I'm back with another chapter of the story. If some of you are wondering, Angel's hair is long and dark brown and her eyes are blue. And some of the original aliens will be unlocked later on, but not until 'The Big Tick' episode. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter.
Ch.2: Washington B.C.
A fire was going on in an apartment building in Washington D.C. A mother and her son were running for the door only for flaming debris to fall around them. They were about to be crushed and braced themselves. But the crushing blow never came. They opened their eyes and saw a fire alien holding up the debris.
"Who are you," asked the boy.
"I'm here to help," said Heatblast. He tossed the debris aside, rubbed his hands and absorbed the flames around the room into his body. He then led the family out the door. They into the hallway to a staircase. "This way." As soon as he said that, the staircase caved in. "On second thought, that way." He pointed to the hallway and they looked to see a dead end with a window. Heatblast fired a heat ray and blasted a hole into the wall which fell down, followed by Heatblast, along with the boy and his mother who were surrounded in a fire tornado. The gasped at the sight of a flaming alien.
"I'm sure you want to thank me personally, but really, it's all in a day's work for– no way! A Gold Sumo Slammer card," said Heatblast as he saw that the kid had three gold Sumo Slammer cards in his hands. "Where'd you get it? I've been searching all over for that."
"It was a price inside a Sumo Slammer cereal," answered the boy.
Then, the two heard a honk and saw the Rust Bucket pull up with Gwen and Max at the front seats and Angel standing between them.
"Hey, super doffus, the fire was just a diversion to cover up a jewelry store robbery! The bad guys are getting away," explained Gwen.
Heatblast looked at the cards and then back at Gwen. "Uh, I knew that."
(Theme Song:
It started when an alien device did what it did,
It stuck itself upon his wrist with secrets that it hid,
Now he's got super powers, he's no ordinary kid,
He's Ben 10! (Ben 10! Ben 10!)
So if you see him, you might be for a big surprise,
He'll turn into an alien before your very eyes,
He's slimy, creepy, fast and shiny; he's every shape and size,
He's Ben 10!... (Ben 10!)
Armed with the power, he's on the case,
Fighting off evil from Earth or space,
He'll never stop 'til he makes them pay,
'Cause he's the baddest kid to ever save the day!
Ben 10! (Ben 10! Ben 10! Ben 10!)
At an intersection of the city, a car driven by the robbers sped right by, ignoring the stoplights and with no regard for the lives of the civilians as they ran away to the sidewalk. As they looked in the rearview mirror, they saw the Rust Bucket was on their tail.
As Max drove, he smelled something burning. He turned to see smoke coming from the seat Heatblast was due to his molten skin.
"I knew I should've bought those asbestos seat covers when I had the chance," said Max.
"Sorry, grandpa. I can't help it, I'm hot," said Heatblast. As he said that, Gwen blasted him with the fire extinguisher to put out the fire he set to the seat. It also put out the fire on his head that instantly ignited.
"Ten heroes in that watch and you pick the one with the flaming butt," asked Gwen.
"Well, it's not like he has any other alien that can deal with fire," said Angel.
"Jealous," asked Heatblast as Gwen blasted his butt with the fire extinguisher again.
The two cars turned a corner and Heatblast leaned out the window as Angel came closer to see what's about to happen.
"You have a plan, right," asked Angel.
"Sure I do," answered Heatblast as he formed a fire ball I his hands and tossed it at the robbers' car that hit the back, sending it flying in the air. "Stee–rike!"
The force sent the car crashing into a brick wall as the driver screamed. Heatblast then pulled the driver's broken door of the car and glared at the robbers.
"Unless you guys want a permanent sunburn, hands against the wall," ordered Heatblast and the robbers obligated. Then, the Omnitrix symbol started beeping, but Heatblast didn't seem to notice. "You guys picked the wrong day to be bad–," said Heatblast as the watch gave a flash of red light.
"–guys," finished Ben.
"Huh," asked one of the robbers as he noticed the change in his voice and turned around to see a confident–looking Ben. "Hey! It's just a kid. Get the jewels!"
