A/N: Wow, been a second such I touched this one! But, yeah, it's still ongoing, along with everything else I've been doing. Anyway, here's Chapter two of the Mighty WarrHammer, in the year 2022. How poetic, right?

Episode 2: Animo's Crackers!

Fire engines surrounded the burning building, as reporters and police made an outer circle full of activity. While firefighters had cleared out the first floors near street level, the flames on the upper levels almost seemed alive, so they stayed back assessing how to get the last residents from the building. Inside that very flamed area, a living fireball was wondering the very same thing, but with much more pressure on his shoulders.

Inside the blazing building, a fiery being covered with volcanic rock, sporting two metal gloves and a watch symbol on his chest, stood opposite a lean humanoid droid, wielding an almost alien-like flamethrower that connected to its torso. On the weapon was an engraving: I-B.U.5.N. Behind the flaming man were two civilians, barely conscious; the flaming man glanced back at them in worry at their stillness, as the droid spoke. "Designation: X-W.9.R.R. Statement: You are to return to Home Base."

The living fireball turned back his opponent and narrowed his eyes. "That is not happening. What is happening is you will go back and tell whoever is chasing me to leave me alone."

"Response: Negative." I-B.U.5.N. then raised the weapon and blasted a cone of fire at the being... that ran through the flames, inadvertently absorbing them, and punched the robot backward. The blows came over and over before the droid was knocked to the edge of a hole in the floor. It would have pitched backward, plummeting down into the basement, had the fire-man not grabbed his weapon. The tubing linking flamethrower to bot was the only thing stopping the alien robot from tumbling to the ground floor.

"Alright, now," the alien began. "I want to know who I am, who is chasing me, and why are they chasing me?"

Whatever the drone was about to say, probably more unhelpful comments about bringing the creature in, it was cut off by the noise of groaning overhead. Both combatants looked up, and the cowering bystanders screamed, knowing immediately what was about to happen. The alien took one look at the dangling robot, then the cowering citizens, and sighed deeply.

Outside, people's heads snapped up to see the roof of the building collapsed inward, but not before a tunnel of fire blasted out of the side! It touched the ground and dispersed, revealing the fiery being, holding a melted scrap of metal in one of its metal-coated hands, and the two civilians. The minute they landed, the least surprised EMT workers went near the group to take the injured away.

While a lot of people now regarded the living matchstick with trepidation, one reporter dragged her cameraman over. "Cindy Kalic, National News. Everyone in this crowd, and this reporter especially, are dying to know… just what are you?"

"Uhhh," was the creature's intelligent answer, as he tried to recall what he was told to say when faced with 'the adorning public,' as his friend would say. "I… am a hero." He punctuated his one-liner with a heroic pose – hands on hips and chin raised slightly. He'd been told to practice it a lot, as he was assured it was number 5 of the rules of being a hero: always look cool!

Cindy, the cameraman, and all bystanders just gave the posing alien quiet looks. "But, what are you?" Cindy asked again. Thankfully, the nervous fireball was spared from answering, as a rusty RV pulled up to the back of the crowd, and a ten-year-old with brilliant green eyes leaned out of the door.

"Hey, Heatblast!" the kid called out. "There's a car chase three blocks from here! Some thugs just robbed a bank!"

"Oh! Well, I shall go, for justice…" the being paused to remember the rest. "Um… never stops moving!" With that, he jumped, with aid of a fire blast to the ground, over the crowd, and on top of the RV. Said rust-bucket sped off down the road, leaving a confused crowd in the dust.

On a sunny morning in Westphalia, a grumbling balding man in an ill-fitting brown suit was making his way up the stoop of one of his buildings. This particular tenant was, to put it mildly, way overdue on rent, so the landlord came prepared…with a notice of eviction in one pocket, and an empty wallet in the other. As he walked up the steps, he barely acknowledged the weathered placard that read: Dr. Aloysius Animo.

He knocked on the door with a closed fist, exclaiming, "Yo, Animo! I know you're in there! Open up!" His thin patience thinner with the heat of summer rolling down his back, he gave up waiting and opened the door with his universal key. He stepped in, frowning at the state of the apartment. Everywhere he looked-animals in cages!

Where there would be furniture, or some silly artwork, more cages, filled with all kinds of animals, some the man had never even seen before. He took a breath in, and immediately regretted it. "Phew," he waved his hand in front of his nose. "Smells like a zoo in here." He looked around the room for Animo, but got distracted by a species of frog he had never seen before, with brown spots, tiny talons, and- 'Are those horns?' the man squinted at the small, hardly visible, white protrusions on the side of the amphibian's head.

He was so distracted by this…weirdness, he did not even hear the footsteps behind him until he saw a ghastly reflection in the atrium's glass. He jumped with a scream as he turned around to meet…an incredibly malnourished man, with long white hair and matching sideburns. His skin, so devoid of sun, was almost pale green, and his nails were unkempt and yellowing, sticking out like claws from his fingerless gloves. His clothes, a green wife-beater, pants tucked into black work boots, and what appeared to be moth-eaten bearskin, had seen better days, as they were covered in stains. Angry, slightly off-kilter yellowish eyes glared down at the man who "invaded his domicile." "How did you get in?" the hobo(?) sneered.

Mr. Brown Suit, realizing who was in front of him, fixed his tie as if he had not jumped a foot into the grave. "Passkey," he answered plainly, "I am still your landlord, remember?" At that, he scoffed at the thought. "Maybe not since your rent is six months past due."

The not-hobo, Aloysius Animo, looked puzzled for a second, turned to glance at a calendar, before waving the man off. "All my funds go into my research. Now, get out! You're disturbing me." With that, he brushes past the man to work on something next to the horned frog's tank.

