In a scrapyard near the forest, a creature with a sleek black body and a single glowing green eye at the center of its head charged itself with old car batteries. Two long antennae extended from its head, twitching as it absorbed the energy. Its tail, tipped with round plugs, flicked behind it, while its four-fingered hands gripped the batteries tightly. With feet ending in two front toes, it stood firmly before hurling the drained batteries into the air, blasting them apart with a crackling electric beam.
"Up and away!" Feedback shouted triumphantly as the battery exploded.
In a flash of green light, Feedback transformed back into an 11-year-old boy with emerald eyes and messy brown hair. This was Benjamin Kirby Tennyson, our hero.
"Man..." Ben sighed as he walked toward his grandfather's motorhome, the "Rust Bucket." Inside, he found his grandfather, Maxwell Tennyson, his cousin, Gwendolyn, and an unexpected guest—Azmuth, the creator of the Omnitrix.
Ben's surprise was evident. "Azmuth? What are you doing here?"
Max's voice was filled with concern as he spoke. "Ben, we need to talk to you about Feedback. It's not healthy to grow too dependent on any one alien form."
Azmuth, with a stern expression, nodded in agreement. "If you continue overusing the Conductoid DNA, it will weaken your ability to control other forms," he warned, his tone sharp and authoritative.
Ben's fists clenched in frustration. "What? so don't use Feedback anymore?! Forget that!" He stormed out of the RV.
Gwen dashed after him, her breath coming in quick bursts. "Ben, wait!"
He halted, turning to face her. "You had them say that, didn't you, Gwen? Jealous because you can't turn into aliens like me?"
Gwen's eyes flashed with anger. "You think Azmuth would listen to me? You did this to yourself, Ben."
Ben held up his left wrist, the Omnitrix gleaming defiantly. "I'm the one wearing the Omnitrix. I can turn into whatever alien I want. No one can stop me!"
Their argument was abruptly cut short as Malware emerged from the shadows. The Galvanic Mechamorph was a nightmarish sight, with its pitch-black body streaked with red lines and a single, menacing eye glowing ominously.
Malware's voice was a harsh rasp. "I beg to differ," he snarled, launching an attack on the motorhome. "I'm here for Azmuth."
Ben's eyes narrowed in determination. "You picked the wrong hero to mess with!" he shouted, readying his watch.
"so you pick the right hero, Ben! Remember, the only time you ever beat him was with Diamondhead!" she said as she struggled with flipping the motorhome back up with her magic.
Ben however decided to transform into Feedback, "Yeah!" he flexed.
Gwen's frustration was evident. "This is no time to make a point!"
Malware's assault continued, but Feedback absorbed the energy with his tentacle-plugged ears and tail. "Relax, Gwen. What comes around goes around!" he said, showing off the energy in his palm.
Suddenly, Malware grabbed Feedback's arms with ease. "Excellent suggestion," he taunted, forcing Feedback to fire the energy at the RV, disrupting Gwen's efforts.
Gwen panting "C'mon, Ben! Turn into Diamondhead!" yelling out to him "Quick! Before Malware-"
"Destroys the Omnitrix!" he said grabbing Feedback's lower torso with easy while his other hand's fingers were on the hourglass symbol on his victim's chest. His fingers started to try and rip the Omnitrix out of the boy's chest which was seemingly destroying the alien form with red lines spreading from said symbol, and with loud noises and red light coming from the watch he ripped Ben straight out of his form.
"My, my. Isn't this a surprising turn of events!" with one hand he threw the boy away and the other holding the form, "If I am not mistaken, this seems to be your favorite alien, Ben Tennyson. Correct?" tauning the shocked Ben who was on the ground.
"Not anymore." destroying the Alien by disintegrating it into dust as slow as possible in-front of the boy
Ben gasping in utter shock yelled out "No!" as he watched his favorite alien form being destroyed, completely helpless to stop the mutant.
Malware focus return to the boy he discarded earlier "Though I'm here for Azmuth, I wish to destroy him with his most precious creation. The Omnitrix. Now."
Ben frantically twisted the handle of the watch to open the core's interface, with tear dripping "You want it so bad? Here!" with a battle cry he rushed in to punch the mutant with the exposed Omnitrix.
Malware reeled back "Uuuugh... Aah! Yes, Yes!" yelling out as Omnitrix and the boy's left hand penetrated his surface "The power of the Omnitrix flows through me. It is me!"
Suddenly, his red twisted line pattern turned green and his form become more and more unstable, shifting, expanding and shrinking compulsively "No! It's overloading me! Stop!" despite Malware's protests Ben did not cease his assault.
Grandpa Max ran out of the RV holding Azmuth after hearing all the noise outside, "Ben! Don't" he yelled out when he saw what his grandson was doing.
Ben then let out a battle cry thrusting his hand deeper into Malware until the entirety of the Omnitrix was inside him, causing the spectating Azmuth to gape his mouth at the events unfolding in-front of him, and suddenly the shifting and screaming Malware collapsed completely, seemingly getting completely sucked into the Omnitrix which caused Ben to get knocked out from the blowback of this entire conflict. "Ben!" "Ben..." said both his cousin and grandpa rushing to the side of unconscious boy whose hand seems... different.
The next few weeks went by in a blur. Ben had only vague memories of being shuttled back and forth to the Plumber hospital complex for treatments. 'God... did my arm blow up?' he wondered then, being unable to even move his neck to check.
Azmuth had been working nonstop on the Omnitrix, the device on Ben's wrist flickering with energy each time the genius Galvan made a change. But each time that happened, Ben felt a sharp pain in his left hand, the scars flashing red in response. Though his vision was often blurred, he could make out that his hand had taken on a pitch-black hue, a far cry from its original form.
