Ved Walker: Hey, everybody! So, we all know the story, right? It started when an alien device did what it did, and stuck itself upon some kid's wrist with secrets that it hid...that ten year old went on to be the greatest hero in the universe...but nobody, fans or friends, could tolerate his universe sized ego, causing his show to bomb so hard, it had to be rebooted to be salvaged! But that's just my opinion.
I say all that to say, this thing was conceived near the beginning of Omniverse, before things got...more difficult to explain. But it's here now, and I hope it makes an impact. I mean, I'll keep writing if it's popular or not; the thrill is in creation, not the critique. So without further ado...
Ved Walker Presents…
The Mighty WarrHammer-A Ben 10 AU
Episode 1: An Unearthly Child
In every classroom of Madison Elementary School, every kid was fidgeting impatiently-tapping pencils and tapping their shoes-hoping that school bell would ring that next minute. This was the day every kid craved since the first day of school -the last day of school! No more lockers, no more books, no more teachers' dirty looks-just freedom at last! But that's when the bell rings…for now, they just sit there, as noisy as they can get without attracting the teacher's ire.
One such student was occupying his time creating a paper airplane. His outfit consisted of a white shirt with a black stripe up the front and stopping at the collar, short sleeves with black cuffs, green cargo pants, and black and white shoes sport a black stripe like his shirt. He was an average size for a 10-year-old, with shaggy brown hair, clear skin, and most notably, green eyes. In these green eyes there was a spark of mischief, a look everyone well acquainted with him recognized. Once he finished his airplane, he flicked it into the air and watched it soar-right into the back of the teacher's head. She turned her head from the chalkboard and zeroed in on the boy, who quickly hid behind a textbook…that was clearly upside down. Yes, for some, school could not end fast enough.
The poor kid backed into the tree as the slightly bigger kids advanced on him, smirking to themselves. "Alright look," the tall skinny one, clearly the leader, leaned over their quarry menacingly. "Normally, we'd take your money and beat you up, but since it's the last day of school, we're gonna give you a break. Now fork over the cash, so we can get outta here!"
"Leave him alone!"
All three children turned to the new voice, discovering the shaggy-haired boy was standing there with his fists clenched.
"Ben Tennyson!" the shorter bully snorted, "Get lost, shrimp!"
The messy-haired youth, now known as Ben Tennyson, did not back up, turn, or waver. As a matter of fact, he stepped forward, eyes narrowed. "I said back off."
The tall bully scoffed at Ben's bravery. "Ohhh, looks like we got us a hero! Suppose we don't wanna back off?" He and his partner paid full attention to Ben now, striding up to him, while their former pudgy target just stood there, too scared to move.
"Whadda gonna do about it, Tennyson?" The partner inquired with a hint of challenge.
Alright, yes, Ben knew this was Cash and J.T., the tall one and short one respectively, Madison's number one bullies, and true, Ben had been beaten by them before, due to their advantage of being just a little bigger than him. However, so long as there was someone in trouble, he could not just sit there and not help! He was just that kind of guy. Today, he could do this. Today he could beat them! Today-
"-is not my day," Ben sighed as he hung from a tree…by his underwear, Cash and J.T.'s previous mark in the same position right next to him.
"Thanks a lot," the kid glared at Ben scathingly.
"I was only trying to help," Ben defended, if weakly.
"Next time you wanna play hero, make sure you can back it up!" The other kid turned away, as well as he could in this arrangement, very much done with Ben.
Thankfully, they did not have to hang out (pun intended) together for long, as an old rusty RV pulled up next to them. "Come on, Ben, let's go!" The man who called out of the old rolling rattling mobile home was the driver of the vehicle, and Ben's grandfather, Max Tennyson. He was a hardy looking man, wearing an old red Hawaiian shirt with a floral design, a white shirt showing at the unbuttoned collar, with blue pants and black shoes. "We're burning daylight. I wanna make it to the campsite by nightfall!"
Ben sighed and answered back "Uh, Grandpa? A little help here?"
After Max helped both Ben and his "friend," Ben followed the older gentleman into the RV, talking very excitedly. The reasons were A) Grandpa was on a very short list of adults he really actually liked, and B) this summer, Grandpa had asked Ben's parents if he could take him for a trip across the country. Ben always found Bellwood, Wisconsin so unappealing, and why not? It was slow, quiet, sleepy-heck, the only interesting thing about this place is how much cheese comes out of the city!
"I can't wait to get going," Ben practically danced into the RV. "This is gonna be the best summer-"
Ben jolted to a stop. Stunned for a second, he spun around for a double-take to see a girl his age-orange hair, blue shirt with a cat face on it, white capris, white shoes, and green eyes the same shade as his eyes-sitting at the dining booth of the mobile.
"You." Ben's eyes narrowed. "What are you doing here?" He reared to Max, shock evident on his face. "What is she doing here!?"
The girl rolled her eyes. "Take it easy, dweeb. This wasn't my idea! Somebody convinced my mom that going camping for the summer would be a good experience for me." She shot a look over at Max, who seemed unfazed-if anything, he looked pleased.
"Grandpa, please," Ben pleaded, with disbelief mixed with his earlier shock on his face, "Tell me you didn't!"
"I thought it would be fun if your cousin came along this summer," Max simply stated, before raising an eyebrow at the young boy. "Is that a problem?"
Both children spared each other a glance. They knew that look of authority-the "Yes I did since I'm an adult" eyebrow raise. Whatever the form, when a kid gets that look, the subject is closed. Dejected, but seemingly ironically, both thought the same thing: 'This is gonna be the worse summer ever.'
The sleek silver ship shot through space, broadcasting a distress message on all channels: "Alert! Alert! I have successfully procured Dumali's secret project! Repeat, I have the X-W.9.R.R.! I seem to have entered Terran Space, and am being pursued by Dumali himself! If anyone can hear me-AH! Please assist immediately!"
True to the broadcaster's word, a huge white saucer-like spaceship decorated with neon lights was in hot pursuit, firing every type of laser it had. Onboard, a being with blue-grey skin in green armor with black forearms and boots, and wearing a silver visor, turned to the captain's chair in the center of the bridge and performed a salute where he took his right hand and drew an invisible line from his head to his chest, presumably where his heart was located. "Your Honor, we've located and identified the ship. It's only a trade ship, but it has been clearly modified for greater speed than the usual class. Your orders, sir?"
