Washington B.C.

While visiting Washington, D.C., Heatblast escorts a mother and son safely out of their burning home, then pursues the jewel thieves responsible for the blaze in the Rust Bucket. However, the Omnitrix shuts down to recharge from overuse right when he is about to arrest them, leaving Ben annoyed of being denied credit for their capture. Meanwhile across town, Dr. Aloysius Animo, a disgruntled veterinary scientist and geneticist who dropped off the map for five years after losing the Verties Award for his twisted experiments on animals, tests his new Transmodulator (a helmet capable of manipulating an animal’s genetics) on his own landlord, intent on using it to control an army of mutants into carrying out his revenge on the award’s recipient Dr. Kelly. Needing more components for his work, he sets out on his mutant frog to collect some from a supermarket, where the Tennysons are working as punishment for Ben’s raid on the cereal aisle as a Galvan (dubbed Grey Matter). Ben tries to stop Animo despite the Omnitrix still being in recharge mode, but the scientist mutates a cockatiel and hamster at the pet section and sends them after the Tennysons, forcing Ben to only bury the hamster under shelves while Animo escapes with on the bird. Using the of prehistoric creatures from the museum to life. doesn’t have any power left when Ben eventually defeats him, and learns that being a hero doesn’t always come with rewards.