Galvan Prime, home of the Galvan species. Located in 76 thousands lightyear away from earth.
In the middle of the city of the Galvans, a lab was built like a tower. The owner of that lab is none other than the genius behind the Omnitrix, Azmuth. The person himself is working on a pyramid shaped like devise with his assistant, Albedo.
A commotion from outside the lab interrupted their concentration and yet, they continued until Max barged in with a couple of Galvan trying to pull him out of the lab.
"Azmuth, I can't take it anymore. You've got to do something about Ben." Max complained.
"As you can see, I'm exceedingly busy." Azmuth said while keeping his eyes on his work. "Albedo, modify power cycle."
The Galvans around Max exited the lab and returned to their respective work while the man himself entered the lab deeper.
"I've made an appointment. I've made 10." Max reminded. "You keep postponing."
"First thinkerer Azmuth has told you he's busy, human." Albedo stated. "Accept it."
"Accept this." Max kneeled down to them. "One of you is helping with the Ben situation, now."
"Low priority. Come back in two years." Azmuth dismissed it.
Xlr8 sprinted inside the lab in a sudden and began to look machines in excitement. Then, the girls and Groot entered as well.
"I told you kids to wait in the Skipper." Max scolded the girls.
"We tried." Gwen replied. "But Ben was all 'I gotta see the lab! I gotta see the lab!'."
Max pinched his nose in in disbelief and looked back to the scientist. "This is what I've been dealing with. The Omnitrix is malfunctioning. Ben been trapped in a different alien every week. And where's Y/n?! You can't just took the boy from my Rv and left a note!"
"Not my concern." Azmuth replied.
"I haven't slept in a month-"
A close explosion alerted them. They looked to the source to find Xlr8 has broken a machine.
"Hey!" Azmuth yelled.
"Oops!" Xlr8 chuckled nervously. "Sorry."
"Not so funny when he's messing with your stuff, is it?" Max remarked.
"Very well." Azmuth sighed before giving a knock on the pyramid machine.
A hidden compartment opened down from the pyramid and a red alien that is smaller than Galvan's palm, Parasitoa peeked out.
(Link artist: https://www.deviantart.com/rzgmon200/art/Into-the-Omniverse-Parasitoa-814785439)
Parasitoa jumped down to Azmuth's palm, and the scientist brought him to Xlr8. He put the red alien down on the floor and fiddled with the Nemetrix, reverting the alien back to Y/n. The boy proceed to hit the Omnitrix and reverted Xlr8 back to Ben.
"Aw man! Fun is over!" Ben complained.
"Thank goodness." Max sighed in relief.
"It's been so long I almost forgot what you look like, doofus." Gwen sneered, and Ben insulted her by sticking his tongue out. "Oh, now I recognize you."
Max leaded the kids out at the lab's entrance.
"Sit quietly." Max placed the boys down on a chair. "I need a word with Azmuth. Girls, Groot, watch them."
Gwen cheered in excitement while Ciel kept glaring at Y/n ever since he came out from the pyramid. Max reentered the lab, leaving the kids outside.
"So, what have you been doing here with Azmuth?" Ciel asked Y/n.
"Why I feel like I'm being interrogated?" Y/n inquired.
"Cuz you're gone for a month!"
"Fair enough." Y/n shrugged. "Azmuth took me cuz he needs to check on the Nemetrix's effect."
"Didn't you already solve that problem?" Ben asked.
"Not entirely." Y/n clarified, piquing his friends' interest. "Turns out, the Nemetrix was not just enhancing my physical ability but my brain, too thanks to this particular alien."
He dialed the Nemetrix and showed his friends the silhouette of Razorbeak.
"Razorbeak, or Omnivoracious is what the Galvans called it, was the natural predator of Galvans. They had high intelligence, as they were the only predator the Galvans were unable to outwit and defeat with their small size." Y/n narrated. "Fortunately, the Omnivoracious extinct million years of go due to meteor fall and extreme climate change. In short, they are dinosaurs to the Galvans."
"So, he took you and you helped him with his project cuz you have another brain growing in your head?" Gwen asked.
"You could say that." Y/n replied. "So, for the past 2 Galvan weeks, I worked under Azmuth's wing, learning alien tech and languages, made my first invention and helping his current project."
Y/n reached into his pocket and pulled out his invention to show it to his friends.
"Woah, what is that?" Ben asked as the light from the device reflected in his eyes.
"I called it the Arc reactor." Y/n introduced. "This device could generate an 8 Gj/s of pure and clean energy. Safer and more stable than the Sub-energy."
"Y/n, do you have any idea of what you just did?" Gwen asked with surprise expression. "You just solved the world energy crisis!"