The man in the chair stood up, tapping on the top of his cane absentmindedly. He was dressed in a white lab coat with silver bracers, a pattern of rhinestones on the back of his coat, and sported sunglasses with silver lenses. His hair was done up in a pompadour, with silver highlights that, at a closer glance, sparked with some electrical energy. His skin tone matched his subordinate's, with a big frown adorning his face, and lastly, his cane was apparently made of some kind of wood, but the circuits running up and down the length suggested otherwise. At the top of the cane was the head of some species of wolf, with ruby red eyes that glowed with malice. This man was Dumali, the commander of The Big Show, the very ship he was standing in, and well-feared warlord in most of the known universe-because he doesn't leave survivors. "Set all lasers to stun-ic!" He stomped forward, shoving the man out of the way, and slamming his wolf head inches from one of the bridge technicians' hands. "We cannot afford to lose the X-W.9.R.R.! It is vital to my great plan-ic!"
The chase took both parties around Saturn deeper into Terran Space…AKA what humanity calls The Solar System.
Meanwhile, Max at the wheel, the Rustbucket was back cruising down the road…that didn't mean the two other occupants on this road trip were any happier though.
"I can't believe it," Ben grumbled, "I wait all school year to go on this trip and now the 'Queen of Cooties' is along for the ride."
"Hey!" Gwen snapped back, annoyed. "I already had my whole vacation planned out too, ya know!" She pulled out a multicolored chart, titled "Vacation Schedule," showing it to Ben. "See? Each activity is color-coded, so I never do the same thing two days in a row." Ben rolled his eyes as she continued. "Now, I'm stuck going camping with my geekazoid cousin for the next three months."
"Like I care, geek." Ben leveled his own glare at Gwen.
"Jerk," Gwen replied, her glare not faltering in the slightest.
Max shook his head as he listened. "Something tells me this is gonna be a long summer."
Later that night, after the campsite was set up, Ben and Gwen got ready to eat a savory summer BBQ. What they got instead was their grandfather placing a bowl of…wriggling…squishy…things in front of them. "Okay, I give up," Ben said after a beat of silence, "What is that?"
"Marinated mealworms," Max replied casually, "hard to find them fresh in the States. They're considered a delicacy in some countries."
"And totally gross in others," the smart redhead said to herself as one mealworm crawled out of the bowl and across the table.
Max shrugged. "Well, if these don't sound good, I've got some smoked sheep's tongue in the fridge." He legitimately sounded like he was honest, but to the kids in his care, he'd basically given them the choice of something that tastes slimy or something that tastes you back.
Ben cringed and tossed out a novel idea: "Couldn't we just have a burger or something?" Even Gwen looked hopeful that Max would see reason and serve real food, instead of insects.
"Nonsense. This summer is gonna be an adventure for your taste buds." Too bad Max wasn't on the same page. "I'll grab the tongue," he climbed right back into the Rustbucket, to fetch the before-mentioned tongue.
The two cousins wasted no time huddling together and notably farther away from their "dinner." "I've got a half-eaten bag of corn chips and a candy bar in my backpack," Ben whispered, "What've you got?"
"Some rice cakes and hard candy," Gwen replied.
"Think we can make it last the whole summer?" The question didn't need to be answered. Dejectedly, they sighed; they could agree on something-this summer could not possibly suck worse.
The silver carrier ship shot through space, The Big Show right behind it. Eventually, a single shot did hit one of the ship's main thrusters, apparently stomping any chance of the ship escaping any farther. "Your honor, it has been halted," the current commanding bridge technician looked proud as Dumali stood from his seat and pointed his cane at the ship on screen.
"Board the ship, string up that thief, and return my super weapon-ic!" Dumali gazed at the screen quite pleased by the fruits of this endeavor…at least until the ship launched its counterattack, which blew the bridge into oblivion. While the much larger battle cruiser was out of commission, the tactic became a double-edged sword as some shrapnel flew from The Big Show and totaled the modified trade ship. Anyone inside had apparently evacuated, but the cargo-The X-W.9.R.R.-had been left behind, leaving it to get caught in the nearest planet's gravitational pull…Earth's gravitational pull.
After somehow finishing their dinner, Ben and Gwen had receded into their own bubbles, the boy playing a handheld game system, and the girl on her laptop…far away from her cousin, both their backs facing each other. Max walked out of the RV with a bag of marshmallows and looked at either child.
"Who wants to roast some marshmallows?" When silence continued, Max tried a different approach. "Um-how about some scary stories?"
"Scarier than having to spend your summer with a freak of a cousin?" Ben snickered to himself, but his rib carried all the way to Gwen's ears; she retaliated accordingly.
"I would like to Grandpa, but I'm busy doing a web search for cures on extreme doofusness. Nothing yet Ben, but let's not give up hope." She grinned over at her affronted cousin, who shot a glare that said volumes for what he couldn't say in front of Max.
"Aw, come on, you two," Max persisted to unite the once again silent duo into their family outing. "We're all in this together. You can mope around like this all summer, or we can have some fun. Now, whadda ya say?"
"I vote for moping," the redhead stated evenly, without missing a beat on her keyboard.
"I'm gonna take a walk," Ben got up, dusted his pants off, and headed to the forest with a "Smell ya later, Gwen!" over his shoulder.
"I think they're starting to grow on each other," Max sighed dismally at Ben's retreating form. With the tension around this first night, the summer vacation trip was looking more like a bummer vacation trip.
Ben grumbled down a nature path, kicking up loose rocks on the ground, hands jammed firmly in his pockets. "Aw man!" he exclaimed to himself, "This is gonna be the worst vacation ever! I might as well have gone to summer school." He was probably about to gripe some more, had an unusual sight not appeared in the sky. It appeared to be a shooting star, a blue flame tail behind it. "Whoa! A shooting star!" Ben was in awe, not daring to take his eyes off this spectacle…a good idea, since it suddenly curved and started plummeting towards him! He gasped right before he 180'd and ran from the falling object, screaming all the way-even louder when the "star's" collision with earth blew Ben off his feet. As he shook the dirt off his head, and his senses back in, he looked at the smoke cloud of the thing that nearly made him a Ben-pancake.
