Alright, time for the first flashback chapter!
I hope you're enjoying the story so far; I've had a lot of ideas for a Ben 10 fanfic for a while now, and I finally get to write it down! And the Justice League side of things is gonna be fun to write, 'cause I've got some original chapters I'd like to show you, especially regarding Necro and the Cult of the Cold Flame.
To clear up any possible confusion, these chapters will be told from Eric's perspective at the time. Current Eric won't be telling these stories.
Also, the story's now hit over 1,000 views! I'd say pop the confetti and shoot the glitter cannons, but confetti can get everywhere, and don't get me started on glitter. This is great though! It shows that the stories being read, and I like that. Thank you, for the views, please, continue this journey with me, it's gonna get wild, trust me.
Now to answer a review!
BullettormX: Yeah, this universe's version of the Teen Titans will be based on their DCAMU build, with some obvious differences to the roster. They'll appear in a few chapters.
Well, that's all from me up here, on with the story!
A New Life
Year One
I wake up in bed.
Not just in bed, but my old bed back in my home state of Arizona.
Oh, I have so many questions.
I sit up to see my old childhood bedroom, just like I remember it was. I think, I can't remember much before today very well. It hurts to think.
I get off my bed and walk to my closet. Once I reach out for a change of clothes, I realize something important: I'm a child again.
It takes a surprising amount of willpower to not scream in surprise.
I breath some deep, calming breaths before opening my closet door. I reach for some clothes and go to the bathroom. I look in the mirror to get a better look at myself. And yeah, I'm a child again. About ten, if I'm right.
What the hell is going on?
Some hair falls over my eyes. With my left hand, I reach up and sweep it back, finally realizing the watch on my wrist. I extend my arm out to see something I never thought I'd see.
The Omnitrix.
Granted, instead of having green it's orange, and it looks to be like the one from Omniverse. Screw it, let's test it out.
As soon as my fingers connect with the touchpad a hologram of Ripjaws comes up. Okay, so it's a little more advanced than your average toy Omnitrix. I scroll a few more times. Ghostfreak, Upgrade, Wildmutt, all pass by.
I then stop on Heatblast, the one who started the series. Why not? The worst that could happen is this thing shouts "Heatblast!" Doesn't hurt to try.
I take my fingers off, and the touchpad splits into two parts, the Omnitrix core popping up. I roll my eyes and slam it down.
One flash of orange light later and a Pyronite is in my bathroom.
I look in the mirror and watch as my eyes slowly widen in fear and amazement.
I then look down to see the floor is on fire around my feet. Meaning I can't control the shout that erupts from my mouth.
Mom and Dad come running up the stairs, practically kicking down the bathroom door. They both stop and stare at me as I hop around, trying to stomp out the flames.
Once I realize that they're here I stop and slowly turn my head to them, the three of us staring at each other with wide eyes.
…
"I can explain," I slowly begin.
Mom shouts, which has Dad shoot past me and grab the extension of the shower, pulling it out and turning the shower on at full force. The water hitting me instantly becomes steam, obscuring almost everything in the bathroom, my dim self being the only light.
Dad eventually realizes the shower water isn't enough, but Mom comes back with the fire extinguisher and it's more than effective.
Once the steam subsides, I'm immediately hit by the foam, my flames dying out almost immediately. Dad then runs by me and stands next to Mom, the both of them glaring at me.
"Who are you and what have you done with our son?" He demands.
I cough as some of the foam ends up in my mouth. "If you'd stop, I'd tell you!"
Dad places a hand on Mom's arm.
"Foam tastes nasty," I weakly mutter. "Okay, I'm Eric Mercer," I notice their unconvinced looks. "Cat likes food, doesn't it?"
Their eyes widen in surprise. "Eric?" Mom whispers in shock.
I wave from my place on the ground. "Hey."
She comes down and almost cups my face, her hands hovering just over my cheeks. After all, never know when I could light back on fire. "Baby, what happened to you?"
"I woke up with this watch that…" Wait, I have the latest version of the Omnitrix. The true one if I remember correctly. Couldn't I just…I tap the crest on my chest, and in another flash of orange light I become human again. "Oh, that is so cool."
Mom wraps me in a tight hug. I slowly reciprocate, which lets Dad notice the Omnitrix on my left wrist. "That's the watch that transformed you into that…thing?"
Mom backs up and the three of us look at it. "Yeah. Got it in one, Dad," I nod.
The sound of crying comes from downstairs.
"Ah! Esmeralda!" Mom shouts in panic before running downstairs.
Dad looks at me before pointing a thumb at my room. "I'm gonna get you some new clothes to change into."
"Right, thanks," I reply.
After Dad comes back with some new clothes, I take a shower in our other bathroom, the one upstairs currently covered in fire extinguisher foam. I then walk over to the table where Mom and Dad have a quiet conversation as Mom feeds the now two-year-old Esmeralda some food.
My sister is the first to notice my presence. She waves her arms around and cheers happily as I walk towards the table, bringing a smile to my face. I then sit down next to Dad. "Where do you wanna begin?" I ask.
Dad points at the Omnitrix. "Where'd you get that? You didn't have it yesterday."
I look down at it as well. "That's a good question. I just woke up with it."
"Do you know what it's called?" Mom asks.
"Yeah, actually. I think it's called the Omnimatrix. Omnitrix for short," I answer. "I think it lets me turn into aliens."
"You know an awful lot about it," Dad says, resting his head on his hand.
"It kinda just, downloaded some data into my head about what it is and what it can do," I answer. Granted, these answers are coming from what I can remember of the Ben 10 series.
"You have other forms, don't you?" Mom asks. "I mean, that fire form can't be the only one, right?"
I activate the touchpad, scrolling through the aliens available. And it's the original ten, Heatblast, Diamondhead, Four Arms (need a new name for him), Wildmutt, Ripjaws, Stinkfly, Ghostfreak (gonna keep an eye on that one), Upgrade, Grey Matter, and XLR8. "It looks like it's just these guys for now."
"For now?" Mom and Dad ask.
I nod. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure I'll unlock more forms as time goes on."
Dad leans back in his chair. "Hope this doesn't mess with the road trip," he leans back and almost falls over, barely catching himself by grabbing the edge of the table.