"Yes, I did." Y/n bounced the reactor in the air and snatched it.
He looked at Ciel with a grin but turned flat the moment he noticed that she's frowning in disheartened. He was about to reach her, but his sixth sense alarmed him.
He looked through a nearby window and spotted a smokes and explosion in the city. But the most distinguished one is a figure that resembling Upgrade who is behind the chaos.
"Oh no..." Y/n sweated.
"Woah, what is going on out there?" Ben peeked.
"Don't even think about it." Gwen interrupted. "You heard what grandpa Max said. Probably just alien Mardi Gras or something."
"You think?" Ben grinned at Gwen. "Like a carnival or a parade?"
He was about to dial his watch, but Y/n pulled his wrist away.
"You're not going." Y/n declared and fiddled the watch, and the Omnitrix powered down. "A patient is running wild and I'm going to stop him."
Y/n sprinted away and exited the building, leaving his friends in stun. Ben tried to dial the Omnitrix, but the watch gave no reaction.
"Did he just... turned off the watch?" Ben asked in confusion.
Outside the lab in the city, the Upgrade is causing havoc left and right out of anger.
"Malware!"
The Upgrade called Malware turned his attention to Y/n who is with a troop of heavily armed Galvans. The Galvans pointed their weapons at Malware as Y/n is showing his palms at him.
"Calm down, pal." Y/n said in reassurance. "Please, return to Galvan B and we can-"
Malware launched a piece of roof at Y/n, but the boy rolled forward to evade it as the projectile flew pass his head.
"Okay, talking is a no, no." Y/n commented.
He sprinted at Malware and transformed into Ork. The two brawled at each other, wreaking havocs around the complex as the Galvans giving their assist for Ork.
The green predator has no intention to harm Malware, so he's trying to subdue him. However, his intention back fired. Malware defeated him and advanced his way to the tower. He entered Azmuth's lab by ripping the door apart.
"Azmuth!" Malware confronted the scientist.
Max and the kids tried to stop him, but he simply swatted them away.
"Malware, this is not the way." Azmuth stated.
"You promise me an upgrade. You said you'll make me like the others!" Malware growled.
"Your condition is complex. It has taken more time than I anticipated to."
"NO! No more time! I've had enough of your lies!"
"Malware!" Y/n called, catching everyone's attention in the lab. "We've been creating a secondary Helix to treat you but it's not finish, yet. To use it, it could cause untold destruction. We need more time to help you."
"No!" He shouted and absorbed the Helix whole into his body. "Your time is up-"
"But if you insist!" Y/n interjected. "I'll help you operate it and gave you this as a bonus."
Y/n showed the Arc reactor to Malware who is captivated by its power he's sensing.
"And if you fail?" He glared at the boy.
"I'll give you the reactor regardless." Y/n replied. "It's win-win to you-"
Malware immediately absorbed Y/n whole into his body. A pair of wing jetpack emerged from his back, and he lifted off through the glass roof.
The team and Azmuth exited the building and looked up to the sky where Malware flee.
"This is hopeless!" Gwen complained. "Malware flew off the planet. He could be anywhere."
"Not necessarily." Max retorted. "He doesn't have FTL capability."
"Awesome!" Ben cheered. "Uh, what's an FTL?"
"Faster Than Light, doofus." Ciel insulted. "Because of that, Malware couldn't left the Galvan system, yet."
"Which means we can track him if we're lucky." Max added.
"We don't need luck." Azmuth chimed in. "He's headed for the moon, Galvan B."
"And you know this how?" Ciel gave a death glare at the scientist.
"That's a long story."
"Tell it on the way." Max said.
The team and Azmuth hopped on the Skipper.
They took their respective seats with Max on the steering wheel. Gwen looked to her side and noticed Ciel is sitting with her legs folded up while hugging her teddy bear and frowning. She wanted to speak with her, but she figured it has something to do with Y/n. After all, the two are very close ever since they met. Groot came up to Ciel's shoulder and leaned his head to hers to give comfort.
The Skipper's thrusters ignited, and the vessel lifted off the planet toward the moon.
"Galvan B once was much like earth's moon. Miles of dead rocks. No atmosphere. No day or night." Azmuth narrated.
"Sounds like a boring place." Ben commented.
A small white mana sphere hit him at the back of his head, making him yelped in pain. Gwen snickered in response, and Ben glared at his cousin.
