The New User

And Then There Were 10 Again

It was so weird. One minute, it was peaceful. Then, chaos. These... Aliens started to show up, the world seemingly getting replaced with new cities and towns and much more. People were screaming. I was terrified. Our house collapsed and I was met by the gaze of a large, squid-like alien. He was the most menacing, terrorfing man I had ever seen. His eyes started to glow red. I knew I was done for.
That is, until a man made of green crystals shielded the attack. The laser beams from the aliens eyes were reflected right back at him. The crystal man thrusted his hands against the ground. Crystals then protruded from the ground, intersecting against the squid alien, trapping his arms and legs.
The crystal man then glowed green, turning into something different. Almost velociraptor-like, but with blue and black segments and was more human shaped. He grabbed me and ran off. He was so fast. Before I even knew it, I was in some type of shelter. "Are you ok?" The alien man asked. I nodded. "But, my family..." Once I say that, he nods. "I'll get them." Before he ran off, some type of mask flew down his face, like a type of face shield how motorcyclists use.
He ran off back in the direction of my house. More and more people were transported to the shelter. Some I recognized as neighbors, some I've never sae before. None of them were my parents.
The alien ran back to us again. He flashes green once more, but turning into a human. He had brown hair, green eyes, and a white and green jacket. On his wrist was some type of watch, which had the same colors as his jacket.
He walked up to me and put his hands on my shoulders. He didn't look at me. His face looked bleak. Without any words, I knew why. My parents... They were gone. I broke down.
"I'll stop him. For everyone he has killed." The man says to me. He flashed green again, turning into a white and green mechanical-like alien, reminding me of a lava lamp. He flew off. However, that was the last time I saw him.
Someone new showed up about an hour later. He wasn't human, but was clearly peaceful. He were a blue and black jumpsuit with an orange device strapped over his shoulder. He looked somewhat cat-like. He looled sad.  "He's gone..." He told us. The one saved me died. I was speechless. Everyone was.
That was all four months ago. We were all told of what happened. Or, at least what they knew. Somehow, our world merged with another, one where aliens were known to man. They had a hero, Ben Tennyson. Someone who could turn into other aliens through the device on his wrist. He and his friends fought evil from Earth and space.
From there, we all had to readjust to a brand new world. Those who lost their famlies in the attack were brought to an H.Q. by the Plumbers, an intergalactic peacekeeping organization, to live for the time being.
I get out of my room and head to the cafeteria. In it, is a wide array of people who have shared similar fates to my own. Rather they are younger or older than me, we all share something in common. I go to get some food and sit down alone. Despite how many people there are, none of them are around my age. They are either little kids or adults with their own worries.
I eat all my food and just head back to my room and just think. I think about my life before everything happened. And as much as I hate it, I think a lot about the attack. I could never get that tyrant out of my head. I've tried.
I shake my head and leave my room. I've spent way too much time inside here. I head out of the H.Q. and take a walk. The town looks so damaged still. There was a lot that was destroyed. Many houses and workplaces, gone.
After a few minutes, I arrive in my neighborhood. Or, what remains of it. This place still looks untouched from the attack. I get why, but it's just depressing to look at. I keep walking until I get to the remains of my home. I close my eyes, tears starting to form. I collapse down onto my knees.
"Why... Why did this have to happen? I wish I could just go back in time and stop this!" I bang my fist against the ground below me.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you. Trust me, I tried." I hear someone say behind me. I turn around to see a fair skinned man wearing a lab coat with a gold trim. On his hand is some kind of gauntlet, and in his opposite is a cane. He has a pair of goggles around his neck. His hair is black with grey on his sides and his eyes are grey as well.
"Who-" I try to say, before he cuts me off. "Professor Paradox. To put it shortly, I can manipulate time." I feel a jolt in my body. Does that mean, he can change what happened in the past?
"I tried to assist Benjamin Tennyson in defeating Vilgax..." As he says that name, I feel my body get weak. "however, it lead to a worse timeline. One where the entire omniverse gets wiped out of existence."
Upon hearing that, I feel myself lose that jolt, instead filled with more sadness.
