Wow, it feels like forever since I last updated this story, sorry about that. But that leads to an update I wanna run by you.
So, as you know, this story isn't on a schedule, whereas my other two are bi-weekly, they update the same Thursday and Saturday of a week. Now, I'm planning on giving this a bi-weekly schedule of every other Friday. So, when season two comes along, expect that new update schedule, which you'll get a taste of after this chapter.
Speaking of story updates, A Sinister Past. As you've seen, my story The Vitruvian Man underwent its own rewrites, but looking at ASP's I realized I'm not rewriting the story, I'm rebooting it. I've noticed that a lot of authors tend to post one more chapter talking about the reboot before posting the new story, keeping the old one up for a bit, which now has me wonder, will I do the same thing?
So far, I'm a little over halfway done with the chapters, so I'm thinking that once I complete the thirty chapters, I'll post the rebooted story, which means the poll I posted a while ago might not mean a thing, sorry about that. I'll provide more updates in the future.
Y'know, I quite like writing these flashback chapters, it really helps flesh out Eric's character, and shows you what he was like before things started to get serious for him. It's fun writing an Eric who isn't so serious.
Watched the Snyder Cut, and yes, it was leagues (heh) better than the theatrical cut. Now I'm just mad we won't get sequels. Or will we?
By the way, whoever reviews first will be review 69. Nice.
Now, to reply to some reviews!
DrWhoFan13: Aw man, I was so excited to debut Saharamander… Oh well.
God of the Challenge: See, the thing is, I had no idea Sandbox even existed until you and DrWhoFan13 mentioned him. But he's there too. He might appear in the future, we'll see.
Collinsjr: Thanks man, I really appreciate your reviews, they give me a boost of energy.
REAMER: As I've said before, the direct sequel to this will be rated M, but I'm not sure about writing lemons since I've never written them before. Maybe when I become more confident, I might write 'em, but we'll see.
Fpinheiro96: Thank you! Here's what happens next! Technically!
B.Z.E.Z.G.3: Right now, I'm writing four stories in a cycle, so once I finish the next chapter of The Vitruvian Man, I get started on the next chapter for this story, and when I do that, I update this story as well, but the next four chapters will work on that bi-weekly schedule I brought up earlier. And as I said before, I might write lemons between the two, we'll see how it goes.
Triumphant Fun Fact 2: Esmeralda was originally going to be seventeen at the start of the story, then she was de-aged to fifteen before I finally settled on thirteen-years-old.
Well, that's all from me up here, on with the story!
A Bug's Life
Year three
I love the Spring. If anything, it's my second favorite season just after Autumn. While yes, mine and Esmeralda's birthdays are in the summer, that season can get really hot sometimes, especially in Arizona.
But man, the Spring is great. A nice, cool breeze, clear skies, the sun shining high in the sky while it's not burning us. Perfect.
"Hey."
I open my eyes to see Dad standing above me, Esmeralda in his arms.
"Yeah?" I reply.
"I'm headed off to the store, these bugs are appearing all over the place," he nods towards his car in the garage right now. "You're mom's at work right now, get your clothes on."
Right, the bugs.
For the past few weeks, the number of insects and spiders in the area has increased almost tenfold, something no one's seen before. It's also the most talked about topic practically anywhere you go—at school, work, stores, libraries, no where's safe from the bugs.
I get up and ruffle Esmeralda's hair, leading to her giggling. "What're we buying?"
Dad chuckles. "Sounded just like the Merchant from Resident Evil. Like I said, these bugs and spiders are crawling all over the place, we've gotta buy some bug spray to get rid of them."
"How bad is it?" I ask as we walk inside.
"I nearly drank a few centipedes that got in my coffee," he answers.
I gag and nearly lose my footing as I head towards the stairs. "Oh! Dude!"
He shudders. "One of them brushed my lip."
"Stop! STOP!" I shout. "Oh, I don't want to picture that… I-I'm gonna get my clothes on."
I enter my room and shake off any shudders I have left before reaching into my closet for some jeans. I pull out a pair and shake them out, I then notice a small black object fly from them. Curious, I crouch down and get a better look at it. And what do I find? A red hourglass on the bottom of the spider.
"(CRAP! CRAP!)" I jump back, quickly grab my history book, and squash the black widow flat. I lift the book up to see the remains of the spider on the underside of the book. "(Aww man. Well, 'least Chronos can clean it.)"
I put on the jeans and head downstairs; I enter the garage to see Dad putting Esmeralda in her car seat. "Let me guess, bug in your pants?" He asks without even looking.
"Even worse—a black widow," I shudder again.
"Mother of- okay, definitely need to go to the store now," Dad heads over to the driver's seat and I sit in shotgun. He then begins the drive to the store. "What the hell's going on? There's never been a bug infestation like this as far as I know."
I hum and rest my head back. I don't think this is normal, but what's causing this? I know there was a villain in the original series that had something to do with bugs, but who?
"You don't think this is normal, do you?" Dad asks, bringing me out of my thoughts.
"No, I think there's more to this then we know," I answer. "Just need to know where to start."
"Well, it'll take a few minutes before we head there, so you can think while we drive," Dad says as he takes a left turn.
I hum. Clancy! Clancy was the bug dude! That's who's causing all of this crap!
"First theory? A metahuman. Probably someone with the power to control bugs and spiders," I say. "But what he or she's doing and why now? I have no idea."
"You can track 'em down, right?" Dad asks.
I sigh in annoyance and shake my head. "Can't track them if I don't know anything about them."
"Kyle's car!" Esmeralda points as we enter the parking lot to the store.
Dad parks the car next to it and we see that it is Maura Rayner's car. "Probably here to get bug killer too," he whispers.
I look around and notice that there are a lot of cars here. Like, a lot, a lot. Crap. "Dad, I think we just got the last parking spot," I point out.
Dad looks around as the two of us get out of the car and I get Esme out of her car seat. "Craaap," Dad groans. He then leans down to whisper in my ear as we walk to the store. "Hey, if they don't have bug killer think you can…? Y'know?"
"Yeah, was planning on doing that, anyway," I reply.
We enter the store and stop as we see how packed it is. People all over the place, lines at the checkouts going for as far as the eye can see. The conversations between people and the scanners constantly beeping temporarily overwhelming my hearing.
Looking at each checkout lane, I notice practically everyone in the front of the lines all have cans on cans of Raid and other bug killing sprays.
"I really think we're not gonna get anything useful," I say.
Dad chuckles as he gets one of the few carts left and puts Esme in it. "You sound like your mom when she was a negative and angsty teen."
"Angsty?" Esmeralda asks, tilting her head in confusion.
"Feeling of anxiety or insecurity, baby," Dad answers with a smile.
"I'm not angsty!" I say strongly. Dad just looks at me with a smirk. "I'm not!"
"Uh-huh. Totally believe you," Dad chuckles and heads straight for the aisle that would have the sprays.
The entire way there, we avoid a large number of carts coming mainly form that aisle. The carts also come from another aisle, the one that has airtight containers and the like. It doesn't have as many people leaving from it, but it's still a lot.
