Things Change
After a surprisingly semi-difficult fight Ben, Gwen, and Kevin had captured Zombozo and, disturbingly, retrieved the brain he had stolen from Bellwood brain bank they were now standing in front of Kevin's car with Zombozo tied up on the ground "Ben I noticed that you were really off your game big time in this fight" Gwen said, concerned for cousin. Ben gave a sigh and whispered the reason into Gwen's ear "oh Ben, if you didn't want to fight him you should have just said so"
"I know but this was our last fight together and I wanted to do it as a team"
"Ben this won't be our last fight after I finish collage there will be plenty of opportunities to fight together as a team"
"yeah but still I'm gonna miss you"
"I'll miss you too"
Ben then turned to Kevin "and I take it wherever Mary went her lamb was sure to go?" he said
Kevin gave a small smile "yeah I found a place near campus" Kevin replied before Ben held out his hand, Kevin grabbed it and they shoulder bumped
"miss ya big guy"
"miss ya too metal head"
Ben then let go of Kevin's hand and then he gave his cousin a gentle hug "take care of yourself" Ben said
"you too" Gwen replied they then let go and she gave Ben a kiss on the cheek before she and Kevin hopped in Kevin's car, Ben gave them a salute and then they drove off.
Ben gave sigh and then looked at the brain in the jar he was holding 'now I just need to take this back' he thought
"oh what a touching moment, it makes me just want to puke with joy" Zombozo said which sent a slight shiver up Ben's spine. "You know Tennyson I couldn't help but notice that you seemed quite off during our little rumble, could it be that you're afraid of me again?"
Ben gave a pause "n-no, I'm not af-fraid of you" Ben responded with a slight stutter
"then why don't you say that straight to my face?"
Ben paused again "b-because your hideous t-that's why"
"bwahahahaha oh this is too rich the great Ben Tennyson, hero of the world is afraid of clown's" Ben just blushed and ignored him as best he could until the plumbers arrived to take Zombozo away.
Later
Ben was now having lunch at Burger Shack with his girlfriend of 6 months, Ester. They had met 2 days after the defeat of Diagon, Ben was immediately a nervous wreck the second he laid eyes on her but thanks to her carefree attitude the nervousness quickly disappeared he then asked her out on a date which she had happily accepted. One date lead to another and the next thing Ben knew they were boyfriend and girlfriend, and he couldn't have been happier the two were sitting next to each other feeding one another chilli fries "I so wish we had these down in Undertown" Ester said happily before Ben fed her another fry
"well I personally think those chilli larva are just as good" Ben said, them being one of his favourite snack foods in Undertown
"true" Ester replied before she realised that they had run out of chilli fries. Ester looked left and right seeing that the restaurant was currently empty she gave Ben one of her cheeky grins before she quickly licked his mouth clean, Ben chuckled and then did the same to her. They then wiped their mouths properly with napkins and then just gazed at each other happily "Ben do you know what today is?"
"I'm pretty sure I do" he then pulled a small box out of his pocket and handed it to her "happy half-iversary" he said, she opened it up and found a silver bracelet with several red jewels on it
"Ben it's beautiful" she said in awe, now feeling terrible about the gift she had got for him Ben then put the bracelet on her wrist and locked it shut as soon as it was on she felt herself start to warm up she kept getting warmer and warmer until she actually had to take off her jacket revealing a long sleeved red shirt underneath which she took off as well revealing a black shirt underneath at which point she stopped heating up "Ben what just happened?!" she asked in amazement
"it's a special bracelet I had Brainmatter (fusion of Brainstorm and Grey Matter) make that makes a tiny invisible field over your body that heats you up, so now you'll be able to walk around up here without the need of a huge coat" he said happily
Ester began to tear up "Ben this is the best gift anyone has ever given me" she said before she wrapped her arms around them both 3 times, giving him a huge hug
"anything for my number one girl" he said before he became a bit bold and kissed her neck making her giggle before she let go of him.
"this makes my gift to you seem like garbage" she said as she reached into her coat pocket and pulled a small heart shaped picture frame that had a picture of them hugging and kissing
"Ester this is awesome, thank you" he said and he kissed her on the lips which quickly turned onto a French kiss that lasted a few minutes.