Ben then looked over himself and saw the red faceplate of the watch. "Wow, time sure flies when you're having fun. I've decided to let you guys off with a warning this time.
Luckily, some police cars arrived and the cops got out and pointed their guns at the robbers.
"Freeze," ordered one of the cops.
"They're all yours, officers," smiled Ben. "Now, I know you all want to thank me, but–".
"Step aside, kid, this isn't playtime," said one of the cops as he handcuffed one of the robbers.
"Playtime," asked Ben. "But I'm the one who captured them. It's not fair! I'm the hero!"
"Don't worry, Ben," said Angel as she put a hand on his shoulder. "You'll always be a hero in my book."
The next morning on the opposite side of Washington, a grumpy–looking bald man in a business suit was knocking on a small town apartment building. The overhead sign said the building was being used by someone called Dr. Animo. When nobody responded to his knocking, he banged on the door harder and yelled.
"Hey, Animo," yelled the man. "I know you're in there! Open up!"
But Dr. Animo would come and answer his knocking, so the balding man finally had enough and barged right into the building – it seemed Dr. Animo didn't know how to lock his door. When the man stepped inside, he hadn't been expecting to see walls with cages of every shape and size everywhere or to hear the overlapping noises of different animals. The smell was the worst part as his nose lost all sense.
"Oh man, that's just horrible," said the bald man as he walked further into the building.
He walked up to a tank with a species of frog he hadn't seen before when heard someone's footsteps walking up behind him. He turned around and nearly jumped out of his pants. The balding businessman stared up to a man with pale green skin, yellowish eyes, and shoulder-length white hair. The reclusive man bared his broken teeth at the intruder.
"How did you get in," asked the sickly–looking man angrily.
"Passkey," answered the bald man as he fixed his tie. "I'm still your landlord, remember? Maybe not since your rent is 6 months due, Animo."
"All my funds go to my research," said Animo, glaring at the landlord. "Now get out! You're disturbing me."
"Hmph, looks like you were disturbed long before I got here, pal," the landlord insulted, looking around the zoo–like apartment. "Listen, doc, you and your fury friends are out on the street unless you pony up green," he said, holding his hand up expectantly.
"Pony up," repeated Animo with amusement. He took the frog in the tank and released it on the floor. "Interesting choice of phrases. You must be an animal lover. Then you're going to like this."
Dr. Animo took something from underneath on of his cabinets and turned to the landlord with a serious expression. The bald man stared at Animo for a minute, trying to progress what he was seeing, and then broke out in a fit of laughter. Dr. Animo for some reason had put on a harness and helmet that looked like he had built from a cooking strainer and cobbled together electronics.
"What's that," asked the landlord, still giggling. "You a member of the moose lodge or something?"
"This is my transmodulator," said Animo seriously. Phase number one: it creates and accelerates mutation at a genetic level. Perhaps a demonstration is in order."
Dr. Animo twisted the dial on his chest and red sparks snapped from his helmet horns. Beams of red lightning struck the frog and the amphibian grew to be twice as big as the landlord. The bald man screamed like a frightened schoolgirl before the mutant frog swallowed him whole. The landlord made an attempt to escape, but with no success.
"I'm sorry, I can't hear you," said Dr. Animo mockingly. "Looks like you've got a frog in your mouth, or is it the other way around."
The mutant frog found the landlord to be distrustful little fly and spit him out against the wall, knocking him out on the floor.
"So close to having what it's rightfully mine," said Dr. Animo as he clenched his fist angrily. "All I need is a few lousy components to finish my work."
"So whatever you need from hairspray to state-of-the-art electronics," said the advertiser on the TV behind Animo, "you'll find them under one roof at the grand opening of the district's newest mega mart."
"Ah…," said Animo sinisterly. "Just what the doctor ordered."
Either by sheer coincidence, or just dumb luck, the Tennysons and Angel were shopping in the very same supermarket just on the other side of town. Max led the children down an aisle with Gwen and Angel following behind. Ben had other plans. As soon as his eyes caught the aisle with cereal, he separated from the group and looked for one particular cereal. But that didn't go unnoticed by Angel as she followed Ben closely from behind.
