I always like Ben and Gwen's relationship. I never liked the antagonism in just about anything, but it worked well for them cause you could still tell they were family despite it.
[X] Just stay out of their way. There's nothing that you can do anyways...
To be Contrary! ... Also that book he read right before it would be kind of a downer for Ben. Not sure if that would just make him act out more to set up for the disappointment later (I can just see the kid being disappointed we failed. Or made the situation worse) or whether it would hit a nerve immediately.
[X] A powerful knight in shining armor
Have to admit, hoping this leans us towards the Diamond guy. I always like that form.
... Huh. Are you keeping the Gwen being part alien when they retconned magic thing Luna? That seems like a thing the Omnitrix would pick up on if you are.
Well amusingly, I had originally planned for the book in question to be Worm
A part of 7.12 to be exact, the scene where Skitter confronts the Undersiders about them knowing about Dinah being captured, with Ben cutting off and stopping reading when Grue admits that he is fine allowing a ten year old girl to be held captive if it kept his sister safe.
However it felt a little bit on the nose, and honestly, I didn't see ten year old Ben getting that far into the story, it's kind of too mean spirited for him.
As for what has and has not been retconned...
Well... I did end up looking up every retcon I could find and writing them all down, and the ways that they affected the lore, trying to figure out what was a good change and what was a bad change. Good changes were allowed to stick around - and some are even going to be worked in...
but the bad retcons are going to be either reworked to not be bad, or ignored.
As to the specifics of what has changed and what has not...
Well amusingly, I had originally planned for the book in question to be Worm
A part of 7.12 to be exact, the scene where Skitter confronts the Undersiders about them knowing about Dinah being captured, with Ben cutting off and stopping reading when Grue admits that he is fine allowing a ten year old girl to be held captive if it kept his sister safe.
However it felt a little bit on the nose, and honestly, I didn't see ten year old Ben getting that far into the story, it's kind of too mean spirited for him.
As for what has and has not been retconned...
Well... I did end up looking up every retcon I could find and writing them all down, and the ways that they affected the lore, trying to figure out what was a good change and what was a bad change. Good changes were allowed to stick around - and some are even going to be worked in...
but the bad retcons are going to be either reworked to not be bad, or ignored.
As to the specifics of what has changed and what has not...
Yeah, it was pretty telling anyways without stating it to be Worm directly. I thought 'Worm' and continued to think 'Worm' through that entire book section.
By the way, is this sort of still more chargen, or is it just a low involvement quest?
This is the last post of the Prologue, with next chapter starting with Ben going off and getting the Omnitrix, this was just the best place that I could spot to split things, which ended up making the first bit of voting feel a bit awkward.
It will have an effect on Ben's character, much like having him decide to read instead of goof off will.
The second vote should be a bit more obvious - It ties into which alien you transform into first.
That is essentially the main point of divergence for this timeline, and where the quest actually begins.
Well amusingly, I had originally planned for the book in question to be Worm
A part of 7.12 to be exact, the scene where Skitter confronts the Undersiders about them knowing about Dinah being captured, with Ben cutting off and stopping reading when Grue admits that he is fine allowing a ten year old girl to be held captive if it kept his sister safe.
However it felt a little bit on the nose, and honestly, I didn't see ten year old Ben getting that far into the story, it's kind of too mean spirited for him.
Considering the age rating of the original Worm, I think it's safe to say this is a more PG-rated version, now with less soul-crushering. The last thing Ben needs is to be scarred by Actual Worm's source material.
[X] Try and stop them!
I wouldn't want to go into conflict, especially not with those two, but I'd feel guilty if I walked by without trying to help the kid.
[X] A spell caster who throws their enemies through the air
Fire blasts and Kung fu kicks are kind of meh. Knights in shining armor are interesting. Telekinetic Spellcasters? Sign me up.
The video game choice feels like it's probably going to be deciding something about our first experience with the omnitrix. I'd say it's most likely going to be the first form we get stuck in, like with Heatblast in canon. I'd assume fire would, in fact, be Heatblast as well...
