Some, misunderstood something I wrote, this "new alien", despite it exists and the sample is in the watch, it is not available, it can be unlocked, but it would require the watch to be recalibrated, or Ben has to discover the combination. The watch is just translating the zombie language basically, the Ormerwons are zombie aliens belonging to the Anur system and are mentioned at the end of the movie "The Secret of the Omnitrix", they are never seen on screen, but their existence is known, I just deduced that, like the Vulpimancers (Wildmutt's species) and the megawatts, they possess a distinct language, even among the other species of the Anur system, in other words, an excuse for Ben to understand what Ghoulia is saying.
Also, about new alien species of Monster High, taking into account that all, absolutely all, monsters are magical entities with their own DNA (Even Frankie has DNA, but it's practically human DNA with a great degradation because they are corpses), the Omnitrix can't scan them due to the magical component, except for one character, Astra Nova, the only known alien, but I have ideas for new aliens, although from Ben's universe of course.
And About Ghostfreak, it was never explained what exactly happened for Ben to be able to control him without running the risk of being possessed, but I have my own idea, I think it will be interesting. And that weird personality change wasn't Zs'Skayr.
One more thing, thanks to the readers who have been talking to me and giving me some ideas. It's great to talk to you.
Ben 10 and Monster High belong to their rightful owners
Grammar issues ahead.
xxx
The city of New Salem, located in Oregon County, in the northwestern United States. A peaceful city with a population of several thousand inhabitants. During the last two hundred years the city was affected by a great change, all thanks to the fact that, in those years, the monsters ceased to be a secret and became public knowledge.
An expansion was required, and thanks to being in the Willamette Valley, the possibility that monsters of all kinds could inhabit the place became possible.
The valley was rich in flora and fauna, along with land conducive to growing crops, not to mention that there were forests and lakes nearby, as well as being next to the Willamette River, allowing even monsters that couldn't stay too long away from water to inhabit the area.
Buildings of all kinds were commonplace, whether made by humans or monsters.
And in one of these buildings was a certain Frankenstein's monster woman. Viveka Stein. That day the woman had left early from her job as a professor at the university, but it was not without a purpose.
She was inside a jewelry store, the place was full of different types of jewelry, silver and gold necklaces, mostly cursed. But she did not go there to improve her jewelry or to browse, on the contrary, it was a scientific visit.
In one of the pockets of her lab coat was one of the most recent samples she managed to obtain from Ben, technically it was a week ago, but she had spent all that time studying Upgrade's genetic sample, which would soon have to be returned to its rightful owner. For some reason that Ben didn't bother to detail.
She possessed with her one of the gems Ben called Taydens, an extraterrestrial and other-reality coin, according to the boy. She remained skeptical of things from other dimensions, even if string theory backed up the young shape-shifter. But theoretical physics was not her field, much less was geology. For that reason, she went there. So an expert could tell her what kind of gem it was.
"Viveka Stein, I would never have imagined seeing you in a place like this." said a feminine voice with a slight accent behind Viveka's back. The Frankenstein woman looked over her shoulder, the voice sounded familiar but it didn't hurt to confirm who it was.
It was a woman, perhaps in her late forties, with black glasses and elegant attire, somehow reminiscent of the clothes worn in ancient Greece. The woman's hair fell down on her back, and seemed to shine, almost as if it possessed scales.
She advanced toward the woman Frankenstein monster, who put a friendly smile on her face and spoke.
"Medusa, it's good to see you, I thought you were still in Greece." her comment made the woman identified as Medusa let out a snort, accompanied by the sound of a snake hissing.
"It was just another accusation against me and Arachne, those fools think we had something to do with what happened on Friday." that statement confused the Frankenstein woman, her friend noticed this and explained herself. "I'm confused too, but the idiots on Olympus think a god was here."
"A god?" Viveka questioned skeptically.
"That's what they said, and they had the nerve to accuse me and Arachne of making deals with whatever was here, bah, as if I wanted to deal with divinities."
Viveka gave her friend an apprehensive look, after all, it was not unknown to anyone the history the woman in front of her had with the gods belonging to the Greco-Roman pantheon.
She was about to give her some words of encouragement but was interrupted by the ringing of her phone.
The woman hurried to pull it out and see who the caller was, her expression turned to confusion when she saw that it was Principal Bloodgood.
"I'm sorry Medusa, I must answer."
"Go ahead, I'm not going anywhere." answered the Greek woman.
Viveka nodded and took a few steps away so he could talk more privately.
"Hello Nora, how strange that you call me while you are working." she said after answering her phone.
"Viveka, I'm sorry to interrupt you during your classes, but there was a problem with your nephew, several students threw food at him and he ran away from school." Hearing that, the Stein woman's eyes widened and a mixture of worry and fear began to take over her.
"What happened?" The possibility that Ben had used the Omnitrix to defend himself was high, and she didn't know him well enough to be sure that he hadn't retaliated against his attackers, which could translate into a lot of damage.
"Your nephew tried to defend another student and he said something that could be misinterpreted, he was attacked by others, but you can be calm, no one hurt him physically." explained the principal calmly. An involuntary sigh of relief escaped from Viveka's mouth, but, even so, the concern of what the boy might be doing at that moment persisted. "I am very sorry that this happened and corrective measures were taken, but your nephew ran away, I know he must be overwhelmed right now, but he broke the rules and will have to be punished."
"I understand, I'll talk to him when I see him." the woman bit her lip after saying that. She had no power over the young man, besides, she had a certain degree of dread for him, especially after he narrated how he managed to contain Malware, someone who could get the better of him under the right conditions.
"Do you have any idea where she might have gone? Your daughter and two of her friends are very worried."
That was a question I couldn't answer. Ben was someone who operated under different rules, acted very much on his own, and reported nothing. At least that's the image he formed of the young man in recent days.
Still, she tried to formulate an excuse, a little white lie to calm the woman, who sounded worried. After all, Viveka was aware of how much her students meant to Bloodgood, something she shared.
But before she could say anything, the door of the jewelry store was opened and a shot rang out.
"All right freaks, everybody down and nobody gets hurt!" exclaimed a man with his face covered by a balaclava while pointing a pistol at them. Next to him were three other armed robbers.
Viveka's eyes widened in horror at that. For her part, Bloodgood listened to what was happening and tried to get her to respond.
"Viveka! Tell me where you are! I'll call the police!" The Stein woman did not manage to answer, the assailants were already pointing their guns at her. "Viveka!"
On top of a building, the young hero from another dimension was observing the panorama. It had been an hour since he left school, during which time he had scoured the city looking for any problems he could help with, and since the world was full of super-powered beings walking around in broad daylight, he thought that perhaps incidents caused by them were commonplace.
He was very wrong.
Everything was different, very different from his world.
His home was full of problems caused by super-powerful people, whether human or alien. He, along with many other heroes acting independently and in their own areas, was charged with fighting the evil.
There were more heroes than he could ever have imagined when he was just a kid, among them were the Saturday family, the couple's son was a big fan of his, and one of the few friends who were really into the world of superpowers.
"Zack would have loved this world." he commented.
