The sun rose again — if that thing could even be called a sun.
It was larger than Earth's, tinted orange-red, and cast a heavy, suffocating heat that made the jagged landscape shimmer like boiling glass. Riven Kade had already been walking for hours.
He was exhausted.
He took off his hoodie and clung to his back, soaked with sweat and coated in dust. His legs ached. His mouth was dry. He had no food, no water, and no idea where he was.
But the Omnitrix was still on his wrist.
Mocking him.
"No alien DNA available."
The phrase had burned itself into his brain.
Over and over. Like a taunt.
"What's the point of giving me this thing," Riven muttered, "if it doesn't even work?"
No one answered.
He wasn't sure how long he'd been walking — maybe a hours, maybe more. The sky didn't darken the way Earth's did, and there were no landmarks to track distance. Just endless, cracked stone plains and cliffs that looked the same from every angle. He was starting to worry that the planet itself was dead.
Then came the smell.
Smoke and the smell of burned rock.
The air shifted, warmer than before. Heat rolled in waves over the ground, unnatural and steady. Riven followed it, barely able to keep his pace. His boots scuffed over black sand as the terrain began to slope downward.
He stumbled forward… and then he saw it.
A Scar in the Earth. A massive canyon stretched before him — no, not a canyon. A volcanic crater.
Steam and smoke rose from cracks in the obsidian-colored stone. Rivers of slow-moving lava glowed deep below, casting an eerie light that flickered along the carved walls. It wasn't natural. Riven could tell that immediately.
The rock was too symmetrical. Too deliberate.
Carved stairs spiraled into the depths, partially melted but still intact. Metallic veins ran through the walls — wires? Tubes? Maybe both. The deeper he looked, the more wrong it felt.
"This is... man-made," he said aloud.
The Omnitrix blinked once and
Omnitrix voice echo "Unstable energy source detected. Proximity alert: residual technology nearby."
"Now you work?" Riven growled.
Still, it was the first lead he'd had since waking up. He had no idea if this place was safe. Frankly, it looked like the kind of location where a normal person would die instantly.
And he was a normal person until he was just transported out of nowhere.
He descended the stairs.
....
As he descended the temperature increased with every step. Sweat poured down his back. The Omnitrix's glow grew stronger, reacting to something nearby. When he reached the lowest level, he finally saw it:
A room — or what remained of one — partially melted into the volcano's inner wall. Machinery was embedded into stone, half-destroyed and fused by heat. Giant glass tubes lay shattered, and fragments of alien tech were scattered across the floor. Strange symbols had been etched into the stone: spirals, runes, and crude sketches of alien silhouettes.
There was something ancient about it all, and yet… advanced. Primitive tech, clearly inspired by something greater. Something real.
"They tried to make the Omnitrix," Riven whispered, walking deeper.
"They actually tried to copy it…"
At the center of the chamber was a circular platform, sunken into the rock. A large device stood in the middle — cracked open, cables torn and sparking. It looked like a failed prototype of the Omnitrix, only… larger. Bulkier. Incomplete.
As he stepped near, the Omnitrix responded with a chime.
"Residual Pyronite DNA detected. Fusion confirmed. Source: failed containment experiment. Warning: DNA unstable."
"Pyronite?" Riven echoed.
"Is not that Heatblast's species?"
Suddenly, the room rumbled.
Stone cracked.
A molten shape erupted from the lava channel behind the platform.
It landed hard, steam exploding in all directions.
A creature — part machine, part living flame — rose from the magma. Its body was built of obsidian-like armor, glowing from within. Its eyes burned bright orange. Flames danced between its fingers like blades.
"FIREBOUND GUARDIAN"
The creature spoke "Unauthorized access. You are not of the flame-born. Leave… or burn."
Riven took a step back and notice the red name at the top of the creature.
"FIREBOUND GUARDIAN?"
At the moment the Omnitrix lit up with a blinding green pulse.
Omnitrix voice echo "Pyronite DNA stabilized. Transformation available."
Riven hesitated only a second.
"Alright then," he muttered. "Time to turn up the heat."
He twisted the dial. A fiery silhouette appeared.
He slammed it down.
The Omnitrix voice echo "Pyronite. Transformation initiated."
Green light engulfed him — and his body began to burn.
Riven's skin cracked and split into glowing magma plates. His bones liquefied and reformed, his vision igniting with intense clarity. A living flame burst from his skull, wild and untamed. The floor beneath him scorched from his mere presence.
"HEATBLAST!"
He had become Heatblast.
The Guardian roared and charged.
And Riven — burning, reborn, alive in a way he'd never felt before — raised a flaming hand.
"Let's see who burns out first."
End of chapter 2.
Thank you for reading.