you a charmer," said Aoi.

'I got some advice from some… questionable mentors who think themselves lady killers.'

"And you got that from them?"

'No. Improvised my own techniques when I knew their own advice would fail.'

"Smart man. So, who is that girl?"

'Her name is Hope. She's from a magical dimension, and lives here on Earth with her Uncle, they're both refugees. She uses magic and has been trying to resurrect her deceased father in her home dimension of Ledgerdomain.'

"Let me guess, you're going to help her?"

'Don't know if I can. He's more than dead, his soul is trapped, and the only way his jailor will release him is with an exchange. 600,000 souls for his own. Both her and Hex have been trying to find a way back and beat the one who took over their world.'

"Don't you have magic?"

'Yes I do. Magic I'm afraid of showing them in case they try and take it themselves.'

"And yet you used it just now."

'I used basic Conjuration magic, barely registering on their radar as powerful.'

"You should still be careful."

'Yes, Mom!' I stood up and made it to where Max and Gwen were.

"Decided to join us, after all?" asked Max.

"Got bored. Wanted to stretch my legs."

"Maybe you can talk Grandpa out of buying some of the stuff here," said Gwen. I looked in the cart.

"Only canned octopus? I thought this store prided itself on wide selection."

"That's what I said," said Max as Gwen looked scared.

"Oh no, I'm gonna be the only one wanting normal food, aren't I?"

"Gotta learn to live with what you got," I said with a shrug and a smirk. We started walking and I hung around the electronics section, slipping a few things into a pocket dimension I created to store stuff in when I didn't have a modified PipBoy created by the Manifestation of Science, Gallio, a genius of various fields of science and progress, and highly unmotivated in anything else.

"Isn't that stealing?"

'My karmic level is a bit too high, better to steal a few things for later use then to stay as a karmic good guy.'

"And these words mean?"

'I've learned a long time ago that some powers are only used when I remain neutral on a karmic level, while others are locked behind a good or evil karmic level. I have two other forms, one good, one evil, that cover them.'

"Evil?"

'Well, technically. Morally black and more selfish while the 'good' form is morally white and more selfless. Meaning one, I tend to work for my own benefits, helping others is just a coincidence, the other, I help others no matter what. Both have benefits, but one is mainly for killing, the other for saving.'

"So you tend to be neutral in a lot of things."

'Yeah, mainly because it's better to be impartial in wars and similar things… like politics.'

"Not a fan?"

'Too many lies. And that's coming from a person who lies about his identity for a living.' I took a few more pieces of tech and felt a rumble. "Someone's right on time." I pulled a balaclava over my head as the wall beside me was destroyed by a giant frog with an old man riding on top of it. I hid in the shadows as my luck worked for me for once and dimmed the lights because of the damage. I improvised a weapon from a piece of chord that was ripped from the wall when the frog busted in and tied it around a piece of metal shrapnel. I spun it around to test it's swing speed and weight before turning to Animo. "Gonna have to do."

I swung it a few times as I stepped from the shadows. "Jiraiya wannabe! Catch!" I flung the improvised weapon at him. He ducked under it, but the weapon destroyed the helmet, making him unable to control the frog. I bucked him off of it and onto the ground. I kicked a toppling shelf on top of him, knocking him out and turned to the frog. "Your turn, ugly. Come and get me!" I transformed into Ignis and blasted it with fire, cooking it alive. I added a few pounds onto the weight on top of Animo and wrote in fire on the ground to put him in maximum security lockup for assault, damage of public property, attempted robbery, and attempted murder. Aoi changed me back to my normal form and I hid once more.

I watched as the police arrived and found Animo and the charred remains of the mutant frog. They read the message and one officer looked at his partner. "Ignis again. Beat us to the punch."

"Or maybe he was in on it and did it for the glory," said the other officer.

"And the robbery earlier? No way."

"Look, he left an address, there's no way he didn't know the guy."

"Will you two shut up," said a third officer as I stepped from the shadows when I saw Gwen and Max and walked towards them as the officers were distracted by the roasted frog corpse. I took off the balaclava and Max looked at me.

"I take it this was your doing."

"I don't know what you're talking about. I'm just an innocent bystander." I smiled as they rolled their eyes. We purchased our stuff and left the discount store. When we climbed back into the RV, Gwen turned to me.

"What happened back there?"

"Guy riding a giant frog broke into the electronics department on a giant mutant frog, stopped him from taking anything, killed the frog."

"You killed it?"

"How else was I going to contain a giant mutant frog who most likely wasn't affected by the cold like a normal frog?"

"Why didn't you try knocking it out?"

