"Pier Pressure" Extended Cut
Ben sighed as he watched Julie walk away with a very happy Ship trailing behind her, jumping around the Japanese girl excitedly as she went. The night that was intended to be a relaxing date at the carnival turned into a nightmare for Julie because of a puppy-like Galvanic Mechamorph that the Forever Knights wanted to capture and use to provide them with an arsenal of weapons. It was just a normal day in the life of Ben Tennyson, however. As Ben sat on the miraculously untouched pier with his feet dangling over the water, he couldn't help but look at the device on his wrist and wonder: was hero work worth the cost? Ben kicked his feet lazily as he looked over the water and listened to the soothing waves. Long forgotten words came back to the teen from years ago, "There's only two special words you need to know." It was a riddle that stumped him when they were ten, but he long since had figured it out. "Be myself." He mumbled as a small smile crawled across his face.
The smile quickly vanished as rueful thoughts took it away from him. Julie handled herself pretty well when talking down Ship, but she was taken aback by Brainstorm. Ben's thoughts drifted back to Kai Greene of their own accord. Ben shook his head. Kai wanted me as a pet, but Julie wanted me as a human. Two words in that train of thought made Ben stop and backtrack in his mind. Pet, the word made him cringe and glower at the water as if he were about to fly into a feral rage and attack. Human, ironically, the word sounded alien to him in that instance as it rolled across his mind. Confusion began to mount in the boy's mind as he processed the words.
Looking at the small green and black device on his wrist, memory of a fight back in the Navaho Reservation flashed into sharp focus. The Yeneldooshi only attacked the Omnitrix or his alien forms. It was almost as if she was trying to get the Omnitrix off of me. Ben stopped for a moment. She? Ben thought in confusion before something he learned about dogs in the past came back to him. Females only have pronounced nipples when they are pregnant. Ben's mind was chasing rabbits, and he needed to focus, but focus was had to come by with his mind so full of sudden questions.
Getting up from the pier, Ben spared another glance at the Omnitrix. It was blinking rapidly between the yellow of Capture Mode and the green of Active Mode. "Omnitrix, function status…" Ben commanded. A computerized version of Ben's voice answered him from the Omnitrix. "Host DNA is compromised. Attempt repair?" Ben shook his head. "Negative. What is the source of genetic anomaly?" "Analyzing…" After a moment, the Omnitrix continued, "Host genetic profile 51.3% match to Loboan female profile extracted five years, a month, and four days ago." Ben nodded. "Halt genetic dampening. Authorization: Tennyson, Benjamin. Command Function Override: 10." The Omnitrix stopped blinking and Ben felt his body shift slightly and begin to grow.
All those times when his mind cleared in battle, and he could think more clearly suddenly made sense. A couple of questions he had for the past few years finally had an answer as well. Why he took to the Loboan form so naturally as a ten year old, why he felt so hurt when Kia thought of him as nothing but a pet instead of the brave warrior he fought to be, why he felt as if Sandra wasn't his mother? All those questions were answered by the single response from the Omnitrix. Ben looked around then down at himself and saw that the Omnitrix adapted his clothes to his new body. "Man, this will take some getting used to, but it shouldn't be that hard." Ben mumbled to himself confidently.
Ben's new ears twitched toward the sound of laughter from behind him. For a moment Ben thought the laughter was from Gwen and was clearly disappointed when he saw a familiar form stand behind him in the darkness. "So, you know the truth, My Pup?" The Wolf said in heavily accented English. Ben looked at her and felt the urge to hug her overwhelm him. "Why did you leave?!" Luna sighed, "Your Grandfather ordered me to. He said he wanted his son and my son to have normal lives." She said with some anger and sadness in her voice. "I was always there, Benjamin. I watched you grow into a fine young man, but I really want to eat that bloody frog for creating his Omnitrix!" Luna said as she looked at her son and growled out what Ben was almost certain was a Loboan swear. "To turn your back on what you are is not our way, Benjamin." She smiled. "It is the way of the coward but not of our race."
