Master Control
Chapter 37
Izuku believed himself to have a good life. After helping to save an entire universe, he had a huge boost to his confidence. Not just from that, but to meet the previous wielder of the omnitrix, the creator, and several others who approved of him having it when he thought they might take it back? It was comforting.
The omnitrix was no longer in his possession by necessity, but by choice.
On top of having the most powerful device filled with millions of super powered aliens, he had a full life back home. His family was well cared for, friends given strength to pursue their dreams, and not to brag but he felt pretty intelligent if he was given school assignments meant for third years.
He had a lot of good in his life, so why can't he sleep?
Sitting up from the pullout couch, Izuku pushed the blankets off himself. Wearing the simple black t shirt with All Might pajama pants, he stretched as he gazed out the living room window.
The American suburban neighborhood was similar to his own country, but was foreign enough to feel like a new world. Well, technically he was in a different world. One apparently hundreds of years behind his own.
Knowing he wasn't getting any more sleep, Izuku decided he would take a short run in the brisk night air.
*Yawn* Ben stretched as he made his way through the living room, his mind barely registering how the couch was back to normal. Following the enticing aroma of breakfast, he was greeted by his mother.
"I made a big meal today." She informed her son as she brought a large portion of french toast to the table. "Your father and I won't be home for the weekend, so you can have plenty of leftovers."
"Thanks Mom." He grabbed his plate, already dishing up whatever he thought he could eat before he had to get to school.
"You might want to go wake up your friend. I bet he'd enjoy this a lot more freshly made instead of microwaved."
"Right." Ben nodded, remembering their guest. When he proposed the idea to his parents about having Izuku temporarily stay with them, they were a little hesitant, unsure of their ability to be good hosts to a foreign guest from another world. When he mentioned how Izuku held the omnitrix now, they almost seemed ecstatic that their son didn't need to put his life at risk anymore. Even if they didn't like the idea of sending teenagers out to battle the monsters, they were happy it wasn't their teenager.
As Ben went to check in the living room, he saw how everything was put away. The couch was back to normal, the blankets folded up, it was almost as if he was never here. "Hey Mom?"
"Yes Ben?"
"Where's Izuku?"
"I thought he went up to hang out with you last night?"
That was odd, it's not like there was anywhere for Izuku to go to. Feeling alert over the possibilities on what might have happened, he was the first to notice the backdoor open up. Izuku, wearing jogging attire coming in before letting a brief flash of light overtake his clothes. Wearing some jeans and a black shirt with green trims along the sleeves, Izuku decided to not wear the same thing as Ben did, at least while he was here.
Without impending doom, Ben's mother greeted him warmly. "Good morning! Did you have a good run?"
"Yeah." Izuku answered, his hunger spiking as soon as the air hit his nostrils. "Wow, that smells good."
"Thank you!" Scooping a larger portion of eggs onto a plate, the woman gladly placed it in front of their guest. "Here, a little more protein for your workout."
"Thanks. May I wash my hands really fast?"
Smiling over his polite nature, she made sure to pour a tall glass of orange juice for him. "You don't have to ask dear. Here we're a little more relaxed. Anything you need you just help yourself."
"Thank you."
"You're welcome."
Ben sat down next to him, running over a large portion of maple syrup over his french toast before adding a thick layer of powdered sugar, coating it in whipped cream, and one strawberry for health's sake. Before he took a bite, he glanced over to see Izuku was spreading peanut butter over his own serving with plenty of berries along the edge.
But Izuku, he seemed horrified at Ben's plate.
"You ok man?" He asked the boy, who just focused on his own plate.
"Sorry, it's just, I think I would throw up if I tried to eat all that sugar."
"Haha!" Ben's mother laughed, finally someone pointing out Ben's diet.
"What's wrong with it?" Ben, without flinching, took a large bite out of his food. "I feel fine."
"Wait till you hit your twenties." His mother informed. "It'll catch up with you. You must live a very healthy lifestyle Izuku."
"Well." Izuku began to remember his best friend. "About when I was ten years old, I made a friend who was training to be a hero. He convinced me to start working out with him, and we looked up all sorts of diets to help. Plus, in Japan we don't have as much sugar in our meals, or snacks. The most I have is a soda a week."
"Seriously?!" Ben was appalled by the lack of flavor in Izuku's life. "I guess I never had to work out, because running around and fighting aliens was how I stayed fit. Does changing your diet really help that much?"
"I mean." Izuku began to think about it. "While you should balance the types of calories you intake, if you are burning enough and get the basic nutrients I guess it would be ok for the most part."
"Now that you're not fighting aliens." The woman began to pack away some of the extras. "You can focus more on school, speaking of which the bus should be here any minute."
Ben began to shove the rest of his food in his mouth, not needing an omnitrix to have a super appetite as he packed it all down. "Thanks Mom! See you later Izuku!"
He rushed out the door, leaving Izuku to pace himself as he ate a bite sized piece.
"What about you?" Looking over Izuku, the boy pulled out his smartphone to look over his list.
"I'm meeting up with Max Tennyson for a training mission with the other plumber's helpers." Though that wasn't for another two hours, giving Izuku more time to explore Bellwood. Still, he was decently excited. He was about to be trained by an official member of an intergalactic peacekeeping organization, one that allowed the wearer of the omnitrix to use to device as he saw fit. As long as it wasn't anything major.
Literally, he's been given legal authority to use the omnitrix here to help. Just had to not do anything crazy.
Wow, that would be nice back home.
"Well, good luck learning to fight aliens!"
Ben couldn't really find it in himself to pay attention. Not that he ever really did, but classes seemed to just be duller. It's been a while since he faced any alien threats, or fought some random guy trying to be a super villain.
His muscles had been tingling, the urge to use them growing more intense everyday. He couldn't even sit still as he kept trying to give himself some stimulation. His hand kept going over to his wrist, muscle memory whenever he was about to push himself always going for the omnitrix.
But it wasn't there anymore, there was someone else who could use it, and in so many ways he didn't even realize. He was a little worried though, Izuku didn't seem much like someone who could handle himself in a fight. Soon though, he would leave with the omnitrix, and Ben would be just…Ben.
He would be holding back Kevin and Gwen, not really able to contribute much other than the skills that would be overwhelmed by just about anything they faced on a regular basis. What was he supposed to be now, the guy in the chair?
"Pst, Ben." Julie whispered over to him, getting his mind on something good in his life. That was one thing that was going well now, he could see her more often. "Are you doing ok?"
He wasn't any trouble, he didn't have any big responsibilities anymore, everything was just simple now.
"It's manageable." Ben finally answered, flinching as he saw the teacher's eyes on him.
Well, maybe he should talk with his grandpa later about this, see what his options were now.
"Let's go! Round Seven!" Manny jumped out from his cover of a fallen tree in the dense forest, holding four pistols that he shot a barrage of lasers.
*BWOOSH*
"W-woah!" He was instantly enveloped in a wavy green field of energy, the force pulling him into the air immediately. Seeing that he was being pulled towards a cage, he tensed his body to break free of the hold. "Grrr, come on!"
*CLANG*
The barred door shut, declaring his defeat.
"Aw man." Manny folded his arms as he sat on the ground. "This one is so unfair."
"Sorry." Someone spoke from beyond his cheap prison. It was a taller being with hairless mint green skin and two large tentacles coming down from his head, and one from his lower back. He was holding up his four long fingers, focused as he stepped around the cage with his ankles bent the other way towards the three claw-like toes, two forward one back.