Road trip? Oh, great. Not only do I have the Omnitrix, I'm now going on a road trip. Wonder if my cousin's gonna come along with us.
"You do remember you're supposed to get the RV, right?" Mom asks Dad.
"Of course I do!" Dad scoffs. "We'll pick it up tomorrow. Which reminds me, Eric, you pack your stuff?"
"Uh, no. Let me go do that now," I say, getting up. An idea then hits me. I walk away a little bit and scroll through the Omnitrix, eventually slamming the core down when I find XLR8.
After transforming I run over and get everything I need packed away, I then come back downstairs and raise my visor. "Done," I transform back to normal.
Esmeralda cheers. "Again! Again!"
Mom hums and rubs her chin. "You could do all of the chores in no time with speed like that," she muses.
I wave my hands. "I'd rather not, thank you very much," I then grab a bowl of cereal and start eating, ignoring Esmeralda's little baby hand trying to poke me.
"Eric," she says. I turn to see some juice dripping down her chin, I lean over and wipe it off. "Again."
"No, Esme," I deadpan.
She pouts. "Again."
"No."
"Again!"
"No."
"AGAIN!"
With a sigh, I get up and transform into XLR8 again, running around quickly, but midrun I transform back to normal in a flash of red light, my momentum flinging me into a nearby wall. Esmeralda laughs in amusement and claps her hands.
"I'm a clown," I mutter from the floor. I bring the Omnitrix to my face to see the orange lines shaped to make an hourglass on the touchpad are now red. A timer of ten minutes then appears between the lines.
Dad helps me up and dusts me off. "What was up with that red light?"
I show him the timer. "I think that was it's way of telling me it was out of juice. Once this timer runs out, I think I'll be able to transform again."
There's a knock on the door. Dad goes to open it; he then turns to me. "Hey, Eric! Kyle's here!"
A flash of memories hits me. Kyle's the name of one of my friends here in this universe. He and I had met during recess a year ago and have been friends since.
I go over to find Kyle waiting, wearing black shorts and a green and black shirt. "Hey, Eric. I was wondering if we could hang out today?"
Kyle's a boy around my age. He has black hair and green eyes, he's also half Hispanic, half Irish, like me and Esmeralda. Hispanic from his dad's side and Irish from his mom's, though his dad isn't in the picture.
I shrug and nod towards my room upstairs. "C'mon, there's this new game I've been wanting to play with you for a while now."
Kyle smiles and comes inside, waving at Mom and Esmeralda as he takes off his shoes. "Hola, Mrs. Mercer! Hey, Esmeralda!"
Mom and my sister wave in greeting. "Kyle! How are you?" Mom asks.
"I'm good. I'm just really excited for the summer is all," Kyle replies. "This last year suuucked."
"I know, right?" I laugh.
Mom rolls her eyes playfully. "I guess," she then notices Esmeralda trying to reach for her hot cup of coffee. "Esmeralda! No!"
My sister's eyes well up in tears.
I quickly turn to Kyle. "C'mon, let's get outta here before it gets really loud," the two of us quickly go up to my room.
As we walk past the bathroom Kyle looks at me with an arched brow. "What happened there?"
I look to see some foam has yet to…evaporate? How do you get rid of foam? Question for another day. "There was a little fire, that's all," I answer.
"Doesn't seem little with all that foam," Kyle whispers.
"You know how my Mom is, overprotective of me and Esmeralda. To her, that was a raging inferno," the two of us enter my room. "Alright! Let's play!"
For the next few hours, the two of us play some video games and have fun. Thankfully, my memories of this life come in just when I need them, meaning I know exactly what to say when I need to.
Eventually, Kyle has to leave, and when he does another important memory hits me.
His name is Kyle Rayner.
The fifth human Green Lantern. Fourth if you don't count Alan Scott. But my favorite human Green Lantern is one of my childhood friends.
What the hell?
No, I'm just overthinking things. Rayner's an actual last name, hell, I bet there are hundreds of Kyle Rayners out there all over the world. He just happens to be one of them, that's all. Who also happens to have a Hispanic father and Irish mother. I'm over thinking things.
As the sun begins to set, Dad comes into my room, dressed up and ready to go somewhere. "Hey, your Mom wants me to go check on the RV we're gonna rent. Wanna come with?"
I shrug and get off my bed. "Sure, why not?"
I put on my jeans and a jacket and head downstairs to put on my shoes. Once that's done, Dad and I get in the car and drive towards the rental place. As we take a right turn Dad looks at me from the corner of his eyes. "What's your plan?"
I look at him, confused. "What do you mean?"
"That watch of yours, the…Omnitrix? What're you gonna do now?" Dad clarifies.
I shrug as I look outside the windshield. "I don't know. Maybe be a superhero, or something?"
"That'd be cool," Dad comments. "Me, the father of the newest superhero. Man, my old unit would be so jealous!"
Newest superhero?
We finally arrive at the RV rental place. Dad parks the car and the two of us enter the building, waiting in the lobby for some help.
I look around and see a water cooler, some vending machines for drinks, a TV, and other things to keep people busy all around the place, private offices for the employees on the higher end of the totem pole I'd guess.
"Hello!" A receptionist from the desk says once she notices us. "How may I help you?"
"Wanna take a seat?" Dad asks, nodding to some empty seats.
I nod and sit down as Dad talks with the receptionist. During that time, I fiddle with the Omnitrix, careful not to transform in front of everyone here. Looking through, I realize many things about the Omnitrix: I do only have the original ten, even if this is the final Omnitrix model. The way I scroll through the aliens is like the holograms from Alien Force and Ultimate Alien, which I prefer over the silhouettes from the original, and the symbols from Omniverse. And I see some things I don't think the shows ever showcased, like settings for the watch.
I click the top right button on the side of the Omnitrix, letting me see the status of the Omnitrix. It looks like I have ten minutes as an alien and a ten-minute recharge timer. The overall status is eighty-five, which leads me to wonder, what about the other fifteen percent? Question for another time. And I can even see my own health. Perfect, as always.
That's definitely something I want to look into. Using the memories of my life here I realize I've never been sick. Not ever. And now that I think about it, when I crashed into the wall earlier, I didn't really feel pain. Creepy.