Ben picked himself up and walked over to the newly made crater, and glanced at some kind of metal canister, just laying on its back, and a bit taller than he was. He leaned over the edge closer, only for the rocks under his feet to give way. He tumbled into the hole with a yelp and an "ouch", his face inches from the pod. "Ow…I think I got a rock in my…" He trailed off as he saw some burned engraving on the metal surface. Sitting on the heels of his feet (A/N: I don't know how some people do it, I can't! …Sorry, back to the story.), he traced out the letters that were legible. "X…W…R…R…what the heck does that mean?" At that moment, a hiss punctured the air, shocking Ben, as the top of the "star" opened up. Ben looked in and blinked at the sight. In this pod…was a boy. His skin looked metallic grey, and his hair was short and platinum blond. He looked like he was sleeping, not just because his eyes were closed; he was clothed in some sort of bodysuit (Ben thought it might be his pajamas), black with red lines all over it, kind of like a circuit board. The only ornament the out-of-this-world sleeper wore was an abnormally large wristwatch on his right wrist; it was mostly black, with some sort of grey tubes connected to the watch face, which held an hourglass symbol, which looked like it usually glowed, but was off for some reason now. 'Cool watch,' Ben thought, 'but must need new batteries.'
"He's just a kid…but why's a kid in outer space? Some new space program?" Ben dared to come closer when it seemed the kid wasn't waking. In fact, Ben noted with alarm, he didn't seem like he was breathing! "Hey! Are you alright!?" Ben put his hand on the boy's shoulder, quickly jumping back as if he touched a hot surface. A strange noise, sort of like a lot of bubble wraps being popped by a lot of people, enticed him to look at the boy again and gaped. Right before his own eyes…the kid's skin…was changing colors. When it was complete, the last of the weird noise popping away, the dozer's skin looked like Ben's even skin-tone.
Ben just stood there, poleaxed, until the boy's hand shot up, surprising a scream out of Ben as he scrambled back. The former sleeper rose to stand on the edge of the pod, so he appeared to be much taller than Ben. The lines on his suit lit up, rippling with power, from his feet to his head, and even the watch powered up suddenly-the hourglass lit up a bright red, which only served to cast an ominous light around the crater. Finally, the unearthly child's eyes opened and gazed upon Ben-hazel brown eyes, which under the circumstances and lighting, made this kid look like the spawn of great evil. Ben was paralyzed, his gaze glued to this one-of-a-kind sight. Both he and the stranger stood that way for a while, just looking at each other…right before the kid fell off the pod, face first in the dirt.
Ben just stood there, interpreting what just transpired, before taking a long stick and prodding the back of the kid's head, to determine he was out again. When he didn't move, Ben sighed in relief. "Okay, now it's time to go. Before Freaky Alien Pod-Boy wakes up and kills me." He climbed out of the crater, and, after a quick assessment, concluded he was fine and proceeded to walk away from the crater. At three steps though, a groan came from the crater. Against what could possibly pass as better judgment to Ben Tennyson, he looked in to see the kid hadn't moved an inch. Ben frowned and scratched his chest. "Geez, I shouldn't help…but he might be in serious trouble-wherever he's from."
Max, for the fifth time in 15 minutes, looked at the forest, concern etched on his face. "Ben's been gone a while…well, I guess he can't get into too much trouble out here."
"Unless he wound up bear food," Gwen casually remarked, while her grandfather gave her look.
"Grandpa!" Before Gwen could amend herself, she and Max turned to see Ben…dragging somebody along.
"Ben, what on earth…" Max started as he went over to help.
"Actually, I'm not too sure about him being from Earth." Ben and Max put the kid on the picnic table, where Gwen joined them, inspecting the kid.
"He looks like he got hit by a truck," Gwen noted with an edge of worry in her voice, before looking at Ben. "What did you do?"
"Me!?" Ben narrowed his eyes at Gwen. "I found him like this! I didn't-"
"Ben, it's alright," Max patted him on the shoulder gently. "No one is blaming you. Just tell us what happened."
"Okay…" Ben took a deep breath before talking rapidly. "Well, when I was walking, this meteor fell from the sky and almost smushed me, except that it wasn't a meteor or a satellite but that kid. Only he didn't look like he was breathing so I tried to wake him, but then jumped up and glared at me like he was gonna murder me, but he fell asleep again. I couldn't just leave him, so I dragged him here, but I may have hit him into a few trees on the way since he looks all beat up now."
Max and Gwen just looked at Ben in silence for what felt like an eternity, before Gwen shook her head. "You are so weird."
Ben looked offended. "But it's true!"
"Now, hold on," Max did not want them at each other's throats again. "Nobody is saying you're lying-"
"I am," Gwen pointed out.
"Listen here, freak-"
"Ben!"
"Doofus!"
"Gwen!"
"Can I say something?"
"WHAT!" Both Tennyson kids turned to the new timid voice…and blinked in unison as they found their (formerly) comatose patient sitting up, and blinking right back at them with eyes the same shade of hazel Ben saw, but a softer, seemingly innocent light to them.
"Could you please not yell?" he asked in an even tone, as he brought up both hands to cup his forehead as he winced. "I have the biggest headache."
While the Tennysons were meeting their guest, above Earth, a certain spaceship was having its own headache…from Dumali's enraged yelling.
"WHAT! WHAT DO YOU MEAN IT'S NOT THERE-IC! IT WAS STOLEN-FROM MY SHIP! IT WAS UNDER YOUR CONSTANT WATCH, YET YOU ALL MANAGED TO GET IT TAKEN THROUGH YOUR INCOMPETENCE, AND AFTER THAT WHOLE CHASE, AFTER GETTING MY BRIDGE BLOWN UP, AFTER BEING DUG OUT OF THE RUBBLE THAT IS NOW MY CHAIR, YOU COME TELL ME THAT IT'S NOT FRICKIN' THERE!" Needless to say, he was livid…actually, that's an understatement-he was pissed.
"I am sorry, my lord," the unlucky messenger was really hoping he was not in danger of being shot on his way out as he continued to placate the madder-than-mad warlord. Right now, Dumali was on an operation table, shielded from view by a dozen robotic arms. The messenger counted his good luck-he did not want to see how mad his terrifying employer looked. "However," he quickly continued, still afraid for his ongoing existence, "we have discovered that the X-W.9.R.R.'s energy signature is located on that planet below-it is on Earth, your grand Honor."