Actually, that makes me wonder, each of the other three options can be associated with one of the original 10(fire for Heatblast, grips for Four Arms, shining armor for Diamondhead) but the spell caster doesn't quite match up with any of the original 10, except one. Now it's possible that I'm wrong on most of these(though I'm really confident about Heatblast), but if I'm not than either the spellcaster is the odd one out here and isn't part of the original 10 like the others... or it's Ghostfreak. I have to admit I'm kinda worried about having Ghostfreak be our first form considering the uh, problems, with Ghostfreak.
10 d10, three of which where 10s. Well then, I see we're staying on theme here. Some pretty high rolls on average. I imagine one of them is going to be for the bullies(and since it's probably the first one... ouch), while the rest may be for aliens, assuming that the second vote guarantees a specific alien.
With your bag slung over your shoulder, you skip down the front steps of the school into the warmth of the summer afternoon, a massive smile on your face. Finally, school is over, and you are free at last.
The skies are clear and blue, bereft of even the smallest of white wisps. Today is now a wonderful day, and there is nothing in the world that you could possible think of that could ruin it for you now.
"Now if this were any other day, I'd be beating you up and taking your money."
...At least nothing other than those two...
"Haha! Yeah. Just hand over your lunch money, and you can go on your way."
With a soft sigh, you slowly stop as you spot two very familiar, and unwelcome, faces. Cash Murray and his best friend JT.
They were the two biggest, meanest, dumbest bullies in the whole school. You had really hoped that you wouldn't run into them, had hoped that you wouldn't have to have seen them for another whole three months, not until the next school year started.
Now, that's obviously not what's happening here. Cash towers over their target, with JT stands to one side, slowly punching one fist menacingly. It takes you a moment, but you recognize the kid that they are bullying.
Sort of. Not really.
You know that he sits behind you in one of your classes...
You think that his name is... Barney? Or maybe it was Willy. Something like that. He was always a bit short and rude to you, but you've barely said more than ten words to him over the school year, you have no idea what you could have done to make him dislike you so.
You know that you should do something - Your mom says that bullies are cowards, and that they will stop if you stand up to them... Yet here you stand, still and silent. The idea of standing up to those two kind of terrifies you. Cash is the tallest kid in your year, and JT might not look it, but he's actually really strong. You hate the idea that they are going to go and steal this kid's money and get away with it... but the thought that your mom might be wrong and that if you step up, they'll just beat you down is something that crosses your mind as well.
You hate bullies. Not the least of which because you are the kind of kid that they have singled out before, but that when it comes right down to it, you don't understand them. The idea of using the fact that you are bigger or stronger than someone else in order to hurt them? It just... doesn't make sense to you. It seems like such a pointless thing to do.
You know that you should do something. That you should rush in there are demand that they stop...
You don't. Instead, you swallow softly, turning away from the sight. You pull your bag tight as you quietly ask for forgiveness from... whatever that kid's name is, and slowly start to walk away.
You barely take a single step before you stop. You're running away, because you are big enough or strong enough to fight back against these bullies. Just like the regular people do when faced with the heroes in that book that your friend suggested to you.
You want to scowl at your brain for making the comparison, but it's not an inaccurate one. The characters in that book were all a bunch of assholes - They only cared about themselves and what whatever happened meant for them. They didn't care about how their actions affected others, or what regular people might be going through.
Just walking away like this because you don't really know the kid that is getting bullies is exactly the kind of thing that the hero of that book would do. What he did in fact, pushing out another hero in front of the villains and letting him get attacked so that he could sneak into the base.
...
You refuse to be anything like the horrible characters in that book.
So you let out a hiss of frustration and you grit your teeth before turning back towards the kid and the two bullies.
You just hope that this doesn't end up with you hanging from a tree branch by your underwear.
The crickets chirp along quietly as you wander your way through the woods around the campgrounds, stopping a moment to kick a small stone away as you go. You had just had all that you could stand of your stupid cousin, and of Grandpa Max's food, and of all the different ways that this summer was nothing like you had expected it to be, so you had come out here to collect your thoughts.
