Ben 10: Carnitrix Without Downsides?

A new day dawned. The Rustbucket was parked along a misty forest trail, just beyond a wide lake where visitors were leisurely drifting by in paddle boats, enjoying the calm scenery.

On the shore sat a young boy, quietly gazing at the water.

"Open personal panel," he said aloud.

[Personal Panel]

Host: Zack

Age: 11

Template: Carnitrix

— Transformation Duration: 10 minutes  

— Cooldown: 10 minutes  

— Killer Mode: Unlocked

Progress: 7 / 100

Skills: None

Items: None

Unlocked Extraterrestrials:  

– Initial Ten  

– The Mummy  

– Frankenstrike

– Blitzwolfer 

– Gorebolt

– Eye Guy  

– Wildvine  

– Ditto

Physique: Equivalent to a strong adult human

...

Zack examined the panel with curiosity and muttered to himself, "Interesting… I just noticed something. Before Ben started naming the error-form aliens for me, the System listed them by their original names…"

He chuckled.

"'Gorebolt' was totally one of Ben's names."

The aliens that hadn't been renamed still retained their original names.

Zzzzt—

Beside him, a tall figure engulfed in flames stood proudly by the lakeside, a faint pillar of fire rising beneath his feet.

"Ben… next time you transform into Heatblast, make sure you've peed properly." Zack said, exasperated, closing his personal panel. His face was covered in black lines of frustration.

"Ah—sorry! I really had to go!" Ben replied sheepishly. Once he was done, he took off flying as Heatblast, soaring along the uninhabited edge of the lake.

Meanwhile, Gwen was in the shallows, splashing water and laughing as she and Zack played.

"You all woke up earlier than me, huh? Kids sure do love messing around in the water," Grandpa Max muttered with a yawn, watching them from inside the Rustbucket.

Today's plan was to go fishing on the lake.

But clearly, Zack and the others had gotten up early and decided to turn the morning into a full-blown swim session before the boat ride even began.

A few minutes later—

Grandpa Max stepped out to the lakeshore in his slippers, just as Zack, Gwen, and Ben returned from the water, dripping and cheerful.

Ben landed next to Zack, ended his transformation, and muttered, "When I was flying just now, I saw something... like a dark shadow underwater. Kinda weird."

"A dark shadow?" Zack narrowed his eyes. Could it be that lake monster from the original series?

He grew more alert, instantly on guard.

After drying off with towels and changing into dry clothes, the group was led by Grandpa Max to meet a local guide named Captain Shaw.

They boarded Captain Shaw's boat and began heading toward the center of the lake.

As the boat glided across the misty water, Captain Shaw began telling the legend of a lake monster—Kraken.

But before he could finish his story, he suddenly slammed on the brakes.

The boat jerked to a halt, causing Zack, Gwen, and Ben to nearly topple over.

Right ahead, a massive vessel had cut across their path, blocking the route to the lake's center!

"Hey! What's the big idea?! You trying to get yourself killed?!" Captain Shaw leaned out over the edge, shouting irritably. He had clearly entered full 'rant mode.'

"Apologies," a voice called from the deck of the large vessel.

A man with a close-cropped red buzz cut stepped forward. He had a kind expression, a solid build, and wore a light blue protective suit.

"We're with the Friends of Fish Association. We're conducting an environmental survey in the center of the lake. For safety reasons, the area is temporarily sealed off."

"You—" Captain Shaw was just about to argue—

But one by one, people in helmets and blue protective suits stepped silently behind the red-haired man.

Their presence was intense, their posture disciplined—they didn't look like ordinary researchers at all.

"You're blocking us because of that big lake monster, aren't you?" Ben suddenly stood up and pointed toward the center of the lake.

"What?! A lake monster?!"

Everyone on the large ship turned to look. Even Captain Shaw leaned out to get a better view.

And there it was.

From the misty center of the lake, a massive creature slowly surfaced—its green-blue body easily over twenty meters long, resembling a plesiosaur with a long neck and sleek aquatic frame.

The lake monster had appeared!

Zack narrowed his eyes.

"Zack," Ben said calmly, "that thing's been tailing me since earlier. Let me handle it."

Without hesitation, Ben activated the Omnitrix and slammed down on the watch.

A bright flash.