This version of Earth was a paradise of Cryptids, he, in his little knowledge could identify some, for example, the girl who had helped him in the creepiteria fit the description of Yeti, but she was nothing like the abominable primate that inhabited the Himalayas.
For a few moments, thinking about his home made his expression get down, it was common for him to be away from home either for work, to stop some hidden evil among the stars, or as was happening now, for being thrown into another dimension.
This was all something he was used to, but this time it was different, he wasn't sure what had sent him there in the first place, Paradox hadn't contacted him and the Omnitrix failed to contact Azmuth, or at least the Galvan genius version of that reality. This could only mean one thing, that reality did not possess an Azmuth, and failing that, there was no Omnitrix, possible that even alien species that he knew did not exist there.
-Achu! - the boy sneezed thanks to a cold draft hitting his bareback, maybe running away from school and leaving the shirt behind wasn't such a good idea, I just hoped I didn't catch a cold, I'd hate to have to go through that again. - I should have gone to get my sweatshirt. -
His gaze then dropped to the watch on his left wrist.
With the lack of technology needed, creating a return portal would be very difficult, not impossible, but it would take a long time. He needed to get alien technology, and since no one seemed to know about them, it was clear that there had not yet been a first contact or at least a public one. He confirmed that the Roswell crash also happened there, all thanks to the reliable Internet.
And since the Omnitrix had many functions, including that of a communicator, perhaps if he sent a distress message, some species would receive it and contact him.
But there was a possibility that this species may not be friendly.
"Well, if they come looking for war, I'll give them a war." After saying that, he raised his wrist and used his right hand to activate the faceplate of the watch. " Omnitrix, Voice recognition, Tennyson Benjamin."
Recognized User.
"Omnitrix, send a distress signal on an open channel, I need help to get out of this universe."
Communication system initiated. Warning. Software failure has been detected, integrity is at 81%, it is recommended to resume calibration.
"I thought you were already repaired." he commented with surprise. "Keep that on hold, can you send a distress signal without a message?"
The beacon is still active. Error: Unable to contact Galvan Prime. Unable to contact Galvan Prime. Do you want to extend the signal range?
"Do it."
The young hero watched as the core of the clock was revealed, and then began to rotate, the typical hourglass symbol turned into a rhombus and started the reconfiguration. For a few moments, nothing happened, until the AI spoke again.
Beacon configured. A distress signal will be sent. Estimated time for a response... Could not be calculated. A receiving source has been detected. ERROR. Magnetic interference detected. A connection could not be established.
That last part surprised the boy, nothing could get the message so quickly unless it was a plumber's badge. He easily deduced that it was his own, which was in the proto truck at the time, so he dismissed that information without giving it much more importance.
"Well, that leaves one less problem." After that, the hero's thoughts turned to something else.
His economic problems.
It was thanks to the Stein's help that he now had a roof over his head and some food, but he wasn't going to be there forever, it would be an abuse of their goodwill, and he did not want to keep borrowing money from Frankie every time he had to buy food, not to mention he was going to need clothes and a phone that would work in that world. And he still had to buy a few things for his new classes at Monster High.
He was hasty and did not have all the details in mind when he made his plan and now he was in a bind.
"I think I should have thought about it better." he commented with some amusement behind, he was aware that many, or maybe all, of the plans he created were very bad, leaving many things to improvisation, which he was very good at. "Maybe I could get a part-time job." He carefully evaluated that idea, after all, it was not uncommon for students to take part-time jobs, Lagoona was an example of this. She possibly could help him with that.
Although she, like the whole school, would most likely take him for a racist jerk.
"Yet another problem to add to the list." He was going to have to find a way to improve his image, soon.
He also has to buy a new notebook to write his to-do list.
He was forced to stop those thoughts when below him came the unmistakable sound of a police siren.
He quickly looked down, searching for the source of the sound. He could see two patrol cars heading north towards the center of the city. A smile full of excitement formed on his lips and the next thing he did could easily be considered crazy for someone normal, but Ben was far from normal.
The boy jumped from the building.
In the street, passersby walked quietly, the calm of that day had only been broken by the sound of distant sirens. Humans and monsters still went about their lives, ignoring each other as much as possible. It wasn't until a monster noticed something strange. A flash of green light about twenty meters high.
Curious, he looked up trying to find the source of the flash, only to see for a few brief moments a humanoid figure hovering above his head.
-Yeeehaaa!- a shout full of energy and fun stopped everyone's activities.
Monsters and humans alike looked up only to see a silhouette pass over them all. Like a superhero out of a comic book, a human-like figure covered in bandages was swinging through the sky.
His incredible performance was made possible by bandages he threw from his hands, which acted like hooks, attaching to any surface, even digging into and piercing the walls of buildings.
Passersby began pointing at it, recording it with their phones and ICoffins, wondering what it could be.
The mysterious being fell onto a bus that was traveling through that section of the city, momentarily giving a better picture of who it was as it ran over the roof of the public vehicle.
Much taller than the average human or monster, with a body covered in bandages and a black, green, and gold outfit reminiscent of a pharaoh, it had bracelets and greaves on arms and legs, and a strange green and white belt with a unique symbol in the center. It was a mummy, a Pharaoh to be precise.
The identified monster jumped off the roof of the bus and threw his bandages towards a building, they caught and, like a slingshot, propelled him into the air again.
Noticing that he was attracting everyone's attention below him, the Egyptian monster began to put on a much flashier show.
After all, he loved to please his fans.
As he swung, during the brief moments of free fall caused by exchanging his bandages to continue moving forward, he would take the opportunity to do some pirouettes, spinning on himself, flapping his attire in the air current he formed, only to reengage at the end and continue his journey.
"This is more fun than walking!" he shouted with childish excitement.
The spectacle lasted little longer, as quickly as it had made its presence known, it disappeared swinging over everyone's heads. Leaving the question of what had just happened.
Several blocks later. The mummy landed on top of a building after managing to hit the patrols once again. These had stopped in front of a jewelry store, several police officers were in the vicinity, stopping passers-by to prevent them from approaching, while others were surrounding the entrance to the place.
His eyes narrowed and he watched the situation carefully, it was by all accounts a robbery, possibly with hostages, he would have to be careful, sneak in, kick some ass and possibly make a joke or two.
His gaze swept over the place, just to make sure there wasn't a hidden driver somewhere, in his experience, there always was one.
He then saw a white van parked in a nearby alley. He sharpened his gaze even more at that. He could see a human there, he had a woolen cap on his head, which was strange since the weather was hot. She noticed him impatiently tapping his foot against the ground as he looked in the direction of the jewelry store.
"And there we have the driver." Having identified its first target, the monster wasted no time in heading for the alley and launching itself from the top.
His body fell apart in bandages, which silently fell several meters behind the man.
He did not notice at any moment that, hidden in the shadows, the figure of the mummy was forming once again, the green and spectral glow of the monster's eyes were visible just behind the thug, who could do nothing when several bandages wrapped around his face and body, pulling him into the darkness.
In the vicinity of the alley, the Sheriff of New Salen made an appearance, the whole place had been cordoned off to prevent civilians from entering the risk zone, several police officers were in charge of this, both human agents and monsters.
"What is the situation?" asked Sheriff as he approached one of his subordinates.