When they broke apart they rested their foreheads against each other and stayed that way, unfortunately the loving moment was cut short as a loud explosion was heard followed by the ground shaking "what was that Ben?" Ester asked
activating his x-ray vision and combining it with his zooming scope he saw a large smoking crater "I think a bomb went off or something over there" Ben stated while pointing in the direction of the crater
"then lets go" Ester said as she grabbed his hand. After they exited the restaurant Ester hopped on Ben's back, wrapping her limbs around him as she did, Ben then activated the jets in his feet and flew off towards the crater while also sending a signal out to Ship for some extra back up if needed. By the time Ben arrived Ship, in the form of a rocket landed next to him before turning back to normal, Ester got off Ben's back and giggled as Ship leapt onto Ben's shoulder
"man I hope nobody was in the building when this happened" Ben said before he slid down into the crater with Ester following him. Once he was in the centre he activated his scanner and slowly turned around scanning the whole creator
"anything Ben?" Ester asked
"no gun powder residue so this wasn't your typical bomb, no scattered DNA so thankfully no one was killed when it went off, and the only person who could tell us what happened is hiding in that toilet over there" Ben said and pointed to the toilet. They were about to walk over when Ship started to growl "what is it Ship?" Ben asked
"ship, ship" it chirped out, Ben looked up to the remaining half of the building and heard a faint whistling sound which was followed by a monstrous creature leaping out of it "ho" "ly" "ship" they said and they dived out of the way to avoid it as it came down.
"do you think that's the thing that caused this?!" Ester asked as the creature roared
"unlikely, Ship, ship mode!" Ben called out
"ship, ship" Ship replied and it turned into its ship form before blasting the creature with a barrage of lasers and missiles Ben then activated his Omnitrix
"time to go (presses down) Four Arms!" the creature managed to shake off Ship's attack, albeit still taking damage, and charged at Four Arms. Four Arms braced himself and managed to stop the creature in its tracks, but only for a moment though as he began to slide back, Ester reared her arm back and then thrust it forward with her arm extending and she punched the creature straight in its right eye. The creature roared in pain before Four Arms flipped it over and slammed it on its back "nice shot Ester" he called out making her blush slightly, Ship then changed from a ship into a catapult that went under the creature and then flung it straight back into the section of the building it had emerged from. Four Arms then pressed down on the Omnitrix symbol and in a flash he turned into "Ultimate Four Arms! Good thing the Ultimate function was installed in my arm" he said before he leapt up to the section of building the creature had been thrown into only to find it gone "huh? Must have run away" he said before he pressed the Omnitrix symbol on his arm and turned back into Four Arms and then back to normal. Ben then flew down and landed in front of Ester and Ship "whatever that thing was it's gone now" Ben said before he held up his hand "great work guys" and they gave a group high five.
"Now let's find out what happened" Ben said and he walked over to the toilet with Ester and Ship following just as they arrived the lid opened up and a small green alien wearing a black jumpsuit popped out
"is it gone?" it asked
"yeah we scared it away, are you okay? are you hurt?"
"Pakmar is fine, this is Pakmar's place...was Pakmar's place" he then hopped out of the toilet and began sweeping
"I think it's a little pointless to be doing that"
"all I wanted was to run my toilet emporium in peace! Now it's in pieces"
"so who did this? dissatisfied customer?"
"hardly! Some off-world lowlifes are shaking down us law-abiding businessmen. We pay them Taydenite, they "protect" us. Only thing is we don't pay, they're the ones we need the protecting from"
"have they threatened anyone else?"
"only every alien shop in Bellwood. Yeesh, kid! Where you been?!" Pakmar finished and continued sweeping.
Ship jumped up onto Ben's head and Ben picked up Ester bridle style before he flew off "have you heard about any of this?" Ben asked
"I heard that there was a new protection group but I didn't know that's what they did" Ester replied, at first Ben wanted to investigate these so called "protectors" but he quickly remembered that he was having his half-iversary with his girlfriend, they soon landed in Bellwood Park "what are we doing here?" Ester asked
"I thought a nice walk in the park would be a good way to test out your gift" Ben said with a smile, getting a hint Ship turned into a mini aeroplane and flew off leaving the two love birds.