I'm thirsty. I get up and walk to Dad, catching his attention. "Can I get a buck fifty? I want a drink."
Dad reaches into his wallet and hands me the exact amount needed. "I'll be in that office over there," he points at the third one on the right in the hallway to our left. "If you need me, just come over, all right?"
I nod. "All right."
As the receptionist leads Dad over to the office I walk over to the vending machine. Okay, what to drink? Sprite? It's pretty damn good. Hm, nah, we have Sprite at home. Pepsi? No. No, no, no. Oooh! Dr. Pepper. Yeees.
I go to put the money in, but the sound of a group of people bursting into the building catches my attention.
I peek around the corner to find three guys come running into the building, guns in their arms, and masks over their faces. One of them bleeding from a wound in their arm.
The one in the center aims his guns at the screaming people in the lobby. "Shut up! SHUT! UP!" Everyone quiets down and slowly lay down. "Well, 'least you all know what comes next. Now! Who works here!"
A young guy at a desk shakily raises his hand. "I-I do, s-s-sir."
The main guy aims his gun at the guy, causing the employee to whimper in fear. "Car. Now."
I tilt away from the corner, a smirk growing on my face. "Well, now's as good a time as any," I whisper.
"The hell was that!?" The leader shouts.
I said that out loud. Crap.
"Parker! Go check that out!"
"On it, boss," a deep voice replies. Massive footsteps then come marching towards me.
Okay, okay, this is it, Eric. I take a deep breath and slowly bring the Omnitrix up, dialing through. Oh, but who do I choose? I could debut with Heatblast. Or maybe go Diamondhead? He's my favorite of the originals, and he was technically Ben's debut alien if I remember correctly.
The vending machine then catches my gaze.
A technological vending machine.
With a smirk I quickly scroll and land on Upgrade, once the core pops up, I slam it down.
The flash of light blinds Parker. Once it clears my tall, six-and-a-half-foot form appears. The back side of my body is black with orange circuit lines all over it. While my front torso is orange with black circuit lines all over it. The Omnitrix crest is on my chest.
Parker rubs his eyes, once his eyesight returns, he looks at me with wide eyes and shouts, shooting his gun.
I quickly make my body liquid-like and then slither towards the vending machine, fusing with it.
The boss comes around the corner. "Parker, what the hell happened?"
The subordinate shakily points at the now transforming vending machine.
They both stare in shock as I finally stop transforming, becoming a seven-foot-tall robot with a cannon for an arm, the soda cans in my back ready to be blasted out through the cannon. The circle that acts as my eye changes into a V shape. "Oh, you guys are screwed," I warn in a mechanical version of my own voice, the inside of the V lighting up with each syllable.
Before they can react, I shoot some soda cans at the boss. They slam into his chest, forcing the air out of his lungs and sending him flying back, his head slamming into one of the desks, knocking him out.
Parker recovers quickly and opens fire on me. Not taking the chance, I morph my form away, the bullets hitting the uncovered parts of the vending machine. Parker continues to shoot, but eventually he runs out of ammo, and I use that moment to hit him with a Pepsi can to the head. Two down, one to go.
I come around the corner to find the injured one breathing heavily. He rips a child from her mother's arms and holds her hostage with his injured arm. "S-stay back you damn freak!" He shouts. "I-if you d-don't I'll shoot!"
I growl as I realize Upgrade really isn't the best for this. And I can't exactly shift into XLR8, that flash of light might make him do something we'd all regret.
Out of the corner of my eye I notice Dad stealthily making his way behind the last guy, he nods at me.
I slowly raise my hand and arm cannon. "Okay, let's not do anything we'd regret, yeah?"
"Get me an RV," he demands slowly. "You take these two into it and the five of us—me, you, Parker, Spencer, and the kid—will ride away. When we're a distance away I'll let the kid go. But only after! Got it."
"What about me?" I ask, tilting my head.
He aims the gun at me, waving it angrily. "Quit complaining! Or things are gonna get really messy!"
Dad's behind him.
Dad quickly, and efficiently, disarms the last criminal, hitting the man with the butt of his own gun, knocking him out.
The people in the building slowly get up, looking between Dad and the giant orange and black transformed vending machine that is me.
"Uh…" I begin. "Nice one, sir," I say, trying to get the attention off of me.
It doesn't work.
One of the employees, the one who had the gun aimed at him, walks up to me. "You shot them with soda cans, right?" He asks.
Not the question I expected. Nonetheless, I nod. "…yes?"
"Can I get a can?" He asks, a hand extended towards me.
Slowly, I aim my cannon at my hand. "What do you want?"
"Fanta."
I fire a can of Fanta into my hand and give it to him. "Here you go."
"Thank you," the employee breaths. He opens the can and chugs almost all of it in one gulp. Dude needs it. "I don't get payed enough for this," he whispers.
I look at everyone else. "Um, anyone else?"
The mother and her child that was just held hostage walk up to me. I give the two cans of soda; the other people quickly follow. But the familiar sound of sirens and flash of red and blue lights surprises me. I quickly separate from the vending machine and run towards the backdoor. "Gotta blast!" I shout as I run outside, hiding among the RVs.
Eventually, the cops enter the building and make sure everyone's okay, some asking questions about the soda can-shaped marks on two of the criminals. Over time, the Omnitrix beeps, flashing red a few times before I transform back to normal in a flash of red.
Holy crap. I just saved my first group of hostages.
Not only that, I took down two of the criminals quickly and efficiently, no harm done to anyone! Talk about one hell of a first day!
As I smile and mentally pat myself on the back, I fail to notice the presence behind me. It makes itself known by literally patting me on the back.
I jump and yelp in fear, turning around to see Dad laughing hysterically. He eventually calms down and wipes a tear from his eyes. "Oh, man, that was amazing," he says breathlessly. He then points a thumb at the building. "You did great in there," he messes with my hair. "I'm proud of you."
I try my best to ignore the warm feeling in my chest. "Thanks. Hey, Dad, are we still going on the road trip tomorrow?"
He nods. "Yup! The damage wasn't too extensive. A few of the employees are gonna have to take some time off, what with their lives having been threatened just a few minutes ago, but they promised to rent out RVs to people with appointments within the week."
