"So, let me get this straight," Max said, his gaze fixed on Evan's Another Omnitrix, currently resting on his wrist. "Your Another Omnitrix can not only absorb parts to improve itself, but also absorb energy too?"
"Yeah," Evan replied, glancing down at it. "I found that out by accident. Took a hit from something electrical once, and it just… absorbed it."
Max nodded slowly, piecing things together. "So that's why you let the Null Void beam hit you. You weren't taking a risk; you knew it would get absorbed. And once it finished processing it, you unlocked the ability to open a rift into the Null Void, same way you picked up flight that time."
"More like air walk." Evan said simply. "But yeah, that's about it,"
He didn't bother hiding it. If there was anyone he trusted with this, it was Max.
Max leaned back slightly, letting out a quiet breath as he processed everything. Evan had mentioned before that the Another Omnitrix could absorb and improve itself, but never in this much detail. At the time, Max hadn't pushed. He had other things to focus on, Ben, his Omnitrix, everything that kept piling on.
And, if he was being honest, he trusted Evan more back then.
Now, things were a little different.
After Vilgax, after everything that happened, Max couldn't ignore it anymore. Evan wasn't unstable, not exactly, but his mindset had shifted just enough to be noticeable. And that was what worried him.
Max had seen it before. People who were willing to do whatever it took to reach their goal.
That line was always there at the start. Clear, easy to see. But the more you crossed it, even just a little, the harder it became to tell where it was anymore.
Max didn't mind that Evan was capable of killing. In his line of work, sometimes there wasn't another option.
What he feared was Evan getting used to it.
Because once it started feeling normal, that was when things stopped being so simple.
Not every alien was beyond saving. Max had seen enemies turn into allies more times than he could count during his years as a Plumber. If Evan ever stopped seeing that possibility… that was when there would be a real problem.
No grandfather wanted to see their grandson turn into someone who solved everything by killing.
Max rubbed the back of his neck, then let out a small chuckle despite himself.
"This feels just like old times," he said.
Evan glanced at him briefly.
Max smiled a little. "Back when Stay Gold first joined the Plumbers, she gave me just as much trouble. Headache from day one."
Evan didn't respond to that, but he didn't look away either.
In his hand were several small upgrade modules, pieces he had created from tearing apart the alien ship, breaking it down, condensing it, and shaping it into usable components.
Without much hesitation, he opened the interface of his Another Omnitrix.
Max watched as Evan casually dropped the modules into it.
The interface flickered as the system processed everything. Most of the upgrades were routine, battery capacity increases, minor efficiency boosts, but a few stood out.
[Data Upgrade Detected. Universal Translator is now available.]
[Data Upgrade Detected. Bio-Energy Feedback Blast is now available.]
[Data Upgrade Detected. DNA Lockout Chip is now available.]
[Data Upgrade Detected. Voice Recognition is now available.]
[Data Upgrade Detected. Nervous System Scrambler is now available.]
[Data Upgrade Detected. Symbiotes Suit Mode is now available.]
Evan watched the list scroll by, but his focus lingered on defense in particular.
Back when he was Super Brainstorm, his boosted intelligence had made it obvious just how lacking his Another Omnitrix was compared to Ben's.
Ben's Omnitrix had layers of protection built into it. Failsafes, locks, systems designed to prevent anyone from tampering with it.
While Evan's Another Omnitrix doesn't have nearly as much. Besides it directly being a part of him, he doesn't have much going for him.
With enough knowledge and the right tools, someone could probably force it off his wrist.
There was a time when little Golshi had tried to take off his Another Omnitrix.
She had been curious, messing around like she always did. He had been asleep, not paying attention. She had tried to remove it like it was just another device.
It didn't go well.
The tools broke. Metal snapped. And in the middle of it, Evan ended up hurt.
Evan still remembered the moment clearly. The sharp pain. The blood that wouldn't stop. And the look on Gold Ship's face when she realized what had happened.
That was when he saw it. The Another Omnitrix wasn't just attached to him.
It was part of him. It had merged with his wrist completely.
He remembered wrapping his injured arm afterward, trying to downplay it while Gold Ship was panicking, convinced she had done something irreversible. The others had come in ready to scold her, only to end up comforting her instead when she broke down, crying and apologizing over and over.
She had always been chaotic, always getting into trouble, but never malicious.
Just careless sometimes.
Evan exhaled quietly, his focus returning to the present as the interface finished processing the upgrades, and he closed the interface.
...
