Disclaimer: I don't own any of them sob. TMNT belongs to Mirage and Ben 10 belongs to 'Man of Action'. If I own them, Ben wouldn't be such a doofus and Mikey would have a hardcore alter ego! I do own the OCs who will appear in future chapters.

Chapter Ten: Trouble at the Park (Part I)

Three days had passed since Michelangelo's second mutation. After the elation of being 'super human' diminished, Michelangelo had been moping about him being so much different than his family, especially his brothers. He did not share his concern with anyone though and kept it to himself. But Ben noticed the gloom and had thought about cheering him up by doing what teenage boys enjoy, hang out and play.

Ben and Michelangelo were enjoying themselves skateboarding on the indoor ramp in the lair. They whooped, they laughed and they high-fived now and then. This time, Michelangelo didn't have the music blaring. Donatello had warned him that he needed peace and quiet to do research on his blood samples. Gwen was sitting on the top of one side of the ramp fastening a rollerblade that Ben had made for her from spare parts when he accidentally turn into the Galvan known as Grey Matter when he wanted to show off Fourarms' strength to Raphael. The red banded turtle laughed at him and left.

Gwen was bored and wanted to play rollerblades but Raphael's was too big for her so Ben made her a pair since she saved him which he reluctantly admitted. Gwen hugged him out of happiness. She flushed thinking about it, I seriously need to hang out with other boys or I might be falling for the dweeb! She thought sullenly. She finished clasping the last strap of the rollerblade and stood up unsteadily. She adjusted her helmet and looked down the ramp.

Ben landed beside her and stared at her, 'Are you sure you wanna do this? Do you even know how to skate?'

'Never die till you try,' said Gwen with a nervous grin. She went to the edge and took in a deep breath before pushing herself down and slide on the u-curve ramp. She let out an exhilarating laughter as she went up the other side but screamed when she fell backwards and landed on her butt, 'Oww!'

Michelangelo and Ben stopped beside her. Ben asked her concerned, 'Gwen! Are you alright?!'

The redhead stood up, grimacing at the pain, 'Ooh, y-yeah… Heh, I guess it wasn't a good idea after all.'

'Why don't we help you practice at the park?' asked Michelangelo.

The two eleven year olds stared at him. He raised a brow, 'What? I'm a human now. I won't be conspicuous or anything!'

'I don't know Mikey… you just escaped Bishop's lab three days ago. What if he had his men around looking for you or me,' said Ben.

The blond waved his hand dismissively, 'Nah, they wouldn't do anything in public. Let's go!'

'Mikey! Where are you going?!' asked Donatello when he saw his brother head toward the exit.

'We're going to Central Park. And don't worry dude! The Purple Dragons and the Foot won't recognize me!'

Donatello ran out of his lab, 'That's not it! What if Bishop had his men looking for you two in the city!'

'You worry too much bro. Look, I'll bring along the Shell Cell and push the panic button if needed, okay? I'll even give it to Gwen since she's so responsible!' said the blond. Gwen raised a brow at what he said.

Donatello gave him a stern look but his brother counter attacked with his irresistible puppy eyes. The purple banded turtle's eyes twitched. Even though he is human, those puppy eyes still have an effect on him, he sighed, 'Oh, okay but be back by five! Promise?'

'I promise,' said Michelangelo with a grin. He left with the Tennysons, talking about stopping by at a Pizza parlor before going back to the lair.

Raphael patted his purple banded brother on the shoulder, 'Don't worry, I'll call Casey and ask him to keep an eye on the cheese brain.'

'You do that bro… Mikey is a trouble magnet. I don't want him to get caught by any of our enemies.'

Michelangelo had a wide grin on his face as he skated pass people. This is the greatest experience ever! No disguises, no shrieking people, no fear in their eyes, heck, they even smiled at him and a few said 'hi'. I just wish… my brothers could enjoy this too, he thought sadly. He stopped and turned to Ben and Gwen. Ben skated slowly behind the redhead as she tried to get comfortable being on the skates. She fell every now and then but her cousin would help her up. Michelangelo grinned when he saw the red tinge on her cheeks when the brunette helped her up.

'C'mon you love birds! You're slower than a turtle!' he hollered at them.

Both cousins blushed. Ben looked away and Gwen gave the blond an irritated glare, 'Shut up shell for brains!'

Ben burst out laughing while Michelangelo pouted, 'Hey! Only Raph can call me that! It's a big bro little bro thing!'

Gwen rolled her eyes, 'Riiight.'

The peaceful moment at the park was interrupted when people began screaming in fear. The trio looked around and saw a pack of mutated dogs running at them. A man riding on top of a huge mutated dog pointed at Ben, 'Get the boy!'

