"Graaar!"
The creature resembled a muscular alien animal with sharp claws and no visible eyes.
Gwen stared at it.
"Ew. This thing is even uglier than you normally are, Ben," she said while pointing. "Put a flea collar on this mutt! And… wait, no eyes?"
As the alien groaned in annoyance, Gwen waved her hand in front of its face.
"What good is this one? It can't even see!"
Then she looked at the marshmallow stick she was holding and suddenly got an idea.
A mischievous smirk spread across her face as she quietly moved behind the creature while Evan watched with mild amusement.
She spat lightly into her hands, tightened her grip on the stick, and swung it toward the alien's backside.
But just before the stick could connect, the gill-like nostrils on both sides of the creature's neck flared. It sensed the movement behind it instantly and leaped onto the roof of the Rust Bucket.
Gwen stumbled forward and nearly fell.
The creature grinned smugly from above.
Gwen stood up and brushed the dirt off her clothes.
"Okay… maybe it's not completely useless," she muttered while looking up. "If it doesn't have eyes, it must rely on its other senses."
The orange alien flipped down from the vehicle and landed in front of them.
Unfortunately, the moment it opened its mouth, a terrible smell wafted out.
Evan immediately covered his nose and turned away while Gwen waved her hand in front of her face.
"Ew! Two words: breath mints!"
Instead of responding, the alien suddenly turned around and kicked dirt backward with its hind legs, spraying Gwen with dust.
Evan quickly stepped back to avoid getting dirty.
Then the creature bounded away into the forest.
"Ben! Get back here!" Gwen shouted as she ran after him. "Ben! I'm going to tell Grandpa you turned into some weird animal monster and ran off after he told you not to!"
She stopped after a moment and groaned.
"This is a majorly weird day."
Her gaze finally shifted toward Evan, who was still calmly sitting near the campfire, roasting another marshmallow.
"You seem oddly calm about all of this," she said.
"You could say that," Evan replied while biting into the now-blackened marshmallow.
"We can't leave him alone," Gwen said suddenly before grabbing Evan's wrist. "Let's go after him!"
She dragged him into the forest before he could even finish chewing, causing Evan to drop his burnt marshmallow onto the ground.
As the two followed the trail Wildmutt had left behind, they soon noticed something unusual ahead.
A flying robot drone was chasing after the alien, firing red laser beams that blasted through nearby trees.
Wildmutt managed to destroy the drone after a short fight, but the Omnitrix suddenly timed out and he reverted back into Ben.
"Yes!" Ben cheered.
Then he noticed another drone hovering nearby with its cannon pointed directly at him.
"Oh… not good."
Seeing they were still too far away to reach him in time, Evan sighed and activated his Another Omnitrix.
"Wait… is that-?" Gwen began in surprise.
But before she could finish, Evan slammed the dial down.
Golden light burst outward and covered his entire body.
His form shifted, growing slightly taller as blue and black fur covered him. Sharp black tufts framed his face like a mask, and long spikes extended from his elbows and legs.
"Fasttrack!" Evan called out.
In the next instant, he vanished in a blur of speed.
He reappeared beside the drone and dropkicked it before it could fire at Ben. The impact was so strong that both Evan and the robot crashed into a nearby tree.
Ben stared at him in shock.
"Y-you're… Evan?"
His eyes locked onto the golden Omnitrix symbol on Evan's chest.
"I'll explain later," Fasttrack said quickly while standing up. "Let's get back to the Rust Bucket first."
Then he grabbed Ben and Gwen with one arm each and sprinted back toward the campsite at incredible speed.
...
"I was worried you might start getting ideas with that thing on your wrist," Max said, giving his grandson a firm look as he scolded him. "That's exactly why I asked you not to fool around with it until we know what it is."
They were all inside the Rust Bucket again. Evan had taken one of the seats in the back, a pillow resting across his lap while he leaned forward slightly with his elbows on top of it, quietly listening to the conversation.
Max's tone wasn't exactly angry, just serious. After all, he had promised Stay Gold that he would look after the boy during the summer, so ensuring his safety is a must. Still, Evan had used his own watch to help Ben and Gwen earlier, so Max doesn't have any complaints about that part.
Ben, on the other hand, was a different story. And Gwen seemed to be enjoying that fact far more than she probably should.