"Armed robbery sir, there are four confirmed suspects, two of them are monsters." replied a police officer. "They have hostages, we can't go in."
"Monsters? Great, those freaks will complicate things." his gaze shifted to two other policemen, who were making sure to keep the civilians from approaching, one of them was a werewolf with brown fur and the other a gargoyle. "We should get the freaks out, or this could get worse."
"Sir, is better for the RAD officers to be here, the RAD civilians might..." the officer remained silent under the gaze of his superior.
"RAD? What the hell is a RAD?" he questioned, the same police officer who had gone with him to Monster High to question Spectra approached them both.
"RAD, is a new term for monsters, calling them "monsters" is offensive for too many." she replied. "Sir We have confirmation, there are hostages, they haven't made demands yet, we should send someone."
"Officer Graham." The Sheriff looked at the woman with a very serious expression. "The monsters must leave, now."
"Sir, I don't think this is a good idea." The policeman tried to reason, the blonde policewoman was about to say something, but was distracted when a shadow passed over everyone's heads.
She then looked up, but there was nothing, yet she was sure she saw something. Her eyes scanned the sky until they stopped on the roof of the jewelry store. For a second, she could see two bandages swaying in the breeze, but they disappeared almost instantly.
Being taken hostage was something Viveka would never have imagined would happen to her that day, or even in her life. The woman, along with her friend and all the monsters that were in the jewelry store at the time were gathered in a corner, away from all possible exits and with two of the thieves watching them.
The Frankenstein woman was holding her right shoulder with her left hand. When the thugs saw that she had her phone in hand, they didn't hesitate to subdue her, which would have been difficult enough for humans. Except that the ones who attacked her weren't.
Among the thieves, two of them were not human, but monsters.
The first of these possessed scaly skin, reptilian eyes, and a tail that wagged behind it, it was a lizardman. While the other was much bulkier than the rest of the thieves, its skin was grayish and with a rocky texture, she identified it as a stone troll, an unusual species in Scarmerica.
"Viveka, are you all right?" Her friend's voice reached her ears, Medusa was standing next to her with an expression that betrayed how worried she was about her. "How is your arm?"
"I'm fine, only a few seams were torn." she gave her friend a reassuring look, after all, the pain was not something she could experience, at least when it comes to separating parts of her body.
Her gaze shifted to the crooks, two of them, the lizard man and one of the humans were looting everything they could and in a desperate manner, nervous of the police who were out of sight.
Out of the corner of her eye, the Frankenstein woman saw her friend bring one of her hands to her sunglasses, which alerted her, and she did not hesitate to interrupt her.
"Medusa, no, you know what will happen if you do that."
"If I don't, who knows if we'll be able to get out of here." she excused herself. Her friend's look was serious, very serious, which made her desist. "Fine, but if they try to hurt us, I'll turn them into garden ornaments."
Viveka did not respond, she knew the temperament and how cold-blooded that woman could be, and given the situation, she could understand her.
Her eyes turned to the thieves again, they had already finished gathering all the valuables, including the money and belongings of everyone present, Tayden among them. Something that had Viveka worried. After all, that object was of extraterrestrial origin and possessed too many similarities to the crystals Ben used to contain Malware, the same ones that appeared in the Maul, she was not sure what could happen if it became public that she possessed samples of those gems.
A strange sound caught everyone's attention. Thieves and hostages turned their attention to the source of the sound, which came from a vent far from the entrance.
The sound was hard to describe as if a rough object was sliding across a metal surface and piling up on the grate. This alerted the robbers, who pointed their guns at the scene.
"Lizard, go see." commanded one of the humans, his accomplice nodded in response and began to approach.
From the position she was in, Viveka couldn't see exactly what was going on, barely catching a glimpse of the lizard man walking towards the gate.
The reptilian monster carefully analyzed the source of the sound, which had stopped when he approached. For several seconds nothing happened and he couldn't see anything behind the metallic object either, so he simply dismissed the situation and set out to return.
"I think it was just a rat." he said aloud. But to his bad luck, the grating flew straight at his head.
When the object hit him, he let out a groan of discomfort, but thanks to the lightweight of the object, he did not suffer any damage. Until several bandages wrapped around his head and dragged him backward.
His shout of surprise echoed through the place, followed by his body flying past the thieves and slamming into one of the displays.
The other three watched their companion with surprise, but when they heard footsteps they quickly pointed their weapons towards the place.
An Egyptian monster made itself known, taking them by surprise due to the great height it possessed, as well as its bright green eyes, which did not seem to be from that world.
"A mummy?" whispered Medusa surprised to see the monster of Egyptian origin, Viveka was also surprised at the appearance of this, she was sure that no mummy had entered the place.
The newly arrived monster narrowed his gaze and analyzed his new opponents, four in all, three if he didn't count the one he had just knocked out, two of the four in his direct line of sight were human, while the other two were monsters. His attention was focused on the bulkiest one, the Stone Troll.
Big, ugly, and possibly very dumb. - he thought, despite the situation, he wasn't going to deny that he was intrigued to see monsters and humans working together, though disappointed that they were only working as a team to cause a crime. - At least they put aside their differences.
"Hey freak, you just made a big mistake." said one of the humans, while pointing his gun at him. - said one of the humans, while pointing his gun at him, the mummy arched an eyebrow at that. He had imagined that the size difference would be a good reason to avoid confronting him he was wrong. "Why don't you behave like the rest of them, leave all that gold and we'll pretend this didn't happen?"
"I'm sorry guys." The mummy's voice was loud and clear, as well as full of amusement and arrogance. It leaned forward slightly, taking an aggressive stance, then lunged forward at a much faster speed than would be expected for someone of its size and struck the stone troll on the chin. "But you guys aren't going to get your six stars."
Thieves and hostages opened their eyes in surprise as they watched the larger monster being lifted into the air by the uppercut the Egyptian monster had thrown. Everything happened as if it was happening in slow motion until the monster's rocky body hit the ground and let out a groan of pain.
The human thieves looked frightened at the bandaged monster, which held its fists in front of its chest in a fighting pose.
"Let's dance." the mummy advanced towards the two remaining thieves, the first one tried to shoot, but the bandages on the monster's back moved, holding his arm and changed the direction of the shot, which hit the ceiling.
The next thing the mummy did was to turn on itself and send the human flying into one of the displays, shattering its glass.
The second human thief tried to imitate his partner, firing at the monster, but the latter proved to have reflexes beyond expectations.
He ducked to avoid the bullets, which hit the wall behind the mummy. The Pharaoh then performed a foot sweep, causing the human to lose his balance and fall to the ground, and then stepped on his chest, containing him in place.
"This is the part where you surrender." Because of that moment of arrogance, the pharaoh did not notice that the troll was standing again, and he did not miss the opportunity.
The Egyptian monster was yanked by his bandages and thrown towards a side wall, partially shattering it and leaving his mark there. A groan of pain came from him and his body slid to the ground only for seconds later a huge foot to crush his chest, causing him to let out yet another groan.
Above him stood that stone monster, which was looking at him really angry.