Not that it really took all that long to figure out what you were thinking and how you felt. "Man..." You mutter aloud, "This is going to be the worst vacation ever. I might as well have stayed back in Bellwood with Cash and JT all summer."
With a long, low sigh, you slowly start to look up to the night sky, watching as the stars so high above twinkled merrily, unknowing and uncaring of your plight.
Then
A star, brighter than any other in the night sky twinkled once, twice, catches your attention. For a moment something about the star seems... odd, but you can't tell what it is.
Then, it shifts, and begins to fall across the night sky. "Woah." You say, a smile starting to cross your face. "A shooting star! Awesome!" It races across the sky, dipping lower and lower. Suddenly the star lurches, barreling towards you.
Right towards you.
As in directly.
With a completely and totally manly scream of terror (no matter what other people might say), you turn and RUN. Even so, the falling star crashes to the ground, blowing you up into the air and off of your feet. The air is thick with smoke and dust as you cough your lungs out. Everything kind of hurts. Not enough to keep you down, but you still feel like you were just thrown through the air and slammed into the ground by a meteorite.
Oh wait.
With some more coughing, you slowly push yourself back to your feet. "Ow... Maybe this summer won't be so boring after all." You mutter to yourself, as you approach the heavy furrow of dirt in the ground where the whatever it was had landed.
Looking down, you can tell that... it's made of metal?
That's not a falling star. "Is... that a satellite or something?" You wonder alound, before the ground at the edge of the hole gives way, crashing you to the ground again. "Ow." Yeah, once you tell Grandpa about this, you think you're going to go and lay down for a while. You hurt.
Stumbling to your feet again, you watch as the strange metal sphere slowly slides open, pieces clicking back to reveal...
"A Watch?" You ask, baffled. "What is a watch doing in outer space?"
[X] Reach out and grab the watch! [ ] Leave the Space Watch there, you don't know where it's been. Screw that, it's a WATCH FROM OUTER SPACE THAT IS THE FUCKING COOLEST
That is a watch from outer space! This is the coolest thing that you have ever seen! You are totally going to go and show it off to Gwen and Grandpa Max! Stepping closer, you slowly start to reach down into the pod, when suddenly the watch starts to move!
Almost like some sort of goopy slime thing, it flows, suddenly leaping upwards, and wrapping itself around your wrist. With another scream that was most definitely manly, and not at all terrified, you stumble backwards, wildly swinging your arm about while letting loose a high pitched mantra of "GETITOFFME! GETOFFGETOFFGETOFF!"
Collapsing to the ground, you scramble backwards from the pod, before turning back and climbing up and out of the trench. "Grandpa!" Okay, yes, at this point you are willing to admit that you are kind of freaked out. You start to run back towards the campsite. But between being thrown through the air, and collapsing into a trench...
You hurt, and you are tired. So your run quickly turns into a swift walk, turns into a tired shamble. You sit down, taking a moment to relax, when you spot a big stick!
You work the stick down under one end of your strange new watch, trying to peel it off. The stick gives before the watch lets go, but that's when you notice something interesting.
A button on the side of the watch facing you. It clicks with a soft affirmative sound, and the watch face pops upwards, the image shifting and changing into... something? "Cool..." You exclaim, before slowly pushing down the new button with a single finger.
Oh man, that felt... really... wier-
Your hands are glowing, red hot like they were on...
Fire.
Your eyes continue to travel down, before you let loose another scream. You've been doing a lot of that tonight, but you are on fire. Not in the good way, the actually set ablaze kind of way. Back and forth you run, repeating your exclamations, before you started to notice something particularly odd.
You might be on fire, but you aren't hurt?
"I'm... Okay?" You ask aloud, "Yeah. I'm okay. In fact," You start to grin widely, "I'd say I'm smokin hot!" You giggle at the stupid pun, before suddenly going still.
With a quick twist, you turn to one of the trees behind you, bringing up finger guns. "Draw!" You yell out in an affected cowboy accent, as a pair of blasts of flame shoot from your hands, exploding against the bark of the tree. "Oh man. Yes, that's what I'm talking about."