Wearing a tight black sleeveless jumpsuit with hints of green and white with the omnitrix dial on his chest, he narrowed his three emerald eyes as he turned his attention to elsewhere. "I just always wanted to try telekinesis, and Uxorites have a ton of control over-"
*FWOOOSH*
Alan soared from above in his pyronite form, spraying fire around Izuku's form in an attempt to overheat him.
With a surprising amount of agility, Izuku jumped higher into the trees before latching onto Alan with his mental grasp before he could get away, shoving him in the dirt to quench his flames.
"Ouch." The boy muttered under the Earth.
"You good Alan?" Manny asked from his cage.
"Yeah, just, give me a minute." But he didn't have a minute as Izuku opened the cage with his powers and placed Alan inside, more gently this time.
*WACK*
"Gah!" Izuku flung back from the attack, never having seen it coming. But now that he was on high alert, he managed to stop several quills in the air before they could reach him. Pierce ascended from above, extending the quills along his arm and rushing Izuku.
Jumping to the side, Izuku avoided close range long enough to avoid his strikes. Yet he was more concerned with the speedster. Levitating himself, he shot up into the air just before Helen could get in another attack.
There were more sharp projectiles sent his way, Izuku collecting enough of them to feel comfortable enough with his next plan. With a have of his hand, Pierce was sent to crash into a tree, the pricks along his back sticking him to the trunk. It got the reaction he wanted, a rush of wind rustling the distant trees as Helen was coming back to help her friend.
Using the quills he collected, Izuku swept in front of Pierce with a massive wave of the teen's own attacks, nicking Helen enough to cause her to trip. Try as she might to get back on her feet, the single moment was enough for Izuku to capture her and Pierce, gently maneuvering them to be placed alongside their teammates.
"Man." The spiky teen sighed as he leaned back against the bars. "This one is way too overpowered."
"That's what I was saying!" Manny yelled out as Izuku floated down towards them.
"I swear I set it to randomize." Izuku opened the gate by hand, letting them out.
"Random my butt!" Manny wasn't buying it. "If they're so random, then how come with no battle experience you keep beating us?"
Helen quickly came to Izuku's defense. "Maybe if you stopped rushing him we could work as a team and stand a chance."
"She's right." Alan returning to his more human self affirmed her reasoning. "It's hard for me to take a stealth approach, but you just keep yelling our positions!"
"I let him get close enough." Manny tried to defend himself.
"How about we talk with Max Tennyson." Peirce recommended. "We're supposed to report to him about how things went anyways."
"How about a race?" Alan offered before reigniting himself and blasting off into the sky.
"Really?" Helen just chuckled before becoming a blur through the woods.
"Cheaters!" Manny tried to catch up on foot, lagging behind severely.
With only Izuku and Peirce behind, the quilled teen looked towards the taller alien. "What about you? You going to turn into something that could teleport?"
"I could, or I could just use the teleportation function the omnitrix has."
"It can really do that?"
"Yeah." Izuku began to float up in the air. "But this alien could have a ton of uses. I think I should get some more practice with it. I could give you a lift?"
Holding up his hand to turn down the offer, Pierce began doing his own stretches. "No thanks, while the training was fun the matches never lasted long. I could use the exercise."
"Alright then, see you soon!" Izuku launched himself into the sky to try and catch up. He could see Alan up ahead, trying to fly without a chunk of rock under himself to stabilize his flight. At this rate, he might be able to catch up but Alan was a living rocket and got a pretty good headstart.
It was almost crazy, actually it was straight up ridiculous. Here he was, turning into all sorts of aliens to learn how to fight. No license, no one to monitor them, no legal repercussions, was fighting always this simple for them? Just show up and go at it?
Seeing the old RV below, some pieces floating around with Cooper in deep concentration and Max working a grill. Helen was already there, sitting at a picnic table and sipping from a bottle.
Alan crashed nearby, Cooper nearly dropping his hold over parts of the vehicle as he glanced over in annoyance.
"Ha!" The flaming teen put himself out as he approached the table. "I managed to get second!"
"Are you all taking a break?" Max Tennyson asked as he stirred an unidentifiable substance in a pan.
"We came to talk about our progress with you." Helen answered as Izuku descended from above. "Or more specifically the lack of."
"Is Izuku having some trouble?" Max spared a glance, double taking at Izuku's choice of species.
"Is something wrong?" Izuku asked as he looked over his current self. "I can change back."
"No no, you just reminded me of an old friend is all." Wrapping up his cooking, Max began serving up several plates. "Now, who's hungry? It's been a while since I've made this, but since the Null Void is handled, the invasion is put to an end, and we have a special guest I figure it would be worth the hassle."
As Manny and Peirce just managed to arrive, recoiling from the smell and starting to back away.
Yet Max caught sight of them. "Looks like everyone's here! Come grab a seat and fill yourselves up! You too Cooper."
As the experienced man placed the servings along the table, Izuku was hit by the odor. While he saw everyone else hesitate to dig in, he was pulled towards the meal. Yes, by his own human standards seeing bits and pieces still move around was disturbing. Yet he could hardly hold himself back once he took that first bite.
As the other teenagers watched in horror as Izuku was plowing through his meal, Max was delighted to see someone else enjoy his cooking. "I'm starting to wonder if the omnitrix got its DNA sample from Xylene."
"Whose that?" Pierce asked, finding a way to excuse himself from eating right away.
"Just an old friend of mine from when I was a full time Plumber." The man sat down, looking around and seeing the various young Plumbers to be. He was starting to question coming out of retirement, seeing how he had been getting busier and busier and there was a whole generation here on Earth needing proper training. Speaking of which.
"So, how has the training been coming along? Is Izuku doing alright?"
"He's been doing more than alright." Helen happily answered. "Izuku seems like he already knows what he's doing."
"Yeah right." Manny sighed as he unclipped his weapons from himself. "Each one of his transformations is way too strong!"
Swallowing the last bite of his meal, Izuku tried his best to answer. "Well, the omnitrix does generate a prime healthy version of each of the samples."
"See!" Manny pointed at the offending source of his bruises. "How exactly are we supposed to beat that?!"
"You're going to come across tons of strong opponents." Max began to explain to the four armed boy. "While Ben did have some athletic talent, enhanced by the strength he was given by the omnitrix, I thought Izuku had no combat training."
"Not myself." Izuku turned back to human. "But I have a lot of friends in the hero course, and since I end up joining them during their training classes to help them out I have some insights."
"Ah, you're a visual learner." Max rethought about some of the methods he could use. "But still, it's impressive what you can do already given how you've never thrown a hit."
Not actually at someone, but he couldn't count the times he would throw imaginary punches pretending to be All Might. Well, he did have some fights when his necrofriggian form took over, or an elbow at Shinso's face. But he couldn't really count those as conscious full on fights could he?
Needing a new change of topic to avoid eating, Pierce looked over to Cooper. "How's progress on the rust bucket coming?"
"It's coming along well enough. Most of the parts are pretty old but I can compensate with the variety of tech it has."
"I could help." Izuku offered.
"That's alright." Max turned down the boy's assistance. "Cooper has experience working on her before, and I'd like to be a part of each process after neglecting the old girl for so long. But speaking of which, we could take her for a short spin to drop you off to meet with the others. Sound good?"
"Yeah." Alan tried to suppress a gag. "It would be nice to have some time to digest this."
"Is that possible?" Helen stirred the mush on her plate, recoiling at the site of something squirming out of her plate.
"Seriously?!" Ben set down his smoothie. "You have thousands of heroes?!"
