Chapter 4: The Great Park Panic and the Toddler Tussle
The air in the Mustafu neighborhood park didn't just feel heavy; it felt like it was being compressed by a giant, invisible hand. As a twelve-foot-tall Tetramand, my senses were heightened beyond anything I had experienced as a human. I could hear the frantic beating of Bakugo's heart, the soft whimpers of Midoriya, and the crackle of the purple rift that was currently tearing through the reality of a Sunday afternoon.
"The Omnitrix... is mine..." the voice echoed again.
It was a cold, rasping sound that felt like it was being scraped directly onto my brain. My four eyes darted toward the woods, my fists clenching. I was ready. I was an adult mind in the body of a galactic warrior. I was going to protect these kids. I was going to be the hero.
I took a thunderous step forward, my massive red feet sinking into the sandbox. "Get back!" I roared at the kids. "Get behind me!"
Midoriya didn't need to be told twice; he scrambled backward, clutching his All Might toy. Bakugo, however, stayed rooted to the spot, his face a cocktail of terror and stubborn pride.
The rift pulsed. A grey, clawed hand reached out, grabbing the edge of the tear in space. The wood of the trees nearby began to wither and turn to ash. The "Vilgax" figure began to pull itself through—a looming, tentacled nightmare that represented the ultimate predator of the stars.
"Stay away from them!" I shouted, swinging two of my four arms in a massive arc.
I lunged. I put every ounce of Tetramand strength into a punch that should have leveled a building. My fist connected with the rift—and passed right through it.
There was no impact. No crunch of bone. Just a strange, static-filled zip sound.
Suddenly, the red-alert beeping of the Omnitrix on my chest changed. The crimson warning light began to flicker rapidly, switching between red, green, and a confused, glitchy yellow.
[DIAGNOSTIC: TEMPORAL ECHO DETECTED.]
[SOURCE: USER SUBCONSCIOUS DATA LEAK.]
[ERROR: IMAGINARY THREAT MANIFESTATION.]
I froze mid-swing. Wait... what?
The "Vilgax" figure stopped moving. It didn't step out of the rift. Instead, it began to pixelate. The grey skin turned into lines of glowing green code, and the terrifying voice suddenly shifted. It lost its rasp and became the high-pitched, slightly nasally voice of a cartoon character.
"The Omnitrix... is... a very cool watch! Buy one today at your local toy store!"
The "Vilgax" arm waved a friendly goodbye and then popped like a bubble. The purple rift vanished instantly, leaving behind nothing but the smell of slightly burnt popcorn and a few confused squirrels.
I stood there, four arms hanging limp at my sides. The silence that followed was even more awkward than the panic.
"Did... did the monster just try to sell us a toy?" Midoriya asked from behind a slide.
I looked down at the Omnitrix symbol on my chest. It gave a cheerful chirp.
[SYSTEM STABILIZED. SUB-ROUTINE: 'FAN-DREAM' TERMINATED. PLEASE AVOID THINKING ABOUT INTERGALACTIC WARLORDS DURING BIOLOGICAL SYNC.]
Are you kidding me? I thought, my four yellow eyes blinking in disbelief. It was a glitch? I almost leveled a public park because the watch was reading my memories like a search engine?
The Descent of the Toddler-Monster
Before I could even process the embarrassment, the Omnitrix began its familiar, high-pitched "timeout" whine.
No, no, no! Not now!
FLASH!
The world suddenly shot upward. The sandbox, which had looked like a tiny litter box a moment ago, was now a vast desert. My four arms merged back into two, my red skin faded to pink, and my twelve-foot height vanished, leaving me standing in a pair of oversized, scorched shorts that were rapidly falling down.
I was Kenji again. A four-year-old kid with a watch that was definitely too big for his wrist and a reputation that was currently in shambles.
I looked up. Bakugo was standing right in front of me. The terror had left his face, replaced by a look of intense, burning fury.
"You..." Bakugo growled, his palms popping with small, angry explosions. "You scared me! You made a big, scary monster and then it... it talked about toys!"
"It was a glitch!" I squeaked, my voice back to its high-pitched toddler range. I tried to pull up my shorts with one hand while holding the heavy watch with the other. "The DNA sync was... uh... experiencing a hardware-software conflict!"
"I don't care about your nerd words!" Bakugo shouted. He lunged at me, not with a Quirk, but with a classic, playground tackle.
In my adult mind, I knew I should dodge. I knew I should use my superior tactical knowledge to sidestep him. But my four-year-old legs were clumsy, and the weight of the Omnitrix on my left arm threw off my balance.
THUD.
Bakugo slammed into me, and we both went tumbling into the sand. It wasn't a hero battle; it was a mess of flailing limbs and sand-filled hair.
"Get off me, you explosive brat!" I yelled, trying to push him away.
"Show me the four arms again! Do it! I'm gonna blast them off!" Bakugo yelled back, sitting on my chest and pinning my arms down.
"I can't! It's on recharge!"
Midoriya ran over, looking frantic. "Kacchan, stop! He saved us from the toy-monster! He's a hero!"
"He's a weirdo!" Bakugo countered, though he finally let go of my arms. He stood up, brushing sand off his shirt, and looked at me with a mix of loathing and intense curiosity. "Your 'Quirk' is stupid. But... it's big. Next time, turn into something that doesn't talk about commercials. Then we'll see who's stronger!"
