Bab 3: First Transformation..1

I skipped the rest of the school day, feigning illness at the nurse's office and getting permission to head home early. The walk back was surreal. It felt like I was drifting, with each step echoing in the fog of my thoughts. The memories that had resurfaced still clawed at my mind, demanding attention, but I couldn't make sense of them. It was as if the pieces of my life, past and present, were scattered across two different puzzles.When I reached home, the house was quiet. Mom was probably still at work, and Akira would be at school for a few more hours. It was a relief to be alone. I needed time—time to think, time to breathe, and time to figure out what the hell was going on with me.My room was just as I'd left it that morning, a small sanctuary of normalcy amidst the chaos in my head. I shut the door behind me and sat on the bed, staring down at my hands. The warmth that had surged through my chest earlier had faded, but I could still feel the residual hum of power. It was subtle, like a second heartbeat, reminding me that the Omnitrix was there, waiting.I had to understand it. Had to know what it meant.Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes and focused inward, trying to connect with the energy I'd felt before. At first, nothing happened. It was just me, sitting in silence, feeling a bit foolish. But then, slowly, I started to sense it—a faint pulse, deep within me, responding to my focus.It was like a locked door, waiting to be opened.I imagined reaching out to it, like turning a key in a lock. And then, suddenly, the energy surged to life, coursing through my veins like liquid fire. I gasped, my eyes flying open as the warmth spread, intensifying with each passing second.I looked down at my hand and saw it—glowing lines of light, tracing the veins beneath my skin. They pulsed with a soft green glow, and I realized with a start that they formed a pattern—a familiar pattern.The Omnitrix.It was real. It wasn't just a memory from a cartoon; it was right there, inside me, part of me. And it was waking up.The glow spread from my hand, climbing up my arm like tendrils of light. I could feel the power building, a pressure in my chest that threatened to explode. Panic set in as the light reached my shoulder, then my neck, wrapping around me like a second skin.This wasn't normal. This wasn't how it was supposed to be. The Omnitrix was supposed to be a device, a watch, not something that consumed you from the inside out. I tried to will it away, tried to push the power back down, but it was too late. The transformation had started, and there was no stopping it now.The pressure in my chest intensified, and I doubled over, clutching at my shirt as the light engulfed me completely. It wasn't just light, though. It was heat, burning from within, reshaping me, changing me. My bones felt like they were on fire, stretching, morphing, becoming something else.I gritted my teeth against the pain, but a scream still tore from my throat. It was like being ripped apart and put back together again, over and over. My skin burned, my muscles twisted, and my mind… my mind was flooded with images, memories that weren't mine, instincts that weren't human.And then, just as suddenly as it started, the pain stopped.I collapsed onto the floor, gasping for breath, the remnants of the transformation still tingling in my limbs. I felt… different. Powerful. But also alien, as if my body didn't quite belong to me anymore.With a trembling hand, I reached up and touched my face. The skin was rough, harder than it should have been. I scrambled to my feet, nearly tripping over my own legs, and stumbled toward the mirror on my desk.What I saw staring back at me wasn't me. Not the me I'd been just a few minutes ago.I was taller, broader, and covered in dark, leathery skin that glistened with a faint sheen. My eyes were larger, glowing a vibrant green, and my hands… they were clawed, with sharp, pointed nails that looked more like talons.This was a form I recognized. Not from memory, but from instinct. It was one of the Omnitrix's forms—an alien species known as a Vulpimancer, or more commonly, Wildmutt.No eyes. Just enhanced senses, primal instincts, and raw, unfiltered power.I took a step back, shocked by my own reflection. The room was filled with new scents and sounds, overwhelming my heightened senses. I could smell the faint scent of breakfast lingering in the air, the distant hum of electronics, even the subtle, earthy scent of the plants in the garden outside. And the sounds… the ticking of a clock, the rustle of leaves in the wind, the faint vibrations of footsteps on the sidewalk several houses down.It was too much. I could barely process it all. The world was sharper, more vivid, and it was suffocating me.I stumbled back, tripping over my own feet as I tried to get away from the overload of sensations. My new limbs didn't move the way they should, and I crashed into the desk, knocking over a stack of books. They clattered to the floor with a deafening bang that made me wince.This was a mistake. I wasn't ready for this.I needed to change back. I needed to be me again.But how?I racked my brain, trying to remember how it worked in the show. Ben could change forms by pressing the Omnitrix's symbol. But there was no symbol here, no watch strapped to my wrist. It was all inside me, part of me, and I had no idea how to control it.Panic rose again, clawing at my throat. I couldn't stay like this. I didn't know how long it would last, or what might happen if I lost control completely. What if I hurt someone? What if Akira came home early and found me like this?No. I couldn't let that happen.I closed my eyes, trying to calm the storm of thoughts and sensations raging in my mind. Breathe, Ren. Focus. The Omnitrix was part of me now, and if I'd triggered the transformation, then there had to be a way to reverse it.I focused on that thought, on the memory of what it felt like to be human. To be myself. The warmth, the light, the pressure in my chest—I imagined pulling it all back in, sealing it away.For a moment, nothing happened. But then, slowly, I felt the power retreating, the heat subsiding. The claws retracted, the leathery skin smoothed out, and the heightened senses dulled back to normal. It was like exhaling after holding my breath for too long, and I collapsed to the floor, gasping for air.When I opened my eyes, I was me again.Human.I stayed there for a long time, lying on the floor, staring up at the ceiling. My body ached all over, muscles sore from the strain of the transformation. But at least I was back to normal. At least, on the outside.Inside, though… nothing was the same.The Omnitrix had awakened, and with it, the first step into a world I barely understood. A world where I wasn't just a high school student anymore, but something more. Something powerful.And that terrified me.