Galvan Prime was a breath-taking world, covered in lush forests, scattered water bodies, and dotted with wild terrains.
A rich and healthy planet with few equals, though its beauty was not a natural development.
Millions upon millions of years ago, a meteor with exceptional mass descended upon the planet in an event that would forever change its evolutionary destiny.
An event that would forever be referred to as the Great Cataclysm.
So great was the meteoric impact that it brought about a mass extinction, wiping out all but a few species that dwelt upon the planet's surface. Though it was a natural tragedy, it had far-reaching consequences, consequences that would one day be felt across the vastness of the universe, and beyond.
The Great Cataclysm resulted in the eventual extinction of theOmnivoracious. A massive avian hunter, the greatest natural predator the then-unnamed Galvan Prime had ever produced.
And the only natural predator of the youngGalvanspecies.
The Galvans were one of many curious beings in the universe. Small, bipedal creatures that evolved from aquatic ancestors, they were small of stature yet great of mind, even then, during what they would consider their primitive ages.
Surviving the Cataclysm, the species that had only been limited by predation was free to blossom in a way most intergalactic communities could only dream of.
And blossom they did.
With their close social unity brought on by the harsh conditions of the damaged planet and their mighty intellects, the Galvan race began to develop at breakneck paces.
Leaps in the comprehension fundamental sciences and essential technologies that would have taken other species millennia were achieved and surpassed in mere fractions of the time.
Their position as the sole cognisant and higher-thinking people of their home world allowed them unhindered access to Galvan Prime's rich resources, further aiding their development and their path to achieving a post-scarcity society.
In time, the first Galvanic terraformation efforts were implemented, spearheaded with the goal of healing, enriching, and eventually attaining perfect control of their planetary biosphere.
Needless to say, their eventual success was never in question.
The Galvan understanding of the scientific concepts that governed the greater universe quickly outstripped that of their close galactic neighbors, an achievement that earned them admiration and fear in equal measure.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Galvan people were not without their faults. Their all but unrivaled level of success could and often did give rise to political factions within their communities that disdained the lesser, underdeveloped peoples of the universe, a hateful sentiment that would spark the Great Galvanic Civil Wars.
Despite the internal civil dispute, the Galvans would go on to achieve a higher level of social unity. They became a race of thinkers, who valued social and intellectual development and often looked down on unnecessary conflict in the greater universe.
But often was not always, and not every Galvan was above the pitfalls of rage, jealousy, and hate.
…
Galvan Prime
First Thinker's Tower
First thinker Azmuth stood within the confines of his laboratory, looking down at the city below.
The Capital was the pinnacle of environmentally aware urbanization, with aesthetically pleasing architecture existing in harmony with the natural wildlife that grew along it. Meticulously planned and built, it was a gorgeous sight.
At least, it had been.
Massive swaths of destruction cut through it, debris blasted far and wide, the remains of city structures that had proved incapable of withstanding the assault that had sundered them to and forth.
Even now, he could see the emergency services desperately combing through the wreckage, looking for civilians who hadn't been quick enough to evacuate.
Waving his hand, the glass-like dome before him turned opaque, finally cutting off his vision of the tragedy.
The first thinker bowed his head. He did not raise it for some time.
Time passed, and just as he prepared to continue with his more time-sensitive projects, a feeling swept over him. A faint hum of energy was detected and sensors more advanced than any other variants of the technology present in the galaxy informed him of an approaching high-density matter transfer.
A teleportation attempt.
A moment later, there was a flash of green light and he was no longer alone.
"Morning Azmuth!"
Ben Tennyson was as cheery as ever, it would seem. Turning to stare at the young man who'd wielded his Omnitrix for years, Azmuth remarked that he'd grown up. Physically and mentally (Though he'd never tell him that). Dressed in blacks and greens that complemented the device on his wrist, the savior of the universe offered him a grin.
The hybrid Osmosian Kevin Levin stood at his side, as he often tended to do. At his other side stood Gwendolyn Tennyson, who offered him a polite nod and a smile.
"Why are you here?" His tone was brusque and indicative of his ever-shortening temper. Recent events had weighed on his mind in a way few things ever had.
If the three were displeased, they showed no sign of it.
Good.