Dumali paused in his tirade, weighing if he should do something about this new development now, or if he should just kill this crewman first; he settled on performing the former. "Somehow, one of the primitives must have activated it. But without any orders, it is less than useless-ic. Not to belittle the obvious fact that the DNA transfer of a being physically compatible to my unstoppable weapon could ruin all chances of a fresh observation of its full capability-ic." He clicked his tongue, annoyed at the last stated fact, before addressing the fidgeting crewman with an edge in his tone. "Send the V-H.U.N.7. to retrieve the X-W.9.R.R., and eliminate all witnesses. No more slip-ups-or else-ic!"
"Yes sir," the messenger started to breathe easier, now knowing he wasn't in danger of permanent "retirement." He rushed out of the room, leaving Dumali to his repairs.
After the group relocated to inside the RV, Ben and Gwen watched as Max tended to the kid. While Max was no doctor, at his age, he knew enough to check for abrasions and head injuries, if Ben's account was anything to go on. "Alright," he sighed, putting away the flashlight, "you look alright to me. How do you feel?"
The kid, still clad in his "pajamas," shuffled his feet awkwardly before answering. "I feel sort of better now. But, I feel some strange empty pain in my lower torso…" From the way he talked, it was clear that either English wasn't his first language.
"Do you mean you're hungry?" Gwen's answer was the boy's stomach rumbling very loudly.
"Yeah, I guess that is the word," "Pajamas" scratched the back of his head shyly, before blinking. "Uh…what do I do to not be hungry?"
Ben gave him a deadpan look. "Um…eat something? Don't tell me you've never eaten before."
"Eat?" "Pajamas" blinked back at Ben owlishly. "I…do not know?" He clenched his eyes shut, and held his head in both hands. "Erm, I must have eaten before…probably…I cannot remember!"
Max soothed the upset child with a comforting hand on his back. "Hey, it's alright. Wait one second." Max went to the fridge and pulled out the leftovers from dinner, still fresh and wriggling. "Here. Marinated mealworms, very high in protein." ('And in nasty,' Ben thought to himself.)
"Pajamas" looked at the bowl for a while, before grabbing a grub and popping it into his mouth. If Ben and Gwen thought it was gross eating them, it looked worse watching someone else doing it; each chew bore a wet and sloppy squelch that made them sick to their bellies. After he swallowed, he paused only a moment before picking up more, chewing with vigor. He even broke out into a grin. "This is the best thing I have ever-" He frowned looking for the word. "Ever…"
"Tasted?" Ben offered, trying to ignore his uneasy stomach.
"Oh! Yeah, tasted! That is the word-taste!" Knowing the word seem to make the boy happier, as the grin never left his lips as he continued eating.
"Alright," Gwen conceded with her arms wrapped around her stomach, "You win. He really is from outer space."
Max gave him some water to wash down his "meal," chuckling. "Well, I'm glad to see you feel a little better." He turned to his grandchildren, switching to his parental mode. "I'll be right back. I'm gonna check where Ben said this pod was. Keep an eye on our guest." With that, he walked out of the mobile home.
Ben and Gwen sat in the booth seat across from the boy, as he polished off the last of the worms. Once he slurped up the last one like linguine, he looked at the other two in silence, looking content. The staring contest continued for a while before Ben said: "Why are you staring?"
"Pajamas" ('Really should learn his name,' Ben reminded himself.) blinked and looked down at his hands blushing. "Sorry, I did not realize I was staring…"
Gwen, being her usually polite self, questioned: "So, what's your name?"
The pajama kid looked up instantly, before looking out the window. "I do not have one."
"Don't have one?" Ben and Gwen looked at each other, very confused.
He looked at the night sky, struggling to find the words. "It is…weird. I have not forgotten, I just…never got one?" He looked more confused by his answer than the two Tennysons, if possible.
Ben decided to move on from the awkward topic. "So, what's with the watch? Looks kinda cool? Maybe I could try it on?"
"Watch?" "Pajamas" looked puzzled before lifting his wrist to inspect the device. He tried to adjust it, but it wouldn't move. He tried harder, his face fixed to a look of concentration. "It…is…"
"Stuck?" Gwen offered as he continued to strain himself. "Are you sure that's even a watch? I've never seen anything like that before."
"Even aliens have to tell time, doofus. That's what you are, right? An Alien?"
The boy sighed at the watch's stubbornness to stay on. After inspecting it closely, he noticed a button on its side. "Maybe this is the release button on this strange device?" He pressed down and the faceplate popped up. "…Or not. What is…?"
The youth, along with Ben and Gwen, looked down at the raised faceplate. Instead of time, the red hourglass shape changed into a red diamond-shaped screen, which showed a silhouette of some sort of a yeti creature. "Whoa," Ben's eyes lit up. "What does that do?" He reached down and-
Gwen stopped his hand inches from the watch. "Hey! What are you doing? We don't even know what that does."
"But it could be cool," Ben pointed out with a wide grin. "You can't tell me you're not the least bit curious about this."
"Not in the slightest."
Ben just looked at her. "There is no way we're related."
While this went on, their visitor continued to look at the picture, very curious. 'Maybe it will come off…what could happen by trying?' With that, he used two fingers to press the faceplate down. That's when all hell broke loose.
The moment the faceplate went down, a red energy wave surrounded the boy, the watch seemingly went into his arm, and his muscles bulged to the point that the body suit's sleeves were torn apart, leading all the way to his squeezed shut eyes, which opened suddenly, revealing they had gone from hazel brown to bright red, glowing with red electricity. Thick red fur grew instantly over his body, white fur on his neck, forearms, and below his knees, and his feet changed shape to look like a huge pair of hands. When the metamorphosis was finished, the boy now resembled a yeti, with bolts on both sides of his head and wrists, and he was wearing an open vest and biker shorts that resembled his bodysuit, with the watch's hourglass symbol as a belt buckle.
