A small crowd of people stood in front of a burning apartment building. The fire had spread so much that was a large cloud of smoke forming from it.
Inside the burning building a mother and son pair rushed towards the door to escape only for a burning piece of the ceiling to fall in front of them, blocking their escape.
The woman held her son as they tried to look for another exit but were met with collapsing pieces of the ceiling at each turn. The woman shielded her son with her body as a particularly large part of the ceiling fell right above their heads.
They closed their eyes waiting for the impact only to nothing for a few seconds. The boy opened his eyes and was shocked at the scene in front of him.
"Who are you?" He asked in wonder, looking at the flaming rocklike creature that held the flaming debris above his head.
"I'm here to help." The creature said with a grunt as he threw the debris to the side. He stretched his palms out wide, causing most of the flames in their immediate surroundings were pulled and sucked into them.
The mother and son watched in amazement at the creature and it's mysterious feat. Heatblast gestured for them to follow him, the boy looking at him in admiration as left his mother's embrace to follow the alien, the woman right behind them.
He led them out of the room to a smoky stairs area.
"This way." He said, about to descend the stairs as a piece of flaming debris falls unto the wooden stairs, destroying it.
"On second thought...maybe that way." Heatblast said awkwardly, looking towards the mirror at the other side of the stair case area.
The jump down would be nothing in his alien form but it wasn't something a mere human would survive without injuries.
Virgil sat in the rust bucket bored out of his mind as Max drove them towards the burning building Ben was currently 'helping'.
Of course he could have tagged along with Ben to help but it would be redundant, unnecessary and overall boring. He would rather be leveling up his new skills than anything at the moment.
Perception was something that was the more difficult of the two to level up with it being mostly a passive skill.
At the moment Perception and Flash Step were at level 5 and 10 respectively. He had barely had the private time nor space to level Flash Step faster but he had managed to get somewhere with it.
Perception on the other hand was quite tricky. He was beginning to notice its effect yet it wasn't so much that it would make a massive difference in a fight.
"How are you doing back there, Virgil?" Max asked as he maneuvered the rust bucket closer the burning building that was now in sight.
"I'm doing just fine. Remind me again why we had to get involved in this?" He asked as they saw heatblast standing proudly in front of the building with a mother and her son.
"With great power comes great responsibility Virgil. I think it's a good thing what Ben's trying to do." Max answered, not taking his eyes off the road.
'More like it comes with great arrogance and stupidity.' From what he could remember of the show, he could think of more than a few times when Ben's arrogance with the watch caused a lot of problems.
"Hmmm." Despite his thoughts, he only let out a low hum as they stopped beside the building, horning at Heatblast who was seated excitedly in front of the child.
*HORN* *HORN*
"Yo, super doofus!" Gwen called out from the front seat, getting the burning alien's attention.
"The fire was just a diversion to cover up the jewelry store robbery! The bad guys are getting away!" She scolded as been looked around awkwardly.
"I knew that." He said, unsuccessfully trying to cover it up.
Heatblast hurriedly got into the front seat as Gwen moved into the back of the vehicle where Virgil sat, now typing on his laptop.
"Uh, what are you doing?" Gwen asked curiously.
"Working." He answered shortly, not pausing his typing or slowing down his typing speed.
She looked between him and the laptop uncertainly. On the screen of the laptop were long lines of codes that were rapidly increasing as he typed.
"I don't get it." She said after a moment of silence.
He didn't answer for a moment. Just when she thought he wouldn't answer, he spoke.
"I write codes. Programs to be more specific. People pay me to develop them or just to crosscheck for errors in the ones they write." He answered.
Of course his clients didn't know that he was literally 11 years old. Creating a fake profile wasn't even remotely challenging with Hacking as high leveled as it was.
He had been doing this freelancing job for about four months at the moment. He believed in being somewhat self sufficient in monetary areas if he could help it.
With his father as mental as he was, it wasn't hard to believe that he had a bank account in his name. Apparently it was account he made for Virgil in the event that something happened to him and he didn't have access to his fathers wealth.
The man was definitely paranoid but he had good intentions.
Though, his father deposited some amount of money into the account each month, Virgil's pride and also eventual necessity of procuring items caused him to find a way to make some money, which led to this.
"That's amazing!" Gwen praised in genuine awe before a thought hit her.
"Wait, how'd you get a job? You're just a year older than me." She asked curiously.
"I have my ways." Virgil deflected smoothly as the rust bucket jerked a bit. The smell of something burning hit their noses causing Virgil to pause and sniff the air a bit.
"You better get that." He said, pointing at the smoking chair Heatblast was sitting on.
A look of irritation passed Gwen's face as she picked up an extinguisher from a compartment of the vehicle.
"Knew I should have gotten those asbestos seat covers when I had the chance." Max commented, his eyes looking at a sheepish Heatblast.
"Sorry grandpa, I can't help it. I'm hot." He apologized, actually sounding sorry just as a compressed stream of carbon dioxide was sprayed at him from the extinguisher in Gwen's hand, dousing his flaming head.