The next day
Ben had decided to do a bit of investigating about the "protectors" that Pakmar had had trouble with yesterday, not knowing many big alien stores he decided to go to the main one he knew which happened to belong to Mr. Baumann who he wasn't on good terms with thanks to a few accidents here and there over the years. He entered the store and saw the owner stacking cans "hey there Mr. Baumann" he said making the man almost knock the cans he was stacking over
"Ben how many times have I told you not to sneak up on me"
"67"
"what do you want?"
"would you happen to know, anything about an alien protection racket in Bellwood?"
"nope"
"so they haven't been coming around here?"
"who's been coming around where?"
Ben could tell by Mr. Baumann's body language that he was both lying and that they'd be coming around real soon "look Mr. Baumann I've seen the kind of destruction they can do, I don't want your place to be destroyed knowing that I could have done something to help" Mr. Baumann frowned "just let me observe so I can see how these things go down"
"fine but don't touch anything" he said and he walked back to the counter selecting an alien he pressed down on his Omnitrix and turned into Fasttrack, he then walked over and sat down at the counter and waited. Thankfully he didn't have to wait long as three alien's entered with two of them carrying an odd looking device, he recognised two of them as Fistina and Liam, regulars at the black hole 'so those two are in on this and that must be the bomb' Fasttrack thought
"pay up Baumann" a creature wearing a suit with a bubble like helmet ordered
"you heard about Pakmar didn't you?" Liam asked
"I heard the little guy has great deals on toilets" Fasttrack added
"well I heard that it was an accident" Mr. Baumann stated
"accidents happen all the time, maybe even to you" Bubble Helmet said revealing the device that Fistina and Liam were holding
"okay calm down I don't want any trouble" Mr. Baumann said he then reached under the counter and pulled out a metal box full of Taydenite crystals he pulled a large one out and extended it out to Bubble Helmet who reached out as well but instead of grabbing the large one he grabbed the box of them instead.
As he retracted his arm Fasttrack's hand shot out and grabbed Bubble Helmets arm preventing him from moving it "hey buddy take what he gives you or leave" Fasttrack stated firmly
"this doesn't concern you Citrakayah, now let go of my ar-" before he could finish Fasttrack sliced off Bubble Helmets arm with a karate chop making the hand holding the box let go of it
"here you go Mr. Baumann" he said pushing the box back towards him before he got up and turned to face the three criminals "now unless you want the same to happen to your other arm you're going to leave this place in peace" Bubble Helmets hand went into his arm and when it came back out it was holding a staff that extended out, but before he could use it Fasttrack snatched it out of his hand, gave him a sweep kick knocking Bubble Helmet down to the ground, he then snapped the staff in half and impaled both of Bubble Helmets legs with them pinning them to the ground. Looking up he saw Liam activating the bomb, he bolted over to stop him only to be hit in the face by a flying metal fist sending him tumbling to the side
"not as fast as you think you are, are you" Fistina said Fasttrack looked up and smiled
"neither are you" he replied and the next thing Fistina knew her body was black with green lines
"what is going on?!" she exclaimed
"ship, ship" Ship chirped out as it now had full control of her body. Fistina's hands reached up and took off her head, Ship then tossed her head off to the side before demerging with her body, which stood up straight before Ship knocked it causing it to fall back and crash to the ground.
With the bomb now active Liam and Bubble Helmet (who had freed his legs) made a run for it "*braak* what about Fistina?" Liam asked
"forget about her" Bubble Helmet replied before their path was blocked by Fasttrack
"hold it you're not going anywhere until you deactivate that bomb" he stated before a beeping was heard and in a flash Ben was back to normal. The two criminals started to back away "defuse that bomb now" Ben ordered
"we can't, once it's active it can't be defused" Bubble Helmet said knowing that this was not going to end well for him and Liam Ben then thrust both hands forward striking both villains in the chests and sent them tumbling backwards until they both hit into the shield surrounding the bomb
"well looks like you're going with this store" the two villain's began shaking with fright "unless you tell me who the head off this "protection" thing is"
"He tells us to call him Boss, he's the one in charge of the whole operation" Bubble Helmet said
"and where can I find him?"