"Well, only one way to find out," Dad says before we enter the aisle.
Looking around, we try our best to move around people, but eventually the amount of carts becomes too much for Dad to maneuver through, so I weave through the crowd and find the spot where the Raid and bug sprays would be.
They aren't here.
Lovely.
I groan and head back to Dad and Esmeralda, but just before I reach them, there's a scream from the aisle to my left.
Everyone stops and looks in that direction, and after a few minutes, we all see a small, black mountain rise up. Looking closely, I can see that it's made up of ants. A lot of ants.
The people begin to panic and try to run to the store's doors, completely forgetting about their carts and damn near trampling each other.
I hold my arms up to defend myself and dodge people, making my way to Esmeralda and Dad the entire way. "Dad! Esme!"
I feel a hand on my shoulder. It then pulls me over and I'm standing next to Dad, who's holding Esmeralda in his arms as he holds her close to him. "Go! With all this chaos no one'll notice!"
I nod before running against the crowd. While I do, I scroll through the Omnitrix. Now, Hecatoncheires, Heatblast, Bombit, and Pinball are already not gonna work, too many people here for them to be effective. But I need a way to control this chaos, otherwise someone's gonna die. Who to choose, who to-
Got it!
I dial through the Omnitrix and become my Splixson form, Ditto.
I'm pretty much the same height, only taller because of the orange fin atop my head, with two others angled out starting from eyes. Most of my body is black, though my armpits and most of my arms, except for my shoulders, are white, as well as most of my face. The top part of my face is black, with two circular markings going from the bottom of my eyes to the back of my head, inside the markings is white. Outlining the hourglass symbol on my chest is orange, with orange gems on my shoulders. Down my arms are two silver sensory nodes on each arm with an orange inside and three in the shape of a triangle on my abdomen. My eyes are orange and the Omnitrix crest is on my forehead.
I quickly jump on the nearby display case of free samples for mango ice cream. I take a quick scoop and eat it before creating two clones, I have one on my shoulders, and he has another on his.
"Attention ladies and gentlemen!" The three of us call out at the same time, getting the panicking masses to calm down at least a little. "As you can obviously see, that's a big anthill! And what do you people have? Bug spray! Give it to my clones, and we can take this thing down! And those of you without bug spray get the hell outta here! Now go!"
The three of us jump down from the sample table, but not before the second Ditto takes another scoop.
"Hey! Who you calling second?" My clone demands, clenching his fist.
"I am, you moron," I reply, already tired of the coming argument.
"Oh? Already tired? Then let me put you to sleep," he threatens as he gets in my face.
The third me sighs and pushes us back. "Can we not do this now? We've got a literal anthill to kill."
Both of me glare at each other before we both huff and turn around with our arms folded. "Whatever," we then make five clones each, now there are eighteen Dittos out and about.
Nine of me go around and stand at one end of the aisle, the civilians giving them cans of bug spray. "All right, we corralling this thing?" One of them asks.
Another clone looks at him with an arched brow. "Why're you asking? We all share the same mind."
The clone shrugs. "Just gotta make sure, ya know?"
"Quit yapping!" I shout. "Anthill to kill!"
With my superhuman agility, the clones with the bug spray leap around and hit the giant anthill. It's weird, but it roars in pain, and you wouldn't think ants would roar, but I guess if you get enough together then I guess they do.
While those nine deal with the collection of ants, the rest of us go around to help the civilians still in the store.
As I help a mother and her son out, I notice another mother-son duo inside, these two extremely familiar.
Kyle gets knocked over by a really large man and separated from his mother. "Kyle!" She calls out, reaching for him.
I quickly run through the crowd and land next to him, blocking him with my body as the crowd runs by, a few people step on my arms and legs, which has my clones cry out in pain. And due to the pain, one of them gets knocked aside by an arm from the hill, leading to an explosion of pain in our chests.
"Hey! Get outta the crowd!" A clone cries through the mental link.
"And leave Kyle to get trampled!? Oooh yeah, totally," I sarcastically reply.
I slowly get up as the crowd lightens up, picking Kyle up by under his arms. Once up, I wipe the dirt off of him. "You okay, man?" I ask as I stand up straight. Oh, great, he's a little taller than me even as Ditto.
He's silent as he looks at me with wide eyes. "Whoa… You-you're Triumph!"
"Yes. Great. Cool," I gently push him over to his mom. "I can give you an autograph later, right now get to your mom and get outta here, Kyle."
His eyes widen in surprise. "You know my name!?"
Shouldn't have said that. Should not have said that.
"Kyle!" His mom calls out again as she reaches out and grabs him. "Oh, thank you. Thank you so much. I don't know what I'd do without him."
I smile gently. "It's no problem, ma'am. The two of you should get out of here, it's gonna get messy in here."
Mrs. Rayner nods thankfully before she and Kyle exit the store.
As I watch them leave, a clone flies over and slams into one of the cash registers, which makes a crick in all our backs. "AGH!" We all shout.
"All the civvies are out," a clone says as he comes to a stop next to me. "Got a plan, boss?"
The two of us look at the anthill, the other sixteen clones fighting it. The bug spray's keeping the ants back, but the ants that die just get replaced by others that're hiding within… Wait a minute, I can dig! I can dig really good!
"Yes, Einstein, you can," the clone next to me drawls as he makes another clone. "So, what's the plan?"
"Hey! You three! Get over here!" I shout, three clones with bug spray then leapt around before coming to a stop.
"What?" One of them asks with a frown.
"New plan: dig under the anthill and hit it from within," I tell them.
The second clone's head jerks back in surprise. "And get surrounded by those things!? Hell no, dude!"
I give him a blank stare. "In case you don't know, we're barely making a dent by hitting it on the outside. The inside's probably the best place to hit."
"Well, if we make more clones, we'll take it down eventually," the first clone insisted.
"We'll probably just overflow the store with Dittos and ants, and no one wants that," I shoot down.
A clone gets launched across the store and lands headfirst into some ground beef. The feeling of the juices flowing across his head goes through all of us, leading to us shivering.
"Look! We don't have time to argue! It's been what, six minutes? We only have four left before we transform back, so quit arguing!" I shout.
The three clones groan. "Fiiine," they put the cans of bug spray in their mouths and leap into the ground of the store. Their claws cut through the ground easily and the three almost swim through the ground as they use us above ground to find the anthill.
"Okay, you," I point to the clone on my right. "Make sure the doors are locked, I'll send some other clones to keep an eye on the other exits," I then point to the clone on my left. "You, take a few clones and look for Clancy."
"Ya think he's here?" The clone asks, looking around with a critical eye.
"Only one way to find out," I reply. The clones nod before they, and four others, spread out and go out with their objectives.
Suddenly, the anthill screeches in pain as it spasms wildly, ants are sent flying all over the place as the hill quickly shrinks. The group of clones searching for Clancy then find a sign of him.
"NOOOOOO!"
And it looks like they've found him.
The clones are blasted back by a swarm of wasps as Clancy runs away from him. The wasp stings really just annoy us and keep the clones busy as one of them sees Clancy escape with a swarm of bugs flying him through a window above one of the exits.
