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The Alien Hero of Teyvat
Chapter 3 – Revelations and New Emergency Food?
As we speak, Ben can be found in the office of the acting grandmaster, seated on a chair next to the table. Amber was the one who was sat next to him, and the people who were sitting on the other side of him were Jean, Lisa, and Lumine. While Kaeya was doing nothing more than leaning against a nearby window, and Paimon hovered next to Lumine.
From what Ben could gather from the earlier introductions that these individuals had, he came to the following conclusion. Jean was the responsible one and would be a high-ranking plumber agent back in his world. Lisa gave him an uneasy shiver as she continued to refer to him as a cutie. While Paimon was the bubbly and naive floating fairy that traveled with her friend, Lumine, whom he does not yet know anything about.
"First and foremost, I want to express my sincere thanks to you for all that you've done to assist us at this difficult time." Jean was the one who started things off by expressing her gratitude to Ben.
"No biggie. If anyone needs help, I'll be first in line to save them. That's all in a day's work for a hero." Ben merely mentioned it in casually, but it was enough to pique everyone's interest when he asserted that he was a hero.
"So, cutie, you're claiming to be some sort of chivalrous hero?" The first person to inquire about his heroic beginnings was Lisa.
"Well, I did once wear armor, but more or less, yeah. That's my job. My name is Ben Tennyson, and my superhero alias is Ben 10." Ben took the time to explain all of this to them, smiling with excitement as he introduced himself to them. After hearing what his superhero name is, the knights couldn't help but let out a few chuckles.
"Really, that's the best heroic name you can come up with? Just your first name and a shorten version of your last name. How can you come up with unique alien names but a basic hero name?" Amber smiled teasingly at Ben as she partially covered her mouth and attempted to conceal her laughter. She did admit that it is adorable and hilarious that he called himself Ben 10 as an abbreviated form of his name.
"Yeah, Paimon thinks you should change your name to something different. Like Insanely Mutating Young Lad." Paimon shared his suggestion for a different name.
"Hey! To set the record straight, I didn't think of it! I think?" Ben was forced to admit that he had forgotten whether he had been the one who named himself Ben 10 or whether he had simply gone along with the name when it was given to him by the public.
"Then, it is a privilege to have you here. But if I may inquire, what business do you have here for a hero of your caliber?" Jean and the rest of them were all curious about Ben's presence in Mondstadt and why he's here. Was he carrying out a special mission while he was in town, or was he here for another reason entirely?
"It's a long story." Ben began by saying this, and then he went on to describe the events that transpired during his final day in Bellwood.
-Flashback to before the events of Chapter 1: Arrival of Mondstadt-
Within the boundaries of the United States of America lies the city of Bellwood, which currently has a population of over 20,000 people and is continuing to grow. It is the location of a number of famous sites, such as the Bellwood Museum, Mr. Smoothy's, Burger Shack, an alien undertown, and the largest wooden sleigh bell in the world. But what's more important is that it's the hometown of the great hero Ben Tennyson, who's the one who wields the Omnitrix.
But at the moment, there is relative calm in the town, and residents are going about their normal activities. Nevertheless, the majority of people who live in this town are aware that it is not normal even though the day is normal. This is because in order for the day to be considered normal, there must typically be an assault on their community.
EXPLOSION!
What you might call a typical day in Bellwood is currently unfolding. At this time, an army of reptilian-like purple robots is creating havoc by destroying anything in their line of sight with either their fearsome strength or the tremendous jolts of electricity that they produce from themselves.
The good news for the people of the city is that salvation has arrived in the form of a yellow ball with black stripes that has began crashing about and demolishing every evil robot in its path. The ball's thick armored coating allowed it to ricochet off each of the reptile robots without taking any damage itself, while inflicting damage on the robots instead. Ten robots began to line up in an attempt to stop this unknown assailant, but instead, the assailant charged up and rammed nine of the robots to the ground.
Once the strike was complete, the ball uncurled to reveal a massive alien with broad shoulders and natural yellow armor plates across his back, shoulders, and the backs of his arms. He has four claws on each hand and a predominantly white body with a black upper half that extends down to his abdomen. At his chest lies the Omnitrix emblem.
Here we have Cannonbolt, the Arburian Pelarota DNA sample from Omnitirx. He was the first alien to be unlocked from the Omnitrix outside of the original ten. Normally, this extraterrestrial race uses its ability to roll itself up into a ball as a defensive mechanism, but Ben devised a way to use it as a weapon. Strong and resilient thanks to his exoplates, he can use them in sphere form to rip through metal and endure twice the heat of reentry into Earth's atmosphere.
The tenth and final robot in the group that Cannonbolt had failed to destroy charged forward in an attempt to attack him, but it was stopped when a salvo of orange energy blasts forced the robot's head to shatter and stop its forward momentum.
The source of the blast was a person who was running, jumping, and landing next to Cannonbolt at the time. He stood at an impressive stature and had periwinkle blue fur, black facial markings, and pointed ears. Additionally, he was outfitted with the blue and black armor known as the proto-tech armor and was holding the proto-tool gun that had been used to destroy the robot.
This was Rook Blonko, a Magister Ranked Plumber hailing from the planet Revonnah and belonging to the Revonnahgander race. Following Gwen and Kevin's departure from the group, he was given the responsibility of becoming Ben's new partner. Ben didn't want a partner at first, but he ultimately came around and accepted Rook, and ever since then, the two of them have been on a number of exciting adventures together.
"Cool! Those robots had no chance against Ben 10 and his sidekick." Unbeknownst to either Ben and Rook, an observer is standing back and taking in the action. That individual was merely a random child who was watching the battle, as he was the typical superfan who attempts to follow their idol in order to observe them.
"Hmm, I wonder what he'll transform into next. I'm crossing my fingers that it's my favorite alien Chromastone." The young boy pondered to himself as he inched his way closer to the battle zone with his smartphone in order to have a better glimpse.
"Aw man. I wasn't able to get my ninth perfect strike. I missed the golden turkey." Cannonbolt was complaining as he surveyed the strewn wreckage of the robots he and Rook had destroyed.
"But you did strike a great number of robots; was there a golden turkey-shaped robot on the battlefield?" Rook stared at Ben, unsure of his meaning.
The Arburian Pelarota eventually timed out and reverted back to Ben, who then put a hand on Rook's shoulder. "One of these days I'm going to have to take you to a bowling alley, Rook."
Rook had just convinced himself in his head that this is yet another proverb or phrase from Earth. After that, he placed his hands in a thinking stance and started to speculate about who had been responsible for the attack. "Based on everything we have seen thus far regarding the aesthetics and abilities of these robots, as well as the fact that the snake robots match the ones who stormed Plumber HQ and took the Omnitrix stabilizer, it's safe to conclude that this is the work of-"
"The greatest intellectual mind in the entire universe." A loud proclamation was made by an unknown voice.
When Ben and Rook turned to look in the direction the voice was coming from, they noticed an alien that resembled a crab and had a torso that was somewhat robotic. This alien was rather stumpy and had a large head. His right claw is tiny and spiky, resembling a fiddler crab. His dark purple carapace is lighter on his face and body. And he has pink eyes, white-blue eyebrows, a mustache, a sign on his forehead, and three spikes on each side of his skull.
This is Dr. Psychobos, a crazed crustacean researcher who developed the Nemetrix with the assistance of Malware. His purpose for developing the Nemetrix was to demonstrate to Azmuth that he was the superior being, but he was ultimately unsuccessful in achieving this goal. Afterwards though, he moved on to accomplish other things, such as working with the Incurseans and assisting in the repair of the body of Maltruant. Unfortunately, time and again, just like the others, he loses to Ben Tennyson every time.
