And here we are with the second flashback chapter! As previously stated, this'll be the real start of Eric's superhero career.
While reading Dark Nights Death Metal I got the idea to write a third Justice League story, this one about a Japanese demigod who's one of the founding members of the Justice League. I'd take a lot of inspiration from the New 52, Rebirth, and DCAMU, I think I might write it, who knows. But when thinking it over I realized, I'm planning a lot of DC stories, holy shit! Guess I might just be a DC writer.
Which leads to another point, my X-Men story, A Sinister Past. Now, when writing this and The Vitruvian Man I realized: I don't have an endgame in mind for that story, and I feel like that's why I'm so unsure of it right now. The plan's to put that story on the backburner while I focus on these two (and maybe my third DC story). When I go over it again, I'll also go through a major rewrite of the thirty chapters already published after coming up with a set ending.
Thanks for coming to my TED Talk.
Now, to reply to some reviews!
MythicalParadox: Answering your question would answer the same on in a lot of reviews-the resurrection protocol in Eric's Omnitrix was another feature that was locked. Also, he knows the first three series very well, with a little knowledge on Omniverse and next to nothing about the reboot. But in this universe Bezel isn't a janitor, more on that later.
yukid999: Y'know, I think I'm gonna implement that somewhere. And the puking on Oscar the Grouch. Man, comics are weird.
MMStudios: Thanks for the compliment, and yes, the life-saving features are now activated. Though the best alien for the job thing might not be needed, seeing as Eric's pretty tactical and doesn't need the Omnitrix for that.
Beast Mode92: Funny you ask that, I actually have an Esmeralda planned spin-off planned for sometime now, as well as other stories to expand this universe. More on that later.
trollzor69: Yeah, like the scanning, that function wasn't active before his resurrection, but Eric doesn't know about it yet.
Raidentensho: Man, your reviews are scary with what you say. You'll understand soon. Real soon.
Ben 10 Fun Fact 3: Each alternate Goop has a different flavor. Ben's Goop is lime flavored, Albedo's is raspberry flavored, and so on and so forth.
Well, that's all from me, on with the story!
Triumph
Year two
"What are you doing?"
I jump in surprise and drop the lock pick and cookie jar to the ground. I turn around to see Dad standing behind me. He's wearing his fluffy red and blue robe and has a cup of steaming coffee in his grasp. His eyes also have bags under them.
I blink before looking away, back at him, then away again. "Um…nothing?"
Dad arches his eyebrows. "Ah, yes, nothing. Nothing absolutely looks like you practicing lock picking in the garage. Nothing totally looks like you don't have your hand in the literal cookie jar-"
"To be fair, I haven't unlocked it yet."
"-Nothing absolutely looks like you're using the wrong pin," Dad finishes.
"Hold up, qué (what)?" I ask.
Dad brings another, longer pin in front of my face. "Use this one, you'll find your efforts much easier."
I do as Dad says, and would you look at that, the lock…unlocks, like that! I look up at Dad with an arched brow. "How do you know that?"
It's Dad's turn to look guilty. "Don't tell your mother."
"As long as you don't tell her I'm going out to patrol at night," I respond.
Dad purses his lips but nods, nonetheless. "Deal," he sits down next to me as the two of us share a cookie. If we take more than one Mom will find out, and it'd be bad. "How is it? Being a superhero?"
"It's fun, really," I answer. "Though I don't know how I feel about my lack of supervillains. I mean, on one hand, it's great, no need to worry about anything more dangerous then well-armed crooks. But on the other, it gets kinda boring, having no one to really test me, you know?"
"I guess I understand," Dad sighs deeply and becomes serious, something which is rather rare, but when it happens, I'm sure to listen. "Look, it's obvious how your mom feels about this, you being a superhero and all, but I need to tell you how I feel. I don't like it, but I know I can't stop you. You're still a boy, my boy, but you've always been wiser than kids your age, so I know you won't bite off more than you can chew. I'll keep your secret, as long as you promise to not actively seek out danger. Promise?" Dad holds his pinky out.
"I promise," we then do a pinky swear. We then get up and enter the house, Dad puts the cookie jar back up above the fridge, which would normally be out of reach for myself and definitely Esmeralda. "What now?"
Dad scratches the back of his head before yawning and drinking the rest of his coffee, wincing as the hot liquid travels down his throat. "You wanna help with my car?"
I shrug before hopping off the counter. "Sure."
The two of us walk into the garage where we see Dad's car waiting for us. I'll be honest, I'm not much of a car guy, so I couldn't even hope to tell you what make and model it is, all I do know is that it's pretty cool looking, and Dad loves it, so it must be a good car.
That and it looks a lot like Kevin's car in Alien Force and Ultimate Alien. But it's white and has four doors instead of two.
"Okay, here's the real plan. You're gonna upgrade my car," Dad says.
I look up at him blankly. "Seriously? We're not gonna really work on it?"
"No! What? Of course we are! You'll fuse with the car and get the upgrades I want!" Dad replies.
"Mm, so we're not gonna work on it, I'm gonna work on it," I fold my arms and stare up at him.
He looks back at me, his eyes squinted before he sighs and looks at his car. "Kid, you have no idea how much of a pain it is to pay for gas. At first you think "oh, I won't have to pay too much, maybe twenty bucks every now and again," but nooo, it all decides to pile up and BOOM, you've now spent as much dollars in gas as you would renting an apartment in Cali for a year."
I just blink as I continue to stare up at him. God, I hate being short, who's genes are these from anyway? Both Mom and Dad are tall. Whatever, I just sigh before dialing the Omnitrix. "Fine. But you owe me!"
Dad just salutes with a massive smile on his face. "Of course I do, kiddo! Go upgrade my car!"
I sigh again before slamming the dial down, becoming Upgrade in the process. I then shift into my liquid form and fuse with the car. "All right, what kind of changes do you want? Other than a car that doesn't guzzle gas."
Dad cups his chin before humming and walking around me, sipping his coffee as he does. "A radio that doesn't flip out every now and again would be nice. And definitely need to make the AC and heater more effective, those things make me hate the summer and winter so much. Ooh, and maybe make the engine a little quieter, your mom really hates how loud it can get sometimes."