"*braak* we'll take you to him if you let us live!" Liam exclaimed
"you'd better" Ben said before he turned into his Anodite form and put a barrier around the bomb just as the countdown reached zero there was a bright glow within the barrier before it went grey inside.
Ben swung his arm and the barrier went outside releasing the smoke, Ben then made mana ropes around Liam and Bubble Helmet restraining them before Ship came over in its battle armour form holding Fistina's head "good boy Ship" Ben said as he turned back to normal and took Fistina's head from Ship who also turned back to normal before hopping up onto Ben's shoulder "see not any damage done" Ben said to Mr. Baumann
"this time" he replied before muttering a 'thank you'.
Activating the phone in his head Ben contacted to his grandpa "Ben?"
"hey grandpa, could you send some Plumbers to Mr. Baumann's store a.s.a.p to pick up two criminals please"
"of course and I'd like you to come to Plumber Headquarters to meet your new partner"
"new partner?"
"yes, fresh out of the academy and top of his class in everything"
"sounds like he has good potential, but I can't come to Plumber HQ right now, I've got a great lead on the head of the guy in charge of the protection scam"
"then how about I send him over to you at Baumann's store?"
"sounds good, talk to ya soon" and Ben hung up
"you know if it wasn't for that hunk of metal on the side of your face people will think you're crazy talking to yourself like that" Bubble Helmet said
"yeah I know" Ben replied casually and waited.
Soon the Plumbers arrived and took Bubble Helmet and Fistina away while Ben kept Liam for guidance, a tall blue furred alien wearing a similar looking armour to Shampa's walked up to him "would you happen to be my new partner?" Ben asked
"yes I am Rook Blonko, it is an honour to meet you sir" Rook said with a slight bow
Ben stuck out his hand "Ben Tennyson (Rook grabbed his hand) nice to meet you" he said as they shook hands "and this is my other partner and friend Ship"
"ship, ship" Ship chirped out
"I assume Ship is a very vital part of your team being a Galvanic Mechamorph"
"yeah I probably would have died quite a few times if it wasn't for this little ball of energy"
"pardon me sir but it is to my understanding that you were currently on a lead to some form of criminal activity?"
"that's correct and this guy is gonna lead us straight to it" Ben said while pointing down to Liam who's head he currently had his foot on, due to the mana ropes wearing off
"I was wondering why you were doing that"
Ben then pulled Liam up "okay chicken little, is this Boss's base of operations up here or down in Undertown?"
"*braak* it's in Undertown"
"Hey Rook would you happen to have some form of transportation we could use to get to Undertown?" Ben asked
"yes, we can take my truck sir"
"just call me Ben, sir just makes me feel old"
"okay then Ben"
"also would you happen to have any hand cuffs just encase he decides to make an escape"
"but of course" Rook replied and he began hand cuffing Liam.
After a bit of driving they arrived in Undertown and got out "okay Liam where to and remember the things I can do"
"frankly I think I'd rather take my chances with you than facing the boss"
"yep keep telling yourself that" Ben said and he made Liam lead the way. After an hour of walking Ben could hear the sounds of machinery and voices coming from a small passage way, using his x-ray vision he could see the passage lead to an old train station where he could see different aliens working on more of the bombs. Ben stopped "thank you Liam you've been most helpful" he said before he punched Liam in the back of the head, knocking him out
"Ben may I ask why you just knocked him out" Rook asked
"because our target is straight ahead" Ben replied and they kept walking straight ahead. When they arrived at the entrance Ben gave Rook the motion to be quiet while he increased his hearing by turning the dial on the side of his head, listening he picked up a conversation that sounded important
"boss if I may ask why are you still having more of these bombs made I mean we only need just a few right?"