"Uh…boss?" One of them thinks guiltily.
"Yeah, we know…" the Omnitrix dials on our foreheads blink red as they beep. "Come on, the Omnitrix is running out of juice."
The clones all come back to me and just as the last clone arrives, I transform back to normal. Once human again, I stretch my arms up and look around, man, that's a lot of dead ants.
I then hear the doors to the store open, so I quickly leap over one of the cashiers and hide under it as I listen.
"Clear," a man's voice says.
"You sure about that, Williams? 'Cause all these dead…ants? Don't make the store look clear to me," another man says.
I look at a nearby mirror above the cash register above the one in front of me and see two police officers slowly entering the store, sweeping their flashlights and guns as they walk in. Behind them I see some employees and civilians walking in.
I slowly raise my hands out from under the cash register, which catches the cops attention. "Just a kid!" I call out. "Please don't shoot."
I slowly get up and turn around, my hands still raised to see the two officers. One's an African American man, tall and with a beard as he holsters his weapon. He looks to be about Dad's age, maybe a little older. The second is a Mexican guy, he looks like he's in his mid-twenties.
"What're you still doing in here, kid?" The older cop asks. I can see on his badge that he's Williams.
I chuckle and rub the back of my head. "I was in the bathroom when it all hit the fan…"
The younger cop, Ramirez, laughs. "Taking a shit saves yet another life!"
Williams elbows him in the side. "No swearing in front of kids! Ramirez! Do we have to go through sensitivity training again?" He whispers harshly.
Ramirez groans. "No, sir, we do not."
"Excuse me! Pardon me! My son's still in there!"
We all look to the doors to see Dad push his way in. Once he sees me, he lets out a breath of relief before running over and hugging me tightly. "Eric! Oh, you okay? The bugs didn't hurt you?"
"No, I'm fine," I reply. "What happened?"
"Well, kid, look around and you'll see ants as far as the eye can see," Ramirez says, his right arm sweeping overhead, showing the ants covering almost every inch of the front of the store. "According to the people outside, that Triumph guy was here. Did you see him?"
I shake my head. "No, I stayed in the bathroom the entire time. I did hear what was going on though…and just before I got out, I think I saw someone else."
"Who?" Williams asks.
I think back to what some of my clones saw before Clancy blasted them away. "I-it was a man, I didn't get a good look at him, but I saw that he was wearing a ragged brown coat over a dirty black hoodie. His blue jeans had tears in them too and his white sneakers saw better days."
Williams hums and thinks. "Well, as long as we look for people with clothes like that, we might have a chance in catching him."
"And do what? Arrest a dude who can control bugs?" Ramirez scoffs. "Yeah, I'd rather go without ants in my hair, thank you very much. Let's just let Triumph handle this, he fought those Forever Knights last week no problem."
Williams grits his teeth. "He's a vigilante! We don't let them do our work, Ramirez! Remember what the chief said? We're supposed to arrest him on sight."
Whoa, what!?
I mean, I guess I get it, when Batman started, he had the GCPD on his ass for a few years. The only reason they stopped hunting him down was 'cause of the time he saved the city from the Joker's first mass-laughing gas attack.
Dad and I share a quick glance. Well, 'least I have a heads up not to trust any cops I run into when I'm Triumph.
Dad puts his hands on my shoulders and nods at the officers. "Well, if that's all, is it okay if I leave with my son?"
Williams nods. "Thanks for the assistance, kid."
Ramirez winks. "See ya later, amigo!"
I smile a little and salute. "Adiós."
Once Dad and I exit the store, I look up at him. "Where's Esme?"
"At the car with Maura and Kyle. Come on," Dad says as we maneuver our way through the crowd. "What they said back there… You know I'm gonna have to tell your mom, right?"
I groan and run my hands down my face. "Knights, crazy animal scientists, and now a dude who can control bugs and the police. Mom's never gonna let me outta the house."
Dad laughs. "The price of a hero," he then looks around before whispering. "But are you sure this is a new guy? Animo can control animals too, maybe this is him?"
I shake my head. "These ants moved as one, Animo's control over animals isn't that smooth. That and the ants weren't mutated at all, they were just super aggressive."
He hums. "And that guy you described?"
"Some of my Ditto clones saw him before he escaped. Like I told the cops, that was all I could see of him," I answer.
"Think you can call the other Animaniacs to help?" Dad asks with a smirk.
I deadpan up at him. "No."
We head over to Dad's car and Mrs. Rayner's car, here we find Mrs. Rayner putting in what groceries she was able to get inside of her car. Next to her is Kyle holding Esmeralda.
She's the first to notice us and reaches out. "Eric! Daddy!"
Kyle and his mom turn around. Kyle quickly comes over to me and gives me Esmeralda. Once I hold her, he hops around in excitement with a large smile on his face. "Dude! You won't believe this!"
I keep my smirk down and ask the question. "What won't I believe?"
"Triumph knows me!" He shouts in excitement. "Or, my name, at least. But still!" He then hums and adopts a thinking pose. "Now that I think about it, this is the third time he's been in the same area as us. Weird, huh?"
Right, the first time happened at the aquarium almost a year ago, and the second time was when I fought the Forever Knights at the park nearby our homes when my family went there with him while his mom was out of town.
"You think Triumph's one of our classmates?" Kyle wonders.
"I very highly doubt that," Dad quickly interjects. "I mean, a kid with that much power? That's just way too wild to even entertain."
"Yeah, too wild…" I glare up at him subtly. He just smirks and messes with my hair.
Mrs. Rayner then puts a hand on Kyle's shoulder and looks down at her son with a smile. "Daniel's right, Kyle. And even if a child had that much power, he shouldn't be fighting knights and psychopath doctors. Instead, he should be focusing on his school—or cleaning his room."
"Moooom," Kyle groans.
Mrs. Rayner laughs lightly before turning to Dad. "Let me guess, came for some bug sprays?"
Dad nods. "Yeah, but they were all out by the time we got here."
Mrs. Rayner smiles before reaching into the trunk and handing Dad a can. "We were able to get three, but I gave one to one of those cute little Animaniacs fighting the literal anthill."
I hold back a groan as Dad laughs a little. "Really?" He squeezes my shoulder tightly. "Well, isn't that something. We should get going, don't want to let those little multi-legged creatures to continue expanding, right?"
Mrs. Rayner nods. "Right you are. Bye, Eric! Bye, Esmeralda!"
"Bye guys!" Kyle waves.
The three of us wave back as they get in their car. "Bye!"
After they leave, I go to put Esme in her car seat, the entire time she tells a story. "And then I stomped! Like SQUISH! There was some still on my shoe!" She then looks up at me with a big smile. "Did I help you?"
I can't help but smile back. "Yeah you did! If it weren't for you, I don't think I would've won!"
"Sidekick! I'll be your sidekick!" She laughs excitedly.
I chuckle a little. "Yeeeah, let's have this conversation later, okay, Esme?"
"Okay!" She then whispers about future adventures the two of us could have together.