"Dr. Psychobos." Rook came to the conclusion that his theory was correct, and he took up a defensive position, while Ben stood with his arms by his sides and observed the nefarious scientist.
"Obviously, no one else would suffice." The conceited statement was made by Dr. Psychobos as he stared down at Ben and Rook from his flying machine.
"No idea. With all of these bland robots you've sent out, it could have been anyone. It surprises me that you haven't turned into a complete featherhead." Ben responded as if he had not a care in the world as he prepared to carry out his customary action, which consisted of kicking the butt of the bad guys.
"Featherbrain? He could not be alive right in front of us if his brain were as small as a feather." Rook inquired about the meaning of that word once more. Which Ben then responded with a hand movement that showed it's another earthly expression, and Rook simply nodded back with a look of comprehension on his face.
"On the contrary, Ben Tennyson, I have developed this just to eliminate you." A small metal ball with a pink and blue circular gleam emerged from Dr. Psychobos's contraption after he pressed a few buttons. The nefarious Cerebrocrustacean proceeded to display it to Ben and Rook in all of its splendor.
"Is that a smoke bomb, or what? Are you gonna cough me to death with that?" Ben did not appear to be impressed by the device that Dr. Psychobos possessed, and it appeared as though he did not take it seriously because it seemed to be nothing more than a specialized grenade.
"This is a device that not even you could stop." Following that, Dr. Psychobos hurled the peculiar-looking contraption towards Ben's direction. But in response, the hero immediately activated his Omnitrix and transformed into a different alien species.
The alien he converted into had green skin, one eye in the centre of his face, four vine-like legs, four long and thick fingers on his hands, and pods on his back. Lastly, the Omnitrix insignia emblazoned across a belt of green and white.
This was the DNA sample taken from a Florauna by the Omnitrix, and its name was Wildvine. This alien, which resembled a plant, was one of the new aliens unlocked from the prototype version of the original Omnitrix. Because of his physiology, which is similar to that of plants, he is able to do a wide variety of tasks, which contributes to his versatility. Examples of this include his ability to grow and alter his form, his regeneration, the ability to ensnare adversaries with his vines, and the fruit-like pods on his back that may be deployed as explosives.
Wildvine instantly extended his arms and smacked the bomb into the air as it was coming toward him. He then grins smugly at Dr. Psychobos as he turns to face him. "So much for your carefully laid plans to blow me up. Now let's just wrap this up."
But Wildvine appeared perplexed, as if he were wondering why Dr. Psychobos was not throwing a fit and was instead smirking arrogantly. His question was answered when Rook pointed out something nervously. "Um, Ben. You may wish to inspect the sky."
The Florauna did precisely what Rook instructed him to and widened his eyes in shock at what he was seeing. He was surprised to find that the simple-looking little bomb was not what he had anticipated at all. The bomb did detonate, but the aftermath did not resemble the typical aftermath of an explosion. Instead, the sky suddenly began to whirl around quickly, forming what appeared to be a portal with a dark blue interior. Then it began gradually drawing in everything so that it could enter the portal.
"I'm getting a weird sense of Déjà vu." Wildvine said to himself as he recalled the random portal that had transported him to a world teeming with EVOs.
"I have chosen to delay my vengeance on Azmuth and instead eliminate you first. Because no matter what I do to try and destroy that obnoxious Galvan or take over the universe to demonstrate my supremacy, you will always be there to stop me. I've put off getting even with Azmuth until I've finished you off. Because you will always be there to thwart my plans to wipe off that obnoxious Galvan or conquer the planet in order to prove my greatness. One thing I have learned through our innumerable confrontations is that you have an aggravating propensity to always survive and find a way to triumph. Accepting that you cannot be defeated in confrontations owing to your obnoxious Omnitrix is an insult to my intelligence. And because it is so difficult to conquer you, I've calculated that the most effective way to deal with you is to banish you to a radically different dimension. The trip I was on in that parallel reality, which is a desolate wasteland, inspired the phenomenal notion I had." Dr. Psychobos went on to say his clichéd villain monologue. The Florauna would have responded to him with a witty remark, but the portal was becoming more deadly by the second.
With each passing minute, the portal became more powerful, to the point that staying stationary was no longer an option. Wildvine made his way to a solid structure and entwined his vines around it so that he would not be drawn into the portal when he approached it. The same thing was done by Rook, who used his Proto-Tool to ignite an energy shackle and then attached it to the building along with Wildvine.
"Tennyson, just surrender and accept your fate. Perhaps you will never know, but the parallel dimension could be merciful. However for my own sake, I hope it breaks you, hero." Dr. Psychobos looked irritated at Ben's stubbornness as he flipped the failsafe switch on his machine to protect himself from being sucked into the vortex.
"Sorry, I'm thinking no. I don't feel like dealing with jet lag right now, and I like where I live." Wildvine answered back while still holding on. However, he caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of his eye, and as he focused on it, he realized there was a kid in the midst of all the mayhem.
"Help!" The kid from earlier who was busy watching the fight was now caught in the crossfire and was being sucked into the portal. In an effort to save the child, Wildvine's hand lunged forward and transformed into a long, stretchy tentacle of a vine. Unfortunately, the way the vortex is drawing everything in and the way the youngster is being blown up was making it difficult for him to grab his target.
"No!" Wildvine let go of the building he had clung onto and continued to get drawn in quickly in order to attempt and save the kid from being abruptly imprisoned in another dimension all by himself. The Florauna was successful, as he snagged the youngster with his vines and hurled him towards Rook, who seized the kid with the one hand he had free. Wildvine made an attempt to use one of his vines to re-attach himself to a nearby structure, but Dr. Psychobos stopped him by firing a purple lightning bolt in his direction.
"I anticipated that you would choose to preserve the child's life over your own. Now, reap the consequences." Dr. Psychobos couldn't help but grin as he saw Wildvine make another vine in an effort to save himself, but it was in vain since the nefarious Cerebrocrustacean simply blasted him. Wildvine was eventually sucked into the vortex, and he screamed as he was transported to another universe. There was nothing else that could be done to save him at that point.
"Ben!" Rook and the boy stared in shock as the portal closed behind Ben after he had been drawn through it. Everything was silent as earth's greatest hero was now gone and the only thing that can be heard is the evil triumphant laugh of the one responsible for it.
The world of Teyvat, and more specifically the region of Mondstadt within that universe. A stunning environment that is distinguished by trees that are brimming with life, waterways that are calm, and air that enables one to feel a sense of freedom for oneself. However, at this same instant, a blue gateway opened, and through it came Wildvine, who was encased in a golden light and crashed to the ground.
"Ow." The Florauna stroked its head in apparent discomfort before a beeping noise started emanating from the Omnitrix that was attached to its belt and began flashing. It was immediately consumed by a rapid outburst of light, and in its place stood Ben, who was feeling a little lightheaded as a result of the dimension travel.
"Man. What did Psychobos do to me? That thing he used to attack me, he said, it would send me to another dimension. Have I been transported back to Rex's universe?" Ben gingerly stood up and did some gentle stretching in an effort to lessen the excruciating pain that he was experiencing in his aching bones. As soon as he had his bearings again, he stood up and looked around to determine his location.