A few days later, the Tennysons found themselves standing in line outside a video game store in San Francisco, waiting for the release of a new Sumo Slammers game.
The line stretched down the sidewalk and didn't seem to be moving at all.
Gwen shifted her weight from one foot to the other, tapping her foot against the pavement as she looked ahead with growing annoyance.
"We've been standing in this line for two hours," she said, glancing at the people in front of them, "and it hasn't budged an inch."
Ben, on the other hand, looked completely fine with it. He leaned forward slightly, trying to see how much longer the line went, clearly excited.
"It's a small price to pay for Sumo Slammers 2.1," he said. "I'd do anything to get this game. Even if it means being seen in public with you."
Gwen gave him a flat look. "Don't you already have this stupid video game?"
"Uh, hello?" Ben turned toward her like she had just missed something obvious. "This is Sumo Slammers 2.1. You can change your fighter's color at any point during the match."
He paused for emphasis.
"Duh."
Gwen stared at him for a second. "That's your big upgrade?"
Ben didn't even hesitate. "It's a huge upgrade."
Max, who had been standing behind them, glanced over at a nearby storefront and then back at the line.
"You know," he said, "there's a nice air-conditioned bookstore right over there. Maybe we could wait a bit until this line thins out?"
Ben shook his head immediately. "And lose our place? Not an option. I'll get my game and meet you back at the RV."
Max gave a small shrug. "Suit yourself."
He and Gwen stepped out of the line and started heading toward the bookstore. After a few steps, Max paused and turned back.
"Want us to pick up anything for you from the bookstore?"
Ben blinked, then rolled his eyes. "I'm on summer vacation. Why would I read anything?"
Max and Gwen exchanged a look but didn't say anything.
"Suit yourself," Max repeated, then turned and continued walking.
Once they were out of earshot, Gwen let out a small sigh.
"Grampa," she said, glancing back toward the line, "now that we're not stuck standing out there for hours… can we convince Evan to come out with us?"
Max smiled a little. "Worth a try."
They had already asked him earlier, but Evan had taken one look at the line, the heat, and Ben's enthusiasm and immediately decided he wanted no part of it.
So instead of waiting around, Max and Gwen headed back toward the Rust Bucket.
When they stepped inside, they found Evan exactly where they expected him to be.
Floating.
He was lying in midair, a blanket loosely draped over him, like he had turned the RV into his own personal zero-gravity lounge. One arm rested behind his head, and he looked completely unbothered.
Gwen crossed her arms. "You look comfortable."
"I am," Evan replied without opening his eyes.
Max leaned against the doorway. "We're heading to a bookstore. Thought you might want to come along."
"No," Evan said, almost immediately.
Gwen didn't even argue. She just walked over, stepped onto the table, grabbed the edge of the blanket, and started pulling.
Evan stayed in place for about half a second before the motion dragged him along with it, breaking whatever balance he had set up.
"Hey!"
"Too late," Gwen said, already heading toward the door while dragging both him and the blanket with her.
Max chuckled under his breath as he followed them out.
Evan didn't resist much after that; he released the blanket and returned to solid ground, as they made their way toward the bookstore.
"…This is unnecessary," he muttered.
"Probably," Gwen said. "But if I didn't, you won't stop being a shut-in."
...
Later, Evan, Max, and Gwen stepped out of the bookstore with a couple of bags in hand and started making their way back toward the game store.
"So," Gwen said, glancing ahead, "you think Ben's gone stir-crazy in that line yet?"
Evan looked at her, then toward the direction of the store. "He's still there? That was, what, three hours ago?"
"Closer to four," Max added.
Gwen shrugged. "Wouldn't surprise me."
They hadn't even made it halfway back before a loud crash echoed down the street.
People suddenly started running out of the game store, shouting and pushing past each other as an explosion rang out from inside.
A second later, Four Arms ran out of the store with a savage grin on his face, his body was a slightly more pale shade of red than normal, and no Omnitrix dial on his shoulder.
He let out a savage growl and immediately grabbed the nearest police car that had just pulled up. Before the officers could even react, he flipped it upside down and shook it hard enough to send both cops tumbling out onto the street.
Gwen blinked. "Uh… why is Ben going berserk and tossing around police officers?"
"Good question," Max said, already watching closely.
Evan didn't answer. He simply stepped back slightly, disappearing into the shadow cast by a nearby building without everyone noticing.
Four Arms grabbed the car again and hurled it aside like it weighed nothing. The officers scrambled away while more sirens filled the area.