"Because the ensuing fight would've caused more destruction and put more people in danger. It was already rampaging after I destroyed the helmet the old man was wearing, which he was probably using to control it, because it went berserk and threw him off of it. I dropped a shelf on top of him and used Ignis to burn the frog. Left a message for the police on where he was living and what his plans were, he blurted them out for some reason."

"Phoenix," said Max. "Next time, try and handle things in a non-lethal approach."

"What if the threat is bigger than I can handle normally, or its someone who could potentially put the lives of every person on Earth in mortal peril. Like an intergalactic emperor or something."

"Even then. If you start killing them, there's no going back. You shouldn't be like them, you should be better than them. Do you understand, Phoenix?" I sighed and looked at him.

"I understand, Grandpa."

"Good. Now come on, I need to start dinner."

"Ooh, what's on the menu tonight?"

"Oh, God!" lamented Gwen as we followed Max into the RV. The next few days were a mix of exciting and boring. We encountered a large alien that'd been living in a lake and dealt with poachers trying to steal its eggs for a profit. Left a message for the police to pick them up and to contact the feds. After that, we visited Max's sister, Vera at a retirement community, dealt with aliens impersonating the elderly people there before abducting the rest and eating them. They had a sever allergy to fresh water and were dealt with using a water pistol Gwen had in her back pack. Had to wipe the memories of everyone who had been abducted, nothing else happened for a while, giving me time to understand my new alien forms.

"Who are we working on today?"

"I was thinking, Diamondhead. I need to get used to shooting projectiles with him. I feel like there's an easier way to shoot them and that I can be more accurate, but I can't quite figure it out. It's not like using a sling, or bow." 'Or even using a gun.'

"Which reminds me," said Gwen. "How do you know how to use those?"

"Scouts."

"The bow, I understand. But the sling?"

"Oh, that I learned in history and from video games on how reliable it can be."

"You paid attention in school?"

"Only when it came to historical battles and weapons."

"Why am I not surprised? Wait, your history class covered those?" I helped Max set up a few targets in the canyon we stopped in as I ignored her question.

"Not the most conspicuous answer, is it?" asked Aoi.

'What else was I going to say? Internet? Yeah, that's more believable at this time.'

"You could've said you saw it in a movie."

'My parents don't watch movies. Won't even let me watch them. No idea why.'

"That's… weird."

'Well, my parents are weird.' When the targets were set up, I changed into Diamondhead and started firing once Max and Gwen were a safe distance away and made sure not to aim anywhere near the Rustbucket. I missed several projectiles and groaned as I turned back to normal. "There has to be an easier method."

"Why don't you try firing a smaller stream instead of the entire expanse of your hand," asked Gwen.

"Huh, didn't think about that, but aiming takes time, time not always given in a fight, like with the Kraken."

"Well, that's a problem for another day," said Max. "Let's go. We've got somewhere else to be." I turned to him and noticed something about the RV. 'Was it Tetrax that sabotaged the Rustbucket? None of my crystals ever came close.' We got into the Rustbucket and made it to a ghost town before the RV started to act up. We got out so Max could check it and found a crystal had hit the engine. "I think I found the problem."

"What?! None of my crystals even got close to the RV!"

"Maybe it ricocheted," suggested Gwen.

"Whatever's the case, it's gonna take me a while to fix this."

"Alright, then if you guys need me, I'll be exploring this place." I walked away and knew they shared a look for Gwen to follow me and make sure I didn't get into any trouble. I looked around before walking into the building where the crab bounty hunter was supposed to ambush me. I heard Gwen enter behind me and turned to face her. "Really? What could I possibly get up to in a ghost town?"

"I don't know, I just know that, since you got the watch, you've been attracting the weird things lately."

"And you think the streak will continue here, don't you?" Before she could respond, the ground below us rumbled, causing us to stumble into each other as the bounty hunter came up from the ground. I moved her behind me as he turned towards me.

"There you are. Hand over the Omnitrix, kid!"

"How about no," I said, backing Gwen over to the entrance of the building as he advanced on us.

"Oh, good. Looks like we'll have to do things the hard way!" He charged a laser, aiming in our direction, but didn't watch where he was standing. I kicked a plank of wood at my feet to my right and knocked it into a lever, sending him to the ceiling and crushing him for the moment. I pushed Gwen out the entrance and transformed into the Galvanic Mechamorph, Upgrade. I took control of the lift and crushed him using the upgrades I gave it. I watched him fall to the ground in a heap of scrap before heading back to the Rustbucket after Gwen I climbed in and Max took off.

"What happened back there?"

"One scrapped robot crab, courtesy of me."

"A robot crab?"

"I think he was after the watch. But he called it the Omnitrix."

"Omnitrix?"

