Taylor spent a few more minutes to gather her emotions before continuing the conversation. It was a lapse in control, she knew, but the pressure of keeping everything bottled since her mother's death had finally released. She looked back to the cape, searching his expression for any sign of judgement. However, as before, his face was completely devoid of any emotion, besides what appeared to be a listless interest in her. Maybe he was reconsidering based on her breakdown? An emotional breakdown probably didn't help her chances now that she thought about it. His next few words disproved her though.
"Are you ready to continue our discussion?" Taylor nodded. She watched as he held his hand out, and in a flash, of what she could only describe as black light with a white outline, appeared a small metal sphere.
"As you know, heroes are rated on a multitude of scales, and talents." He said as he lifted the sphere up. Taylor watched as the top half collapsed in on itself, much like a telescope, to reveal... a watch?
"Right. Stuff like Brute, Tinker, Thinker, etc. And they're rated from 1-10 right?" She asked, trying to confirm what she remembered from her parahuman studies class. Her eyes stayed glued to the watch, trying to discern its purpose as he pulled it out of its container. It was fairly modern in design, she supposed, if a bit bulky. A small band of black composed the base, outlined and detailed in white geometrical shapes. On the face, seemed to be a small protection plate, also detailed by black and white. He gently held it out to her, and she accepted. Holy hell! This thing weighed like 4 pounds! Taylor's shocked expression obviously showed, if the dual toned chuckle that echoed in the room meant anything. She blushed in response, and tried to hide her embarrassment by inspecting the watch. She turned it over in her hands, not noticing anything weird besides its weight. There was an inscription on the back that she couldn't read, due to it being in some weird language consisting of bold curved script. When she got to the face, she realized that it had a little give when she pressed it. Flicking it over, she saw a small hourglass shape, with a white center resting in place of a watch face. She looked at him expectantly.
"Yes, parahumans have those ratings. Heroes where I come from aren't necessarily all parahumans, but those descriptions are apt. The device you are holding was created by my own mentor. He created it to promote peace through the galaxy by creating understanding. A series of unfortunate events led it to me. It was this watch that started me on the path of becoming a hero." There was a lying undertone beneath the nostalgia that Taylor couldn't identify, but she from what she could tell he was being totally honest. Seeing his expectant gaze, she strapped the watch on to her left wrist. All of a sudden, a cool sensation rushed out from the watch, and she could feel it almost sink into her skin. She began panicking until a digitized voice rang out.
"Genetic lock engaged. Omnimatrix calibrations completed. Recognizing User: Taylor Hebert." Taylor looked down at the watch. From its protective screen, a multitude of options came up on a holographic semi-circle display. Reigning in her giddyness, she looked over the options. From what Taylor could see, there was a symbol for communication, an actual digital timer, and some other functions. However, what intrigued her the most was the humanoid shape icon. She tapped it, and a new menu came up. A multitude of different beings filled the semi-circle, all definitively not human. She scrolled through the outrageous creatures, passing a tiger, what looked like a cricket, and even a tadpole. She moved to tap the one that resembled the man in front of her, a female form that had the same sort of tri-prong crown and starry design. Before she could, his dual tone voice rang out.
"Ah, right. I almost forgot. Omnimatrix, voice command." The watch beeped in acknowledgement before responding.
"What is your command Creator Celestial?" Celestial? Well, Taylor supposed his cape name definitely fit his theme. Though, voice command? That surprised her even more.
"Restrict DNA library to the initial ten please." The watch beeped, Taylor watched as all the forms flew by her face, a lock icon appearing on each one before flying through again.
"One million and nine hundred and one DNA samples restricted Creator Celestial." Taylor stared at the watch in shock. Over a million DNA samples?! She still had no clue what the watch did, but from what she had gathered so far it was pretty obvious this was some high level tinker tech. Maybe it super charged her DNA with whatever these creatures naturally had? She supposed having a tiger's grace and agility would be pretty cool. She looked back at the cape she now knew was Celestial with a questioning gaze.
"Just a simple restriction that will be lifted over time. That much of an informational dump would reduce your ability to actually learn from the information you would be given." She nodded before scrolling through what she now had available. She supposed it made sense. If even one of those represented just one ability, she would be sitting there for years trying to decipher them. As Celestial had said, there were only 10 creatures available currently. She selected the first one on the list and closed her eyes in anticipation. A few seconds later, realizing nothing happened, she opened her eyes and looked around trying to figure out what went wrong. Noticing Celestial's gaze on the watch, she realized that a small button had lifted from the hour glass face. She quickly pushed it down and this time she felt a major difference. She could feel her fingers morph together, and her skull structure change. Her body was also elongating, and she felt something protrude out of her back side. As soon as she felt the changes stop, she examined herself. Holy crap! Her skin was blue, and her fingers morphed into 3 talons! She couldn't see much else beyond her change in clothing, so she rushed over to her bathroom. Celestial watched, preparing for the inevitable.
"WooooaAAoooH!" She was FAST. And she was slipping!