Paradox sees this and places his hand on my shoulder. "However, I am trying to stop an upcoming threat, and we need a new wielder of the Omnitrix." That's the name of the device Ben had. It never really stuck in my head, so I just called it the device or the watch.
"I wish you luck in your travels." I tell the man, getting up and preparing to leave. As I turn around, he appears right in front of me. "Remember, I can control time." He says with a smile. I get a little scared. "What do you want with me?" I ask the professor.
"I have tried 71,692 different people to try to use the I'm Omnitrix. They either end up losing in a battle, or use that power for malicious purposes. I will keep trying until we find the right person." Paradox explains to me.
"And why are you telling this to me?" I ask. He smiles once again. Behind him, a blue vortex appears. "Follow me." He walks on ahead, going through. I decide to follow him.
I emerge through seeing something completely new. The sky is green, the buildings are about my height or shorter. All except one. One building is pretty tall.
"Welcome, my boy, to Galvan Prime. This is the orgin planet of the Omnitrix." Paradox says to me. "Woah." Everything here is so fascinating."
"Come now, we don't have much time to waste." I continue to follow Paradox into the large building. Inside, there are so many different kinds of technology and gadgets that it's unreal. Something hovers closer to us. Some type of platform, a small one.
When it finally approaches us, I notice the being on it. It looks frog-like, but humanoid. It has grey skin, with a few dark spots along it's head. It's eyes are bulbous, with rectangular pupils. It also has these protrusions from it's face, looking like a beard. It wears a green and black outfit and silver plating it's neck, wrists, waist, and feet.
"Good evening. This is Azmuth, the creator of the Omnitrix." Paradox informs me. I wave at him, "Nice to meet you." Azmuth nods in response.
I look Paradox. "So, why am I here?" I ask him. He gives me another one of his smiles. "Again, we need a new Omnitrix user. So, I decided you should be next to try being the alien transforming hero."
What? "What?"
"With each reset, I'm getting more and more worried." Azmuth says.
"Fear not, my intellectual friend, we have all the time in the world to test out new users."
I tilt my head in confusion. "But you said earlier we had no time to waste." Paradox laughs. "That's for this timeline. I can reset as many times as need be." He tells me.
"Say, what's your name, kid?" Azmuth asks me. "Uh, Billy. Billy Calton." I reply.
"Well, Billy. You have an important task ahead of you. But you won't be alone." Azmuth tells me.
The platform moves away to a metal orb. Azmuth picks it up and the platform returns to us. He hands the orb to Paradox, who holds it up to me.
The plating on the orb slides down, revealing the white and green device the I haven't seen in four months.
"Go on now. Reach out your hand."
I bring up my left hand to reach out and grab it. Instead of that, it jumps up and latches onto my wrist.
"Congratulations, William, you are the new wielder of the Omnitrix." Paradox says. "In order to transform, tap the face of the Omnitrix, select the desired alien, tap again, and press down the dial." Azmuth instructs me. I nod to him in response.
Another portal opens up. "Come on, dear boy, we must introduce you to your new teammates." Paradox says, with a following motion.
I wave at Azmuth, taking my leave. I go through the portal to be taken to a large room with many people around. They all wear this white and black suit, with red dots dispersed around the chest and shoulders.
"What is this place?" I ask the professor. "This is the main Plumber base in Bellwood, New York." We are in New York? I'm going everywhere today.
A man walks up to us. It's the cat-like man. "Professor Paradox. It is great to see you once more." He says. Paradox shakes his hand. "Come now, no need to be so formal." After he says that, he reaches into his pocket and pulls out a pocket watch. "Dear me, seems I must be going. I have another meet up in a few months and I don't want to me late. Goodbye for now."
A portal opens, Professor Paradox walks through, and the portal closes.
I look back at the man in front of me. "Come with me." He says. I follow him. Man, I've been following lots of people today.
The man takes me to a room. Inside, three people reside. The man on the left has messy black hair and eyes. He wears a black torn up t-shirt over a light and dark grey striped long sleeve, along with a pair of jeans. Around his neck is a lock with the number '11' carved into it. Most notably, he has an 'x' shaped scar on his chin.