The two of us head to Dad's car, but then he stops walking and pivots around to face me. "You should walk around the building. If I come back in with my son who was nowhere to be found people'll quickly put two and two together."
I nod. "Especially that receptionist."
"Especially that receptionist," Dad echoes.
He walks back inside, the voices of the others asking about Upgrade's whereabouts coming to me. I walk around the side of the building and wait as the cops leave, once they're gone, I head over and wait at Dad's car.
A few minutes later, he walks over, unlocking the car on the way. Once the two of us are in, his stomach growls. "Food?"
My stomach growls as well. "Food."
A half hour later, Dad and I are in the car, eating our fast food. We stay in the car to avoid anyone overhearing us. "So," Dad begins. "That form you took, what can it do?"
"It can fuse with tech and upgrade it," I explain. "What happened to the vending machine after I separated from it, anyway?"
Dad laughs and eats some fries. "Oh, it's in the same shape you left it. Looks like a mini Transformer with a soda cannon for an arm. Does have some bullet holes in it. You got a name for that guy?"
I think it over. I could totally keep the name Upgrade for him, it's a pretty cool name and it makes sense. Won't shout it out though. Now that I think about it, what names should I give some other aliens? I don't really like Four Arms, seems too childish for me, same with Way Big. I'll come up with something.
I sip some of my soda before answering. "Yeah, Upgrade. It's simple, and it explains everything about what he can do."
"And that fire guy?"
"Heatblast," I answer with a shrug.
"Cool name. Or, hot name, I guess. I don't know," Dad comments.
The two of us finish eating, after Dad throws the trash away, we head back home.
During the drive, I dial through the Omnitrix, looking at the ten aliens. Well, I really do have the Omnitrix, don't I? Talk about one hell of a morning. But I need to find out why I'm here again, in my body from nine years ago.
I deactivate the hologram and sit back in my seat, looking out the window at the lights in the night sky.
Well, Eric Mercer, welcome to your new life.
Two and a half months later
The next day the four of us go on our road trip, going east first and then hitting the west coast. During the trip I'd occasionally run into criminals, transforming into multiple aliens, and taking them down. Right now, I'm considered a myth in the news world, some conspiracies about me even pop up on the internet.
I even unlocked some new forms like Pinball (My name for Cannonbolt), Argus (Eye Guy), Frankenstrike, Fenris (Blitzwolfer), Tutankhufos (Snare-Oh), Spitter, Wildvine, Upchuck, Ditto, Buzzshock, and Atlas (Way Big), more than doubling my roster. I've never transformed into the last one though, I wanna stay under the radar for as long as possible, and Atlas isn't exactly…subtle.
Now we're nearing the end of the trip—and summer vacation—and we're on our way to California.
I groan in annoyance as Esmeralda throws another crayon at me, this one a forest green.
I give my sister a blank stare as a pink crayon hits my cheek. "Esme, cut it out."
She laughs. "No."
I sigh loudly, my mouth open as she throws yet crayon at me, this one going in my mouth, causing me to choke. I cough violently before spitting out the crayon, some tears running down my face. "Esme, please," I beg.
"Okay," she replies.
Mom turns around from the front, a smile on her face. "You two okay back there?" She then notices the saliva covered crayon. "Ew, gross."
I point at Esmeralda, now immersed in her coloring book. "She tried to kill me. Threw that crayon in my mouth. My life flashed before my eyes."
Mom walks over and rubs my head, giving me a water bottle from the fridge as she walks by it. "Are you okay?"
I take the bottle from her and drink some of it. I cough quickly before nodding. "Yeah, I'm fine."
Mom turns to Esmeralda, catching her attention. "Esmeralda, don't throw crayons at people, okay? It isn't nice. If you do it again, no more Mr. Nova."
Mr. Nova is Esmeralda's stuffed cat, she loves the thing and can't ever go to sleep without it.
Esmeralda's eyes well up in tears, she vigorously nods. "Okay! No take Mr. Nova!" She shouts, hugging the stuffed cat with one arm tightly.
"Apologize to your brother," Mom orders.
Esmeralda looks at me and offers Mr. Nova with a smile. "Sorry."
I smile and pet Mr. Nova's head. "It's okay," I reply.
The RV stops. Dad gets up and walks towards us, resting his hand on Esmeralda's head. "Alright, we're here in good ol' California!" Dad announces. He sighs and looks at Mom with a smile, wrapping an arm around her waist. "It's been way too long since we've been at the beach, hasn't it?"
Mom looks up at him with a similar smile. "It really has, hasn't it? You have no idea how excited I was for this. After days of travelling we're finally at the beach!" She and Dad then kiss.
"Ugh, gross," I mutter, looking at Esmeralda's color book.
Looks like she's coloring a tree, with a cartoon fox and raccoon. She colored the tree and animals with the right colors, but she didn't stay in the lines, so orange, brown, and gray would mix up near the center.
Mom chuckles and kisses my cheek. "Ah, gross, it's like second-hand Dad kissing me," I complain. Dad then kisses my cheek as well. "Dude!"
He slaps the back of my head and goes to get our luggage. "Come on, we gotta check in at the hotel, then we'll sleep considering how late it is. We'll go to the beach tomorrow."
Esmeralda cheers as Mom picks her up. The four of us then enter the hotel, Dad and I bringing the luggage with us. Looking around, I see a multitude of cars in the parking lot, and a group of motorbikes, six in total.
As Mom and Dad talk with the receptionist I look around, finding the hotel to be pretty nice. But while I look, I notice a group of individuals whispering to each other, and thanks to my hearing (which I've found to be really good) I can hear their conversation. "Okay, I hear the boss of this place is gonna be here in two days. You all remember the plan?" One of them says.
I look back at the desk, so as to not grab their attention.
"Yeah, O'Brien, Williams, and I will be here in the lobby," a feminine voice replies. "They'll take out the boss's guards and grab him, I'll make sure everyone in the lobby stays down."
"The two of us will be down in the security room, make sure the guards can't mount an offensive," another feminine voice replies.
"And you, boss?" A fourth voice asks.
Ugh, another boss.
"I'll be in the back, keeping the bikes ready," she pauses. "Tonight, we'll scout things out. All right see you guys in two days," the group disperses.
Dad flicks my forehead. "Hey, we got our room."
