Aquilalibra: Hi guys! Long time no see! I know it's been a while since I've posted or updated anything, but I promise you, I've been working my poor fingers off! I have a lot of upcoming projects planned-so many I don't even know if I'll be able to do them all! But, nevertheless, I'll do my best! As always, as you're reading this, make sure to look for any errors or misspellings. I'm a huge stickler about my grammar, and I wish to provide a good quality read that doesn't require you to see glaring mistakes! So if you see any, please notify me! That way I can get right onto fixing it!

-o-O-o-

Catastrophe

-o-O-o-

Chapter 1: Something Fishy

In the small town of Bellwood, a series of explosions ripped through the streets—claiming several cars and chunks of asphalt as its victims. Smoke billowed into the sky, making the warm, bright September day seem like late afternoon. Clouds of ash covered the sun, blotting out the skies from below. Screams of terror and desperation wailed from within the city, so great and many that it seemed as if Bellwood itself was crying out for help. Suddenly an earth-trembling quake shook the area and an object that looked not unlike a flaming comet shot from the far west side of the city through several tall buildings and into the cement; making a good sized dent in the road. The flaming comet slowly rose from the hole and the shape became almost human-like in appearance. Except it was on fire. Fire covered the entire form, except for a few places which looked to be composed of magma-like rocks, and a spot in the middle of its chest which sported a strange looking device of green and black in an hourglass shape. Orange and yellow flames flickered from the figure as it brushed rocks and other debris from it shoulders with a flaming hand. Looking up towards the direction from where it had come, what could be called a scowl in human terms appeared on its fiery face. "Just one day without a bad guy showing up. That's all I want. Is that seriously too much to ask for?" It announced to no one in particular in a crackling voice that was definitely male.

Shooting a circle of fire around himself, the blazing figure shot off the ground and into the smoking sky with a mass of cement beneath him. Rising rapidly, he scanned the city below searching for the cause of this whole disturbance. Spotting the culprit not but two or three blocks away, he propelled the makeshift "rock-saucer" towards the ground again. He pulled up quickly as the street came into view and came face to face with a very misplaced creature. On a normal day, Bellwood was not a place you would usually find prehistoric dinosaurs—not to mention a three thousand pound T-Rex—in the streets. But there was most certainly one very alive and also very angry T-Rex with an equally mad and most definitely crazy old man on his back. "I didn't know we were visiting the dinosaur exhibit today, Doc. I would have brought my camera!" the alien shouted at the white-haired figure on the T-Rex's back. Swinging his head round to look with shock and then fury down at the flaming hero, the old man snarled out a single angry word. "YOU!" Shaking his head with a mock pout, the hero tutted at the furious man. "Tut, tut, tut, I expected more of a comeback from you Dr. Animo! I mean really; you? That could be anyone; this is the world famous and renowned hero Ben Tennyson we're talking about! Show a little appreciation!"

"You want appreciation Tennyson?" The now thoroughly furious doctor shouted, "How about this!?" he pointed what looked like a strange gun at the fiery alien and pulled the trigger. Instantly a tremendous blast shot towards the hovering hero. Not quite pulling out of the way quickly enough, the blast hit the rock he was floating on. The shot exploded on impact and knocked the flaming alien off balance enough that he fell to the street below. At least the ground wasn't quite so far away this time, Ben mused as he hit the ground, but it would have been nice if Gwen and Kevin hadn't gone on Fall Break either. His sisterly cousin and close guy-friend had left about two weeks before, saying they need a little "boyfriend-girlfriend" time. Which of course meant that he wasn't invited to go along, not that he really wanted to go anyway. Groaning, he flipped onto his back, and stared at the smoke-filled sky above him. Being 16, the only thing he should had have to worry about at this age was puberty, girls, and driving. But being a widely known [universal actually] hero, it was his duty to safeguard all life, and his own hometown was no exception. Sitting up while rubbing his head, he was interrupted from his musing by the thundering sound of feet closing in. Turning his head quickly, Ben saw something he had never seen before—and hoped to never see again in his life. A massive, terrifyingly sharp-toothed prehistoric creature hurtling itself at him at speeds that could have easily matched that of an automobile. As each giant clawed foot came down, the earth beneath Ben trembled at the force. It was surprising in itself that a T-Rex could even move that fast. But then again, Ben had never been one to pay to close of attention in school; so it very well may have been that the extinct (well, supposed to be extinct) reptile was quite familiar with speed. There was also the factor of Dr. Animo's genetic tampering habit to consider.