The landlord holds his nose after Animo passes him, learning the source of the apartment's smell, and shakes his head, muttering, "Looks like you were disturbed long before I got here, pal." At a more conversational volume, he states, "Listen, Doc. You and your furry friends are out on the street unless you pony up the green."

With his back to the man, Animo smirks. "Pony up." He then turns to pick up the frog and put it down on the floor. "Interesting choice of…phrases." He then turns back to the bench and begins putting on whatever he was working on. "You must be an animal lover." Once he was done, he turned to look at his slum-er, landlord. "Then you're gonna love this!"

The man took one look at Animo…and nearly keeled over laughing. Animo had donned what could only be described as junk; on his head sat a colander with antennae sticking out of the top, headphones like he was directing air traffic, and on his chest hung what looked like the dial from a pressure cooker, but heavily modified. In layman's terms, he looked like a loon.

As his laughter subsided, Brown Suit chided Animo's…appearance. "What's that? You a member of the Moose lodge or something?"

Animo shrugged off the laughter and answered the man. "This is my Transmodulator, phase number one. It creates and accelerates mutations at the genetic level." He turned the dial, as he glanced at the frog, who had somehow sat patiently through this whole conversation. "Observe," was all the warning Brown got before red electricity surged from the horns on Animo's helmet and hit the frog dead-on.

It instantly began growing in size-even the white bumps growing into real, sharp horns. The landlord only just had time to step back or be flattened by new mass filling vacant space. When the energy dispersed, the frog was very different from the way it was before; besides the spots turning into bumps, the creature sported a second pair of eyes…and was now the size of a large SUV! The man barely had time to gasp before the tongue shot out, and pulled him into the frog's mouth! As the man's muffled cries spilled out between the frog's lips, it was now Animo's turn to laugh. "I'm sorry! I can't hear you! Sounds like you have a frog in your throat! Or is that the other way around!?"

Eventually, the oversized beast spat out the man, covered in mucus, and very much unconscious from lack of oxygen. Animo ignored the scene to look at an aged newspaper clipping. "So close to having what is rightfully mine." He stuffed the clipping into his pocket, grumbling. "All I need is a few lousy components to finish my work."

Pacing in thought, he bumped into a stack of mail he had been ignoring for some time now, since it at least reached his hip. The resulting crash caught his attention, but an ad mixed in with the bills drew his gaze. He picked up a promotion mail for Megamart, a multi-million-dollar superstore chain that prided itself in selling a rather large selection; apparently, today was their grand opening, which could only mean they were fully stocked. Amino's grin almost reached both ears. "Ah. Just what the doctor ordered."

"So…this is…?"

"Megamart."

"And it is a…?"

"Grocery store."

"And we are here to…?"

"Shop."

X looked around at all the shelves, full to bursting with more…everything than he had seen in the Rustbucket. Finally, he looked back at Ben. "What is a grocery?"

Ben sighed. This had been his whole morning; whenever X did not know something, he would ask him. And X knew very little about anything. Like, next to nothing. Ben had stopped counting, but it felt like he had fielded 249 questions (which was not far off…). "Groceries are like…food and junk."

X blinked, taking in this new information. "So, we are here to pick up…food and junk, yes?"

Max shook his head good-naturally at the banter. "In a manner of speaking. Just some things for the week or so…and a couple of other things, too."

X looked toward the patriarch. "Ah. What would those 'other things' be?"

Gwen rolled her eyes at the obliviousness. "Gee, I don't know…how about…actual clothes?"

At that snarky comment, everyone's eyes roamed towards X's outfit. While Ben had sandals he could wear, with his toes hanging over just a little, he was, unfortunately, too tall for anything else Ben could wear. Thus, he was now wearing Grandpa Max's – a forest green button-up, covered in tiki masks, and brown shorts, and a belt with a few extra holes to ensure it would not slip off his waist. X looked back up, blinking. "What is wrong with this?"

Gwen kneaded her forehead, battling the coming migraine. "If you have to ask, that says enough. You look like a tourist in a diet program!"

The alien-like young man tilted his head. "Thank you?"

"Yeah, that's not a good thing, X." Ben waved off his cousin, slinging an arm on X's shoulders. "But ignore Geekzilla! We're gonna make you look so cool, the baddies will drop at your sheer awesomeness!"

X scrunched up his nose in contemplation. "How would a decrease in my temperature make me more powerful? Would I not die?"

Gwen rolled her eyes at the pair. "And yet, he could figure out 'groceries'?"

Much as the Tennysons said, they made a beeline for the young men's department of Megamart, their sole mission to put X into something less…loud than the tiki shirt. Ben went first, shoving articles that screamed "I'm bad", before shoving X into a dressing room. He had neglected to mention not to try them all on at once, so the poor hero-in-training looked like Fashion Week threw up on him. After that was cleared up, he tried on an ensemble Ben picked from the pile: pants made to look worn out and faded, a Sumo Slammers T-shirt ("'Cause there's nothin' cooler than Sumo Slammers!"), and a leather jacket that had T-Birds written on the back.

Max took one look and shook his head, deciding he would choose a more presentable piece. A few minutes later, X came out looking like he stepped out of a prep school – a blue blazer with rolled-up sleeves, a sweater vest of reds and brown, and shorts with black shoes and socks high enough to almost go over his knees. The odd part was he had somehow gotten an umbrella and was using it as a cane. Max hummed his approval, while Ben and Gwen wondered if it was too late for X to give the tiki shirt a second try.

The next time X came, he wore an out he had picked out all his own – a bold choice that stunned all three of his "judges." X, now sporting thick frameless glasses, was dressed in a plaid shirt, pants rolled up like he was waiting for a flood, and suspenders of all things! Apparently, he had discovered some small website people were uploading videos onto, last night on Gwen's laptop, and watched some show where the main character insisted that was the height of fashion. Needless to say, it was a no from all three.