"I'll teach you not to meddle in other people's work." said the stone monster as he cracked his knuckles. "Stupid pharaoh!" he roared. He then raised his foot on the hero's chest and brought it down with all his might, plunging the Egyptian monster's body into a small crater.
This action was repeated several times, and the sound of each stomp was heard even outside, which terrified the civilians.
Viveka covered her mouth with both hands, unable to believe what she was seeing. No one could, it was a pretty brutal scene and one that only stopped when the dust was thick enough to prevent the Troll from seeing the mummy.
The stone monster observed the result with satisfaction and waited patiently for the dust to clear. He wanted to see that pharaoh in the pitiful state he had left him. At no time did he notice the bandages that accumulated behind him and shaped the mummy.
"Those were some good stomps, were you a footballer?" the mummy's voice took the troll by surprise, who turned around, only to have his vision obstructed by bandages. During those moments of disorientation due to blindness, the mummy jumped on the monster's shoulders and continued to use his bandages to try to subdue him, but due to the monster's superior strength, they kept tearing. "You know, you remind me a lot of a comic book superhero, only you're not orange, or nice, or a hero."
The Troll managed to catch one of the mummy's arms and threw it forward. The bandages falling on the pharaoh's back moved, throwing himself against the ground and breaking his fall, allowing the Egyptian monster to stay up in the air thanks to these as he crossed his arms in front of his chest, watching as the troll broke free.
"I will smash you!" shouted the stone monster, and then charged at the pharaoh, the latter returned to solid ground and imitated the action of his opponent, but when he was close enough, he jumped, avoiding being hit and landing behind his rival.
"No, that's a Hulk line, I mean Thing, you know, the rock-covered guy from the Fantastic Four." his bandages were thrown at the troll again, but this time they went towards his legs, wrapping around them and causing him to fall to the ground. "But, you're much uglier."
Once again, the rock monster broke free, completely tearing the bandages, and turned to face him again, but there was no trace of the hero. He looked for him with his eyes, it was not possible that he simply disappeared, he never imagined that he was nailed to the ceiling with his bandages.
"Hey Big Guy, over here." the troll looked up, only to see a large number of bandages falling on him, enveloping him. The mummy then allowed himself to descend, to inspect his work, a cocoon made of bandages, and that inside possessed a stone troll. Seeing how the monster did not give up and how the bandages were beginning to break again, he decided to change his strategy. "Something tells me you're not giving up, so it's time for some Rock'N TRoll!" he exclaimed with childish amusement. His idea was childish and impractical, but its result was as expected. After pulling one of the bandages wrapped around the thug, he began to spin around until he fell to the ground, followed by incomprehensible groans coming out of his mouth. "Rock'N TRoll, do you gotcha? Because you are made of rocks, you are a troll and I made you roll. - His gaze shifted to the hostages who looked at him in confusion. - What? That was funny. -
His little celebration was interrupted when the lizard monster jumped on his back and tried to subdue him. It made use of its claws to try to hurt him by tearing his bandages, which began to fall, but without a trace of blood.
The bandages on the pharaoh's back lunged to grab the monster's abdomen and pull it off him, sending him into a wall. Seeing how part of his body was now ripped into the ground, the Egyptian monster's eyes furrowed.
"Hey! be careful with the bandages, these things are about five thousand years old!" he complained, to the surprise of the spectators, each discarded bandage was replaced by another in perfect condition, making it clear that these bandages were continually regenerating.
He then walked towards the lizard monster, which was beginning to stand up, although very disoriented. For an instant, the mummy stared at it and then pointed a finger.
"Wait, are you Doctor Connors?" the surprise that the mummy showed was enough for the hostages and that lizard monster to look at him as if he were crazy. "Dude! I loved your performance in Spectacular Spider-Man."
"What?" the reptilian monster asked extremely confused. "You are insane!" the reptile lunged at him to try to hit him but was not very successful.
"I know this is not the time for this, but I would love to have your autograph." the pharaoh took a step back, easily dodging the punch thrown by his current opponent. "I don't want to sound rude, but you looked more intimidating in that series." He turned his body to the right, dodging another punch and causing the lizard monster to stumble forward. "And more agile too, I guess all actors go through a rough patch in their career."
"Shut up!" he shouted, once again he tried to tear the bandages, but to his surprise, his hand pierced the pharaoh's body. This caused his expression to turn to one of total horror as he saw that his hand was coming out of the monster's back, despite this, he could not feel anything underneath those bandages, it was as if he was hollow inside.
"Do you want to touch my heart?" questioned the mummy to his surprise. "Oh man, you flatter me, but first, buy me dinner." The next thing the reptile felt was a solid blow to his abdomen, powerful enough to knock all the air out of his lungs and send him crashing to the ground.
The mummy wasted no time and making use of the bandages on his hands wrapped him up like the troll monster.
He then put his hands on his waist and looked with some disappointment at the monster, and then looked towards the hostages, who were staring at him with wide eyes.
"And that's why you should never meet your idols, they might be disappointed." His gaze swept over the monsters just to make sure they were all right. It was then that he saw her. Viveka Stein was there, staring at him, wide-eyed and with her jaw almost unhinged.
Oh no. - he thought, he was sure that the headmistress was already aware that he ran away from school, valid excuse, he was doing a common good, but he was sure that Viveka would not be very happy, and since she and Viktor were considered his tutors, that could cause a big problem.
But his concern only increased when he saw that the woman was holding his right arm, literally detached from his body, his eyes widened in horror at that and he did not hesitate to run to her.
"Watch out!" Medusa's voice was heard, but the warning came too late.
BANG BANG BANG
Three shots were fired at the mummy, and all of them hit, causing him to lose his balance and stumble forward, falling in front of the hostages. Part of the bandages on his face came undone and fell to the ground, causing some of them to stifle a scream as they saw one of their fellow monsters fall dead in front of them.
Viveka for her part looked at him in dismay and very frightened, she had recognized the hourglass symbol that the Egyptian monster possessed on his belt, it was exactly the same symbol that Upgrade and the Ditto possessed, in other words, that mummy, was Ben.
She watched in horror as the boy fell in front of everyone, although, his eyes remained open and with that strange unnaturally green glow.
The two human thieves approached the mummy's body, the shots had hit its back and neck, no one could survive something like that.
"Stupid monster." exclaimed one of the humans angrily, his breathing was agitated, as he had not expected everything that had just happened. "Release those two idiots, we have to get out of here." his companion nodded, but before he could do anything, a bandage wrapped around his leg, stopping him.
Feeling the extra pressure, the thug looked down, confused by the strange sensation, then more and more bandages were thrown at him, wrapping him quickly. The shooter recoiled in fright as the mummy began to rise, the holes in his body were again covered by new bandages, surprising the onlookers even more.
The monster rose above its full height and turned, its green eyes glowing menacingly and locked on the last thief. It was known that the undead were resilient beings, they endured much more punishment than many other species of monsters, but even for one, three shots were fatal.
But this mummy was unlike anything that the world knew. And this mummy was angry.
The thief's weapon fell from his trembling hands before the imposing and terrifying figure of the mummy. The bandages on the monster's chest began to reveal small lines that glowed green, almost as if some radioactive element was in there. The pharaoh's shadow was cast over him, causing him to fall to the ground, frozen with dread.