Yeah, I do too, what with my freakishly good hearing.
Which leads to something else, I learned I have enhanced physical capabilities. A few months after the road trip ended, I was in a collapsing building, helping the people get out. Once the last person escaped, the Omnitrix decided to time out, just as a massive slab of stone was coming at me. Naturally, I was terrified at first, but my reaction was to try and hold it up, maybe that'd stop it from crushing me, and guess what? It worked! After getting away from that, I had a quick little test run on myself, and that's how I learned about my enhanced physical prowess.
But that's not all, I also learned I can sense magic, mana to be precise. Well, I think it's mana, I've never seen magic in action before, but lately I've been getting this weird feeling that I sense in the air, which is what I think to be the natural mana of the world. And then I started to sense Esmeralda's mana.
So yeah, my sister's capable of being a mage. Awesome.
"Hey."
I move my eye over to see Dad tapping the hood of the car, a concerned look on his face. "You okay?"
I raise my head from the hood and begin to upgrade the vehicle. "Yeah, just thinking about stuff is all."
"About what?" Dad goes for another drink of his coffee, but nothing comes out, he turns the mug upside down and shakes it a bit before shrugging and putting the mug on the worktable.
I'm now working on the AC and heater by the time I reply. "Mine and Esmeralda's powers."
Dad hums and leans on the table. "It's weird, isn't it? Having powers?"
I finish the project and return to Upgrade's normal, semi-liquid state. "No? I mean, I've had these powers for as long as I can remember," both a lie and the truth. "So I guess it's only weird because I know I have these abilities. Last year when I ran around as XLR8 and crashed into the wall? I didn't really feel anything from that, and now I know why."
Dad nods. "I see what you mean. Then there's the whole thing about Esmeralda being able to use magic. Never thought that'd happen, my little girl, a mage."
"Daddy! Eric!"
We both look to see said little girl waiting at the door to the garage. Her clothes are disheveled, a sign of her insane amount of energy, even when sleeping, she can't sit still. She hurries down the stairs before running over to my leg and hugging it.
I reach down and pat her back before she runs over and hugs Dad's leg, he then reaches down and picks her up. "And how are you, Princess?" He asks as he kisses her cheek.
She laughs before hugging around Dad's neck. "Good! Food!"
"Right, you want food, you get food," Dad turns to me. "You hungry too?"
I slap the dial and transform back to normal. "I could get something quick to eat. But shouldn't we wait for Mom? You aren't the best cook out there."
Dad huffs and turns his head away as the three of us go to the kitchen. He puts Esmeralda in her seat as I sit down next to her. "I'll have you know I can make some food!"
I give him a deadpanned stare as Esmeralda plays with one of my fingers. "Uh-huh. Sure."
Dad rolls his eyes before getting some ingredients out of the fridge. "Besides, your mom's asleep. You know how she is in the mornings. Which has me wondering, how are you awake right now? You're just as bad as her."
"I knew now would be the best time to, uh..." my eyes dart to the stairs, I listen and still here Mom sleeping. "practice my "project"."
"Ah, got it," Dad whispers back with a nod. "Must've sucked getting up though, huh?"
"Holy crap I hated it," I groan. "I never wanna wake up early ever again."
Dad laughs before leaning on the counter next to the stove. "Hate to break it to you, Er, but it's gonna happen again throughout your life. Especially if you're gonna be a superhero."
At that last word Esmeralda pretty much goes ballistic. She's crazy about superheroes, even if she turned three this last Spring. The thing is, in this universe, the current era of superheroes is relatively new in the public sense of the word. Guys like Batman, Superman, and Green Lantern Hal Jordan are out there, but not much else, even Wonder Woman hasn't debuted yet.
Then there's me. There're rumors of monsters out there, if one were to look online they'd find photos of me all over the United States, but most pictures come from here, Arizona, so people are sure there are "monsters" here, even though they're aliens. They'll learn at some point. I mean, as much as I want to stay hidden, I know that at some point I'll become public. Best to delay that though.
"Supahero! Supahero!" Esmeralda chants as she waves her hands around excitedly.
"Ugh, who mentioned superheroes again?" Mom groans as she walks downstairs. She has a deep frown on her face as she rubs her eye and stretches out her other arm, yawning as she does. "Dios mio, I hate mornings. Hi, babies."
She then walks over and kisses me and Esmeralda on our cheeks before kissing Dad on the lips, she then sniffs the air before looking at the stove. "You're…cooking."
Dad nods and has a large, goofy smile on his face. "Yes I am, my love! Want some?"
Mom purses her lips and looks at Dad before nodding towards the bathroom. "I just got up, let me get ready. If the foods done while I'm in the shower, oh well."
She turns around and quickly heads upstairs, she gives me a quick wink before she's gone.
Smart lady.
See, Mom's cooking is the best food I've ever eaten, if anything I'd take her food over any five-star chef's any day of the week, Dad on the other hand… It isn't abysmal, it's just average, like, there's literally no flavor. I bring it up any chance I can, Mom on the other hand would rather avoid it, after all, Dad always gets excited to cook if it gives Mom the chance to rest, it's cute when he does that. Yet, Mom always deftly avoids eating his food, even after knowing him for what? Fifteen years now? But maybe that's how she avoids it, she's known him for so long she knows what to say. I should learn from her.
Dad puts a plate of the breakfast in front of me, he has another for himself and Esmeralda. "Well, she's gonna miss out! All right, dig in!"
I purse my lips before eating. Yup, it's bland. As we eat Dad looks at me. "What's the plan for this Saturday?"
"Gonna go on a quick patrol, hangout with Kyle, and then work on my martial arts," I answer before drinking some juice. "Judo's surprisingly easy."
"I think it's because of your powers," Dad theorizes as he wipes some milk from Esmeralda's chin. "I mean, you understand things at a faster rate too, don't you? Maybe it isn't limited to physical things but mental as well."
"Oh, that is so cool," I breath. My stomach rumbles again as I finish my plate. "Sucks that I have to eat so much though."
"Well, transforming does take energy, doesn't it?" Dad wonders. "Go get some more food, your mom will understand."