Gwen, who had had enough of this comedic montage, grabbed some clothes she had already been eyeballing and dragged X into the dressing room. Despite a lot of squirming, and the poor kid learning what it means to be ticklish, they both came out…and the results were immediately more tolerable. Now, X was wearing a jersey shirt, the majority of it black except for red sleeves, blue cargo shorts, a silver chain hanging from his belt loop and trailing into his pocket. The outfit was finished with black running shoes, decorated with three red racing stripes on their outsides. Where there should have been bare arms, his red-and-black circuit-themed onesie was on display, the Alien Watch (as Ben had decided to call it for now) still adorning his wrist.

Gwen, a smug smile on her face, took in the looks of approval. "I know, no need to thank me. I am just that good."

Ben shook his head, lightly impressed, though he would never admit it to Gwen. "Whoa! It's like he's a whole different person."

Max, scratched his chin, glancing at the jumpsuit sticking out. "Although, I wish we could figure out how to get you out of that."

X, still looking himself over, paused at Max's words and looked at the Watch. "As do I. But I cannot take off this device…If only I could remove this jumpsuit-"

The group was cut off by a sudden unusual sound, one that vaguely sounded like slurping through a straw. Before their eyes, the Watch glowed, as it…somehow, sucked up the suit, the red-and-black design receding into it until there was nothing left blocking X's arms. "Oh," X smiled. "That is better."

"B-Better!?" Gwen looked like X had grown a second head…which, considering the circumstances, could still happen, she reasoned to herself. "The weird watch thingy just sucks up your pajamas, and all you can say is that?"

X tilted his head to the left slightly. "But it does feel better…"

A little while later, X, still in his new clothes, and the Tennysons were in the grocery section of Megamart, X floored by all the different foods on the shelf. He had no idea what a Tampon was, but it looked like a marshmallow, and those tasted good! (It was at this point Ben had to tell X not everything was really food.)

On the other hand, Max was not as easily impressed with all the options before him. "Only canned octopus. I thought this store prided itself on wide selection."

Ben and Gwen traded a frightened look before Gwen cleared her throat. "Uh, Grandpa, no offense, but can we have a normal dinner for once? Like one that doesn't involve stir-fried tentacles?" For added measure, she even tried to bat her eyelashes and appear (urgh!) cute. For the record, Gwen was in touch with her feminine side, but when you were a martial arts prodigy, with an exceptional study schedule that required very little time to giggle about boys and gossip like her peers, you learn what habits are too superfluous. ("No, Ben, that is not a made-up word!") Back on topic, nobody on Earth could actually-

"Tentacles? Are they like mealworms?" X wandered over from the cereal section he and Ben had been exploring, a small smile decorating his face. "Those mealworms were very tasty!"

Max and Gwen looked at him for different reasons, with Max even chuckling. "Don't worry; tonight's dinner is going to be one that you won't forget!"

"We can agree on that," Gwen muttered under her breath, as Max pushed the cart along, asking if X could help him look for…sheep's bladders!? X had not heard, because he went after Ben, who had absentmindedly walked into another aisle, this time with books, magazines, comics, even some manga! X had only seen some of Ben's comic books (the majority of his collection was back at Bellwood), so this was a jaw-dropping sight for Earth's newest tourist. He found Ben, preening over a comic with a man who, inconceivably to X, was jumping over buildings in red underwear. Gwen mentioned it as 'boy weirdness.'

"What are you doing?" X leaned into Ben's view of the comic, where the red-caped man was saying "Halt, villains!" Ben moved around X to get him from blocking his reading material.

"I'm looking for names for you," Ben smirked, eyes never leaving the page. "X could be your hero name, but you need an alter ego."

X tilted his head in confusion. "Alter…ego…?"

"You know, like a second name, one we call you in front of other people. I need to look at a lot more comics to find the right name!" The brunet grinned like a loon. "So, far I've got Johnny Blaze, maybe Guts or Zoro-Oh! You fell from space, I found you in a pod-maybe Goku, or-" Ben had gotten so enthralled in his thoughts, he had not noticed X wander over to a particular comic book.

"Who is the big head?" X squinted at the busy cover, as Ben looked over, an unimpressive look on his face.

"Yeah, he's the leader of a group of superheroes. Kinda boring, just sits in a wheelchair, talks to people in his head-nothing cool." Ben's eyes brighten suddenly! "Oh! There's a name! How about…Phoenix!? It has the 'X' in it, and she's super powerful!" Ben does not see X respond, so he shrugs. "Well, it would've been cool…back to the drawing board, I guess." As Ben wandered away, X continued to stare at the graphic novel-specifically, the name on the cover… "Hey, X! You coming?" Ben's shout was enough to startle the blonde, and he quickly turned and followed the group.

Soon, X and the Tennysons found themselves crossing through the electronics department until Ben noticed a cardboard stand with an armored sumo wrestler taking a stance, a display with multi-colored cards jutting out of his large 2D frame. Ben's face lit up as he practically teleported over to the stand, X following after because he was just curious what would catch his friend's attention. Max and Gwen kept going on to the pet aisle ("You're not picking out our breakfast, right?" Five guesses which of the two ask that…)

As X came up beside his cohort, he looked at the display and the cards. "What is all this?"

Ben, without looking away from the stand, replied, "Sumo Slammers! The second-best series besides X-Men! Each of the trading cards here feature a different character from the show!" If X understood any of what Ben was saying (he didn't), Ben hardly noticed as excited as he was. "But the rarest of them-" He gestured to the shiniest one-gold foiled, with a picture of the very man the 2-D stand in portrayed- "is the Golden Ishiyama card! It's limited edition…I would do anything to have one!"

X looked back and forth at his ally and the case. "But…is it not right there. Can you not just…have that one?"

