Chapter 2 - New face, new friends, old rig
Starting in Jason's apartment. His room is small, but cozy. Enough room for a single bed, a desk with tv and computer monitors, a kitchen that's connected to the bedroom, and a en-suite bathroom. Jason's friend pulls out some clothes from a drawer and lays them out on the bed. In the kitchen the microwave is counting down to heat something up. Jason stands under the shower in the bathroom. He lifts his head up to the water, letting himself be doused in hot water. The water drips down his arms to the device on his wrist. Soap drips down his body as he turns the tap off, switching off the shower. He grabs a towel from the side and dries himself before walking into the main room slightly damp, his hair still slightly dark and wet.
His friend turns to him as he dries his hair with a smaller towel. "I pulled out some clean clothes for you. I just figured y'know?" Jason nods, "Thanks, Matt." He grabs the shirt, a light blue shirt that he pulls over his head. Matt looks around the room to give him some privacy, and takes a seat on the only chair in the room, and turns on the computer. Jason gets dressed behind him. "Do you have any games on this thing?" "Yeah, but they need to be updated. Haven't had the time." Matt gives a quick, light scoff at the comment, "You know most 18 year olds would make time for a session every now and then." "Most 18 year olds can't grow extra limbs or burst into flames." Jason grabs a black denim shirt and pulls it over his arms, rolling up the sleeves. "I don't know about that. I knew a friend that set himself on fire as a dare. He was mostly unscaved. But he lost most of his body hair." Jason just stares at him as he buttons up his shirt, "You need to vet your friends better." "Good point. I'll start by this one I know that needs to be reminded to eat." Like clockwork the microwave in the corner starts to beep. "Nothing special, just some rice."
Jason walks over to the micro, and pulls out the pack of rice, and pours the cooked food on the single plate placed by the microwave. "You know you don't need to do this, right?" "Do what?" Matt answers without looking as he types on the keyboard. "Look after me. I know how to look after myself, I've been doing it for 2 years." Without missing a beat Matt slaps back, "And within 2 weeks you've forgotten how to it would seem." Jason grabs the plate and a fork and sits on the bed behind Matt.
"I've been watching the news report about you. They still seem to think you're Ben. Seems despite your behaviour, you're still keeping up the act." Jason is busy digging into his plate of food, acting as a man who hasn't eaten in a week. Matt looks something up on a web page, "Seems like the reception to you is mixed. Some say you act like an edgy anti-hero oc, others think that you're just tired of dealing with annoying threats." Jason only looks up for a second, before looking back down at his plate. "Oh look, someone has a bingo game going on. If you turn into Jeyray they'll win." Jason finishes his plate of rice, "Is that the dinosaur one that flies?" He asks, taking his plate away. "No, that's the one that flies and shoots lazars." "I swear the dinosaur one does too, what's the difference?" Their conversation is interrupted by a sudden radio alarm blaring beside them. "Calling all units. We have a chase pursuit for a gang of smugglers leaving Bellwood. They're described as armed and dangerous, cruising down the street in a red armoured van." Jason grabs his wrist, and pushes the button on the omnitrix. A dial springs up, and he starts twisting it, "It's always helpful when they give the right information." Matt says as a green light flashes behind him.
Matt turns to see Jason is replaced by Ghostfreak. "I'll phaze to the roof and turn into a flier to reach the van." Jason does as he says and turns intangible to phase through the door, and then through the ceiling towards the roof. Matt stands up and looks out the window. On the roof, Jason smacks the omnitrix dial on his chest, changing aliens from Ghostfreak to Jetray, a red fish-like alien. Leaping off the roof he launches himself into the sky, passing the window. Matt closes the curtains before looking back at the computer. He closes the monitor on the webpage.
Following the directions of the police report, Jason spots a red armoured van driving recklessly on the road, crashing into other cars while at least three police cars followed. He flies past a hovering helicopter that's keeping up with the chase. "I need to stop the car. If it's armoured I can't just shoot it. Maybe the tires?." He reaches the van, and grabs onto the roof of it. Using his tail, he starts to fire a green ray beam at the tires, but he misses. "Damn it, the van is making me shake." As the cool breeze touches his skin, another idea comes to him. Reaching for the dial, he hits it again, and in a green flash he disappears.
The smugglers continue to drive, the driver pushes their foot down on the peddle in a desperate attempt for more speed. "Are they gaining on us?" They scream. Stepping over two tied up aliens to look out the back window, another smuggler calls out, "No, they're still a little bit away from us." "Okay, that's good. We should be able to shake them if we..." A sudden cold is felt around him, his breath becomes visible as the dashboard ices over, being trapped in ice. "What the hell?" The engine and front tires become encased in solid ice. The van steers to the side of the road, and drifts off the side and into the open field. "What is going on?" The second smuggler asks, trying to brace themself on the van. The back door of the van suddenly opens wide. "Don't mind me..." a raspy voice calls out, "It's a little chilly in here." The two tied up aliens are picked up by a blue transparent figure. The figure reveals itself as Big Chill. Jason leaps out of the van, holding the hostages and holds himself in the air with his wings.
The van crashes into a large tree, bringing them to a sudden stop. Jason lowers to the floor, and places the hostages down gently. They appear to be two young Kinecelerans, XLR8s race. After untiring them, he looks back at the van. He slowly walks towards the van cautiously. He holds his hand over the dial, preparing to change alien again.
Jason stops. His body stands still, unable to move. Jason struggles to try. "What's happening to me? Why can't I..." Police officers start to gather towards the van, two of them pull the smugglers out of the van. "Good work Mr Tennyson, we'll take it from here now." The officers pull the smugglers up the hill towards their cruisers, all while Jason is frozen in place. The omnitrix starts to spark that spreads all over his body. He screams in pain, and falls to his knees. "What...is this?" He gasps for breath as the dial turns red for a second.
A person in a white space suit approaches the kneeling Jason. They're armed with a gun-like weapon, and aim at Jason. The sparking finally stops, allowing Jason to move on his own again. Now free to move, he looks up to see the gun aiming at him. The person in the suit has their face covered by a fogged up helmet, but Jason catches a glimpse of a badge on his belt. "Who are you?" They ask Jason, their voice sounds stern and borderline aggressive. "I know who you're not. So tell me who you are." They push the end of their gun to the top of his head. Jason prepares to use Big Chills ice again, but the sparks return, but this time a green light surrounds Jason and the ground he kneels on. As the light disappears, Jason is missing. "No!" The interrogator roars as they look to the sky.
Jason reappears in a large laboratory that looks like something out of a science fiction movie from the 90s. He's no longer in an alien form, leaving him in just his human state. He kneels on a glass light floor. "So it's true. Someone else has it." A demanding, lecturious voice is thrown across the room towards Jason. "Um, hello?" He calls back to reply. "I was suspicious that something was wrong with the bearer of my omnitrix, but this is different from what I thought." Jason looks around frantically, confused, "Who's there?" The sound of small footsteps echo around the laboratory. Jason looks down as a small grey alien steps before him, a galvin. "My name is Azmuth, and I am the creator of the omnitrix. Now it's your turn. Who are you, why do you have my omnitrix, what happened to it, and where is Ben Tennyson?" Jason looks down at the omnitrix attached to his wrist, his eyes fall to the floor as if they're heavy with something. "I can give you the short answer if you're pressed for time, but the short answer...Ben Tennyson is dead."
To be continued...