After the light from the energy wave died down, Ben and Gwen blinked until they could discern what exactly was going on. What was going on was a tall, red, and white Bigfoot wearing a vest was standing in the middle of the RV. It only took a second for the kids to scream and scramble for cover in the cramped space, and the Yeti to be surprised enough to trip backward. After shaking it off, the Sasquatch sat up-only to get a pan thrown at his head. "Ow! Hey, what's the big idea, eh?" The Yeti spoke with a heavy northern accent, as he covered himself from a flying assault of cookware, from Tupperware to stainless steel pans.
"Stay back, you…creepy monster creep!" Gwen hefted up a frying pan, and charged, with Ben right behind her, wielding a rolling pin.
"But it is-Ouch!-Wait, guys! I-Ow!-could you just hold on a-Oof!" No matter what was said, the oddly colored Yeti continued to defend himself from these kids, each one of their swings connecting with some important areas.
"What did you do with that kid?" Ben reared back with the rolling pin. "Start talking or start groaning!"
While the Tennysons were swinging for "home runs," the Bigfoot's bolts had been giving off sparks of electricity. The currents had been building up, just waiting to surge forward-and the dense chunk of wood coming at the Yeti's kneeling form was just the excuse he needed. "I. Said. STOP!" That last word was punctuated with an electrical blast from the Yeti's mouth which not only caused a power surge but cleaved the rolling pin in Ben's hands in half! Gwen ducked just as she sensed something (Maybe the change in atmosphere…), and the blast went right over her head, some hair standing up, and blew the door right off its hinges and across the camp!
Everybody in the room stood frozen for about a minute. The Yeti reacted first, jumping over both the other stupefied people in the room and landed outside of the vehicle. He turned around, yelled "I did not mean that!" and ran off into the forest.
Gwen finally closed her mouth, swallowed, and took in the redecoration of the RV. "What… the heck…was that?" She stepped into the night air and looked out to the trees. "Well, whatever that was, it's not here anymore. What happened? One second, there's a kid, then - the kid! Ben!" She turned to see him coming out, still holding his broken rolling pin. "Do you know where…?"
Ben's eyes focused on Gwen, as he frowned; he wore a thoughtful expression, something that looked very weird on Ben Tennyson. "Gwen…did that guy look familiar to you?"
Gwen snorted. "Yea-no! I haven't met a bunch of freaking lightning-breathing Sasquatches before! Why?"
"No, not like that, dweeb!" Ben looked out at the trees. "Did you see where X went to when the big ape appear?"
Gwen's eyes widened catching on. "No, I guess-wait. X?" She looked at Ben, puzzled. "Why X?
"Well, there was an X on that pod thing he was in, and sometimes my math homework has an X too, and I don't understand those Xs like I don't understand this X." Ben shrugged. "Just felt right, at least for now. But still, when the monster showed up, X disappeared; Coincidence?"
Gwen paused at this; no, she had not remembered where "X" disappeared to when the Yeti had attacked. She was too afraid and shocked. "So, you're insinuating that our hairy guest and the kid from earlier are the same? That's crazy! How would he even-how could he-"
Ben tossed the busted utensil aside. "I don't know either. But I know how I'll figure it out!" With that, Ben ran into the forest, surprising Gwen.
"Ben! Wait!" Gwen yelled at him to no avail. He was always in great shape, despite always playing video games. Must be running from bullies, or something, Gwen figured. "I'm gonna tell Grandpa that you ran off after an electroconductive Sasquatch after he gets back from finding that pod from space!" Gwen's eyes enlarged slightly before she hung her head. "This is the weirdest summer ever."
'Hmm. You'd think when I'd retire, I wouldn't be doing things like this anymore,' Max thought to himself. As he came to the clearing, he could easily see the crater Ben talked about. Except for the detail about the intact pod may have changed, for as Max came closer, all he could find was scattered scrap. "Hmm," as Max hummed in thought, he stepped on some metal. He bent over to pick it up, and noticed some writing on it: X, W, R, and R. But what really caught his attention was that metal didn't show burnt edges like what would happen if something exploded; no, in fact, the edges looked as if someone-or something-had chopped the pod into pieces…and it was very sharp. "I don't like the looks of this."
To say that X was confused would be an understatement. To say he was excited would be an overstatement. He did not know the word yet (or remembered it, probably), but it was terrified. First, he wakes up to two people yelling at each other, only to learn that they were cousins! Did all families act like this? Blazes if he knew - he didn't know if he had any relatives! ('…was relatives the word,' X thought to himself, 'or did I mix up family and theory? Wait, no, that's not right…') And while dinner ('Lunch? Brunch? Wait, what time is it anyway?') was…tasty- a word he knew!-the part where you get pelted with various objects made of very hard surfaces was not very tasty at all ('Is that how I use? Urgh, whatever, it works!').
He really hoped that they didn't fault him for the blast or explosion ('Again, whatever! Too many words to know!'), he really didn't mean to destroy the opening in the wall, nor did he mean to scare the green-eyed boy-it just felt natural in this form…
'Wait…how am I moving right now?' Finally, X took note that he was…swinging from tree to tree. "Whoa…how am I doing this, eh?" Hanging from the branches, he lifts both his feet into sight. "Huh. The meaty cylinders…uh-fingers! Yes! That is what they call them! But, who are they? Wait…no, I was thinking…about my feet having fingers in this strange new form-" Whatever else X thought of was interrupted, by the tree he was in getting cut in half. "Aaaah! Ow!" he got up, still nursing his sore butt ('or was it called a tail?'). "Uh, who did that, eh?"
Klank! Klank!
The small sound did not escape X's hearing. He turned to the noise to find some sort of robot walking over, scanning him with one red eye on the left side of his head. He was covered in slick plating from head to toe, polished to the nth degree, and held a brown-reddish saber in his left hand. Down his left arm was the letters V, H, U, and N, plus the number 7. "X-W.9.R.R., you are to come with me," the android buzzed out like it was talking through a speaker, "Do not resist."
"Hey, are you the one who cut me out of that tree?" X looked puzzled at the visitor. "What did I do to you? Do…you know who I am?"
The robot stood silent for a while, before replying, "This is the V-H.U.N.7. I have been sent to collect you. This is your last warning before force becomes necessary."
X frowned at that. "You know, there is a word for something like you…just as soon as I remember it-"
Shink!