Ben snorted. "As if. Plain ol' me can't just take the card from the display case…" The loose cannon of a child trailed off, as he glanced at X, a devious thought bubbling in his brain. Actually, X could easily get the card; any one of his aliens could just rip open this plastic and cardboard like nothing, and no one would stop him-no one would try!

But…he had seen this kind of thing in comics before: a synthetic being, created for some purpose, usually evil, falls into someone else's hands and, based on what they observe, they turn out better or worse than was intended. Plus, X would do it without a second thought-he called him a friend, he had nowhere else to go-and yet, if he taught him to steal, to take like it was his…what else would he take with no remorse?

As Ben's mind flashed back and forth from an image of him holding the Golden Card, and X, right after splitting that swordbot him half, an answer rose to his lips. "X-"

Before anything could be said on the matter, a rumble shook the entire store! Ben and X watched as even some of the TVs on the back wall fell off from all the shaking, the screams from outside were audible. The rumbles kept getting more violent like whatever it was, was getting closer-

Ben, connecting the dots far faster than his companion, grabbed him and dragged him behind a shelf, as the whole electronics shook apart, like the foot of a giant just kicked the wall down! When the dust settled a little, the two kids peaked out to see the cause-a giant, horned frog, with a pale man riding atop him, destruction following behind them, as the parking lot through the hole was in shambles, concrete just shattered from the frog's powerful leaps. The man, having not noticed the children, got off his warty steed, and proceed to grab what tech had not been knocked clear across the store from his entrance, and stuff it into a bag.

"Um, Ben?" X said tentatively. "Do creatures usually grow to this size?"

"Well, yeah, elephants-not frogs!" Ben was about to go out there, but X stopped him.

"Is it wise to go out there? You could get hurt."

Ben ripped his sleeve free of X's grip. "When someone's doing something wrong, someone else has to stand up and stop them! He's stealing. That's wrong." That was as much as Ben said on the matter before running out there, to do something, though X was not sure what. He was, on the other hand, fairly certain that Ben's plan did not involve getting buried under a large pile of boxes knocked onto him by an amphibian tongue.

"No!" X was immediately at Ben's side, digging him out in no time. The pale man, Animo, walked past them to board his pet, regarding them as little more than pests.

"Don't be a hero, kid!" He snorted at the duo. "Just run along and play."

X and Ben's reactions differed; X looked nervous, and why should he not? A child, even one with a watch that turns you into aliens, is still a child, and he was still worried about just how causal this man could attack even kids! On the other foot, Ben was leveling a glare so acidic, you would think Animo would have melted from the intensity.

Any retort that was bound to get the mad doctor's attention again was cut off at the pass when a few security guards ran over to assess the situation. "Freeze! Get down off that…giant frog, and put your hands up!" What they did not assess was that a big-as-Texas frog had no reason to listen to small snack-like humans, and could only run after them as they called it in.

Ben swallowed his anger at not being able to do much and looked to X. "Time we dialed up some reinforcements too."

X nodded. "Of course. Grandpa will know what to do!"

Ben fixed X with an "are-you-serious" look, before reminding himself that X still had a lot to learn. "Orrrrr…maybe one of those…new…heroes…" He gestured to X a few times before lights seem to turn on behind his eyes.

"Oh. Oh! Yes, right." X quickly ran behind one of the fallen flatscreens, and not a second later, a bright green flash illuminated the area behind it.

In the blink of an eye, Fasttrack was on the scene…just in time to find out Animo had mutated a cockatoo and a hamster. "Behold the genius of Dr. Animo," the pale man crowed. "Nothing can stop me from getting what I deserve! Mark my words – today I shall make history! Or, should I say, prehistory?"

"Ohyeah? WelltodayIshall…stopyou." Fasttrack paused. "Thatwasmysmacktalk! Itismeanttoinsultyou-whoa!" Fasttrack moved aside as the hamster lunged at him. Missing the speedster, it steadied itself on razor claws and roared at the hero.

"Ummmm…Icannotmakesmacktalkoutofthat. Couldyoulikespeakclearly?" The super gerbil ignored the alien as it chased him aisle to aisle. It nearly nipped him a few times, but Fasttrack put on a small burst a speed every time."Iambeginningtogetthefeelingyoudonotliketobanter! IthoughtBensaiditwaspartoftheherothing!"

As the hamster lunged, Fasttrack skid into a crouch so it flew over his head and knocked over some store shelves, including one with fishing wire. Fasttrack's head blurred as he quickly looked back and forth from the gerbil to the wire. "Ooh! Idea!" Grabbing the wire, he ran around the overgrown beast until every part – claws and maw – were wrapped up tighter than a Christmas present.

As the Tennysons came over, Fasttrack was doing a dance he had seen on Gwen's laptop. "Ha! SombodycallsomeoneelsetocleanupthismessinaislesixbecauseagianthamsterknockedoverthesefoodstandsbeforeItieditup!" He turned to Ben, grinning triumphantly. "Isthathowitworks? DidIdoitright?"

"Uhhhhh," Ben scanned his brain for a nice way to say that trash talk blew. "Maybe just say 'clean up on Aisle 6.' Banter's supposed to be…short, snappy."

Fasttrack's eye mask widened in understanding. "Ohhhhh! Sothatiswhyitwouldnotrespondtomytrashtalk!" Before any one of the three could point out that hamsters don't talk, Animo hopped in on his monster toad, clearly on his way to escaping.

"Young fools, you cannot stop me!" He yelled as he passed by. "I will turn Washington D.C. into Washington, B.C.!"

Fasttrack gasped "Heisgettingaway!"

Gwen facepalmed. "Then catch him! You literally run as fast as a racecar!"

