Benjamin Tennyson jolted upright in bed, drenched in sweat, lungs heaving like he'd just run a marathon.
And then… silence.
No screaming. No flashing lights. Just the soft hum of a suburban fan turning in lazy circles above his head.
But his heart was racing.
Because he just got new set of memories.
Not just any a whole lifes worth of it, Not just the familiar beige walls of his room or the smell of his pillow. He remembered another life his past life. A world where he watched Ben 10 as a cartoon. Where comic of Marvel or DC was just comics . Where people called this reality fiction.
But now?
He was Ben Tennyson, age twelve. Alive. Real. And sitting in a universe far more terrifying than the one he left behind and he just now knew about it from his past life memories about this lifes and he did not know how much Deep shit he was in Before.
His hands trembled slightly as he swung his legs over the side of the bed. The memories were fresh unfolding like files being downloaded into his head. Of Cosmic warlords. The Omnitrix so many fictions and Novels he was an nerd in his past or the other guys life , it was so much.
He also remember something else that he just now remembered after a bit and it send a shiver Down his spine.
"...Gwen," he muttered, grimacing.
His heart twitched at the name. Not out of hate. No his new memories of Gwen were filled with Degenarcy something called rule 34 Yuck . He was cursed to remember all that his new memories where filled up with it so much of it gewn with him in it , most of the time he almost puked at the thought of that he ran around slapping himself to not think about it but this but he was getting Horny about gewn Ew plus this new memories about Adult world His childhood is ruined it's gone Sigh....
But now… now every time he thought about her, his brain pulled up images. Gwen smiling. Gwen pouting. Gwen's hair in the sunlight. And all the other cursed memories.
From his previous life.
"Gross," he muttered, face red. "This is so stupid…"
He dropped onto his chair and booted up the Desktop suprisingly Good for it's time plus an fiber net too, well his parents where nice people he will make them rich for sure if thing's go his way well sitting on his desk. No time to panic. He had a week. Seven days before Grandpa Max pulled up in the Rust Bucket for their summer trip.
And if this world worked like he remembered… that trip would change everything.
------
The week blurred into a frenzy of quiet obsession.
Ben barely left his room. Between pretending to be a normal kid and not arousing suspicion, he devoured every scrap of intel he could find.
He tracked the news: Tony Stark had just come out as Iron Man, confirming this was 2008. That meant the Avengers weren't assembled yet. SHIELD Probably existed. The X-Men were kinda active, but disorganized. The government knew about mutants, but the world hadn't gone full superhero yet.
He researched deep forums on mutants, the U.S. military, Big shots Billionairs , Famous scientist, Actors , Media ,rumors, conspiracy blogs, alien sightings—everything.
The world was still mostly quiet… for now.
But the thing he kept wondering about most?
"Will the Omnitrix still be here?"
He stared at the sky constantly, checking every meteor news. Nothing yet.
He kept a notebook to sketching designs using what he remembered of alien biology, Marvel tech, and real-world science.he did mental simulation of how he thought that alien would think. He used it to write blueprints, form hypotheses, prep for the impossible.
It kept him sane.
Barely.
---
A full week passed. Then…
Honk-honk.
The blaring sound of the Rust Bucket's horn snapped him from his thoughts.
Ben grabbed his backpack and ran downstairs, forcing on the biggest grin he could fake as his anxiety was skyhigh right now .
"Grandpa Max!" he cheered as he swung open the door.
"Ben, my boy!" Max beamed, arms wide, pulling him into a strong, familiar hug. "Ready for an old-school road trip?"
Ben smiled genuinely this time. It was on instict . Just warmth. "You bet."
And then… she stepped out.
Gwen.
Hair short... very cute, Arms crossed. Face full of unimpressed cousin energy.
"Try not to cry when you lose to me at Scrabble again," she said, smirking.
Ben blinked.
She was… pretty.
Dammit.
He froze. His brain short-circuited as his past-life memories whispered all kinds of unhelpful things.
"Don't blush, don't blush—"
"Cat got your tongue, doofus?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
Ben coughed and turned away. "Yeah, whatever. Just surprised you didn't bring a whole suitcase of textbooks."
They piled into the Rust Bucket, and the road rolled out beneath them in miles of blur.
---
"So," Gwen said, halfway through the drive, "you've actually been keeping up with current events?"
Ben leaned against the window. "You mean Iron Man?"
She blinked. "Yeah. That's not like you."
Ben shrugged, playing it cool. "He's cool, alright? Built a flying suit in a cave. With scraps."
"You actually read about it ?"
Ben smiled slightly. "I tried. Repulsor tech, arc reactor design, high-density alloy exo-frame. It's not just too cool."
Gwen tilted her head. "Okay… that was actually impressive. You almost kept up with what I was about to say."
He felt a small rush in his chest at her compliment—and hated it.
"Why do you even know all this?" she asked, genuinely curious now.
He didn't even have to think. "Iron Man's my favorite. Ever since he went public, I've been reading everything. Interviews. Leaks. Diagrams. I dunno… he is so cool."
She looked at him sideways. "You're turning into a nerd."
Ben rolled his eyes. "I prefer engineering prodigy."
She laughed—and he couldn't help but smile.
Every time her shoulder bumped his during the ride, his heart jumped like a moron. He hated how much it got to him. He wasn't supposed to feel this way. Not about Gwen. But that other life—those dumb memories—had planted something deep, and he couldn't shake it.
She didn't notice, of course. She was too busy pulling out a book about modern physics and pretending the outside world didn't exist.
And maybe that was for the best.
---
As the sun dipped toward the horizon, painting the sky in shades of fire and rose, the Rust Bucket pulled into a clearing surrounded by woods.
Camp site.
" This is it".
Ben's eyes kept scanning the sky as Max parked the RV and began unpacking.
He could felt even more uneasy and twichy.
A weight in his chest.
And with every second… the sky grew darker
And he just kept looking at the now Darkened sky .