"We ran into some trouble on NewArubria" Ben didn't lose his grin, but it was tired, and that alone had Azmuth paying fractionally more attention to him. It seemed to perk the young man up in any case, for he continued with more animation "The Tortugans-
"Arburian Pelarota" Azmuth corrected him on instinct "Tortugas is an unofficial abbreviation"
He received an impatient wave in response "They got attacked by some alien trafficking rings, and they're worried that other survivors scattered in the Milky Way are suffering the same way."
"Unfortunate" Azmuth sympathized, truly. The near extinction of the species was an ugly thing, and he approved of the repopulation attempts. He just didn't have thetimeto aid them at the moment. This latestdebaclehad thrown the planet into turmoil and his attention was divided "Yet you came to me… why?"
"You've got some of the best databases this side of the Andromeda. Rook's already looking there" He held up a data drive "We need to cross reference-
And that was when Azmuth's previously thin patience ran dry.
"You have access to this tower's databases by way of the Omnitrix" He pressed his face into his palm in an uncharacteristic and unbecoming show of frustration. His tone was thick with poorly repressed disapproval "You did not need to travel here."
"That's what I said" Kevin murmured, only for Gwendolyn to shoot him a sharp look. He stepped back half a step and raised his arms in response "Kidding, kidding."
"We thought we should visit. It's kind of been a while. Besides," Ben looked slightly sheepish "I'm still not all that great at using the Omnitrix for more than ass-kicking"
And just when he'd started getting ahold of himself too
"Inthatcase" His glacial tone had Ben's smile dying "You should have had the smallest modicum of sense to transform into one of many beings in the Omnitrix's active list intelligent enough to do so."
Ben tried to interrupt, but he was having none of it
"Failing that, you should have had the foresight to request a meeting" He spat the next words through gritted teeth "Rather than showing up unannounced like a witless child and expecting me to abandon critical tasks to best accommodate you!"
A moment of stunned silence passed
"Well" Gwendoline blinked at him, features shaped into an expression of cautious curiosity "Somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning"
"I can't tell the difference" Kevin shrugged "It's Azmuth. He kinda always tends to be an as-
"Kevin!"
"What? It'strue!"
Azmuth paid the meaningless conversation no attention. He prepared to turn back and allow his unexpected and currently unwanted guests to vacate his facility, but Ben crossed his arms, a look of inexplicable concern pointed his way.
"What's wrong, Azmuth? What happened?"
He debated ignoring him entirely, but frustration had taken its toll and left him feeling viscerally exhausted. He sighed tiredly, once more feeling an insurmountable weight on his shoulders as his form hunched ever so slightly, the action drawing looks of greater concern.
"I was… I acted foolishly"
Ben stared at him, before shooting him a weak smirk "Heh. Wow. Never thought I'd see theday. Can I maybe get that in writing?"
He ignored the poor attempt at humour and wasted no more time after that.. It would not change the truth of the matter, and these three, in particular, would find out eventually,
"Albedo has escaped"
The reactions were immediate. Kevin cursed, Gwendolyn straightened in alarm, and Ben stiffened, tension and thinly veined anger all but wafting off of him in waves.
The effect only grew worse when he waved a hand, the dome behind him revealing the carnage his wayward assistant and once protege had sown in his bid for escape
"For the love of-!" Ben snarled violently, a reaction Kevin mirrors. His unintentional doppelgänger was a seemingly unending conflict, the persistent foe returning time and time, each attempt more terrible than the last
Gwendolyn was no better for all that she kept a better composure "I thought you destroyed his Ultimatrix"
He did not either in the face of the frenzied questioning nor did he bow his head for all that he felt the urge to "I did."
"Then how?!" All three demanded at once
With a heavy heart, he told them.
Their loss of composure was expected, really
…
If Ben had been infuriated earlier, then he was outright apocalyptic now as they traveled through the bustling city. Seeing the damage Albedo had wrought from a closer perspective was extricating
"Azmuth"
The first thinker acknowledged but did not react to the arctic tone
"Kevin is right. You had Albedo under supervision. You had him under constant surveillance"
He had, and that was perhaps the most insulting part of this entire debacle
"So how?… Just, how?-" Ben's voice rose an octave higher "How did he build an entire Omnitrix right under your nose!"