Fasttrack blinked five times before the advice sunk in. "Ohyeah!" He then promptly charged at Animo! He was this close to grabbing his boot…

…Had he not been jumping off the frog at the same time as Fasttrack charged, to land on his new flying monstrosity, that busted right through the skylight of Megamart! "Whoops…wellwestillhavefrog-" was all that got said before the frog jumped out of the new hole in the ceiling. "Whoopsagain!"

Before they could go after them, a group of thankful and awed shoppers surrounded the red-and-black creature, words of praise and thanks. The store manager himself came up to greet Fasttrack. "Thank you! You saved us! If there's anything I can do to repay you, anything you want…" Fasttrack tilted his head. Anything? He looked over at Ben, and a huge grin grew over the bottom half of the alien's face.

As the old RV tore through a sunset-kissed downtown road, Ben's eyes never left the prize in his hands. "I... can't believe this... I... am holding... the Golden Ishiyama card!" It was probably the most cohesive sentence he had put together after departing Megamart. Finally, the green-eyed kid found the strength to tear his eyes from his gift to its giver. "But... why? You didn't have to do that, you know..."

X looked away sheepishly. "But you had told me you had wanted it. And after how much you all have done for me..." X had barely spoken before Ben leaned over on their shared seat and hugged the nervous visitor.

"Thank you, thank you! You are the awesomest!" Ben completely missed X's puzzled look, though it was anyone's guess if he was puzzled about the response or Ben's butchering of the English language. The hug ended abruptly as Max took a large left turn, forcing both children to hang onto the table.

"Hang tight back there!" the old man called out, as Gwen sat unbothered in the passenger seat, typing away on her laptop. "Following giant parrots in evening traffic in the capital of all places sounds as hard as it is." Gwen didn't seem to notice, engrossed on surfing the web, until-

"Bingo!" the redhead cheered, catching everyone's attention.

"Bingo? Gwen, we're chasing some pale wackjob, and you're playing games?" Ben moaned. "And you call me immature..."

"No, doofus!" Gwen turned her computer screen to her dopey cousin. "If we're going to chase some pasty mad scientist, I'd like to know why he's mad. So, I did some research on Dr. Animo."

"Research?" Ben wrinkled his nose at the thought of studying during summer. "How'd you even know where to look?"

"Because he shouted his name in public like an idiot," Gwen answered in deadpan, before reading off her laptop. "Five years ago, Dr. Animo was a promising researcher in veterinary science, but it turned out he was doing all these twisted genetic experiments where he was mutating animals. When he didn't win some big prize called the Verities Award, he flipped out."

As Ben and X blinked at the influx of information, Max's attention was more on the road... and the traffic jam that made it possible for Animo and his monster parrot to fly off. "We've lost him. He could be going anywhere in Washington, D.C."

"Or Washington, B.C.," Gwen pointed out, and Ben immediately snapped his fingers.

"Wait, that's it! I know where he's going..." With Ben's directions, Grandpa Max drove the group to the boy's deduction: The National Museum of Natural History, currently displaying fossils from the Jurassic, dioramas of the Pleistocene... and a truck-sized hole from just earlier, feathers littered around it.

"Hm. Big hole," X noted, as he stood next to Max and Gwen.

"Something tells me we're on the right track," Max added in, as he peered inside the invaded building.

"Yeah, I guess even a doofus can... hey, where is that doofus anyway?" Gwen cut off her sort-of compliment to see Ben running out of the rusty mobile home... dragging a very familiar blade behind him. "What the-! Ben, why do you have that!?"

Ben freezes at the attention the others give him and, more accurately, V-H.U.N.7's sword. "What? How else am I gonna fight? I can't scare them away with my face like Geekzilla."

Gwen growled as Max gave a small frown. "Ben, when did you even get that?"

The 10-year-old shrugged. "Had X get it while we were running around as Fasttrack."

"Well, that's beside the point! You can't go walking around with a weapon, Ben."

Ben shakily swung the robot's weapon to his shoulder, almost stumbling at the weight before steadying himself. "But, Grandpa! What if X turns back mid-fight? You've seen him – Animo would stomp him flat in a second!"

"You have a point... but still-"

"Um, guys?" Gwen spoke up. "Where is X?" Ben and Max broke up the conversation to look around... and see X was nowhere to be seen.

When the two males had begun to discuss how best to help him, X had looked inside the Museum's new entrance to see a trail of the white fluffy things that must have fallen off the frog (or was it a pig?). Since Ben had made it clear they were here to stop Animo, X went on and followed the fluff. He passed a lot of displays he did not understand (Ben and Gwen could always explain it later), but eventually, his search led him to a large room with the largest pile of chicken bones (was it a chicken?) he had ever seen... and Animo right next to it, fiddling with his weird device.

Pausing on how to handle this, X took a moment to strike his heroic pose before starting the banter. "Um... Hello. And stop that." Animo frowned as he looked up from his work to the unearthly child.

"Hm? Wait... I've seen you somewhere before." The words are hardly out of his mouth before three others come running in, the sight of them jogging his memory. "Ah, yes! You were all were at Megamart! You four are very nosy... I hate nosy!" The mad scientist sneered at the group.

Ben responded by trying to point his blade at Animo threateningly; his arm gave out, and the tip carved a small groove into the floor. "We know all about you and your freakazoid experiments, Dr. Animo!" Ben spoke, seemingly unfazed by his intimidation fail. "It's over!" As an aside to X, he said, "That is how you banter, dude."

Animo chuckled, remarkably calm as three kids and an old man stood poised to try and stop him. "Oh, but it's only just begun. See, I only needed a few components to push my work into phase two – the reanimation of dormant cells." He paused to take in their awestruck faces... and was disappointed immensely. The girl gave him a look like he was the fool, the two brats looked like nothing he had said stuck, and even the old man looked like he had heard it before!

