> "The Omnitrix was never just a weapon.
It's a beacon. A recorder. A witness to the rise and fall of entire civilizations.
And now… it's looking for something."
— Azmuth, Omnitrix Creator Logs
---
Location: High-Altitude Observation Ridge, Colorado Plateau
The night sky above the campsite pulsed with starlight. Ben stood on a rocky outcrop, the Omnitrix humming louder than it ever had before.
He had felt it all day — a tension, like the device was preparing itself for something big.
Now, he understood why.
The faceplate lit up not with transformation options, but a swirling galaxy-map. Blue lights blinked. Orange flared like warning markers. A deep emerald glow highlighted spiraling regions of uncharted systems.
A word echoed in his mind — not spoken aloud, but embedded directly into his thoughts:
> "Initiating Multiversal Scan…"
Ben narrowed his eyes. "For what?"
> "Threat calibration. Mutation anomalies. Uncollected species.
The Omnitrix must grow. The host must be prepared."
---
Gwen and Max Join the Observation
Minutes later, Gwen and Max climbed up to find Ben standing like a sentinel, the Omnitrix projecting a real-time 3D starmap around him — planets, blinking energy signatures, gravitational anomalies, coded alien species.
Gwen gasped. "Is it… scanning everything?"
Ben nodded. "The whole galaxy. Maybe more."
Max's eyes widened. "That function was locked by Azmuth. It wasn't meant to be used until full synchronization. Ben, this is pre-Protocol 10-X tech."
The watch's voice chimed in again.
> "Threat vectors increasing across four major sectors.
DNA corruption detected in 7.3% of archived species.
Recommendation: Initiate field retrieval and cleansing."
Ben translated aloud. "It wants me to fix broken species. Stop threats before they evolve."
Gwen frowned. "Is that even possible?"
Max grimly added, "That kind of responsibility is what broke other wielders."
Ben turned to them both, the weight settling on his shoulders.
"I'm not other wielders."
---
Omnitrix Interface – Navigational Learning Mode
Back inside the Omnitrix's interface, Ben was pulled into an astral command room — a place he hadn't accessed before. It was circular, star-lined, and ancient. Alien glyphs from a hundred races pulsed across the walls.
> "Scanning the universe is only the beginning," the core voice echoed.
"Understanding it… that is your test."
He looked at the holographic map — different markers blinked in distinct colors:
Red: Emergent warlords or corrupted DNA fusions.
Blue: Rare alien species with unknown potential.
Green: Existing DNA signatures from extinct or endangered races.
Purple: Temporal anomalies — possibly alternate versions of himself.
Ben touched a red light.
It expanded to show a planet consumed by a Void Plague — a parasitic force that infected DNA itself, creating rage-born mutations.
> "Target: Vortaz Prime. 2.3 million infected.
Status: Pre-genocidal outbreak.
Intervention Potential: Moderate."
Ben pulled back. His face was pale.
"This is more than hero work. This is… galactic triage."
---
Kevin's Reaction – Greed vs Purpose
Meanwhile, Kevin stared at his damaged Omnitrix copy — still cracking, still unstable.
He felt something ping in his system too.
An echo of Ben's scan.
Data fragments fed into his clone watch. But they were broken — incomplete.
Kevin smirked. "If Ben's collecting new aliens… then I'll collect them faster. I'll just take them. All of them."
He looked at a flickering map fragment: an orange-glowing anomaly.
> "Unidentified energy being. Phase-shifted. Raw power signature."
Kevin's grin twisted.
"Looks like my first new donor."
---
Ben's Resolve – Making a Choice
Ben returned from the scan interface hours later, drained but determined.
Max handed him a water bottle. "You okay?"
Ben took a sip, then answered flatly. "I found a dozen systems where people are dying because someone didn't act fast enough."
Gwen raised an eyebrow. "And what are you going to do?"
He looked up at the stars. "Build a new roster. Map high-priority threats. Track corrupted DNA."
He opened the watch's interface and said something new:
> "Omnitrix — enable Mission Grid."
A fresh interface bloomed from the watch — turning the Omnitrix into more than just a tool…
It was now a command center.
> "Mission Grid activated. Beginning Target Prioritization."
Ben stared down at it.
"I'm done just waiting for threats to show up. It's time I find them first."
---
Final Scene – A Watching Presence
Unknown to Ben, far across the stars, within a crystalline observatory orbiting a red dwarf sun, a silent figure observed the same scan map — stolen from a slice of Omnitrix data Kevin had unknowingly bled into subspace.
The being stood tall. Cloaked. Faceless.
It turned to a row of black-armored followers and pointed toward Earth.
> "The Watch has awakened.
Its host thinks he is scanning the universe…
But soon, the universe will be scanning him."