Ben 10: Alien Rebirth

by B.E.A.T.N

It started with an alien device that did what it did. It stuck itself upon his wrist with secrets that it hid. Now he's got super powers, he's no ordinary kid. He's Ben 10! My retelling of the Ben 10 series, with various changes throughout the story, including: mild cursing, some mild violence, skipped and altered episodes, etc. New chapters (almost) every Tuesday

12. Chapter 12

Ben 10: Alien Rebirth

Chapter 12: Side Effects

At an old, abandoned apartment building, a man named Bob is knocking the building down with a wrecking ball.

Bob, "man, do I love getting paid to smash things."

While Bob works, a bluish-skinned looking man in ragged clothes named Clancy steps out of one of the holes made by the ball. Insects swarm all over his body, and it seems that he doesn't mind.

Clancy, "the bugs are a part of me."

Joe, Bob's boss, notices what Clancy said and orders Bob, "stop! There's a guy up there!"

Clancy, "leave. Now!"

Bob replies with a chuckle to his statement, and tells Clancy, "the building is set to be torn down by the order of Councilwoman Liang."

Joe agrees with Bob, and tells Clancy that, "this place has gotta come down, whether you like it or not."

Clancy is infuriated and releases a swarm of wasps from his sleeves.

The bugs chase down Bob and they lift him up to Clancy.

Bob, "please, put me down!"

Clancy, "as you wish. But just know, if anyone else comes poking around, they will feel my wrath!"

He sends Bob down to the ground, making everyone run off!

….

In another part of the city, a criminal is speeding through the streets riding a hot rod, confident that he won't be caught. In the RV, Gwen spots someone and goes to tell Max. Gwen has her contacts in, and now has a purple/black hoodie tied around her waist, with the Lucky Girl mask in her pocket. She had gotten this new updated version of her costume shortly after dealing with Kevin.

Gwen, "I see them!"

Max, "you sure?"

Gwen, "yep, they're speeding away and everything!"

Ben as Upgrade passes by, merged with a motorcycle. The criminal cuts through the traffic, and Upgrade decides to take a different route by driving on the sidewalk.

Upgrade, "excuse me! Coming through!"

During his chase, a car-transporting semi cuts Upgrade off, though he gets by, simply by using the back of the truck as a ramp. The criminal notices Upgrade closing in, and he speeds up. Another RV moves into the street intersection once the street light changes, and Upgrade tips on his side to avoid a crash. He eventually catches up again with the criminal and uses his blaster to blow up the criminal's trunk, and all the money he stole goes into the air.

Upgrade, "some people just can't hold onto their money."

Upgrade then creates spikes on his wheel and rams hard into the tire of the criminal's car, causing him to crash. Upgrade drives next to the criminal, who notices that no one is driving it, and he can't believe it. Upgrade then spews exhaust into the criminal's face and the police show up, at the point where Upgrade leaves. He goes around the corner, and spots a nearby ice cream truck.

Upgrade, "well, I did just nab the bad guy", he emerges from the motorcycle and opens the truck, "now we're talking!"

Upgrade climbs in and closes the door, eager to enjoy some frozen treats.

….

The criminal is trying to explain what he just saw to the police, and they don't believe his story about a motorcycle without a driver.

The criminal, "I'm telling you; the dang thing had no driver! It was moving on its own!"

One cop says, "this guy's a loony."

Another says, "watch it chief, my mama's half loony."

Meanwhile, Max and Gwen are looking for Ben.

Max, "Ben?"

Gwen, "where are you?"

Gwen eventually finds the motorcycle near the ice cream truck and assumes that Ben is somewhere around there. They find Ben inside the truck, shivering and looking pale. He also has a runny nose.

Max, "Ben, are you okay?"

Ben replies with a sneeze.

Gwen, "I'll take that as a no…."

….

Later in the RV, Max takes Ben's temperature. The thermometer reads 101 degrees.

Max, "well, that confirms it, you have a summer cold."

Gwen, "maybe think before you act?"

Ben sneezes and nearly uses Gwen's new blouse as a tissue.

Gwen, "hey!"

Ben, "like you said, think before you act."

Gwen, "okay, I guess I deserve that."

Ben grabs a tissue instead.

Gwen then pulls out various medical supplies, including a hospital mask.

Ben, "oh, come on. I don't need any of that."

Gwen, "you've got a cold. We don't want it to spread to anyone else. If that happens, we'd probably have an epidemic."

Ben, "I could just stay in the closet until I feel better."

Gwen, "as funny as that would be, no."