The robot rushed at X suddenly and swung his sword at him. Had X not ducked, there would be two of him to retrieve! The sword-bot did not stop swinging, and X did not stop dodging. "Hey! Please stop, eh! What did I do to get you so-uh, what is that word?" X jumped back from the V-H.U.N.7., but it didn't stop there. The droid jabbed the blade forward, aiming at X's chest, right before he caught it between both palms! "I just got here, but I am pretty sure it is rude to wave sharp…things like that around." With a twist, X sent the robot flying into a tree head-first.
"Cool!" X's eyes ('Yeah! Another word!') widened as he saw Ben pop up out of nowhere in the brush. It seems he found X-and watched the show, too!
"Hey, uh, guy, you need to-" whether X forgot the word or not was unimportant since he was pushed aside by V-H.U.N.7.
"Status: Human. Course of Action: Silence." The sword-bot was upon Ben before he could blink. As he raised the sword high, something in X kicked in-he didn't know what, let alone what to call it-but it rose from his torso to his fingertips, and crackled for attention.
"Leave. Him. Alone!" X slammed his hands together instinctively, and watched as a lightning bolt jumped from his hands and right at the nearest conductor-the android with the very sharp lightning rod! As the droid began shaking and sparking, X ran in, grabbed Ben, and cradled him to his chest, as they slid across the ground, while the V-H.U.N.7. shook more violently until-
BOOM!
It exploded in a great light show. When the light died down, both Ben and X peeked over to the crater to see the sword-wielding android was intact, but in no condition to move anymore, with most of its armor melted, and circuits sticking out of its head. The duo just sat there, taking the brutal scene in, compared to the returned stillness of nature. Finally, the oddly colored yeti asked, "So, uh, what was your name again?"
A pause, then, "Ben…Tennyson…" Ben looked back at X, a grin slowly growing on his face before a few chuckles escaped him. "That was awesome! He was coming like "Grrr!" and the sword went "Slice!" and then you went all "Rawr!" and Zap! Boom! Ka-pow!" Ben stopped his reenactment of the fight to breathe before talking again. "That was so cool, X! You rock!"
X tilted his head sideways, a weird gesture on a large strapping Sasquatch. "X? Do you mean me?"
Ben just kept on smiling. "Duh, I hafta call my new friend something-and X so totally fits now! Woo!" Ben pumped his arms in the air.
X looked clueless. "Woo?"
Ben looked at him, dropping his arms only a little. "That's what people say when they're psyched. Woo!"
"Woo?" X tried to match, even pumping his fist a little.
"No, no." Ben cleared his throat. "WOO!"
X sat there, looking at him. "Woo."
Ben just shook his head, smiling the whole time. "No sweat, dude. We'll work on it."
When Ben and X got back to camp, Max was there to meet them. At first, some explanations had to be given, but in the end, after Gwen's "I told you so," they were all back inside the RV, with X, still a big red and white yeti, looking down at his feet shyly.
"This is serious, Ben," the older man scolded the 10-year-old boy, "you could have been hurt. You shouldn't run off like that."
"Sorry, Grandpa," Ben said, "But at least X helped me with his wicked cool monster powers!"
"Not a monster. Alien," Max corrected automatically. His sudden response gained three puzzled looks. "Uh, I mean just look at him. Plus, Ben said he fell from space, and I did find the remains of that pod where he said."
"Okay…" Gwen didn't know what to make of her grandfather's words but decided to shelve it for now. "So, he's an alien. Is this his real form or what?"
X looked at his hands. Suddenly, the hourglass symbol on his belt started blinking red and beeping. In a flash of red light, X reverted right back to his original form- jumpsuit and all. "I…changed back." He checked all over to be sure.
As Max scratched his chin in thought, Gwen shook her head. "Shame. With the juice you were packing, I could have charged my laptop for life."
"Juice? I do not have any juice. …er, what is juice?" X looked at Gwen confused, while Ben caught her attention.
"He doesn't really remember normal words, let alone slang. Better keep it to a minimum."
Back in the forest, climbing out of the crater, the V-H.U.N.7., still badly damaged, was scanning for X. Unfortunately, its tracking systems were not functioning properly due to, er, overcharge, along with most of its higher functions. Higher functions that would say to never expose oneself to the populace in the area; it would attract unnecessary attention. However, only programmed to perform one task only, the V-H.U.N.7. decided that with no advanced tracking methods available, it should go to the nearest large amount of people and tear the dwellings apart-since, if memory banks serve, the X-W.9.R.R was working with a human. So they were hiding it. This made them a threat. To be eliminated with extreme prejudice.
"So when I press the faceplate down, I can transform into not just that furry creature, but nine other beings as well," X rotated the display, looking at the other aliens on it. "They certainly do not favor each other in…um…like an outline…uh-"
"Profile?" Gwen offered.
"Well, that is pretty cool," Ben spoke up, "but how do you stay a super cool hero?"
"Er…I do not know," X sighed.
Max scratched his chin in thought. "With a device as powerful as that watch, my advice is we'd better help you learn…fast."
"Does that mean he can stay?" Ben looked up at Max hopefully. "Please tell me he can stay!"
"Of course. We don't know anything about him, and until he remembers anything, he'd better stay with us."
"Yes!" Ben nearly put X in a headlock, ignoring his look of surprise. "I'm so gonna teach you all the cool stuff Earth's got-video games, comic books, television-"
Whatever else Ben was going to say was promptly cut off when the radio crackled to life. "Mayday! Mayday! Somebody help us! We're under attack by-you're not gonna believe this-a robot! With a sword!"
Everyone turned toward the radio, as Ben quickly put two and two together. "That sounds like the thing that attacked us."
"But, how?" Gwen looked at Ben puzzled. "Didn't you say X blew that thing up?"
Ben shrugged. "Maybe it's more durable than I thought. Doesn't matter. We should do something!"
"Like what?" Gwen had taken most of this night in stride, but she drew the line at fighting robots. "Three kids and one retiree? What are we, the Avengers!? We can't fight robots!"
"We don't have to." Ben looped an arm around X and roped him back into the conversation. "But he can!"
"I can? Can what?" X had only the faintest idea of what was going on. What he collectively gathered was the robot was not down, and neither Ben nor the loud blue one could decide on what to do.