"No way is this Rex's universe. So far, it looks too peaceful to have any freaky EVOs invading this land." The alien hero came to this decision after taking in the stunning surroundings and realizing that he was not in the heart of a metropolis but rather a forest.
Ben kept moving around in order to broaden his perspective and observe what else was around him besides the grass and the trees. In the end, he was able to make out something in the distance, and it was a big grey brick wall that seemed like it had been lifted straight from a castle.
"Is that... a castle I spy on the horizon? To me, that screams "civilization"! Just pray this isn't a new faction of the Forever Knights." Tennyson started running in the direction of the structure he'd seen in the hopes of discovering more information about the new dimension he'd landed in.
-Back to the present-
"And that's pretty much how I got here. After that, I saved Swan and started fighting those monsters with hockey masks." Ben's explanation of how he arrived at this place came to an end. He looked around and noticed that the knights were looking at him in a dubious manner, which was something that he had anticipated. What he didn't realize was that Lumine and Paimon were staring at him with wide eyes, as though they were surprised.
"If I may, Ben. Are you claiming that you originate from an other world? I hope you'll pardon my skepticism, but I just don't buy that." Jean did not believe Ben and thought that he was just making up a story about his background in order to make himself sound more mythical.
"You guys believe I'm a hero, but not a guy from another dimension?" As he listened to Jean, Ben cocked an eyebrow in thought. Although he did anticipate that they would either believe both of them or neither of them, he did not foresee that they would believe only one of them.
"I believe you are a hero because you saved Swan without thinking twice and I saw how skilled you are at using your transformations. The parallel dimension just sounds really hard to believe." In the midst of explaining her reasoning to Ben, Amber shot him a funny look.
"Your tale is eerily similar to that of the adventurer who called herself "Princessin der Verurteilung" and claimed to be from another world." Kaeya said as he recalled that a minority of people actually believed a certain maiden and her raven's story due to her having one eye.
"Moreover, there has not been sufficient evidence to support the theory of interdimensional travel, despite the fact that it is theoretically possible." Despite the fact that Lisa shared her skepticism, she recalled that there were volumes in the restricted part of the library that included information on the topic. But if she's being completely forthright, the hypotheses appear to be completely implausible.
"Can't this be enough evidence." Ben displayed the Omnitrix for everyone to see, and everyone, with the exception of Amber, was left wondering exactly what it was that he was showing them.
"Explain how the insignia of your family can serve as proof." Crossing his arms, Kaeya turned to Ben with a question. Despite this, he can't help but wonder whether it's a family relic, much like his "eyepatch."
"Actually, Kaeya, that device is the main reason he can transform into all those cool aliens." Amber informed her captain of this, which caused everyone in the room to stare wide-eyed at the information for a moment.
"Is that true?" Jean was the first to ask because she was interested in the idea that this could be a brand new type of vision.
"I gave Amber a sneak preview of this. This thing is called the Omnitrix, the most powerful device in the universe that allows me to transform into different sentient races." Ben shared the information with them regarding the capabilities. Once more, the knights were astonished when they learned that the device was the source of his powers.
"Such a powerful device. Was it given to you as a gift from the gods?" Jean was really intrigued about how he managed to get his hands on it. Were his actions of such great significance in the eyes of the gods that they decided to bestow upon him a specialized gift rather than a vision?
"Nope. When I was 10 years old, I discovered it after it had crashed near the campsite where I had been staying." Ben told them as he reflected on the day that would alter the course of his life forever. However, this did not persuade the knights because it appeared to be a rather routine method of obtaining a vision. They weren't even startled by the fact that he obtained the Omnitrix at the age of ten because a specific explosive pyromaniac also got her vision when she was young.
"A crash landing? So it came from the stars. That doesn't rule out the possibility that it's divine providence." Jean countered against Ben's claim that he had not been given this gift through a mystical experience such as a vision.
"Again nope. My grandpa was supposed to receive this, but I ended up with it. I also met the creator of the device, whose name is Azmuth. Despite his intelligence and ego, he created the Omnitrix for peaceful purposes." Ben shared additional information on the true purposes of the Omnitrix and what it might do. The knights were leery of the Omnitirx since its claims seemed like manufactured delusions to them. Lisa couldn't help but wonder how much work this "Azmuth" character had to put in to develop the contraption. When they learned that its genuine aim was to bring about peace, they did breathe a sigh of relief, but there was still one thing that they did not understand.
"Paimon doesn't see how whatever it is that lets you change into weird creatures can be used to promote peace." The question that everyone was intending to ask Ben regarding the Omnitirx and whether or not it was for peace was voiced out loud by Paimon.
"Well, the two main functions of it are to promote inter-species understanding by allowing other beings to experience different ways of life. And so that if and when a species becomes extinct, the Omnitrix can be used to bring it back to life." Ben shared with them how the Omnitrix was designed to promote peace, but he decided to withhold information about Ascalon, which was the primary motivation behind the development of the device. The knights were absolutely captivated when they learned of its true potential, and they speculated about whether or not the Omnitrix might be able to reverse past events that had led to tragedy and extinction.
"My, what a fascinating device! Having access to such a repository would be a huge boon to the study of long-extinct species in Teyvat." Lisa's eyes lit up as she gazed longingly at the Omnitrix, her mind racing with the possibilities of the information it may provide.
After learning about the history of the Omnitrix, Kaeya proceeded to ask the question that was on everyone's mind at the time. "How many different forms do you possess, exactly? Are we simply counting 10 because your superhero's name is Ben 10?"
"If you can only turn into 10 different creatures, it's still cool but a bit lame. Paimon expected something like 23 forms." Paimon approached Ben while she was afloat and asked him the question she had been thinking about.
"That's a random number you thought of." Lumine gazed at her friend and pondered the reason behind her selection of that number. Ben, on the other hand, has a nagging fear that Paimon would change the alien names of his to something more repulsive, just like his other self, who bears the number 23.
"It was originally 10. Then I unlocked new forms. The Omnitrix recalibrated and unlocked even more forms. The original Omnitrix got destroyed, and I got the Ultimatrix. And eventually I got this one, the new and improved Omnitrix, that has about a million different alien transformations in it, but I only have like 70 unlocked." Ben has revealed the various forms that he can take. As he watched the expressions of shock and disbelief on the faces of others around him, he couldn't help but crack a wry smile.
"That's an insane amount of transformations!" Amber was stunned and perplexed by what she had just heard. She did observe quite a bit when Ben gave him permission to mess around with the Omnitrix during lunch, but she had no idea that he was capable of more than seventy distinct transformations and possibly a million more.
"Do the various forms have their own set of skills?" Jean inquired because she was having trouble wrapping her head around the numerous forms that Ben can take.
"Let's see: I have super strength, super speed, super intelligence, flight, regeneration, enhanced senses, elemental mastery. Honestly, the real question should be, "What powers don't I have?"" With a smirk on his face, Ben catalogued all of his abilities. The knights at that point were all thinking the exact same thing, which was, "This guy is a one-man army."
"He even has a form that turns him into a 150-foot giant." Amber recalled the shark-like alien that Ben had described to her earlier. This once more stunned everyone, and now Jean is wondering if Ben could have taken Dvalin by himself without the assistance of anyone else.
"Hey, if it's okay with you, I'd want to give that device a spin and see whether it works." Kaeya gave a sneaky grin and held out his arm, indicating that he would want to test out the Omnitrix for himself.
"Paimon also wants to try it! Paimon wants to see what else she can change into." Paimon was just as inquisitive as everyone else, and she wished she could know firsthand what it was like to have superhuman speed or to be a giant that towered over everyone at 150 feet.