He turned back to her with a smug look and a raised brow as his head went ablaze once again.
"Ten superheroes on that stupid watch and you picked the one with the flaming butt?" She asked, annoyed.
"Jealous?" Heatblast asked smugly, annoying Gwen even more as she spray the extinguisher at the seat itself the alien sat upon, surprising him.
The rust bucket swerved as they got closer to the vehicle they were chasing. Heatblast leaned out of the window, creating a ball of fire between his hands before shooting it at the back of the car, sending it into the air.
"Strike!" Heatblast yelled excitedly watching that as the vehicle lost control as it landed, swerving into the wall a few meters away.
Heatblast jumped out of the car to chase them on foot as Virgil shook his head at the back.
'It's a wonder the entire city didn't figure out his identity earlier.' He thought as he finished what he was typing.
As the rust bucket came to a stop, they saw as light enveloped Heatblast, revealing Ben standing there in the same pose as the alien.
Sirens could be heard as police cars sped into the scene, surrounding the two criminals that Ben had threatened out of the car and Ben himself.
Max and Gwen came out of the rust bucket just as the police apprehended the criminals and scolded Ben.
Virgil watched with a sigh as Ben frustratedly claimed to be the one who 'captured' them.
'Great responsibility.' He thought sarcastically as he massaged his temple.
The next evening, Max and the kids strolled through the newly opened Mega Mart in search of the day's dinner.
At least that was what Max was there for. Virgil on the other hand was there to purchase some snacks and normal food to fill up his stock.
The difference between him and Max was that the man's 'food' couldn't be called food in his opinion. He has a skill that summarized his experience eating it.
Poison Resistance[2/50]
Nothing more needed to be said.
He could stack as much food as he wanted without worry of it expiring seeing as how time stops in his inventory which was big relief for him.
Virgil walked into an aisle filled with snacks of different kinds and flavors. He didn't waste any time, picking out a large amount with a stroller and carrying them to the cashier.
The identity of the man he scanned in the forest during the robot's attack much earlier came to his aid.
He drew an odd look from the cashier due to the amount he was buying but the man quickly guessed that it was probably for his children.
Virgil didn't bother trying to clear up the man's assumptions and simply went with it. After all, the form he assumed looked to be in his mid thirties thankfully.
After paying in cash, everything was put in plastic bags for ease of carrying. Just as he picked them up to move, the store shook heavily.
"What was that?" The cashier asked in confusion, looking around as the store shook again.
The shaking increased as items began falling down from the shelves. Just as the cashier turned around in an attempt to catch them, Virgil deposited the bags in his inventory before disappearing in a blur with the use of Flash Step.
'If I remember correctly, this should be Animo.' He thought calmly as he heard a loud crash at the other end of the mart.
He calmly made his way towards that direction. It didn't take time for him to reach a section of the mart that had a large hole in the wall. A pair of officers stood there in shock but there was no Animo in sight.
The source of the quakes had moved towards another direction of the store. Just as he turned to move towards that direction, he heard a loud parrot shrieking.
Briefly looking around, Virgil disappeared into a blur, continuously using Flash Step to get there faster, ignoring the skill level up notification.
It took him no more than 10 seconds to reach an aisle where he saw a large parrot, a large frog and a large hamster lined up in front of Max, Ben and Gwen who watched in fear.
They were all much larger than humans and obviously mutated. Animo sat atop the mutated frog, a weird helmet on his head as he controlled the mutated animals.
"Behold the genius of Doctor Animo!" The man announced with his arms spread out.
Fortunately for Virgil, none of them had noticed him as he used Stealth, sneaking around them in search of a better method to intervene.
"Nothing can stop me from getting what I deserve! Mark my words! Today, I will make history!" Animo announced as a dagger appeared in Virgil's palm.
"Or should I say, prehistory?" Animo asked rhetorically with an ugly expression.
"If you didn't go cereal diving, one of those heroes could be saving us from becoming hamster chow." Gwen commented low enough for only the three Tennysons to hear.
The mutated hamster took a step forward, causing the store to shake once more as it let out a loud shriek.
*SHRIEEKKK!!!*
'Now!' Virgil thought, using Flash Step as he blurred into the space in front of the giant hamster, slashing his dagger into its right eye, causing a stream of blood to spray into the air.
"Virgil?" Gwen called out in shock as the animal let out another shriek of pain, one of its eyes blinded.
"Get out of here!" Virgil said towards them over the shriek.
Ben was the first to move as he turned around in a dash, Gwen following behind him.
"Virgil! Let's go!" Max called out to the boy as Animo yelled in anger.
"You will pay for that, child!" Animo yelled as the hamster seemed to have recovered enough as faced Virgil with its lone eye.
"I'll be right behind you!" He told Max as the creature leapt at him with its jaw snapping forward.
Just as it got close to Virgil, he moved back quickly, throwing out a small marble at the mutated creature. Upon hitting the creature, it exploded, releasing a large amount of smoke that covered them completely.