The girl in the middle is a redhead with short hair, along with a hairclip. She has green eyes and wears glasses, along with having freckles. She wears a sky blue t-shirt with a darker blue cat logo on the chest. She also wears a plaid blue miniskirt and long white socks.
Finally, the man on the right is the oldest. He has grey hair with white sides and black eyes. He wears a red button up Hawaiian shirt with a floral pattern over a black shirt, along with wearing white pants.
The man I walked in with leans on the wall next to the black haired man. "So, tell us about yourself." The cat-like man says. "Hi. I'm William Calton, but most people just call me Billy. I'm 15 years old, and, yeah. That's really about it." I tell everyone.
"It is a pleasure to meet you. My name is Rook Blanco. I was the partner of Ben." Once he says that, it all kicks in. These four are all going to be related to Ben somehow.
The rest seem a little apprehensive to greet themselves. After a few seconds, the man on the far right greets himself. "I'm Max Tennyson. Grandfather of Ben." He them motions to the girl. It takes her second, but she introduces herself.
"I'm Gwen. Ben's cousin." She says. She looks over to the black haired man, whose leaning on a table. His eyes pierce into me, cold and angry.
"I'm leaving." Says, walking out of the room. Gwen chases after him. "Kevin! Wait!" Max lets out a sigh.
"That was Kevin Levin. He was friends with Ben." Rook says. I look at the two left in the room, then down at my wrist.
"I... I don't know what to do. I don't know why I'm here." I say. "You are here to take Ben's place as the protec- ur... Omnitrix user." Rook replies.
I shake my head. "I keep being told that, but I don't know what that means. I don't know how to properly use this thing. I don't know why I'm the one chosen for this. It... It doesn't belong to me. It should be with him." I tell them.
"You don't need to be Ben in order to be a hero. All you need is to have a sense of right and wrong." Max tells me. "Do you think Ben knew how to use the Omnitrix upon getting it? He burned down a forest when he first transformed. I had to teach him how to properly use many of those aliens, along with guiding him towards the path of a hero. It will take time adjusting to this, but you will be great with it later on. Not today, not tomorrow, but in the future."
I peer back down at the Omnitrix, before my eyes go back to Max. I smile, "Thank you."
Then, an alarm goes off. "Magister Tennyson." Rook says, looking at Max. He nods. We all leave the room and head into a room with a huge monitor. On screen, there is a giant brown and red robot attacking the city. "Seems like Vilgax is going after it again." Max says. "Rook, Billy, you both head out."
"Right." We both say simultaneously. I follow Rook to a truck with a logo of Max and the words "Max' Plumbing." Rook gets in the front seat and I take the passengers side.
We drive off. After a minute I silence, I ask Rook a question. "What was Ben like?" Rook's grip on the wheel tightens, before going back to normal.
"Ben was heroic. He always put himself before others and tried his best in a fight. Everytime we fought against evil, he would put his life on the line. He truly was selfless." Rook responds.
"Wow. He sounds perfect."
"Oh, no. He was far from that. He could be arrogant and sometimes rude. Whenever he wins an important battle, he could get cocky and a bit egotistical. He can be a handful to deal with at times."
I wasn't expecting that. I guess I only heard good things about him. "Despite all that, he is good person who cares about everyone, even if it doesn't seem like it." Rook says.
Rook makes a turn and we see the back of the robot. It looks to be about 30-feet tall.
We both get at the car and get ready to fight. "You have access to most of Ben's aliens, with a few being locked for now. I suggest being Humungousaur." Rook tells me.
"You think I know which one that is?" I tap the face of the watch. When I do, a green hologram appears. It shows the faces of each alien along a scroll wheel. I swipe through many aliens, most I've never seen.
Rook looks over to see each alien. "There!" I stop on the one he points at. I tap the face of the watch and the panel slides back, revealing a button, or what I assume is the dial.
"Ben would usually slam down the dial. Give it a try." Rook encourages me.
I put my right hand up and slam down the dial. Within an instant, my whole body turns into an alien.
"Well, that's not Humungousaur. Although, it will do." Rook says. I look down at my hands. They look like they are made of crystals. This is the once that saved me.
"This alien can manipulate the crystals on his body into many different shapes." Rook informs me.