Yeah, like I'd ever take her in as a sidekick or partner. Not in a million years.
I give her a little pat on the head before closing the right back door of the car and get into the passenger seat. As Dad begins the drive home, I hum and lean back in the seat.
Well, how am I gonna find you, Clancy?
Esmeralda and I are currently sitting in the small backyard we have as Dad covers the house from top to bottom in bug spray, killing a majority of the insects and spiders all over the place.
Thing is, all the windows and doors are open, and thanks to my enhanced senses the smell hits my nose like a Tetramand. To make matters worse, other houses in the neighborhood are also filled with the spray, so now the whole neighborhood has a cloud around it.
As I lightly kick Esmeralda's soccer ball back to her, I hear Mom's car roll up into the driveway. The driver-side door opens, and I hear her sigh before she whispers something low enough that even I can't hear it.
I then hear her come over to the backyard, and once Esmeralda sees her, she cheers before running over. "Mama!"
Even tired, Mom smiles before kneeling down and hugging Esme. "And like that, all my energy's back. Gracias, Mija."
Esme just snuggles closer to Mom.
Mom then gets up and kneels down next to me, she then ruffles my hair before kissing my forehead. "And how are you, Mijo?"
I get up and hug her before replying. "Other than this stench beating the crap outta my nose? I'm great. How was work?"
Mom sighs and rubs an eye as she yawns. "So many people came in for bug bites or allergic reactions 'cause of bee or wasp stings. Hospital's nearly overflowing with patients."
Guess the hospital would be overflowing, especially with all those venomous spiders out and about, definitely feel for Mom and the other nurses.
"Speaking of bugs… I heard about a certain Animaniac fighting a literal anthill at the local supermarket earlier today," Mom says. She arches a brow and smirks at my frown. "Who is it? That Animo guy again?"
I shake my head. "Someone new, he's able to control bugs. I only got a look at his clothes but considering how big Phoenix is and since I didn't get his scent as Wildmutt I'm not sure how I'll find him."
Before she can reply, Dad comes out of the house. He moves his hand around in a waving motion in front of his face, getting rid of the lingering spray before lowering his mask. He then walks over to Mom and gives her a quick kiss before turning to me. "Have you tried using Stinkfly?"
I look at him, confused. "Huh?"
"Well, he can control bugs, right? Meaning there has to be some to be a connection between him and them, and aren't all connections two-way?" Dad says.
That-that could actually work!
Mom frowns in concern. "But then couldn't he control Eric?"
"Oooh, did not put that into account," Dad whispers. He then perks up with a hopeful smile. "But he's only in alien form for only ten minutes!"
"A lot can happen in ten minutes, Daniel," Mom points out.
"But I've gotta do it," I say with conviction. "We can't expect Superman to just swoop in and deal with this bug guy. And Batman and Robin are over in Gotham, the other side of the country. And the Green Lanterns are in space half the time."
"And there aren't a lot of superheroes in the area," Dad adds. He then remembers something. "Oh! Did you tell your mom about the police thing?"
"Dad!" I shout with wide eyes.
He blinks in surprise before shrugging. "Sorry," he says, not at all sounding sorry.
Mom looks between the two of us before her eyes settle on me and narrow. "Explain."
I heave a sigh. "Sooo, I'mkindofavigilanteandthepolicehaveawarranttoarrestmeonsight."
Mom keeps her narrowed eyes on me as she deciphers what I quickly said. She then sighs and pinches the bridge of her nose. "I just know arguing with you is gonna be useless," she hands Esmeralda to Dad. "Wait here."
Dad and I share a confused look as she heads inside. After a moment of coughing, Mom comes back out and takes the mask from Dad, puts it on, and returns inside.
"AGH!" Dad bucks a little in surprise as Esmeralda laughs. We both then look to see a crushed spider on his shoulder, with some of it on her hand.
"It was gonna bite you," she explains. Esme then looks at her hand and crinkles her nose in disgust. She then wipes it all over Dad's neck and shirt, making him shiver in disgust. "Eww, it's all over my hand."
"Uh-huh," Dad shivers.
After she's done wiping the left-over spider on Dad, Esme reaches out for my hair with the same hand. "No, not happening," I say as I quickly back up.
I hear Mom quickly shout in surprise before she mutters curses in Spanish. After a few minutes, she comes back outside with what looks like a jacket and some jeans in her hands, on the jacket I see a custom-made black facemask with an orange hourglass on it and the same orange goggles I wear when we go snowboarding in Utah.
"Whoa, what's this, Mom?" I ask as Dad and I walk over to meet her halfway.
She reaches over and gives it to me. "It's your costume."
"I don't wear a "costume"."
She rolls her eyes. "Super-suit, armor, whatever. There's gonna be times when you'll run out of juice and transform back to normal before you end the fight. This'll help keep your identity secret."
I…don't know what to say. Instead of replying, I walk forward and hug Mom, my new cost-suit, my new suit between the two of us. "Gracias, Mama."
She moves some stray hair aside and hugs me back with an arm, the other keeping my suit up. "De nada, Eric."
"Well, what're you waiting for? Put it on!" Dad says with a large, excited smile on his face.
Esmeralda nods vigorously. "Put it on! Put it on!" She then looks confused. "Put what on?"
I take the suit, put on the mask, and hurry inside to the bathroom.
It takes a minute to change, what with the extra bits and pieces Mom added to the clothes.
The black jeans have literal kneepads somehow sewn into them, and the boots (which I found when I got in the bathroom) have steel soles and are steel-toed. The plain black shirt I have on is a little thick, and I think there's some mesh in there? Wonder how Mom got a hold of that.
The black leather jacket also has an orange hourglass on the back, with shoulder pads sewn into the shoulders as well, and the gloves have metal knuckles. The mask is a lot like the one Dad has, made of a thicker cloth with a filter on it. The goggles are mainly black, with a white elastic band that can go around the back of my head and with orange polycarbonate.
Whoa, the jacket has a hood? Cool!
I look at myself in the mirror and may or may have not flexed a little. Oh yeah, this is a cool costume. Could use some improvements here and there, but all in all, Mom did a great job.
There's a knock on the bathroom door. "Eric? You good in there?"
I open the door and look up at Mom with a smile, even though there's a mask over most of my face. "The costume's great, Mom. Though it could use a little bit of work here and there."
She laughs a little. "Yeah, I was planning on giving that to you a few weeks later, but life didn't wait, huh?"
"No, no it did not," I clench my fist a few times before looking at her with my head tilted in confusion. "Hey, how'd you get the mesh for the shirt? Or the knee and shoulder pads? And why do my gloves have metal knuckles?"
"I may or may not know a guy. It was a pain to sew the knee and shoulder pads in. And it adds more force to your attacks if you hit them with metal knuckles," Mom answers. I look at her kind of confused at how quickly she answered those questions. "I may have been an angry kid when I came to America. Got in a few fights here and there."
Huh, that's new. Now that I think about it, Mom never told me much about her life before meeting Dad, just vague answers here and there, but nothing definite. "You've gotta tell me those stories when I'm done with this, Mom. And I won't take broad or vague answers."