I follow the three to an elevator, inside it are two of the people that were planning to hold the owner of this place hostage. They're both women, one of Asian descent with her long hair in a ponytail. The other one catches my attention.
She's a young woman with short, red hair and pale skin. She wears brown jeans and a black leather jacket over a gray shirt. She has a piercing on her left ear, and if I'm right, she'd have three more on her other ear.
This is Rojo, one of the enemies from the original series.
Okay, what the hell?
First, I wake up with an Omnitrix, then, I realize it's a legit Omnitrix, and now Rojo's here!? Next thing you know, I'll be fighting Dr. Animo and his mutant animals at the zoo.
Fascinated, Esmeralda reaches out and pokes Rojo's earring. Mom pulls her back. "Esmeralda, no!" She turns to Rojo with an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry about that, she's a very inquisitive and energetic girl."
Rojo just shrugs with a little smirk. "It's no problem," she then reaches out and pokes Esmeralda's earring.
My sister giggles as the elevator doors open. Rojo and her friend walk forward. "Well, this is our stop. Have a good night you four."
We go up another floor and enter our room. Mom sits down on one of the beds as Dad is in the bathroom, brushing his teeth or something, Esmeralda sits next to me as the two of us watch TV.
"Okay, here's the plan," Mom begins. "We'll be here for two days. Tomorrow morning we'll order some breakfast to be brought here and then go to the beach. After that's done, we'll go around Cali, check the place out. Maybe I'll run into some old friends."
"Old friends?" I ask.
"Oh, yeah, I lived here when I was a kid. My older brother, younger sister, my parents, and I moved here from Mexico when I was a little younger than you," Mom answers. "I made some friends when I went to school here."
"And you think they still live here?" I ask.
"Well, a few did want to get into acting. And what better place than California?" Mom says.
"Point," I agree as Dad walks out of the bathroom. "Those two ladies in the elevator are gonna do something in two days," I say as soon as Dad sits down.
The two look at me confused. "Hm?" They both hum.
"I was able to hear a conversation they were having down at the lobby. Those two and four of their friends are gonna hold the owner of the hotel hostage when they get here in two days," I answer.
Dad hums and rests his head on his hand. "You've always had really good senses."
"Yeah, how come?" I ask.
They both shrug.
I give them a deadpan stare. "Gee, thanks," I get up, dialing the Omnitrix. "I'm gonna deal with them now."
Mom gives me a concerned look. "Are you sure? If they've got a plan, they've gotta be dangerous, Niño. Maybe you should just tell security."
"But how am I gonna prove it? I can't just say I heard them, that'd be pretty damn hard to explain," I reply. "And if I do that it could make things worse. They could move their plans up and hold people hostage, forcing the owner here sooner rather than later."
"How do you know you can take them on tonight?" Dad asks.
"The redhead in the elevator said they'd scout out a proper route for them tonight. Perfect time to strike I'd say," I reply. I then focus on the Omnitrix. "But who do I choose?" I mutter.
Mom scoots over and puts her hands on my shoulders, a concerned look on her face. "Just be careful, okay?"
I smile. "Okay."
I then walk out of the room, with the pretense of wanting a snack from the nearby vending machine. I stop in front of it as another one of Rojo's people walks by. Oooh, Hot Cheetos, I could go for a bag.
As I grab a bag from the machine another one of Rojo's people comes out of the room, joining her friend in the elevator. Looking around, I see no one else in the hallway, so I quickly run to the room and throw the bag on the bed for me and Esmeralda. "Don't touch it!" I shout before running out.
I run down towards the elevator, finally deciding the perfect alien for this occasion. Let's just hope he doesn't go for a revolt.
After the transformation I become a light gray ghost-like being with black lines all over my body with a gaseous appearance. There is one orange eye among the black lines on my head. The Omnitrix crest on my chest.
I float and flex my hands, the claws moving back and forth under my command. Doesn't seem like there's another force in here, but I should be careful.
With a nod, I float through the elevator doors, becoming invisible as the elevator comes up. I float down through it, a group of two more of Rojo's people in it. I then float through the doors at the lobby floor, and I quickly find the two people under Rojo's employ, sitting with another one of their friends.
I float over behind them, the three talking about things not pertaining to their plan. The elevator doors then open, two more coming to join the three. Looks like it's just their leader left.
"Now we just gotta wait for Rojo," one of them says.
"You think we can do this?" Another one asks excitedly.
The one from before rolls her eyes. "Yes, Williams, we can. Have we ever failed before?"
Williams shakes her head. "No. No we have not. Man, I'm just really excited, you know?"
One of the women laughs. "You're always excited, Williams. But then again, we haven't lost now, have we?"
I mentally chuckle. They will now.
Wait, how long until Rojo gets here? If it's for too long their might be a problem. I float back and enter a bathroom. Looks empty now, but there might be people in the stalls. I quickly slam the Omnitrix dial, transforming back to normal in a flash of orange light. I then check to see five minutes on the recharge timer.
Someone comes out of a stall, their eyes wide in surprise. "What was that?" He asks.
"It was…nothing," I skillfully lie as I slowly back out of the bathroom. I poke my head back inside. "Make sure to wash your hands!"
I turn around and bump into someone, falling over. A hand then appears in front of my face, I follow it up to see Rojo, her eyes narrowing once she notices who she bumped into. "You're that kid in the elevator."
I take her hand and dust myself off after she helps me up. "Uh, yeah. Sorry about my sister earlier, by the way."
She waves it off. "Like I said, don't worry about it," she then looks at me with narrowed eyes. "What're you doing down here?"
"Oh, I just wanted to check the place out," I lie. "My sister's running around, and my parents are just letting her. Gets annoying, you know?"
Rojo shrugs. "I guess," she then looks up once her people wave to catch her attention. "You should go back to your room, kid. Don't wanna stay up too late," she walks towards their allies.
Crap. I gotta be careful about taking her out, she might put two and two together and go after us if she ever gets out of prison, and I can't let that happen. I stay back, hiding among the small crowd as the six of them disperse.
Okay, looks like two of them are going to do their own thing; and if I remember correctly, they're gonna deal with security, so they should be first. Three of them stay in the lobby at different points, keeping their eyes out for choke points I'd guess. Rojo enters an elevator, I'll have to find out where she's going later.