"Why are you already that conscious of your height?" Lumine did not waste any time and made fun of Paimon.
"Hey! Don't you dare insult Paimon with her height!" Paimon stomped her feet in the air and threw a temper tantrum at Lumine.
"Sure, you guys may give it a shot if you want the built-in energy feedback to hit your face, or I can randomly transform into an alien as a failsafe." Ben casually informed them of the penalties that would result from them attempting to seize the Omnitrix, and they promptly pulled their arms back in response.
"Do you mean to imply that the Omnitrix has become permanently embedded in your wrist?" Lisa decided to ask that question after realizing that there was no other plausible explanation.
"Yup. Only I can use this watch, as my DNA is hard-coded into it." Ben shared this information with them as Kaeya frowned and even Amber displayed signs of sadness at not being able to test out the Omnitrix.
"Aw. Paimon wanted to transform into that speedy quick creature you showed earlier so that Paimon can run and try all the restaurants across the world." Paimon began to complain about not being able to use the Omnitrix, and Lumine gave her the look that said, "Of course that's your reason."
"I hope this is okay, but I remember you mentioning aliens who could control the elements. Do you think you can name-drop each one that fits with each of the main elements of a Vision?" Jean expressed interest in learning more about the specific abilities. Given that she was intrigued, she wanted to know how Ben would do and whether or not he had all the Visions locked down.
"From what Amber told me, Visions are supposed to be like superpowers?" Ben wanted some clarification from Jean, as he wanted to make sure Amber was right.
Following the nod of her head, Jean continued to explain everything to Ben in a concise and clear manner. "Anemo has a resonant relationship with the wind. With Geo, you may essentially manipulate the earth itself by erecting stone structures that provide you with an advantage. When you use Dendro, you are essentially tapping into nature. Additionally, the identities of the elements denoted by Hydro, Cryo, Pyro, and Electro should be clear."
"Why not, I guess. I'll answer it all like a speed round from a game show." Ben was ready to provide a list of all of the alien life forms that matched those descriptions.
"I can already guess one alien that's included, and that would be Heatblast for Pyro." Amber contributed her thoughts while maintaining her cheerful demeanor. Ben has showed him a total of five different aliens so far, and Heatblast is the one she likes the best. Mostly because she's feeling a little biased that he's similar to her vision.
"Heatblast?" That seems to be the question that everyone had.
"Ben names his aliens creatively, such as Humungousaur, Armodrillo, and Upchuck, and the fast alien you saw before is called XLR8." Amber relayed this information to her friends, who nodded knowingly. They, too, would give names to their transformations if they ever had them, and they even gave names to some of the attacks they used.
"The other names sound creative, but how does accelerate sound like a unique name?" Paimon questioned Ben on the matter, and inside of her head, she had the idea that she also wanted to give the aliens her own nicknames due to the fact that she views herself as the queen of providing nicknames.
"It's a name pun, but the spelling is X.L.R.8." Ben explained everything to Paimon so that she could understand it better.
"XLR8? Oh! Paimon gets it. But Paimon thinks it's too simple and sounds like accelerate too much. If Paimon ever runs into him again, he'll be dubbed "Speedy Quick" Paimon posed with her hands at her side and smiled broadly as she announced the new name she had chosen for XLR8. Ben, on the other hand, gave Paimon a glare that yelled "Why?!" at her.
"But XLR8 is way better. Why do you need to change it?" Ben merely asked the question, bewildered, as he recalled that this was also the name Ben 23 gave to his aliens. It seems like everyone else in the room was also mentally nodding their heads in agreement that XLR8 is the superior sounding option.
"All you can do is accept it. Paimon has a penchant for nicknaming everyone he meets." Lumine reached out a hand and gently rested it atop Ben's shoulder while looking pityingly at him.
"We're eager to hear back from you, darling, so please tell us how many aliens you've found who share a resonant frequency with each element. Feel free to just call them by the names you've given them." The conversation was then diverted by Lisa, allowing Ben to come back and respond to Jean's inquiry. The alien hero brushed off Paimon's horrible nicknames and took a deep breath before starting his list.
"Anemo: Terraspin. Geo: Diamondhead. Hydro: Waterhazard. Dendro: Wildvine and Swampfire. Cyro: Arctiguana and Big Chill. Pyro: Heatblast, NRG, and Swampfire again. Last but not least Electro: Ampfibian, Brainstorm, Buzzshock, Frankenstrike, Shocksquatch, and my favorite alien of all time Feedback. So concludes our lightning-fast round. Got any questions?" Ben had just finished his rapid-fire responses to the game show type questions, and he could see that everyone in the room was stunned and wanted to ask some questions for clarity.
"I noticed that you made two references to Swampfire. Are you sure that's not an error or was it intentional? I am uncertain of his relationship with plants." Jean was the first to put forward a query.
"Swampfire can wield fire and control plants. Most of my aliens have multiple skills. Humungousaur is an example of this, as he has the ability to grow to be up to 60 feet tall." Ben relayed it to Jean, who received the information with an expression of awe on her face at hearing that certain aliens provide more variety.
"Why didn't you use that in the fight against the Hilichurls invading us?" Amber questioned, curious as to why Ben did not make use of the utmost potential of his powers.
"Actually, I don't know. I kinda forgot he can do that. But hey you got to see Heatblast right?" Ben let out a sheepish chuckle as he realized that he had, in fact, forgotten about that ability. Amber has no desire to complain and simply laughed to herself because it was well worth it to see Heatblast.
"You said something about a name called Diamondhead. Does that mean you can call forth diamonds as opposed to Geo rocks?" When Paimon first found out about the Petrosapien, she immediately assumed a covetous posture and a greedy expression. She envisioned how quickly she could amass a fortune if Diamondhead had the capacity to produce an unlimited supply of diamonds.
"Diamondhead is just a name I made for him. He doesn't summon diamonds, but some unknown crystal that I don't know of. And before you ask, they have no value if you sell them for money." Ben refuted what Paimon was thinking because he could tell from the way she looked at him that she was thinking it. As soon as the fairy discovered the truth, she felt an overwhelming sense of disappointment.
"Then Diamondhead is a misleading name. Paimon's gonna change it to a proper one so that Paimon doesn't get confused and think of diamonds to sell. Henceforth, everyone should refer to Diamondhead as Crystal Chunk." Paimon and her usual habit of giving nicknames came into fruition while Ben looked on, cringing and realizing her saying the number 23 might not be a coincidence.
"Isn't that just an ore that you can find around the world?" Lumine inquired of her flying friend, and all she did in response was to give a cheery nod.
"Don't call him that." Ben attempted to change Paimon's mind.
"Paimon's still calling him Crystal Chunk." Unfortunately for him, Paimon was pleased with the moniker she had bestowed upon him and had no plans to alter it.
"*sighs* Anyone else with questions? Also, ideally one in which you don't alter any of my alien names." Ben looked around to see if anyone else was curious and could see Kaeya raising his hand.
"I am simply inquisitive and am interested in learning more about the adaptability of your aliens. In a similar vein to Jean's initial inquiry, if you were in a situation where you needed Cryo, would you use Arctiguana or Big Chill?" Because Kaeya was a specialist in the use of Cryo, he was naturally inquisitive. He wanted to know what differentiated these alien species, whom he believed to have power sets comparable to his own.
"Arctiguana can create stronger ice constructs, while Big Chill is more versatile as he can fly along with being intangible." Ben elucidated the differences between the two in his explanation.