After a day full of school, clubs, rebuilding a wrecked car, the group of friends met up somewhere they seemed to spend way too much time. Mr. Smoothie. With the trio of Ben, Kevin, and Gwen joined their frequent tag along Julie. Lastly, the one who had joined them lately in all their activities, Izuku.
"Given how many of the people there have 'quirks'." Gwen began to add on. "It's pretty much like a superpowered police force, right Izuku?"
"There's certainly a lot." Izuku mentally went over the small army he had memorized. "But they do have costumes, agencies, super moves with their own names, part of being a successful hero is marketing your image."
"So they're basically super celebrities." Kevin summarized, not too fond of the idea. "What about Plumbers? Is there anything like that around?"
"Not that I've come across." Izuku thought back on what little he learned about alien government. "All I can think of are galactic enforcers, which are pretty much cops for worlds that are apart of the Galactic Federation."
"Wait." Ben spared a glance towards Gwen. "Galactic Enforcers, like Ultimos or Tini?"
"They did seem to be more like interstellar superheroes instead of anything like Plumbers." The redhead mentioned.
"I don't think they're like that." Izuku tried to reason. "From what I was told they're more like armored officers."
"Well have you met one?" Kevin asked, Izuku shaking his head as he couldn't say yes. "Then I rest my case."
"Maybe that's a recurring theme in his universe?" Julie proposed. "Where everything is all super heroes and villains, including the aliens."
"That would be so cool!" Ben got excited over the idea. "How often do you get to do team ups with some of your heroes?"
"Well." Izuku scratched the back of his head. "Since I was a kid, I've been trying to keep the omnitrix secret so I didn't ever really face anything dangerous much. But whenever I have, it was usually short or adults that did find out would handle the aftermath."
"So no hero time?"
"Seriously?" Kevin seemed to be annoyed by that fact. "You have the most powerful weapon in the universe and you aren't kicking butt with it?"
"He probably doesn't need to." Gwen argued on Izuku's behalf. "If there are that many heroes, he wouldn't have to go after everything that came up."
"What about when aliens show up?" Ben asked. "Do the heroes also take care of that?"
Izuku took a short sip of his protein berry workout before answering. "The only heroes that I know know, are the ones I've told."
"And how many is that?" Kevin rose a brow, Izuku slouching in his seat further.
"Technically one, with a Detective, my family, and some of my friends aware of aliens." Izuku dwelt on the subject further, realizing that when it came to aliens he was pretty much the only source of knowledge to handle them. Between his translator and technology, neither Eraserhead or Naomasa were equipped to deal with them. "But without Earth being a recognized civilized planet in the Galactic Federation, there aren't any officers to cover the sector. It's just me really, and luckily the only aliens I encountered just needed a way off Earth."
Yet there was still that planet killer out there, and if they were willing to kill so many over a rumor….He wasn't sure if this was a fight he could win.
It wasn't hard to miss the haunted look that came over Izuku.
"So it's just you?" Julie softly asked, Izuku just nodding in response.
"I know some of my friends are willing to help, but I dragged them into this. I can't have them solving problems I'm responsible to take care of."
Kevin got up, dumping the rest of his drink in the trash. "Then why don't we show you how we handle aliens that don't belong."
"What are you saying?" Ben asked as everyone started following Kevin to his fixed up ride.
"I'm saying I found something." Kevin held up his plumber's badge as he opened his driver door. "Come on, let's show the kid how we do things."
Crammed in the backseat behind Kevin, Izuku watched them drive through the wide city towards their destination. Something about a big snake and some experimental tech going missing around a shipping depot. Checking the omnitrix, Izuku did a basic alien scan and-wow that was a lot. This planet was filled with alien life, and even right in front of him?
"Hey Kevin?" He called out to the driver.
"Yeah?"
"I did a scan around the city for alien life, but I noticed you popped up carrying some Osmosian traits?"
"Part Osmosian, that's how I absorb stuff. You thought I had a quirk?"
"Not exactly, but I didn't know Osmosians could absorb matter like you do."
Enjoying some of the attention, Kevin absorbed part of the metal on his dashboard to show off his green metal arm. "Yeah, it's a neat trick I learned. While most Osmosians just absorb energy, they can even learn to absorb the powers of other species, but I learned how to do it with just about anything I can get a hold of."
"Wow, that's impressive. I thought I also read that Osmosians need to be cautious of how much they absorb or else their mental state is impacted. Do you have a naturally high tolerance?"
Ben chuckled to himself, sitting in the back middle seat next to Izuku. "When we were kids, Kevin absorbed some of the omnitrix and became a-"
"Hey!" Kevin yelled back towards Ben. "Drop it."
"So Izuku." Gwen turned around from her spot in shotgun. "You mentioned how you only learned to transform recently, so how have you been using the omnitrix?"
Holding up the device, Izuku scrolled past basic features he discovered. "While I can use it in place of my phone, I also have an interstellar map inside, long range teleporter, defense blasts, and also an internal storage function with a duplicate of the planets of each of the species. I can go inside, keep whatever I need in it, and don't need to eat or sleep there."
To demonstrate, Izuku pulled out one of his notebooks before opening it to go over even more things. "Beyond cataloging information for each of the species within, it can render clothing or equipment for the species to compensate for the conditions set to the user's homeworld."
"Like Goop's antigravity projector." Ben added, Izuku nodding along before resuming his list.
"I've used it to generate my own space suit, and basically switch to whatever outfit I want or need."
"Wait." Julie interrupted. "You mean you have a copy of all the malls, so you can just pick whatever clothes inside and wear them?"
"Yep."
The girls glanced to one another, realizing the potential behind it. "Talk about a dream shopping trip." Julie muttered.
"What about action figures?" Ben immediately probed. "Can you bring those out?"
"Can you bring others in?" Gwen followed right after.
"Yes actually, I've taken people inside before." Izuku recalled the many times he would wander through places with Eri inside. "But I usually like to buy my figures to support the heroes."
"What about cars?" Kevin asked. "Or tech from other worlds."
"I haven't tried anything like that, but once I stored a dumpyard inside and placed it somewhere else."
"It can really do all of that?" Ben began to think about how little he really knew of the omnitrix. If he knew how to scan for aliens, use the maps, or half the things Izuku mentioned it would have saved so much time. He knows he did good, but did he use it the best?
"Yeah." Izuku flipped over to other functions. "But, probably the best things I've done with it are to help my friends."
"If you're not fighting with it." Kevin said as he turned the corner. "Then how far can you help?"
"The first time I ever used the omnitrix, I healed someone of cancer. He's my best friend now."
Not fully believing the boy, Keving just gave him a look in the rearview mirror. "Cancer? Really?"
"Hold on." Gwen began to think about it. "Ben has used the omnitrix to cure DNAliens, so maybe it can work on cancer?"
"I'm not sure if it's all kinds." Izuku answered honestly. "But it determines quirks are genetic damage, and since his cancer came from his quirk factor I was able to heal it. Even others who wanted their powers changed, I can splice people with samples from the omnitrix to give them new powers. Half of the time, it was to give them regenerative properties to heal their injuries."
"Sort of like what I did with Reiny?" Ben asked for confirmation.
"Yeah, but more directly altering their DNA."
"That's, pretty ridiculous." Gwen began to think over it. "To think that Azmuth put so many features in the omntirix, even though it's still technically a prototype."
"And now we're going to show him how he can really use that watch." Kevin came to a stop, everyone stepping out to find themselves in the midst of various shipping containers. "This is the place, you detecting anything close by kid?"