He marched off, his tiny cape fluttering in the wind. Midoriya stayed behind, reaching out a hand to help me up.
"That was amazing, Kenji-kun," Izuku whispered, his eyes wide. "Even if it was a mistake... you looked just like a real hero. Can I... can I see the watch?"
I sighed, dusting the sand off my knees. I looked at the dark faceplate. "Maybe later, Izuku. I think I need a nap. And a new pair of pants."
The Homefront and the News
The walk home was a nightmare. Word had spread fast. Neighbors were peeking out of their windows, and by the time I reached my front door, my mother was already standing there, her skin glowing a frantic, strobe-light white.
"KENJI! The news! The park!" she cried, scooping me up.
My dad was in the living room, staring at the TV. A local news station was playing a grainy cell-phone video taken by a parent at the park. It showed a massive, red, four-armed figure towering over the trees, followed by a purple rift and... a toy commercial.
"The 'Marketing Monster of Mustafu'?" my dad read the headline, his jaw dropping. "Kenji, did you... did you use your Quirk to advertise for a watch company?"
"It's complicated, Dad," I groaned, burying my face in my hands.
The next few days were a blur of "Hero Public Safety Commission" phone calls and door-to-door salesmen. My parents had to sign about fifty different waivers promising that their son wasn't a walking billboard.
To make matters worse, the Omnitrix seemed to have developed a sense of humor. Every time I tried to practice a serious transformation in the backyard, it would give me the "wrong" alien for the most "fun" results.
I tried to go XLR8 to help my mom bring in the groceries? I got Grey Matter and ended up stuck inside a bag of rice, unable to climb out for twenty minutes.
I tried to go Diamondhead to fix a broken fence? I got Wildmutt and spent the afternoon digging a hole in the flowerbed and barking at the mailman.
"He's just... expressive," my mom would tell the neighbors, her skin glowing a weary, apologetic pink.
The Kindergarten "Show and Tell"
The peak of the "light-hearted" disaster came a week later: Show and Tell Day at Mustafu Kindergarten.
I didn't want to go. I knew it was a trap. But my parents insisted that I "act like a normal boy" and share my gift with the class.
I stood at the front of the room, twenty toddlers staring at me with expectant eyes. Even Bakugo was quiet, leaning back in his chair with his arms crossed, waiting for me to fail.
"This is my... Quirk," I said, holding up my wrist. "It allows me to access different genetic profiles. Today, I was going to show you a flying alien called Stinkfly."
I reached for the dial. I had been practicing. I knew the silhouette. I knew the feel of the click.
Slam.
FLASH!
The green light filled the classroom. I felt my body shift, my skin turning cold and slimy. But instead of wings, I felt... small. And very, very round.
The light faded. I wasn't flying. I was sitting on the teacher's desk, about the size of a bowling ball. I was white, with a giant green stomach and a mouth that felt way too big for my face.
UPCHUCK.
"It's a frog!" a girl in the front row cheered. "A fat, white frog!"
I tried to speak, but my tongue was like a coiled spring. Great, I thought. Upchuck. The alien that eats everything. What am I supposed to do with this in a classroom?
Just then, the teacher, a kind woman with cat-like ears, walked in carrying a tray of cupcakes for the class.
My Gourmand instincts screamed. To an Upchuck, everything is food, but sugary cupcakes are like premium fuel. Before my adult brain could stop me, my four long tongues shot out of my mouth.
SCHLURP. SCHLURP. SCHLURP.
In three seconds, the entire tray of twenty-four cupcakes was gone.
"MY CUPCAKES!" the teacher shrieked.
The kids started crying. Bakugo started laughing. And I, as Upchuck, felt a sudden, massive surge of energy in my stomach.
"Uh oh," I croaked.
In the world of Ben 10, whatever Upchuck eats, he has to spit back out as explosive energy. And I had just eaten twenty-four high-sugar cupcakes.
"GET DOWN!" I yelled.
I opened my mouth, and a massive, glowing green orb of "Cupcake Energy" shot out. It hit the chalkboard, turning it into a sparkling, sugary mess of green slime and glitter.
The classroom was covered in frosting. The walls were sticky. The teacher looked like she was ready to quit her job.
I timed out with a soft beep, standing in the middle of the sugary carnage. I looked at the teacher, then at the crying kids, then at the watch.
The Omnitrix chirped happily.
[NUTRITIONAL INTAKE: OPTIMAL. RECHARGE TIME REDUCED BY 40%.]
"Kenji..." the teacher said, wiping frosting off her ear. "Maybe... maybe next time, you can just bring a book?"
I looked at the class, then at my frosting-covered hands, and sighed. This "Hero" business was a lot harder when your own equipment was trying to prank you.
Author's Note: And thus, Kenji learns the most important lesson of the Omnitrix: the watch always knows better than you do (especially when it comes to snacks). We're leaning hard into the fun 'Quirk Mishaps' vibe for now! Next chapter, we'll see Kenji's first actual 'Hero' moment when a real—but very low-level—villain tries to rob a local convenience store while Kenji is just trying to buy some juice. Can he get the right alien when it actually matters?