Reticence Saga
The Aliens Within
Chapter 6: One Mean Mother
While Gralen had torn apart a fair amount of the medical bay earlier, he had, quite fortunately, overlooked the place where Mina and Lita were still resting after their encounter with the kryteer. Kryteer don't leave people alive very often, mainly if they've been interrupted. Being comatose was hardly the worse that could happen after an encounter. Some people have had whole years of life scared out of them by the creature. And that phrase was about to take another twist as Mina started to wake up.
Matt and Kala had come in every free moment they had, mostly because Matt was pissed that a kryteer had gotten her on his watch. He'd also made sure that it was always guarded after Gralen's little rampage. Lita herself was awake in the next bed over and looked little the worse for wear, though Mina was a different story.
Mina groaned a bit before opening her eyes. "Mina, are you hearing us?" asked Kala.
"Yeah, I think so," said Mina weakly.
Matt and Kala gave a sigh of relief before Matt asked, "How are you feeling?"
"Like my stomach's caved in," groaned Mina.
"Not surprised, you haven't eaten in quite a while. I'll send for a leg of lamb," said Matt.
"Matt, are you sure we want to give her solid food so quickly?" asked Kala.
Mina's stomach growled very noisily and she shouted even louder, "FEED ME NOW!"
"One leg of lamb it is," laughed Matt cheerfully as Lita waved from her bed.
"Least you're ok too," she said
"We ought to get her a leg too," said Kala.
"FEED ME!" yelled Mina.
"Uh, better make that a whole lamb," said Kala.
...
A short time later and Mina was demolishing some roast lamb as Matt and Kala watched and Lita tried not to stare at the food. Mina turned out to be a lot more ravenous than any of them would have expected. It would have been messy if Mina weren't make sure to pick every single bone clean. When the last scrap of meat vanished down her gullet, Lita asked, "Uh, can I have-" Mina hissed at her before gnawing on the bones themselves.
Kala raised an eye brow at Matt. "Been giving her lessons?" she said before sighing as Matt was petting Mina on the head saying "That's my goddaughter."
Mina snarled and snapped at Matt's hand, which he barely retracted in time. "Geeze, you'd think she'd have gotten full from that lamb already," said Matt.
Just then, Mina stopped her gnawing and started quivering. "Mina, honey, are you feeling ok?" asked Kala.
Just then, Mina surged in size, her uniform quickly getting very tight as her body expanded in size. Most noticeably, her hips and bottom had become noticeably rounder while her fledgling chest grew to more adolescent proportions. She lifted her head, her face also looking more mature, and shouted in a slightly deeper voice, "MORE FOOD!"
The group stared before Lita said, "What the heck do you put in your lamb?"
"I thought they were putting growth hormones in cows, not sheep," said Matt before having to duck as Mina threw a bone at him and yelled, "GET ME MORE FOOD!"
Matt stood up, snapping "ENOUGH!" easily catching the next bone, before starting to gnaw on it cigar style without any apparent shame . "Mina, I don't know what's going on here, but we're decreasing your food intake until we figure it out. And shouting is not going to improve that so please put that down," said Matt, the last part coming out at a bit of a whimper as Mina had heaved up the bed she was laying on and was getting ready to throw it.
Mina seemed to twitch before starting to sob. "Oh, there, there, Mina," said Kala soothingly, "We'll figure this little problem out."
"Buuut I'm just sooo hungryyyyyyyy…" wailed Mina.
Lita looked thoughtful before calling Kala over. "I think I know what's wrong," she said, whispering something in Kala's ear .
"Really? What?" asked Kala.
"She's a teenager..." said Lita out loud .
Mina blinked before saying excitedly, "Yeah, I am a teenager. I can stay later, I can go on missions, and I can even drive now."
"Still not driving," said Matt on automatic .
"I can drive if I want to!" snapped Mina.
"Not if I have anything to-" started Matt before Mina threw the bed at him. It was that point the spiderbots intervened.
...
"...and that's why we're banned from the medical bay for 1 week," said Matt, sitting at the Mr. Smoothy's with Ben.
"Huh, is it normal for dragons to start growing that fast?" asked Ben.
"Hardly," said Matt, "In fact, she shouldn't be able to grow at all with the chronal detainment spectrum."
"The what now?" asked Ben.
"Oh, with some universes, including this one, when any living thing is displaced to a different time period than when it belongs, they completely stop aging until they're returned to their proper time," said Matt.
"Huh, that would explain Billy Billions," muttered Ben.
"Billy who?" asked Matt.
"Oh, no one important," said Ben, "But couldn't something else had made Mina grow?"
"Maybe that kryteer?" suggested Kala.
"If it had sucked out a few years of her life, they would have showed immediately, not right after she ate," said Matt.
"Got no idea. Does anyone in this crazy time zone know about time travel?" asked Kala .
"Professor Paradox would, but evidently this isn't important enough or he would have shown up," said Ben.
"Hmm..." said Matt before adding "And if it isn't bad enough, the experiments are getting stir crazy."
"Where are they currently?" asked Rook.
"Oh, in town somewhere," said Matt casually, causing Ben and Rook to spit out their smoothies.
"What? People know about aliens. What could happen?" said Matt innocently . Just then, an explosion was heard not too far away. "Coincidence," said Matt quickly .
"We better make sure," said Rook, standing up.
...
It turns out, it really was a coincidence, seeing how it was unlikely the experiments would have blown up a bank. The real culprits soon exited the hole they blew in the bank. "Octagon, how's come I hafta carry all the coins?" asked Rhomboid.
"Cause you're the strongest of the two of us and this paper money is of a more acceptable weight and burden for a smaller feller like me," said Octagon.