"Mm, she'll understand all right," I mutter as I begrudgingly get more bland food. Seriously, how the hell does he do it? Making food bland should be impossible, right? Maybe he gets conflicting recipes? Or maybe it's how he does magic? Question for another day.
I empty the pan and sit at the table, and would you look at that, Mom decides to come downstairs now. She walks over and tsks before shrugging her shoulders. "Whoops, looks like I took too long. Sorry, mi amor."
"(Are you really?)" I whisper.
Mom just gives me a cheeky smirk before grabbing a bowl of cereal. "So, as you all know, my sister and her family are on their way here from Oregon, Eric, clean your room."
"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know the four of them were sleeping in my room," I reply. "Besides, it's winter, shouldn't they be in school?"
"They're on their Christmas break earlier than here," Mom answers before throwing her chancla at the back of my head. "And you still have to clean your room, your cousin is gonna sleep in there."
I groan as I get up and drop my head on Mom's side. "C'mon, Mom, you know how I am about my room."
She smiles and pats my cheek. "Sorry, Er, but they can't all sleep in the guest room."
"Says who? We could totally fit them in there if we really tried," I reply.
"Eric…" Mom warns.
I sigh in defeat. "Fine. But there's another problem: my patrols. How do we explain me disappearing for periods of time without them finding out I'm all those aliens?"
Mom has a frown on her face as she sighs as well. "Well, do you really have to patrol? I mean, Phoenix isn't as bad as Gotham or Metropolis, they can survive a holiday break without you."
I have a matching frown. "Mom, I can't just leave Phoenix unprotected for weeks."
"Phoenix has survived centuries without you, it can go a few weeks without a superhero," Mom replies.
"I can't just do that!" I retort. "I-I can protect it now, so I need to. You understand?"
"Ashley," Dad says. "Let Eric do his thing, he gained a lot of things from you, and a stubborn will is one of them," he then turns to me. "Your patrols can't be too long, an hour at most, and when you go on them and come back, you'd better have a story, 'cause we won't always be able to cover you."
Mom and I look at each other, she has a worried look in her eyes and a slight frown before she caresses my cheek and nods. "Listen to your father."
I nod and put my hands over her hand. "I will, thanks," I then kiss her cheek before running to the stairs. "Gonna take a shower!"
A few minutes later, I get out of the bathroom after getting ready before heading over to my room. I open the door and look inside, my eyes scanning over. I make sure my room's at least easy to clean should the need arise. And hey, at least my room's way cleaner than Kyle's, like, holy crap, I wonder if he even knows what color the carpet in his room is.
I fiddle with the Omnitrix and play with the idea of becoming XLR8 to clean my room, but I decide against it, after all, if I use the Omnitrix to deal with everything that comes my way I'll become overly reliant on it, and I don't want that.
With a sigh, I begin to clean up my room, but before that I start playing some music from my phone, Nirvana to be exact.
As Heart-Shaped Box starts playing I hear a knock on the door frame, and I turn around to see Mom leaning on it. "Hey, can I come in?"
I head over to my desk and pause the music before nodding.
Mom walks over and sits down at the edge of my bed, she then scoots over a little and pats down next to her, I oblige and sit down.
Mom looks at me for a moment and pushes some strands of hair back before pulling me into a hug and kissing the top of my head. "(I'm scared for you, boy. The life you're leading, right now it's not so dangerous, but soon…)" She trails off and holds back a sob.
I quickly hug Mom as she rubs my back and hums the lullaby she'd sing for me and Esmeralda. "(I know, Mom, but I have to do this, no one else will. I'm sorry.)"
Mom wipes her tears away and pulls out of the hug, I can see a proud smile on her face as she lifts my chin up. "(It's okay, love, just be careful, okay?)"
I nod. "(Okay.)"
She kisses my forehead one more time before getting up and heading to the open door. "I'm gonna get started on cleaning the living room, when you're done here clean the kitchen, then you can go on your patrol."
I get up and grab some of the clothes on my chair to put them in the basket. "Okay, Mom. I love you."
I can't see it, but I know she's smiling. "I love you too, Eric."
I resume the music and continue to clean.
As I grab one of my jeans a folded piece of paper falls out of it. I put the pants down into the basket and unfold the paper. Oh, right, I was wanting to make a hoverboard. Thing is, I need to get the right materials, I can't just make it out of thin air, or can I? I'll work on it later.
I put the unfolded paper on my desk and look around my room. Okay, all my clothes are in the basket, ready to clean, now I just need to vacuum this place and fix up anything that needs fixing, shouldn't be too hard.
I hear something fall over and the muted thump of stuff hitting the floor. I slowly turn around to see my basket of clothes is now upturned, and by listening I can hear some laughter underneath the pile. I shake my head before crouching down and lifting the basket, I then toss my clothes aside to reveal a laughing Esmeralda beneath the pile of clothes.
"Eric!" She shouts.
I stare at her blankly before I break out into a smile and pick her up. "Esme, do you have any idea how long it took for me to get all my clothes in there?"
She tilts her head curiously. "No?"
"Well, not very long, so it's no big deal, really," I shrug. "But seriously, don't flip whatever you want over, you never know what could hurt you if it falls on you, okay?"
"Okay," she nods vigorously before putting her arms around my neck and resting her head on my shoulder. "Tummy hurt."
I frown slightly before sitting down with her on my lap. "Oh? Do you know why?"
She just shakes her head.
Could it be her mana? I mean, it's possible, but this early? She's only three, but then again, magic users tend to be born with that skill, so age doesn't really matter for them, does it?
I flop back and lay down with her as the two of us look up at the ceiling to my room. "I'm sure it'll pass. If it doesn't, you can tell Mom or Dad, okay?"
"Okay," Esmeralda nods. The two of us lay down for a moment before she gets up and hops off my bed, she then walks out of my room, tripping on some clothes on the way to the door. I smirk before getting up and putting my clothes in the basket again.
I then head over to the washing machine to find Dad already there, putting in his and Mom's clothes. The two of us look at each other as he puts in the detergent. "This here machine ain't big enough for all our clothes," he says with a horrible cowboy accent.
"Well, guess I'll leave these here for later," I reply in an equally horrible accent.