"because you incompetent simpleton, I have another use for these bombs besides just striking fear into everyone, and the more Taydenite you all collect the sooner my grand plan will come into fruition"
"would you care to tell me this grand plan of yours"
"hmm well I suppose you'll all know eventually so why not, you see I've discovered that if the right chemicals are used Taydenite can be turned into a highly flammable liquid that will only ignite at a certain temperature of which the bombs will provide, while also spreading it out to a radius of 10 miles and once ignited it will burn non-stop for decades, I'll turn this whole planet into a new sun, so as you can see the more bombs I have the greater my plan shall be, do you understand now?"
"Yes boss"
"good, because if you didn't I'd have to incinerate you for your stupidity" Ben then turned his hearing back to normal.
"I take it you heard something important?" Rook asked
"yeah long story short he's going to turn Earth into a fire ball" Ben replied, he then took Ship off his shoulder and activated his Omnitrix, he then selected the right alien and pressed down on it turning into "Heatblast! Hey Rook would those bombs explode if I tried melting them?"
"no, not while they're not active"
"perfect, let's go!" Heatblast said he then rushed in and began blasting the thugs away while also melting the bombs, Ship and Rook followed Ben's lead as Rook destroyed bombs with his Proto-tool and also using his combat skills to take out all on coming thugs, while Ship turned into a huge laser and destroyed multiple bombs in rapid succession before turning into its battle mode and began taking out thugs with punches, kicks and the occasional laser blast.
Once all of the bombs on the platform had been destroyed a loud ear piercing screech was heard making everyone stop and hold their ears "that's enough!" a screechy voice said from above Heatblast could see a glowing coming from the top of a balcony "well, well, well Ben Tennyson I presume" the screeching voice called out from above
"yeah, why don't you show yourself" Heatblast called out
"gladly" a huge fireball shot off the balcony and landed in front of Heatblast before it rose up and spread out almost making Heatblast's heart stop, his eyes were as wide as possible and he lost the ability to speak "surprise, remember me" now towering over him was
"Heatbat!"
"ah so you do remember me" Heatblast just spluttered unable you put two words together "am I to assume you're wondering how I went from a screeching mindless creature to what you see before you" Heatblast just nodded "you can thank Dr. Animo for that, you see when he saw how powerful I was he thought I would be even more of a force to be reckoned with if my intelligence was boosted, unfortunately for the dear doctor he made me too intelligent which allowed me to use his technology in order to increase my intelligence to its maximum, gaining the ability to speak in the process was just a bonus, I broke free of his control and left, after a while I discovered a large cave under Bellwood which I made my home per say, and when Undertown started forming that just gave me a whirlwind of opportunities and idea's to make Earth the perfect world for me" Heatbat said as the Omnitrix timed out and Ben turned back to normal Heatbat then took a deep breath and blew out a stream of blue fire thankfully Ben dodged it at the last second by using his jets "get the robot and the one in blue, Tennyson is mine" Heatbat ordered and he shot towards Ben while the rest of the thugs began shooting at Ship and Rook.
Ben was having an immense amount of trouble trying to beat Heatbat, his speed was what was making him the most dangerous at the moment, Ben dodged a fire blast only to realise he was now up against a wall "oh cru-oof" Heatbat had rammed its head right into Ben's abdomen with such force that a crater had been made Ben then raised both hands up and gave Heatbat a sledgehammer to the head sending him crashing into the concrete below. Ben looked around for anything that could turn the tables, that's when he spotted all of the chemicals Heatbat had been talking about "oh yeah that'll work" Ben said he then turned into his Anodite form and put a shield around Ship and Rook as Heatbat recovered and shot up towards him, Ben dodged at the last second before firing a mana blast at him which sent him straight towards the chemicals. Ben put a shield around himself and said "adios" just as Heatbat crashed into the many vats of chemicals, the resulting explosion sent the three shields flying through several walls before bursting through the cave wall into Undertown. The shields dropped as Ben turned back to normal and Ship grabbed both Ben and Rook
"how did you do that Ben?" Rook asked
"you mean the shields?"
