The hum of the self-driving bike purred under them as Ben and Gwen soared ahead of the Rust Bucket, wind rushing through their hair. The sun hadn't climbed too high yet, and the cool morning air added a chill that danced across their cheeks. The glass dome Ben had designed from salvaged alien tech was pulled back, letting the breeze in as they tore through a winding forest road. Gwen was laughing, her hands gripping the edges of her seat, and Ben's grin stretched wide. He wasn't even steering – the AI did it all.
"You sure this thing knows how to take corners?" Gwen shouted over the wind.
"Better than I do," Ben yelled back, then instantly regretted it. Her laugh did something weird to his chest. He blamed his second set of memories, again.
The road narrowed and curved, the bike weaving gracefully, smoothly outpacing the Rust Bucket far behind. They weren't running away, just... taking a little detour. One they deserved. Eventually, the fun ended as the road straightened, and Ben slowed down the bike, coasting to a gentle stop before hooking it to the back of the Rust Bucket, where he'd rigged up a custom magnetic clamp the night before with Upgrades help.
Ben watched as Grandpa Max caught up. The Rust Bucket, despite its ancient appearance, moved like a beast on the road. It only confirmed what Ben had been suspecting: this RV was a lot more than it looked.
He didn't say anything though. No need to raise questions yet. Grandpa had secrets, and Ben was fine letting them stay secrets. For now.
Once inside, Gwen cracked open her laptop, launching her news stream while munching on a protein bar. Ben sat next to her, half watching, half fiddling with the Omnitrix on his wrist. The screen glowed, rotating slowly between silhouettes.
"You shouldn't mess with that thing," Gwen muttered, not looking away from the screen.
"Just trying to figure it out," Ben replied innocently. "Besides, it kind of chose me. Might as well see what it can do."
Before Gwen could argue, he tapped the screen, selecting one of the silhouettes. The watch clicked and in a burst of green light, Ben shrunk down, body shifting into a gray, wide-eyed Galvan.
"Seriously?" Gwen blinked at the now-miniature Ben. "You turned into a frog."
"Gray Matter," Ben corrected in a squeaky voice. "And I'm not a frog. I'm basically a genius now."
Gwen scooped him up like a plush toy. "You are kind of cute like this."
"Put me down!" he squeaked, squirming in her hands until she set him on the counter with a teasing smirk.
Ben brushed himself off, then scampered toward the stack of schematics and notes he'd written earlier. His tiny fingers moved with impossible speed, flipping pages, tracing lines, adding new diagrams. Then he hopped onto Gwen's open physics e-book and began speed-reading.
In minutes, he was scribbling new designs in the margins.
The ideas flowed like lightning – modular armor, kinetic energy converters, gravitational dampeners. Every sentence he read sparked three new inventions in his head. Galvans weren't just smart. They were terrifying.
After an some time ,the Omnitrix beeped and forced him back into his human form. Ben rubbed his head, half exhausted, half exhilarated. Gwen stared at him, stunned.
"You read, like five chapters in ten minutes. And wrote a small thesis."
Ben shrugged, pretending to be chill about it. "Told you. Genius frog."
She rolled her eyes, but smiled.
The rest of the day passed quietly. Grandpa Max drove, occasionally humming to old punk rock songs. Gwen tinkered with her laptop. Ben laid back, quietly sketching ideas he remembered from his gray matter session.
They stopped for dinner around sundown. A roadside burger joint with flickering neon signs. Ben had never seen it before in his past life, which made him curious. Everything so far had followed the show's story loosely... but maybe there were deviations. This world wasn't a carbon copy.
The smell of grilled onions and fries filled the air as they walked inside. Ben was about to order when a scream cut through the evening air.
People were running. Shouts echoed from the side of the building.
"Stay here!" Grandpa Max barked as he ran toward the commotion.
Ben and Gwen ignored that and bolted after him.
Around the corner stood a three-meter-tall robot, sleek and deadly, scanning the crowd. It was unmistakably alien. Its arms ended in weapons, one of which discharged a pulse that blew a hole in a nearby car.
Ben instinctively reached for the Omnitrix.
Upgrade, he thought first. But then he saw the terrified families. Kids. Fire.
No.
He needed defense. Control. Cleanup.
Diamondhead.
In a burst of green light and shattering crystal, Ben transformed. His arms gleamed with jagged crystalline armor, and his steps left tiny fractures in the pavement.
"Woah," Gwen muttered.
Ben didn't wait. He slammed his palms into the ground. Spires of crystal erupted around the fleeing crowd, forming makeshift shields, halting stray blasts. The robot turned toward him.
Ben smirked.
"Try me."
The bot fired again. Ben deflected the shot with a crystal wall, then raised a jagged spike from the ground. In one swift motion, he launched it forward like a harpoon.
It pierced through the robot's center. Sparks flew. The machine groaned, twitching violently before collapsing in a heap.
People were cheering. Others fled. Gwen ran over.
"Holy crap. That was... amazing."
Ben, still Diamondhead, scooped up the robot's remains. He looked around quickly, then bolted toward a nearby wooded area.
In a quiet clearing, he dug a hole and buried the scrap deep, concealing both the alien tech and the evidence. He even pulled a tree over the top, blending it into the terrain. Just in time.
The Omnitrix timed out.
And then Grandpa Max came in.
"Ben! You okay?"
Ben turned, brushing dirt from his clothes. "Yeah. Took care of it."
Max looked at the spot. "Where's the bot?"
"Blew it up and it's under that tree i might use it later ," Ben said
Max stared a moment longer, then nodded. "Good work."
Gwen joined them, eyes still wide. "Seriously, what even is your life now?"
Ben chuckled. "Honestly? Still figuring that out."
As they returned to the diner, the night breeze brushing past them, Ben felt the weight of everything of protecting people for the first time he was happy about it
And anxious if he will do just as good as it did now.
And this was just the beginning.