A news helicopter hovered overhead, its camera locked onto the scene.
"This just in," the reporter's voice echoed from nearby screens and speakers, "this has been happening for weeks now. Another member of the alien group has gone rogue. Just like in several cities across the country, they've caused destruction on a massive scale."
More police cars pulled in, forming a loose perimeter.
Four Arms ripped a streetlight out of the ground and swung it around before tossing it straight into a squad car. Debris from the building followed not long after.
"He must have snapped his cap," Gwen said. "All this for a video game?"
"I don't believe it," Max said quietly. "Something isn't right."
More police tried to close in, but Four Arms kept throwing whatever he could get his hands on, cars, chunks of the sidewalk, even mailboxes, forcing them to keep their distance.
Then a large black armored truck pulled up.
The side doors opened, and a man stepped out wearing a black and green vest with an army badge, green cargo pants, and a shaved flat top. A long scar ran across his face.
"Lieutenant Steel," he introduced himself, flashing his badge briefly. "Special Alien Containment Team. We'll take it from here. Concussion bazooka."
Two soldiers stepped out behind him, carrying a large yellow weapon mounted against one of their chests as they aimed it toward Four Arms.
"That doesn't look good," Max muttered.
Before they could fire, something dropped from above.
A metal armored figure landed between them and Four Arms.
SAM straightened up slowly, his gaze locking onto the rampaging alien in front of him. It didn't take long for him to notice the missing detail. There wasn't any Omnitrix dial on him.
The soldiers hesitated, lowering the bazooka slightly as the two aliens faced each other.
"I see," SAM said. "So you aren't an imposter."
Then he moved.
Flames burst from his back and legs as he shot forward, closing the distance instantly. His fist slammed into Four Arms' face, snapping his head back before he could react. SAM followed it up with a spin, driving a kick into the side of his head that sent him crashing into the side of a nearby building.
SAM turned his head slightly toward the soldiers.
"Stay back for now. I'll handle this imposter myself."
Four Arms didn't stay down.
He burst back out of the building, completely unfazed, carrying a dislodged furnace from inside the store. Without slowing down, he hurled it straight at SAM.
SAM reacted immediately, flying up and catching it mid-air before it could hit a nearby truck. But that brief moment gave Four Arms an opening.
Another car came flying toward him.
It exploded on impact mid-air, sending flames outward as the force pushed SAM back slightly.
Four Arms didn't wait to see what happened next. He turned and leaped away, disappearing down the street in a few bounds.
As the flames died down, SAM descended back to the ground, completely unharmed.
His gaze followed the direction Four Arms had escaped to.
"Freeze!" one of the soldiers shouted, raising his weapon toward SAM.
"EXCUSE ME!" SAM asks, seeing the weapon being pointed at him.
"Lower your weapon!" Lt. Steel snapped immediately.
The soldier hesitated, then lowered it.
Steel walked forward, stopping in front of SAM and looking him over carefully. His eyes lingered on the golden Omnitrix dial embedded in the armor.
A small smile formed as he raised his hand.
"I'm Lt. Steel. Pleasure to meet you."
"SAM," the armored alien replied, reaching out and shaking his hand.
The soldiers behind them exchanged confused looks. Gwen and Max weren't much different.
Evan remembers his voice, the same man who asked him when he handed Rojo in for custody.
"SAM," Steel said, lowering his hand, "mind explaining why your friends are going berserk across the country?"
"That isn't my friend," SAM replied, pointing at the dial on his chest. "My friend carries this same symbol, just a different color. As you can see, the imposter doesn't have one."
Steel narrowed his eyes slightly, glancing at the golden Omnitrix dial, recalling how other aliens carrying that same dial have been spotted across the country.
He also recalls a different group of aliens having a similar symbol, but mostly white and gray.
"So you're saying someone else is responsible?" Steel asked, his tone more cautious now.
"Believe me or not, that's your call," SAM said calmly. "We help people because we can and have the power to do so. That also meant we will make many enemies. We've dealt with shapeshifters before. This isn't new."
His gaze shifted back toward where Four Arms had fled.
"I'm going after the imposter."
The metal plating on his back shifted as flames spread outward, forming wings. Without another word, SAM lifted off and shot into the air, heading after the fleeing figure.
Lt. Steel watched him go, silent, his expression unreadable.
AN: Guys, give me some suggestions for what alien life form he should gain. Some of my choices are either too OP or don't feel alien enough. Give me some with interesting ablity, it will be more fun to use than just hard hitter.