Mom sighs. "I know, I know. Just not a time I'm proud of, that's all," her eyes widen before she quickly takes off her shoe and slaps my shoulder hard with it.
"GAH! WHAT THE HELL!?"
She lifts the shoe and I see the body of a black widow spider on the sole. "It was on your shoulder. I panicked."
I rotate my shoulder a bit. "That's putting it lightly…" I hop around a bit before dialing through the Omnitrix and landing on Phantasmality. "I should get going, the longer I spend not hunting, the more chance bug guy has to escape."
Mom hugs me one more time. "Good luck, Eric, and be careful with the police."
I give her a determined nod. "Always," I then slam the dial down and become Phantasmality.
While I float, I stretch my claws a bit. Okay, still nothing about Zs'Skayr, but can't be too careful.
"Why do you do that?" Mom asks, catching my attention. "Your dad and I noticed that you never do that with anyone but Phantasmality. Why's that?"
"It's just that this guy's different, you know? Remember what he looks like without this sunshield skin?" I rhetorically ask. Mom shivers in response. Yeah, that was not a good idea now that I think about it.
Last Halloween, when decorating our house, Dad and I had the bright idea that I'd transform into Phantasmality and scare some kids that got close. Eventually, these older, obnoxious kids came along, and as they were walking over to our house, they knocked a young kid over and stole some of his candy in the confusion.
So, to retaliate, I tore off the sunshield skin and scared the crap out of them and Mom. Thankfully, Esmeralda and Dad were out trick-or-treating with Kyle, so my little sister didn't get traumatized that night, but Mom and I agreed we'd keep that between ourselves.
"Really wish I didn't," she whispers. She then nods in understanding. "But I see what you mean. Good luck, baby."
Even as a ghost without any blood, I feel myself blush and rub the back of my head in embarrassment. I hear Mom laugh as I turn invisible and intangible before flying out of the house.
All right, Gerry the Gargoyle really does make a great seat. Thanks, Gerry.
Actually, really surprised they have gargoyles on some skyscrapers all the way here, you'd think only Gotham and Bludhaven used gargoyles, guess not.
After flying over to the urban part of Phoenix, I landed on Gerry, a minute before the Omnitrix powered down, and now, I have to wait another…seven minutes before I can become Stinkfly to hunt down Clancy.
Okay, what do I remember?
Clancy lived in an abandoned apartment building, I think, and the only reason he went batshit insane was 'cause the building needed to be torn down in order for an expansion of some kind. So, he hunted down the councilwoman in charge, but that weird medicine Max made was able to mess with his control over bugs.
Problem is, I don't have a Grandpa Max, so I can't count on that weird Chinese medicine to help. But why's he attacking now? Far as I can tell, there aren't any plans to expand roads or build malls that would need to destroy residential buildings now, are there?
Only one way to find out.
I pull the Omnitrix up to just below my face. "Omnitrix, call Dad."
"Calling…" the watch replies.
After a few rings, he picks up. "Yeeeeeesss?"
"Hey, Dad, do you know if there're any renovations going on in the city soon? Specifically, ones that'll go through residential areas?" I ask.
He hums. "Got something, did you? Hold on, the news should be on now, let me turn on the TV. Esme, sweetie? Is it okay if I put on the news? I promise it won't be long," he's silent as she replies. "Thank you."
"See anything?" I ask after a few minutes.
"Sorry, it's on commercial. Wait! It's on now! A councilwoman's on!" He says.
Oh, talk about the pieces falling into place. "What's she talking about?"
"She's talking about the moving of one of the old city libraries and building a new place for it," he tells me.
"And the old building?"
"Turned into a museum."
"Where're they moving it?" I ask.
"There's an old, abandoned apartment complex they're gonna tear down for it… You don't think our bug man lives there, do you?" He asks.
I nod even though he can't see it. "Makes the most sense. My clones that did see him noticed the ratty clothing he was wearing. Why would his clothes be that dilapidated if he lived in a middle-class neighborhood?"
"Maybe to throw you off his scent?" Dad half jokes, half seriously suggests.
My life isn't exactly like Ben's. "Wouldn't be surprised. Okay, thanks, Dad, see ya."
"Be careful, Eric," he replies before ending the call.
I get up and dial through the Omnitrix. And there you are. I slam the dial down and become Stinkfly. "Man, am I glad I can't smell myseleeeelf—ooh man, what's that?"
There's a…voice in the back of my head. It isn't clear though, more like a whisper that's completely undecipherable, and I have the urge to learn more about it. But, if I focus hard enough, I can resist it, maybe 'cause I'm not a simple insect? Or the fact that I'm an alien? But still, I shouldn't fight him as Stinkfly, that could end badly for me.
Well, 'least I have a general idea where he's going. I blink my four eyes a bit before deadpanning. "He's moving," I say aloud. To whom? No idea.
My wings flutter as I quickly fly in his direction. As expected, the whispers get louder, and a little harder to fight against. I shake my head, pushing them back as I continue the flight. The Flight of the Stinkfly.
As I near the streets, I hear people shout and scream in surprise. I squint my upper two eyes to see people jumping out of the way of Clancy as he marches down the street, a swarm of bugs flying around him and an army of spiders walking with him.
Dammit! I can't switch from one alien to another and that sucks! I land on a nearby three-story building and slap the dial, transforming back to normal. At least I transformed before it ran out, it'll recharge faster at least.
Using my enhanced agility, I leap from building to building, keeping up with Clancy as he continues his march. Wow, this suit Mom made is really easy to move in, I should get her a gift. Maybe some flowers and chocolate? She does love her chocolate.
Hey, there's a florist's shop across the street, nice. Oh, but I'll have to come later, can't exactly buy flowers in my Triumph suit.
Suddenly, a fist sized swarm of wasps flies up and surrounds my head, the insects all sting me repeatedly.
I swing my arms wildly as they all hit me, thanks to my durability they can't break my skin, and the shirt Mom made actually works really well in blocking their stingers. But getting all those stingers to the forehead and ears and all exposed parts of my head is still really annoying.
"AHH! STUPID WASPS! THIS IS WHY NO ONE LIKES YOU!" I shout as I hop around and smack a wasp against my goggles, squishing it and blinding my right eye.
As if understanding me (or maybe Clancy can hear through them) the buzzing increases in intensity, drowning out my hearing, and they kamikaze against my head. Some go up my sleeves, which has me spasm around as I try to get rid of them.
"(YOU SHOULD ALL BE WIPED OUT! WASPS ARE GOOD FOR NOTHING!)" I shout in Spanish. While I jump around, I trip over an air-conditioning unit and fall down, squashing a few wasps and getting their corpses stuck against my clothes and skin.
The Omnitrix gives off the familiar, and far more lovely, beep that it's fully charged, so, ignoring the wasps, I bring the watch over and quickly find the perfect form. I slam the dial down and become my Florauna form, Wildvine.