"...Perhaps a live demonstration of my greatness is in order. Observe!" With that cry, he twisted the knob on his Transmodulator, leveling a blast from his horns right at the woolly mammoth skeleton... that immediately grew muscles, skin, and hair! Its first steps got some expressions from the group, as well as the ceiling-shaking trumpeting it gave!

"Behold the genius that is Dr. Animo!" The disavowed genius ran off deeper into the Museum as his newest creation bore down on its prey.

"You guys get Animo! Me and X can deal with Jumbo here!" Ben tried to raise his sword... and found it just a tad stuck in the floor. "Um... just give me a second-" The mammoth trumpeted again before charging right at the boy!

"Ben!" X ran in and tackled him aside, dislodging the sword in the process. The huge hairy battering ram sped past and through a wall as the pair tumbled. When they stopped, Max helped both up. Their guardian only had time for a quick once over before the ancient enemy returned through the same hole.

"On second thought, you handle this, X. We'll catch Animo." X nodded at Ben's words, before activating the Watch and slamming the faceplate down! In a flash of light, his skin became pale blue, spines grew from his back, and what seemed to be gills grew on what now changed from a neck to one long torso. Once the light receded, X had become some sort of blue reptilian creature, with black pants and a black jacket covered in the red circuit board design of his jumper, with the Watch's symbol on his wrist.

As he had been transforming, Max had grabbed Ben and his sword, and the trio and chased after Animo, leaving X alone with the mammoth. "Okay, I was hoping for Diamondhead," X mused, his breath releasing vapors as he spoke, "but I can use this... once I know what he can do." The mammoth's only response was to charge into battle. X leaped to the side, but his opponent was prepared as he was snatched up by trunk and thrown into a sabretooth tiger display.

As he shook it off, Jumbo struck again, slamming him into the mall with his tusks. The blow made X cough and gasp, his cold breath grazing the mammoth's face... and applying a thin layer of frost that sent it into a frenzy! Releasing X from the hold, it stomped back, shaking its head furiously at the icy layer. "Hm... not great with cold, are you?" The creature's only response was to glare murder at the alien.

As for the Tennysons, their chase after Animo was short-lived; barring their path was his overgrown bird, roaring and flaring its feathers in challenge. Ben tried to raise his sword to fight... and tilted sideways. "Darn it! Work with me here!" As the parrot ran at the lopsided youth, it was unprepared for Gwen to come swinging in with a staff from a caveman display. A second swing broke the staff over the bird's head and sent it running away in pain.

"Beat it, Polly!" Gwen turns her smug face to Ben's surprised one. "Guess you owe me one-" was as far as she got before Ben's face took a serious gleam to it. With sudden strength, he straightened up, swung the sword...

And batted away the incoming frog tongue with ease! Said tongue went flying right back to its master, the mutant frog yelping at the cut on it and hopped back down the adjacent hallway, thoroughly cowed. Now it was Ben's turn to look at a gob-smacked Gwen. "We even now?" Gwen gave a stunned nod of her head. With that, Ben took off down the hallway, Max and Gwen keeping up; they turned the corner just in time to see Animo... as he brought a T-Rex to life!

Back with X, the mammoth had chosen to keep its distance and chuck everything not nailed down, and a few things that were, at the bounding alien. And bounding was right, as X had found this form could stick to inverted surfaces and was using this information to dodge the debris flying at him while getting closer. Even leaping off of one of the desks thrown, he was able to land on the back of the mammoth. Alerted, the creature reached for him...

At the same time, X let out a huge breath he had held, because these lungs had amazing holding capacity, covering the back, part of the head, and the tip of the trunk in ice! Caught up in the shock of the temperature change, the mammal froze, giving X the chance to freeze him the rest of the way. "Looks like I stopped you... cold." X giggled up a cloud of clear vapor. "Banter is fun! Now, where are-?" A scream from the Jurassic Wing gave him a big heads-up to his unfinished question.

As X rushed over, in said wing, Ben had tried to take a swing at the newly arisen beast but had to hit the ground with his family as tail passed precariously overhead. "I'd love to stay," Animo crooned as he climbed onto his terrible steed, "but I need to claim an award I so richly deserve!" With that, the T-Rex rammed diamond thick skull into the wall, and charged outside with a roar just as X came in, still in alien form.

"There you are! Where've you been, Arctiguana?" Ben called, as he dropped his sword and came over.

"Yeah, you just missed... Arctiguana?" Gwen gave Ben a puzzled look. "Is really the time to make up names?" As the two spoke, Max wandered over to the hole in the wall, picking up a weathered news clipping.

"Well, I have to name them – LOOK OUT!" Ben pivoted on the spot and pushed Gwen... out of the way of the mutant parrot's claws. Unfortunately, Ben was not so lucky, as he was snatched up and carried out of the hole!

"Ben!" X gaped in shock, not even noticing when the frog was over him.

"X! Move!" Max called out as the amphibian dropped onto Arcticguana, crushing him. The mutated beast's victory was short-lived, as he quickly froze. The blue creature wriggled out from under the large mass, just as the Watch changed him back.

"X! Are you-" Max is cut off as the boy grabs him to climb to his feet, looking very grim.

"I... I did not notice... and now..."

"Wait a minute, no jumping to conclusions!" Gwen said. "Ben's fine! He's always fine... Let's just go get 'em, right, Grandpa?"

"You bet. Let's go!" Grandpa led the way out of the Museum, grabbed Ben's sword on the way out, climbed into the RV, and sped away just as sirens and lights flooded the place. As the vehicle twisted through the roads, and around some notably three-clawed-shaped potholes, Max pulled out a snippet of an old newspaper. "I'll keep my eyes peeled for that overstuffed turkey, but you two should see this."

Gwen, sitting in the passenger seat, took the slip of paper, but X never turned his head still looking out of the windshield. The picture of the article was of two men, one clearly a scowling Animo and the other holding a beaker-shaped trophy. The headline: 'Dr. Kelly Accepts Verities Award.' "This must be where Animo's heading," Gwen noted. "Finally claiming what's rightfully his, as he keeps saying."