'Whoa! What the shell are those?!'

'It's Animo!' said Gwen.

The blond turned to her, 'WHO?!'

Ben activated the Omnitrix, 'It's hero time!'

Michelangelo shut his eyes when there was a burst of green light. He opened his eyes and stared in awe at the crystal-like being, a Petrosapien dubbed as Diamondhead. Ben shot some crystal shards at the mutant dogs but they were agile and evaded them with ease. He formed a crystal barrier when two leapt at them.

The orange clad ninja took out his nunchakus which he had tucked in his cargo pants' pockets. He swung his deadly weapons around and hit a mutant dog right on its face sending it flailing to the side. The dog stood up and charged at him again. This time, the blond ninja ran straight at it, leapt into the air and landed on its back. He swung down his weapon and it struck the dog's face. He grimaced when he heard an audible crack of bones, 'Ughh, gross!'

'Of all the time… why now!' said Gwen through gritted teeth as she skated away clumsily. She screamed as she dodged a mutated dog. The dog stopped and spun around snarling at her showing her its yellowish teeth. The redhead scrunched up her nose, 'Eeew! Ever heard of brushing your teeth? Hero Chaa!'

The dog yelped when the green beam of energy hit it and it flung into the air and landed a few feet away, unmoving. She turned to Ben who threw away the pair of mutant dogs attacking him. She let out a startled scream when Vilgax fell beside her. Fewer of his body part are mechanical while those that used to be mechanical are now healed thanks to Dr. Animo, 'VILGAX?!'

'GWEN!' cried Ben terrified for her safety.

'You are one pesky little human, I shall destroy you FIRST!' said Vilgax as he raised his clawed hand. Gwen stood frozen as she watched the hand being swung down at her. She gasped she felt herself being lifted and carried. Vilgax was stumped when his claws hit nothing but air.

'Dude, you should be nice to girls! Especially the cute ones!' said Michelangelo who had Gwen in his arms, bridal style. Gwen flushed furiously at the heat radiating from his body and his comment. She was never held this close by anyone but her family. Somehow, she likes the feeling of his muscular arms holding her She sighed inwardly enjoying the damsel-just-saved-by-hot-prince-moment. She cleared her throat and Mikey gently lowered her next to him. Spikes of crystal appeared in front of Vilgax and Michelangelo took this chance to run as far away as possible from the squid-head alien, dragging Gwen with him. Vilgax roared and smashed the crystal spikes and Ben took a step back, startled, 'No way!'

'Surrender the Omnitrix!'

Ben ignored him and rained crystal shards at the alien. Vilgax leapt into the air and dove straight at Ben. They collided and Ben flung back a few meters. He groaned as he got up to his feet. He took a quick glance at Michelangelo and Gwen who were fending themselves against Dr. Animo. Gwen had kicked off her skates and now fighting wearing her socks. He returned his attention back to Vilgax, 'A call for help would be nice right about now.'

'Gwen! Push the white button!' cried Michelangelo as he avoided from being bitten.

'But-' she paused when she saw that he was busy. She dodged a mutant dog then took out the Shell Cell. she quickly flipped it open and stared at the colored buttons. her eyes landed on the white one and she pushed the button and the light blinked. She jumped when the mutant dogs began screeching. Dr. Animo fell off his beast, landing hard on his left shoulder, 'W-what did you do?!'

'Uhh, calling for back up?' Michelangelo replied. He was caught of guard when the dog swung its paw at him out of the blue and sent him crashing into a tree. He groaned painfully, black dots appearing in his vision.

Gwen gasped, 'Mikey!'

She heard a beeping sound and turned just in time to see Ben returned to his human form, 'Aww, man!'

The brunette yelped when Vilgax picked him up by the back of his shirt, 'The Omnitrix! Hand it over!'

'Dude, have you forgotten? You can't get it off me unless you use the Omnitrix remover thingy!' said Ben as he glared at the alien.

'Ah, of course… I believe I took it when I escaped from Bishop's lab.'

Ben's eyes widened and he paled. Suddenly there was a burst of blue light and Vilgax released the boy as he stumbled back. Ben landed on his butt on the soft grass; he turned to where the beam came from and saw his grandfather with a high tech alien busting gun, 'Get away from my grandson!'

Vilgax hissed, 'Tennyson!'

'GOONGALA!' cried Casey as he hit the giant mutant dog's head with a wooden baseball bat so hard that it snapped in two. The dog's head snapped to one side forcefully and there was a loud crack. It stayed in that position for a few seconds and the vigilante was startled when its golden eyes shifted to glare at him. The dog growled fiercely and raised its paw, the man visibly gulped, 'Uh-oh!'