Ben nodded and turned toward a faint cry. Straining to tune out the waves that crashed next to him and other sounds, the teen heard the cry again. Only this time, it was much clearer, "Kevin, no! I told you I don't want this, not until we're married!" Instincts rose in Ben, previously buried because of the Omnitrix. Save Gwen. That was the only thought in Ben's mind as he went to all fours and ran at least six times faster than humanly possible. Running at full tilt, Ben covered the distance in surprising time. The pup stopped in front of Gwen's house and smelled the unique scent of cast iron. Something about it sent a shiver down Ben's spine.
Uncaring at the moment who he woke up at this time of night, Ben lowered his shoulder and barged in. The door to Gwen's house gave with a short groan from the hinges and a crash as the door slammed against the hardwood. Ben was only vaguely aware of the commotion he caused as he charged forward. Opening Gwen's bedroom door, Ben had to fight the urge not to maul Kevin to pieces. Instead, Ben announced himself. "Kevin, step away from Gwen now and your death will be quick." Gwen's 'eyes widened, her full focus was taken from fruitlessly fighting Kevin to Ben's persistent green eyes. A small smile pulled at her lips even as tears threatened to roll down her cheeks.
Kevin turned to Ben and laughed. "You don't have the guts to kill me, Tennyson!" Kevin turned back to Gwen. "…but I think you'll enjoy watching." A feral growl rumbled deep inside Ben's throat. "NO!" Before Kevin could turn to make jokes again, the monster was on his back. Ben's eyes burned with animalistic rage as he snapped his jaws, barked, and growled with only intent to kill in his eyes. "Get off me!" Kevin growled as he threw Ben into a wall and laughed. "Did you really think I would give up all that sweet power from your Watch, Benji?" Kevin asked as he laughed, his body growing and mutating while he spoke. "It took me a while, but I realized your cousin is an All-You-Can-Eat Buffett!" Ben growled and glared hard at his enemy. Unable to beat him with raw strength, Ben focused his breath and released a blast of sound. Kevin was thrown back in a rage by the sound as his Diamondhead arm shattered into splinters. While Kevin was disoriented and stunned by the attack, Ben pressed his advantage and tore into Kevin while careful to avoid the Heatblast arm. Ben did not give Kevin a single moment to think and continued his onslaught without mercy.
In the flurry of action, Frank and Natalie woke up to the sound of a wall crashing out. The first thing Frank thought was …and Ben is beating Kevin senseless. Frank couldn't help the smile that came across his face. It's about time you woke up, boy. Frank thought as he roused his wife. Frank made sure to wait until the crashing and bashing stopped. Natalie looked at her husband in shock as he seemed to just sit there and listen to the house be destroyed. "What the hell is happening, Frank?!" Frank sighed and chuckled. "There's a secret I swore to keep for Carl." Frank told his wife as he walked out of their bedroom and down to Gwen's room.
Before he opened the door, Luna smiled at him. "I have to warn you, Frank." Luna said gently. "Don't be surprised if there's a dead body in that room." Frank nodded. "Loboan protection instincts…I know." He said gently as if he were talking about the weather. Natalie only stared at the she-wolf in shock. "Who the hell are you?!" Frank hushed his wife before Luna had the right to wound her. "I'll explain later. Right now…" Frank froze and smiled at his daughter and nephew through a hole in the wall with a misshapen monster bleeding in front of them. "I never trusted Kevin, but I thought Gwen would be good for him." Frank lamented as he shook his head in sadness at Kevin's final state.
Natalie's scope of attention was laser-focused on her nephew and daughter in shock. "AREN'T YOU HOING TO STOP THEM?! Frank looked at his wife in confusion. "Stop them from doing what?" He asked calmly. "They are happy." Frank reminded his wife. "Why would we want to stop them?" Natalie shook her head in annoyance at her husband and marched toward the pair. Ben turned to his aunt before she even got half way to them. "You get between us, and you are not part of my family, Aunt Natalie." Ben warned as Gwen took him in a gentle kiss.