The alarm rang at exactly 6:30 in the morning.
Ben Stuart opened his eyes.
For a few seconds, he simply stared at the ceiling.
Then reality came rushing back.
Right.
I'm seventeen.
I'm ridiculously rich.
I have a butler.
I have an Omnitrix.
I have a private dimension with an insane time multiplier.
And today... I have school.
Ben groaned.
"Why did I wish for a normal life?"
From beside the bed came a calm voice.
"Because, Master Ben, you specifically requested that your new life retain a degree of normality."
Ben turned his head.
Alfred stood near the bedroom door, perfectly dressed as always.
Ben narrowed his eyes.
"Do you ever sleep?"
"Of course, Master Ben."
"When?"
"Whenever necessary."
Ben stared at him.
"That's not an answer."
Alfred smiled slightly.
"I believe breakfast is ready."
Ben sighed.
"Fine. Give me five minutes."
"Ten minutes, Master Ben."
"What?"
"Five minutes would be insufficient."
Alfred left the room.
Ben looked at the clock.
6:32.
"...He's probably right."
The New Morning
Ten minutes later, Ben walked downstairs.
The mansion was unusually quiet.
Sunlight entered through the massive windows, illuminating the elegant interior.
Everything still felt strange.
Yesterday, this place had been unfamiliar.
Today, it already felt slightly more like home.
Alfred was waiting near the dining table.
A large breakfast had been prepared.
Ben sat down.
"Alfred."
"Yes, Master Ben?"
"Do I really have to go to school?"
"Technically, no."
Ben's eyes brightened.
"Really?"
"Your educational requirements can be fulfilled through private tutors, online programs, or personal study."
Ben smiled.
"Then I'm staying home."
Alfred continued.
"However, you specifically requested that you experience an ordinary teenage life."
Ben's smile disappeared.
"...I hate when you're reasonable."
"I have been told that is one of my more useful qualities."
Ben started eating.
After a few moments, he looked up.
"What school am I going to?"
Alfred placed a folder on the table.
"Midtown High School."
Ben froze.
"Wait."
He slowly opened the folder.
His eyes widened.
"Midtown?"
"Yes."
"You're telling me I'm going to Midtown High?"
"That is correct."
Ben stared at the papers.
Peter Parker's school.
A strange feeling passed through him.
This was the Marvel Universe.
And he was now living in New York.
He had expected something like this eventually.
But seeing the name written on paper made everything feel much more real.
Ben closed the folder.
"Alfred."
"Yes?"
"Do you know a student named Peter Parker?"
"Yes."
Ben almost choked on his food.
"You do?"
"Peter Benjamin Parker. Seventeen years old. Student at Midtown High School."
Ben stared at him.
"So he's already there?"
"Yes."
Ben leaned back in his chair.
Interesting.
If Peter Parker was already seventeen, then things were much closer to the MCU timeline than he had expected.
But there was one important question.
"Has Spider-Man appeared yet?"
Alfred shook his head.
"No confirmed vigilante operating under that identity has been reported."
Ben smiled.
"Good."
He wasn't going to interfere.
Not yet.
A Simple Rule
Ben finished breakfast and stood up.
Before leaving, he looked at Alfred.
"One rule."
"Master?"
"If something happens that could seriously change my life, tell me."
Alfred nodded.
"Naturally."
"And if superheroes appear?"
"I will inform you."
"Aliens?"
"Immediately."
"World-ending threats?"
"Without hesitation."
"Tony Stark?"
Alfred paused.
"I would imagine that would fall under the category of superheroes."
Ben laughed.
"Fair enough."
He walked toward the entrance.
A black luxury car was waiting outside.
Ben stopped.
"That's my car?"
"Yes."
"What happened to normal?"
Alfred opened the door.
"You are a wealthy teenager attending a private school in New York."
Ben sighed.
"Right."
He entered the car.
As the vehicle drove away from the mansion, Ben looked through the window.
New York.
Cars.
Buildings.
People walking along the sidewalks.
Everything looked familiar.