I nod. "Alright. Lets hope this goes well." We run up to the robot. It picks someone up with its robotic arm.
"Leave him alone!" I yell out. The robot turns around and looks at us. "You want someone to pick with? Try me."
The robot let's go of the man. Rook aims his device at a building. A grappling hook shoots out and pulls him along, catching the man midair.
The robot points it's palm at me, with a laser beam shooting right at me. The beam hits me against my chest, knocking me into a nearby car. It follows up with another blast, causing the car to explode.
That honestly didn't hurt as bad as I expected it to. I guess this guy is pretty durable.
Thinking back to Rook said, I try to shape my crystals. My hand forms into blade. "Cool." I run forward and pierce it's leg. "How do ya like that?"
The robot picks me, restraining my movements. I form the crystals all around my body to turn into spikes, seeming to break parts inside of its hand. No more laser blasts from this hand. Just got the other one.
It drops me on the ground, which I luckily catch myself and land in one of those cool superhero poses.
The robot then swipes at me as I'm not looking, sending me crashing into a building. I get up and form an idea.
"Hey, Rook!" I shout out.
"Yeah?!" He responds.
"Get it's attention, I have an idea!"
I run up the stairs of this building to the fifth floor. I open a window and see Rook using the grappling hook to tie up the robot.
"Alright! Let's do this!"
I jump out of the window and turn my arm into a blade again. I fall down and dig my blade into it's chest all the way down to it's stomach area, before landing down.
It seems to be pretty damaged right down. It lowers it's legs, and then leaps into the air, moving back. It lands about 50-feet from us. It puts it's hand out, charging it's laser.
Rook lands next to me. "I suggest we move." He says to me. I smile. "I got this." I tell him
The laser beam releases from the robot's hand. I put my hands together, forming a shield. The beam hits against my hands, pushing me back a bit. I dig spikes from my feet into the ground.
I lower my wrists a bit and the laser reflects off it, shooting into the ground. I see. I think I have an idea.
"What comes around goes around. Let's see how you like it, techno freak!" I raise my wrists up, reflecting the beam right back at the robot, piercing through its chest and cutting right into it's head, exploding upon impact.
I give out a sigh of relief. Rook places a hand on my shoulder. "Good work, Billy." He tells me. I give him a thumbs up.
When we get back, we tell Max what happened. "Well, that certainly brings me back." He says. I tilt my head, confused. "What do you mean?" I ask him. "Well, you did a lot of the same things Ben did when he fought one of those robots. Although, it was a good idea to attack from above white it was distracted. That was a good job for your first use with the Omnitrix."
I smile in response. Hearing that, it made me feel good inside, something I haven't felt in a while.
After all of that, Rook leads me to hallway with a plethora sets of doors, before stopping at a specific one. "This room will be your living quarters. I am on the room to left if you need me." Rook says, before heading off elsewhere. Next to my door is a pad with a hand shape on it. I place my hand on it and the door opens. I walk through and look around.
It's very basic, only really having the essentials. Hopefully I can go back to my other place to get my belongings.
I plop down on my bed and just think about today. So much has happen, I can't begin to comprehend it.
I raise my arm up, looking at Omnitrix. I'm not Ben. And that's fine. The best thing I can do is live up to his legacy.
I hear a knock on the door, causing me to sit up "Come in." The door slides open and Gwen walks in. "Hey. I hope I'm not bothering you."
"Oh, no. You're fine." I assure her. She puts her hand on her arm. "Um. Sorry for the weird introduction earlier." She says. I shake my head, "It's fine, really." I respond.
"It's just... It's been hard. I never thought I'd lose him." Her eyes start to drift down, silence fillimg the room.
"My parents died in the attack. It's really hard trying to cope with it. It's something you can't really get over, you know? I know how rough it is, trust me." Gwen's body tightens up.
"I know I'm not Ben. I can never be him. And I know I'm some total stranger right now. But if you need to talk, just let me know."
Gwen looks at me and nods, wiping away her tears. She takes her leave.
Both our lives were torn apart. By him. Vilgax. I look back down at my wrist. One day, he will pay. I'll make sure of it.