I put the basket down and head back to my room, but on the way the news catches my attention. "And as you can see, these strangely dressed criminals have managed to drive away in their strange vehicle to help in there getaway, the hostage in their possession also makes this far more difficult for the police to deal with."
I quickly turn around and head towards the living room, as I walk by Dad notices. "What is it?"
"Criminals in a getaway car, they got a hostage," I answer as I dial the Omnitrix.
"Don't be too destructive, all right?" Dad advises.
"Of course," I then slam the dial down and become XLR8 and speed out of the house towards the crime.
Thanks to my speed I quickly arrive, and it's just as chaotic as expected. There are three cop cars and a helicopter keeping pace with the high-tech looking black car, a news chopper next to the police copter.
As I slow down just behind the strange vehicle, I can hear the reporter in the helicopter. "And would you look at that! It seems one of the monster heroes have come to save the day! Michael, zoom in. And it seems to be the raptor with superspeed! Looks like these criminals are already done for, they just don't know it yet!"
Right, they don't know that all of my forms are one person. Or that they're aliens, not monsters, oh well. I've also realized, I just made my public debut, huh? Well, so much for staying a rumor.
I run up beside the back windows and peer inside. Oh, shit.
It's the Forever Knights.
What the hell?
Why am I surprised? I ran into Rojo last year, the Forever Knights shouldn't be too surprising. Besides, most of the time these guys aren't that big of a deal. Doesn't mean I shouldn't take them seriously though.
Okay, but XLR8 might not be the best to take them all down, but I can at least get the hostage out. The guy on the right side of the car had lighter weapons on him, an energy pistol as far as I could see, of course, he could have an LMG hidden for all I know, but if I move fast, he won't know what hit him.
I speed up and go to the other side of the car and punch the window, I then cut the seatbelt around the Knight with my claws and pull him out of the car. I drop him down on the side of the highway for one of the cop cars to come and get him before I run back to the car. Okay, hostage time.
I hurry back to the car and peek inside, but then I narrowly avoid a laser shotgun blast. Look's like they're aware of my plan, this could suck. New plan of attack, stop the car, but how? I could slash the tires out, but that could make the car get out of control, putting the kid in harm's way. And even if I get them all out of the car that doesn't count for the car itself, what if it falls off the highway and lands on people? Can't let that happen.
Oh. Oh, that's perfect.
Well, time to show the world that all the "monsters" are really a shapeshifter. But I gotta do this quick, I lose time by transforming. I quickly slap the crest and become my Lepidopterran form, Stinkfly.
I have a big-like body with four legs and two arms, my exoskeleton is a dark green color. I have a tail with a large, sharp end, and my hands have three claws on them, I also have two, large, light-green wings and two smaller ones on my back and four pedunculated eyes that are orange with black lines as pupils. I wear a body suit that has a black back with an orange front, black lines in a V shape go down the front of the suit. I also have black finger-less gloves and a black mask over my face. The Omnitrix crest is in the center of my mask.
"Unbelievable," the reporter whispers. "It seems all of the monsters are really just one! A shapeshifter to protect Phoenix!"
I fly next to shotgun and avoid shots from a machine gun. Some manage to hit me in the leg, but thanks to my enhanced abilities and exoskeleton the energy shots just leave scorch marks, though I feel a slight stinging sensation.
"Gah! What is that smell!?" I hear one of them shout.
I sigh in annoyance before punching through the roof of the car and pulling the guy in shotgun out. He tries to shoot me with his assault rifle, but with my eyes I shoot some slime that clogs up the barrel and wraps his arms to his sides. Two down, two to go.
Thanks to my lower left eye I can see the guy with the shotgun stick his upper body out of the car. He aims the gun at me, I quickly shoot some slime at his helmet, blinding him and causing him to shoot out the tire just in front of the driver's seat. Crap.
The car veers out of control, and I can hear the hostage scream in terror as the driver swears and tries to get everything under control. Eh, may as well help.
I fly forward and shoot some more slime at the wreck of a tire, the slime connects the tire with the road and stretches out, slowing the car down greatly. I then do the same with the other tires, causing the car to stop. I quickly fly to the car and pull the driver out; I then punch him hard in the face and knock him out. Three down, one to go.
I hear some struggling and turn around to see the Knight with the shotgun walking out of the car, he then stands on the edge of the highway, his back to the ledge, as the kid struggles in his grip, the shotgun is being waved around at the cops and myself. Mostly me.
"Stay back, heathens! Or else the child and I will take a great fall!" He threatens.
Crap. I can't transform into XLR8 again to save the kid, the Omnitrix doesn't have enough energy for another transformation. And the guy's body language tells me he's on edge, like he'll jump off the highway if we look at him wrong.
Wait a minute.
I quickly shoot forward, the Knight sees me coming and quickly jumps back, the kid shrieking as the two fall down. I ignore the shouts from the people watching and swoop past the two to see some pillars holding up the highway and some buildings in close proximity to each other. Perfect.
With all four of my eyes I shoot out slime simultaneously, which creates a net that catches the two, and as the Knight struggles I shoot some acid at his shotgun, melting it away as I use my claws to cut the kid free. I then pick him up and fly up to the highway and put him down, the kid and what looks to be the mayor of the city run to each other and hug. Huh, so that's why they captured him, he's the mayor's kid.
After giving his son some soothing words, the mayor turns to me, though he crinkles his nose slightly as he smells my scent. "I don't know who you are or why you're here but thank you."
I shrug. "Eh, it's all in a day's work," the Omnitrix begins to beep as it glows red. "Oop. Gotta go!"
I quickly take flight and fly away as fast as possible, granted I don't make it far. I'm above an empty alley when I time out, for a moment I float in the air, kind of like a cartoon, but gravity quickly catches up and I fall down. Thankfully, I'm not too high in the sky, sadly I land in a dumpster, and to make matters worse, a teenager working at the nearby fast food restaurant throws a garbage bag on top of my head, and it bursts open. Lovely.
The teen grumbles before going back into the restaurant, which lets me come out all nasty and covered in trash. Doesn't help that I can smell the trash oh so clearly thanks to my enhanced sense of smell, God, I think I smell better as Stinkfly.