Yet somehow completely different.
This wasn't the New York he knew from movies.
This was real.
Superheroes would eventually appear.
Aliens would eventually invade.
Gods would eventually walk among humans.
And somewhere in the future, the universe itself would probably become a battlefield.
Ben smiled.
I have time.
And time was something he had more of than anyone else.
Midtown High
The car stopped outside Midtown High School.
Ben stepped out.
Immediately, several students looked in his direction.
He couldn't blame them.
His new appearance wasn't exactly ordinary.
White hair.
Red eyes.
Sharp features.
Tall.
Athletic.
And wearing an expensive but relatively simple school uniform.
Ben adjusted his backpack.
"Great."
He looked around.
Don't attract attention.
That was the plan.
Unfortunately, his appearance had already ruined it.
As he walked through the entrance, he heard whispers.
"Who is that?"
"New student?"
"He's definitely rich."
"Look at his eyes."
Ben ignored them.
He entered the main building.
The halls were crowded.
Students were talking, laughing, arguing, rushing to class.
For the first time since his reincarnation, Ben felt something surprisingly normal.
He smiled.
This is what I wanted.
Not endless training.
Not cosmic powers.
Not becoming some untouchable god.
Just life.
At least for now.
The Genius
Ben entered his classroom.
A teacher stood at the front.
"Everyone, settle down."
The students slowly took their seats.
The teacher looked toward Ben.
"You must be our new student."
Ben nodded.
"Ben Stuart."
"Welcome to Midtown High, Ben."
The teacher pointed toward an empty seat.
"You can sit there."
Ben walked over.
And then he saw him.
Brown hair.
Glasses.
Quiet expression.
A backpack that looked like it had survived several wars.
Peter Parker.
Ben recognized him immediately.
Peter glanced at him.
Their eyes met.
Peter gave a small, polite smile.
Ben returned it.
So that's Peter Parker.
He sat down.
The class began.
For the first few minutes, everything was normal.
Then the teacher wrote a complicated physics problem on the board.
"Who can solve this?"
Silence.
Ben looked at the equation.
He solved it mentally.
Then he noticed someone else had already raised his hand.
Peter.
The teacher nodded.
"Peter?"
Peter explained the solution.
Correctly.
Ben smiled.
Yep.
Definitely Peter Parker.
Testing Himself
The lesson continued.
Ben deliberately kept quiet.
He could have answered every question.
Probably before the teacher finished asking them.
His enhanced intelligence was ridiculous.
He wasn't simply intelligent.
His mind could process information at a speed that felt almost unnatural.
The combined intellectual potential he had wished for meant his brain worked on a completely different level.
But Ben didn't want anyone to notice.
So he made mistakes.
Small ones.
Human ones.
When the teacher asked him a question, Ben intentionally took a few seconds before answering.
"Correct," the teacher said.
Ben nodded.
Peter glanced at him.
Ben noticed.
Peter was observing him.
Interesting.
Peter seemed curious.
Ben wasn't surprised.
Geniuses tended to recognize other geniuses.
Even when they tried to hide it.
Lunch
During lunch, Ben sat alone.
He opened his food.
A few minutes later, someone approached.
"Hey."
Ben looked up.
Peter Parker stood there.
"Can I sit here?"
Ben smiled.
"Sure."
Peter sat down.
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then Peter said,
"So you're new."
"Yeah."
"Where did you move from?"
Ben paused.
"I've lived in New York for most of my life. I just... wasn't here recently."
Peter nodded.
"Family?"
Ben's expression changed slightly.
"My parents died."
Peter immediately looked uncomfortable.
"I'm sorry."
"It's okay."
Peter looked down at his food.
"I know what it's like."
Ben looked at him.
He knew.
Of course he knew.
But he wasn't going to bring it up.
Instead, Ben smiled.
"Thanks."
The conversation became easier after that.
They talked about school.
Science.
Technology.
Movies.
Superheroes.
Peter became noticeably more animated whenever science came up.
Ben enjoyed listening.