"Sorry, Grandpa," Ben said quickly. "But at least I figured out how to make this thing work!"
He lifted his wrist proudly while explaining.
"All you gotta do is press this button, and when the ring pops up you twist it until you see the guy you wanna be. Then you slam it down and bam! You turn into one of ten super cool alien dudes!"
Gwen immediately leaned over with a smirk.
"Or you could stay a super cool alien dude," Gwen said sweetly, "instead of turning back into plain old pizza face."
Ben's confident posture instantly collapsed.
"…I kind of haven't figured that part out yet."
Max sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose before speaking again, his tone becoming more thoughtful.
"With devices that powerful clamped onto your wrists," he said slowly, glancing between Ben and Evan, "my guess is we'd better help you learn how to use it properly. And fast."
Ben's mood immediately shot back up. "Alright!"
Then his excitement faded slightly when he noticed that both Max and Gwen were now looking toward Evan.
Evan's watch looked noticeably different from Ben's. While Ben's Omnitrix was bulky and mechanical, the Prototype-Omnitrix, Evan's was slimmer and more compact, the Recalibrated Omnitrix, though it still carried the same distinctive Omnitrix emblem.
Evan remained leaning on the pillow for a moment before speaking casually.
"I found it at my house."
That wasn't exactly a lie. He had technically found it there. It just happened to already be attached to his wrist when he "found" it.
Gwen frowned slightly.
"Then why didn't you say anything earlier when Ben came back with a similar watch?" she asked, clearly suspicious.
Evan shrugged.
"They look different," he said calmly. "So I wasn't sure if they worked the same way."
That explanation wasn't completely convincing, but before Gwen could press further, the Rust Bucket's radio suddenly crackled to life.
A panicked voice burst through the speakers.
"Mayday! Mayday! Somebody help us! We are under attack by some sort of, I know you're not gonna believe me, but robots!"
Ben immediately sat up straighter.
"Hey… that sounds just like those things that attacked me earlier," he said, realization dawning on his face as he looked down at his Omnitrix. "They must be after this watch."
His expression shifted from excitement to worry.
"Those people are in trouble because of me."
Evan and Max both raised their eyebrows slightly at that statement, though neither of them interrupted him.
Ben stood up from his seat. "I think we can help them."
Gwen gave him a completely deadpan look.
"Uh… you?" she said skeptically. "What exactly are you going to do about it, Tennyson?"
Ben didn't answer right away. Instead, he looked down at the Omnitrix on his wrist and smiled.
Max watched the two of them for a moment before his expression slowly turned serious.
"Well," he said as he reached for the steering wheel, "looks like we might have to sleep late tonight."
The Rust Bucket's engine roared back to life as Max stepped on the gas and began driving toward the location mentioned in the radio call.
...
Once they reached the location mentioned on the radio, the Rust Bucket slowed to a stop not too far from the commotion. Parked RVs and cars were scattered around the campground, and panicked campers were already running in different directions.
The group stayed far enough away so that if Ben transformed, it wouldn't be witnessed by everyone nearby.
Ben glanced toward Max, silently asking for permission. Max studied the chaos for a moment before giving a small nod.
Ben grinned. "Yeah."
He raised his wrist and began turning the dial on the Omnitrix. "Eenie, meenie, minie… here goes!"
He slammed the watch down.
A burst of bright green light flared outward, forcing Gwen and Max to shield their eyes for a moment. When the glow faded, Ben was gone, and in his place stood a tall, hulking figure made entirely of green-blue crystal. His body looked like it had been carved from diamond, sharp and solid from head to toe.
A Petrosapien. Later on, Ben would proudly name this form Diamondhead.
Gwen looked him up and down with curiosity. "So… what can this guy do?"
Diamondhead flexed his fingers, crystal joints clicking softly as he clenched and unclenched his fist.
"I don't know yet," he admitted with a confident smirk. "But I bet it's gonna be cool."
Max then turned toward Evan. "Are you going to help?" he asked.
Evan, who had been standing slightly behind them and quietly observing the situation, sighed and lifted his wrist.
The golden watch on his arm, the Another Omnitrix, gleamed faintly in the dim light.
Without much ceremony, he activated it. The dial popped up, and Evan slowly turned it until it landed on the form he wanted. Then he pressed it down.
A golden flash burst outward.