Seeing the thug completely freaked out by his presence was mildly satisfying, he was very much against causing too much damage, but these thieves hurt his friend's mother, and he wasn't going to overlook it. His legs twitched and he began to walk towards the human, something that frightened him even more. The bandages falling on his back began to move as if they were snakes or tentacles. One of the tentacles launched itself against the thief's leg, who let out a scream of fear.
"No! Stay away! Stay away!" the human tried to back away but was pulled towards the monster. His screams were quickly silenced when the monster's fist hit his stomach, knocking him unconscious instantly, it was then that the bandages covered him completely.
Pharaoh dropped it to the ground on the spot and once again turned to the hostages, who were now looking at him really scared.
The bandages covered the green lines again, mitigating any light emanating from them. Still, the pharaoh stared for a few more seconds at the human, then turned and walked towards the hostages.
Medusa, seeing that the monster was approaching them once again, did not hesitate to take off her glasses and use her unique ability against them. She didn't expect the monster's reflexes to be sharp enough to help it tilt its body, avoiding the petrifying stare.
He then threw his right hand towards her, his fingers transformed into bandages, quickly covering the woman's eyes, who grunted and tried to remove them. Her momentary blindness prevented her from defending herself against the monster of Egyptian origin, but to her good fortune, Viveka was quick to intervene.
"Wait!" Seeing that the pharaoh was about to attack her friend, Viveka stepped in front of her, an action that took the Egyptian monster by surprise. "She thought you were going to harm us!"
He watched the woman for a few seconds, her right arm was not on her body, but on the ground, several steps away from him. There was no trace of blood and Viveka did not seem to suffer from the lack of the limb. Still, seeing the woman hurt was making him angry.
One of the bandages on his back darted toward the arm, holding it, much to the monster woman's surprise. The limb was pulled in, he carefully picked it up and approached his friend's mother. He knelt on one leg in front of Frankenstein's monster, he needed to be at the same height to put the limb back in place.
Watching as the Egyptian monster worked to once again put her arm where it belonged was impressive, at no time did he make eye contact, only concentrating on using his bandages to hold the limb preventing it from falling.
"I'm sorry, I was late." The pharaoh's voice came in a whisper, which surprised the woman. The monster looked into her eyes, she noticed the look of shame in them. And she could not understand why.
Medusa managed to free her eyes from the monster's bandages, and looked towards him intending to transform him into a statue, but stopped. She saw her friend watching with an expression difficult to describe the huge pharaoh, who was bandaging Viveka's arm.
When he was finished, he stepped back, rising once more to his full height.
"Is everyone all right?" his attention turned to the hostages, who continued to stare at him, not knowing how to act in front of him. "Listen, I'll go out and get the policemen." At that instant, the door of the establishment was knocked down, causing the pharaoh to turn around. There stood several policemen, all pointing their guns at him.
"Quiet!" exclaimed the Sheriff.
"Or they will come in and point their guns at me, it works too." The mummy raised his hands in surrender. "Listen, I'm not one of the bad guys."
"Whatever you say, monster." replied another agent as he approached ready to handcuff him. "You have the right to remain silent."
"Everything you say will be used and blah, blah, blah." interrupted the pharaoh, his eyes rolled to the side he didn't like hearing that. "I know that line by heart." The bandages on his back began to move, which made everyone nervous, especially Viveka, who hoped Ben wouldn't do something stupid like attack the policemen. "As much as I'd like to spend a night in a comfortable cell, I have things to do, places to be, and clothes to wash." the bandages launched themselves towards the window of the place, shattering it completely and hooking onto a lamppost outside. "Sayonara."
Before the policemen could stop him, the pharaoh's body was pulled outside.
"Quick! Don't let him escape!" ordered the Sheriff.
Outside the jewelry store, civilians and police officers watched in bewilderment as an overly tall mummy walked through the store's display case.
"Stop!" shouted a werewolf policeman as he ran towards him.
"I'm sorry officer, but I already told your boss that I don't give autographs." The mummy jumped, avoiding being caught by the werewolf. His bandages darted toward one of the patrol cars, latching onto it and pulling him in.
The sound of Pharaoh's feet stamping echoed through the place, at the same time as three other police officers surrounded him.
His eyes narrowed, analyzing everything around him, these agents were too focused on the robbery that they had not yet noticed the driver he had caught in the alley, he had to lead them to that place, but with civilians in the way and a distance of about twenty meters separating him from his destination, he was going to have to use his best acrobatic skills.
He then felt one of his bandages being pulled. A policeman managed to catch him and tried to pull him out of the vehicle, but it was cut, causing him to fall to the ground.
"You should be more careful, these things are fragile." the pharaoh took an Olympic leap over their heads and landed several meters away, which provoked some exclamations from the civilians who were watching everything. "How about a game of catch? I'll run into that alley and you guys catch me."
The policemen looked at him in confusion, not understanding what exactly his plan was. But the monster didn't give them much more time to think as he started running towards the place he pointed out.
"Follow him!" exclaimed a monster policewoman, the woman was a werecat, and thanks to her improved speed, she managed to run after the pharaoh without much trouble. The Egyptian monster noticed the monster woman, his plan was working, now he just had to escape.
He threw one of his hands forward, and to the cat woman's surprise, the whole arm stretched out, flying through the air until it stuck into one of the walls of a building near the alley.
"Hey Catwoman, over here!" he exclaimed as his body was thrown into the air, the bandages on his back acting once again, pinning his to the brick wall. From the ground, the woman watched in complete bewilderment at this incredible action. The pharaoh found his expression very amusing, but this was no time to mock. "Follow me!"
The werecat saw him dart into the alley and wasted no time in going after him.
Entering a dark alley chasing a monster was possibly a pretty bad idea, but it was not an impediment for the woman, who, thanks to her night vision, could see better in the dark, thus avoiding any ambush that the mummy might plan. What she did not expect was to find a van and a guy covered in bandages and wearing a balaclava on his face.
"Over here." The woman looked up, meeting once again the pharaoh, who was crouched on the roof of one of the buildings. The monster's skills, both acrobatic and escape, really amazed her, and she was sure that the mummies should not be able to control their bandages like that. For his part, the pharaoh pointed towards the human and spoke again. "That's another suspect, you're welcome!"
"Wait!" the woman's cry fell on deaf ears. The Egyptian monster made a small farewell sign with one of his hands and threw the bandages on his back somewhere, his body was pulled, disappearing quickly.
Moments later, several officers arrived on the scene, only to see their partner looking confused at the apprehended suspect.
Away from the site, the pharaoh's mummy was moving between the roofs of the buildings thanks to his bandages. He was not elated by his recent victory, instead, he was really nervous.
"Viveka is going to kill me for running away from school." he whispered in fear.
Once again, night had fallen on the city of New Salem. As usual, the important events of that day spread like an uncontrollable flare. That a mysterious monster had helped stop a robbery was turning the internet into a boil.
The images captured by the security cameras quickly made their way around the web and everyone knew about what had happened, including the news media.