"I see. Therefore, Arctiguana is preferable if you need to rapidly freeze something, such as lava that is about to enter a city or an army of opponents. Big Chill, on the other hand, is better in a one-on-one duel because of his aerial prowess and intangibility, which render him untouchable. The range of your alien's skills is remarkable, and I'd love to see Big Chill in the future." Kaeya, content with the response, added his own analytical combat analysis.
"You have a startling quantity of electro-based aliens? Explain why it is the case." Lisa, who also makes use of electro vision, was intrigued by the unexpectedly large number of electric aliens that Ben had.
"I have no idea why I have so many electric aliens. It was really annoying when you fought a guy named Phil." Ben remarked while he was thinking back on that event. Remembering the electric field that Phil built up to only change him into aliens based on electricity was a major pain in the neck.
"Why is Feedback your favorite alien?" More than anything else, Amber was interested in learning the answer to this question. She found it more intriguing to learn about the preferences of certain friends and the reasoning behind those preferences.
"His powers are awesome! Anything energy-based attack the enemy throws at me, I can absorb and send back at them. But the main reason is that he felt different. When I become a different alien, I feel like a different person. When I transform into Feedback, I feel the same, as if he were a part of me." Ben recounted with a lot of enthusiasm how much he appreciated being able to transform into Feedback and how thrilled he was to be able to reunlock him in order to beat Malware once and for all.
"That's a nice reason. I hope I can see Feedback in action soon." Amber found Ben's explanations to be emotionally moving.
"You have so many electric aliens, and your favorite is one of them, that if you ever have a vision, it will most likely involve Electro." Lisa jokingly said from all the electric based aliens Ben has.
"To tell you the truth, I really want Geo. Making a bunch of earth constructs and earth bending sounds cool, and I lack aliens that can do that." Even though Ben had Diamondhead, he really spews forth crystals rather than earth. Furthermore, in the latest series of Sumo Slammers, they have the capacity to harness the elements, and he believed earth manipulation looked the coolest.
Everyone wanted to see it in action this time, so Kaeya asked the question on everyone else's behalf once Ben had finished explaining everything about his aliens and their relationship to Visions. "I was wondering if it would be okay if you gave us a short demonstration and showed us one of your transformations? I'm curious to watch one, and the idea that Amber has seen five already seems unjust."
"Well excuse me Kaeya, but it isn't also your fault that you were busy drinking around during the battle when Ben first appeared. You also didn't bother to engage in conversation with him." Amber only gave Kaeya a blank stare as she gazed at him, and the cavalry captain gave the outrider an uneasy smile.
"I'm fine with showing off a transformation to you guys, it's only fair. But I have a favor to ask." Ben inquired, having been aware that there were a few things that needed to be completed first.
"What would your favor be Ben?" Jean asked and wondered what Ben needed here.
"Do you think I can go take a look and read at your library? I want to learn the history of this world since I have no information about Teyvat. Because I'm from another dimension." Ben placed a significant amount of emphasis on the very last section of his sentence.
"Even though the Omnitrix could be good proof, we are still not sure that you are from another world. And your lack of knowledge here could mean you just came from a faraway land and just recently visited here." Jean, along with the rest of them, was still skeptical about Ben's story. Except for a specific pair of people, one of whom has made a note to inquire further about it at a later time.
"If you don't believe me, so be it." Ben gave a shrug and then made the decision not to press the point any further that he wasn't from another universe. On this world, unlike Rex's, they do not have the technology that would assist in identifying him as an outworlder.
"But, of course, you may go to the library if you like. The library is a public place where readers can congregate." Without any reservations, Jean gave her approval to Ben's request. She simply hopes that their new guest will be able to appreciate all that Mondstadt has to offer.
"And it will be fun, cutie. Naturally, I'm here to assist you and reveal the library's wealth of information. I am knowledgeable about a lot of things, including a few unique ones." Lisa gave a sweet smile towards the hero's direction. By the smile and indication, said hero simply appeared nervous and uneasy.
"Thanks for the offer, but I'll pass. I agreed to show you all an alien, and I have the perfect one that should help me understand the books in under a few minutes." Ben searched through the various aliens stored in the Omnitrix until he located the one he was looking for. When he slammed the core, a brilliant green light engulfed him as the knights shielded their eyes.
Once the light dimmed, an orange crab-like extraterrestrial with pincers for hands and a green-striped black loincloth materialized in front of them. Each leg of his has a single joint with a black line. In addition to the spikes on his elbows, he has a white and green neck brace bearing the Omnitrix emblem.
This is the DNA sample of a Cerebrocrustacean taken from an Omnitrix, and its name is Brainstorm. One of Ben's most intelligent extraterrestrials, with a startling one trillion, which puts him on par with the most intelligent Galvans. His primary offensive capability is his electrokinesis, which he may activate by removing the plates of his exoskeleton that cover his skull in order to expose his brain. Using a mix of these two, he is able to use his intellect to defeat most foes. One of his most astounding exploits is that he was able to defeat the entire Vengers team using only his intellect.
The knights reacted in a variety of ways to his transformation when they saw him after he had changed. Amber, being the eager person that she is, was obviously looking forward to seeing the new alien that Ben had to show. Jean was awestruck by the transformation she witnessed, and Lumine felt the same way about her own. Both Lisa and Kaeya were interested in gaining a better understanding of the capabilities and possibilities possessed by this alien. And of course, Paimon looked at Brainstorm as though he were something to eat, and she drooled a little bit. "He transformed into a crab! Paimon wonders if Ben will allow us to much a few crab legs."
"I might purport to be nourishment to your feeble imagination, minuscule fairy. But in actuality, my intelligence surpasses yours and everyone else in this room in every way imaginable that you cannot fathom." When Brainstorm talked, it came as a bit of a surprise to them that Ben had suddenly changed his personality. He used a wider range of words in his speech, and his tone was more superior.
Paimon was only able to understand a small portion of what he said, but she grasped the general idea, and as a result, she felt enraged. "Are you saying Paimon's dumb?!"
"Simply because of the way you communicate and your lack of critical thinking skills, I can accurately estimate that your IQ would only be 50, but mine is a superior one nonillion." Brainstorm continued to belittle Paimon, and she became increasingly irritated by his behavior. The back and forth between the two gradually increased everyone's level of amusement.
"Um, Ben, what is this alien anyway? And why do you talk like Albedo?" Amber asked Brainstorm, prompting the Cerebrocrustacean to assume that he was being offended by the comparison to his imitator.
"Talk like Albedo? Preposterous! How could you equate me to that charlatan who, regardless of how hard he perceives and skirmishes, possesses ultimate power? My superiority over his is greater. This is why he will continue to concede to me repeatedly over and over again." Brainstorm launched into a tirade directed towards Albedo. The Knights of Favonius were then perplexed as to why Ben was engaging in verbal warfare with one of their most revered knights.
"By his tone of voice, I infer that he has had run-ins with an adversary also named Albedo." Kaeya offered his opinion as to who Ben was directing his outburst at.
"Ben, Amber was referring to Albedo, who's part of the knights. He is highly regarded due to his positions as both investigative team captain and head alchemist. If you're thinking of another Albedo, he has nothing to do with him." Jean continued to elaborate and hopefully dispelled some of Ben's misconceptions with her response.