Well, while everything's calmed down, I can start asking questions. Like why did the Forever Knights kidnap the mayor's kid? What do they get out of it? Is there some secret alien tech the mayor has? Or maybe even Excalibur? Nah, that last one's too farfetched, I should still keep an eye on them, though.
I sigh before shaking my body around, getting some of the physical trash off of me, sadly the liquids and smell stay glued to me like white on rice. I grumble before putting my hands in my pockets. Okay, Eric, as long as you keep to the alleyways, you'll be fine. I begin to walk but one very important factor: I have no idea which way is home.
After ten minutes of barely avoiding curious cops and the occasional crazy homeless person the Omnitrix finally recharges and I'm able to run home as XLR8, but then I'm faced with a new problem: my aunt's family is here.
What the hell!? I thought they'd come tomorrow! Or something. I hide in some bushes as I watch the front door, careful to make sure my tail doesn't stick out.
I can't just run inside and transform back to normal in there, one of my cousins could be in there, and besides, they'd feel the wind from my running. The backyard's a no-go as well, they might see me from the windows. Man, this sucks.
I quickly peek my head out of the bush and look around, crap, some of our neighbors choose now to make some snowmen in their front yard, freaking kids.
I sigh deeply in annoyance as I try to think of a way into my own home, doesn't help that I still smell like literal trash.
"God, what is that?" A girl shouts as she plugs her nose.
Dammit.
Okay, maybe I can—the Omnitrix beeps again and the familiar red light appears. Oh, come on!
I quickly crawl out of the bush and continue crawling to the side of the house, and about halfway there I transform back to normal, wearing a short-sleeved shirt and shorts in the cold ass snow in the middle of winter. I take a deep breath before slowly getting up and walking to the front door, wincing as my bare feet touch the snow. Right, I never did put shoes on, did I?
I step on the porch and knock the door, almost immediately Mom opens it. "Er-" her nose crinkles in disgust as she smells me. "Oh, go take a shower then say hi to your cousins."
"Already on it," I reply.
As I head upstairs my Aunt Johanna—Mom's identical twin, though her hair is shoulder length—sticks her head out around the corner from the kitchen, her husband does the same thing. "Well, if it isn't my nephew," she sniffs the air before gagging. "What were you doing outside?"
"Oh, I wanted to test how long I could stay out without the proper clothes. Lasted pretty long if I say so myself," I lie.
"And the smell?" Uncle Hector asks as he covers his nose.
I rub the back of my head. "I, uh…fell...in the trash can," that isn't a lie, sadly.
Uncle Hector shakes his head with a chuckle. "Kids these days, I swear. Jessica and Sara are upstairs, but you should take a shower first."
"Already on it, Uncle," I reply as I head upstairs.
I enter my room to find two girls waiting inside, one about Esmeralda's age, and another around my age. These are my cousins, Sara, and Jessica Cruz. I find it funny to realize I have a history with two Green Lanterns.
Esmeralda and Sara are currently playing with Esmeralda's stuffed cat Nova, Jessica, on the other hand, is playing on my DS, one of the Pokémon games from the sound of it. Jessica jumps in surprise as I come into my room and quickly hides the DS behind her, once she realizes it's me, she calms down and sheepishly pulls the console back out.
"S-sorry, it's just that you were gone for so long and I was bored," she pauses to sniff the air. "Ew, what's-"
"It's me," I interrupt. "Fell in the trash on accident. I'm gonna get some clothes then take a shower. See you in a bit."
I return to my room after taking the shower to find Jessica sitting next to the charger for the DS, she looks pretty intent. I chuckle and walk over to sit next to her, patting Sara on the head on the way.
I then sit down next to her and watch as she continues her journey. "You're pretty into this, aren't you?"
"Yeah, well, Sara kinda broke my DS and I lost all my data, so I thought I'd play again," she answers. "I've been saving up to buy a new DS, could you help transfer my save when I get it?"
"Got it," I then head to the door. "I'm gonna go say hi to your parents."
As I walk downstairs, I find the four adults sitting in the kitchen, my mom, Aunt, and Uncle looking at Dad as he practices his Spanish. "(Hello, my name is Daniel Mercer, how is your…car-child?)"
The three burst into laughter as Dad looks at them before smiling and shaking his head. "I said something stupid, didn't I?"
"Car-child! The hell's a car-child?" Uncle Hector asks with a laugh.
"Transformer baby!" Mom and Aunt Johanna say at the same time before the four laugh again.
"Wow, Dad, you really need to work on your Spanish," I say as I head downstairs.
Aunt Johanna comes over and hugs me before bringing me along to sit next to her and Uncle Hector. She then sniffs my hair before giving me a nod. "Definite improvement from earlier."
"You got that right," Uncle Hector agrees. He then turns to Mom and Dad. "Hey, on our way here we heard the news about the mayor's kid, some…Knights kidnapped him?"
Mom and Dad share a glance before blinking in confusion. "Seriously?" They both say.
Aunt Johanna nods. "Yep, something about some dudes in knight armor kidnapped him and they had some high-tech stuff. Though it didn't last long, what with that shapeshifter being in play," she then turns to me. "What do you make of it?"
"It's weird, that's for sure. Maybe they're a part of a group? How else would four people have gear that advanced and matching knight armor. That or they're intense LARPers," I answer.
Dad and Uncle Hector laugh. "That second one sounds so like it," my Uncle says. "Sooo, who's sleeping where?"
Friday
I rub my hands together as the class enters the aquarium.
Before the break, the sixth grade at my elementary school (god, it's weird saying that again) decide to go on a field trip to the local aquarium. Right now, the students of the four classes are intermingled and separated into groups, colored wristbands telling us who's in what group.
All that really matters is that Kyle and I are in blue.
"All right, class," our teacher, Mrs. Rose begins. "Go ahead and check out the lobby, but once our guide comes along meet back here. And if you have to use the bathroom be sure to tell one of us first. Go have fun."
Kyle and I go on our own and sit down on some cushions as everyone else looks around in awe at the diagrams and models of the sea life in the building. "So, you have family over?" Kyle asks.
"Yeah, my Mom's sister, Johanna, her husband, Hector, and their kids, Jessica, and Sara," I answer.
"I'm gonna visit today," Kyle suddenly says.