"Local authorities have not yet commented on the matter, the identity of the mysterious monster, which was identified as a Pharaoh mummy, remains a mystery." the night report was given by a woman with pale skin and black hair, in addition to having two fangs on her upper lips, it was a vampire. "Several witnesses claim they saw him swinging between buildings thanks to the bandages on his body."
The young daughter of the Stein family was sitting on the sofa in the living room of her home. It was just after eight o'clock at night and she was watching the news on TV. She would be lying when she said she was relaxed, she couldn't be after she learned what happened to her mother that evening.
Out of the corner of her eye, she looked in the direction of the kitchen, her mother and father were there, arguing about something she couldn't hear.
Knowing that her mother was a hostage in the robbery had her very nervous, not to mention that Ben still hadn't shown up. Everything about that day appreciated being set up in such a way that it could only go very wrong.
She brought her knees to her chest and laid her head on them while hugging them. She wasn't used to this kind of situation, she didn't know what to do, and thinking about it only made her feel more confused.
Even if she wished it, she could never have helped her mother, it was fortunate that that mysterious mummy appeared to save the day. Her mother said nothing about it, since returning to her father's side, she had been silent, as if something was occupying her mind, worrying her.
It was strange to see her like that, but he deduced that it was only due to the shock of what happened.
One problem she could have helped with and didn't was Ben's situation.
The fear of seeing him ready to activate the Omnitrix had paralyzed her and by the time she managed to gather her courage, the boy had already disappeared from the school.
She, along with her friends searched for him, they even tried to use Clawdeen's sniff to find him when they found the wet shirt, but the trail always ended up in the men's room, which meant that Ben used one of his transformations to disappear. To her, that was a bad sign, and she hoped the boy wasn't mad that she hadn't helped him.
"He saved you and you can't defend him from a bully, good job Frankie." she chided herself as she closed her eyes, she really wished could do something else.
The news on TV continued to flash, and the girl did little to pay attention to them.
"In other news, the ASOME Monster Targeted Products Company building suffered an attack in the early hours of this morning by what is believed to be an anti-monster extremist group, rescue operations have already begun and the damage is estimated at..."
Hearing those things only made her feel even worse. She closed her eyelids tightly, trying not to hear that news, she didn't need that on her mind.
TOC TOC TOC
Three steady knocks on the front door brought the young monster out of her thoughts. The girl wasted no time in turning off the television and heading for the entrance to her home.
When she opened the door, she found Ben there, the boy was wearing his sweatshirt, although she could see thanks to the fact that the zipper was a little open, that he had nothing underneath. The young hero was looking at the screen of a green digital phone until he noticed her, quickly put it in his pants pocket, and made a small gesture with one hand.
"Hey Frankie." he greeted. "I came to get my clothes."
"Who is, Frankie?" the voice of the young girl's father was heard behind her, it was then that the adult monster peeked out. Seeing the human there, his expression took a drastic turn, which did not go unnoticed by the girl.
"Hello Viktor." he greeted with some nervousness. The young man was forced to clear his throat so that his voice would not fail him at that moment before he continued speaking. "May I come in?"
"Frankie, go to your room." ordered the adult. His daughter looked at him in surprise, but at his serious expression, she chose not to say anything.
"Yes dad." the girl gave one more glance at Ben, who made a small gesture of farewell with his right hand.
For a few seconds, the hero and monster stared at each other, waiting for Frankie's footsteps to disappear at the top of the stairs. When the sound of the girl's bedroom door was heard, Ben took the floor.
"I'm in trouble, right?" he asked with a nervous smile adorning his face.
Ben went through many complicated situations over the last few years, he faced things that no one could imagine and came out victorious, but one of the hardest to face were the looks his parents gave him when they found out about his double life as a superhero. Exactly the same looks that Viveka and Viktor were giving him at that moment.
Several minutes had passed since the boy arrived at the Stein family home, he and his friend's parents were sitting in the kitchen with a heavy atmosphere of tension around them.
"This is good water." As was usual for him, in situations that made him nervous, the boy did not miss his chance to make a bad joke, in this case, regarding the glass of water in front of him. "Who would have thought it was from the tap."
The adults' expressions were all he needed to keep silent. Yes, he was in trouble.
"Listen, if it's about what happened with Mr. Redbull, I swear, that's not what I meant."
"You were shot." Viveka interrupted him. The boy closed his mouth at that statement, saw the woman's brow furrow even more as she said that. "They crushed you and tore you apart."
For a few seconds, Ben just looked at Viveka, the woman had a really angry look on her face and it was starting to scare him.
"Yes, that also happened today." he answered as calmly as he could. His answer was not at all to the woman's liking.
"What were you thinking?!" the woman suddenly raised her voice, taking the boy by surprise, especially when she slammed her hands on the table. "Ben, you could have died!"
"But, I..."
"Do you have any idea how horrible it was to see the boy we were supposed to take care of getting crushed by a stone troll!" The young man shrank in place, he didn't think it was that big of a deal, but chose not to say anything. "Answer me!"
"It's no big deal I've had worse things done to me." Contrary to what he was expecting, his answer did not calm the woman down. "I have been cut, burned, frozen, beaten, crushed, and once I was even erased from existence." Each thing he said was enumerated with one of the fingers of his left hand, and at no time did he notice the couple's expressions of utter horror.
Frankie's mother was about to say something, but her husband's hand rested on her shoulder, causing her to return to her seat. The male monster looked at Ben, who simply had a calm look on his face, the male monster didn't understand how he could be so indifferent to being harmed.
"Boy, what you did today was stupid, not only for starting a fight with a minotaur but also for going into a jewelry store that was being robbed and fighting the thieves." Frankenstein's monster saw that, for a second, Ben's expression contracted, whether out of embarrassment or otherwise, he didn't know.
"And what did you expect me to do?" he questioned, the boy raised his left wrist so he could point to the Omnitrix. "I have this thing, remember? I'm a hero! And I wasn't about to let the bad guys get away with it."
"The police are there for that." Viktor replied, but that answer only inflamed the young human even more. "The same policemen who were questioning my wife about what happened."
"I helped save the day, it's my job." the young man crossed his arms and looked away, he was beginning to think the couple still didn't understand the "greatest hero in the universe" part. "Besides, no one got hurt."
Viktor was forced to rub the bridge of his nose, his patience with the boy was reaching a limit, he really couldn't understand how he could act like this. He claimed to be a hero, but all it showed was that he was irresponsible and didn't take things seriously, knowing that the whole time he was talking while fighting the robbers gave him a very bad image of the young man.
Viveka, on the other hand, let out a sigh, she was trying to understand the boy, but she still didn't believe the existence of a superhero, to her, it was seeing a dumb kid screaming to be killed.
"Ben, understand, you can't do something like that." she did her best to stay calm, but the way the boy was being indifferent was starting to worry her. "A child shouldn't be doing such things."
"I told you, I've been fighting crime since I was ten years old, this is just another day's work for me."
Once again Viveka stood up, her bolts released several sparks and her expression was one of utter dismay. Ben recoiled at the outburst, he had not expected such a reaction.
"You're a child! You could have died! Do you think we want that on our conscience?!"