"At least he's gone," said Gwen, just before a laser saw blade started cutting a whole in the roof of the RV. The cut pieces were pulled back, revealing another bounty hunter, SixSix. He shouted at us in his native language and I turned to him.

"Not a chance, Guy." I took control of his armor and started disabling its systems before knocking him unconscious and tying him up on the roof of the Rustbucket.

"Could you understand him," asked Gwen.

"Not really, but it was clear he was after the watch as well. What else could he have been shouting?"

"I guess you're right." The Omnitrix started beeping and I returned to my normal form. I sat down and sighed.

"Well, that was exhausting."

"I'll bet," said Max. He glanced up to the roof where SixSix was and looked at me in the rearview mirror. "What are we going to do with him?"

"No idea. But you said not to kill, and we couldn't just leave him there, he could still potentially follow us, and put innocents in danger in the inevitable fight. Now we've got an alien on the roof and no idea what to do with him." As we continued driving, debating on what to do, Max suddenly stopped the Rustbucket. I looked at what made him stop and saw another bounty hunter in the middle of the road. 'Tetrax. Guess I shouldn't be surprised.' I saw the Omnitrix was still red and mentally sighed.

"Hey, Azmuth said not to make things too easy for you."

'I hate cooldowns.' "Both of you, stay here."

"Phoenix, no," said Max. "The watch hasn't even finished recharging."

"This guy hasn't even attacked yet. Maybe he can be reasoned with. The last two attacked as soon as they could, he isn't. He's had a clear shot the entire time we've been sitting here but hasn't taken it. You want me to take a non-lethal approach, then I need to see if I can talk some people down. Let me do this." Max hesitated for a second before sighing. I exited the Rustbucket and walked over to him. "So, you're buddies couldn't take me down. Ones tied up on the roof of my grandfather's RV, the other's a heap of scrap a few miles back that way. Both took about a minute to take down. Wanna see if you're going to fare any better?"

"They're not my buddies," said Tetrax. "The one on your vehicle is called SixSix. The other was Kraab, a cybernetically enhanced Piscciss Premann."

"So he was an alien? Oh, whoops."

"He's most likely not dead, just crippled, which makes it easier for me to turn him in."

"So, you're not after the Omnitrix?"

"Technically, that's what I was hired for. But I wasn't going to turn it in to the person who hired us to take it. I was supposed to find someone worthy of using it."

"And am I worthy?"

"That remains to be seen." I heard the Omnitrix beep and turn green and turned the dial to Diamondhead's silhouette.

"Then how about a test, I beat you, I'm worthy. You beat me, you can do what you want with the Omnitrix."

"That's not how this is going to work."

"Sorry, that's the way it is." I transformed into the Petrosapien and got into a boxing stance. "So, come on. Lower that mask, and we can have a proper match."

"Fine then. Have it your way." He lowered his mask and I started circling him.

"So, what is your species called?"

"Petrosapien. We're a race of living crystal bipedal beings."

"Good to know." I fired crystals in a rapid fire single stream, rather than my normal shotgun-like spread. Tetrax's eyes widened and he raised a wall of crystal to block the stream. I launched myself into the air and slammed down onto his position, only to find he was no longer there. I ducked under his own projectiles and punched his wall of crystal, exploding it and sending shards everywhere. I ducked under a swing from his arm, which had been turned into a mace, and kicked him away. I brought up a wall between us and he looked at me.

"Bad timing for defense, right now."

"Never said this was a defensive move!" I fired projectiles from the wall, throwing him off guard. I launched above him and landed on his chest, putting my blade arm to his neck, tip lifting his chin. "So, how'd I do?"

"Not bad, for a kid."

"I'm more experienced than I look." I helped him up as the Omnitrix timed out and I turned back to normal. "So, did I pass?"

"I'd say you did. I was originally hired to locate the Omnitrix and bring it to a safe location, but based on what I just witnessed, I'd say it's safe enough with you."

"What do I call you?"

"Names Tetrax Shard."

"Ben Tennyson, though friends and family call me Phoenix."

"Well Phoenix, I guess I'll get the two bounty hunters and go, but first, I think you could use something to help get around when not transformed or near your grandfather's vehicle." He tossed me his hoverboard and grinned as I caught it. He pulled out a device and summoned his ship. He collected SixSix and left towards Kraab's location. Gwen looked at me as I climbed back onto the RV.

"What just happened?"

"He's a good guy, hired to find the Omnitrix and bring it to a safe location, he just figured it'd be safest with me."

"And that fight just now?"

"Me proving it. Was able to impress him enough, I guess." I sat down at the dinning table. "Can we get out of here now? I doubt there's anything more happening any time soon." Gwen and Max shared a look before Max started driving the RV once more and we made our way to our next destination.