Slowly, Garth found himself regaining consciousness. He could tell that he was sitting in something and lying on a desk. "Did I fall asleep at my computer," he thought. However, he quickly dismissed the idea. Thinking about how his desk at home was arranged, it did not seem possible for him to just lie his head down and fall asleep.
"So good of you to join us, Garth," said an irritated woman's voice. "Did you enjoy your nap?"
Among the chuckling around him, Garth sat up and took in his surroundings. He was in a classroom. Not one at his normal university but one he recognized from his high school days. The people around him and the teacher all seeming similarly familiar to those he knew from the past.
"I know today is the last day of school, but at least pretend to be paying attention. We're discussing the summer project your teachers next year will be expecting you to turn in. I'll pass out the handouts now. When I get to you, take one and pass the rest back." With that the female teacher proceeded to pick up a stack of papers and begin passing them around.
Garth was in a daze and mindlessly accepted the papers when the teacher got to him before taking one and handing the rest to the student sitting behind him. He barely registered anything until the bell range and everyone rushed out of the room followed by the teacher's farewells.
Slipping the handout into his backpack, Garth followed suit. Walking out of the classroom, his eyes scanned the hallways to find it was all the same. The walls, the classrooms, the students walking the halls, the lockers; it was all the same. It was as though he truly had returned to his high school days.
Not bothering to stop by his locker seeing as he neither remembered where it was or the combination - nor did he use it much when he actually had one -, Garth quickly made his way into the bathroom.
Going to the sink, Garth splashed water on his face. Ignoring anyone else coming or going, he tried to understand the situation. "Okay, weird ass phone call…god lady…choose a world…age…Right. So…I'm in Ben 10. I'm the main character…That means it's the start of summer break…"
Raising his face to look at his reflection, Garth's eyes widened. He saw how much younger he looked – roughly fifteen-years-old. However, that was not all. Something seemed…off. His blue eyes were much more striking than they had ever been in his life. His brown hair was shorter than he usually kept it and more styled. He would add that he even seemed a bit more handsome than he was.
Standing straight, Garth noticed what he was wearing. He had on a white, short-sleeve shirt with a black collar and thick black line down the middle; brownish-green cargo pants, and black and white sneakers. Not only was this definitely not the dress code from when he was in school, he did not recall having any clothes like this.
Then, something else caught Garth's eye. He looked at his arms and noticed how toned they were. Poking, flexing, and pinching his biceps, he could feel the muscle underneath his freckled skin. Lifting his shirt, he saw a hard stomach. He did not have visible abs, but he clearly had a much more toned physique than he had ever had in his life.
Various thoughts passed through Garth's mind as he considered what was going on. Then, he realized. He's Ben Tennyson - the main character of Ben 10. He's still himself – Garth Haze with blue eyes, freckled skin, etc. But he has fallen into the role of Ben and taken on some of his characteristics: vibrant eyes, hair style, more athletic build.
Lowering his shirt, Garth took in his situation when he felt a vibrating in his pocket.
Startled slightly by the sudden sensation, Garth reached into his pocket to pull out the golden, sleek 'magic phone'. He opened it to find it exactly the same as it was before. The only thing of note was the little notification bubble on the Reality MOD app. Pressing on it, the app filled the screen.
[Greetings Garth Haze to the Reality MOD application. Here, you will be granted a limited ability to access and interact with the world around you.]
[To begin, you are presently in the story of Ben 10 – with a slight adjustment to make you fifteen instead of ten. School has just let out and our grandfather is waiting outside to begin a summer road trip. Before this, let us walk you through the app and its features.]
Garth taped on the button to proceed and the text vanishes. Now on the screen is four boxes that read 'REALITY', 'PHYSICAL', 'DESIRE' and 'GOAL'. In the upper right is a little circle with his picture. Windows of text begin appearing while highlighting different areas of the screen.
[This is the Reality Modification tab. You are free to alter reality however you wish. However, this feature can only be accessed once per shift in reality. As there has been one shift, you have one use.]
Next.
[Here is the Physical Modification tab. You will be able to select any character you have encountered and impute a physical change. The change will not be immediate and will take place overtime depending on how significant the change. There is no limit to how much you can change a character, but only one change can be submitted at a time per character and it cannot be changed until it is complete.]
Next.
[The Desire Modification allows you to select a character and submit a thought. Limited to a single sentence of reasonable length and structure, the character will have a strong attachment to and impulse to act on the given thought. Only one desire can be submitter per character per day.]
Next.
[Goal Modification is a long-term, subconscious application of desire. It is to assign a character a goal - a storyline or plot - they will pursue. No matter what it is, their actions will weave into the world to make it a possibility.]
Finally?
[Profile Modification allows you to access and make mild adjustments to yourself. This tab will also keep a summary of what you have done, shifts in reality, and more. Be aware, self-adjustments are limited to accessing and editing your existing character details. New details and traits cannot be added and any changes may not be instant.]
[Congratulations! You have completed the tutorial. Try using the Reality Modification to shift reality!]