Well it certainly is one hell of a super dino, the alien hero thought as the T-Rex with its less-than-sane passenger quickly neared him. The mutant dinosaur roared as one of its two feet descended over the sitting teen. Hurriedly rolling into a crouch, Ben stumbled to his feet and backed about a foot away as a giant foot hit the ground where he had been only a moment earlier. Trying to catch his breath from the sudden shot of adrenaline, he glanced up to see the Rex heading his way again. This time he was ready, and as the dinosaur neared him, he summoned a ball of flame in his palms and threw it at the rider of the prehistoric reptile. His aim was true; Animo screamed with fury as the ball of fire hit his trans-modulator on his head and knocked it to the pavement. It landed with a clang, and Ben quickly sent another fireball at the tech and set it aflame. "My trans-modulator! You insolent little brat!" Dr. Animo shrieked at the smirking hero. "What's wrong Animo? Don't like it when your toys are broken?" The smirk grew on the teen's face as the doctor's expression went from heated to murderous. If looks could kill, Ben would be little more than a pile of ash on the ground.

Ben Tennyson felt pretty high and mighty at that moment; that is, until he heard a familiar ominous beeping coming from his chest. Jerking his head downwards, he looked at the watch that was currently making the sound and flashing red. A haze of red light blinded Animo for a moment as Ben changed from alien form back to his normal (and very human) body. As a brunette green-eyed boy replaced the glowing form of the fiery Pyronite, laughing came from maniacal doctor. "Hah! Not so tough now, huh boy? Without your alien form you are nothing but a mere speed bump in my way!" Fleetingly looking to the doctor, the hero was filled with dread for a brief moment until he realized something. On the head of the madman, a certain something was missing—something he had been using to control the very dangerous reptile below him…

"Hey Animo, don't you think you're forgetting something?" Ben asked almost innocently. Dr. Animo appeared confused for a moment—here he was, with the great Ben 10 at his mercy, and the hero was telling him he was forgetting something? What could he possibly be… As if waking from a deep sleep, the T-Rex abruptly swung its head up and roared wildly. "What the—" The dinosaur started to twist crazily, trying to get the clinging annoyance off of its back. Animo was flung off haphazardly from his perch into the windows of a nearby store. Which just happened to be a pet store.

Ben stifled a snort as he heard multiple shrieks and animal noises (mainly livid barking and hissing) from inside the demolished store window. He finally let out a small, almost girlish, giggle as the frantic cawing of a parrot reached his ears, accompanied by the sound of someone, most likely Animo, screaming something along the likes of: "Get off of me you stupid bird! Owwww! You insane feline, how dare you claw me?! Get off! Get off!" as he was so engaged in listening to the enraged shrieks of his nemesis, he didn't notice the angry growl behind him. Suddenly feeling enormous teeth hook into the fabric of his shirt, Ben glanced behind himself just in time to see the forgotten T-Rex grabbing him by the collar of his shirt. "Hey! No! Let go!" He yelled as he struggled to get his shirt from in between the teeth of the prehistoric reptile, who only clamped down harder. Ben thrashed about as the colossal dinosaur pulled him off the ground and dangled him in the air. Kicking his feet, he attempted to knock the dino in his jaws, to maybe startle him into loosening his hold, but the reptile only shook its head viciously.

Teeth rattling in his skull, both of which were starting to hurt from him clenching his jaws so tight and being shaken like a ragdoll, Ben wearily closed his eyes for a moment. Maybe if he played dead the super dino would just drop him… What he didn't see was Dr. Animo sweeping feathers, fur, and glass from his shoulders as he stepped from the shattered window. However, when he saw the limp hero in the jaws of his creation, he almost shouted with triumph. Almost. Then he remembered that he no longer had his trans-modulator on his head, so the Rex was no longer under his control. But it would be in a moment… Carefully picking a path through the debris that was all that was left of the street, Animo made his way towards the slightly damaged trans-modular laying on the ground where it had landed from earlier. Kneeling down before his precious device, he carefully picked it up and studied it. Thankfully, nothing appeared to be broken or burned beyond use from that blasted hero. Hurriedly fixing a few disconnected wires and adjusting the dial once again, Animo quickly settled the tech on his head once again and strapped it on tightly. Smirking triumphantly, he turned towards his brilliantly evolved super T-Rex and sent a telepathic command to the dinosaur. Bring him to me. For a moment, the dino swung his head around to stare at him stupidly, looking almost muddled that the voice-in-head had returned, but not having near enough brain cells to figure out how that was possible, it simply followed the order.