"Be a superhero, of course!" Ben grabbed X by both his shoulders and looked him right in the eye. "Okay, so you have a lot of questions, you don't know who you are, and that robot is really tough to crack. But, so long as there was someone in trouble, a hero can't just sit and not help! With that watch, you could be the most awesome wicked hero ever! This could be the moment that defines everything!"
The silence was thick in RV after Ben's mini-speech. Max smirked lightly, feeling a sense of pride and slight familiarity with Ben's grandstand, while Gwen wondered if this was the same cousin who wanted to play with that watch before they knew what it was. X just looked on, face unreadable. He was not entirely sure what awesome or wicked meant, but he had understood everything else…mostly. He had also pieced together that the robot knew something about him. If it was still around, he could still get some answers!
With that settled, X nodded firmly. "Ok. I do not understand everything, but you and your…others are helping me. I will follow your lead."
At a nearby campsite, everyone was fleeing as fast as humanly possible. Tents were on fire, RVs were cut in half, trees had fallen on top of some people, trapping them under its weight. It was chaos, pure, and simple. The V-H.U.N.7 was unconcerned with the cries of the weak fleshy beings. Its mission was clear-bring back the X-W.9.R.R., and let nothing stand in its way. The damaged unit caught sight of one human helping a fallen one. Scans indicated this one had a badge of some kind. Logic dictates that badges equal power. Power means authority, and the higher the authority, the more likely they would be trying to hide the X-W.9.R.R. It raised its sword to strike-
"Hey! Leave them alone!"
The unit paused processing this new voice among the screams. It turned to analyze this new obstacle in its way. First off, the being was made, noticeably, of crystal. He was wearing a black sleeveless bodysuit with one large red stripe on the front that ended at the hourglass belt buckle. The V-H.U.N.7 immediately zoned in on the belt buckle. Only two words were utter from its warped, half-melted speaker: "Target acquired." Completely ignoring the fleeing pair, it advanced on its target. This time, the X-W.9.R.R. would not escape.
The damaged droid swung his blade at the crystalline creature. It was far too difficult to cut through, but the hit did launch it into an RV that went flying from the momentum. It began to march over to the target but paused when a diamond blade cut through the wreckage, and the being pulled itself out. It seems to paused and stare at the diamond blade for a second before the V-H.U.N.7 was upon it swinging rapidly and wildly.
Usually, it stuck targets with precision, but with most of its sensors damaged and a lot of its outer shell damaged, it made more sense to end this as quickly as possible. The crystal being defended itself very well, blocking almost every swing with its only blade. But, the V-H.U.N.7 had something this lesser lacked-programmed skill. With a twist and a thrust, the being was sent flying again, slamming into a stone structure. Not two seconds passed before the building fell down on top of the diamond man. The V-H.U.N.7 began the march to claim his prize.
PONG!
The unit paused, trying to discern why his systems fizzled for a second. It determined that something had attacked, hence the noise and the glitch. It turned to find…the same child from the forest! It had chunks of rocks in its hands and was throwing them at the V-H.U.N.7, yelling "Pick on something your own size, tin can!" Most were missing but many were bouncing off his shell. It paused trying to process a response. This being was not affecting him, but he had interrupted his previous chance of capture. Ending its annoyance was not logical, since it is ineffectual, and thus it could be ignored.
This processing should have been simultaneous, but extensive internal damage had really done a number. The full time to process this event: just 10 seconds.
Suddenly, the entire unit lurched; error messages were filling the screen like the program was possessed. It looked to access the new damage. If it had emotions and a mouth, a frown would have been showing. Its mission had been failed. No droid could complete a mission with a diamond sword through its chest.
These were its last thoughts as a second diamond blade plunged through its chest and ripped it in half.
Ben just stared in shock at the scene in front of him. X, this mysterious yet seemingly peaceful kid, had just literally ripped the robot apart! Ok, so technically he was made of crystal right now, and he was pretty sure not much broke crystal, but that was still pretty cool to him!
He had some chips and nicks from the sword all over him, but otherwise, he was fine. He didn't just beat the bot, he literally ripped it a new one.
"Whoa. That was awesome, X-er, I mean, Diamondhead! Way to go!" On the way over, Ben had decided he was going to name all of X's aliens, for purely professional purposes, of course. ("You can't even say that with a straight face, doofus." Gwen snorted at Ben's hasty defense to the contrary.)
After a bit, Ben looked closely at X and realized he was not even focused. It was hard to tell with no pupils, but it looked like X was staring into nothing. Ben took a step forward and froze instantly when Diamondhead's head shot up, eyes only on Ben. "Um, hey. Are you alright?" Ben tried not to move too much, he had no clue what was going on in X's head, but he had not dropped the piece of the attack bot he had just busted. "Dude? Wanna say something?"
X seemed startled for a second and dropped the halves before falling to his knees. "I…" X seemed lost. Not the usual lost, like unfathomably lost. "I thought he was about to attack you and just…now I cannot learn why he was after me."
Suddenly, Ben's stomach dropped like a stone. Rushing to action, pushing X into the fray, it had never occurred to him why he was following his lead. He just wanted to see a bully get crushed; he had not really thought about much else. Ben was about to say something, before-
"Ben! X!" Max and Gwen came running up. "We need to go. Park rangers and campers are on the way back."
"And it's going to be really difficult to explain…well, you." Gwen gestured to X. Usually, she was better at words. Then again, this night had been a long one for all of them.
"Okay." Ben nodded and turned to Diamondhead. "Hey, X, are you, uh, ready to go?"
X blinked, which does not seem possible without any eyelids, and nodded. "Sure. Let us get…um…"
"Going!" Ben grabbed X's hand, well, his finger, and began to try to drag him to his feet. When X got up on his own, the four made their way out of the area as quickly as possible. While no one has the whole story on what happened, a lot of pictures would be popping up online tomorrow and in tabloids, a week later, showing a diamond-like man running through the forest with unidentifiable others.
Meanwhile, on The Big Show, an unlucky technician fidgeted nervously as he entered the bridge. The other crew all looked to him at his entrance. "Anything?" the technician looked around hopefully.
The crew traded looks, ranging from fear to depression, before the bravest of them stepped forward and just shook his head.