Eventually Peter asked,
"So what are you interested in?"
Ben thought about it.
"Science."
Peter smiled.
"What kind?"
"All of it."
Peter laughed.
"That's a lot."
Ben smiled.
"You have no idea."
The Private Dimension
That evening, Ben returned home.
He walked directly to his room.
Alfred wasn't surprised.
"Training, Master Ben?"
"Training."
Ben activated the Omnitrix.
The green symbol glowed.
He touched it.
The world around him disappeared.
A second later, he stood inside his private dimension.
The massive landscape stretched endlessly in every direction.
Mountains.
Forests.
Oceans.
Laboratories.
Training grounds.
Cities built specifically for testing.
And somewhere beyond all of it was the enormous library.
Ben looked at the Omnitrix.
"Time to get serious."
Lyra appeared beside him.
"You're unusually motivated today."
Ben smiled.
"I met Peter Parker."
Lyra's eyes narrowed slightly.
"The future Spider-Man?"
"Probably."
"And?"
"He's smart."
Lyra smiled.
"I assume you're planning something."
"Not exactly."
Ben looked toward the horizon.
"I'm going to train."
"How long?"
Ben looked at the massive clock that controlled the dimension.
"One year."
Lyra raised an eyebrow.
"Outside?"
"About fifty-three minutes."
She stared at him.
Ben grinned.
"That's the advantage of having a ridiculous time multiplier."
The First Year
Ben began with the basics.
Strength.
Speed.
Reflexes.
Endurance.
Combat.
Science.
Engineering.
Programming.
Medicine.
Magic.
Energy manipulation.
Alien biology.
Dimensional theory.
And, most importantly—
The Omnitrix.
He spent months learning every transformation.
Not just using them.
Understanding them.
Learning their biology.
Their strengths.
Their weaknesses.
Their instincts.
Their abilities.
And how each species interacted with different environments.
XLR8 became his primary speed form.
Four Arms became his strength form.
Diamondhead became his defensive form.
Heatblast became his energy manipulation form.
Upgrade became one of his favorite transformations because of its technological abilities.
Grey Matter became invaluable whenever Ben needed to solve extremely complex scientific problems.
And then there were forms he barely understood.
Forms that could potentially change the course of entire battles.
Ben refused to rush.
He studied.
Tested.
Failed.
Improved.
Repeated.
Again.
And again.
And again.
Outside the dimension, only minutes passed.
Inside—
Years.
A Dangerous Discovery
After what felt like an eternity of training, Ben stood inside one of his laboratories.
A holographic model floated in front of him.
It was the Omnitrix.
But the display showed something strange.
Ben frowned.
"This shouldn't be possible."
Lyra appeared beside him.
"What did you discover?"
Ben expanded the hologram.
"Every time I use the Omnitrix, it adapts."
"That's one of its functions."
"No."
Ben shook his head.
"It's adapting to me."
Lyra became serious.
"What do you mean?"
Ben pointed toward the data.
"The Omnitrix isn't simply responding to my biological signals."
He paused.
"It's responding to my potential."
Silence.
Ben stared at the device.
His fourth wish had given him knowledge of omniversal science.
His third had given him infinite evolving potential.
And now the Omnitrix was interacting with that potential.
Ben smiled slowly.
"Interesting."
Lyra looked concerned.
"Is that dangerous?"
Ben looked at the Omnitrix.
"I don't know."
He closed the hologram.
"That's why we're going to find out."
Ben walked toward the training arena.
The Omnitrix began glowing.
He placed his hand over it.
"Let's see how far you can evolve."
The symbol flashed.
And the training arena disappeared beneath a massive wave of energy.
Ben smiled.
For the first time since arriving in this universe—
He felt genuinely excited.
His journey had finally begun.
And somewhere outside his private dimension, the world continued moving toward the future.
A future filled with heroes.
Villains.
Aliens.
Gods.
Wars.
And events that would eventually shake the entire universe.
Ben Stuart had no intention of simply watching them happen.
He would build his own path.
And when the time came—
He would be ready.