Max, "what you need is some medicine. And I know just the thing. My famous San Ju Yen Pien cold medication. We can get the needed ingredients in Chinatown."

And with that, the trio are on their way to Chinatown.

….

In Chinatown, a celebration is occurring. A dragon dance is taking place, as well as a parade of people in costumes.

Ben, Gwen, and Max leave a store just after the parade passes.

Max, however, is unhappy for not being able to find fresh potaigadon root, since it's freeze-dried these days.

Ben, "can't I just get a milkshake for my sore throat?"

Max, "the stinkweed honey in the San Ju Yen Pien will do the trick much faster", he takes a whiff of the medicine, "the odor is repulsive. That's how you know it's the right stuff."

Ben smells it and cringes.

Gwen, "where'd you learn the recipe for this stuff?"

Max, "I learned the recipe from Guangdong, China."

Gwen, "wait, you've been to China?"

Max, "of course. There's plumbing all over the world, ya know."

On a nearby platform, a woman named Councilwoman Liang is thanking everyone in a crowd of people for their support of her redevelopment program.

She says, "it's a dream come true, to see the homes and shops of this area rebuilt for all of the great people in the area."

Her speech is interrupted by a swarm of wasps, and they scare off the crowd!

Clancy then flies up, riding on a cloud of wasps, "oh yeah? Well, I'll make your dreams a nightmare."

The wasps continue to chase everyone as they talk.

Clanc, "I won't allow anyone to tear down me and my companions' home!"

Liang, "you're that nut job that wouldn't leave the building! The workers told us all about you!"

Clancy, "well, I'm glad to make an impression", he orders his wasps to pick her up and he says, "I'm bringing you home for dinner. The main course for my little friends!"

….

In another part of the city, Ben decides to deal with the bugs. He pulls down the wristband prepares his Omnitrix, and transforms into WildMutt. Unfortunately, Ben's cold has spread to WildMutt. WildMutt's sensors become clogged with mucus. He's unable to track his surroundings, and runs about aimlessly, without regard to bumping on things.

Gwen, "what the heck is going on with WildMutt?"

Max, "his cold must be affecting his aliens as well. WildMutt can't see because of the mucus in his gills!"

Gwen, "well, he's gonna need a guide."

So she decides to be the guide for him, however, it doesn't work well. Her directions only lead her to be thrown into a fireworks stand and end up being trapped by stacks of boxes. It also knocks down one of the Chinese lamps on a nearby stand, starting a fire near the fireworks. Though Gwen struggles to move or try unsuccessfully to push the box that is trapping her off, Max is able to step in and save her by tipping a cart full of chicken dumplings onto the flame.

Gwen, "thanks for the save. I just hope that you don't mind smelling like chicken dumplings."

As WildMutt continues to run without caution, he has a trash can on his head and crashes into something.

Max, "this could be a problem."

Gwen, "there's no, 'could be', about it."

….

Later in the RV, Ben is unhappy about what happened as WildMutt.

Ben, "man, this cold is only making things worse!"

Max then hands him some more medication.

Ben smells it, again repulsed by it.

Max, "don't worry, it smells worse than it tastes…. Or it just may be the other way around. What I'm more worried about is how this cold will affect the rest of your aliens?"

Gwen, "it is curious. What, will RipJaws sneeze when he's out of water? Will BuzzShock not be able to fly around?"

Ben then drinks the medicine and isn't happy about the taste.

Max, "you should get used to the taste by the seventh dose."

Gwen is on her computer and says, "I think I found something about that guy with the bugs. It says his name is Clancy, and that apartment that's scheduled to be demolished is his only residence. His family had lived there for many years, but he was the only one who didn't leave after it got condemned."

Ben uses the distraction to hide the medicine Max gave him so he won't have to take it anymore.

Gwen, "he lives at 8610 Chester Street."

Chester pops his head up when he hears his name.

Gwen, "not you Chester. Go back to sleep."

The bird does just that as the RustBucket begins heading towards the address Gwen gave.

….

Inside Clancy's apartment, Liang is covered in spiders.

She has tears in her eyes and says, "please, let me go! Have some mercy!"

Clancy, "black widows. You shouldn't make any…. Sudden moves. Our grandfather built this building. We grew up here, me and my little friends. They're the only ones who understand. And no one is evicting us!"

….

Ben, Gwen, and Max then arrive at the building in the RV.

Gwen, "nice place to visit, hmm?"

The building isn't nice to live in. At all.

Max, "stay together. We don't want to get lost in this place."

They head inside, and the place is falling apart, with swarms of insects crawling through the rafters.