You clap your hands together, focusing your thoughts along these strangely new and strangely familiar paths, focusing the heat and the flames into a head sized ball of fire. With a gleeful laugh you throw it into the forest.
The forest that is made of wood.
Wood which burns.
"Oh no! Stop!" It's too late, however. You've already set the forest ablaze. You spend a bit trying your best to put the fire out...
But everything you do seems to just makes things worse. Stamping on the fire just makes them larger, and trying to blow them out just makes you breath fire. This would be the coolest thing ever...
If you know, you hadn't accidentally set a forest fire that was burning down the forest. That was the ultimate in not cool. You've got to keep trying though, you started this fire, so you've got to put it out.
COLD!
Something wet and so cold that it burns splashes across you, almost driving you to a knee. You turn to the source, and find yourself... Well you'd say face to face, but it's more like stomach to face. Either Gwen shrinks when she gets too hot, or this new fiery form is a whole lot taller than you would normally be. Really it's 50/50 on which one it is.
You wince as your cousin screams, "Hey, look. I know I look weird, but that's no reason to yell at m-" You do have to admit that you are a little impressed that the first thing you're cousin does when she comes across someone who seems to be made of fire is to hit them with a fire extinguisher. You'd have thought she'd try to schedule out a time to scream, then schedule out a time to schedule what to do after that.
You just wish that she hadn't been hitting you. Because that hurt. Then she blasts you with the fire extinguisher for good measure. Not pleasant. You cough a bit of that fire-retardant gunk out, before turning back to your cousin, coming face to face with the barrel of the extinguisher. "I don't what you are, but you'll stay right there if you know what's good for you."
You need to get that thing pointed somewhere else, but if you try to move she'll definitely pull the trigger on you again. If only you could-
You can. You don't really know how you know, but you can feel the heat around you, you can feel it billowing off your body and flowing around the air around you. Manipulating it is as easy as breathing, and with a bare twitch of your fingers, you set your cousin's stupid shoe on fire.
It's a very stupid shoe, being made of such flammable material while being in a fire. With another giggle, you climb back to your feet as Gwen hops around, before blasting her shoe with the fire extinguisher. She turns an icy (hah) glare towards you, lifting the extinguisher over her head. "I warned you!"
"Oh please," You interrupt, "Don't even think about it, Dweeb!"
Gwen freezes in place, hey you're on a roll at this! Before slowly lowering the extinguisher. "Ben... is that you?" She asked, baffled. Frankly for good reason. "What happened to you!?"
"Well-" You start to explain, "I was walking through the woods, complaining to myself about how the summer was going to go, and then there was a meteorite, or a satellite... I dunno what it was. Not natural though, it feel out of the sky and nearly turned me into road kill! Then, when I went to see what it was it opened up and there was a watch inside of it! I tried to grab the watch, but the watch grabbed me instead, and while I was trying to get it off, I pressed and button and then I was on fire, but it didn't hurt me while I was accidentally starting this mega forest fire."
"Gwen, are you alr-" Grandpa Max started to say as he barreled through the woods towards you and Gwen, but as he spotted you, "What in Blazes?" Hah, even Grandpa Max is making puns now.
"Hey Grandpa, guess who?" Gwen snarked, looking between you and Grandpa Max.
"Hi... It's me Grandpa..." You have no idea what Grandpa Max can do, but you really hope he can help stop the fire.
"Ben... what happened to you?" Grandpa Max asks, to which you naturally respond
"Well, I was walking through the woods, complaining to my-" You start, before Gwen interrupts.
"Hey, excuse me? Major forest fire burning completely out of control, remember?" Ah. Yes. Right. That's more important than explaining how you got the weird watch you have.
"What do we do?" You ask, "Everything I've tried has just made things worse."
Granpa Max glances around, before nodding to himself. "A Backfire. We need to start a new fire and have it burn into the old fire, where they will snuff each other out. Think you can do it Ben?"