After giving it a millisecond's worth of contemplation, Brainstorm responded by nodding his head. "Astonishingly, you make a cogent argument. Albedo is an astrophysical veiled reference to the fraction of incident light or radiation encapsulated by a substratum, invariably that of a planet or moon. It also exemplifies white in the Latin vernacular."
"Enough of your smarty pants talk! If you're not going to give us your name, Paimon will just call you Big Foreheaded Crab!" Paimon began to lose her patience and become agitated by Brainstorm's speech. As a result, she recanted what she had said about Brainstorm looking like tasty food and wished that a large bird would just swoop in and teach him a lesson.
"Unsurprisingly, only someone of your calibre would evoke a rather undemanding moniker. You, yammering treble garden gnome." Brainstorm retaliated with another insult to Paimon, and she finally lost her cool and tried to physically harm him. Thankfully, Lumine was quick enough to catch Paimon before she could do something she would later come to regret, and the other knights couldn't help but chuckle a little bit as they saw the situation unfold in front of them.
"Can you please just tell us the alien's name before Paimon goes ballistic on you?" Lumine participated in the conversation while attempting to keep Paimon's escalating rage under control.
"This alien life form you are currently observing is a Cerebrocrustacean, a species native to the planet Encephalon IV. However, there is no need to acknowledge me by my taxonomic classification, as I do not allude to you as humans. My pseudonym is simply Brainstorm." The Cerebrocrustacean gave his full details. While his explanation mostly flew over their heads, his name did make most of them remember something Ben said earlier.
"Brainstorm? Didn't you say he's one of your aliens who fits the bill as an Electro Vision?" Lisa questioned him because she had a vague recollection of him being one of the six electro aliens.
"You are historically correct, Lisa. As postulated of the individual with the second-highest IQ in this room. Not that it genuinely makes a difference." The conversation then continued with Brainstorm complimenting Lisa while also making some light-hearted jabs at her. The words of flattery that the crab bestowed onto the librarian caused her to simply chuckle.
"Hah! And how are you gonna shoot-out electricity? With that big forehead of yours?" With a smug expression on her face, Paimon answered, intending to provoke an angry response from the Cerebrocrustacean. However, she was a little puzzled when Brainstorm showed only a slight expression of astonishment.
"Oddly, the clacking gnome may have once made a rational evaluation, but it was most likely owing to shear dumb luck when compared to my specialized knowledge." Brainstorm briefly praised Paimon before going back to insult her again, to which the floating fairy was starting to grumble about it.
"Wait, so Paimon's correct? Your head conducts electricity." Amber asked curiously as she, along with the others, was eager to learn the specifics of how he could employ electrokinesis.
"Somewhat. By concentrating sufficiently and exposing the exoskeleton plates on my skull, I am capable of conducting and discharging tremendous electrical shocks. It might be more effective to demonstrate it to you." Brainstorm crabwalked over to one of the windows in the room, opened it all the way, and then proceeded to let in some of the fresh air. Afterwards, he took a few steps back and opened the plates of his exoskeleton, which revealed that his brain was extraordinarily enormous. Then, he began to generate a bolt of green lightning from his brain's neurons and released it through the open window.
Brainstorm circled back to observe the crowd's reaction to his sudden power. Everyone gave him an odd look, most likely as a result of the fact that he was forced to reveal his brain in front of them live, and it was revolting to see. "What went awry? Couldn't comprehend the stunning magnitude of my central nervous system."
"Obviously! Bleh! Paimon wishes to get that image out of my mind." Paimon's expression resembled that of someone who is about to throw up, and she appeared to be concentrating hard on erasing the image of seeing his brain from her mind.
"We lucked out that you mentioned having a large population of aliens also equipped with Electro Visions. And I'm crossing my fingers they don't have Brainstorm's disgusting brain." Amber too experienced unease at the sight of a living brain in front of her.
"Hmph. Not everyone can appreciate brilliance. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll resume with what I initially planned to conduct. In these works, I expect to gain a deeper understanding of the world's significant historical events." Brainstorm went on to remind them of what he needed to do. Jean nodded her head along with standing up, as while Ben was busy learning about history, she'd be more productive by going out and doing knights' duties.
"It's ideal if we take on some commissions to keep us busy while we wait for you to finish. Amber, would you like to come along?" Jean flashed a friendly grin and extended an invitation to Amber to come with her.
"It would be an honor, Jean! I'll see you around later, Ben, once you're done with your book reading." Amber was ecstatic to accept, and she accompanied Jean out the door while smiling and waving goodbye to Ben.
"I bid you farewell and wish you a successful operation." Brainstorm waved them goodbye as the two of them left to go on and do their duties.
"Paimon's hungry and Paimon's had enough of that Big Foreheaded Crab. Let's just come back when Ben reverts to his old self, Lumine." Paimon started floating away right away, whereas Lumine gave the impression that she still had a few questions for Ben. Nevertheless, she could most likely just return to the library in order to speak with him there.
"Considering that you need more phosphorus to grow, this would be a logical suggestion. Obviously, you should expand vertically, since I can tell you will inevitably grow horizontally." Brainstorm ended their exchange with a final insult to Paimon, and she showed him how she felt by blowing a raspberry in his face.
"Don't mind me. I must now attend to some pressing matters." As he exited the room, Kaeya looked back at them and smiled briefly before continuing on his way. But in reality, he had some hidden intentions to accomplish once he left the room.
"Like eavesdropping on me as I quietly study in the library? Don't act so startled; I was able to discern from your nonverbal cues that you are keen to know more about me. You are welcome to stalk me so long as you don't do anything enigmatic or appear creepy." Brainstorm was able to figure out with relative ease what Kaeya had in mind. The cavalry knight simply smiled back at him without flinching. He had anticipated a great deal from an alien with an IQ that was one hundred times that of Albedo.
"Alright, cutie, you want my assistance to lead you towards our library?" Lisa then opened the door and invited Brainstorm to join her.
"Indubitably, that would be beneficial." After that, the Cerebrocrustacean continued to follow the librarian, and Kaeya followed in his footsteps carefully so that she could study him as well.
The library was located just opposite the door from where Jean's office was located. As soon as you go inside, you will be met by a sizable room that spans two levels and is furnished with a variety of books, tables, and chairs so that you can read in peace and quiet.
Lisa offered to take Brainstorm on a tour of all the books he absolutely had to see, but the Cerebrocrustacean politely declined, explaining that he could tell just by looking at the spines which ones were the most relevant to his research.
The crab rounded up his required reading material and began a cursory perusal. Lisa eventually left the library after a few minutes of scanning, and she went to collect all of the books that had been overdue for a long time from the people who had borrowed them. At the same time, Kaeya also left, as he genuinely did need to attend to some urgent affairs. In spite of this, they assured Ben that they would come back at some point.
After quickly reading through all of the required volumes, Brainstorm ultimately ran out of time and reverted back to Ben, who then proceeded to slowly process the new information he had acquired. He found himself in the fantasy realm of Teyvat, where the seven elements met and flowed together. There are also seven major territories that are governed by archons, who can be thought of as gods.
"I'm in a world full of gods, huh? It seems like an average Tuesday for me. I wonder what's taking Professor Paradox so long to find me and send me home?" Ben reflected on the circumstances he found himself in and questioned why his time-walker friend had not yet arrived to bring him home.
"Hello, Ben. I see you're getting acquainted with all the history you're learning." A girl's voice could be heard saying the statement. Ben turned his head around and saw Lumine walking into the library just as he did.
"Oh, you're Lumine, right? You prevented Paimon's wrath from falling upon me." Ben was able to recall her from earlier. Additionally, he recalled that she was the only person who did not pose a question to him during that conversation.