Max then finds an article on the wall. It reads; "bugs survive nuclear blast", and has appropriate pictures.

Gwen finds an insect nest and says, "they're close. Too close."

Max then notices that Ben is gone and wonders where he has gone again. They start looking, but a large shadow covers them. A large figure with four eyes and horns approaches them. They then find out that it's FourArms, his helmet up, trying to scare Gwen. But his skin is noticeably more pale orange, which says that Four Arms is suffering from the cold.

FourArms laughs and says, "you should have seen the look on your face! Achoo!"

Gwen, "ugh, that cold makes you smell almost as bad as StinkFly!"

They then hear screaming from the floor above. FourArms picks up Gwen and Max and prepares to jump through the ceiling. When they do, they notice that he has mutant hives on his underarms, larger and pungent.

Gwen, "ugh, so that's where the smell is coming from?"

Max, "it's your hives. The cold must have turned them into pus-filled pockets of-"

He then jumps to the next floor.

FourArms accidentally destroys Clancy's home

They find Liang still covered in black widows.

She says, "stop. Black widows. No sudden movements."

She can't yell, since that would cause a huge problem.

FourArms inadvertently takes care of the black widows when he sneezes, which covers Liang in mucus, disposing of the arachnids. Despite the nature of the rescue, she thanks FourArms.

Liang, "ugh, t-thank you."

Clancy shows up and says, "you're trespassing! Let's see how you deal with my little friends!"

He then orders an army of red ants to deal with them. They form a fist and punch FourArms.

Clancy, "I will rule mankind!"

The ants regroup and attack Max. He is then able to dodge them. At the same time, the termites devour the floor beneath Gwen, and leave her hanging on from a ledge. Luckily, Liang is able to save her. Meanwhile, FourArms gets back up on his feet, and attempts to attack Clancy. He rallies his ants again and they swarm on FourArms' legs. He scratches wildly at them, and ends up knocking over many of the building's support beams.

Clancy, "stop! You're going to destroy the whole place!"

Clancy then summons a swarm of wasps to protect him from the collapsing building. As FourArms continues to itch, Gwen immediately comments, "the building is collapsing!"

Liang, "we need to get out of here!"

But time has run out, and it collapses on top of them.

The building collapses completely and FourArms lifts up a rather large slab of concrete, shielding the others from the collapse and reverts to Ben as they all escape.

Clancy emerges from the rubble, covered with insects.

All the creepy crawlies have died while protecting him, which infuriates him. He then plans to exterminate the whole city, as he is now without a home.

He yelled, "no! No! NO! YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS! I'LL ERADICATE THE ENTIRE CITY!"

He calls out a humongous swarm of wasps to pick him up.

….

Liang, "this has been one of the strangest days in my whole life."

Gwen answers, "we've gotten used to these kinds of crazy situations."

Liang, "where's that large creature? I'd like to thank you for saving my life."

Ben, "um, we'll let FourArms know you're grateful."

Max, "can you find your way back home?"

Liang, "yes."

She leaves, as Ben begins to think about where Clancy went.

Ben, "where do you think that creepy crawly guy went?"

Max looks around, and spots the nuclear power plant.

Max, "Clancy said he wants to destroy the entire city. I think I know how he's gonna do it."

….

On the way to the nuclear plant, Ben is shivering in the RV.

Ben, "hey Grandpa, do you think you can turn the heat on?"

Max, "the heat's already on all the way on. Gwen, why don't you give Ben some of the San Ju Yen Pien?"

Ben would rather not drink it, so he lies and says, "uh, it's all gone. I drank it all. Hopefully it works soon."

Gwen, "hey, I found some information on the insects. Roaches can withstand a nuclear blast, wasps and bees operate in hives, ants act in a colony, and Clancy seems to have made himself the king or queen of them all."

Ben, "well, how do I get rid of them?"

Gwen, "well, anything short of an ice age, or a tanker full of pesticide, yet barbecuing them would probably be the best solution."

Ben, "well then I know just the chef to do it."

….

They soon arrive at the nuclear plant and search around for Clancy. The lights go off for a moment, and it comes back on, followed by an alarm.

Ben, "okay, that's bad."

A voice confirms, "the reactor's core is rising rapidly and nearing critical status."

They run to the control room, only to find the controls destroyed.

Max, "I can't override. All the controls have overheated. The only way is to shut it down manually. There should be an emergency override system inside the reactor core."

Gwen, "did you learn this from a monk in China too?"

A cockroach then crawls near Gwen and she jumps away.