The two were ready to get another load when a plumber truck rolled up, Ben, rook and Matt (in human form) jumping out . "See, told you it was a coincidence," said Matt.
"Is that Matt Lynch?" asked Rhomboid.
"I'm afraid so," said Octagon, "Seems like we're gettin' blown up early today."
"Yeah, I'm just observing," said Matt innocently.
"That ain't like the Matt Lynch we've come across," said Octagon.
"Maybe he's a fake," said Rhomboid. The two Vreedle brothers exchanged a glance before opening fire.
Matt yelped jumping behind the cover of the timecycles, looking at his reflection. "I should have asked for a Unitrix too instead of counting on hulk logic," he snapped . With that, he removed his holocloak and jumped back around the timecycles, letting out a sonic howl as he did.
The Vreedles were thrown back by the blast, but were barely hurt. "Ain't Lynch supposed to turn into a dragin'?" asked Rhomboid.
"That he does, which seems to weight to the argument that this fellow is an imposter," said Octagon.
"I'm no imposter, you are!" Snapped Matt before sonic howling them again .
Meanwhile, Ben had activated his Omnitrix and changed into Shocksquatch. "Ok, let's get the party started, eh?" he said before sending bolts of electricity at the Vreedles.
The two of them got zapped, but instead of yelping in pain, they laughed. "Heehee, that tickled," said Rhomboid.
"Oh yeah? Laugh this off!" snapped Matt, tossing two plasma grenades at them .
"Hmm, that doe seem more likely of Matt Lynch's preferred method of gettin' rid of somebody," said Octagon before the grenades went off. After the flash and bang, all that was left was a smoking crater. "Well, that takes of them for the day," said Matt.
...
Not too far off, the Vreedles' ship beeped as the cloning chambers in the back spat out a new pair of Vreedle clones. "Fortunately, we'd had the foresight of parking the cloning machines close," said Octagon.
"Sure does save time," said Rhomboid.
"Of course, it'll make robbin' an establishment a little harder," said Octagon
"Can't we just pick up where we left off?" asked Rhomboid.
"The problem with that suggestion is that Tennyson and Lynch are still there and goin' back now will just get us blown up again," said Octagon.
Rhomboid seemed thoughtful before saying, "Why not get some grub till they leave?"
"Not a bad idea, Boid," said Octagon, "New clones got empty stomachs."
...
Matt looked at what was left, saying, "Who the heck were those twerps?"
"I thought you knew the Vreedles," said Ben.
"Oh, right, they looked a different for some reason," said Matt, "Maybe I should get my eyes checked."
"There are alot of them. They are a big family," said Rook, adding, "Though military ordinance is perhaps unnecessary ."
"Eh, force of habit," said Matt, "Now where were we before Dumb and Dumber tried to rob the bank?" "Regarding Jumba Jookiba's illegal genetic experiments?" asked Rook.
"Ah yes. He made quite a few. Usually Lilo'd keep them from running too much of amok but she's in her home universe at the moment and I doubt I call her current version," said Matt .
"Technically, this is her home universe, though I doubt you would wish to endanger causality by contacting Ambassador Pelekai," said Rook.
"True, though I could use some tips for reining in Draco," said Matt.
"I do not recommend this course of action," said Rook as Matt dialed on his comm.
"He'll have to find out the hard way," said Ben.
Matt waited for the ring before a block he recognized came on. "They kept a code lock? Huh, override 9912," he ordered, grinning as it began to ring .
After a bit, a voice came through, "This is the chronal communications block established by acting Novus Star AI, Dr. Aria. Your call has not been granted approval and could potentially aversely effect the flow of time. This call has been disconnected."
"What?! You listen to me, you stuffed shirt of a computer! I have the right to call whoever I want, whenever I want, even if the 'when' is not the proper 'when'!" snapped Matt.
There was a slight pause before the comm said, "Your voice print has been identified as Captain Matthew Lynch. Your disregard for protocol has been anticipated and you will be shortly receiving a 500 volt shock to discourage you from making further calls. Thank you."
"Wait, 500 what?" asked Matt before he started getting shocked.
"You think this will keep Matt from making more calls?" asked Rook.
"He'll probably try it a few more times until he either finds someone to yell at directly or something happens to distract him," said Ben.
...
Meanwhile, Mina was not in a rather bright mood. She had gotten older and yet everyone's been treating her more like a kid. She would have hoped she'd get more privileges, but all she was getting was sore from the tightness of her clothes.
Chloe, Megan and Kala were helping her a bit with that, Megan having cast the same spell her own clothing had to stop them being destroyed. Mina gave a sigh of relief when her clothes became less restricting. "Finally," said Mina, "So when are we going to do some big girl stuff?"
"I dunno..." began Kala before Megan used a spell to make hers and Chloe's lips seal.
"We can go right now!" she said, writing in the air behind Mina, 'Let's do it so she won't go nuclear.'
"Great," said Mina before pausing to look at herself in a mirror. She was getting very pretty now. She wondered if boys found her cute now or whether she cared about that. As she was pondering that, she suddenly felt something squirm before there was a popping sound. Mina stared in horror at the pustule that had just emerged from her forehead.
"RUN AWAY!" yelled Megan, the trio managing to clear the room before it literally exploded .
"Isn't she overreacting just a little bit?" asked Kala.
"Dragons aren't supposed to get zits," said Chloe, "And you would have no idea how mortifying they are to girls."
"I'M UGLYYYY!" yelled Mina from the other room, a spontaneous shadow spear narrowly missing Kala.
"One lonely pimple does not make you ugly," called Kala. Not long after that, there were a few more popping noises and Mina let out a shriek.