After one last tap of the screen, the text bubbles vanished.
Garth tried checking the various options, but physical, desire, and goal modifications all opened to blank screens. He did not feel much point in accessing his profile right now. So, that left reality modification.
Garth considered what he could possibly want to change. He had been into rewatching Ben 10 for nostalgia for a minute - and because people were reacting to it on YouTube - so he knew the plot. Assuming he actually followed the canon story…
"Episode one is getting the Omnitrix. Then there's Animo, the kraken, the retirement home, the bounty hunters, the megawatts, Kevin, biker girl, clown, lucky girl, forever knights, and Vilgax…And that's just season one. If we follow the story as it is, then there's not much point in not testing this out now. But how? I've got one chance to change things."
"I could introduce a new concept like Aura, Soul Reapers, or something. But I can get that later with other stuff getting added; so, it might be a waste."
"I could mess with the characters. Like turn Animo into a hot scientist girl. Much rather deal with that than his canon self. But that's also true for a couple of the characters. Something that can affect reality as a whole and be a bit of a 'catch all'…"
Garth tapped on the reality modification. Rather than an empty screen, it had the Ben 10 logo at the top followed by a bar to type in his change. Tapping on the bar, the keyboard pulled up.
Thinking over his options, Garth had an idea. Looking at things from the perspective of this being an actual story. A simple way for him to get results and test the apps power would be to target the nature of the story itself. The original story of Ben 10 had elements of action, adventure, sci-fi, and superhero. So, he thought of trying to change or add a particular genre.
Garth typed: Ben 10 belongs to the [Ecchi] genre.
Tapping the button to lower the keyboard, Garth noticed the addition of a button to 'enter'. Tapping on it, there was a strange pulse that was released from the phone.
Initially startled by the visible ripple in space around him, Garth looked back to the phone to see the app had returned to the selection screen - though the 'reality modification' option was grayed out. Running a hand through his hair, he decided to just wait and see what happens before vacating the bathroom to leave the building.
Heading outside the school building, Garth was not sure what he was to be doing and decided to try wandering around until he gained some sort of clue. To his relief and mild shock, it did not take him long to find the familiar yellow with red detail RV - otherwise known as the Rustbucket - sitting to one side of the parking lot. He moved to approach it - being careful to avoid any oncoming cars, the door opened.
Stepping out of the Rustbucket was a heavyset man in his early sixties with a head of short, gray and white hair; thick, brown eyebrows, and wearing a red, Hawaiian shirt over a gray undershirt; blue, jean pants; and brown loafers. Garth instantly recognized the man as Max Tennyson - grandfather and mentor figure of Ben Tennyson.
On Garth's approach, Max happily said, "There you are, Garth. I was starting to get worried you might've changed your mind about coming on this trip."
"N-No way," Garth stuttered. "I was just making sure to use the restroom before we left."
"I hear you," Max nodded. He then gestured for Garth to follow him. "Well, come on. We're burning daylight. I want to make it to the campsite by nightfall."
Following the man onto the Rustbucket, Garth slowly took in the interior. From the ugly carpet consisting of multiple colors that blended into a brown mess that obscured the repeating diamond pattern to the reddish-orange upholstery to the yellowish cabinets and countertop. The sight of something he had only seen on TV or a computer coming to life before his eyes…
As he took in the sight before him, Garth turned to find he had failed to notice the girl sitting in the booth next to the door. Fifteen-years-old, she had red hair that reached past her shoulders but was pulled up and styled shortly. The chin-length locks of hair framed her face while the rest of her hair was pulled into a small, side ponytail by a blue scrunchy. She had vibrant green eyes and pierced ears. She wore a pale blue shirt with a dark blue cat face on the chest and dark blue collar and sleeves; calf-length, white leggings; and white and blue shoes. Her outfit seemed a bit tight from how it clung to her mature figure - highlighting her chest but especially emphasizing her large rear.
This was Gwen Tennyson, the cousin of Ben Tennyson, and now Garth's.
Knowing who Gwen was and why she was here but not sharing Ben's canon displeasure, Garth offered a simple greeting of, "Hey, Gwen." He was curious to see if things would follow the original story or if it would be different.
Taking Garth's stunned silence as confusion, Grandpa Max said, "I thought it would be fun if your cousin came along with us this summer."
Gwen then added irritably, "Yeah, by convincing my mom that going camping for the summer would be a 'good experience' for me."
"Personality is canon," Garth thought. "She's been aged up to fifteen but so far doesn't seem any different from how she's portrayed when she was ten."
"Now come on," Max said from the driver's seat - looking back at the two. "I think it'll be good to have some quality family time together. Spending time with my grandkids and help you two connect. That's not a problem, is it?"
"Not for me, Grandpa," Garth answered quickly before smoothly slipping into the booth across from Gwen.
The girl was slower to respond - slightly caught off guard by Garth's quick response. She offered a reluctant, "Not me either."
Max nodded, and soon they were on the road.