Pft. Can you do it? Everything you have done while being this... thing has been setting fire. You can easily start another fire.
You just hope that Grandpa Max knows what he's doing. You aren't going to say that out loud, especially not since he at least has a plan. "Setting a new fire, that I can definitely do." You turn, diving through the flames and onwards out of the heat. Finding a good bit of outcropping stone, you scramble up, and with a wave of a hand, you set the forest ablaze anew.
You really hope that this works like Grandpa Max thinks it will.
Miraculously, it does. It only takes a couple of minutes before you can feel the heat of the fires changing. They aren't as hot as they were, already they are starting to drip downwards, so the three of you hurry back to the RV. Grandpa Max calls up the Rangers, while you and Gwen very quickly get a fire started.
Hanging up the phone, Grandpa Max settles down on a log across from you, looking you over. You quickly recant again how you had discovered the watch, and the accidental transformation that you went through. "It wasn't my fault this time, I swear!"
You finish off, getting a very flat look out of your cousin. "Do you think he's gonna be stuck a monster like this forever?" Gwen asks, the last word barely getting out of her mouth before Grandpa Max answers.
"He's not a monster Gwen, he's an alien." The two of you stare at your grandfather for a long silent moment. "I-I mean, look at him, what else could he be?"
"Uuuuhhh..." You groan out, looking down at your big fiery hands, "I don't want to be made of fire forever! How am I supposed to play on the little league if I charcoal every ball I catch?"
"Don't worry Ben," Max starts to say, his tone sounding anything but sure to you. "We'll figure-"
He trails off, as a strange bleating siren starts to go off from your chest, and with a almost blinding flash of light, you find that the world has changed. "Hey! Everything is bigger again! I guess that means that Gwen doesn't shrink when exposed to fire!"
"Aww... I think I liked you better when you were a Briquette." You stick your tongue out at Gwen, and she throws a marshmallow at you, hitting you in the face. Naturally, you throw it back. Then you start focusing on the stupid watch that is still stuck on your arm. "Uuuggh. I still can't get this thing off!" You complain, but Grandpa Max just gives you a look.
"You probably shouldn't be messing with that thing anymore until we know more about it." He says, as he pulls a Flashlight out of one of the boxes. "I'm going to go and take a look around that crash site, the two of you stay here until I get back."
Naturally, given that you've been told not to mess with the watch further, it's less than five minutes before you've hidden yourself around the back of the RV in order to do exactly that. "Hmm..." You mutter aloud to yourself softly, as you test the different buttons, each giving off a little affirmative sound. "I wonder what this does..."
It's quiet. too quiet. You haven't heard Gwen for a few moments, so you quickly sneak over towards the edge of the RV. You don't see your cousin, so you guess she must be off doing... you don't know. Nerd things. "Aha!" Gwen's voice cheers from right behind you, nearly throwing you off balance. "Caught ya!" She titters, and with a glower, you mocking laugh back at her.
"Very funny! Like your face!" You catch a flicker of... something in the girl's face, but it's gone too fast for you to see.
"Didn't Grandpa Max tell you not to mess with that thing?" She asked, which gets the only logical answer.
"Yeah, so? You're point?" You ask, as you continue to try and figure out what you did differently that caused the watch's face to pop up. You've tried hitting the button, but it won't press.
"Did your parents just end up dropping you when you were a baby?" Gwen asks, and you pause, looking over to her.
"Come on really, you can't tell me that you aren't a little bit curious what else this thing can do, right?"
Gwen crosses her arm, looking away. "Not in the slightest."
You just stare at the girl for a moment like she's crazy. "And how are we related again?" Well, now that Gwen's found you, there really isn't any reason to be hiding away behind the RV, so you take up your spot in front of the fire, continuing to mess with the watch. "Look..." You start, almost a little shy to say what you are about to say. "If I can figure out how this watch works, then... Maybe I can help people."
A beat of silence. "Like... really help them. Not just... You know, make things worse." Those last three words were said quietly, and you couldn't bare to look at your cousin while saying them. It was hard enough admitting that you know that you don't always make things better. You don't think you could actually do it if you saw whatever expression would be on your cousin's face.
