Creation began on 03-31-19

Creation ended on 03-31-19

Ben 10

Downgrade Return

A/N: Only because I don't see anyone else trying this.

Asleep in the Rustbucket, all the members of Team Tennyson were completely unaware of the uninvited stranger that just appeared to be there. A dark stranger in a black and purple skin suit whose dark eyes were like an inferno inside a black hole.

He approached Ben and reached out to the Omnitrix, rebooted after the incident with both Vilgax and the alien race that Shock Rock belonged to, which began to levitate Ben's arm up.

"Normally, I wouldn't do something like this because you're likely to echo your mistakes again," the man uttered, lightly grabbing the Omnitrix, "but I'll let your infraction slide this one time because of the importance of the Omnitrix needing every DNA sample in existence for the future of the cosmos. Just don't think you're getting off without a warning, Ben Tennyson."

Something like a tentacle extended from his right hand and was absorbed into the device.

Beep. It beeped for a second before a silhouette of a humanoid appeared and disappeared again.

"Good luck," he told the sleeping boy and put his arm down.

-x-

Ben awoke to the next morning to see that a note had been taped to his forehead.

"That's not funny," he muttered as he pulled the note from him. "Huh?"

"There is a lesson to be learned. Don't repeat the mistake that caused you to endanger the world with Shock Rock's race." The note read, and Ben felt that Gwen and Max were reminding him not fool with the Omnitrix.

But then, he noticed another note taped to the front door.

"You'll understand when you scroll through the Omnitrix," it read, and Ben looked at the device, scrolling through the alien options currently available to choose from.

"Let's see, there's Four Arms, Heatblast, Rath, Stinkfly," he uttered as he examined each alien that showed up in the silhouettes. "Diamondhead, Wildvine, Overflow… What?! Wildvine? Overflow? Grey Matter? But these guys were removed after the reboot, and… Oh, my…can it be?"

The alien silhouette that he stopped on was one he hadn't seen in a long time since he tinkered with the Omnitrix…and one he didn't think he'd see again.

"Upgrade, too?" He questioned, and then looked at the first note that warned him not to repeat his initial mistake with Upgrade. "Okay, if this is both a gift and a punishment, I promise not to mess with the Omnitrix again."

As he stepped out of the camper, he came upon a third note that read, "You had better not, Ben Tennyson. You will not be fortunate the next time you decide to tinker."

Ben shuddered and got the impression that someone from afar was testing him. If he failed, he would likely lose Upgrade again…and wouldn't get it back next time.

"Okay, Ben, don't use Upgrade unless you absolutely have to," Ben told himself.

-x-

Watching from a vast distance, the dark stranger that returned Upgrade to the rebooted Omnitrix saw as Ben was dealing with Billy Billions again, but this time was teamed up with Kevin Levin and Tim Buktu.

"How are you going to stop us this time, Tennyson?!" Billy demanded as Kevin used his Omnitrix knockoff to become his mockery of Four Arms, Quad Smack.

Ben, unafraid of the three, and seeing a broken firetruck nearby, decided to give them a taste of the past and future that he regained.

"Here's an old friend of mine that I've missed greatly!" He told them and slapped the dial on his Omnitrix, selecting the alien of his choice.

In a flash of light, the boy was replaced by a black and purple humanoid with large arms and a single eye, looking as though it were made of circuitry.

"Welcome back, Upgrade," the man said as he saw Ben, as Upgrade, take control of the broken firetruck and turn it into a black and purple high-tech version of itself with a cannon atop where its old water cannon resided. "Good luck."

Fin

A/N: Now I feel better. I'm the first to post in the reboot series the return of Upgrade. Props to any that can identify the mysterious man that returned Upgrade to the Omnitrix in their review. Peace.