Ignoring the fact that Izuku was pretty much the same age as them, he quickly opened up the omnitrix to detect life around the place. "There's definitely something non human here."
"Are you sure it's not Ship?" Julie opened up her bag, showing off her galvanic mechamorph pet. As much as Izuku would love to learn more about how Ship was technically not a mechamorph child, there were more important things at hand.
"Yeah." Izuku showed them the holographic map. "It's showing it's over there."
Pointing to where he detected it, Kevin and Gwen started making their way over. Izuku began to follow with Ben, but when Julie started coming along Ben stopped her.
"Maybe you should stay here where it's safe."
"Why? You're going."
"Yeah, but even without the watch I can give pointers to Izuku and help in my own ways. I have a lot of experience."
"And I have Ship." Julie pulled Ship out, placing him on the ground to jump around her in excitement. "If anyone's in the most danger here, it's you."
As Ben watched Julie go off, he lingered by the car. That was right, Julie had a suped up space ship, Gwen had mana, Kevin could absorb stuff, and Izuku had access to over a million alien powers.
In comparison, what did he have to offer?
"Ha!" Kevin covered in stone lunged towards the massive green cobra like creature, with arms along its side with snake mouths instead of hands.
It whipped its tail around, smacking Kevin away until he crashed into a large metal door, crumbling under Kevin's weight.
"Ra!" Gwen manifested a large whip, coiling around the human sized snake. Their foe spat a massive amount of venom towards gwen, who had to prioritize making a shield around herself in order to keep herself safe. In the brief absence of focus on capturing their opponent, he was able to break himself free and snake towards them.
Off to the side, Izuku waited for the go ahead to jump in with Ben and Julie….for twenty minutes.
"Do these fights normally take this long?" Izuku asked Ben, who also seemed impatient.
"No, by this point I would have gone Humungousaur or Cannonbolt and finished this."
Flicking over to Ben's last playlist, Izuku looked over to see what options he would have had at the time. "Really? He may have tough skin but he doesn't look immune to venom."
"Oh, yeah." Ben realized the fault, but quickly corrected himself. "Still, this guy wouldn't have gotten the chance to get in a hit before I took him out."
"So your strategy is to hit hard and fast before the enemy can recover?"
"Yes!" Ben jumped on the answer. "You just have to get in there and feel it out, then it becomes obvious on how to beat guys like, um, hey what was your name?"
The alien paused his combat after throwing Kevin back at Gwen, addressing the ones standing by. "I am Ssserpent, the snake that walks like a man!"
"Don't look away ugly!" Kevin charged back into the fight, only to get whipped around like before.
"Maybe now would be a good time?!" Gwen threw multiple projectiles at Ssserpent, knocking Kevin free and allowing her to catch him with a platform.
"No way." Kevin got back to his feet, squaring back up against the alien. "We're not about to tap out to the newbie!"
So, they continued to fight, Izuku continuing to stand by and watch. "Are you sure they'll be ok?"
"They'll be fine." Ben assured him. "I've seen them take worse."
"I don't know." Julie disagreed. "They're looking kind of tired."
Reanalyzing the scene, Ben saw that his friends weren't actually gaining much ground in the battle, and their enemy didn't seem the least bit exhausted. He would have jumped in a while ago, but he was enjoying watching Kevin being thrown around and refuse help.
"Alright." He caved in, looking over to Izuku whose hand was fidgeting over the omnitrix. "Ok Izuku, have at it."
"Really?" Izuku glanced over towards the fight. "Alright, yeah, I can do this. How can I help?"
"Just pick an alien, go in, and take out the bad guy."
"...Is that it?"
"That's all that goes through my mind."
"Um." Julie began to take back her words. "Maybe we should wait and see until they really need help."
Unfortunately, Ben was preoccupied with Izuku, who was spouting off tons of questions. "What about coordination with your teammates, or if you prioritize restraint or knocking out, or-"
"Everything will piece itself together." Ben gave Izuku a shove so a chunk of rock didn't crush them. "Now go in there and help them out fast!"
Help them out fast, right, he could do that.
As his feet moved themselves towards the conflict, his heart racing with newfound adrenaline, Izuku dialed up one of the quickest aliens he could think of that could avoid any hits and dish some out. "Right, here we go!"
He leapt towards Ssserpent, getting the intimidating villain's attention while slamming down the dial. By the time his feet touched the ground, the battle was over.
"What are you doing?!" Kevin yelled out as he ran over to the very human Izuku.
"Change already!" Gwen created a shield around Izuku, who nearly got his head bitten off.
"I-it's not working!" Izuku panicked, suddenly unable to access the functions of the omnitrix. He fiddled with the dial, pressed every button, but all his commands were ignored as the omnitrix kept flashing a blue light.
"Don't hesitate!" Ben called out from the sidelines. "Just turn into something!"
"Pick Humungousaur!" Gwen yelled out as Ssserpent beat against the shield towards his prey.
"Swampfire!" Kevin countered, grabbing a large chunk of the ground and throwing it at the alien.
"Cannonbolt!" Ben argued, running into the scene himself.
"Humungousaur!" Gwen pushed her cousin back with a whip, looking away just in time to get swatted back by Ssserpent.
"Swampfire!" Kevin jumped on their enemy's back, getting in two hits before he was grabbed and thrown off.
"Cannonbolt!" Ben dodged as Kevin crashed into his car.
Without protection, without help, without any power, Izuku did his best to regain access to the device that had kept him safe for so long. The idea of no longer having it, to be without the safety features stored within that kept him alive and saved his friends, the fear really sank in as Izuku continued to mess with the watch.
A hissing came from above, Izuku glancing up and seeing Ssserpent stand over him to cover Izuku in his shadow.
"You'll make a fine sssssnack."
"Izuku!" Julie yelled out in fear as she grabbed Ship from near her legs.
*beep beep beepbeepbeep* The omnitrix began to blip rapidly, until its form began to shift in a bright glow.
The base of the watch changed, growing larger towards his elbow as green pipes began to wrap itself around the underside and towards the dial. The main housing became black, with trims of the emerald steel just beside the edges and around the new buttons. Two silver piston like mechanisms emerged on the sides closest to his elbow, a small screen emerging to the left of the dial. Finally, the ring around the hourglass symbol held four glowing green vents at the corners, the dial glowing brightly as Izuku could feel the input of the omnitrix's functions resume in his mind.
Ssserpant threw his snake-like hands towards Izuku, the boy holding his arms up in defense on instinct.
The image of someone who would protect, who defends, and took any hit to help others came to his mind.
*BWOOSH*
The fangs of Ssserpent's mouths hit their target, recoiling after trying to bite into the diamond hard substance.
Two hands of shimmering diamonds grabbed them, Ssserpent facing the new figure that stood tall against him.
"Oh yeah!" Ben yelled out seeing the familiar face. "Diamondhead!"
"That wasn't very nice of you." Diamondhead spoke, his outfit consisting of a black sleeveless shirt and white pants tucked into matching boots. Without fearing of being hurt, or having fangs sink venom into him, Izuku pulled Ssserpent towards himself and gave a nasty headbutt which made an audible crack.
The alien recoiled, backing away as he rubbed the impact area. Izuku though, didn't dare give him any room to breathe. Throwing out to quick swings against Ssserpent's face, he finished with an All Might inspired smash dead center between the eyes.
As he fell onto his back, Izuku rose his hand to summon crystals from below the fallen enemy to entrap him in a near impenetrable prison, only leaving the face exposed.
"Finally!" Kevin stormed up to Izuku. "What took you so long Ben?!"