"It was the perfect environment to conduct a planet wide experiment. A place upon which life would thrive." Azmuth continued. "The results were beyond anything I could've hoped for. Not only was Galvan B inhabitable, but-"
Ben groaned. "There's always a 'but' with you-"
Another mana sphere hit him in the head. Ben glared at Gwen once again, but the girl pointed the real culprit. He turned his glare at Ciel, but he immediately dropped when he sensed a powerful malice from her
"You interrupt with your complain and dry comment one more time, I'll give you more than just a bump on your head." Ciel threatened and looked to Azmuth. "Please continue."
Azmuth nodded. "But, there was an unforeseen consequence. My experiment had inadvertently prompted the creation of a brand new tech-organic species, the Galvanic Mechamorph."
"Wait, so you created the species of Upgrade?" Gwen asked.
"Yes." Azmuth replied. "We Galvan had no right to colonize their world. Instead, we gave it to them. With our help, they built an entire civilization in mere days. They were peaceful new neighbors. My Helix experiment was a success beyond my wildest dreams. And a failure beyond my wildest nightmares."
"Malware..." Ciel echoed.
"An incomplete Mechamorph." Azmuth added. "His life code interrupted, corrupted during creation. Unlike all the others of his kind, Malware had the ability not to just mimic tech. It became him, but at a terrible price."
The team entered Galvan B's atmosphere and descended close to the ground.
"I've tried many times to help him, to make him like the others." Azmuth continued. "Malware's condition is intriguingly complex. And his volatile nature is challenging."
"So, a dangerous tech vampire has been begging you to fix him for years and you told him you'd get around to it?" Ben concluded.
"Is that why you need Y/n's help?" Ciel asked.
"After proving my theory on the Nemetrix's effect on Y/n's brain, I figured I need his help to accelerate the completion on the Helix project." Azmuth explained.
"And now, he's in danger thanks to you." Ciel remarked.
"Child, for the past few weeks working under my wing, Y/n has shown his talent to be the greatest mind in earth." Azmuth narrated. "Malware is maybe dangerous but despite it all, Y/n treated him as a patient, and he'll make sure that Malware is healed."
The team landed on the moon. They exited the Skipper and found dozens of Mechamorps has turned into stones.
"Are they... dead?" Ciel asked nervously.
"Not yet." Azmuth replied. "They've been corroded and withered to the point of non-existence."
The girl looked around the statues and got shiver in her body.
"Can you help them?" Max asked.
"Only if I act immediately." Azmuth replied. "I need to use your ship's power supply."
"Hey, can you at least turn on the Omnitrix? I can't go hero without it." Ben requested.
"Y/n was the one who turn it off, right?" Azmuth asked, and Ben nodded. "Then, you should ask him instead."
"What?!"
"Y/n knew what he's doing. He knew your brashness and immaturity will foil his objective."
"Are you sure Y/n can heal Malware?" Gwen asked.
"I have faith in him." The scientist replied.
"Wait, where's Ciel?" Max asked in concern.
The team looked around their surrounding and found no sign of the said girl.
Meanwhile inside the citadel, Parasitoa is working on both main Helix and the secondary as Malware kept yelling at him. Parasitoa is connecting wires after wires, readjusting the power output and input, putting complex codes, even plugging the Arc reactor into the Helix for extra power supply. Despite the pressure given by Malware, Parastioa kept his cool to concentrate on his work.
Unknown to them, Ciel snuck her way inside and peeked around the corner with Groot on her shoulder. The two watched Parasitoa relentlessly working on the Helix from afar, and Ciel finally understood what Azmuth's meant about his talent.
However, letting him pursuing his dream to hone his talent means that he'll leave her again. She lost him once, and she wished to not losing him again.
The Helix lighted up in green as electricity emitting from the rods on each four corners. Parasitoa immediately exited the Helix, and Malware grabbed onto the rods.
"At last, I will be cured!" He cheered as the green energy is enveloping around his body. "Yes, it's working! I can feel my life code changing!"
After making a safe distance from Malware and the Helix, Ciel sprinted forward and lifted up Parasitoa on her palm. They observed Malware slowly turning green with Parasitoa silently praying for his success.
The electricity from the Helix intensified and turned from green to yellow color. It flashed a blinding light and blasted an energy pulse that pushed both Ciel, Parasitoa and Groot out in the air. The blast effected the Nemetrix and reverted Parasitoa to Y/n.
The kids crashed down the floor and groaned in pain. After making sure each other's condition, they lifted themselves up and looked to their front. On a place where Malware stood, a dust cloud is dispersing.
"Malware!" Y/n sprinted forward in concern, not noticing that the watch's faceplate is spinning while glowing purple.