I look at him with a suspicious glance. "Why?"
Kyle smiles. "You're my best friend, right?" At my nod he continues. "So, it's only right for me to meet your family."
I narrow my eyes. "Kyle, that's what you say when you're dating. We aren't dating. Besides, you just wanna meet Jessica."
Kyle sputters and blushes furiously. "What!? Nooo!"
I sigh deeply before leaning back and resting my head on the glass behind me. "Fine."
Kyle perks up. "Seriously!?"
"Yeah," I then glare at him. "But no hitting on my cousin. Besides, her dad's gonna be there too, and trust me, Uncle Hector isn't someone you want to mess with."
Kyle gives me finger guns. "Got it," he then looks around, his gaze ends on the skeletal structure of a shark. "Hey, did you hear about those monsters?"
"What about them?" I ask.
"Well for one, they're real, not just rumors, and two, they're all one person, a shapeshifter!" He says excitedly. "That's so cool!"
I smile before leaning forward and looking at the shark skeleton as well. "Yeah, I guess it is."
Eventually some employees for the aquarium come over, and the teachers get us in our groups. The ten of us, not counting the teacher or guide, are walking in a tube that's surrounded by water, which lets the animals swim around us.
"And as you can see, the group of dolphins are always curious when we have visitors," the guide begins. "Can anyone tell me what a group of dolphins is called?"
The others look around, unsure as to what the answer is, I sigh and raise my hand. "A pod."
The guide nods with a smile. "Got it in one! A group of dolphins is known as a pod. Most have about two-thirty dolphins, but sometimes they can get big enough to have even a thousand dolphins! We call those superpods."
As the tour continues Kyle pats my shoulder. "Hey, you see that?" I follow his finger to see what looks like a massive dolphin getting closer to us.
I squint to get a better look, oh crap.
"Uh, what's that?" I ask aloud, bringing everyone's attention to the rapidly growing form.
The guide and our teacher both look confused before looking at each other. "I'm not sure. But it's fine. Come, let's continue the tour."
Except it isn't fine. The animals are noticeably swimming away as fast as they can, and there's an eerie lack of sound, something everyone notices.
The silence is quickly replaced with a loud bang as the dolphin slams into the tube, startling everyone. I get a closer look to see that the dolphin is far larger than its brethren, and its skin is a dark gray, almost black, with blood red eyes and razor-sharp teeth.
Some of the kids scream as the dolphin backs up and slams into the tube again, creating a massive crack, water begins to pour in.
"Okay!" Mrs. Rose, shouts, trying to calm us down. "Stay calm! We need to get out slowly, and methodically," she begins to usher us out.
The dolphin slams into the tube one more time and that leads to pandemonium. The kids lose it and all run to the exit, nearly knocking our guide over, but one of the bigger kids manages to knock over me and Kyle.
While on the ground I see things are about to get worse before they get better. Two more dolphins are coming in hot, and I can see someone in scuba gear riding the biggest of the three.
I help Kyle up just as the other two slam into the tube, shattering the glass and causing water to surge in. I manage to push Kyle out through the closing doors before the water surrounds me.
As I hold my breath the three dolphins surround me, the biggest one has a rider on it. It slowly swims towards me, allowing for the rider to crouch down and face me. He then swims away, his three dolphins going off to cause more mayhem.
As they swim away, I activate my Omnitrix and slam down the dial, becoming my Piscciss Volann form, Ripjaws.
I look like a humanoid fish with gray-white scales, thin orange fins between my fingers, toes, coming off my elbows, and going down my head. I have an orange stalk like an angler fish coming off my forehead with a bulb at the end. I have two orange eyes and a large set of shark-like teeth. I have a black fishtail with white lines between my legs that I can use to increase my swimming speed and a black pauldron on my left shoulder. The Omnitrix crest is on the pauldron.
I smirk before bringing my legs into the fishtail and swimming towards the three mutated dolphins and their owner.
Wait.
Mutated. Dolphins.
Crap, it's Animo.
Well, time for my first supervillain.
I rear my arm back and swipe at the dolphin in the back, I hear it screech in pain and surprise as blood pools in the water. Animo and the dolphins turn around and rear back in surprise as they see me coming at them. Animo then has the smaller two attack me as he goes for the window separating us from my classmates.
I curve my body out of the way as one of the dolphins tries to bite at me, just as its jaws close I elbow it in the head and send it falling down, but then the other dolphin headbutts me, sending me flying into what's left of the tube.
I shake my head to regain my bearings, and as the dolphins swim at me I notice Animo's nearing the window, can't let that happen. Just before the two dolphins slam into me I shoot forward, swimming at top speed towards Animo, I then slam my fists into his side and manage to knock him off the dolphin.
I swim away with him as the dolphins chase after me. With my other hand, I tear off his mask, careful to leave his scuba gear on, and yeah, it's Dr. Animo all right. I see another window in coming, this one having no one behind it. Perfect.
I flip over and bring my legs out, I then kick out the glass, brining in a rush of water in the hallway that knocks over some of the displays. The window quickly gets closed by some shutters, but I don't think they'll last long, what with the giant dents made by the dolphins.
I glare at Animo as I drag him away from the shutters. "What the hell's your game?"
"My game?" Animo repeats in an angry voice. "My game!? I have been ridiculed by these moronic fools who believe my ideas to be unjust and inhumane! I have been driven out by those who believe themselves men and women of science! Well no more, I am here to make them rue the day they crossed Doctor Aloysius Animo!"
I give him a blank stare. "Wait, that's it? Really?"
Animo glares. "Really."
My midsection is then grabbed by a giant crab claw, it squeezes me tightly before tossing me aside, causing me to fly into a wall. I stumble back before rolling away as I sense it throw another claw at me, I leap over and punch it in the back of its head. The punch knocks the crab out instantly and causes it to slump over.
Man, I'm gonna catch hell for injuring these animals, aren't I?
As I hop off the crab something important comes to mind.
I'm running out of water.
I fall down to my hands and knees and gasp as I cup some of the water on the ground and splash it into my gills, giving me some relief, but in the end, it doesn't help too much.