"Ooph," Taylor grunted as she felt a muscled arm grab her around her waist. She looked sheepily at her savior, smiling in thanks before this time taking much more care to go at a normal pace. What stared back at her in the mirror was amazing. She became some sort of fusion between a prehistoric dinosaur and an Olympic sprinter. Looking down, she then noticed her tail, which was lightly wrapped around her lower waist, and the odd looking balls that her feet rested on. She took a much more protracted look at her face afterwards. Her eyes didn't have any protection from the wind speeds apparently? They blinked, but they didn't have the layer that most reptiles had evolved to protect themselves from the elements. She was confused, because she was completely sure that the speeds she was just running at in her room would have at the very least caused her eyes to water. Just as she thought more on it, a face mask slammed down from the top of what she thought was a helmet.
"That's so cool." Her voice came out somewhat raspy, as though her vocal cords hadn't been used in a while. Or that the language she was speaking wasn't a perfect fit. She still couldn't hide the awe in her voice, though. She turned to Celestial who simply hummed non-committedly.
"So what am I? Besides, ya know, a super speed dinosaur?" She asked, giddy to find out more about her new powers.
"Kineceleran. Natives to the planet Kinet. A reptilian race that evolved directly alongside their technology, creating a species capable of moving at extreme speeds and compensating for physical inefficiencies using their natural-born tech. According to the Parahuman system of measurement, Thinker 1, Mover 10, Shaker 2." So many questions popped into Taylor's head at that moment.
"Natives to a planet? That means somewhere out there this dinosaur actually existed? And Shaker 2?" Celestial nodded.
"They still exist. And their home planet is somewhere in the third quadrant of the Milky Way if I remember correctly. In fact, almost all species in the Omnitrix still exist, with a rare few being extinct. It's actually a catalog of almost every single sentient species in the galaxy. The Shaker rating is because Kincelerans can directly affect the force of friction on their bodies." Taylor simply ignored the massive bomb that Celestial dropped on her. She was already having enough trouble coming to terms with the fact that she was gonna be a hero, let alone a hero using powers from outer space!
"So, ignoring the whole "aliens are real" thing, Kinecelerans are naturally born in the top class of speedsters?" Taylor asked. Celestial shook his head.
"No, they are the top class of speedsters. Only one species is faster than it, and even then it doesn't have the sheer maneuverability that Kinecelerans have due to their friction manipulation. They're actually considered one of the universe's best assassins, because very few species can perceive the speed they move at. Combined with their natural lethality, they're highly sought after for their efficiency." Taylor blanched. He was right she supposed. Being that fast and armed with what appeared to be talons capable of shredding steel probably would make a species appear hyper lethal. Taylor heard a car door slam outside. Crap, she didn't even realize it had been that long! Still in her Kineceleran form, she ran downstairs and out the door. She stopped when she realized her dad wasn't moving at all. In fact, as she looked around outside the house, nothing was moving.
"In your panic, you triggered the Kineceleran's natural hyper processing. Everything's still moving at the same speed, you're just processing and moving at a speed multitude magnitudes faster than it. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if your father probably thinks that you're a trick of light considering your current speed." Taylor stared wide eyed at Celestial.
"Wait, I thought you said that Kinecelerans were the top class of speedsters? How are you keeping up?" He shrugged his shoulders.
"I'm faster." Taylor stared at him.
"That's not an explanation." He shrugged again.
"It's good enough for me. Now come on, we gotta get this sorted out while we can still abuse your hyper processing." He turned around and moved back towards the house, motioning for her to follow. Taylor took one look around at the frozen world. It still seemed so surreal to her. Once they reached her room, he closed the door and turned to her once more.
"To change back, you can either use the voice command, or tap the Omnitrix's center symbol on your chest. Rotating the dial then tapping lets you select the next alien in the queue. Now, after you change back, don't be surprised and follow my lead. Got it?" Taylor nodded. Quickly tapping the dial on her chest, she felt a cooling sensation before once again the world seemed to speed up. The birds outside her window were moving, and the leaves were rustling. She let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. That was certainly far more taxing than she realized. Another black flash blinded her from where Celestial was standing. Once she got her sense of sight back, she turned to ask him what it was about. Only to find another human standing there. A fine human at that. His brown hair was tossed about lightly, and his green eyes met her own. His face was handsome, it had an air of boyish and roguish charm to it. His attire consisted of a white pair of tight jeans, a black t-shirt, and a black jacket with white stripes running down one side. He winked at her and smiled. Taylor's brain fried a little.
"Follow my lead right?" Taylor couldn't trust herself to speak so she nodded. How the hell did a hero from some other dimension turn into a hot guy a few years older than her?!
"Taylor, I'm home!" Her dad shouted from downstairs. Before she could answer, Celestial answered for her.
"Hey, Mr. Hebert, we're up here!" He called down the stairs. She could hear her dad pause for a second, then rush up the stairs in a slightly alarmed manner. He opened the door quickly, and while he still looked a bit haggard from work, he seemed to be a bit off. The smell of alcohol quickly made its way into the room. She wrinkled her nose.
