> "Time is not your weapon, Ben. It's your witness. And it remembers everything — even the choices you wish it didn't."
— Clockwork
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Location: Plumber Satellite Orbiting Saturn – Training Deck
Ben stood in the center of the station's cold simulation chamber. Stars drifted beyond the glass. Max, Gwen, and Kevin watched from a sealed control room as the Omnitrix began another spontaneous recalibration.
Green glyphs shifted in the air. Static energy built up across Ben's skin. A new form was being unlocked.
> Alien Codename: Clockwork
Time-Space Manipulation | Level-9 Temporal Anchor | Host Compatibility: Critical
Ben didn't hesitate. He slammed the dial and activated it.
The change was immediate.
He grew taller, his body encased in bronze and iron plating, shaped like an ancient clock tower. His torso ticked with moving gears. Electric pulses of green raced through his glass core. His vision fractured — time stretched and compressed in every direction.
> "I feel… everything," Clockwork-Ben said, voice echoing like a cathedral bell.
---
Initial Tests – Rewriting Seconds
Kevin scoffed through the monitor. "Cool. So you're Robo-Grandfather Time now?"
Ben raised a metallic hand — and snapped.
Suddenly, Kevin repeated his words in reverse.
> "emiT rofardnaG-oboR er'uoy oS .looC"
Gwen blinked. "What the heck?!"
Ben smirked. "He just experienced five seconds backward. I didn't reverse time — I reversed his stream."
Max's voice cut in, calm but firm. "Careful, Ben. Clockwork isn't just about power. That form records you. Every mistake. Every loop."
Ben looked at his ticking reflection in the glass wall.
> "Then let's find out what kind of mistakes I've already made."
---
Phase II – Entering the Time Stream
Clockwork's core began pulsing.
> "Chrono-Dive sequence initiated. You are now entering: Personal Temporal Echoes."
The room warped. Reality folded inward.
Ben was no longer in the present.
---
Vision 1: The Gwen That Left
He stood on a barren Earth. Cities crumbled. The sky was red. Magic glyphs floated above broken monuments.
There she stood — Gwen, older, cloaked in Ethereal Arcana. Alone.
> "You couldn't let go of control," she said coldly. "So I had to."
Ben stepped forward. "What happened?"
She turned her back. "You evolved them all. Then when they wanted freedom… you called it defiance."
Ben tried to reach for her — but the vision shattered.
---
Vision 2: The Son That Never Was
He now stood on a peaceful world. Hybrid aliens played in the background. At a stone table sat a woman with violet eyes and a small boy with a mechanical left arm.
The boy looked up. "Is that him, mom?"
The woman nodded. "That's the version that never stayed."
Ben's eyes widened. The woman… was a fusion of Gwen and an alien hybrid — a future where love and peace had taken root.
But the scene faded as the ticking accelerated.
> "These are all possibilities," Clockwork's inner voice echoed. "Paths you could walk… or destroy."
---
Clockwork's Warning
Ben emerged from the time stream and dropped to one knee, panting, transformed back into his human self.
Sweat dripped from his forehead. His body trembled from the mental strain.
Max helped him up.
> "You were gone for hours."
Ben looked out the window at the stars, eyes shadowed with weight.
> "I saw futures. Ones I wanted. Ones I'd die to prevent."
Gwen placed a hand on his shoulder. "Was there a version where you didn't have to choose?"
Ben shook his head. "Not a single one."
---
Clockwork's Core Message
Later, alone in his quarters, Ben examined the Omnitrix again.
A new subroutine had been unlocked — a glyph etched like a watch hand.
> Omnitrix Addendum: Temporal Protocol | Clockwork Prime Access Level Achieved
Ben ran his fingers across the code. Clockwork's voice spoke again, not from the watch — but from within his mind.
> "Ben… every step forward leaves a footprint in eternity.
You cannot undo your evolution.
You can only decide what kind of story your past will tell."
---
Final Scene – Decision for Glivarus
Ben stood before the holo-map again. The Glivarus Directive still pulsed.
But now, Clockwork's time data fed into it — showing not just the current state of the Glivarian race… but every future outcome based on Ben's potential actions.
Option A: Attempt Ascension — 48% chance of Glivarian rebellion and cross-galactic infection.
Option B: Annihilation — 100% cessation of threat… and the extinction of an entire race.
Option C: Temporal Quarantine — trap them in a slowed time loop for study and delayed judgment.
Ben stared at the options.
Gwen approached. "What will you choose?"
He exhaled.
> "None of them. I'll make a fourth."