I'm a green, tall, humanoid plant man with five legs, two on each side and one behind me. The outside of my body is a swamp-green, while the inside is a lighter shade of green. From my chest and a few feet above my head is a light-green Venus flytrap, the flytrap has five yellow teeth on either side. My arms have three blades in each forearm and there are patches of light-green, one on the back of my hands, one on my forearms, and one on each shoulder, they also have black outlines. My hands have four claws, three as fingers and a thumb. I have a spike going out of the back of my head and one orange eye. Down my back are six black bulbs, three on each side. I also have a white and orange belt, the Omnitrix crest in the center of it.
As the wasps continue stinging me, even though it's now useless, I reach over and grab one of the bulbs on my back. Once I pull it off, I hit it on the roof, which leads to it exploding in a noxious green gas that kills the wasps.
I get up and look over the roof to see Clancy gone. I look around before looking right and catching him just as he turns a corner.
I stretch my arms out and grab the edge of the roof to the flower shop and swing over. Once I land, I enter the store and find an old Asian lady and an Asian man in his thirties in the store, a few customers here and there.
"Whoa, you're Triumph," the man whispers in awe.
"Yeah, that's me," I reply in that stoner voice of Wildvine's.
"M-might I ask why you're here? That bug guy didn't come in here, did he?" The guy looks around, as well as the customers. "Pretty sure we'd see him."
I shake my head. "No, I just need some help. Think I can get some flowers?" I walk around the store and look around. Ooh, roses, cliché, but they can be really effective. "Roses, actually?"
The woman walks over next to me and hands me two bouquets. "Of course, of course! Would you like them red or white?"
I put one bouquet of red roses back and take one of white roses. "Well, may as well make it look beautiful while I kick his ass… Thanks!" I turn around and head towards the doors, but before I do, I stop and turn around and face the woman. "Uh…you wouldn't happen to have laelia orchids now, would you?"
The woman nods with a smile. "We do!"
"Cool, cool. Can I come and get a bouquet later? I promise to pay you for them."
The woman shakes her head. "There's no need for payment, you've done so much for us in the year you've been here. But maybe we can take a picture? For advertisement."
I'm Commander Shepard and this is my favorite store on the Citadel.
I nod. The woman smiles before she stands next to me. Her son quickly gets a camera and takes a picture of the two of us. Once that's done, I say my goodbyes before exiting the store and digging under ground through a crack in the sidewalk.
Huh, I've burrowed underground twice today, not exactly a big number, but it's still kinda weird. Then again, I've woken up in the DC Universe as a ten-year-old again with an Omnitrix, so weird left the house a long time ago.
I end up underneath Clancy, and smirk before shooting up. My sudden emergence sends him, and a large number of wingless insects and spiders, flying all over the place. Thanks to the raining bugs, any civilians nearby run away, which works for me, gives me more of a chance to go all out.
With the red roses in one hand, and the white roses in the other, I throw the flowers on the ground around us. Once the flowers hit the ground, they quickly grow, and the thorns become extremely sharp. The vines rise up and then become an airtight dome, trapping the two of us within. The petals also become sharp and they cut any spiders or bugs inside, and the ones outside that try to get in.
With the two of us in the dome, I look at him, and thanks to the control I have over the location, I can see his every movement. And what he looks like.
He's a man probably in his late thirties, he has long, dirty black hair and a goatee. His skin's a pale blue and I notice his long, black nails.
"I'm gonna ask you this once: what're you doing?" I begin to interrogate.
Clancy growls, showing off his fangs. "They plan to teardown my home! That woman, Liang, intends to destroy the building my Grandfather spent years making! And she wants to destroy it for a library!? Just use the old building, there's nothing wrong with it!"
"Okay, I can see why you'd be angry, but what's with the massive influx of spiders and bugs? You could've just brought this up with her! Make an appointment, dude!" I counter.
"I tried!" He yells back. "She didn't listen! This is the only way people in power will listen."
"Okay, how about this? What if I talked to her? My words have to hold some weight, right? It's not too late for you to stand down, man," I say, trying to defuse the situation.
He falls silent. The two of us stare at each other, I stay ready to counter any sudden attack.
Instead, he lowers his arms and looks at me with a curious look. "Do you promise to actually talk?"
Oh, that actually worked? Dope.
I nod. "I promise. Hell, if you want, you can come with, we can go together!"
He slowly nods. "Yes, that sounds…acceptable."
I lower the dome, and the civilians around back up in surprise. As they talk, I slowly stalk over to Clancy and stand over him. "But just so you know, if you do anything that looks like you're going to attack, I will kick your ass. Got it?"
Clancy glares back up at me. He then slowly nods.
He then turns around and a massive swarm of flying insects appears from his clothes and come together in front of him, he then hops on it and flies away. I sigh before turning to the civilians.
"He promised to not harm Councilwoman Liang as long as I talked to her about saving his home. Don't worry—if he attacks, I'll take care of him," I explain before following after him.
I then begin following after Clancy. After a few minutes, the Omnitrix flashes red and the beep signaling a power down. I point up to the roof of a nearby building. "I'm gonna travel by rooftop. Just know, I'm still watching you."
Clancy looks at me with a brow arched in confusion before nodding. "Fine."
With a nod, I quickly sling myself up to the roof of the nearby coffee shop. After transforming back to normal, Clancy and I continue our little journey.
I look down at the Omnitrix, the hourglass of course is currently red.
I just hope it recharges before we reach Councilwoman Liang—in case Clancy does something stupid.
"Well," I begin as I land on the roof. "There it is."
Clancy's down on the street, looking at the capitol building across the street from us. "Triumph! Where are you?"
I look at the Omnitrix. Crap, forty-five seconds 'til it recharges.
I cup my hands over my mouth. "I'm up here! Think we can wait a few seconds?"
"What for?" Clancy shouts back.
What for…what for? Oh! "Just that jumping building to building's really tiring, ya know? I'll be fine in about…thirty-two seconds!"
"Really specific time-frame!" He replies. He's silent for a moment. "Hey, why do you sound like a kid?"
Crap! The reason I'm holding out is 'cause I don't want him (or anyone else) to know I'm twelve! Stupid, stupid Eric! You should've known your voice would give you away! Okay, when this is done, build a voice modulator, that seems like a good investment.
"Just how I sound, ya know?" I reply, my voice getting higher pitched at the end. I also notice my left index finger and thumb tap together rapidly. I force them to stop.
Clancy grunts. "Whatever," I hear him mutter.
I let out a breath of relief. Surprised that worked. Okay, let's get serious.
If I can talk to Liang, maybe I can get her to stop the tearing down of the building. But she's a politician, they only do things if they get something in return… Right! The infestation! Since it all started, there've been constant complaints to town hall about them, and honestly, they all look overwhelmed. If she promises to not tear down the building, then I can have Clancy pull the bugs back. Everyone wins!
I look down at the Omnitrix to see the hourglass is mostly orange, with a little bit of red left at the top. The timer appears and shows nine seconds left.
I stand up and hop around, waving my arms at my sides before it beeps and the hourglass flashes orange. Back in business, baby.
I cycle through before becoming my Transylian form, Frankenstrike.