"Um, Kevin?" Ben got his attention, Kevin remembering that Ben wasn't the one who transformed anymore.
"Sorry." Izuku, still in his alien form pointed towards the dial on his chest. "The omnitrix did something unexpected, and it temporarily locked me out of its functions."
"Wait a second." Gwen came up next. "Ben had a similar issue when he put the omnitrix back on after a while. Did it change the way it looks?"
Turning back into a human, Izuku held forward the new design. Not so much looking like a watch and almost like a small forearm guard. Now that he had a moment to look over it, Izuku could recall how there was another previous design in the omnitrix for the earlier version.
"Omnitrix, when was the last version installed?"
"Omnitrix installed version 3.0 approximately thirty seconds ago."
"Woah." Ben arrived with Julie, eyeing the new version. "It kind of reminds me of my future self's version, only it's smaller and with a few extra things on it."
"So what's new about it?" Julie asked, Izuku scrolling through the new layout. It was definitely new, but didn't change drastically to where he struggled to find anything. One thing though that he quickly discovered, was something he would have sold half of his hero merchandise for.
"It has a manual." Izuku shared, wanting to look over all the new things but there was something more important at the moment. "But, what do we do with the guys you beat? Do we let the plumbers know about it or local law enforcement?"
They all stared at the smashed face of Ssserpent, who showed no signs of waking up soon.
"Why did you cover him up so much?" Kevin was the first to ask, Izuku thinking maybe he did something wrong.
"Well, since snakes can squeeze through a lot of stuff I figured I should make sure there was no real way he could get out."
"Huh, good point."
Gwen came over, giving a short pat on Izuku's shoulder. "Still, you pulled through and took him out. Good job."
"Seriously!" Ben came forward, patting Izuku's back even harder. "You did awesome! Things rarely work out how you originally plan, but you handled it almost the same as how I would have! Minus calling out your transformation name of course."
"Yeah." Kevin agreed with less enthusiasm, giving a firm squeeze on Izuku's shoulder. "You handled it just like Ben would have, even getting my ride trashed again in the process!"
"It's not his fault!" Julie quickly defended Izuku. "You were getting tossed around this whole time! You're lucky you only landed on your car once!"
"Hey." Izuku interrupted before the arguing could go any further. "You know, I can fix that up really fast."
"Oh really?" Kevin rolled his eyes towards the boy. "And what do you plan on using, Upgrade?"
"I'm, not that confident using the repair aspect of that one." He admitted, Izuku recalling how making permanent repairs as that alien required more precision. "But, there is one alien I can think of that can restore your car to how it was an hour ago."
Hearing that there was an alien that could fix his car after every battle, Kevin was very open minded to the idea. "Go on."
Quickly locating the alien, Izuku immediately noticed instead of a hologram being projected from the omnitrix, it had the three dimensional image within the hourglass symbol, as if the alien was resting just behind the faceplate. Pushing it down, Izuku's frame was instantly changed to become larger, harder, and full of several components to resembled a sturdy metal humanoid clock.
"Woah." Julie took in Izuku's brass frame, a winding key atop his bulky head. "What's this one do?"
In a noticeable German accent, Izuku glanced down towards his friends. "Chronosapien's aren't the best for any physical work, but their ability to manipulate time easily makes up for it."
"Time powers?" Gwen thought about all the potential uses. "That would be really handy, but how far does it go?"
"I'm not exactly sure." Izuku walked over towards the car. "But, I have a little sister who can rewind or accelerate anything she touches, so it's very likely I can do the same."
He rotated his head back towards Kevin, his arm just over the crumpled hood. The longer the oldest teen stared, the more he fidgeted in place until he gave in. "Alright fine, but the moment anything looks wrong I'm stopping it."
Now with the go ahead, Izuku sent waves of green energy from his palm as the headkey atop his body rotated. The damage of the car began to reverse, until the vehicle was how it was when it arrived. Pulling away his hand, Izuku saw no more change was being done, giving the team a thumbs up over the successful repair.
"That would have saved me so much time and money, mostly money."
"So." Ben came up, rasping his knuckles along Izuku's torso with a resounding clanging noise. "What are you going to call this one?"
"I'm not really sure, I have the names you gave to a few of your aliens but overall I just call them by their species."
"Oh we have got to fix that!"
One Week Later
Ben was in his room without his jacket, flicking between channels with Izuku sitting in his computer chair going over several functions in the omnitrix. There were certainly plenty of refinements to already existing features, and even some new ones that would make things so much easier.
A sudden light interrupted them, Ben rolling off his bed as Izuku took a ready stance with his hand over the dial.
A fragile looking alien humanoid wearing emerald robes with golden trims appeared, and without any signs of weapons or muscle they quickly assumed what this would be about.
"Pardon the intrusion Ben Tennyson." He held his hand up, then glanced between the two, unsure of which human he was supposed to address. Ben stepped up towards the alien, making him smile once he identified the hero. "I mean no harm. I am Lukic, Senior Ambassador of the Dracosian Empire. I have been granted the great honor of presenting you with this."
A small box coated in lavender cloth manifested into his hands as he held it forward.
"As a small token of gratitude, for your part in saving all life in the universe from extinction at the hands of the Highbreed, my people present you with the Galactic Medal of Honor." His movements were very exaggerated, as if he was presenting on stage for an act. He bowed before Ben, opening the box to reveal the unique medal composed of a silver ring, a golden triangle pointed down, and a purple circle in the center. Overall, Izuku thought it was a very simple design compared to medals he had seen.
As Ben allowed the man to place the medal around his neck, the alien continued to talk with that royal tone. "This is the highest award a non-Dracosian can receive. The people of Dracosia marvel at your power! And offer you our gratitude."
He finished by prostrating himself before them, before disappearing from their sight.
Ben glanced down towards the award, not feeling entirely deserving of it. "I still feel kind of bad about being the one to take credit."
"Azmuth said it would be easier this way." Izuku shrugged, not caring for his involvement being kept secret.
"You want it?" Ben offered the medal to Izuku, who was hesitant in taking it.
"I could just make a scan of it and place a copy in my own room." Izuku accepted it though, falling into the routine as he placed it in the omnitrix's storage space.
"Sure." Ben shrugged. "But I still don't know what to do with my half."
"You could hang onto them until you figure it out." Izuku proposed before sitting back down.
"Nah, I think one trophy per achievement is enough, even if I didn't do much." Ben threw himself back on his bed, going back to looking for something for them to watch to pass the time.
"That's not true!" Izuku refuted quickly. "You realized you could cure the DNAliens, and when you realized the Highbreed had damaged their genetics you were quick to offer a solution!"
"But you actually thought things out." Ben countered lazily. "You gave them a choice, you figured out a way to safely sneak through their homeworld, you never forced peace on anyone but you had them see there was another way. Don't dismiss your own accomplishments."
"Only when you do."
Agreeing to disagree, they fell back into their own distractions. That was until a honk came from outside, Ben glancing out to see Kevin's car just outside. Izuku was already getting back up and giving a short stretch when Ben announced their friends had arrived.
Hopping back into his standard seat, Izuku buckled himself up as Kevin didn't hesitate to start driving before he was finished.
"This is going to be nice." Gwen began their conversation as Kevin focused on the road. "It's not often we get to plan a trip to the beach."
"Yeah." Ben quickly agreed. "Usually we have to deal with some alien threat or something else that shows up out of nowhere."
"Don't jynx it." Kevin warned.
(What about you Izuku?) Julie spoke in clear Japanese towards the boy. (Do you get to go out to the beach often where you're from?)
