"Power without purpose is chaos.
The Omnitrix was never just a weapon.
It was never just a tool.
It's a message.
A prison.
A warning."
— Ben Tennyson, Memory Fragment 11
---
Underground — Location: Galvanic Archive Ruin Zeta-9
Ben stood before a wall of pure light, etched with memory-locked data panels coded in ancient Galvan. Behind him, fragments of a downed archive shimmered with the quiet hum of alien electricity. It wasn't a place the Plumbers knew about. Not even Max.
He hadn't found it by accident.
The coordinates were embedded deep in the Prime Root of the Omnitrix — locked behind a failsafe called Protocol 10-X Prime.
It wasn't just a file.
It was a breadcrumb.
A clue that Azmuth had never intended anyone to find… unless they were dying to know the truth.
Ben stepped forward. A shimmering panel unfolded in front of him like the petal of a metallic flower.
> "Voiceprint authorized," the AI announced.
"Codename: Divergent Bearer. Welcome, Ben Tennyson… again."
> Again.
The word stuck in his mind.
---
The Truth — Hidden Logs
The archive began projecting a holographic sequence. Not video — memory. Direct neural stream. It latched to Ben's mind instantly.
A younger Azmuth stood in the projection, older than when the original Omnitrix was given to Ben… but younger than the current Azmuth.
> "If you're seeing this," Azmuth began, "then you've pushed the Omnitrix beyond its intended limit. You've begun to rewrite it. Perhaps I was wrong to lock these truths away. Perhaps I feared that if anyone ever opened them… they'd become what I once was."
Ben didn't move. His breath slowed as the images flickered faster.
> "The Omnitrix is not merely a tool to access alien DNA. That was only the surface. The true purpose… was always preservation."
Azmuth's image changed. It showed galaxies collapsing. Civilizations consumed by war, extinction, entropy. The footage wasn't metaphor.
It was recorded history. From the future.
From hundreds of possible timelines.
> "I foresaw a thousand ends. Not just for Earth. For the universe. Species capable of rewriting physics. Viruses that turned stars into weapons. Gods in mortal form. Beings that fractured time. Every future ended in annihilation… except one."
Ben watched, jaw tight.
> "In that one… there was a bearer who not only used the Omnitrix… but became one with it."
Ben's heart pounded. He already knew what came next.
> "Not a soldier. Not a hero. A guide.
The Omnitrix was meant to evolve — but only in the hands of someone who understood the cost. Someone with memories beyond this life. Someone… divergent."
The projection dimmed.
And for a moment… the ruins were silent.
---
In the Rustbucket — Same Time
Gwen jolted upright, a surge of static zapping through her laptop. The screen blinked once, twice… then went black. She scrambled to her feet as Max stepped out of the front cabin.
"Something's wrong," she whispered.
Max frowned. "With Ben?"
"No," she said. "With the Omnitrix. Something just… pulsed. Like it sent a signal."
---
Back Underground
Ben staggered backward as the final file opened — one not even Azmuth had created.
It was written in Ben's own neural signature.
> Log Entry: Project Genesis – Sub-Layer Zero
Author: Unknown / Ben Tennyson (Variant Classification: Dead Timeline C–001)
Ben blinked.
He'd left a message for himself.
> "If you found this, it means you've activated the Archive Layer. Good. That means the Watch chose you again. That means… we might still win."
The voice was his.
Older. Scarred. Bitter.
> "You're not crazy. You remember more because you're from me. A splinter. A backup. You died, and now you're reborn — not by accident, but by design. The Omnitrix broke reality to bring you back. Because in all timelines, we're the only one who ever made it far enough to see the real enemy."
Ben's hands clenched. Static danced across the Omnitrix.
> "It's not Vilgax. Not the Highbreed. Not even the Chronos Lords."
> "It's the ones who made us."
> "The ones outside the timeline. Watching. Resetting."
> "The real reason Azmuth built this thing? It wasn't to catalog life. It was to create a counterweight. Something heavy enough to pull fate back when the multiverse started to crumble."
The message cut off — violently. As if ripped from the air.
Ben looked down at the Omnitrix.
And for the first time… it looked back.
---
Later That Night
Ben emerged from the ruins just before dawn. The desert sky burned faint blue. Gwen stood waiting.
"You felt it," he said.
"I did," she answered.
"Then you know it's started."
She didn't ask what it was.
Instead, she looked at the watch, glowing faintly with gold over green.
"Ben… what is that thing turning you into?"
Ben didn't smile this time.
He just looked into the horizon.
"Whatever the universe needs me to be."