"We'll stop him," Max stated firmly, "but first-"

"We need to find Ben," X said, sounding as serious as Max. "Nothing else matters until we do." Gwen gave a worried frown at the uncharacteristic stoicism their bubbleheaded plus one was showing, but Max's look was more critical, even if well-covered since he never looked away from the road. Before he retired, he had met and worked with a lot of people who had that single-minded mentality, focusing on only one goal, and he had always been there to pick up the pieces when that dogged persistence brought on their downfall.

This worrying thought was cut off by the Watch beeping, faceplate glowing red and ready to be used. X gave it a look and nodded. "I will go ahead and find Ben."

"Find Ben? How?" Gwen asked. "X, this is the Capital of the U.S.! There's millions of people, thousands of places-"

"Then I will search each and every one until I find Ben!" X snapped, before slamming the faceplate down, his choice already made.

The Washington Monument sat quietly as it overlooked Memorial Mall. Well, as quietly as could be expected when a mutated parrot was dangling a child by its beak on top of it. "When I get outta this, I am so gonna have X fry you!" Ben yelled over the wind, hoping his terrified trembling was covered by the buffeting winds.

The monster bird, for its part, seemed largely unaffected by all of Ben's blustering. It was a bit more aware of the small yelling hostage when said hostage somehow reached up and yanked at the feathers around its beak. Hard. The XL bird yelped in agony… which also had the unfortunate consequence of dropping Ben Tennyson from the top of the Monument!

Ben screamed as he fell, and closed his eyes as he braced for the ground… only to feel taloned feet grab his shirt and shoulders, lifting him up and away. "O-Oh! R-Ready for Round T-two, Polly?" Ben carefully opened his eyes to see (thankfully) a red manta ray-like alien with yellow wings and matching horns looking back at him. "Whoa! Jetray!"

"Hey, Ben!" X, or Jetray, greeted. "Took me a while to find you! Are you okay-"

A loud cawing cut off the excited alien and the rescued boy. "Less talking, more dodging!" Jetray looked over his shoulder to see 'Polly' closing in, claws ready to cut into his skin. Fortunately, Jetray was as fast as Fasttrack, even weigh down; the minute notice of a threat was more than enough time for him to speed up and out of the claws' reach!

From there, Jetray played a sky-high game of keep away from the mutated bird, always just out of reach. The bird roared furiously with every miss, and Ben was hardly fairing much better. "Urp! I think I'm gonna hurl! Can't you hit him already?"

Jetray frowned, looking back and forth from Ben to his pursuer. "I cannot defeat it while I also am holding you." He looks around for somewhere to drop Ben off… and finds exactly that. "So I will let you off here!"

"Let me off- EEYAAAH!" Ben barely has time to register what his friend says, as he's suddenly falling through the air! He screams, trying to grab something even while he's in midair… only to fall right onto the awning of the Rustbucket, just as Max had opened it.

With his charge safely caught, Max stops the car, and gets out, Gwen soon following. "Ben! Are you alright!?"

Shakily, Ben climbs to the edge of the awning, looking down with air-messed hair. "That… was… awesome! And terrifying…" Overhead, the trio watched as Jetray and the bird zoomed over the rooftops. "Go get 'im, Jetray! Kick his butt!"

Jetray nodded toward Ben, before making a U-turn, and aiming right at the Mega-keet. The bird took one look at the being's eyes and suddenly got very worried about its continued existence. While it did try to move, it moved right as Jetray moved; thus, a supersonic drill-spin ram clipped it right in the wing, hard enough to send it spiraling end over end, right into the Memorial Pool. The creature stumbled around, absolutely soaked and stunned, before collapsing near the water's edge.

Jetray gave a nod, before flying back over to the others. "I got it! But how do I find Animo and the chicken?"

"Chicken? Never mind – no time!" Gwen sighed. "He's heading for Dr. Kelly! Just follow the footprints and crushed cars!" As if on cue, a distant roar could faintly be heard in downtown D.C. Jetray did not hesitate to speed off in that direction.

Just as Jetray arrived at a building marked Kelly Industries, the scene was pretty chaotic. The parking lot, guardhouse, and front door were basically rubble, and Animo, holding a golden trophy that must be the Verities Award, riding on his reanimated monster as it loomed over an older man who looked like Kelly from the clipping's picture, if just a bit older.

"Halt, Animo!" Jetray called out before speeding into the T-Rex. The resulting slam made the dinosaur stumble into a pillar, Animo was still able to hold on to the award and his steed.

"Another one!? These persistent interruptions are growing old!" Animo snarled before grinning. "But still, how fortuitous! To show my genius intellect against the very fauna that have inspired my greatest conception!"

Jetray looked puzzled as he dodged the undead lizard's bite. "Huh? Sorry, I have not been here long enough to know what you are saying. Could you use smaller… um, starts with a 'w,' I think?"

Animo laughed derisively. "I mean, you enigmatic specimen, had I not heard of such blatant disregard of the evolutionary scale in the past few days – the sightings of a Missing Link, beings of fire and crystal, and your speedy friend from today! It has been your presence that has given me the best motivation a genius could ever ask for!"

Jetray blinked at that while dodging a tail whip. "My what? I said you need to tell me-!" Jetray never finished that thought as Animo leveled a blast from the antennae of his device at him, renewing Jetray's evasive maneuvers. Unfortunately, fliers needed space to maneuver, and with Jetray's running out, it was simple for the T-Rex to smack him into the trophy case, knocking it on top of him.

As he laid there dazed, Animo went right back to focusing on Kelly… who was nowhere to be seen. "What!? Where is he!?"