His body stretched and grew taller as the light enveloped him. Muscles formed along his frame while his skin darkened into a mix of black and green. Sharp spikes rose from the back of his head, forming a crest behind his pointed ears. His feet shifted into taloned claws, and his left hand lengthened into a set of sharp, hooked claws.
His right arm changed more dramatically. The forearm twisted and reshaped itself until a red dragon's head formed where his hand had been, its maw opening slightly as embers glowed deep within its throat.
A long, spiked tail extended behind him, and from the left side of his back unfolded a single white feathered wing.
The golden Omnitrix emblem appeared on the left side of his chest.
The light faded.
"Flame Wingman!" He announced as his transformation completed, slowly lifting his gaze toward the others.
Diamondhead immediately walked over to inspect him, clearly impressed.
"Whoa! That's so cool!"
Flame Wingman ignored the praise and shifted his attention toward the real problem.
In the middle of the campground, a massive robot was stomping through rows of parked vehicles, smashing RVs and cars aside while campers scrambled to escape.
"Let's not get sidetracked," Flame Wingman said calmly.
He already knew that this transformation of his didn't belong to the Ben 10 universe. None of the official aliens looked quite like this. Still, there wasn't much he could do about that. His Another Omnitrix simply provided him with a new alien-like form every week, and as long as they vaguely resembled extraterrestrial creatures, the device seemed satisfied.
"Alright," Diamondhead said, already stepping forward. "We'll get Gearhead's attention. You guys get the campers to safety."
Max nodded and gestured for Gwen to follow him.
The two of them ran off to help guide the frightened campers away from the area.
Meanwhile, the giant robot bent down and grabbed one of the park rangers who had been trying to help people escape.
"Leave him alone," Diamondhead called out, stepping forward confidently. "You wanna pick on somebody? Try me."
The robot's glowing red eyes immediately locked onto the Omnitrix symbol on Diamondhead's chest.
It tossed the ranger aside like a rag doll.
Before the man could slam into the ground, Flame Wingman shot forward and caught him midair, landing safely on the ground.
"Run," Flame Wingman told him simply. "We'll handle this."
He had barely finished speaking when a laser beam fired from the robot's arm, blasting Diamondhead backward and sending the crystal alien skidding across the ground.
The ranger didn't hesitate. He nodded quickly and ran.
Flame Wingman leaped high into the air, his single wing spreading as he gained just enough lift to reposition himself. The dragon head on his right arm opened wide, gathering heat inside its jaws before launching a blazing fireball.
The attack struck the robot squarely in the back. The explosion staggered it, forcing the machine to turn around and face its new attacker.
Its glowing eyes locked onto the golden Omnitrix symbol on Flame Wingman's chest.
Recognizing it as another target, the robot immediately fired another laser beam.
Flame Wingman already knew his current form wasn't nearly as durable as Diamondhead's crystal body. Tanking those blasts would be a terrible idea.
So instead, he relied on speed.
Flame Wingman darted across the battlefield, weaving between trees and vehicles while using short bursts of flight to change direction mid-air. The robot's lasers chased him across the campground, blasting craters into the dirt wherever they missed.
At the same time, the dragon maw on his arm continued firing smaller bursts of flame, each explosion slowly pushing the robot backward.
While the machine focused entirely on him, Diamondhead recovered and quickly ran back toward the fight.
"Take cover behind me!" he shouted.
Flame Wingman didn't question it. He landed behind Diamondhead just as his crystal arms reshaped into sharp crystal blades.
The robot fired another massive energy blast. Diamondhead planted his feet firmly into the ground and raised his crystalline arms to block.
The beam slammed into him, but the crystal surface held.
"What comes around… goes around!" Diamondhead declared.
His arms shifted slightly, and the reflective crystal redirected the energy beam straight back at the robot.
The blast struck the machine head-on. A second later, the giant robot exploded.
"Alright!" Max and Gwen cheered from the sidelines.
Max nearly exposed everything in his excitement.
"Way to go, Be- uh… diamond-headed guy! And… uh… one-winged guy!"
Diamondhead, after hearing this. Couldn't help but start celebrating.
"Oh yeah! Who's bad? Yeah!"
Max and Gwen both frantically gestured toward the crowd of shocked campers who were now staring at him. They both facepalmed when Ben completely failed to notice the problem.
Meanwhile, Flame Wingman had already disappeared from sight.