"That's more pimples. Don't worry, judging from her aging, they should be popping and vanishing any tiiiime NOW!" Said Megan, diving for cover .
Kala and Chloe also dived for cover and it was for good reason. Mina's pimples didn't simply burst, they fired like cannons. And being part dragon, the missiles were flaming wads that exploded on impact. After a minute, Mina staggered out, saying in a faint voice, "Never again." before falling on her face and smoldering
The girls winced before Chloe asked, "Is she likely to have another acne attack?"
"Maybe if she ate something greasy," said Megan.
Mina twitched at that. "Ok, no grease for her," said Chloe quickly .
...
The Vreedles had gone to eat at the most diverse eating establishment in Bellwood, much to the dismay of the owner. "The Vreedle brothers? Oh no," moaned Mr. Bauman as the alien thugs walked in, "I suppose you're here to rob my store and then that wrecking ball Ben Tennyson will show up."
"Nah, we just here ta eat," said Rhomboid.
"And we're gettin' a discount, a five-finger discount," said Octagon, pointing his gun at Mr. Bauman.
Rhomboid slowly counted the fingers on one hand before saying, "But we only got four fingers."
"That was what you might call a figure of speech, Boid," said Octagon, "As in we ain't payin' for lunch today."
An explosion from the direction of the self-serve microwave signaled the arrival of a white...thing that splatted over Octagon's face, a cybernetic thing and a small draconic creature running into view.
"Octagon, you got hit in the face with a marshmallow," said Rhomboid.
Octagon pulled the thing off his face and said, "I have to disagree with you, Rhomboid, on account of this ain't no marshmallow."
The thing formed into a cute slug-like creature before saying, "Hello."
"Heh. It's alive," said Octagon, the slug creature saying "You look weird." a blaster being shoved up his nose .
"Hey, put down our cousin," said the cybernetic thing.
The brothers both laughed at that "What you gonna do about it, tiny?" said Rhomboid .
"Well, for starters," said the cyborg before zapping Octagon's blaster which quickly shut down.
"Hey!" complained Octagon, tossing his useless blaster aside and aiming a blow at the cyborg .
The dragon caught the blow before grinning widely with four mouths. "Oh no, here comes the smashing," groaned Mr. Bauman.
Octagon glared before yelping as Draco tossed him into a food display, Rhomboid reaching for his own blaster . The white blob, which had been dropped by Octagon, shifted into what looked like a purple four-armed pig before lifting Rhomboid above his head and spinning him around.
Octagon meanwhile was struggling with the dragon, "You think you can beat me?"
"Easily," said the dragon before throwing Octagon into his much thicker brother.
"You ok, Octagon?" asked Rhomboid a little dizzily .
"I'm thinking we might have bitten more than we can chew," said Octagon.
"But we haven't eaten yet," said Rhomboid.
The Vreedles looked over to see the dragon charging up blasts in his mouths and the cyborg charging up some big guns. "Uh oh," said the two of them before they were blasted out of the store one foot at a time, the creatures apparently taking their time about this.
Rhomboid said dizzily at that, "Can we go back to the bank yet, Octagon?"
"I'm thinkin' that may be a good idea," said Octagon before they got up and started to run away.
"Yeah, you better run, losers!" called the dragon, "You punks are no match for us. And don't get me started about your mama!"
The brothers froze at that, slowly turning and Rhomboid saying slowly, "What did you say about our ma?"
"I say yo mama's so fat, she's classified as her own planet!" taunted the dragon. The Vreedles gave angry growls at that. "Yo mama so ugly, she entered a Grendalek ugly contest and won!" taunted the dragon.
"Uh, Draco, aren't you getting a bit too far?" asked the cyborg.
"Quiet, Chip, I'm on a roll," said Draco before calling, "Yo mama's so stupid, she cheated off of Morph's IQ test!"
The blob giggled and said, "That's a good one."
Rhomboid also laughed and said, "That was pretty funny."
"Can it, Boid. That weren't supposed to be funny ta us!" snapped Octagon.
"It weren't?" asked Rhomboid.
"Boid, our family honor is at stake. They just called Ma fat, ugly, and stupid," said Octagon.
Rhomboid glared and said, "Nobody talks about Ma that way."
"What ya gonna do about it?" taunted Draco before his eyes went wide as the two brothers got out their heavy artillery .
"Ok, I think we need to end this quick," said Chip before sending out a viral blast that hit the brothers' blasters.
The brothers glared and tried to fire, their blasters starting to crackle with unfired energy. "I thinks we're about to be blown up, Octagon," said Rhomboid .
"I suspect you're right, Boid," said Octagon before the blasters glowed brightly and exploded.
When the smoke cleared, there was just the two brothers' shoes smoking in the crater their blasters had made. "You had to tease their mother," scolded Chip .
"It was funny," protested Draco.
"And I suppose killing them was funny too," said Chip.
"Oh, they'll be back," said Mr. Bauman with unconcern, "The Vreedles get blown up all the time. They'll pop up again in clone bodies and get blown up later. Hopefully next time won't be at my store."
"See? No harm, no foul," said Draco.
"They also are very protective about their mother," added Mr. Bauman .
"Big deal," said Draco dismissively, "You think Mina's cooled off enough to return to the ship?"
"Didn't you hear him? You're in deep trouble." snapped chip
"From the expendable clowns? Hardly. You heard about the Vreedle brothers, they don't even have a bounty on them. The NSC official label them as 'target practice'," said Draco.
At that point, the timecycles pulled up, Ben, Rook, and Matt running up. "Ok, what did Morph put in the microwave this time?" Matt said .
Morph scratched his head and said, "I'm not really sure, but it looked tasty."