"Go!" Virgil yelled to Max who ran out of the smokescreen as the hamster let out another shriek of pain.
Not more than two seconds after that, the giant parrot that stood beside Animo flapped its wings forward, clearing up the smoke.
When the smoke cleared, Virgil was nowhere to be found, leaving the injured hamster that now had a slash at the back of one of its front limbs.
"Spread out and find the boy! Bring him to me!" Animo ordered in rage as the hamster took off in one direction, a bit slower than its previous speed.
The mutated parrot flew in the opposite direction, looking for the same prey as the other.
The Tennyson who were at the end of the aisle watched in fear as the creature set off with Virgil as their target.
"Grandpa, this is bad. Is Virgil going to be okay?" Gwen asked Max who still looked a bit shaken.
"Okay!? Did you see what he did!? That was awesome!" Ben said excitedly.
"Gwen's on the right track. We need to find Virgil." Max said, cutting off Ben's excitement.
In another section of the mart, the mutated hamster pounced around in search of Virgil but to no avail.
The ground shook with every pounce it took. Just as it landed, Virgil shot out from behind one of the shelves, slashing at the same spot on the limb he cut in the smoke before disappearing in a blur into the line of shelves.
The creature let out a shriek just as he shot out again, cutting into the other front limb. This time the cut was deeper than the last one since he now knew which parts of it to cut for proper damage.
The creature jumped at the shelves at its side, the rows of shelves Virgil had disappeared into. A claw was enough to destroy them, taking out a possible hiding space for Virgil.
With its eye destroyed, the creature was forced into a state of tunnel vision, not being able to see its right side.
Virgil took advantage of that as he used Flash Step once more, appearing at its right side and stabbing the dagger into its neck.
*SHRIEEEKKKKKKKK!!!*
It swiped its mutated claw at its right side where Virgil stood, plunging the dagger as deep as he could.
He rolled backwards, dodging the swipe by a hair, pulling the dagger out as he rolled into a crouch. Virgil panted a bit as he stood to his feet.
Blood poured out of the stab wound he inflicted on the creature, causing him to let out a smirk.
'Even if you're mutated to that degree, you still bleed.' He thought as he adjusted his grip on the bloody dagger in his hand.
The high tech gun he used against Vilgax's robot on the forest appeared in his hand. He immediately took aim, shooting at the creature as it dodged to the side while dashing at him.
He took another shot, causing it to tilt to another side, still running towards him. It wasn't intelligent enough to notice the smile on Virgil's lips as the gun disappeared.
'Gotcha!'
He blurred forward with a use of Flash Step, directly in front of the large hamster as he plunged the dagger into the center of its head.
Just as it began to thrash around a bit, Virgil twisted the grip of the dagger as the blade of it lit up in electricity, sending waves of literal shock into the creatures brain.
It couldn't even release a cry of pain as its brain was fried instantly. Virgil grit his teeth as he felt some of the shock flow into him as parts of his body was touching the hamster.
Seeing that it was now dead, he twisted the handle once more, the flow of current halted as he got off the dead creature.
Flash Step has leveled up!
Flash Step has leveled up!
Perception has leveled up!
Flash Step has leveled up!
Perception has leveled up!
You have gained Electricity Resistance!
You have killed an opponent!
You have received a skill book!
You have received a skill book!
You have gained a trait!
Rewards have been sent to inventory!
He glanced over them briefly as he seemed to understand something.
'I'm very sure that Vilgax's robot was more dangerous than this hamster so why do I get more rewards.' He pondered for a moment as he noticed his black shirt was stained with hamster blood.
'It could be because this one was a living thing.' He thought, recalling the wording of the notification. It said 'killed' rather than the 'defeated' it had shown after he blew up the robot.
'It's either that or it's that 40% chance which shouldn't be this common either way.' He thought just as he heard his name being called.
""Virgil!"" He heard two voices call out from behind him as the Tennyson trio rushed into the scene.
They stopped in slight shock at the scene before them. A bloodstained Virgil standing over the dead form of the mutant hamster with a dagger dripping with blood.
"What happened here?" Max asked in concern, though he could see what happened.
"Is that blood?" Gwen asked shakily as Virgil nodded absentmindedly.
She looked grossed out as there were drops of blood that touched Virgil's face. Ben simply looked on in excitement.
"That was awesome!" He screamed as the store began to shake again. The sound of the parrot screeching was heard coming towards them.
A few seconds later, the mutant frog jumped into sight some distance away, Animo still riding it.
"Young fool! You cannot stop me!" He screamed.
"I will turn Washington DC into Washington BC and you won't stand in my way!" He shouted, pointing at Virgil as the mutated parrot flew up behind him.
He jumped off the frog and unto the back of the parrot as it flew up towards the glass covered part of the ceiling, shattering it as he made his escape.
The frog followed after its mutator, leaping through the opening and out of the mart.
"He got away." Virgil muttered lowly as it happened.
He discreetly let the dagger disappear into his inventory as the store clerk approached them.