Clancy then reveals himself in the room, and says, "ah, so you all want a front row seat?"

Ben, "you'll be killed in the blast too!"

Clancy, "oh, that's where you're wrong!"

Suddenly, a colony of cockroaches pour out of his clothes, forming a makeshift suit around him.

Gwen, "those little armored insects will be able to protect Clancy and allow him to survive a nuclear blast even at point-blank range!"

Ben, "not if I can help it!"

Ben dials the watch and transforms into HeatBlast to stop Clancy, but his cold affects him too, since HeatBlast's fire is blue.

Gwen, "something's going on with your fire! It's blue!"

HeatBlast, "there isn't time to figure that out. Come on, to the reactor."

He and Gwen head to the reactor.

They run, while HeatBlast tries to attack Clancy. The suit of cockroaches enhances his strength, and bats HeatBlast away easily. Clancy then sends angry hornets to deal with Gwen and Max.

Heatblast, "that's it! Time to turn up the Heatblast around here! Achoo!"

He tries to shoot fire at Clancy, but nothing happens!

HeatBlast, "hey! What happened? You should be a bunch of briquettes by now! Wait, my cold! it froze my flames!"

Gwen and Max are fleeing from a swarm of hornets as the voice announces, "core meltdown will occur in five minutes."

They approach the end of the hall and find a hose. They use it to spray them down, killing the bugs.

….

Back at the control room, HeatBlast continues to be beat up by Clancy. He tries to get Clancy to talk saying, "come and get me, bug boy", and accidentally triggers his abnormal power to control ice instead of fire.

Back with Gwen and Max, they make it to the main reactor room, yet to be followed by more insects.

At this point, the automated voice announces, "one minute until core meltdown", intensifying the situation. As HeatBlast continues to fight Clancy, Gwen and Max try to shut the reactor down, HeatBlast freezes his arm of cockroaches, yet it regenerates and tackles HeatBlast through the window. HeatBlast makes a giant icicle he uses to slide down to the floor, which surprises Gwen.

Max warns him this time, yelling, "Ben! Move!"

This gives HeatBlast enough time to make an ice energy ball to toss at Clancy, completely freezing him.

He then turns to the reactor and freezes it, just in time to bring the temperature down. Gwen, "nice work Ben!"

Max, "way to put him on ice!"

HeatBlast, "thanks. Now, why don't we get some hot chocolate?"

….

A few hours later, Ben has recovered from his cold. With Clancy defeated and the nuclear plant neutralized, everything seems to have worked out.

Gwen gets some milk when a roach crawls out from under the refrigerator. She prepares to crush it, yet many more insects begin to crawl over every surface of the RV, bringing it to a stop. Clancy is back with his suit of cockroaches and he lets himself in to get revenge.

Clancy, "you ruined everything! Now you'll be nothing but food for my little friends!"

Max tries to attack Clancy, but he dodges him and tosses him into the front of the RV. He walks over to deal with Max, while his cockroaches deal with Ben and Gwen.

Ben tries to activate the Omnitrix, yet it doesn't work.

Ben, "come on! Come on!"

Gwen, "I thought you froze him earlier?!"

Ben, "I did! He must have thawed out! And the watch isn't working!"

Gwen tries to spray the bugs away with the fire extinguisher and Ben asks, "how are we gonna be able to stop them?"

Gwen, "there's gotta be a way to attract these things. Like with a candy bar or something?!"

This gives Ben an idea! He retrieves the San Ju Yen Pien he had hidden and opens it. All the bugs, including Clancy's suit, move towards it. Ben tosses the medicine outside to get rid of them, and all the bugs follow it; right into the water!

Clancy, "no!"

Clancy is powerless without them, and Max easily knocks Clancy out of the RustBucket with a punch.

He gets knocked out as Max goes to call the police and tie the fellon up.

Gwen, "I'm happy that he's out cold. He was starting to bug me. Hehe, ah, ah, achoo!"

Then, she suddenly sneezes twice with a runny nose, having caught Ben's cold.

Ben brings out the medicine kit Gwen had earlier and said, "I think it's time I help you out."

Gwen smiles as Ben gets her a blanket, a nice cold towel and starts making her some chicken noodle soup….

….

Reviews:

drainfafnir66: I'm gonna have Azmuth explain why Ben gets the wrong alien. Ben slams down on the watch, which is what changes him into the wrong alien. Like a CD skip.

Guest: I may have Ben 10,000 unlock articguana and spitter for Ben….