"As I said." Azmuth grunted the words out bitterly "I was foolish"
And he had been. He'd underestimated Albedo time and time again.
Oh, it wasn't as if he was unaware of his practical intelligence, his sheer potential. No, there was a reason he had personally chosen him to be his assistant and his student.
No, he'd underestimated the lengths and methods Albedo would go to to achieve his goal, and others had paid the price for his short-sightedness.
"Do you remember, when you first fought Albedo?" He began slowly, carefully, mind and intellect set to the task of providing a fitting and concise explanation. These three in particular deserved it, after everything. Ben's face scrunched up in confusion even as he began to elaborate "When your battle resulted in an accidental feedback loop forming between your original Omnitrix and his imitation, damaging his human form's cellular structure?"
"Yes" Gwendolyn nodded "You showed up and destroyed his fake"
"I did more than that. I branded him a lesser being"
"What does that have to do with anything?" Ben asked, but a light of realization was starting to dawn on Kevin's expression. As crude as he tended to be, he out of all three of them was the one with the most knowledge of alien species. He'd likely begun to realize where this was going.
"Let me guess" Kevin frowned "That wasn't you just taking a cheap shot at him, was it?"
Azmuth spared a moment to glare at him and convey the stupidity of that question without words "No it was not"
"We Galvan pride ourselves on being higher beings" He explained "Above petty conflicts and certainly above meaningless infighting amongst our social groups"
"So… you never fight?" here Ben looked dubious "Ever?"
"Of course we do, Ben, use your head!" It was a light admonishment "But for justifiable purposes. Self-defense, or the protection of our interests, both within our home world and in the greater universe. Never, however, for meaningless pettiness or self-serving purposes. Galvans are, or should be, above such things"
Observing them, he noted the growing realization he was hoping for. Finally. They did not possess his capacity for processing information but they had to get there eventually.
"Self-serving purposes" Gwendolyn hummed faintly "Like trying and failing to recreate the Omnitrix because he didn't trust your judgment in leaving it with Ben. Because he felt he was worthier to wield it instead.
He nodded "Just so. By his actions, Albedo proved that he was entitled and arrogant, dismissive and cruel to those he considered beneath him, and ultimately incapable of rising above his base desires. He committed crimes in his desperate attempt to recreate my greatest invention, and rather than attempt to redeem himself upon failing and trapping himself in a biological prison of his own making, he attempted to attack and steal the original Omnitrix to repair himself. When faced with imprisonment, he allied with a tyrant and stole the prototype Ultimatrix and his own faulty counterfeit and used them to sow more chaos in the cosmos. Time and time again he proved himself unfit; an unworthy member of the Galvan people."
"Loving the history lesson, really I am, but-
He cut him off "After his last attempt, I used these actions as justification to imprison him on Galvan Prime, rather than an off-world facility or even null void. It was perhaps the cruelest punishment I could have inflicted upon him. Trapped as he was in human flesh, he would remain an outsider in his own home. I'd hoped that this would be what he finally needed to learn, to finally redeem himself."
He closed his eyes even as he kept up his pace, ever aware of the destruction and debris they traveled across.
"I was wrong"
"Azmuth" Ben had finally lost his patience "What happened?"
"I focused my efforts on Albedo, but I miscalculated." He admitted "I did not realize, or perhaps I simply dismissed the thought that Albedo's views, while not prevalent, were not uncommon. There exist political factions within the upper echelons of Galvanic society that share his views on the superiority of our race. A minority, to be sure, but they hold significant strength nonetheless. My ascension to the rank of the first thinker on my own merits did much to curtail them, and my invention of the Omnitrix, the greatest creation any Galvan had ever produced solidified my standing in their view despite my sympathetic views on alien species. But then I decided to entrust you with the Omnitrix. A member of, what is to them, an inherently lesser species.
"That must have pissed them off something fierce" Kevin remarked
"Indeed. Albedo's fall from grace only made matters worse, as he was on track to succeed me as the first thinker, an event that would have put one of their own in the most sought position on the planet, so to speak. But when I imprisoned him here, they saw an opportunity. An opportunity to choose a leader who could better provide them with their goals. A more militant Galvan. An empire of our own making, giving us greater galactic reach, more resources, and anything else they may wish."