Animo laughs as he slowly walks towards me. "Well, it seems you're a fish out of water!" I groan at the pun. He looks over at a camera in the corner and holds his arms out in a theatrical manner. "I, Dr. Aloysius Animo have triumphed over the shapeshifter!"
"Someone's full of themselves," I wheeze out. Eventually the familiar sound of the Omnitrix timing out reaches my ears, and for once, I'm okay with it.
A blinding flash of red light later and I roll away, hiding behind the diagram of a large penguin.
I peek my head over the penguin's shoulder as Animo looks around confused. "Where have you run to, shapeshifter!?"
Okay, let's see, he's got a knocked out super crab, three roided out dolphins, and the ability to mutate more animals, and my Omnitrix is timed out. This is great.
As Animo looks around the room I hide behind the penguin, and would you look at that, it's got some pretty deadly looking fins. Don't know why, but it does. I slowly tear it off, but I stop as Animo's head snaps in my direction. He slowly looks away and patrols the room. I continue to tear off the fin. Wait, do penguins have fins? Question for another time.
I tear off the appendage and draw my arm back as I aim it at Animo, once I find the right time, I throw it like a javelin, which manages to hit Animo in the head, causing the weird device on his head to spark.
Animo shouts and tears it off, but once he calms down, he stares at it in shock. "What have you done?"
The dolphins, who had stopped trying to break through the metal shutters, slam into it again, hitting much harder now, and after a few hits they break through, filling the room with water quickly.
I hold my breath as the water comes rushing in, sweeping the both of us off our feet as the dolphins swim around and attack anything in sight. Luckily, Animo and I manage to avoid them, but during the swim he finds me and tries to attack. I grab his outstretched arms and slam him into the wall behind me before grabbing him by the back of his head and hitting it against the penguin.
While he's disoriented, I look at the harness on his chest, if the device on his head controlled them, this must mutate them.
I reach out and manage to grab the dial, I then twist it over to the other side, the indicator above it going from red to black. A red wave of energy goes out, and once it hits the animals they transform back to normal. Not taking the chance, I tear the harness off and use a lot of strength to tear it in half, much to Animo's dismay.
The man screams before he clutches his throat and tries to hold his breath.
During that time, the Omnitrix powers back up, and so I transform into my Polar Manzardill form, Coldmodo Dragon.
My body is an icy blue with black designs around my orange eyes. I wear a mainly black suit with an orange border around the middle of it and a white underbelly shell. I have four blue spikes going down my back and three sharp claws at the end of my appendages. The Omnitrix crest is on my left hand.
I shoot out a beam of ice from my mouth at the door, freezing it over, I then swim forward and shoulder charge through it, but I grab Animo first. The door shatters and water pools into the hallway we're in, before it gets to be too much I turn around and quickly shoot a wall of ice, stopping more water from coming in. I then trap Animo in a block of ice.
"Looks like revenge isn't best served cold," I chuckle, but the silence makes me realize how bad of a pun that was. "Sorry."
I hear footsteps running towards me, and before I can leave my group runs towards me, worried looks on their faces. Some of the kids skid to a stop (one slips because of the water) and look up at me in awe, but Kyle steps forward, still looking worried. "Mr. Shapeshifter, sir! Have you seen Eric!?"
Gotta play along. "Who?"
"H-he's short!" Okay, Kyle, ow. "Has black hair and blue eyes! He's wearing a blue and red jacket!"
I pretend to think for a moment before nodding. "Yeah, I've seen him. He's at the…lobby! I put him there before dealing with this loser," I lightly punch Animo's head, causing the scientist to moan in pain. "Don't worry, he's cool," I say as I let out some mist.
Kyle, Mrs. Rose, and the guide breath sighs of relief.
"Well, I gotta go. See you later, kids!" I turn around to leave.
"Wait!" The bigger kid who knocked me over shouts. "What's your name?"
"Uh…" Oh man, I never thought about a codename, did I? Come on, Eric, that's superhero 101! Codename! What to call myself though? Shifter? Nah, I feel like that name's taken. Dial? No, also feels like it's taken. Can't use anything pertaining to ten since I don't have ten aliens anymore and my name doesn't exactly rhyme with the number.
"Well, this form's known as Coldmodo Dragon, so you can call me that, but I'll get a superhero name soon, just you wait!" I wink before running towards the nearby bathrooms. Gotta be quick.
Thankfully, they're empty, so once I enter, I slap the crest and transform back to normal before running towards the lobby, but on the way, I hit a cop and knock the both of us over. Another walks over and helps me up. "Whoa, you okay, kid?"
"Uh, yeah. Fine," I reply.
"Eric!"
I turn around to see the group coming towards the lobby, Kyle running in front. He skids to a stop and puts his hands on my shoulders. "Dude, are you okay?"
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," I answer. Time to change the subject. "Did you see? I got saved by the shapeshifter!"
Kyle's worried looks makes way for a large smile. "I know, it was awesome!" We're then slowly ushered out of the aquarium. "Did you see when he was that merman? Oh, that was so cool when he…"
As Kyle continues to tell stories of my battle, I look back to see Dr. Animo getting pulled out of the building by a group of SWAT.
Well, that was my first supervillain.
I need to be ready for the others.
We're sent home early, but not before getting some free gifts from the gift shop, thanks to the early end of the day our winter break also begins early, much to the relief of many students. Before any of our parents start coming over Kyle calls his mom with my phone, getting permission to come over to my house. He smiles as he gives my phone back.
I give him a blank stare as I pocket my phone. "I get it, you wanna meet my cousin, no need to be so excited for it. Oh, I should tell you now, she's really shy around people she meets for the first time, so be slow with her, got it?"
Kyle nods determinedly.
The two of us wait inside the school, after some time, my Mom comes inside to pick us up. "Kyle, your mom said it was okay for me to take you to our house."
He nods and the three of us head into the car and drive to my home. Once we get there, we see Uncle Hector and Dad setting up the Christmas tree, and as expected, Kyle pales slightly once he sees Uncle Hector's massive frame.
"Still wanna meet Jessica?" I whisper.
Kyle gulps before nodding. "I won't quit just because her dad's the size of a small tank, Eric."
"Kyle, you are a brave one," I say as I put my hand on his shoulder. "Uncle Hector, Aunt Johanna, meet my best friend, Kyle Rayner. Kyle meet my Uncle Hector Cruz and Aunt Johanna Cruz."