There is another moment of silence, and you draw in a shuddering breath, before Gwen pipes up. "...So... What was it like, going all alien like that?" Oh thank god, the subject changed.
"It was kind of freaky at first," You admit, "like, I know that I was me, and I felt like I was me, but at the same time, I could see colors that I don't have words for. I could feel the heat of everything around me, and there were sounds that I don't even know what they were, but it wasn't confusing, it just felt as natural as walking or talking or breathing. Which is in and of itself weird. My arms and legs were all longer and stuff, but it didn't bother me in the least. Everything about the body felt like it was my body."
"In and of itself?" Gwen jabs with a bit of a laugh. "I didn't know you knew such big words."
"Oh har har," You bite back, but you're smiling. Then there is a familiar happy little chirp that comes from the watch as the face pops up again. "Aha!" You cheer, "I think I figured out how to activate it. Should I try it again? Just one time?"
"I wouldn't." Gwen says, and you scoff.
"Of course you wouldn't." You shoot back, before slapping your hand down on the watch.
With a bright flash of green light, you find yourself landing butt first on the ground, and letting out a soft "Oww..." Groaning softly, you climb back up to your feet, while trying to ignore how weird your voice sounds now. "I am so tired of hitting the ground tonight." You ignore Gwen's snort of amusement, as you dust yourself off. This is... definitely different.
You are wearing some kind of... black and white armor. A tap against it makes it clear that it's super hard, and that it doesn't sound like metal. Huh. "So now whose the one who shrinks in the heat?" Gwen asks chuckling. You turn to answer her, only to find yourself staring at the cat on her shirt. A glance up reveals the fact that should have been obvious the moment that you fell off the rock you had been sitting on.
This weird new... Alien is shorter than you were. That is a sentence that is going to take to getting used to. Aliens. Your new form is shorter than you were. Shorter than Gwen. You barely come up to the girl's shoulder.
"Well, I'll admit that this form isn't as ugly as flame head, but what use is it?" You scowl, but that is a very good question. You take a moment to rub your hands across your face. Everything... feels mostly the same. Gloves on your face feel like gloves on your face, and you've got a mouth, and a nose, and two eyes. There is a hard thing sticking out of your forehead, but something tells you that's part of the watch, and not part of the alien. the really weird thing is that you don't have hair, and instead it feels almost like there are ridges on your head...
Just what kind of alien are you?
Choose two
[ ] Go into the RV... there's got to be a mirror in the Bathroom that you can use to get a better look at yourself.
[ ] Try and pick up some heavy stuff to see if you are super strong!
[ ] Run around to see if you are super fast!
[ ] Maybe you can fly like a super hero!
[ ] Perhaps there is something special that this alien can do... Try and see if you can figure it out.
Since you've turned into an alien, are you going to practice here at the camp fire, or are you going to go and practice in the forest.
[ ] Campfire
[ ] Forest
[X] Maybe you can fly like a super hero!
[x] Perhaps there is something special that this alien can do... Try and see if you can figure it out.
[x] Campfire
Looking in a mirror and testing out special are probably the better choices, but Ben being a huge goof trying to figure out what the weird aliens can do is half the fun (the other half is turning into the wrong one).
I'd almost guess Asari, but I don't think Gwen would pass up on the teasing of us growing a pair of boobs. Not sure what style the ridges are in either.
Ah I get it ben's other aliens are probably all aliens from other series. So this alien is smaller then Ben has tough armor and ridges on its head and apparently its bipedal also the Omnitrix symbol is on its head tbh I can't think of an alien that matches that description I'm going to be think hard about this lol
Edit :
[X] Maybe you can fly like a super hero!
[x] Perhaps there is something special that this alien can do... Try and see if you can figure it out.
[x] Forest
Ya I agree Ben being a dumb kid is probably more in character and also interesting
[X] Maybe you can fly like a super hero!
[x] Perhaps there is something special that this alien can do... Try and see if you can figure it out.
[x] Forest