The crewman sighed. "He's not going to like to this." The man immediately exited, presumably to deliver the news to Dumali. The crew started to mutter among themselves what could happen now, but not for long as the doors opened again. They all instantly stood up to salute but stopped when they realized it was the man from earlier. "Er, what should I tell him?"
The same soldier as before talked to a few techs before addressing the messenger. "Tell him we are still trying to re-establish contact, and are hopeful that it will work this time." It sounded weak, more so if you consider that they had been trying to reconnect with the V-H.U.N.7 for hours.
The herald sighed, sounding almost like he had accepted death was coming to him very soon. "He is really not going to like this!" He left the room once more, leaving tension behind him. This time, the crew did not have to wait, or speculate, for long, as the door opened again.
The brave soul who had talked before had had enough; his nerves were shot enough without the blasted envoy coming in and out, over and over again. "What! What is it now!?" he snapped at the opening door.
This time, however, the messenger came in, flying over their heads, before colliding with the far wall. He slid down the wall and collapsed into a heap, but not before muttering "He didn't like it.."
As one, the crew turned to the door, and watched, with bated breath, as Dumali, completely fine now, walked over to his newly repaired chair, the top of his cane shining from fresh polishing. He sat down, dusting himself, before addressing the room as a whole. "This is an unforeseen complication. What is now clear is that the X-W.9.R.R. is now fully activated-ic. Meaning, the DNA transfer has already taken place." He sighed, drumming his fingers on the armrests, each tap making his crew more nervous by the second. "The entire project is ruined-ic. The only saving grace is whatever weak creature it's bonded to makes it inferior. So, new orders!" He looked at every technician on the bridge, his glasses giving off a dangerous gleam. "Scrap Salvage! All I need is the X-W.9.R.R.'s main command chip, and I will have my superweapon back-ic!" He stood up, pointing his cane at the screen's projection of Earth. "I don't care if that mudball burns! I want my weapon-ic! I want that Omnitrix! I WILL HAVE MY VICTORY!"
At the Tennysons' campsite, Grandpa Max and Gwen were packing up the RV. No sooner had the morning sun greeted them, Max had gotten everyone fed and assigned a task for packing. It was not two minutes into it before Max noticed Ben and X's respective areas were still cluttered. In fact, the only thing not there was Ben and X.
The old man turned to his niece, just as she returned some canvas back to the mobile home. "Gwen, where's Ben and X?"
"Haven't seen them since breakfast," Gwen shrugged.
Whatever Max was going to say next was cut off by a sudden gust of wind, and the accompanying cloud of dust, while it was apparently cheering. As Max and Gwen's vision cleared, the question of Ben's whereabouts were answered; he was piggybacking on a humanoid being with a familiar red and black color scheme. While the fur, or maybe hair, was mostly black, along with a black mask-like feature around red eyes, the head, chest, hands, and feet were red, topped off with spikes. Notably, the red patch on the chest had a thunderbolt-like design to it, and sitting on that patch was a red hourglass symbol. Max was the first of the duo to shake off the shock. "Ben! There you are."
"Which means…," Gwen glanced at the straight-faced cat man, putting two and two together. "X?"
"Yep!" Ben gave off a dopey grin as he dropped to the ground, his hair sticking up messily. (Gwen was unsure if it was because of where he had been, or he just had not brushed it.) He tapped X's side lightly getting his attention. "Hey, X! Show 'em what you can do!"
X nodded, and before Max could even blink, the entire campsite was clear. He and Gwen looked around, but there was not even a tent spike left to waste. Standing in front of them now, X, still in alien form scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Howwasthat? Howwasthat? DidIdoalright?"
Gwen, startled by the fast burst of speech, stumbled. "Geez, slow down! I didn't understand anything you just said!"
"Pretty fast, huh?" Grinning like a maniac, Ben elbowed X lightly. "You shoulda seen him! We ran around the entire forest-twice! I think I'm gonna call him Fasttrack."
Gwen scrutinized Ben's cheesy smile. "So, this is gonna be a thing, huh? You just have to name all the aliens he turns into?"
Ben, never losing his excitement, responded. "Duh, doofus. A hero has to have an awesome name." The back-and-forth was interrupted when Fasttrack's symbol glowed three times and beeped before a bright flash signaled his return to human form.
X, still in his jumpsuit, was looking down at the ground, his cheeks tinged with scarlet. "B…Ben, thank you. For…" He grew silent for a second, before finally looking at Ben, and despite being slightly taller, somehow looked smaller by sheer body language. "For helping me. From before. For…all of it."
Ben's smile shrunk to a warm smirk. "Hey, it's cool. What are friends for?"
"Friends?" X, still not entirely sure what every word meant, had no clue what Ben meant by that, but he had already moved on before he could ask.
"And besides, I should be thanking you! You just made this road trip, like, 10% cooler! I think this gonna be the best summer ever!"
Max, the only one to note the level of maturity Ben just exhibited, had a warm twinkle in his eye. 'Better to keep it to myself,' he thought, 'if he's anything like his father, it'd probably just embarrass him.' Instead, out loud he said, "Absolutely."
On the other end of the spectrum, Gwen's mind was not on Ben, but X. Just last night, the dweeb drags an alien back to camp, it blasts the RV door right off its hinges, and while Grandpa was able to fix it quickly (he was always the handyman, according to her father), Ben drags the now sasquatch-sized boy back, and not ten minutes later, they go out and help him fight a killer robot! If the entire summer was going to be like this, she might go crazy. All she could muster, while secretively scanning X up and down, was " It's definitely going to be interesting."
X was also thinking, as they all got back on the Rustbucket, but not about Ben, Gwen, or the old man ('Wait, what was his name again? Grand…Pax?'), but rather his whole situation. He had no memory, some machine on his wrist that turned him into other creatures, and nothing to wear but what he came to Earth with. He was…scared might be the word. No clues to find, nothing to go on-
"X, come on!" X jumped slightly when Ben grabbed his hand and dragged him onto the RV; he was so lost in thought he had stopped moving. The sudden warmth somehow calmed X down, and as he saw Ben's infectious grin, he smiled back. No, he had one thing to go on, one thought he would not forget: He would be there for Ben, no matter what. That is what friends are for.
…Whatever that means.
Ved: So, thoughts? Prayers? Opinions? Feel free to leave them in a review...or don't. The choice is yours. 'Til next time!