Those days felt surreal, as if he wasn't fully in control of his own body. Even sleep offered no escape; the line between waking and sleeping had blurred into one exhausting continuum. Whether his eyes were open or closed, the events of that day played on a loop in his mind—like a broken cassette tape, always cutting off and starting again at the same moments: Malware killing Feedback, being ripped from his alien form, passing out after his desperate attack on the mutant.
In what felt like his first moment of true consciousness in years, Ben gasped for air, waking in a cold sweat. His nightmares had been relentless, and now he found himself in his room, as if all of this had just been a bad dream. But the heavy weight of reality settled in as he glanced down at his left arm. What he saw crushed any fleeting hope he'd had.
It was a complete eye-sore, his hand has now taken the texture and pallet of his attacker, entirely black with raging red lines going through it, up to the wrist where his bulky Omnitrix was supposed to rest, he saw a sleeker smart watch design, completely green with the usual hour glass design in the center.
An all familiar voice boomed in the silent room, illuminating the interface of the new watch "Rise and shine, Brat!"
Ben completely shocked by hearing his voice again "Malware..." barely awake to mutter anything else.
"Who else would it be Tennyson, did you miss me?" mocking the boy.
"Didn't I kill you..." Ben unable to believe what he's hearing.
Malware's voice snickered through the watch "Oh, quite the opposite! You only brought me closer to my goal with that pathetic retaliation of yours."
Refusing to believe whatever the galavanic mechamorph's spouting "I will defeat you again, Malware. You just got lucky that day, I promise you." he spat back.
"How courageous, there won't be a next time for you I fear," Malware continued his verbal assault.
Ben tried to argue back "You-"
But a sudden flash of white light in the corner of his room caught his attention. He turned quickly, his heart pounding, and saw Azmuth standing on his desk.
"I see you're awake, Ben," Azmuth said, his voice steady and unyielding.
Ben tensed, the shock of the moment still fresh. "Azmuth... what are you doing here?"
Azmuth's gaze softened slightly, though his tone remained matter-of-fact. "I've been monitoring your condition closely, waiting for the moment you'd regain consciousness. The Omnitrix alerted me the instant you woke up." He didn't pause before continuing, "You've already encountered your new 'roommate.' So, how are you finding the new watch?"
Ben's confusion deepened. "Roommate? More like a prison guard. When will you get this thing off me?"
Malware's voice cut through the air, dripping with disdain. "Who are you calling a thing, brat? And I'm the one trapped here."
Azmuth's gaze remained fixed on Ben. "Not anytime soon. Stabilizing your condition after the Omnitrix update was difficult enough, especially after Malware merged with you thoroughly. Separating you two now would be dangerous."
Malware unable to contain his hatred for his creator "Of course you won't! by the time I'm done with the boy you'll be next, Azmuth."
"Let us silence this nuisance first, I'd rather have a calm conversation." Azmuth's unbothered voice made it hard to determine if he was serious or not.
Ben's anxious voice was apparent in his reply "How? are you going to disable the Omnitrix?"
Azmuth wanting to help the boy "That is wont be necessary. Now, according to the prototype's logs, you've had access to master control before"
This made Ben recall his encounter against both Vilgax and the mutated Kevin Levin in the Null Void "Yeah, what about it?" he replied in confusion.
"Do you remember using the mode to transform without touching the watch? The Omnitrix for you is like an organ rather than a gadget, so try sending a mental command to shut the AI up, that's what Malware is using to talk."
Ben closed his eyes attempting to visualize commanding the Omnitrix to silence Malware, who was not so please with that "You think you can silence me?! I will always be here, Ben Tennyson! The moment you slip up again will be your-" with that, the constant taunts came to end.
Azmuth's tone changed into a more serious one "Now you've got the hang of it, let's get back to our main subject."
Ben gulped, knowing whats coming after his big mess up.
"You know Ben, you've been doing an awful lot of winning ever since you took possession of my invention." said Azmuth, to Ben's surprise no hostility what so ever.
"So? what are you getting at?" Ben said, still waiting for his scolding.
"So, you don't learn..." continued Azmuth "You don't change and you don't improve when you always win, Ben Tennyson."
Ben finally turned his head to look at Azmuth, his face a mixture of shame and confusion. "Losing Feedback... it wasn't just hard. It felt like I lost a part of myself," he admitted, his voice barely above a whisper.
Azmuth stepped closer, his tone softening but remaining firm. "Losing this transformation you call Feedback was a hard blow, wasn't it?"
Ben nodded, still staring at the bed sheets. "Yeah... and it wasn't just him. I feel like I lost more than that—like I lost a part of myself..." looking at his black and red hand "It's not something I'll ever forget."
Azmuth paused, letting Ben's words settle before he spoke again. "You could let that loss define you," he said, beginning to walk toward the door. "Or you can learn from it."
Stopping in the doorway, Azmuth turned back to Ben, his eyes sharp with purpose. "You were chosen to wield my greatest invention for a reason, Ben Tennyson. Don't forget that."
Ben looked up at Azmuth, his eyes reflecting a mix of doubt and a faint spark of hope. Azmuth saw the change in Ben's expression and nodded before leaving, confident that his words had reached the boy.
With those final words, Azmuth teleported away, leaving Ben alone, the weight of his message lingering in the air.
The silence that followed was heavy, almost tangible, but Ben simply stared at his assimilated hand, his expression unreadable. He sat there, absorbing the quiet, letting it seep in as the reality of his situation settled over him. Whether he liked it or not, he will live on, moving forward without looking back.