"They broke him out?" Ben looked horrified, and justifiably so
"They provided him with the tools he needed and acted as proxy's for his plans. What you have to understand is that Albedo is perhaps the most intelligent Galvan following myself, and one day, perhaps even more so. I'd expected an obvious attempt to escape, to steal weapons or devices he could use, and he allowed me to believe I held the advantage. A foolish mistake."
Albedo's intelligence had never been in question. It was only his scorn and impatience for anyone he considered beneath him or any who disagreed with his greater goals that limited him.
His first attempt to create an Omnitrix had failed for those very same reasons. He'd created a functioning duplicate in terms of hardware but failed miserably in replicating the software that managed and connected Azmuth's original prototype to Primus, and by extension, the Codon Stream. Rather than connecting to the source, his counterfeit connected to the prototype and locked him in the human form he so deeply despised.
Then the ambitiousfoolstole the Ultimatrix core and butchered it, combing the remains of his earlier failure with an inherently unstable prototype in a hideous amalgamation that was just barely functional, to the point where it had been an honest miracle that it didn't implode from sheer instability.
Azmuth would not deny experiencing a wonderful sense of satisfaction when he'd finally shredded that disgusting mockery of his work down to its last atom.
He felt nothing if it's sort now
"The Omnitrix maintains an open connection to this tower, one that I use to receive constant status updates and profile checks on Ben's usage of it. Albedo created a virus that exploited this connection and hacked the Omnitrix"
Ben gave a startled exclamation that he ignored for the sake of moving this conversation along
"With the combined efforts of the best technology his backers could provide him with and months of planning, he hacked it. The Omnitrix has adaptive, constantly evolving defenses, but he was able to gain sufficient access long enough to obtain the schematics he would need to replicate it and a considerable portion of the bio database it contained. The data for Higher-level beings such as the Celestial Sapiens and those of their like have entirely individual encryptions and codes protecting them as a failsafe, but everything not specifically defended as such was within his reach, and he exploited the opportunity to its fullest."
Albedo's plan had been near perfect, and he, the first thinker, the smartest being in five galaxies, had never seen it coming. He hadn't believed Albedo capable of trusting or relying on anyone other than himself, and that foolish, obtuse belief had cost him dearly.
He didn't even have to trouble himself with the threat of exposure. All he had to do was to program the virus and have his supporters deploy it individually. The building of the Omnitrix would have been far easier than hacking it considering the ease in which he could access the anppropriate automation tools.
"He went as far as to introduce an adaptive virus that blocked communication arriving from the Omnitrix to prevent my interference. The moment I discovered it it was already too late. He'd already built and programmed the device. The best I could do was repurpose his trick. Introduce my own virus into his duplicate to shut down its higher functions and effectively cripple it, leaving him with only a minor list of active transformations and a time limit between each to boot. Nothing he could not overcome on his own, but now whilst he was defending himself from an assault."
They stopped then, coming across a building that stood differently from the rest. A titanic dome, locked and sealed to prevent entry to all but Azmuth himself
"Guess you didn't shut it down fast enough" Kevin murmured grimly as he turned and beheld the destruction that carved through the city
"No" Ben's voice was stony with anger, the sheer scale of the tragedy enraging him further "That's what he did after Azmuth locked it down, didn't he?"
He did not respond, and that was in turn an answer of its own. It did not surprise him that Ben had deduced the truth. As a weilder of the Omnitrix himself, he knew better than anyone the kind of carnage it could bring to bear even while limited to a fraction of its potential
"He'll pay for this" Ben promised, grimness and conviction dripping from every word "Well find him and he'll face justice for-
"No. He will not."
The words died in Ben's throat, and his eyes widened "How can you-?!"
"He will not, because he did not simply build anOmnitrix. Perhaps he truly wanted to escape. Perhaps he wanted to hide somewhere none could hope to find him, in preparation for his return. Whatever the case, while his backers and supporters have been captured and will pay dearly for their crimes, Albedo himself is beyond our reach."
The door that blocked their passage melted into silver liquid and descended smoothly, granting them access. The moment they stepped within, Gwendolyn gasped in horror and all but collapsed to her knees. She would have, too, had both her male companions not rushed to support her.