The poor street once again took a beating as the huge reptile's feet smashed into the pavement to come to a stop in front of the doctor. Ben 10 still hung almost lifelessly in the Rex's strong jaw, but Animo saw his chest rising and falling steadily. The madman supposed he was probably playing possum, he had heard no scream of pain or that last cry that proceeds being knocked unconscious, and the doctor had made no noise himself to alert the hero that he had left the damaged store. So instead of just letting his creation eat the cursed hero, he instead called up to the limp boy. "Hello Ben. Tricky situation you've got yourself into, Tennyson." Snapping his eyes open with startled surprise, Ben glanced disbelievingly down at his enemy who stood below leering at him from the sidewalk. Animo's smirk only widened at the hero's confused expression. Ben quickly snapped out of it though, and started immediately trying to struggle out the dinosaur's hold on his shirt.

"Now, now, Ben, don't struggle. You should have known this day would come. I was always the superior intellect and…" Ben furiously interrupted as he snarled out a defiant shout. "Oh shut it you old fart! When I get out of this, you're gonna—" With one thought towards the dinosaur, the T-Rex's head once again whipped back and forth viscously, making the hero twist painfully in its grip. With a groan, the teen slumped once again in its jaws. "Now as I was saying before you so rudely interrupted me," Dr. Animo snapped out with an impatient tone, though his eyes glowed with pleasure at the forced submission of the hero. "This day was always meant to occur. But although it would be wonderful, and very, very…pleasant to simply kill you…my pride won't allow it. You are after all, only 16, right? So instead of destroying you, I will simply give you new purpose." Slowly coming round from his previous bout of brain-scrambling (which felt a whole lot worse than any roller coaster he'd ever been on in his life), Ben glanced up bewilderedly. "New…purpose? What…are you…talking…about?" He gasped out. Animo chuckled softly, sending another silent command to his creation, which immediately lowered its head so the boy swung before him closer to the ground. Striding forward, he came to a stop in front of the suspended teen, and took his jaw gently in his hands to lift his face upwards. Half-lidded eyes still briefly glimmering with pain, Ben mustered as defiant of a look as he could and tried to stare down his foe.

Animo allowed a tiny smile to pass his lips, almost gleeful at the prospect of what he was about to do. How long he had looked forward to this day… Countless months of planning, strategizing what would be the worst defeat possible for his nemesis…he had many ideas, some of them quite…questionable…but ultimately he had settled on the one that would be the most humiliating for the hero. Pulling a weapon Ben did not recognize or recall ever seeing before from his belt, Animo began to adjust a small dial on its side. The thing was almost tazer-like in appearance, except for the dial, and practically spelled danger for whoever was on the other end. "You see this device," Animo waved the insignificant looking object in front of the teen's face. "is called a DNA-configurator. Do you know what that means Ben?" to the hero, the doctor almost sounded like he was curious to see Ben's reaction. Shaking his head, he confirmed every suspicion Animo had that the boy didn't know a thing about biology or science. Ben's forte was fighting evil and saving the world from being blown into a million itty bitty pieces; next to that, school wasn't too high up on his To-Do-List. "Hmph. Too bad. But, as you're under-evolved brain cannot grasp the concept of this simple device, I shall explain it to you." With his head still slightly ringing from being shaken repeatedly, and then Animo spouting all this evil-scientist crap out of his mouth, Ben really wished right now that he was back in his Heatblast form…or better yet, Echo Echo or Big Chill or… "—and that is what a DNA-configurator does. Simple enough for you to understand, Tennyson?" Snapping out of his wandering thoughts, he realized the doctor had finished his explanation on his DNA-configurer-thing. "Errr…yes?" Animo's eyebrow quirked slightly, and his eye twitched angrily. "Since you refused to listen to my clarification on just what a DNA-configurator does, I guess you shall find out firsthand." He ground out as he brought the device closer to the teen's chest, almost directly in the center of his ribcage, and lifted Ben's shirt up far enough so he could see the tanned skin from his waist to his shoulders. Ben couldn't see much over the fabric that was lifted almost directly into his face, but he felt the cold press of metal meeting skin as Animo pressed the weapon into his chest. "This will hurt." The warning barely fell on the brunette's ears before his enemy flicked the switch of the device on and excruciating pain shot through his body like electricity.