I become a large, humanoid alien with gray skin, there are stitch-like marks on my arms, the left one has one just below the elbow, and the right arm has one at the shoulder. On my chest are three bolts in a triangle shape, with the top on in the center of my chest. Two silver and black metallic-organic growths that look like conductor towers grow out of my back. I have fingerless silver gauntlets with black palms. I wear black pants with three white lines at each knee and the boots have metallic soles on them. The pants goes up to my abdomen with a circular extension, with a silver circle in the center, and in the center of that circle is the Omnitrix crest.
I walk over to the edge of the building before leaping off and landing next to Clancy, the pavement shatters due to the impact. Oops.
I look down at Clancy and give him my best disarming smile. "All right, let's go save your home!" I cut myself off from saying his name, after all, he's never told me. "Uh…what's your name?"
"Clancy," he answers slowly.
I nod. "Cool, cool," I then hold my hand out for him to shake. "Triumph. But this guy's called Frankenstrike!"
Clancy looks at my hand before looking into my eyes. "Do all your forms have their own names?"
I nod. "Yep!"
"Doesn't that seem like too much?" He asks.
I shrug. "Probably."
"That's stupid," he then walks into the building.
I sigh. "Hurtful."
I then stand up straight and follow Clancy across the street. Almost as soon as we enter the building, we find Councilwoman Liang. And a small group of cops. Cops who have their guns aimed at us. Well, me in particular, but Clancy's in front of me, so they're aiming at him too.
I quickly hold my hands up. "Whoa! Hold it! We aren't here for any trouble, see? It's me, Triumph! We just wanna have a nice, civil conversation with Councilwoman Liang, that's all. Right, Clancy?"
He just hums.
The lead cop, who also happens to be that Williams guy back at the store, narrows his eyes as he looks at Clancy. They then widen in surprise. I notice him give an officer behind him a subtle gesture before he begins talking to us.
"You do know you're wanted for questioning, right, Triumph?" He asks.
I groan. "Yeah, but now really isn't a good time. See, Clancy here has something really important he wants to request of the Councilwoman, and he says he was rejected before 'cause she was busy, but now maybe you can listen?"
"I-"
The Councilwoman puts a hand on Williams' shoulder, silencing him before she walks forward with a light smile. "Now that I have time, I can listen to one of my constituents. What seems to be the problem, sir?"
I hear Clancy's breath quicken. Before I can ask what's wrong, the ground below me suddenly erupts as a mass of spiders appear and I fall down the hole. The officers push Liang back and one of them goes back with her as the remaining cops fire at Clancy and the swarm.
He-he betrayed me. I was willing to talk this out, we could've saved his home and stopped this infestation without any more fighting and he just spat on it? That asshole!
I grit my teeth and growl, the coils on my back arc with orange electricity, after a few seconds, and with a roar, I release the electricity, killing the bugs and sending everyone in the room flying.
I put an arm on the ground and heave myself out of the hole. I glare at Clancy as he slowly gets up. "You. I was going to help you, and you stab me in the back!? What the hell, man!"
Clancy chuckles a bit as he stumbles before straightening himself. "Kid, you should've known I would've stabbed you in the back. Hell, I wouldn't trust me if I were in your shoes. Guess you're dumber than you look."
Before I can retaliate there's a scream from the other room, the one the Councilwoman and the officer went in. Clancy then sends another swarm of wasps into my face with one arm and sends another swarm at the officers with the other. While we're all distracted, he takes that moment to hightail it into the other room. There's another shout of surprise and the sound of breaking glass, after that, the bugs become less aggressive.
With another electric pulse, I kill all the bugs, and this time I don't knock over the officers. But honestly, I could care less.
I silently turn around and head towards the main doors of the building, ignoring Williams and the other officers as they aim their guns at me and demand I stand down. Once I exit the building, I crouch down before leaping forward, jumping over a few buildings, and landing in an empty alley.
He betrayed me. Clancy betrayed me. I take some deep breaths to calm down. But that doesn't work, so I punch a garbage bin. It dents and is nearly folded in half, but that does a lot for my anger.
Now that I think about it, why am I so surprised? Clancy's a villain in the original series, not like he'll be any different just 'cause he lives in another universe entirely. And now Councilwoman Liang's been kidnapped, this is all my fault.
I slap the dial and transform back to normal. I then lean on the wall behind me, take off my goggles and mask and slowly sit down, I rest my head in my hands and heave a deep sigh.
"You look like you're having a rough time."
I look up in the direction of the voice to see an older man with gray hair and a beard. He wears a dirty black hoodie and torn jeans.
Crap! My mask!
As I fumble to put them on, he chuckles. "No worries, kid, I don't even know who you are. Besides, who'd believe an old homeless man if I told them you were Triumph?"
I look up at him warily before chuckling a little. "Yeah, I guess you're right…"
He walks up to me before sliding down the wall and sitting next to me, sighing in relief once he sits down. "Ah, there's that lovely concrete feeling on your arse."
"You, uh, you kick it here?" I ask after a moment of silence.
He nods. "I have other places, but you could say these are my main stopping grounds, yes. Names David."
"Er-"
He raises his hand to silence me. "I don't need to know your real name, just Triumph's enough."
Stupid, you were about to tell some random dude your name after he saw your face? While you're at it, tell him your address, and which school you go to.
"Where's your friend?" He asks. "The homeless guy. Well, the other homeless guy," he amends.
I laugh mirthlessly. "Wouldn't call him a friend per say. He was someone I trusted to let me handle a situation, and before I could even get started, he escalated to violence."
David hums. "And you don't agree with violence?"
I purse my lips. "My Mom told me that if you ever have the chance to talk instead of fight, talk. And I tried that, but what'd that get me? A Councilwoman abducted and an old apartment building ready to be torn down."
"But is she dead? Is the building torn down yet?" David asks.
"N-no?" Where's he going with this?
David smiles. "Well, then you've still got time to fix this!" There's a chiming from his pocket. He reaches in and pulls out a stopwatch. "Ooh, and speaking of time, I have somewhere to be! Ta-ta!" And with that, he's gone.
I look at the spot he was sitting at for a moment before nodding. Heh, he's right, I've still got time to fix this!
I jump up from my spot and climb up the fast-food restaurant in front of me. Man, it's a good thing Dad had me take those parkour classes, really helps with building scaling.
Once I hit the roof, I pull out a piece of Clancy's jacket I had pulled off when I was Wildvine and put it down in front of me. Once that's done, I transform into Wildmutt and sniff it, once I get his scent I transform back to normal and begin the hunt.
You're gonna regret betraying me, Clancy. I'll make sure of it.
I land on top of the dilapidated apartment building and crouch down, listening carefully for Clancy or Councilwoman Liang. It doesn't take long, what with the constant buzzing and sounds the bugs are making.
Focusing more on the voices, I learn they're about three to four floors below me. With a deep frown, I dial through the Omnitrix and transform into Buzzshock and become a bolt of lightning.