With a splash, a powerful merman-like alien dove into the lake—his limbs were built for speed, his jaw filled with razor-sharp steel teeth.

Steeljaws had entered the fight.

"Ben..." Zack glanced at him and said dryly, "You don't need to use the lake as a bathroom, do you? Try not to turn this into a giant fish toilet."

"Zack, can you not? Also, call me Ripjaws!" Ben huffed indignantly, then flipped his powerful tail and shot through the water like a torpedo, heading straight for the lake monster.

"If Ben's handling the creature…" Zack turned slightly, narrowing his eyes at the buzz-cut man and his group on the large ship. "Then I'll keep an eye on these guys."

Sure enough, several of the so-called "researchers" were quietly pulling out weapons—harpoon guns, submachine guns, even grenades and other heavy arms.

"Fish Friends Association? Yeah, right." Gwen folded her hands. "There was no way their identity was that innocent."

Suddenly, on the deck of the large ship—

"Wait, hold on!" A man named Jonah Melville raised his hand and pointed excitedly out into the distance. "Don't act yet—look over there! What's that?!"

"Is that… another merman?"

"There's more than one lake monster?!"

Gasps echoed across the ship.

"Haha, we're gonna be rich!!"

One by one, the so-called researchers lowered their firearms and stared greedily at the spot where the lake monster was thrashing. Grins spread across their faces as they imagined their payday.

Meanwhile, Ripjaws—Ben's current transformation—was locked in a fierce underwater wrestling match with the Kraken-like creature, skillfully maneuvering around its tentacles.

Jonah Melville raised a tranquilizer sniper rifle and took aim at Ben.

"Once those two wear each other out, we'll take down the small one first with a tranquilizer dart—then move in on the big one!"

"Brilliant! Great plan!"

The subordinates eagerly nodded in agreement. One of them hesitated and asked, "But someone's still watching us from the shore… what do we do about them?"

"Idiot! Just a bunch of kids and two old people. Even if they know who we are, what can they do? Expose us? Pfft."

Jonah Melville sneered in disdain.

At that moment—

Click.

Max slowly lowered his phone and turned to Zack. "Zack, I just called a contact. These people aren't part of the Fish Friends Association. They're armed poachers—heavily armed."

"Yeah, Grandpa," Zack said quietly, eyes narrowing. "I didn't get a good feeling from them either. And now they're targeting Ben…"

He slowly raised his wrist, tapped the screen of the Carnitrix, and rotated the dial to the Eye Guy.

"I'll handle them."

BOOM!!

A flash of blood-red light erupted.

Captain Shaw turned slightly toward the deck, shielding his eyes from the burst of light. He scowled and barked, "Who the heck is shining a blinding light in broad daylight? Are you trying to get cursed out?!"

Then he got a good look.

"Gh—GHOST!!"

His curses cut off instantly. His eyes rolled back, and he collapsed with a loud thud, fainting on the spot.

"What… what kind of monster is that…?"

"It's terrifying!!"

Gwen covered her mouth in horror, her skin crawling with goosebumps. Even Max, who had seen his fair share of bizarre things, broke into a cold sweat.

Standing on the boat was a hulking, deep-yellow extraterrestrial with a grotesque, muscular frame.

His shoulders, chest, and various parts of his body were split open by thick, inverted gashes—exposing raw, pulsating flesh beneath.

And inside that flesh… dozens of eyeballs writhed and squirmed, constantly blinking in all directions.

This was one of Zack's more disturbing transformations—

Error Variant: Eye Guy.

"Hmm…? What's with their reaction?"

Zack let out a long breath as he stood by the lake, catching a glimpse of his reflection in the water.

And immediately jumped back in shock.

"Holy crap!!"

To be honest—

He'd been transforming for a while now, but this was the first time he'd actually seen what he looked like in this form.

And even he was terrified.

"This is way too freaky!!"

Zack yanked his head back, shook off the chill, and then crouched low before leaping high into the air—his grotesque, eyeball-covered body soaring toward the poachers' large vessel.

"If I look this terrifying…"

"Then it's time to give these villains a real nightmare!"

[Transformer's Rule: Always use the bathroom before transforming! P.S. Zack almost peed himself when he saw his own reflection for the first time. Also! Leave a comment to suggest a cool name for the Error variant of Eye Guy! I'll pick the best one from your suggestions!]