The hero screamed and struggled harder and more desperately in the dinosaurs grip as agony gripped his entire being, feeling not unlike running into a cloud of thorns. Animo watched almost passively over the teen, noticing with twisted satisfactory the changes that were already occurring because of his igneous device. Changes that were happening unearthly fast on Ben.

Ben felt like his body was on fire, struggling to breathe as he floundered in the pain. His breathing was erratic, heartbeat out of sync and thumping madly like a rabbit's. His head ached suddenly, and even more strangely, his ears hurt. Then, slowly, he began to notice something very wrong. Something was happening to him…things were…changing… It started slow, this change; a small patch of gray fur began to grow on his left ear, and then not two seconds later, on his right. As the fur spread and thickened, his ears began to move on his head. Slowly but surely, they began to move up…up…up…till they were perched near the top of his skull, on either side. And as they went up, their shape changed as well. Human ears had stretched and transformed, becoming more cat-shaped and covered completely in thick, soft gray fur. Silky thin and delicate strands of pinkish tinted fuzz peeked out from within Ben's new ears.

Just as unsettling as the ears forming, the shocked and horrified teen felt another ache in a place which had seen no damage. His behind started to feel like he'd fallen on it on far too many occasions. Or more appropriately, it wasn't just his ass hurting, but his tailbone that was aching so. And then that horrifying feeling of transformation took over again…and a few moments later, a prehensile dark tail had sprouted. Well…sprouted wasn't exactly the right word for it, more like it had just grown from him. The weirdest thing about it was that he could feel them. The new ears and tail. He could feel them like they were really his limbs, just another part of him… The ears were just like his own, except the fact that his hearing had been increased almost tenfold, and he could move and swivel them about freely. The tail was…new. He could flex it almost like flexing his arm, but it felt strange and unnatural.

But there was still something…off… He couldn't quite put a finger on it, but something else seemed to have changed without him noticing. Ben was literally thrown out of his thoughts as he hit the ground from being released from the dinosaur's maw. Once he felt ground beneath him though, he didn't get up off of his stomach. His old limbs as well as new ones felt leaden and dead, his body in overdrive after the transformation. He felt a shadow fall across his unmoving form, and could almost feel Animo's breath tickle his sensitized ears. "Well this is…unexpected. The DNA-configurator was supposed to turn you into a common house pet. I suppose when that deranged cat clawed at the dial…" The doctor trailed off, too deep in thought to consider the downed hero at his feet. Ben groaned, attempting to push himself up off the cement, but giving up quickly when his body still couldn't comply. His attention drawn back to his prisoner, Animo leaned down again to the brunette. "Although this is an unplanned turn of events, I will make do. I must say Ben, you do look quite cute as a ten-year old." WHAT?! If Ben could have shouted at then, he would have, but speech was beyond his capability at the moment. It barely even crossed his mind that the last comment his enemy had made had been a bit pedophiliac he was so outraged by this new happening. The cat tail and ears he could deal with; he had been changing into a variety of aliens for almost his whole life, but being ten AGAIN?! That was too much.

Once again he tried to push himself up onto his elbows, with the same results as before. But this time his nemesis leaned down even farther over him. Ben felt a hand in between his shoulders hold him firmly (and surprisingly gently) down, as he heard with his newly enhanced hearing the sound of Animo opening a container in his belt and pulling something out. A cold, rough hand pushed the back of his now loose shirt up to his shoulder blades. "I didn't plan on having to knock you out to take you home, but seeing as things didn't quite go as planned…" Ben felt a small prick in his side, and the sensation of a foreign liquid pushing itself into his bloodstream registered in his brain. "Nighty, night little hero…" Black began to seep in at the edges of the teen's vision, a fog settling over his mind as well. So tired…wanna sleep… A small voice in the back of his head was shouting warnings, but the drug muddled it all together into meaningless background noise…something that he could ignore. Green eyes slowly became hidden behind eyelids as Ben gave into the drug's influence, and he slipped into a deep dreamless sleep.

Thanks for reading!

So, did you like it? This took me like two weeks to finish! But I'm pretty happy with it, except for the last two or three paragraphs... As always, read and review, I'd love to hear from you guys! whether or not there's a next chapter will depend on what kind of reviews I get, soooooooo...REVIEW PLEASE!

Until next time, many happy writing and readings to you all:

-Aquilalibra