Alright, I know what to do.
I go back to the bathroom, again, it's empty, and as I walk by, I look under each stall, making sure they're empty for sure. Good, they are. I enter the last one and dial through the Omnitrix, transforming into Phantasmality, my name for Ghostfreak. It's a fusion of the words phantasm and abnormality.
I'm trying my best, okay?
I turn invisible and intangible and float out of the bathroom, flying down the hallways. Out of the corner of my eye in a secluded hallway, I notice two security guards knocked out, bingo. I fly past the open doors and see the two fighting one of the guards on break, the others knocked out around them, and thanks to that, they can take them out easily. I notice the masks on their faces as well.
The one with an anime cat on her mask nods and gives the one with a flower mask a thumbs up. Flower Mask and Anime Cat then slowly walk towards a door at the back of the room, Anime Cat has a gas grenade in her hand.
Just as they stand on either side of the door, I attack, becoming tangible and slamming into Anime Cat with my shoulder. She drops the grenade, her thumb pulling out the pin.
"Shit!" Flower Mask shouts as the grenade goes off. A cloud of green smoke explodes, enveloping the room.
Thanks to their masks, the two are only blinded, not knocked out if the gas is any indication.
"What the hell!" Flower Mask shouts.
Anime Cat waves the smoke away, but it quickly moves back into place. "It wasn't me! Something slammed into me! That's why I dropped it!"
Flower Mask growls and pulls a walkie-talkie out of her pocket. "Red, we have a probl-"
I quickly slam into her. Once she's on the ground, I lift her by the leg and swing her into Anime Cat, sending the two sprawling to the floor.
"Flower? Flower!" Rojo's voice shouts from the walkie-talkie. "What's going on?"
I become visible and tangible and reach down, grabbing the walkie-talkie and bringing it up to my face. "Basement's haunted," I say in that creepy, raspy voice of an Ectonurite.
"What?"
I make a gun cocking noise. "Basement's haunted," I repeat.
I crush the walkie-talkie.
A shout has my curiosity, then some feet catch my attention.
I shake my head just as someone dropkicks me into the wall, further disorienting me. I quickly become intangible as a fist slams into the wall. I shake my head to see Anime Cat glaring at me from behind the lenses of her mask. "The hell are you!?"
"Phantasmality," I answer.
"What?" She asks, tiliting her head in confusion.
"I'm an alien ghost," I then float through her, causing her to shiver uncontrollably.
With my tail, I grab her by the ponytail and flip her over my head towards Flower, the two collide and slam into the opposite wall, sliding down and out. Two down, three to go.
I hear footsteps rushing towards me. I turn invisible just as three more of Rojo's people come in, someone wearing a sabretooth tiger mask, one with a blue dragon mask, and the last one wearing an anime dog mask.
Dragon immediately notices her two friends slumped on the wall. "Tiger, check on them! Dog, get on that door!"
Tiger kneels down next to Flower and I'd guess Cat. Dragon walks around the area, checking everything. Dog walks up to the door and opens it, quickly tossing in another grenade that knocks out the security guards who just got ready to join in on the fight.
Seeing the opportunity, I float behind Tiger, ready to become visible at any moment.
After finishing her check up of the other two, she turns around, and at that moment I become visible. "BOO!"
Tiger shrieks in fear, hurting my ears. She then crawls away backwards on her hands. Just as Dragon and Dog come back, I become invisible. "What is it?" Dragon asks.
"G-g-g-ghost!" Tiger shouts.
Dog breaks out in laughter, leaning back and resting an arm on her stomach, her other arm on the wall to keep her steady. "Oh my God," she breaks out in laughter again. "I had no idea we stepped into Scooby-Doo! What's next? Is Cat gonna lose her glasses?"
Dragon slaps Dog upside the head before looking around. "You heard that voice on the radio, the raspy one?"
"Oh, wow. Yeah, I did, but you really don't think it was ghost, do you?" Dog says in disbelief. "I mean, it could've been someone with a voice changer, we have those," she replies with her voice, in fact, changed
Tiger calms down and gets up with Dragon's help. "Dammit, Dog, I know what I saw," she affirms. "It's gray with black lines all over its body. Has an orange eye, too."
"Hey, what's going on down there?" Rojo asks.
"Nothing, Red, just Tiger being superstitious again," Dog replies.
"Doesn't matter, take this seriously," Rojo—or Red—chastises. "Things got a little higher stakes."
"How so?" Dragon asks.
Hm, I'm interested as well.
"Just looked on the computer in the owner's office. Guess who's coming in two days, girls?" Red asks.
"Who? Bruce Wayne?" Dog says with a roll of her eyes.
"Exactly."
I blink.
Bruce. Wayne.
As in the Batman, Bruce Wayne?
Holy crap.
Oh, now that I think about it, I vaguely remember Mom and Dad talking about Gotham as one of the places for our trip as we were leaving Arizona, granted, Mom was vehemently against it. I thought Gotham was New York, that's one of its nicknames, right?
Wait, but that means…
I'm in the DC Universe.
Oh crap.
"Oh, crap," Tiger whispers.
"Get serious you three, we can't have any mistakes, got it?" Rojo reminds.
The three nod. "Got it," the walkie-talkie is then put away.
"Dog, get the weapons out of here, can't let the guards use 'em," Dragon orders. "Tiger, make sure no one's dead, don't want any corpses to ruin our plans."
The two of them then walk away, leaving Dragon alone in the current room.
Now's as good a time as any.
I fly forward, becoming tangible and punch Dragon in the face, her head colliding with the wall and knocking her out instantly. I then float through the wall to find Dog on her own, putting the armory of weapons in a few bags.
I float behind her and tap her shoulder. She looks around. "Tiger? Dragon?" I tap the other shoulder. Dog growls in annoyance and whips around, again, seeing nothing. "Alright, I get it, you think you're funny. Cut it out and be serious."
"Funny coming from you," I whisper.
Dog stiffens and looks around. "W-who said that."
I float in front of her and become visible. "I did."
Dog screams before turning around and running away, slamming into the wall, knocking herself out.
That's a first.
Tiger walks over. "Dog? You okay…" Her voice trails off as she notices me floating above the weapons.