Mr. Bauman seemed to see Ben at that. "Oh no...not Tennyson...urgh, at least the trouble's gone," he muttered .
"I'm guessing it's more than just these guys," said Ben, pointing at the experiments.
"Eh, just a little tussle with the Vreedle brothers, nothing to worry about," said Draco.
"The clone guys? They were here?" said Matt .
"Yep, they weren't that hard to beat," said Draco, "They did break out some big guns when I threw a few 'yo mama' jokes at them."
Rook and Ben stared at Draco as he had gone completely insane. "You insulted Ma Vreedle?" asked Rook.
Matt facepalmed. "Even I wouldn't have done that. It's the unwritten rule. I doubt even Ghoulwyrm would," he said.
"Well, yeah, insulting moms is dirty, but Draco really shouldn't have insulted their mom," said Ben.
"So? It's not like she'll take it that personally," said Draco.
...
Back at the Vreedles' ship, the clone chambers opened to let loose Octagon and Rhomboid's latest bodies, and man were they ticked.
"That ugly gator is gonna get a big whoopin' once we find him," said Rhomboid.
"Right, we better load up on bigger guns though," said Octagon.
But just then, the communicator beeped. Octagon flipped it on and both of them said, "Hi, Ma."
"Where have you two been? You're late for mah stew," snapped Ma Vreedle .
"Awfully sorry, Ma, but we is currently involved in what you might call a quest for vengeance," said Octagon.
"If yer talkin' about blastin' Ben 10, save it fer later. Yer keepin' yer baby brothers waitin'," snapped Ma.
"It ain't Ben 10 we's gonna blow up," said Rhomboid, "We's gonna blow up a mutant lizard for sayin' mean things about ya."
"What? Some two bit mutant's been talkin' bout me behind mah back?" snapped Ma Vreedle.
"Yeah. He called fat, ugly, and stupid," said Rhomboid.
"Which we knows is not correct at all," said Octagon.
"Fine, you two get back home and eat yer stew. Ah'm gonna find where this here lizard is and sort him out proper," said Ma Vreedle .
...
Meanwhile, the group had moved to Plumber HQ, Draco still not convinced about the gravity of his faux pas. "I still don't bite how one lady can be that bad," said Draco.
"You haven't met Ma Vreedle." said Ben, with a shudder, remembering the last disastrous visit .
"As if she's any worse than her sons," said Draco.
"Ma Vreedle is far more dangerous than her two sons put together," said Rook, "She is wanted in 12 systems and banned in 27 more."
"Not to mention Vilgax himself is scared of her," said Ben.
"Vilgax...as in the galactic warlord who wanted to vaporize you?" said Draco, his cockiness vanishing .
"Yeah, I find it hard to believe too," said Ben.
"Ok, now I know you're exaggerating," said Draco.
"I believe there is adequate footage to show just what Ma Vreedle is capable of," said Rook. Grandpa Max nodded, pressing a button and causing the main screen to light up with the footage of the last 'visit'.
Draco started to go pale as he watched Ma Vreedle trash the Plumber base when she was looking for her Pretty Boy. "And let's not forget what happened when the whole family was in town," said Ben, pressing another button and showing the Vreedles spreading mayhem around Bellwood.
Draco's mouths fell open in horror. "And I upset her?" he said in a squeaky voice. Morph highlighted this thought by humming the funeral dirge. "Shut up, Morph," Draco whimpered, one of his mouths gnawing on his claws .
"Yep, she's gonna make a pair of boots out of you," said Matt, "Probably a matching handbag too."
"Matt, please shut up," gibbered Draco .
"I call dibs on his stuff," said Chip before NegaMorph shoved him out of the way.
"Forget it, I'm getting the good stuff," snapped NegaMorph.
Matt lifted an eyebrow and asked, "How long were you here?" "Uh, just a few minutes. Figured it'd be quieter over here since Mina's throwing a major hissy fit on the Novus Star," said NegaMorph.
"What kind of hissy fit?" asked Matt innocently as Draco continued to have a nervous breakdown .
"Oh, the kind that leaves a burning ruin wherever she's been," said NegaMorph.
"Oh, nothing new then," said Matt, before pausing, "I'm sorry, what?"
"Well, apparently it involved a bucket of fried chicken, a mirror, and an unflattering comment by someone," said NegaMorph.
"And did that comment happen to come from you?" asked Matt suspiciously.
"No," said NegaMorph only for Morph, turned into Fibber, to beep loudly.
"NegaMorph...go back...and APOLOGISE TO MY GODDAUGHTER!" roared Matt .
"Can't I wait until she's simmered down?" asked NegaMorph.
"What do you think?" said Matt before Draco suddenly hugged his head, screaming "SAVE MEEEEE!"
"Oh, right, you talked smack about Ma Vreedle," said NegaMorph, "Not very bright of you."
"I'M TOO YOUNG TO BE A HANDBAAAAG!" screamed Draco in Matt's ear .
Matt winced before managing to pull Draco off and shove him over NegaMorph's head. "Yell in his ear, he deserves it," said Matt as he rubbed his sore ear.
"NEGAMORPH! I don't wanna be a pair of boots! DO SOMETHING OR I'LL YELL IN YOUR EAR MORE!" yelled Draco .
"Hmm, we'll need to hide you somewhere," said NegaMorph before going over to a water fountain and stuffing Draco into the water container. "Perfect, no one will notice you," he said.
"NegaMorph, you're fired." said Matt, pulling Draco out.
"You can't fire me, I've got a contract," said NegaMorph.
Matt gave him an odd look before saying, "I didn't sign any contract...did I? Anyhow, if you can't be useful here, go apologize to Mina." NegaMorph glared, vanishing before he said, "Can't you hide him?"