(Yes actually.) Izuku kept the translator to only translate languages he didn't know. (Eri, my little sister loves everything about the ocean. We go at least once a week at this point, so this feels like another trip there, but without them.)
Now starting to feel homesick, Izuku realized this was the longest he had seen his family. Yes, he had been having a 'break' from school and all the responsibilities, filling his time with studying his new omnitrix and learning how to more effectively use it. Usually that was by fighting some other alien that appeared. There was an awful lot of alien activity around Bellwood.
(You alright?) Gwen, peeking her head back and practicing her own Japanese asked.
"Hey." Ben called out between them. "Not all of us can speak multiple languages."
"Sorry." Izuku switched back to english. "It's just, I kind of miss my family right now. My friends, my Mom, my sisters, and my kids that-"
"WHAT?!"
The tires under Kevin's car squealed as he jerked the wheel, managing to correct himself before they could have crashed. "What did I tell you about shrieking?!"
"Kids?!" Julie shouted as she leaned over Ben. "You have kids?!"
"Plural?!" Gwen added, fully turned around in her seat.
"I thought you were fifteen?!" Ben nearly shrieked, Kevin threatening them once again.
"I am!" Izuku held his hands up in defense. "It's just, when I finally unlocked the transformation feature my necrofriggian form took over when its birthing cycle started!"
"No way." Kevin seemed to light up, laughing over it all. "I thought it was funny when it happened to Ben, but both of you? Haha!"
"You keep track of them?" Gwen leaned further into the conversation.
"A little more than that." Izuku confessed as he did his best to remember that night, which for him was hardly two weeks ago. "But when I realized what had happened, I gave them a choice. They could follow what was natural and go off on their own, or they could stay. I had fifteen kids, and five of them stuck around. I've been doing my best to raise them and use some transformations to make equipment to provide for their needs."
"Awww." The girls cooed over his care for his children, somehow also making Ben and Kevin uncomfortable.
"Do you have any pictures?" Julie asked, Izuku fiddling with his omnitrix. "Unfortunately, since we're trying to keep this as secret as possible, I can't have any digital trace of them."
He then pulled some physical photos out from his watch, handing them over in a sense of pride to the others. Their names were written on the backs, alongside the dates as well.
"They're so cute!" The girls cooed over the their faces, also seeing Izuku's family members he had talked about previously.
"See Ben." Julie showed off one of them, showing Izuku sitting on the couch with all of his children resting on him. "You think you should see about having your kids visit?"
"I don't even know where they are."
"Father of the year award." Kevin joked, making Ben sink a little farther into his seat.
Izuku, felt off about the whole thing. His own father issues aside, he couldn't entirely fault Ben for not being aware of where his kids were. It was natural for necrofriggians, they could go off and grow up on their own. Even he didn't currently know where ten of his own kids were.
"Whose this?" Gwen flipped another photo around, showing off Pony holding Rumi with Enji nibbling on her horn.
Kevin spared a glance, double taking on her features. "Is she even human?"
"It's a mutation quirk." Izuku began to explain, slightly offended over how he questioned that. "She's fully human, and there's nothing wrong with her."
"Oh ho, sorry there cowboy." Kevin began to tease. "Didn't mean to insult your horsie there."
"Kevin cut it out!" Gwen smacked him, hard. "Sorry Izuku, Kevin can be a real jerk sometimes. He likes to tease people over anything."
"I'm starting to see that." Izuku grabbed the photo of Pony, looking it over and staring at it as he was reminded by what he currently didn't have.
"Hey." Julie got his attention. "Are you two, a thing?"
"We're, really good friends." Izuku began to answer, not really sure where the bounds of their friendship with one another started and ended towards something else. "When I was under the influence of the birthing cycle, I thought there could be a chance for something else, but I'm not sure how well my judgment was at the time. But when I came to, she was there, she helped me every step of the way. She's always looking out for me, offering to help over anything, she even helped the first night I had my kids."
"Can we talk about something else now?" Ben asked, receiving a dangerous glare from Julie.
"Izuku's opening his heart to us! Don't dismiss it like it's gossip."
"Sounds like the same thing." Kevin added, actually on Ben's side on a rare occasion.
"Anyways." The half Japanese returned the heartfelt attention towards Izuku. "When Ben was, pregnant, all I was thinking about was how I could help him with this. He was going through something he didn't understand and was new, and I didn't really know anything about aliens and stuff, and it would have been so easy for me to just find Kevin or Gwen right away and have them help."
Placing her own hand on Ben's she gave the boy a short smirk. "I wouldn't have done any less if I didn't feel so strongly about him, and I'm willing to bet that if she did anything like I did, she feels the same."
"So." Gwen addressed Izuku, the boy finally taking his eyes off the photo. "The question is, how do you feel about her?"
"I….haven't really considered that." Caressing the corner of the polaroid in his hand, he knew he felt strongly about her. Was he ready though? Ready to make that next step? Even if she felt the same, would she also be ready and willing? "There's, just a lot of risks that I don't feel like are worth it."
"And if she finds someone else?" Kevin, actually participating in this conversation asked. "Are you just fine with not saying anything to the point where she decides to go with some other guy?"
"Aw." Ben mockingly cooed towards Kevin. "You can be sensitive."
"It's just the art of the deal." Kevin began to explain in his own twisted version. "Sure, you can make your intentions known and lose out on something you really wanted. But you never really feel the loss until it's in someone else's hands and you see everything you might have had with that sleek rechargeable ion packs and-"
"This isn't tech talk." Gwen reminded him. "It's girl talk."
"It works both ways." He argued as he waited for someone to agree. "Sometimes, anyways we're here."
"Finally!" Ben let out a short cheer as they came along the sand. "This has been a really heavy mood, it's time to have some fun!"
*SPLASH*
Emerging from the wave of water was Kevin, coated in heavy lead as he walked back onto the shore. "Beat that one!"
"That's nothing compared to Way Big!" Ben cheered on from the top of the cliff overlooking their spot on the beach. Izuku in his bathing suit was standing near the edge, scrolling through the options.
"We agreed nothing bigger than a car!" Gwen reminded them, laying along the sand with Julie on some towels covered by umbrellas.
"She's right." Izuku flicked between the options. "Besides, the challenge makes it more fun."
"That's one way to look at it." Ben admitted. "So how about a Cannonbolt cannonball?!"
"Tempting." Izuku found his ideal option. "Kevin used weight to his advantage."
"So we need something heavy."
"Yeah, something that can be waaay heavier than its size." Slamming down the dial, Izuku's skin became like rough red stone, his torso expanding as his face widened greatly. Finally, he was left with a body that resembled a walking meteor with a swirling red orb in his stomach.
"Gravattack?" Ben questioned, but immediately understood what Izuku was trying to accomplish. "Oh yeah, that will work."
Coiling his limbs into himself, Izuku hovered just over the edge. "Well, here we go."
Suddenly increasing the force of gravity on himself, Izuku was hurdled towards the water with frightening speed, enough to generate massive heat under him. "Hot hot hothothot!"
*SPLOOSH* The water dipped down into his crash site, before rushing back into itself and exploding upwards.
"Oh no." Kevin began running away from the looming mountain of ocean. "No no NO!"
Gwen lowered her shades, both her and Julie looking on with stunned expressions over the imminent tsunami. When Kevin dived down next to them, Gwen hastily erected a dome around them to shield themselves from the ocean.
By the time it died down, anything that wasn't under cover of Gwen's shield was washed away.
"WOOO YEAH!" Ben hollered from above. "That was epic!"