"Nice to meet you, Kyle," Uncle Hector says as he walks over and towers over the both of us.
"Uh, nice to meet you too," Kyle manages to say as the two shake hands, he's far calmer when Aunt Johanna introduces herself.
"So, you're a friend of Eric's? Well, a friend of my nephew is a friend of mine. You should meet my daughters. Well, Sara's sleeping right now, but Jessica's in the backyard making a snowman," she says. "Go say hi."
Kyle nods before the two of us head upstairs to my room so we can put our backpacks away. "They're nice. Though your uncle's scary."
"That's Uncle Hector for you. He's intimidating at first glance, but he's a really nice guy when you get to know him," I then sigh. "Come on, let's go introduce you."
"Hey, how old is Sara?" Kyle asks as we head downstairs.
"She's about Esmeralda's age. A little older, actually," I answer.
"And Jessica's a little older than you too, right?" Kyle asks.
"Yeah. What are you getting at?" I wonder.
"Isn't it weird that your parents and their parents had kids at around the same time?" Kyle asks.
I stop just before I open the back door to blink and think about it. Huh, that is kinda weird. Eh, I bet it's happened to countless people out there. I just shrug before opening the door.
In the backyard we see Jessica's patting down the bottom part of her snowman, almost done with it. She looks up as the door opens and hides behind the snowman once she sees Kyle. I just chuckle and wave. "Hey, Jessica, this is my friend I was telling you about, Kyle Rayner."
She slowly stands up from behind the snowman and walks towards us, slowly offering her hand to Kyle. "H-h-hi."
I stifle some laughter as Kyle looks like a deer caught in headlights. Jessica begins to look uncomfortable before Kyle shakes his head and quickly grabs her hand to shake it, surprising her. "Uh, hi! I'm Kyle! Eric's told me a lot about you!"
Dammit, Kyle, I said to be slow.
Jessica slowly smiles and pulls her hand back. "He's told me about you, too. Um, d-do you wanna help with my snowman?"
"Yeah, that'd be awesome!" Kyle says excitedly.
The three of us spend the next hour working on the snowman, Kyle and Jessica use that time to get closer.
Wonder how this'll affect the future.
Christmas Day
"Guys! Wake up!" Dad shouts from my door as he races downstairs with Uncle Hector.
I groan from my spot on the floor as I rub my eyes. "Seriously, Dad? It's really early."
I hear a groan and look to see Jessica sitting up in my bed, her green teddy bear, Simon, clutched close to her. "I'm honestly surprised Uncle Daniel and Dad aren't related. They're so similar on Christmas morning."
I yawn loudly before getting up, though I stumble my desk is thankfully there to help me keep my balance. "Wasn't Abuela like this?"
Jessica slowly gets up and stretches as the two of us walk out of my room. "Yeah, and yet your mom and mine aren't as energetic," Aunt Johanna runs by, kissing the both of us on our foreheads before sliding down the bannister to the stairs. "I stand corrected."
"I swear it's like I'm raising three kids instead of two," Mom groans as she walks with us. She rests her hands on our heads as the three of us head downstairs. "At least you're mature, Jessica."
As Jessica looks up at my Mom with a smile, I look up at her with a scowl. "What about me?"
Mom just gives me a smile before she jerks back in surprise as Dad suddenly stands in front of her, a present in his hands. "Here."
Mom tilts her head and slowly holds the box; she then tears of the wrapping and opens the box. Her eyes widen in surprise and she gasps before she slowly pulls out an expensive looking gold necklace with some diamonds embedded in it.
"I saw it at the store a couple of years ago," Dad begins. "It took a lot of time, but I eventually got enough money to buy it. So?"
Mom pulls him into a deep kiss before pulling back with a large smile. "I love it, Daniel. Now, put it on me."
Dad smiles and takes the necklace before putting it on Mom.
Mom lifts it up and looks at it before looking at the two of us. "So, what do you think?"
"I think it looks great, Auntie," Jessica answers.
"Beautiful as always, Mom," I answer.
She smiles and pulls the both of us into a hug before we walk over to the tree where we see Uncle Hector, Aunt Johanna, Sara, and Esmeralda waiting, the latter two playing with new stuffed toys, a bunny for Sara and a lion for Esme.
"Eric," Uncle Hector gives me a small wrapped gift. Looks to be the size of a video game case.
I tear it off to see Battlefront II in my hands. The classic, not the new one. Or I guess it'd be the future one, since it hasn't come out yet.
"Whoa, thanks, Uncle Hector!" The two of us fist bump.
"Speaking of video games…" Aunt Johanna hands Jessica a present. "Here you go, baby."
Jessica sits down and tears off the wrapping, which reveals a green Nintendo DS under it. Jessica gasps and looks up at her chuckling parents. "There's another gift with it," her dad says. She tears more to show the latest Pokémon game with it.
She moves forward and wraps her parents in a tight hug. "I love you!"
"Oh, Eric," I look up to see a distinctly shaped present in Dad's hands. "Now, it's pretty obvious what this is, but could you please act surprised? That'd really help my self-esteem."
Dad gives it to me, and I tear off the wrapping to reveal a skateboard. I gasp dramatically and hold it close to my chest. "A skateboard! You shouldn't have!"
I hear the others laugh as Dad rubs my head with a smile. "Thanks."
I look at it again, the bottom has a Japanese dragon design under it, and thanks to the Omnitrix I can read the kanji, which says "Triumph" on it.
Holy crap.
Triumph.
It's official, Phoenix, Arizona, Triumph is your new superhero!
And that's year two for Eric! Originally, he was supposed to get the name Triumph from Animo, which is something you can see in one of Animo's lines, but when the skateboard came along, I decided to use that as the source of his superhero name.
Also, as you can see, he's got a history with two of Earth's Green Lanterns, what with Jessica Cruz being his cousin and Kyle Rayner being a childhood friend. And I guess you can count John too, but that's more of a history with his dad. And Eric's nickname "Er" is pronounced like "air".
Next chapter will be "This Little Piggy" followed by another original chapter, which will finally introduce the Teen Titans!
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!