"Well, we have the Plumber space station and the Novus Star," said Chip, "I think between the two of them, we can put together a good enough defense to keep Draco from harm."
"That's for that, Chip. Murphy's always listening," said Matt darkly .
"Who is Murphy?" asked Rook.
"He's talking about Murphy's Law, as in things will go bad when someone says 'things could not get any worse' or 'what could possibly go wrong'," said Ben.
"Like what CHIP DID!" snapped Matt, glaring and sticking a fridge magnet to Chip's head .
"Oh, yoouu aaarrreee eeeexxxxaaaaggggeeeerrrraaaattttiiiinnnngggg..." said Chip as his voice slowed a lot.
"Name one time the universe hasn't kicked us in the nuts when we've gotten too cocky," snapped Matt .
Chip couldn't reply because his voice processor had apparently gotten stuck and he was just saying, "uuuuuuuuuuuuurrrrrrrrrrrrr..."
"Ok…so, we wait till Ma Vreedle arrives then we nuke her," said Matt ,
"How long do you suppose that'll take?" asked Ben.
"Well, if I was her, I'd be tearing Bellwood apart looking for Draco," said Matt .
"Most likely starting with Undertown," said Rook.
There was a pause, as if expecting the alarm to come in that second. "Hmm...maybe I was wrong?" said Matt .
...
Meanwhile, 'Chloe' had decided to take a break from Mina's pubescent tantrums by strolling around Undertown. She probably could have been doing some covert way of fanning the flames of Mina's delightfully unpredictable mood swings, but her rapid development gave 'Chloe' an odd feeling of nostalgia. 'Odd' because she has memories of going through puberty and being fully aware they weren't hers. She was also enjoying the fact she could go through Undertown as her real self without even a whimper from anyone. "Oh, I could almost live here," she said as she floated along .
She was passing by Argit's place when she heard a commotion going on inside. "Hmm, wonder what that little ratfink is up to," said Betrayl before shrinking down to a tiny size and poofing into Argit's office.
"I-I'm telling you, Mrs. Vreedle. I dunno who this dragon thing is you're talking about!" yelped Argit .
"Hogwash!" snapped Ma, "Ya know everything about who goes through Undertown and yer gonna fess up or I'm puttin' ya on the spit for dinner!"
"I REALLY DON'T KNOW!" screamed Argit, panicking a bit .
"Ma, perhaps if Argit had what you might call a visual representation of this lizard, he would know who we're talkin' about," said Octagon.
"Ya two have a picture of that thing?" said Ma doubtfully.
"I sure do. I made it myself," said Rhomboid, holding up a rather crude drawing that looked like it had been done by a kindergartener with crayon.
Ma, her vision filtered by 'parent-o-vision', said, "See? It's clear that there's a dragon cre-" she began before there was a click, a flash of light and the picture was suddenly a photo of Draco.
"Wow, I's a better artist than I thought," said Rhomboid.
"That...that I might know. One of Admiral Lynch's friends," said Argit .
"Then where does he live, ya varmint?" snapped Ma.
"On the warship in orbit, though I hear he comes down every now and then to get coconut cake," said Argit, happy now he was sure he was not barbeque fodder .
"Ya know how to get on that ship?" asked Ma.
"You can't, they don't let anyone on board...but you could lure him down," said Argit.
"How could we undertake such a tricky operation?" asked Octagon.
"Hey, I think I wrote a plan," said Rhomboid, looking behind the picture to see a very detailed-looking plan with a teleport frequency .
"Since when could you write that good?" asked Ma dubiously.
"Ah can't, Ma," said Rhomboid, scratching his head .
"Something screwy's goin' on round here," said Ma before taking the plan and reading it. Granted, her education wasn't the best either, but she was able to make sense of it. "Ok, Argit. Ah want one of these here tellyportar things," she said darkly .
"Uh, I'm afraid I don't have such a device in storage," said Argit before gulping as Octagon and Rhomboid aimed their blasters at him, "But I can get you one."
...
The teleporter in the Novus Star was pretty heavily controlled, a small squad on duty at all times, except for now at shift change, where just two were present. "Hey...you ever wonder why we're here?" said one marine before the teleporter pad lit up for an incoming warp .
"Uh, we expecting anybody coming in today?" asked the other marine.
"Control, we have unauthorized incoming, codes check out," the first one said, a crewman on the other end saying "Probably team 12 on their way back."
"Fine," muttered the other one, the two holstering their weapons and standing at attention.
However, when the light of the port cleared, three Vreedles were standing on the pad, guns at the ready, which fired, taking the two marines out before they could even move .
"Alright, boys, we're huntin' down that lizard and a-blowin' up anyone who gets in our way. You think you two knuckleheads can handle that?" asked Ma.
"Emergency, unauthorized weapon fire in teleport bay 6. All security respond," said a voice at that .
"If there's one thing we're good at, it's blowin' up," said Rhomboid.
"Just make sure it's them that gets blown up and not you," snapped Ma.
Several troopers ran into view at that, one of them yelling, "DROP THE WEAPONS!"
"Let 'em have it, boys!" shouted Mom before the Vreedles opened fire.
Two of the troopers were torn apart almost immediately, the others taking cover. "All units, we got intruders, might be Vreedles!" one yelled into his com before a blast vaporized him.
...
Draco's reaction to this news was pretty much what everyone expected. "HIDE ME! HIDE ME! HIDE ME!" yelled Draco, shaking Matt like a maraca.
Matt managed, "Stop shaking meeee." before he finally hit Draco on the head .
"I'm dead, I'm dead, I'm so totally dead," whined Draco.