"BEN!" Gwen angrily yelled from below. "You have to stop encouraging this kind of behavior!"
"What kind of behavior?!"
"YOUR KIND OF BEHAVIOR!"
"Sorry." Izuku emerged from the now calmed waters, still in alien form. "That was actually my idea."
"Oh really?" The redhead put her hands on her hips, glaring up at her cousin. "And what was his idea?"
"...Way Big."
"Coming down!" Ben yelled leaping from atop the cliff to fall into the water below.
With a not as impressive splash, Ben actually got some of them wet as Gwen didn't put up any protection.
"Ah! Ben!" Julie whined, the sudden cold water droplets peppering her skin.
Resurfacing out of the water, Ben spat out a glob of the salty substance and glanced over to his friends. "Sorry!"
"He seems to be having fun." Izuku commented as he jogged up to them through the wet sand, turning back to human.
"That's one way to put it." Gwen crossed her arms. "Just, for once I'd like a normal beach day."
"Technically Ben's one of the normal ones." Julie pointed out.
"Is there anything normal about him?" Kevin finished, snickering over his own joke.
"Normal is relative." A british voice spoke behind them.
As they spun themselves around, they all saw the familiar face of the immortal time walker.
"When you've been to as many places as I have, and been around for longer, the lines of normalcy seem to waver." Professor Paradox droned on as he pulled a small bag from his lab coat. "Gumball anyone?"
"Professor Paradox." Gwen uttered the name as if it was reserved for special occasions.
"Hello young people." He greeted warmly to his gathering crowd of teenagers, before his eyes landed on Izuku. "I assume you have enjoyed your stay here?"
"Yes." The boy answered honestly, taking in a lung full of this world's air. "I feel like I have a lot more freedom here."
"Welcome to America. Ben, I trust you've been a good host?"
"As much as I can." The boy answered as honestly as he could.
Kevin though, wouldn't let him be at peace. "Oh really? And here I thought you were just throwing him at every alien we found."
"Oh like you were any better." Ben retorted. "You kept having him use the omnitrix to help in your garage."
"He offered." The bad boy shrugged with no remorse. "Unlike you."
From around Professor Paradox's shoulder, came out Azmuth. "Maybe I should have had the boy stay with me, instead of letting all of you influence him with your selfish ambitions."
"Wait!" Izuku came out in front of them. "They never forced me to do anything sir! I just wanted to help and I was able to learn a lot on how to more effectively use the omnitrix!"
Shaking his head with a steady sigh, Azmuth gazed back up towards Izuku. "If I hadn't more thoroughly reviewed your use of the omnitrix, I wouldn't have believed that. But since I have, I am inclined to believe you sought to help and improve your ability to wield my omnitrix. Even you performed simple chores with it."
"Azmuth." Ben came up to the two of them. "I can understand why Paradox is here, but what about you?"
"I came to personally see the boy off." Azmuth simply stated. "Alongside a brief discussion over the circumstances regarding there being two universes and one omnitrix."
Izuku held the new version up to himself, his face reflected on the dial. "Sir, I think I have an answer to that."
Remaining silent, Azmuth was intrigued enough by Izuku's announcement to allow him to speak.
"Sir, I think Ben should have the omnitrix."
"What?!" The teen gaped his mouth at Izuku. "Why?!"
"We ended up in eleven different fights while I was here!" Izuku began to answer, holding out the watch. "My universe has thousands of heroes in Japan alone, but yours just has a handful here on Earth and you face way more alien threats in a week than I have my whole life! The omnitrix needs to stay here, with you."
"Well what about you?! You don't have any plumbers to call, and you mentioned some massive world ending threat is hunting down the omnitrix!"
"Exactly! It can never find the omnitrix if there isn't one on my Earth!"
"You figured out way better ways to help people with it!"
"You've been protecting people and fighting off evil since you were ten!"
"Didn't you manage to take out two villains without knowing how to transform?!"
"You take out villains on almost a daily basis!"
"ENOUGH!" Azmuth shouted towards the two. "It astounds me what you two have accomplished despite overlooking critical details!"
"Allow me." Paradox held up his hand towards the easily agitated galvan. "It's true that the two of you have overlooked some aspects of the omnitrix in pursuit of your goals, but you still found ways to do enough good to last a lifetime."
The Professor motioned towards Ben, the first user of the omnitrix. "You have fought head to head with evil to protect the innocent."
Then, he motioned towards Izuku. "And you have found ways to heal others and give them the support to strengthen them to defend themselves. What both of you discovered on your own are equally good, and now that you've had the time to learn from each other on your strengths, both of you are excellent candidates to use the power of the omnitrix."
"Is that why you had Izuku stick around?" Gwen came forward, asking the important questions. "You could have sent him home at anytime, but since he was here Ben and Izuku had time to learn how to use the omnitrix for more."
"Precisely!" Paradox applauded her deduction. "But I wasn't lying about needing to review the new timeline. There are many threats approaching that need Ben to wield great strength, and with his confidence in check he will be more ready for them."
"So I'm going to keep the omnitrix?" Ben asked for clarification, Azmuth shaking his head.
"Izuku Midoriya's universe is in danger, and nothing short of the power of the omnitrix will keep it safe. Even with their world filled with various mutations. Some might be able to level mountains, but your threat can rip apart planets."
"Hold on." Julie, still feeling slightly out of place in all of this interjected. "You're making it sound like they both need the omnitrix."
"It will take time to create the complete omnitrix." Azmuth answered the girl. "But, due to Paradox's insistence I made a temporary solution."
"What is it?" Ben asked, incredibly intrigued by what was being offered.
"For the love of, look at your wrist!" Pointing at the boy's arm, Ben held it up and noticed a new addition.
It was similar to the one he used just before the invasion. A silver ring housing the hourglass, the dial resting on a slightly thicker emerald steel band. It was shaped like a hexagon, with a black rectangle just next to the dial he assumed had some purpose. Finally, right next to the panel he saw a couple of thick glowing wires leading from it to the underside, and back up to connect back into the housing near the dial.
"An omnitrix!" He held it up to examine.
"Not quite." Azmuth corrected. "After managing to retrieve an experimental prototype based on the technology of the omnitrix. The ultimatrix, it just needed a stabilized energy core and some refinement but it is ready for use."
"What's the difference?" Izuku asked, intrigued by the potential features this new device could have.
"It will give Ben an extra edge." Paradox went to the important detail. "At least, just enough so that he won't have to give it up to VIlgax and Hex won't take over the world."
"Vilgax?!" Ben shouted over hearing that name.
"Hex?!" Gwen, more aware of the threat he posed, was alert by his potential plans.
"You'll rise to the occasion." Paradox assured them, before looking over towards Izuku. "Now then, I suppose it's time to return you to your home."
"Yeah." Izuku ran his fingers over the device on his wrist, comforted knowing he'll be able to keep the omnitrix and the abilities stored within.
"Izuku Midoriya." Azmuth called out to him directly, Izuku giving the creator his full attention. "Before you had expressed interest on how the omnitrix could restore entire species, and I have looked through the recordings in the omnitrix to learn why. I'm sorry for your loss."
The boy nodded silently, listening with more reverence over the topic.
"In your update, I have made sure that the energy core in the omnitrix will have sufficient power to complete the operation. It's also part of the reason why I included a manual this time, so even though we are separated by universes you will have all the information you need. Including a more thorough database of all the samples you have."
Bowing deeply towards the man, Izuku expressed his appreciation. "Thank you, so much."