Ahead, there was… it almost indescribable, truly. A tear, a rip, both failed to capture it. No, it was a crack, a breakin the very fabric ofreality. Reflective, light bouncing off its jagged edges and being absorbed into the black hole at its center.
"M-Mana" Gwendolyne gasped, slowly and desperately getting ahold of herself "It's taking it"
"Not accurate" Azmuth responded quietly as their confusion and concern grew quickly.
"Is it draining you?" Kevin tried to lift her, but she pushed him back "Gwen, you have to get away from it!"
"It's not draining me. I'd feel it building up mana if it were" She stared at it in a sick sort of fascination. Azmuth had done the same when he first laid eyes on it, and even now he could not avoid it, avoid staring at the sheer wrongness of it "Mana is ineverything. It's life, Kevin. That thing has no mana. It's killing it. It feels like death."
"Mana is an inherent, vital component within our multiverse" Azmuth explains, and three pairs of eyes lock on him with reverent intensity "Our reality, all reality's that this multiverse encompasses possess mana, it flows and circles within its ever-growing, infinite confines, seeping and permeating all its layers. That, Gwendolyn Tennyson, is not part of our multiverse. That is atearin the very fundamental fabric of our plane of existence, and as attuned to it as you are, you feel the flow of mana sinking into it and disappearing, forever lost."
She stared at him, lost and terrified beyond all belief, incapable or perhapsunwillingto understand the implications too on. He could not find it in himself to blame her
"Albedo proved hisbrillianceand hisinsanityone final time. I do not know what manner of the device he created, for it is lost to us, but this is the result of it. Through means I dare not attempt to replicate, he has torn through the barrier that encompasses every facet of our multiverse and disappeared into the greater Omniverse. "
"How do we fix it?" Ben demanded, form stiff with anger "Better yet,how do we find him?!"
"We will repair it as best we can, but as for finding Albedo?" he shook his head gravely "Wecan't"
"Paradox-"
"Can not help us here. He has traveled into its domain and spent untold epochs searching it, and even he willnevermap it or navigate with precision, save perhaps to return to our branch of it."
He met his eyes
"Ben, the Omniverse is aninfinite, never-ending well of possibility. Layers of reality foreign to our own, entire multiverses with differing, hostile physical laws, all impossible to navigate. Not even a Celestial Sapiencan perceive it in itsinfinity. To even attempt to travel it invites disaster."
He closed his eyes in contemplation
"Albedo is very likely deador stranded in a reality from which he can never hope to return. Or worse."
Opening his eyes, he turned from their horrified forms and beheld the portal one last time
"His fate is beyond prediction.Anything is possible now"
…
Across Infinity
Earth Bet
Canadian Boreal Forest
Night had fallen hours ago, shrouding flat wild planes in darkness. A cold chill carried across, rustling tree leaves and carrying the scent of wilderness.
Small animals and critters that thrived in the dark meandered at peace, whilst the greater predators hunted farther ahead.
In this savage, natural domain, all was quiet.
Then,
Reality shuddered and shattered. Hundreds of square meters of land wereincineratedas a wave of energy exploded forth, carrying with it an object that had shot through the tear in reality moments before it snapped shut and left no sign of its passing but for the destruction, it had wrought.
The object, a symmetrical oval structure crashed, carving through soil and stone like a hot knife through butter before coming to a stop moments later.
A moment of silence passed, before the pod seemed to unravel, like layers of fruit being peeled back. A figure, dressed in a form-fitting black body suit emerged from within, collapsing into the ground and dry heaving violently.
Scrabbling up to his feet, he stared in unrestrained horror at his surroundings, before turning his gaze to himself. To the foreign, unfamiliar, wrong body that he now occupied. Then he froze, as he beheld the device bonded to his wrist.
"What?" He whispered, red eyes wide and voice rife with fear and confusion "What-?"
Panic andhysteriaconsumed him as he fell to his knees andhowled
"Where the hell am I?!"
All the while, the watch on his wrist glowed. It pulsed, once, twice,t hree times before shifting and stilling, changed.
And then,
The Dial Glowed Green, And The Worlds Would Never Be The Same