"Well you did piss off the biggest villain family in the multiverse," said Matt casually .
"I think that's exaggerating," said Chip.
"But she is the meanest mother in this galaxy," said Morph.
"That's...probably dead-on accurate," said Chip.
"And she'll probably hit Draco till he's wafer thin," said NegaMorph with glee .
"You're not helping," said Ben.
"Besides, I do not think Draco is in mortal danger," said Rook.
"I've just calculated the probability of Draco surviving his encounter with Mrs. Vreedle," said Aria over the intercom.
"And they are?" asked Rook. There was a brief pause before the funeral dirge was played.
"Et tu, Aria?" groaned Draco.
"This is security...they split up...we can't find the ma but the other two are headed for engineering," said a voice in the com .
"That can't be good," said Ben.
"We gotta get Draco off this ship," said Matt urgently .
"Yes, off the ship, good idea!" said Draco in a very anxious way.
"It's better than here," snapped Matt .
"Then we better hurry," said Rook.
...
Meanwhile, Mina was back on the rage side of her current mood curve, as was indicated by several small scorches around her. She'd heard the alarm and the order to head back to quarters but had chosen to ignore it. "They can't tell me what to do. I'm a teenager," she growled.
On cue, a trooper was thrown into view ahead of her, smashing into a wall and slumping down, causing Mina to freeze in place as her self-preservation began to point out the plusses of heading back to her room. Her self-preservation became more demanding when she saw what had thrown the trooper come around the corner: a big, fat, ugly grey-skinned woman with two big guns in her hands.
"Meep," she managed before turning and legging it, and being grabbed as something wrapped round her legs.
Mina looked down to see that her legs were wrapped up by ribbons that seemed to come from the lady's lower back. "Hold it right there," she barked, "You haven't seen a scrawny lizard thing with ten legs, have ya?"
"You mean Draco?" yelped Mina, trying to get her hands to transform so she could grab the floor plating.
"Where's that lowdown snake hidin'?" barked Ma, "That ugly gator's gotta a tannin' comin' ta him."
"I...I dunno...which snake are you talking about?" said Mina desperately .
"Stop playin' word games and tell me where that varmint is!" snapped Ma.
"I have no idea what you're talking about!" cried Mina, "I mean, I just went through a puberty spurt, my mood keeps swinging like a revolving door, my face erupts pimples every other hour, and I have no idea what's being going-" Mina suddenly winced as her abdomen cramped badly.
Ma raised her eyebrows and asked, "What are you doin' there?"
"My guts...it hurts...make it stop..." whined Mina, clutching her stomach in pain.
Ma's maternal instincts quickly took over. "Ah, hush now, yer just becomin' a woman is all," said Ma, a lot softer than before.
"Why didn't anyone tell me it would hurt so much?" groaned Mina.
Ma picked up Mina gently and said, "Let me guess, yer goin' through a rapid growth thing?"
"How did you know?" asked Mina. "Happened to me when they first cooked me up in that lab, not that they expected me ta turn out the way I am," said Ma. She took Mina into a side room and sat her down. "Now, if yer gonna be a grown lady so fast, there's a couple of things you ought to know," said Ma.
Mina twitched before her eyes went draconic and she snapped "Are we hunting Draco? He still owes me credits."
Ma sighed, "Not for the moment. This here's a mite more important."
...
"So, why is we fixin' ta blow up the ship?" asked Rhomboid.
"Cause there might be a chance this Draco thing might elude Ma and us," said Octagon, "However, if we were to blow up this whole ship and everything in it, we'd be sure to get him and we'd just pop outta new clones."
"Now that's a bright idea that only a pair like us could think of," said Rhomboid.
"Yeah, Morph couldn't think of a more stupid plan," said a voice behind them.
"Why thanks, wait a minute," said Octagon before seeing Matt and company.
"Now who gave you permission to come on MY SHIP?" snapped Matt, his eyes looking red .
"We did, ah think," said Rhomboid.
"Fair enough, I'm gonna kill you now," said Matt casually, before shifting to Loboan form and letting loose a sonic howl at them .
"We ain't gettin' blown up by a hound dog this early. Let 'im have it, Boid," said Octagon.
Rhomboid reached out into his pocket and pulled out a toy bone which he held out to Matt. "Here, doggy, ya want the nice bone?" asked Rhomboid. Matt just gave him an 'are you kidding' look.
"Not that, the other thing!" snapped Octagon.
"Oh, right," said Rhomboid before pulling a canister out of his pocket and tossing it. The canister landed at Matt's feet before exploding in a cloud of green smoke that caused Matt to yelp and howl . "Whoo, Ah bet that gas smells right nasty," said Rhomboid.
"Which makes it fortunate for us on account of our lack of what you'd call olfactory organs," said Octagon.
"Our what?" asked Rhomboid.
"We don't have noses," said Octagon.
"Shoo...shoot em…" coughed Matt, clearly in pain .
Chris and Rook tried to take aim, but their noses were also be assaulted by the stench and as such it was hard for them to aim straight. Ben spun the dial on the Omnitrix and said, "Ok, this would be a really bad time for Wildmutt, so please work with me."
He slammed the dial down and changed into XLR8. He lowered his face mask and said, "Not what I had in mind, but this will work." With that, he dashed forward towards the Vreedles. The Vreedles turned in time to be knocked flying by XLR8 smashing past them .
"Blast 'im!" said Octagon before the Vreedles opened fire. Of course, XLR8 was too fast for them and soon literally running circles around them. In fact, his constant running caused a small tornado to form and lift up the Vreedles while sucking the gas inwards.
"Might I suggest we cool these two down?" asked Skurd before producing an Articguana-based cannon.