I wave at her. "Hi."
She falls over.
Okay, all that's left is Rojo.
As I float past a group of guards coming towards the monitor room the Omnitrix begins to beep. Panicking, I fly forward faster, going through some walls and flying into a bin of sheets from room service. As the employee looks away, the Omnitrix times out, transforming me back to normal.
I quickly hop out of the bin, tossing sheets and blankets all over the place, much to the employee's chagrin. I ignore their shout of indignation as I run to the elevator, quickly pressing the button to the highest floor.
The doors open, showing another floor of the hotel, this one a little higher end, but it doesn't look like the one I want.
From a room to my right a couple in their later years comes into the hallway. The man looks at me with an arched brow. "What are you doing here, child?"
"No reason," I quickly reply, looking around. "Hey, you see a red-haired lady with a leather jacket around here somewhere?"
The woman scoffs. "As if we'd let someone wearing clothing of that stature up here. Which reminds me, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be with the middle-class?"
Oh, great, they're posh jerks. Lovely.
From down the hallway behind them I notice a group of security guards around an elevator, a technician with them. "Sorry, outta the way," I say as I push between the two, ignoring their cries of protests.
One of the security guards notices me and raises a hand to stop me. "Hold it, kid. nothing to see here," he then raises an eyebrow and looks at his watch. "It's pretty late, shouldn't you be in bed right now?"
I groan in annoyance as I move forward, trying to look over the other two security guards and technician. "What's going on here?" I ask, ignoring the first guard.
Another guard turns around and puts his hand in front of him, standing between me and the elevator. "Nothing for you to worry about, kid," he then arches an eyebrow. "Shouldn't you-"
"I already asked that," the first guard interrupts.
"Alright," he then bends down to be eye level with me. "Kurt here's gonna take you back to your hotel room, got it?"
I mentally sigh. It'd be too much of a hassle to fight them on this. "It's okay, I'll just go back on my own. Thanks for the offer though!"
The two nod and let me by, going back to focusing on the elevator.
Seems like there are special elevators that go up to the very top floor, and Rojo managed to hijack one of them, and since an announcement hasn't been made about this, I'd guess they'd rather keep everything under wraps. Works for me.
I enter the elevator, and would you look at that, I'm alone. With a smirk, I transform into my Nosedeenian form, Buzzshock.
I become a small, black creature with an orange lighting bolt stripe going down the center of my body, both back and front. I have two fingers and a thumb on each hand and a grey spot on my head, I have two black bolts on my arms with orange circles around them. I also have a positive and negative symbol on my back. The Omnitrix crest on the center of my chest.
With a high-pitched cackle, I become electricity and run up the cables of the elevator, hopping over to the cables of the broken elevator and hop through the closed doors into the top floor. I then become normal and look around to see an extremely lavish floor with white and gold walls, intricate designs along the walls as well.
I also notice a trail of knocked out guards all over the place, some smoke grenades along the floor. I follow the trail of grenades to a massive set of double doors, both open. Strangely enough, I don't hear anything in the room.
Curious, I slowly walk in, peeking my head inside and looking around. Nothing.
I tiptoe in, just to hear something get tied up.
As fast as my little legs can carry me, I run to the noise just to find Rojo tied up to the chandelier, the window next to her open, letting the air in.
Who the hell did this?
I float up, but during my flight I facepalm. I could've flown here instead of run. Man, I am an idiot at times.
I float next to Rojo to see she's unconscious. But that isn't what catches my attention. Instead, the little bat charm at the end of the rope does.
Okay, so…Batman was just here.
Don't freak out, Eric. Don't. Freak. Out.
…
I let out a high-pitched shriek that causes the lights in the room to flicker. While I'm shrieking, I fly around rapidly, a trail of electricity following me.
Batman was here. Batman was here! BATMAN WAS HERE!
I stop suddenly, nearly slamming into the wall. So, Bruce Wayne's already here, but it seems like he's only being active as Batman, seeing as he isn't supposed to be here at this hotel for another two days. But wouldn't people be asking questions about Batman being in California just a few days before Bruce Wayne?
With a nod, I float forward and twist the bat charm off the rope, covering his tracks. He'll thank me later.
The sound of a multitude of guards running towards the room reaches my ears. "Well, gotta blast," I then become electric—the bat charm as well—and fly into an electrical outlet, flowing through the building's electricity for a moment before arriving in our room.
I look to see Esmeralda asleep in bed, Mom and Dad staying up, occasionally looking at the door in worry, thanks to my rather eccentric arrival they quickly turn around. Mom rushes forward and hugs me tightly. "Eric! Are you okay?"
I nod. "Yeah, totally fine. Can you please let go? I gotta transform back."
Once Mom lets go, I slap the Omnitrix dial, becoming human again. I open my fist to see the bat charm in my hand, something Dad notices. "Is that what I think it is?"
I smile and give it to Mom. "Yeah! The leader was in the owner's suite. But Batman was there also and managed to capture her! Pretty awesome, huh?"
They both study the charm. "Yeah, I guess so," Dad admits. "Go to sleep, we've got a busy day tomorrow."
I give Dad a mock salute before grabbing some clothes to change into. After that's done, I get in the bed, careful not to wake Esmeralda up, and smirk in the dark.
I was in the same building as Batman.
Wait.
I open the light on the table in the middle and look around, finding the bag of chips in the trash can.
"Who ate my Hot Cheetos!?" I shout.
Dad has a guilty look on his face as he faces the other way. Mom points at him with a smirk. "I'll give you three guesses."
"I'll get you back for this," I promise as I turn off the light, the three of us going to sleep.
Esmeralda sits and watches in wonder as Mom and I build a sandcastle, my tongue peeking out as I carefully build a wall.
We've been at the beach for about an hour now, and during that time we noticed the increased security of the place, and the lack of any kind of announcement regarding Rojo and her gang. Looks like they aren't saying anything, most likely worried about their business, or Mr. Wayne's, at least.
"Eric, hand me the shovel," Mom says, still focusing on her part of the castle as she waves her hand out.
I reach over and hand it to her, but I make sure to tap Esmeralda on the head with it, smirking at her as she jolts in surprise. "Here you go, Mom."