As soon as he made it, he found Malware laying on the ground and has become a complete green Mechamorph. The Mechamorph groaned while lifting himself up as Y/n assisted him. The two then looked at each other and somehow, Y/n could tell that the usual malice from Malware has gone, vanished into nothingness.
"Y/n.." He uttered.
"Malware, you... you're healed." Y/n smiled.
The Mechamorph looked at his no longer yellow but green hands and brushed his body around. He felt very happy for the first time, but it soon subsided when he gained his guilty conscious. He recalled his evil deed when he was incomplete. He absorbed the life force of his own people and created chaos.
He curled himself to the ground and began to sob. Y/n patted his back in reassurance, trying to calm him. Then, a beeping from the Nemetrix caught Y/n's attention and a new alien appeared there.
.
.
.
After cleaning Malware's mess, the team and Azmuth returned to Galvan Prime with Malware along. They put the Mechamorph in custody for his crime, and he didn't retaliate.
Azmuth is now in his lab with Y/n and Ciel. He's looking into the Nemetrix once again after receiving Y/n's information regarding the Helix incident as the boy himself is laying on a chair. Ciel came along because she wanted to be by his side.
"Fascinating." Azmuth commented on his findings. "It seems that energy pulse had a sample of Malware's DNA when he was incomplete, and the Nemetrix identified it as a predator DNA."
"But, aren't Mechamorph sentience aliens?" Ciel asked.
"The Mechamorphs has an ability to extruding a symbiote from their body. This symbiote is considered non-sentience creatures."
"And since incomplete Malware has the ability to absorb life force from the Mechamorphs, the Nemetrix created their natural predator." Y/n concluded.
"The first and only predator." Azmuth clarified.
The scientist turned off his computer after examining the Nemetrix. Y/n got off of the chair, and Ciel stood on his side.
"Now Y/n, you've been working under my wing for a few weeks and shown a great potential to be a scientist." Azmuth started. "If you stay here, I can help you to hone your skill to its full potential."
It's true that Azmuth offered a job for Y/n when he's working with him. Galvan techs are considered top notch in the universe, and he could use them freely if he know how to operate them.
However, there's something and someone in his mind that made him refuse the tempting offer.
"Sorry Azmuth, but I'm going home." Y/n smiled in declaration. "My parents are clearly waiting for me, and they have all of the answers for my question. More importantly..."
Y/n smiled at Ciel who is startled with a hint of pink on her cheeks.
"I want to introduce Ciel to my parents as a new family member." Y/n added.
The girl next to him smiled in relief, and her heart raced again. Seeing how Y/n has made his decision, Azmuth sighed in defeat with a hint of disappointment.
"Shame." Azmuth commented. "I was hoping for you to become my successor."
"Tempting, but I've made up my mind." Y/n replied and offered his hand to Ciel. "Ready?"
She nodded and took his hand, and Azmuth leaded them outside the tower. As soon as three exited the tower, they met Malware and some security force outside as his hands being cuffed. Y/n and Ciel approached the Mechamorph with a concern look.
"Malware?" Y/n called.
"I wished to see you before they bringing me in." Malware said. "Y/n, thank you for not giving up on me... and healed me."
"I'm glad I could help." He replied.
"Y'know, since you're healed, let's give you a new name." Ciel suggested.
"A new name?" Malware repeated.
"The name Malware only suited for bad guys so let's find that suits you now." Ciel added. "How about-"
"Enhancer." Y/n chimed in. "I've seen Ben in action as a Mechamorph and every time he merged with a machine, he enhanced its capability."
"Enhancer..." Malware repeated. "Yes, I shall take the name you've given me. Thank you."
They shared a smile with Enhancer, even though he can't show it. The two walked toward the Skipper where the Tennysons are waiting for them. They all hopped on into the vessel and waved their goodbyes to the Galvans and Enhancer. The ship lifted off of the ground and sped up to space, and they returned to earth and backed on the road.
"So, did Azmuth taught you about the watches?" Ben asked.
"Azmuth only taught me how to switch it on and off, in case to have you grounded." Y/n clarified.
"That is so unfair."
"How did it feel working with the smartest man in the universe?" Gwen asked.
"Smartest being in 5 galaxy." Y/n corrected. "And it was actually fun. Despite the education beyond our regular curriculum, I still able to understand them."
"And yet, you rejected his offer."
"Please, I can't imagine myself spending my entire childhood cook up in lab in a planet thousands lightyears away from earth." Y/n said with a deadpan expression.
The boy glanced outside the window and soon, a familiar field caught his attention and made him smile.
"Ciel, take a look." Y/n called.
The girl and Groot scooted closer to the window in curiosity, and a welcome board sign caught in their sight.
"Welcome to Bellwood."