"Not a bad idea," said XLR8 before blasting the tornado with the cannon's freezing breath. When he came to a stop, the Vreedles were both frozen up to their necks at the top of an ice tower.
Matt, now wearing a gas mask that made him look like an idiot, glared, "Can I shoot them now?"
"This is only a bit of a setback," said Octagon.
"Yeah, when Ma gets here, she'll blow you up real good," said Rhomboid.
"Ok, fatty, where's your mummy?" growled Matt.
"We don't know where she is," said Rhomboid.
"And we wouldn't tell if we knew," said Octagon.
Matt raised an eyebrow before saying, "Aria, scan for any weird clones of these twits."
"Scanning..." said Aria's voice. Less than a minute passed before Aria's voice said with alarm, "I've detected her in Sector 5 with Ms. Lumina."
"WHAT?" roared Matt, sonic howling the Vreedles . The ice they were imprisoned in shattered and the Vreedles were dumped onto the floor. They didn't seem the worse for wear, though they were shivering from the cold. Matt pointed to Rook and Chris, "You two, chain those guys up and bring them along. We'll see if their mom is willing to trade Mina for her nimrod sons."
"Based on their usual encounters," started Rook before XLR8 hushed and said, "I'll go on ahead." With that, he zipped off.
"Ok, morons, time for a free visit to the brig," said Matt, grabbing one of them.
...
XLR8 shot through the ship, knocking over the odd marine or tech but intent on getting to where Lumina and Ma Vreedle was. "Do even know where Sector 5 is?" asked Skurd.
"A rough idea, but when you're this fast, you can just keep running until you're in the right place," said XLR8. With that, XLR8 kept running until he finally saw a hatch marked 'sector 5', several concussed marines scattered around . "There we go," said XLR8 before zipping inside. He quickly started checking every room he could find.
It only took a few seconds to find the only locked door at the very back of the sector...that and the trail of knocked out crew helped too. XLR8 hammered on the door and said, "Open up in there. We know you're in there, Ma. Come out with Mina before things get ugly."
"You stay outta this. This here's a talk between two women," snapped Ma's voice from inside .
"Ok, Skurd, give me something to bust down the door," said XLR8.
"That does not sound like a good idea," said Skurd, "It's quite rude to bust in during a lady's conversation."
"Oh, don't tell me you believe that. Fine, I'll do it myself," said XLR8 before hitting the Omnitrix and turning into Toepick. He jammed his fingers into the edges of the door and started working it loose, the softening acid from his fingers help quite a bit in that regard.
He had managed to pull open a small hole after a minute, which was quickly filled by one of Ma's blasters. "What did ah say?" she said darkly .
"Mina, keep your eyes shut," said Toepick, "This isn't gonna be pretty." With that, he opened up the door even more before he opened up his helmet.
Ma glared before firing. "That supposed to scare me?" she snapped.
"What's going on?" asked Mina's voice.
Toepick tried to cover his face while also tried to shield himself from being blasted. "Mina, don't look!" called Toepick.
Sadly it was a bit too late, Mina staring with pinpricked eyes as Toepick, before her fight/flight response decided to vote for 'fight' and she spat a shadow fireball at him . Toepick was sent flying back into a wall and landed with a somewhat squishy thud. "Ow, that hurt," he said before the Omnitrix timed out.
Ma glared at that, effortlessly knocking the door down. "Tennyson. Ah told you to stay out. Ah'm here for that no good lizard and you ain't gettin' in mah way."
"I wouldn't be doing my job if I just let you blow him up," said Ben.
"Ah'm not gonna blow that lounge lizard up," snapped Ma, stomping out, followed by an even more altered Mina who was shaking and staring blankly ahead . By now, Mina had fully blossomed into a young woman, looking to be at the most three years younger than Matt or Chloe.
"What, you're not going to blow up Draco?" asked Ben.
"Nah, talkin' with little Lumina's taken most of the anger outta me. Not ta mention she said that little fella never had a mother of his own. Tweren't all his fault he never learned how to treat a mother right," said Ma Vreedle.
Aria's voice at that said, "I presume that means you are going to cease this attack?"
"Almost," said Ma Vreedle, "That lizard still needs ta be taught a lesson in respect."
"I'm presuming you mean more than washing his mouth out with soap," said Ben.
Ma's grin was more than enough of an answer.
...
"Stop it! You're not tossing me to the wolves!" Draco snapped, hanging onto his doorframe .
"I resemble that remark," grumbled Matt as he pushed on Draco even more.
"It was just a few 'yo mama' jokes. How was I supposed to know they would take it that far?" begged Draco.
"Because they're space hicks," snapped Matt, finally punting Draco .
Draco immediately turned back to the already-closed door and started pounding on it. "Let me out! Let me out! Let me out!" he yelled before pausing to remark, "Wow, that's a really sturdy door."
"It sure is." Draco gulped and turned around to see all three Vreedles, each holding a big wooden paddle. "Time to teach this little snake some manners," said Ma.
...
Matt and Kala winced as the first yelps were heard. "Don't you think this is a little harsh?" said Kala. Matt thought about it before saying, "Nah...now then, Mina. Let's hear your latest demand."
"I want to be treated like an equal member of the crew," said Mina, sounding more self-confident now that she was able to look Matt in the eye without craning her neck, "I'm tired of being dumped on just because I'm too young which I'm clearly not anymore. And I want people to stop going about me being a stowaway. I mean, heck, you and Chloe started out as stowaways." Kala raised an eyebrow at that. "Well, at least that's what I've heard," said Mina.
"No, we were sucked through a portal and found by a search and rescue ship. You stole a uniform and sneaked on board...but you got a point. Technically you're legal age," said Matt, Kala staring in shock .