"yes the shields"
"I can turn into an Anodite like my cousin, though I prefer to stick to my aliens"
"I must admit that was a very tactical move"
"yeah though I have to admit I never would have expected in a million years that I would ever see that guy again let alone being able to talk" they all looked at the flaming holes in the wall "I doubt we'll be seeing him again though" Ben said
"as well as the rest of the criminal's that were in there"
"oops, if anyone asks they fled" Ben said as Ship landed on the ground, Rook was about to question as to why they should lie when a loud snarling was heard. Turning they saw a creature that looked like a giant mutated feral lizard standing on top of a stall roof it then jumped down and lumbered over to Ben stoping in front of him and giving a low growl "do I know you?" Ben asked raising an eyebrow, the creature was about to lung at him when Ben's hand shot out and clamped the beasts mouth shut "first date, no love bites" Ben said and he forced the creature back. The beast tried to get its mouth free from Ben's iron grip but Ben's hand wouldn't budge "hey Ship, think you can throw this guy to a less populated part of the city?" Ben asked
"ship, ship" it replied before it grabbed the creatures tail and hurled it across the city
"nice job, meet me where it lands" Ben said and he ran off with incredible speed.
Ben arrived in a much clearer area to see the creature start to get up, activating his Omnitrix he pressed down on it turning into "Clockwork? not exactly what I was going for but I can make this work" he said as the creature bit down on his arm "just to let you know that doesn't hurt" he said and he pressed down on the Omnitrix symbol on his chest "Super Clockwork!" he shouted, striking his pose. "Okay little doggy it's time to put you down" he said before he picked up the creature spun him around like a top above his head and then slammed it down onto the ground. Super Clockwork then did several back flips and stopped on his feet, he then aimed his right hand at the creature that was starting to get back up "slow beam!" he said and a green beam shot out and hit the beast making it almost frozen in place. Super Clockwork then ran forward and jumped up into the air "Super Sledgehammer!" he shouted and he slammed his bulky forearms down on the creatures head making it leave an imprint on the ground, he the grabbed its tail as Ship and Rook arrived and slammed it to the ground several times before letting go of the tail and ending it by jumping up into the air and then driving his elbow into the creatures side.
As soon as the slow beam wore off the creature began screeching and convulsing as every impact finally kicked in "very impressive Ben" Rook said
"thanks bro" Super Clockwork said and gave Rook a solid thumbs up before he turned back into normal Clockwork and then into Ben.
Ship then turned back to normal and jumped up on Ben's shoulder "shall I call the Plumber's to come and pick up this creature?" Rook asked, Ben was about to reply when they heard an ear piercing screech, looking up they watched in shock as Heatbat swooped in and grabbed the creature with his feet before flying off
"wow he survived that!" Ben exclaimed
"it would appear so" Rook replied
"ship, ship" Ship chirped out using his scope and X-ray vision he saw that a lot of the thugs that had been caught in the explosion were still alive, badly hurt but alive. After a quick call the thugs that survived were taken to the Plumber medical ward to be later put into custody, Max was overlooking the operation
"so how do you like your new partner?" he asked as Ben walked up to him
"he's got some great moves, but I'm gonna have to see how he handles other situations as well, don't worry we'll train him up in the field, right Ship?" Ben said
"ship, ship" it replied and it rubbed it's head on Ben's face
"well don't be too hard on him"
"don't worry I won't"
"so who did you say was the head of this?"
"Heatbat"
"Heatbat?"
"yeah, he's the bat that Dr. Animo fused with Heatblast's DNA only now he's a lot smarter, I had Rook fill out the report so that'll have everything you need to know on it"
"report all filled out Magister Tennyson" Rook stated
"good job Rook, let's go to Mr. Smoothy's, my treat"
"if you insist Ben" Ben then wrapped an arm around Rook's waist and flew off to Mr. Smoothy's.
Meanwhile
The creature that Ben had been fighting limped into a room of it's owners ship, it was covered in claw, bite, and burn marks with blood dripping off of it, as it approached its owner it turned back into an alien looking dog. "you did well old friend" it's owner said as a small flying disk floated over the dog before bathing it in a blue light which made all of its wounds slowly start to heal. "But this Ben Tennyson is more powerful than I ever imagined, he will be our greatest trophy, Khyber the huntsman promises it" he said while looking at the blade he had been sharpening.