"Everything alright up here Taylor?" He asked her, motioning towards the boy sitting on her bed. He didn't seem to be too drunk this time, considering he didn't just pass out in the couch like he usually did. It warmed her heart a little bit to see that he still had enough presence of mind to do something like this.
"Y-Y-yeah. Everything's fine, dad." God, she was still blushing up a storm from the random encounter and she didn't even realize. Taylor hoped this was the last surprise today, because there's no way her heart could handle any more of this.
"If you're sure. Ah, how can I forget, I'm Danny Hebert, nice to meet you...?" Her dad held his hand out to Celestial, prompting him to introduce himself.
"Ben. Ben Tennyson. It's nice to meet you too Mr. Hebert." He responded in kind and gave her dad a firm handshake, before continuing.
"I'm your daughter's tutor until her grades at school improve." What? What?! Taylor's dad looked right at her, confused.
"I didn't know her grades were slipping. But either way, I'm not sure if we can really afford a tutor with our current financial situation." Her dad sighed, once again looking defeated. She looked back to Celestial, or was it Ben, for help. He simply smiled and winked again.
"Don't worry, it's nothing serious. Sometimes when people have a change in environment the stress gets to them a bit. And, I'm doing this pro-bono. I'm actually a college student that lives nearby. It's part of a program to get some credit towards some of my majors." Taylor looked amazed. Ben's capability of spinning a story was next level. Especially considering she could barely lie without flinching. Her dad relaxed a bit at hearing the part about it being pro-bono.
"That's a load off my shoulders. But are you sure you don't want some compensation? I mean, we don't really have any cash on hand, but I have some connections that you could use to get some internships?" Her dad ventured. Taylor knew he was relieved that the "tutoring" was free, but even still, Danny Hebert was a man who prided himself on fairness. Taylor slowly lost herself in thought as the conversation was droning on about college life and fraternity chapters and the like. A hero, huh? The conversation in the background was somewhat relevant she thought. Could she balance her current school life with being a hero? And could she trust herself to not abuse her powers? Like Ben said, Kinecelerans were the perfect assassins. And while she sure as hell wasn't going to hurt anybody, that kind of anonymity was dangerous, you know?
"Taylor? Taylor?" She quickly snapped back to the conversation.
"Huh, yeah Cele-I mean Ben?" She spotted the slight downturn of his lips before it corrected itself back into a smile. Her dad hadn't noticed. Ouch. Not even first day on the job and she already messed up.
"Your dad and I got everything sorted out. So we'll begin our tutoring sessions in two days from now." She nodded in response. What about her powers? And how did her dad not even notice the Omnitrix on her wrist?
"I'll pick you up from your school, you go to Winslow right?" She knew Ben already knew, but she merely hummed in affirmation to keep up appearances. He smiled and nodded.
"Cool." He turned away, walking with her dad out the door of her room and down the stairs. After he left the room, Taylor turned back to actually do the homework she was assigned today. It would be nice to get some normalcy out of the day before going back to bed right? Instead, Ben popped his head back from around the frame of her door.
"Oh, almost forgot. Be sure to practiced everything we learned today. Everything. I'll quiz you on it our next session, kay?" He pointedly looked at her left wrist. Taylor got the message. Train and acclimate, we'll see how much you can do in two days. Simple enough she supposed.
"See ya later then!" He waved, and walked back down the stairs, while continuing to randomly chat up her dad. She looked once more at the Omnitrix. Kinecelerans huh? In any other world, if she had just those powers, she'd already be in competition for one of the strongest capes in the world due to sheer synergy of the powers alone. But one power set out of ten? She dialed up on the Omnitrix. Might as well get started with set number one she supposed. What should she call this form anyways? Kineceleran was a mouthful and not exactly inspiring as a hero name. Maybe Velociraptor? Nah, too cheesy and it screamed villain and violence. Velocity was already taken by a hero in the Brockton Bay Protectorate. Something to do with the powers specific to this alien. Hah! She got it. She slammed down on the Omnitrix's activation core, and felt the changing sensation once more. Her voice came out as raspy as before, but with a much more positive inflection.
"Time to take XLR8 out for a test drive." Hey, being a hero required bad one liners.
A/N: First AN of this story. Yay. This is gonna be a bit spoilerish so feel free to skip to the next linebreak.
So basically, this is a pretty obvious conclusion to make. Taylor gets the Omnitrix, Ben has a master plan to remove his powers as a Celestialsapien. Yada Yada. But, one of the main things I love about the Celestialsapien concept is the same reason I love the concept of Superman. Some heroes are just so strong that they are literally gods to those below them. So, the struggle of writing them, isn't about whether they can beat some unbelievable villain like it is with Batman outwitting someone, but rather, is it right to beat them? Is it right to use the power to influence others? Basically, Ben is still Ben, but bitterness has tainted his world view. Over the course of this story, I hope to challenge Ben's contempt of immortality with his overwhelming sense of duty and morality.
Yay spoilers. I'll try to update when I can, this is a pretty early update only cause I felt like the previous chapter was more a prologue if anything. Next chapter we'll get into the meaty stuff, and perhaps a nod to Feedback if you catch my drift.