Once I enter the top floor, I quickly find an outlet and enter it. Even if the building's run down, the electrical system's still working pretty well, so I enter it and quickly head down three floors and enter the room where Clancy and Councilwoman Liang are.
"P-please, if you just let me go, I can help you," she says as she tries to get away from the infestation of bugs.
"It's already too late," Clancy rasps. "You already condemned yourself when you decided to tear down our home!"
"Sir, this place hasn't been a home for anyone in nearly thirty years," Liang counters.
Enraged, Clancy slams his fist into a nearby drawer, smashing it and scaring the Councilwoman. "It's always been my home! We've lived here when society tossed us aside!"
Now.
I shoot out from the outlet and stay in lightning form as I strike bug after bug after bug in a chain lightning attack. Once I kill all of them, I float in the air between Councilwoman Liang and Clancy, glaring at the metahuman.
"You aren't getting away this time, Clancy," I look at Liang from the corner of my eye. "Get outta here, I'll deal with him."
She nods before getting up and running away. Just as she reaches the doors, a wall of bugs appears, but a quick lightning bolt from me kills them all and lets her continue out of the building.
Clancy roars and throws a multitude of insects at me from inside both of the sleeves of his jacket. I avoid the first one and create an electric shield to protect me from the others. Using them as cover, I zip over and tackle Clancy, sending him flying through the wall of this apartment and into the hallway.
I fly out and the ground below me explodes as a mass of wasps shoots up and sends me flying into the roof of the building, and the force of their attack keeps me pinned.
As I build up another electric pulse, I notice Clancy run away.
I fire the pulse and fly after Clancy, slamming into his back. Once he's fallen over, I fly down with my fists to his back, sending the two of us flying down from floor to floor. Bugs come along to break the fall, but I still push through them.
Clancy and I end up on the ground floor, and he manages to push me back with a burst of tarantulas.
"She wants to destroy our home!" Clancy shouts as he throws a small army of grasshoppers at me. "Why are you defending her!?"
"None of this woulda happened if you didn't attack, you moron!" I bark back. "Whatever happens now is your fault!"
I land down and slam my fists on the ground, a wave of electricity flows forward from the ground, killing many of the tarantulas and grasshoppers. Clancy barely jumps over and runs at me with his fist raised, black widows forming over it.
I easily avoid the punch and grab his arm; I then tighten my grip and look Clancy in the eyes with a glare. "Game over."
And with a powerful burst of electricity, I electrocute Clancy.
He roars in pain as his muscles lock up and his body spasms. I slowly lower the output of electricity, which is the only way I notice that the bolts of lightning I released had struck the few pillars left standing, and with them gone, the building collapses in on itself.
With a groan, I explode some electricity outward and get the rubble off of us. A groan catches my attention, and I look down to see Clancy half buried as he writhes in pain. I reach down to pick him up, but a cough catches my attention.
I turn around to see a small group of people, all with dirty and tattered clothing standing in front of where the building used to be. I notice Councilwoman Liang in the group, as well as a few children, all of whom look terrified.
"Where are we gonna sleep now?" A man demands.
"I thought you were a hero!" A woman cries out as she holds her child in her arms.
"I've got nowhere else to go…" a teen whispers dejectedly.
Hell.
I was so hellbent on making Clancy pay I never thought of the possibility that other people live here. Dammit.
Maybe I can wait ten minutes? I did unlock Chronos a few months ago, I can reverse time for the building. But I've never hit anything near this big with my time powers, what if I can't? I look back to see a kid looking up at his father with fearful eyes, and that's enough for me.
"Screw it," I whisper before closing my eyes and slapping the dial. Please turn me into Chronos.
"Whoa!" I hear some of the kids say.
Guess it worked.
I open my eyes and look down at my hands. Instead of seeing human arms, I see silver arms. Hell yeah, it worked. Now to see if I can't fix the apartment complex.
I pick up Clancy and move him out of the way, once he's down next to the people, I face the building, plant my feet down, and hit the rubble with time rays.
I groan as fatigue hits me, but I force it back and continue on, ignoring it as I watch the building slowly repair itself. Man, this is tiring, bet if I were organic, I'd be sweating up a storm right now. Then again, I live in Arizona, it's the norm to sweat like hell.
Oh, hey, I'm…really close to being…done.
I force myself to stay awake as the last bricks move into place, signifying the end of the reconstruction process.
With a sigh, I drop down to my hands and knees and breathe heavily, after a few deep breaths, I transform back to normal.
"There…fixed," I then fall over onto my side, but through sheer force of will, I keep myself awake.
I hear the people cheer as they return to their home. Clancy's still knocked out across from me, his body occasionally twitching because of the electrocution from earlier.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Councilwoman Liang crouch down next to me, concern clear in her features. I don't hear what she says, instead, I fall asleep.
I wake up in what looks like a run-down room. Once I sit up, I hear someone gasp in surprise. "Oh! You're awake!" I look to see the woman with her son from earlier, a bottle of water in one hand and her son next to her. "Here, we don't have a lot to give, but water seems like a good gift."
"Thanks," I reply as I take the bottle, open it, and down the contents. "What happened after I passed out?"
The woman smiles. "Councilwoman Liang promised that the old library will be renovated, same with this building. And she's gonna do her best to get us all jobs and get the kids in schools!" Her smile then becomes a frown. "Clancy was arrested though…"
"Oh… I'm sorry."
She shakes her head. "It's not your fault. While his reasoning was cool, the way he went about it could've used some work," she's silent as she walks over to the wall and runs her hand along it. "His grandfather made this place after he came back from storming the beaches of Normandy. Clancy said that his gramps was always on edge, but when it came to the building and the people in it, his gramps calmed down. You know what that's like?"
I think about my Grandfather, Carter Mercer. He died four years ago. Esmeralda never got to know him, not really.
"Yeah, I know what that's like," I whisper before getting up from the bed with a groan. "Well, thanks for giving me a temporary room, I appreciate it. Bye."
The woman's son quickly runs up to me and holds out something to me. I crouch down and see it's a Pokémon card, this one of Cyndaquil, my favorite fire starter. "It's a gift!" He tells me.
I blink in surprise before shaking my head. "I can't take it. Thank you, though," I head over to the window and dial through the Omnitrix, landing on Stinkfly. But just before I slam the dial down, I turn around and smile at the kid. "But you know what? I'll come back, bring you some more cards. That sound cool?"
The kid's eyes shine as he nods. "Yes! Thank you, Triumph!"
"It's no problem," I smile before leaping out the window and transforming into Stinkfly.
As I fly home, my smile shifts into a frown. Clancy betrayed me. Huh, guess you can't trust everyone.
And that's the end of the chapter, and the planting of the seeds to see how Eric goes from a happy-go-lucky kid to the jaded asshole he is now.
Did you know, Clancy's only appeared in the original series? And not only that, but he's also only appeared in his debut episode, and in his mutated form during the Negative 10 two-parter. So technically, he's only been in two episodes of the entire series. Wonder why he never appeared again, there's probably something out there.
Well, next chapter's Eric's attempt at rescuing Sindella, but first, he has a promise to keep.
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!