"Viveka is right, not to mention that your actions could have endangered others, I don't know why you have this childish idea of being a hero, but the only thing you achieved was that the police questioned my wife when they saw that she had your bandages on her arm." Viktor added. "I accepted you here because you saved my daughter, but if your actions are going to put my family in the crosshairs of the cops then I won't allow you to live near us."
Viktor's words surprised the hero. For a second, his frown turned into a scowl and his fists clenched, he wanted to respond in kind, to point out that what he did was good and not something he shouldn't have done. Yes, he had been hurt, but the regenerative abilities of his transformation and his semi-immortality were enough to protect him from harm.
Still, knowing that, just for having once again attached Viveka's arm to his body was enough to get her questioned made him feel guilty, more than he already felt just for having seen her hurt.
His mouth opened, but the words did not come out and slowly his expression changed into one that was much harder to describe. He knew he was doing good, that he was a hero, but his actions had an effect he did not consider.
Because of his silence both adults looked at him seriously, for them, the boy was acting irresponsibly and recklessly, they wanted to make him understand that things were not working as he believed.
They didn't imagine what I was going to say.
"I just want to help."
The couple's eyes widened in surprise at hearing that. The hero had his gaze down, avoiding eye contact with them. For a few seconds, he activated the Omnitrix's holographic dial, letting the DNA samples go by, seeing them comforted him, they were one of the few things he had to remind him of home.
"But I understand, I understand you Viktor, trust me." the young man took his right hand to his pants and took out his phone and turned on the screen, his gaze focused on the photo that was shown there, it was him, next to a girl of the same age, but with reddish hair and glasses, next to her was a black-haired boy with an X-shaped scar on his chin, a kind of cat monster in blue armor and an old man with a Hawaiian shirt. Seeing that picture made him feel sad. "You just want to protect your family."
Surprised at the change in Ben's expression and his melancholy tone of voice, the two adults looked at each other, very concerned.
"Ben, are you..." Viveka tried to approach the boy, but he moved, standing up and facing them both, still with his sad expression.
"I also have a family to protect." The boy's eyes closed tightly, trying to keep the emotions at bay. He was a hero, after all, he had to be strong in any situation. His brow furrowed and he looked directly at the adults "But guess what? They don't exist here and I may never see them again." every word, was like a bucket of ice water to the monsters. To Ben, it was like biting glass. "I am alone." The hero, for the first time in all his time with the Stein family, was truly sad. Frankie's parents understood that everything he had said was real, he was from another dimension, trapped in one where his family did not exist, for a teenager, this must be very difficult. "If you want me to leave, I will, but I will not stop fighting crime."
"Why?" Viktor questioned. "Why put yourself at risk like that? Viveka told me, she saw how you were hurt, she thought you were dead when you were shot."
"My grandfather taught me everything I know, he taught me to be a hero, he doesn't exist here, and this is not my home, but it doesn't matter, a hero is always there to help others." The young man left Frankie's parents speechless, they were impressed that the boy had such thoughts. "Great power, great responsibility, and I have the greatest power of all and I believe, I can make a difference, help your world, not only fight the bad guys, but also understand that together you can create something amazing, look beyond whether you have green skin, or bandages, or scales or whatever, what does it matter what you look like? That doesn't define you, your actions do, and guess what, my actions, are those of a hero and this hero is not going to stop."
For several seconds, no one said anything. None of them realized that, from the stairs, Frankie had been listening to the whole discussion. The shouting had alarmed her and she quietly went downstairs to take a look, she had expected to hear everything she heard and was beginning to think she shouldn't have.
The girl's expression was sad. Even after the revelation of Ben's origin, she was skeptical of this, but the way the young hero spoke, made it clear to her that he was not playing games, he was alone, in a world that was not his, and yet he was trying to do the right thing and to hear from Ben's mouth all that, left her confused.
And now, knowing that he saved her mother and others made her feel strange.
Silently she climbed the stairs once more, she needed to think about everything she had heard and if possible, make it up to Ben.
The young hero and the monster couple continued in silence, neither of them uttering a sound, so Ben decided that this discussion had come to an end.
"If that's all, I'll go for a walk." The young man stood up and walked towards the kitchen exit. "If you decide you don't want me here anymore, I understand, I'll take the proto truck and go."
Before either of them could say anything, the hero came out of the kitchen. The sound of the front door closing shortly after was heard and Viveka dropped his head against the table, and a sigh full of exhaustion left his mouth.
She couldn't believe that a child had said all that.
"What shall we do Viktor?" questioned Viveka as he rested his head on his right hand. "He's just a kid, we can't just throw him out on the street."
"I don't know, dear, this is out of our hands." The man tried to comfort his wife, but he didn't know what to do either. The words Ben said made it clear that many things they took as lies or excuses for not telling them their true origin was true.
Viveka recalled the whole story the young man had told, only to have his eyes widen in horror as he realized the reality.
"Oh my god, if everything he said is true..." the woman looked worriedly at her husband, who had a similar expression to hers. He too had come to the same conclusion.
"The boy is practically a war veteran."
The woman covered her mouth with one hand, she had a hard time believing Ben's whole background, the boy talked and acted like it was all little more than a big joke, but now she had a much broader perspective of the young man, she saw the sadness in his eyes at being away from home, not knowing how to get back.
I'm sorry, I was late.
The words he said to her when the jewelry store robbery occurred came back to her mind. The image of the eyes full of guilt and shame appeared soon after. At that moment she understood something else, Ben was someone who had been through a lot, and that look he gave her, was that of a person who had failed and regrets haunted him.
"Ben... blamed himself." Hearing his wife, Viktor looked at her in confusion, but she continued talking. "He blamed himself for me being hurt, he said he was sorry for being late." her eyes shifted to her husband's, looking for some kind of help. "Viktor blamed himself for believing I had been hurt."
"What? Why?" the man asked in confusion.
"I don't know Viktor, all this is hard for me to understand." the frustration she was feeling began to increase every second, she covered her eyes with a hand and tried to think of an answer, but she was sure she would not succeed.
Seeing his wife in that state, the male monster's gaze became softer.
"Viveka, you are the smartest woman I have ever met, of the two of us, you will always be the one who understands emotions better, I am only good with crazy inventions, but even I can figure it out, you are at your limit, you should go rest, today was a long day."
"Viktor..." looking her husband in the eyes the woman saw that he was really worried about her, and he was right, she was exhausted, physically and mentally, she needed to rest and think about what to do with Ben. "Okay, I'll go to bed early, can you cook dinner?"
"Are you kidding? - he questioned, a silly grin forming on his face. "I'm a scientist, making something to eat won't be difficult."
The woman merely arched an eyebrow, she was all too aware of how impractical her husband was with mundane things. But she merely let out a resigned sigh and smiled at him.
"If you have problems, order a pizza."
"Thank you for your confidence." he replied sarcastically, but still let out a small laugh.
Big Chill was flying over the night skies of the city, after the argument he had had with his friend's parents, he needed to get some distance, relax his mind and enjoy the cold night air.
The extraterrestrial moth flapped its wings, taking off into the clouds, quickly breaking through them and getting high enough so that no one could see it.
It was then that a sigh full of fatigue came out of his mouth, the nitrogen traveled through the air until it came into contact with the clouds, momentarily creating a small snowfall. It was then that he slapped his forehead three times with his left wrist.