"Yes, that's me." As she sat in the chair opposite Ben's, Lumine gave him a slight nod before continuing her conversation.
"You guys went out to eat, right? I imagine Paimon vented her frustration with Brainstorm over crabs at a seafood restaurant." Ben made a joke about how livid Paimon was when he was in his Cerebrocrustacean form, and Lumine cracked a small smile at the memory.
"No. While exploring Springvale, we ran into a chef by the name of Xiangling. She's the best cook we've met in Teyvat, and we helped her out in a cooking competition. The next time I see her, I'm looking forward to sampling some of her Slime Condensate dishes." Lumine informed Ben of the real area they went to.
"That dish has the feel of something Grandpa Max would whip up." Ben recalled all of the meals that were prepared by his grandpa. He had a lot of love for his grandfather, but the strange things he cooked were never hits.
"She also nearly revealed you to everyone there. We cooked using the meat of a boar that is now extinct. Someone named Olaf was feeling discouraged since he knew there was no way he could try it again when, out of the blue, Paimon said, and I quote, "Paimon wonders if Ben can use his freaky wristband transformy thingy to revive the extinct species of that boar." Lumine attempted to act and sound like Paimon, and Ben found it hilarious.
"Luckily, I was able to get them to stop paying attention to Paimon by telling them she was babbling incoherently. And Xiangling has just comforted Olaf by assuring him that the recipe can be replicated with a few minor adjustments." Lumine brought her tale to a close by describing the climactic moment that occurred during the culinary competition.
"It's all good. I think it's just a matter of time before everyone finds out the truth about me. Besides, what brings you here? Do you want me to transform into another alien again?" Ben pondered this and assumed that she was simply looking forward to seeing more aliens from him.
"No, not that. While your abilities are amazing, I want to talk about you being from another universe." Lumine gave off an air of solemnity as she introduced the subject matter that she desired to talk about.
Ben let out a sigh upon hearing this, and it's likely that she'll respond by claiming that she doesn't believe he or something similar. "Look, if you're just going to tell me I'm talking crazy, then you're wasting your time. But as I've said before, I really-"
"I believe you." Lumine abruptly interrupted Ben, who was caught off guard by her response.
"Wait really? Why? I mean, don't get me wrong. Wow, I'm flattered that you believe me, but why?" Ben was interested about the reason why she believed him when none of the others did.
"That's because I'm originally from another world as well." Lumine dropped the truth bomb on Ben, and once again the hero was not expecting this answer.
After observing Ben's response, Lumine made the decision to share her tale with Ben. "Together with my brother Aether, we've visited multiple worlds. In fact, you mentioned a character called "Professor Paradox." Can you confirm that he is also a man who dresses the part of a scientist by donning a white lab coat and goggles?"
"Whoa, you've actually met Paradox?!" When Ben found out that she is familiar with his friend, he was completely taken aback.
"Yes. There was a place we explored, and while we were there, a planet exploded in front of our eyes. Next, we witnessed a sword drifting away from the planet, which was promptly caught by a metallic box ship." Lumine told Ben the first thing she saw when she came to that specific universe, and Ben was shocked to learn that Lumine and her brother were present during the early stages of Ascalon.
"My partner Aether and I were going to check it out before Paradox emerged and interrupted us. "Greetings children. I sincerely hope you find the early stages of this cosmos intriguing. If you don't mind, I'd like to politely request that you exit the premises first. However, fret not as one day a world you'll visit will also be visited from a visitor here." And that was the extent of his communication with us." Lumine was thinking back on the events that occurred during her conversation with Professor Paradox. In fact, she laughed to herself as she recalled an earlier time when Aether had chased him while Paradox had merely toyed him.
"Yup. Definitely sounds like Paradox." Ben agreed since, despite the fact that Paradox never lies, he can often be cryptic.
"We had our doubts about whether or not we should have trusted him. But all of a sudden he started teleporting from place to place, and he said he was simply strolling. As it seemed nothing noteworthy had occurred after the planet burst, we reached an agreement to leave in peace. To tell you the truth, Aether and I didn't really comprehend what he meant until I eventually came face to face with you. I take it you hail from that parallel dimension?" Lumine turned to Ben for further clarification, and the hero gave a firm nod in response.
"Yeah, that was the beginning of the horrible events with the Sword of Ascalon. Whoa, hold on a second, that happened a long time ago. How old are yo-Ouch!" Ben was unable to finish his speech after receiving a light karate chop to the head from Lumine, which caused him to pause.
"You should know better than to ask a woman her age." Lumine had a fake pout on her face when Ben was trying to figure out her age.
"Okay, sorry about that. Anyway, let's get back on track. I'm assuming you and your brother came to visit Teyvat on your bucket list of places to have a vacation. What happened to your brother?" Ben asked, curious about Aether's whereabouts, but now didn't seem like a good moment to bring it up because Lumine seemed saddened by it.
"Five hundred years ago, when we were going to depart Teyvat, an unknown god stopped us. Even though we fought with everything we had, she managed to seal our abilities and keep us from reuniting. This is the first time that has ever happened between the two of us. That's why I'll be traveling all around Teyvat in search of the seven and perhaps reuniting with my lost twin." Lumine will never forget that day, as well as how excruciatingly difficult it was for her to be parted from her brother for such a protracted period of time. The more she thought about what had transpired, the tighter she gripped her fist.
Ben, noticing Lumine's shift in demeanor, proceeded to comfort her by putting his hand on her shoulder and started speaking words of encouragement to her. "If you have hope, hold onto it. Just have faith that you'll be back together again. Personally, I try to see the bright side of things at all times. Of course, there will be occasions when it doesn't work, seeing as how I've experienced those as well. But the majority of the time, positive outcomes were achieved in the end. Keep in mind the reason you're fighting, and if you really want something, don't stop trying to get it." The hero ended his pep talk with an encouraging smile.
"I appreciate that, Ben." After hearing Ben's speech and seeing his upbeat smile, Lumine felt compelled to return the gesture and smile back at him.
The library doors suddenly burst open and startled Ben and Lumine. Both of them turned to look at the front door to see who had arrived, and when they did, they saw none other than Kaeya, Lisa, and Paimon.
"There you are. So you snuck back to the library to talk with Ben, huh? Thank goodness he's no longer transformed as Big Foreheaded Crab." Paimon remarked on the topic while indicating that she was still sour after recalling everything that Brainstorm had done.
"Was your venture into the history books successful? Along with your vocabulary returning to normal?" When Kaeya approached the table where the two of them were sitting, Ben simply nodded at him and commented that the history of this world was interesting, to put it mildly.
"All the fancy language he was using was appealing to me. The sensation it produced was incredible. So cuties, did we just walk in on something serious between you two?" The two were being teased by Lisa, and in response, Ben and Lumine flinched simultaneously.
"NO!" Ben and Lumine both yelled at them in an effort to clear up any misunderstandings. However, it had little effect as it only caused Lisa to laugh, Kaeya to smile coyly, and Paimon to stare at them with a smug expression on his face.
A flush began to spread across Lumine's face, and Ben expressed interest in changing the subject and came up with an excellent suggestion. "Hey, how about this? Let me show you guys a unique feature of the Omnitrix."
After Ben made this statement, everyone's attention was immediately drawn to it. Kaeya then went on to be the first to ask. "Oh, and what is this special feature?"
"You'll see! Oh, Paimon, I really need your assistance with this." Ben then gestured for Paimon to come near him.