"But it's only temporary and she's not mentally mature," said Kala cautiously.
"Apparently Mrs. Vreedle has enlightened Lumina as to what it means to be a grown lady," said Matt before wincing as there was a particularly loud crack and Draco let out a pitiful yelp. Then he continued, "And we're definitely going to be finding a way to shrink her back down to her proper age as soon as we can. But, I suppose there's no harm in making her an honorary recruit in the meantime, providing she behaves responsibly."
"Of course," said Mina, saluting, Chloe muttering to herself "Unless she doesn't want to be de-aged…" her eyes glowing .
"So what are we going to do with the Vreedles once they've finished?" asked Kala.
"Well, they did blow up a lot of my crew," said Matt.
"Most of the injuries are non-fatal," said Aria, "Besides, we have such a huge crew now, it hardly matters when we lose some redshirts during our missions."
"Aria, when it's next convenient, I am ordering you to take some leave so you don't lose your compassion," said Matt, "And as for the Vreedles, well, we got any cells that can hold them?"
"Not a chance, sir. Their escape capabilities seems to be their best skill," said Aria .
"Well, they can survive being flushed out into space, can't they?" asked Matt.
"Quite capable," said Aria.
"Good, toss them out the airlock. I'm sure they can figure some way of getting back to Earth," said Matt.
The door opened at that, the Vreedles coming out. "Well, that takes care of business, let's go home," said Ma.
"Ain't we at least gonna rob somebody?" asked Rhomboid.
"We are teeterin' towards what you might call the lower end of financial security," said Octagon.
"You can try. My mood's significantly bad," said Matt, angrily . The boys looked at each other before reaching for their blasters and immediately being pounced on by Matt who went to work on relieving his stress.
"They better be home in time for dinner," said Ma with complete unconcern.
"They should be. Never seen Matt this angry before," said Chris casually .
"Nonsense," said Chloe, "He's been in worse states of rage."
"Just make sure they're in new clones by dinner," snapped Ma, walking past several of the marines who jumped out the way .
"Well, that was nuts," said Kala.
"That's nothing. You're not the one whose mom is friends with her," said Ben, "How's Draco?"
The group peered into the room at that and winced, Matt calling it "MEDIC!"
...
"Not to worry, Draco. With our medical technology, you'll be recovered from your injuries in, oh, a week," said Aria to a full body-casted Draco, "Though your hindquarters may still be sore for a time afterwards."
"I hate you all," groaned Draco in a muffled voice, muffled due to the addition of a full head cast too.
"There, there, it's not so bad," said Morph patting Draco's foot, which of course made Draco let out a muffled yell of pain. "See? He's yelling for joy," said Morph, oblivious as always.
"Well, Draco, at least you may have plenty of company in the form of anyone who tries to make a move on Lumina," said Matt very meaningfully.
"Or you when you get through to Spyro?" said Chloe innocently .
"That goes without saying," said Matt, "But I'm pretty sure this will be fixed before then. Not like anyone here's gonna check on future Avalar if they know what's good for them."
...
Back in her room, which was in a lot better shape now that her mood swings were over, Mina was looking over her new self in her underwear. She had to admit, she was a very attractive woman now. She kept in mind what Ma had said about how other people will look at her, but she was pretty sure nobody was going to get very far, not with Matt around. Still, it was pretty awesome for her to see what she'd look like several years in advance.
Just then, there was a knock on the door. "Just a minute," called Mina before putting her shirt and pants back on. She opened to the door to find Chloe there.
"Hey, girl. Wanted to see how you were doing," said Chloe cheerfully, walking in .
"Fine, I've gotten a new clothes now. Though I don't have really have anything that's..." Mina paused a bit in hesitation.
"It's ok, we're both grown women," said Chloe, "You can be open with me."
"I don't wanna turn back," said Mina quickly, wincing as she expected some angry words .
"Well of course you don't," said Chloe, "I mean, if you were turned back, they'd go right back to treating you like a baby again. And I bet they wouldn't let you keep your Shar nanites either." Mina hung her head at that as Chloe whispered in her ear, "It's not like they can make you..."
"Well, don't I have a say in this?" pointed out Mina.
"You do. It's your body and you're the only Shar on the ship. They can't force you to do anything," said Chloe.
"I'm not the only Shar on the ship," said Mina, "There are other people who got infected when those marauders got onboard, like Lita."
"They'll almost certainly be on your side," said Chloe smoothly .
"I'm not so sure," said Mina.
"Well, you'll have to take up leadership someday, you might as well start on it now," said Chloe, "It'd make your parents proud to see you act more responsible."
Mina stopped. "Proud?" she said quietly.
Chloe grinned, "Very, very proud."
"Well, I suppose I can try to get a bit more support," said Mina.
"That's the spirit...and don't let anyone stop you," said Chloe evilly, petting Mina on the head. Mina blinked as her head felt fuzzy for a moment. "Say, now that you're a grown woman, how about we get a big girl's drink?" suggested Chloe.
Mina shook her head at that, "No thanks. I'm feeling a little woozy."
Chloe shrugged, "Sure...my offer's always there though."
There's the next chapter. It's a breather chapter, mostly for hilarious Vreedle antics. Though there is an important plot point here with Lumina's rapid maturity. It might take a bit for the full ramifications of this to kick in, but it's definitely setting something up. And, just so you know, Ma not being scared of Toepick was not made up, it has been officially stated that Toepick's face doesn't work on her.
The next chapter might be a bit longer, but it could happen next Friday. Keep an eye out for it because that's where another plot arc starts. Please review or, better yet, share some of your own 'yo mama' jokes, especially if they're Ben 10-based.