"Stupid, stupid, stupid!" he scolded himself aloud, he couldn't believe he was overpowered by temper once again. "I have to learn to control my tongue."
CAW
The cawing of a crow was heard and the alien turned his head, he could see a blackbird fly across the sky, leaving something like a trail of purple light as it flew away.
"Since when is Ho-Oh black?" he asked confused. The bird disappeared into the night and he chose to play it down, after all, that world was very strange as far as wildlife was concerned.
With some resignation, the alien dropped from high above, once again breaking through the clouds. He brought both hands behind his head and kept looking up at the moon, caring very little that the ground was getting closer and closer to him.
"I have to think things through." A hundred meters above the ground, his wings moved, generating a current of air that propelled him upwards once again. "Viktor is right, if I'm not careful I might end up bringing the police to Frankie's door, I can't do that to them." He continued to soar until he surpassed the height of the buildings in the downtown area of the city, he maneuvered nimbly over them, until he reached an antenna, where he landed. His wings folded back over his body and he sat there. "There are no supervillains here, but people need help." His gaze lowered to his waist, there rested the belt that held the Omnitrix day to his body. His eyes narrowed at the sight of the device.
He then remembered those years he lived without being a superhero, his normal life, his friends, the times he went out alone to kill time without having fans glued to his ass, simpler times. The alien brought his hand to the dial and pressed it.
"Omnitrix, voice command, Tennyson Benjamin."
Recognized user.
"Status report."
Omnimatrix integrity is at 81%, it is recommended to resume calibration.
"What will happen if I activate the calibration?" he asked.
The Omnitrix will enter standby mode, all main functions will be disabled until the process is finished.
"All functions." he repeated, a pensive expression graced his face for a few seconds before continuing to speak "I won't be able to transform?"
Affirmative. Do you wish to resume calibration?
"Not yet." the alien turned his attention to the city, the sound of the cars, the lights, everything was normal, there was no robbery, nor any lunatic with superpowers, but it never hurt to be cautious. "How long will the calibration take?"
Calculated... Calibration is estimated to be completed within seven Earth days. Multiple damages to the physical integrity of the Omnimatrix have been detected and require repair.
"Seven days without being a hero, it seems that Malware caused much more damage than I thought." he whispered, the idea was not really to his liking, to stop being a hero was something he could not imagine, even if it was only for a few days. "Thank you Omnitrix, disable voice command."
The device emitted a faint light, then returned to its normal state. The alien let out a heavy sigh again, not sure what to do.
"Well, seven days is not much time, maybe I could take a little vacation." The sounds of police sirens caught his attention, which made him turn his eyes to the streets. "But first." the moth leaped from its perch and spread its wings, speeding through the air quickly. "It's time to be a hero."
xxx
Final explanations, as always.
This time there are some little things that some people are not going to understand, for example, the geographical location of New Salem, in the books, the story takes place in Salem, Oregon, yeah, the capital of the state... I think... that's what Wikipedia said. So let's say New Salem is an extension of this city, but it's not itself the capital. In short, let's say it's like Bellwood, about... I don't know... 26K inhabitants, of which may be about 6 or 7 thousand are monsters, something like that. My mental image of the city is a place similar to Bellwood in Omniverse, you know, some tall buildings, some not so tall, residential areas, the usual.
The existence of gods is a bit of a tricky subject, they are known to exist thanks to Casta, her brother, Cupid, Deuce, Wydowna, and their mothers, and to me, they are just as many assholes as in the real myths, at least the Greek gods, that's why I wrote that Medusa thing. will they show up? I don't know, maybe if Ben causes a lot of chaos. And let's say they felt what Alien X did, they and well, possibly every being with a level close to that of a god. Power levels in the best Dragon Ball Z style.
About the Omnitrix, that thing is not quite repaired. By detecting the DNA damage just stopped the process and allowed Ben to transform, which also explains why he wasn't understanding Ghoulia in the first place. And it also serves to give Ben two options and consequences to deal with.
About the signal, Ben sent into space, well, it's something that involves Astra. This can't be Ben 10 if there's no alien shit getting in the way, deal with it. And about the mention of his badge, well, he always has it with him, but since he doesn't need it here he left it lying around in the truck, and yeah, he didn't consider use that in the first place so they'd believe his whole story. And no, it wasn't his badge that got the message.
RAD is something from the books, Regular Attribute Dodgers, accept it looks nice and gives a little more credibility to the world. Not to mention that some cops and well, every job in general, has its share of Monsters, and as always happens, there are certain things a little badly organized, like not letting them carry guns or things like that, racism basically, that's also part of the realism. The realism of this story of course. This also implies that the use of supernatural abilities is somewhat regulated by law, for that reason Spectra was nervous two chapters ago, if she gets caught by the laws, she will be sent back to the world of ghosts, something like in MHA with the quirks.
Those green lines on Snare Oh are part of their power source, the Thep Khufan run on Corrodium, Snare Oh needs that to live, so the Omnitrix creates something similar, the glow disappears in Omniverse, so I here simply deduced that the bandages cover these highly radioactive minerals. A curious thing is that we have yet to see all that Snare Oh has to offer, his species can use magic similar to Egyptian curses and they have some degree of control over sand, being able to create storms. The idea of Ben gaining access to these powers is interesting, at least to sandstorms.
Ben does not handle certain things well, seeing someone hurt and that he could have helped tends to make him act in much more rash and violent ways. This also explains his way of acting when confronting the Steins, both worlds are different in more ways than one, and what is normal for Ben, is not for the Steins, there is a long way to go for them to understand other. And yes, except for Draculaura, no one believed everything he said. And why Draculaura? The girl is 1600 years old, I'm sure she's seen strange things. But for people who aren't used to seeing a seven-foot-tall mummy fight criminals, it makes some sense that Frankie's parents would be really worried about everything going on around Ben.
And if anyone wonders when the bad guys will show up... well, I'm planning something regarding Eon, yes, just with him, and I hope to have it finished when I finish this arc of Ben integrating into the school and all that, it won't last long, but I need to make some more things clear, world-building, you know. That doesn't take away from the fact that the other three have already started to move, after all, on a primitive planet, they're going to need to improve the technology before they can stand up to someone like Ben.
I think that's it... oh, right, ASOME, in the books it's some sort of supremacist monster cult (the forever knights Monster High version) here, they're a company that makes products for monsters.
And about Ben's jokes, these things are going to get worse, and I love it. (If you want to blame someone, blame Lemon, he gave me the idea).
By the way, as for the monsters, I based them on some legends, the Stone Troll for example I took it from The Witcher, its bestiary is very wide, and as Viveka explained, they are rare in Scarmerica (America), they are more common in Eastern European lands.
As for the Lizardman, I based this on a story of a young American man who, during a night in June 1988, claimed to have been attacked by a "Lizard Man" on a road passing through the Scape Ore Swamp outside Bishopville in South Carolina.
Well, I guess that would be it, I like this idea of using certain things from our reality to create a more interesting world. The idea came to me after one of you talked to me and suggested using some characters from other franchises. It's not how you told me, but I based it on your idea, thanks.
And that's it. See you next time.