"Paimon's not sure why you need Paimon's help." With reluctance, Paimon then slowly floated in front of Ben, who looked eager to try something out.
"Omnitrix, activate scan mode, Code 10." Ben started chatting with the Omnitrix, which caused everyone around him to stare at him as though he had lost his mind.
"Command confirmed. Performing scans for genetic samples of uncatalogued DNA." The watch's synthetic voice made the announcement aloud, surprising everyone in the room and proving that Ben wasn't losing his mind.
Ben intended to make use of the scanning function that was available on the Omnitrix. He couldn't wait to utilize it ever since Azmuth had finally updated it. All the Omnitrix features wouldn't shut down anymore if there was a new DNA species to scan; the yellow scanning light returned, and Ben could choose if he wanted to initiate the function or not.
Following that, Ben pointed the Omnitrix in Paimon's general direction. The faceplate of the Omnitrix rose, and a beam of yellow light began its examination of Paimon. The bright light frightened Paimon, and she was in such a state that she was unable to get away from it.
"New lifeform DNA analyzed. Acquisition complete." The front cover of the Omnitrix glided back into place, and Ben gazed at it with a satisfied expression.
"What did you do to Paimon?!" Paimon shouted and immediately began caressing her face to determine whether or not everything was okay.
"I agree with her. Ben, what the heck are you doing?" Lumine was among those who sought clarification.
"I just got myself a new alien." Ben's expression of pride could be heard when he turned on the Omnitrix and saw the silhouette of an alien with a head that looked a lot like Paimon's. The knights should have stopped appearing so shocked by Ben by this point; nonetheless, they still couldn't help but be surprised by the other capabilities that the Omnitrix offered.
"You're saying that you can turn into Paimon now?!" Paimon's expression was one of amazement and bewilderment as she glanced at him, and Lumine's eyes became even wider. This was something of a foregone conclusion for Kaeya and Lisa after they listened to the Omnitrix carefully.
"Bingo! I think it's best if I give you a live demonstration of my new alien right now." Ben quickly slammed the core of the Omnitrix as a green light surrounded him.
As soon as the light stopped shining, a tiny fairy appeared in its place. This fairy had green eyes, thick silver hair that was somewhere between medium and short length, an ahoge, and an emerald crown. A white long-sleeved sweater, a dark blue cloak with green accents, white stockings, and white boots are what he's got on his body right now. The embroidery on her jumper, boots, and sleeves is an emerald green tint. And the Omnitrix logo is emblazoned on his upper chest.
"Flomon!" The new alien shouted out his name, which was something Ben hadn't done in a long time. Its name came about as a result of combining the words "float" and "Paimon."
"Alright! Flomon's got a new alien." Flomon took flight, and once in the air, he began to gracefully fly around the room, wheeling and twisting while everyone else in the room was at a loss for words.
"Did he just." The first person to make a comment was Kaeya.
"Transform into Paimon's species?" The cavalry captain's sentence was then completed by Lisa.
"Woah, this is cool and super freaky at the same time. Is that what Paimon would look like as a boy?" The sight of someone else who looked so much like her utterly floored Paimon.
"Okay, Paimon. Other than floating, what other cool powers do you have?" Flomon went over to ask Paimon since he preferred to get acclimated to this alien right away rather than learn it all on his own.
"Um. Paimon has a big appetite… Paimon can also punch and kick." Despite her best efforts to appear cool and confident, Paimon's expression betrayed her anxiety at her lack of an additional ability to tell Ben.
"What, that's it?" Flomon then displayed an expression of dissatisfaction. At the very least, he was expecting some sort of projectile attack, not just flying.
"She's also good emergency food." Lumine joined the conversation in a joking manner to discuss the most essential quality of Paimon.
"How many times has Paimon told you! Paimon is not emergency food!" Paimon looked her partner in the face and gave them the stink eye.
"Well, this alien's uninspiring." Flomon said it out loud. If there is one thing that he could say that is positive about this alien, it would be that it is likely that he is not as bad as The Worst.
"Paimon's not uninspiring!" Now Paimon was giving Ben the stink eye with her ferocious glare.
"It's not like I don't have a bunch of flying aliens already. And if you say your small size gives you an advantage, it doesn't. Flomon already has Pesky Dust and Nanomech." Once again, Ben shot down the uniqueness of Paimon's species. Paimon was going to strike back, but she ultimately decided to just hang her head in defeat instead.
"We're back!" Amber and Jean walked in, having just finished up a few of the many missions they had taken on as a team.
"Jean, Amber, welcome back. How was your mission?" Lisa stopped focusing on what was happening in front of her and turned to welcome her friends.
"Same old, Lisa. Dismantling Hilichurl encampments in close proximity to the city and providing aid to the people" Jean was happy to fill her companion in on all of the things that had been accomplished while they were absent. She then spotted Amber staring at something with her mouth down, and when Jean looked to see what it was, she too was bewildered by whatever it was that Amber was looking at.
"Is it my imagination, or are there actually two Paimons there?" Amber voiced the question that she and Jean both wanted to ask in order to determine whether or not they were imagining things.
After smiling and laughing at their friends' responses, Lisa continued to explain it to them while maintaining her cheerful demeanor. "You're not imagining things at all. There are actually two Paimons; the green one is Ben's latest form, dubbed "Flomon."
"Ben can transform into Paimon?!" Amber was now only interested in finding out what form Ben can no longer transform into. At this point, she had the impression that he might also be able to turn into Stormterror.
"A function of the Omnitrix apparently allows him to scan DNA that has not yet been uploaded to the device. Once the scan is finished, he can add it to his increasing collection of forms." Kaeya then continued to elaborate on how Ben was able to accomplish what he set out to do.
"Scanning to add new transformations… There's a chance he's the strongest and most versatile individual in all of Teyvat." Jean had the thought running through her head that she really ought to give Ben an invitation to join the Knights of Favonius.
"Hey Ben! Do you think you can do impersonations of Paimon? Try acting like a children's mascot." Amber was excited to play around with Ben in his new form, so she hurried in his direction.
Flomon gave a slight nod of his head and then began moving his body as though he was performing in an advertisement for a breakfast cereal aimed at children. Amber did nothing but join in on his laughter while the rest of the people in the room quietly grinned at the scenario that was taking place. Paimon, on the other hand, did little more than sigh and smile before coming to the conclusion that it was best to also laugh at Ben's antics.
Author's Notes:
To Legendary Destroyer Ice: The Fatui won't be aware of his appearance just yet, but the Abyss Mages who made it out during Chapter 1 will tell them. For the time being, I will have Ben keep the existence of Alien X a secret from everyone else.
To VSX-2018: It's highly unlikely due to the fact that he always gets takeout. But he might be able to piece together the recipe with the help of Gray Matter or Brainstorm.
To Phantom Thief of Hearts: That's a really good idea you have there, and it's something I might think about. If I were to implement it, it would be a future unlock provided by the Omnitrix.
To Mobzill: Not likely, to answer your first question. In response to your second question, I would say that: Feedback, Atomix, Chromastone, Gravattack, and Way Big are all contenders that may be considered if Ben were to become serious.
To hawko2632: Ben hasn't learned the truth yet about Hilichurls, so he won't use the genetic repair function yet. And don't worry, Ben just knocks Hilichurls out cold and doesn't kill them since he has a strict no-kill rule.
To Eygptian dragon: I say yes, they could qualify as aliens. But Ben won't choose to scan her.