"He… ran off… while you were... talking," Jetray said as he struggled to lift the shelf off of him. "Maybe he… could not understand you… as well."

Animo's temple pulsed. "The audacity! The disrespect! I will find him, and show him who is the better scientist!"

"Huh?" Jetray blinked. "But I thought you wanted the Variety Award?"

The T-Rex gave a deep rumble as Animo chuckled. "What I want, you insipid interloper, is to be recognized as the greatest mind of mine, or any other, generation! With the Transmodulator, I will climb to that peak! I will go through Kelly, you – even those meddling children and the septuagenarian! All who mock Dr. Animo will learn of their folly!"

As Animo spoke, the Rex got closer to the pinned alien, probably to make a snack of him. Jetray was not plugged into that, nor anything else he said. Not after he threatened Max and Gwen. Not after he threatened Ben. The minute those words left his lips, a familiar feeling bubbled up, the same when fighting the sword drone twice. He did not think twice about it; X just tapped into it and let it out.

"Do. Not. Touch them!" At his scream, Jetray's eyes lit up and fired lasers, right into the dinosaur's eye! It roared in pain, bucking in discomfort; Animo could not gain control again, no matter what he yelled, and it was not long before one buck not only threw the mad doctor from his ride, but sent his first prize, the award, careening through the air, and shattering against a wall!

Animo landed painfully on his arm, screaming obscenities that X could not begin to know, so he disregarded it. What he did know was that 1) Animo's device kept making new monsters – monsters which he had just promised he would use on Ben, Gwen, and Max, and 2) he now had eye lasers.

Before Animo or his beast could recover, Jetray fired at one of the 'horns' of the helmet, knocking it clean off. "What!? No, my Transmodulator!" Animo had just enough time to lament his broken invention before a wave of energy seemed to swarm the area. That wave turned the 'chicken' back into bones, that fell apart due to not being in an angle that supported its weight.

By the time the police arrived, they saw a winded pale man, sitting against a wall while cradling his arm. A man who several witnesses had reported was seen across the city causing destruction and panic. Needless to say, he was very much under arrest, which he protested profusely as he was dragged off. "No! I want my award! It's mine! I have it coming to me!"

"What's you got coming is the right to remain to silent, ya freak," one officer commented as he was put into the back of an ambulance. He'd be treated for his injuries, but he was still going to have a day in court for his actions, even if he was in a full-body cast! "And as for you, kid," the officer went back to X, who they had found underneath a trophy case, with very little injury. "Wanna tell me why you were on private property in the middle of the night during whatever the heck that was?"

X frowned as he looked up, not sure what to say to the man. Max said to always be truthful, but he had also said to tell absolutely no one of his otherworldly connections. So, he was not aware of what he could say to explain anything.

The officer sighed. "Okay, fine. Not ready to talk? That's ok. Can I at least ask for a name? Yours, or someone we can call for you?"

"Name?" X repeated. "Name… mine?"

"Yeah, kid, yours is a start. Last name?"

"...Tennyson."

"And first?"

"Uh…" The comic book cover at Megamart flashed in X's head. "Xavier. Tennyson. Xavier Tennyson. Yes. That's my name." Saying it brought a smile to the boy's face, like an itch he couldn't fathom was just scratched. "Call me Xavier Tennyson."

"Right, right. Got it the first time. And who do I call for you?" The man asked as he jotted the name on his notepad.

"There you are!" Both parties looked over in surprise before Gwen came over and wrapped Xavier in a hug. "We were so worried about you!" She looked up at the officer, as Max and Ben came over. "We're so sorry about this! He just wanders off when we don't pay attention! Thank you for keeping an eye on him, officer, but we'll take him from here!"

The man just blinked. "Uh, no problem. But he was at an active crime scene, so I need to file a full report first-"

"I'm his guardian, officer," Max cut in. "I can answer any questions you have." This seemed to placate the man, and he took Max over and away from the kids. This left Ben and Gwen with X, still wearing a woolen blanket provided by the cops.

"Why are you wearing that!? It's summer!" Ben pointed out of the blanket, but X just shrugged.

"They gave me it after they lifted the shelf off. It feels like a cape."

"So… you ok?" Gwen, who had stopped hugging the minute the officer left (for some reason, X felt a little cold when she let go despite the wool monstrosity on his shoulders…), lightly punched X's arm.

"I am fine. I have a name now," he said with a cheery expression.

"You picked out a name! Sweet, which one of mine did you pick?" Ben asked. "Was it Rex? Ace? Ooh, was it Turbo!? Please tell me it was Turbo!"

As Xavier looked back and forth warmly between an annoyed Gwen and excited Ben, none of the kids noticed that right before the EMTs gave Animo pain medication for his arm, he glanced out of the closing doors… to see a familiar watch-like symbol on X's wrist. The same symbol that the speed freak and that red monster manta had sported-!

As the medicine took hold, and the ambulance drove off, Animo smiled slyly as he drifted off. "Such an interesting… organism… indeed~"

A/N: So, if you look carefully, you'll see references that say how long I was working on this. More importantly, I made the dynamic of the Tennysons and Animo take a few extra turns from point A to B. Here's my reasoning if you're interested. In the Original Series, Ben fought off Animo's mutant hamster without using the Omnitrix, so he was clearly aware this family was going to be a thorn later on. Here though, all Ben did was get knocked into some boxes, and then Animo never sees that all of them will be an issue, not just the aliens.

Also, I've read a few fics where they give Ben the Gold Card, but that's almost always because he's evil and doesn't care in those fics. Here, I figure a brotherly bonding moment was in order. And even though Animo now suspects the Tennysons' connection to the alien heroes, now they don't know he knows! Which I'm sure won't come up later...

Wow, this is a long one, better wrap it up here. So, don' forget to leave a review telling me what you think! Stay tuned for the next chapter, and don't forget to keep circulating those links!