She grabs the shovel and gets some more sand, adding to the castle. After a few minutes, the two of us finish, sitting with Esmeralda and marveling our work. "We did pretty good," Mom praises, the two of us high five. She then looks around. "Where is your dad?"
"Hey, Ashley!" We turn around to see Dad walking towards us, a blonde woman with green eyes holding a brunet kid a little older than Esmeralda in her arms. "Look who I found!"
Mom squints as she studies the woman, then her eyes widen in surprise and she gets up and runs towards the woman to hug her. "Sandra! How are you? Who's this little guy?"
"Ashley! Wow, it's great to see you again," she then nods to her son. "This little man here is Travis."
Mom waves to him. "Well, hello there, Travis! My name's Ashley, I'm an old friend of your mom's!"
The kid blinks before digging his head into the crook of his mom's neck. She looks at Mom with an apologetic smile. "Sorry about that, Travis is pretty shy," she then notices me and my sister. "Oh! And who are these two?"
Mom turns around with a smile. "That there's my baby boy, Eric-"
"Hey."
"And that's…" Mom trails off. I turn around to see Esmeralda's lower half sticking out of the now destroyed sandcastle. Her head pokes out of the other end and she coughs up some sand before laughing. Mom sighs and shakes her head in amusement. "Esmeralda, my crazy little princess."
Sandra chuckles and puts Travis down, the kid hides behind her leg. "Nice to meet you."
I wave. "Nice to meet you, too," I look to see some giant pretzels in Dad's hands, so I jump up and grab one from him, sitting back down and eating it. "Thanks."
Dad gives me a deadpan stare. "You're welcome."
Dad, Mom, and Sandra then get in a conversation, talking about boring adult things that I'll no doubt get involved in at some point in the future. Such is the curse of growing up.
While I muse, Travis walks up to me, standing next to me and looking at the pretzel in my hand. I turn to look at him, causing him to flinch. "Sorry," I softly say. I then tear off half of the pretzel and offer it to him with a smile. "Here ya go."
"D-d-don't you want it all?" He whispers.
I shrug. "I'll just take half of my Dad's, no need to worry about it, dude."
He gingerly takes the piece and begins eating it and sits down next to me. The two of us watch as Esmeralda gets out of the sand and walks towards us, sitting down and holding out her hand for a pretzel. With a sigh, I tear off a part of mine and give it to her.
"Yay! Pretzy!" She cheers before chomping on it.
"She's extremely energetic. Outgoing, too," I explain to Travis. "Gets it from our Dad."
"W-what about you?" Travis asks.
"I'm more on the calm and collected. Cool, too. Get that from my Mom," I answer with a smug smirk. "What about you, get anything from your parents?"
Travis looks down, his eyes welling up in tears. Crap. I quickly capture his attention. "Hey! You don't need to say anything, alright?" I hope he doesn't cry, don't wanna make Mom mad at me for making her friend's son cry.
Travis sniffles and wipes his eyes, nodding. "Thank you."
Oh, thank you. If he had cried things would've been pretty damn awkward.
"Oh! Sorry, but we really have to go," Sandra says, catching our attention. She then hands her phone to Mom. "We really should keep in contact! Maybe even set up a playdate with Travis and his new friends."
Travis looks up at me. "Are we friends?"
Holy crap how can I say no to that?
I nod and give him a fist bump. "Of course."
Travis smiles and gets up, walking over to his mom. "Well, see you guys later!" Sandra waves as she and her son leave, Travis waving as well.
Dad sits down next to me, and at that moment I leap on him, reaching for the pretzel and making a whole bunch of noises as he keeps the pretzel away from me. "Cut it out, you feral raccoon! You already had a pretzel!"
"I ate like a fourth of it!" I shout. "Give me half of yours!"
"Is it my fault!? You did what you did, live with the consequences, Eric!" Dad shouts, eating practically half of the pretzel in one go.
"You ate my chips! I need repayment for that!" I argue.
"You bought those chips with my money!" Dad counters.
I shout and renew my efforts. Dad gets up trying to throw me off of him, but it doesn't work, I just stick to him like a sticker to a game case.
Mom shakes her head and laughs at our antics.
The rest of the day goes by pretty fast, the four of us going around California, seeing things like the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz (from a distance, don't wanna bring a baby to that place), and Hollywood's Walk of Fame.
Eventually, the day comes to an end, and the next day comes. As we're leaving, we notice a limo pulling into the parking lot of the hotel. From it, comes a man in his early to mid-twenties with black hair and blue eyes. Hello, Bruce Wayne. Next to him is a kid a few years older than me, the same physical traits. If Batman's still early in his career I'd have to say that's Dick Grayson.
Now I can say I've been in the same area as one of the best superheroes ever and my favorite Robin. Check that off the bucket list.
As we drive out of California and towards Seattle, Esmeralda begins coloring again. After she's done, she throws crayons at me. Again.
I sigh deeply and sink in my seat. "This is gonna be a looong trip."
And a long trip it was.
Even though there were only a few states left, Esmeralda's crayon tossing made things feel much, much longer. Eventually we travel to the rest of the western states, completing our road trip of the United States two weeks before school starts back up. Hooray.
Oh crap, I have to restart the fifth grade.
DAMMIT UNIVERSE! WHY DID YOU DO THIS TO ME!?
And that's the end of year one!
Sorry it was only a few days though. When writing this chapter, I quickly realized that writing the whole thing would be way too much, and this chapter would probably be absolutely massive. So, I decided it'd be a pretty normal year for Eric, well, as normal as getting an Omnitrix would be. I mean, it's his first year, other than it being when he starts his superhero career, not a lot happens during year one for superheroes. But as the years go on, we'll get more. I mean, next year's when he fights Animo for the first time, something I mentioned in the last chapter, that's when things start to get insane.
Next time we get back to canon (semi-canon? Justice League Unlimited never did have an Omnitrix wielder now, did it) with Initiation! There'll be one more original chapter and then back to canon again.
Oh, I also put in two references, both back-to-back, see if you can find them!
But yeah, thank you for sticking with this okay story for so long, I really do appreciate it.
Well, that's all from me. If you have any questions or want to leave a constructive review you know where to leave 'em! Remember to stay awesome and see you next time you beautiful people!