Guest: let me make this clear: THIS story is not and will never cross over with the DC universe. This is a retelling of just the Ben 10 series, and will only cross over with shows set in the same universe, ie: Secret Saturday's and the Generator Rex universe. Now, with that said, I do plan on one day doing a story that sets Ben 10 in the DC universe, meeting the Teen Titans and such, but it will NOT be this story.

nicholasalfonsoramirez07: 1. You'll have to wait and see, but rest assured, Xylene reacts better then the original. 2. They'll be a bit shocked, but given their viewpoints in the show, they'll let Ben have the freedom to date who he wants. And 3. It'll be quite the ride for Ben and Hope as parents….

Strangler: hey mack…. What're you in for?

Jinero: if I do Ben 10 Live, I plan on skipping the show segments and have the characters make fun of it. I'm glad you like my ideas for the Celestialsapiens. The Forge of Creation will be beyond the universe. Episodes I'm skipping: Merry Christmas, A Change of Face, They Lurk Below, Midnight Madness, Simple, in Charm's Way, The Enemy of My Enemy, Couple's Retreat, Timmy Trouble, While You Were Away, Something Zombozo This Way Comes, Charmed I'm Sure, Collect This, The Vengers, No Honor Among Bros, Universe vs. Tennyson, Charm School, Fight at the Museum, Breakpoint, Third Time's a Charm, skip, and the Most Dangerous Game Show. And good dialogue ideas.

Storm: they'd obviously see him as a threat, and I could see Slade taking on jobs for Vilgax.

Patrick Star: chocolate? Chocolate!? CHOCOLATE! CHOCOLATE! CHOCOLATE!

Spartan: they'd be proud of him for helping Ben to save the Earth, but would feel conflicted over Kevin's decision to let his father's killer die. It'd be similar to Aunt May's reaction to Peter telling her he/Spider-Man killed the man who supposedly killed Uncle Ben. Horrified at first, but they move past it and support his heroic actions more. Same goes for Max. And yes, Feedback and Malware will appear in the OG series….

Ushindi: thank you very much. I'm glad you liked my changes. 1. I like the AF holograms the most. 2. Yes and I dunno.

Guest: 1. Yes, but Ship will love to visit Julie. 2. Yes, Kevin will still get mutated in Alien Force. 3. Ben will keep ONE of the baby Nechrofriggian's.

Echo Five: Agreed. Agreed. NRG's suit will be slimmer than Pandor's, and will open up for Ben to use his powers. Verdona and Ben's parents won't be at the wedding. Camille will give Ben her DNA for the Omnitrix. Xylene's DNA…. Well…. That'd be spoiling some stuff about her…. Ben will unlock Technorg's species from him later on.

117: yeah, I'll make sure to mention Max's hologram projectors. I plan to show more connections between the Secret Saturday's and Ben 10. And a great idea for where to keep the watch during the five years.

OMNISENSE95: glad you liked it. And yes, that's exactly what's gonna happen!

Anonymous: I dunno how they'd react to clone troopers.

Anonymous: good name for the map maker. As for the Dragon transformation, I plan on naming it Connery, after Sean Connery. TenTen will still appear at the end, but I just thought it'd be better to introduce him sooner. Ben will get Bullfrag from Attea's DNA, and Gwen will play into Millius' cowardice, making him afraid of Attea trying to overthrow him a lot more. And yeah, Attea will wear a DNA mask, and good idea for her guman disguise.

Palpatine: very clever.

Captain Rex: indeed it is.

Guest: thanks.

Anonymous: great idea for dialogue when Ben gets his dragon alien.

Guest: Frankenstrike will still be intelligent.

Amit Barabi: I'm glad you liked the start, and sorry if the structure is hard to read.

Guest: Vilgax's species will be locked out until Ben faces Vikgax at the end of Alien Force.

Tippy 1.1: good ideas. But the Ultimatrix will recalibrate into a design that'll be a mix of it and the new Omnitrix. It'll keep the full body hologram function. I love the dialogue! I'm gonna edit it a little, but I plan on using it for Ultimate Alien's finale!

….

A weird episode, but I loved seeing how the aliens were affected by Ben's cold.

I plan on doing a follow up to this one in Alien Force called; Common Cold. Where we get to see some of Ben's other aliens dealing with a cold. This includes Upgrade glitching around, (computer virus, get it?), Echo Echo gives super sonic coughs, and Goop gets very sticky, kind of like snot, as gross as that sounds.

I also just wanted to give it a nice ending where Ben helps Gwen when she gets the cold.

When we see Clancy again in the Negative Ten, there will be an actual explanation as to how Clancy became a bug man.