"You still have much work ahead." Azmuth reminded him. "But, as appreciation on seeing you use my omnitrix to help so many in ways that I hoped but didn't expect, I've made sure you are well prepared. I'm sure you already saw the 'quirk' compatible functions?"
"Yes!" Izuku stayed bowed towards the man. "I really appreciate all of your hard work!"
"Come along Izuku." Professor Paradox held his arm out to Ben, who Azmuth jumped off to land on Ben's shoulder. "We better not waste anymore time."
"R-right." He stood straight up, looking over all the friends he made here and what he learned from them. "Thank you so much for having me everyone. I really appreciate you spending time with me, sharing so much, and teaching me!"
"It was our pleasure." Gwen spoke on behalf of the group, coming up to give the boy a quick hug. "Good luck, with everything."
"I'm gonna miss having you around." Kevin came up, fighting back some sniffles. "Without you, I'm never going to manage to keep my car in such good condition all the time."
"Oh get over it." Gwen pushed Kevin away, Julie coming forward to give Izuku a short bow.
(It was nice being able to get back in touch with my heritage.) She spoke in japanese. (Also that world wide shopping trip was awesome, but most of all, you helped Ben. He may still be insensitive sometimes, but he's been trying a lot harder. Thank you.)
(I'm not too sure what I did, but you're welcome.)
"Hey." Ben nudged Julie. "Until I figure out the translator, how about we stick with english."
"For now." Giving her boyfriend a quick kiss on the cheek, Julie gave the two a moment. "Hope we see you again Izuku!"
Waving her off, Izuku looked back towards the person who was so different from him yet shared so much in common with him. "I guess this is goodbye."
"Maybe." Ben gave a confident grin. "But I'm sure something will happen where we need to do a teamup."
"To save the universe?" Izuku matched his expression, holding up his left hand.
"And beyond." Ben grasped it, the two feeling sorry for anything that would make them reunite.
A swirling vortex of space and time opened up behind Izuku, the wind rushing through their hair as the light beckoned the boy towards it.
"Come along Midoriya." Professor Paradox stepped up to it. "Allons Y, as the French say."
Smiling widely, Izuku followed the man towards home, with the future as unknown as ever but brighter than he had ever seen it. But as he started to step inside of it, he couldn't help but look back at all the ones who helped him get where he is now.
With one final wave, he said goodbye to the heroes of this world, so he could be one in his.
Big big chapter, filled with lots of interactions and plenty of slice of life. There was so much I could do, as there are hundreds of thousands of words leading up to Izuku being in Ben's world, but in the end I need to continue the plot I built up in Izuku's world.
The omnitrix and ultimatrix designs are different, but hold similar appearances towards to canon ones. First, Izuku's new omnitrix takes inspiration from the first appearance of Ben 10,000 from the OG series. Ben's ultimatrix is very similar to his canon version, but is smaller and has a hexagon base since Azmuth built it instead of Albedo.
Speaking of watches, there are a couple things we saw for the omnitrix that are canon features.
Randomizer, as seen briefly in Omniverse The Frogs of War Part 1. While in show, it demonstrated random swift switches between aliens I believe this could easily be used to select a random alien and then be stopped.
Second, the omnitrix update as seen in Ben 10 Returns Part 1. The original omnitrix updated its appearance, its interface, and had features that the original never demonstrated before.
Next, talk of Izuku restoring a species. Azmuth stated in Alien Force War of the Worlds Part 1 that the omitrix could bring to life any of the samples inside the omnitrix. In several instances of glitches or breaks, the omnitrix has released its aliens within such as in Vilgax returns Part 1 and The Ultimate Sacrifice. I believe when these events occurred, it ended up accessing this feature in an uncontrolled manner. We also saw in Ben 10 Destroy All Aliens how inside the worlds within, were armies of species it used. This leads me to believe that the omnitrix has the capacity to bring to life mass amounts of a species in their full adult form alongside full cognitive awareness, given its used correctly. Maybe even giving inherent knowledge of their kind to the species, as in Ultimate Sacrifice the Ultimate Humungousaur could recall his own parent trying to eat him, even though he never truly lived outside the ultimatrix.
Someone recently asked why doesn't Izuku just use Alien X to fix Esta's planet? Alright readers, can you take a guess on why I think Izuku successfully using Alien X would be bad for the story? There are plenty of right answers.
Next chapter we will have Izuku adjust back into the swing of things with his new perspective on being the wielder of the omnitrix and what it means to truly use it. How will the others react? What more will Izuku do to prepare for the alien threat? What new features does Izuku have access to?
List of Hybrids (In order of splicing):
Eijiro Kirishima & Petrosapien/Diamondhead
Himiko Midoriya & Lenopan/Sludgepuppy
Kyoka Jiro & Sonorosian/Echo Echo
Reiko Yanagi & Ectonurite/Ghostfreak
Shota Aizawa/Eraserhead & Thep Khufan/Snare-oh
Denki Kaminari & Nosedeenian/Buzzshock
Tensei Ida & Citrakayah/Fasttrack
Any grammar errors please point it out.
Credit for helping me make this story goes to Animeguy1101
Chronosign: I did contemplate Izuku turning into worthless during his training with the plumber's helpers, and immediately pictured a scene of all of them circled around him and kicking his guts in.
MrMateusz: Well, there are some key events in the following season revolving around the omnitrix. One event as example, is when Ben attempts to hack the omnitrix, causing it to break and mutate Kevin. In a later episode, Gwen goes back in time to correct this, but sees how without Kevin's mutation to give him a slight edge in combat they lost and the world was ruled by Hex. That's just one of many moments where we see how some slight changes in canon would spell disaster.
Guest: While Kurogiri is a butler, I don't think I'll use any of those traits as part of the name.
AnimeFan13579: I could only put so much in, but here's a good chunk of how they used their vacation time. Which really was just how Ben Kevin and Gwen spent their free time. They seemed to spend a lot of free time together, and jumped on anything else going on in the area.
Yes, Azmuth invested some time into the passive scans the omnitrix did on quirks and managed to allow the omnitrix to interact with them.
ppsspp: If too many characters get spliced then it's going to be hard for readers to keep track of, even with the list at the end. Stain arc is next on my list.
Blaze1992: Old habits die hard, and for Ben's gang a lot of their problems are from bad guys trying to do bad things and need some smacking around. While they're more open to ideas on how to help people, overall they stick to what they're good at.
SonicMax: That's not remotely what I said.
DarklordofFics: Oh boy, there are way too many reasons why that shouldn't happen. Here's one of them. Story wise, it makes everything else look dull in comparison. If I ever let Izuku use Alien X, then all of his problems will be seen as an easy fix. There's no conflict, no drama, because if he can be a god anytime he wants to change things to how he likes it then there won't be a point to any of it.
Harleking31: I do admit I had a hard time finding another option to end the Highbreed invasion that fit. This story started from the idea that the omnitrix can be used to cure people, and that was literally how they stopped the invasion in canon. The way Izuku thinks, alongside his morals, priorities, and experience, all lead to him wanting to cure rather than fight. The only real difference is Izuku made it consensual instead of forcing it on them.
Mashot Tito: A lot of those are good, I might use something similar to Void Walker or Gate Keeper.
francicogarza: That would be interesting, but yeah we are a little far into the story to where that would be an option.
Whywouldidothat2230: I'm sure Azmuth wonders about that, but he did make the choice not to advertise Izuku's existence to the universe. Now that you mention it, I think I will alter the way his suit looks. Not by much, but putting more emphasis on the humanoid part of the walking furnace.