"Sumo Slammer cards, cool," said Ben eagerly and formed a devious plan.
"You really want the gold card, don't you," asked Angel and she got her answer when Ben activated the Omnitrix.
Meanwhile, Max and Gwen stopped at one of the nearby aisles as the elderly man checked on a can of octopus chunks.
"Hmm, only canned octopus," said Max disappointed. "I thought this store prided itself on wide selection."
"Uh, grandpa," said Gwen hesitantly. "No offense, but can't we have a normal dinner for once? You know, one that doesn't involve stir–fried tentacles."
"Heh, nonsense," chuckled Max amusingly. "Now, where do you suppose they keep the sheep's bladder?"
Gwen groaned and just as she was about to follow Max, she noticed a green flash of light out of the corner of her eye, followed by the sound of reckless rummaging. Neither of them was a good sign.
"Ben," called Gwen suspiciously.
Gwen followed the source of the green light, turned to the cereal aisle and gasped in horror at the scene. Nearly every box of cereal in the row had been knocked off the shelves and had their tops ripped off, which was impressive considering it had been only a few seconds. What Gwen didn't expect to see was Angel ripping off the top of one of the boxes.
"Angel, what are you doing," Gwen asked angrily. Gwen's voice caused the 8–year–old to jump and turned to the redhead.
"I was just helping," said Angel with a worried expression.
"And who were you helping," asked Gwen. Before Angel could respond, the girls heard a tiny voice coming from one of the boxes.
"Ah man, another red card," said the voice. Gwen picked up the box, stuffed her hand inside and wrapped her fingers around a small creature.
"Gotcha," said Gwen victoriously. She pulled her hand and glared at the four–inch, frog–like, grey–skinned alien with big green eyes wearing a white jumpsuit with a black strip and the Omnitrix on his back. "What do you think you're doing?"
"Uh, looking for the gold Sumo Slammer card, duh," said Grey Matter sarcastically.
"You're supposed to use your powers to help people, not find some stupid card," scolded Gwen. "Not to mention in how much trouble you and Angel will get!"
Just then, the trio heard someone clearing their throat behind them. Gwen grimaced as she turned around, making sure to keep Grey Matter hidden behind her back. Angel got scared and hid behind Gwen and grabbed one of Grey Matter's arms, careful not to squeeze too tight. One of the store's employees, Regis, looked very unhappy.
"Just what do you think you're doing, young lady," asked Regis as he managed to see only Gwen.
"It wasn't me," said Gwen. "It was my doofus cousin and–".
"I don't care who did it, someone has to pay for all this," said Regis.
Later, Ben, Angel and Gwen found Grandpa Max in the back of the store, dumping Sumo Slammer cereal boxes into their cart.
"So why are we buying all this cereal," asked Max interrogated.
"Well, we would have only had to buy the one I found the gold Sumo Slammer card in if Gwen hadn't butted in with her big butt," said Ben angrily.
"Hello," Gwen snapped back. "You were trashing the entire cereal aisle just to find some stupid peace of card."
"Ben, now I appreciate how much this card means to you, but aren't you getting a little obsessed," asked Max.
"Maybe you're right, grandpa," said Ben. "I don't deserve a gold Sumo Slammer card. It's not like I saved people from a burning building last night or anything."
"Superhero guilt," asked Gwen. "That's pretty low."
"Hey, whatever it takes," said Ben innocently.
The group moved on to the rest of the store. As they were walking by the electronic section, Ben noticed a standee and a display case for the Sumo Slammer's franchise. He paced over to the case gleefully, ignoring Gwen's glare.
"Whoa," said Ben gleefully. "Sumo Slammer cards – complete set."
"Let's check out the pet department," suggested Max. "Angel, why don't you stay here and keep Ben company?"
"No problem, Max," said Angel happily as she went up to Ben.
"Please tell me you're looking for our breakfast," Gwen pleaded with her grandpa.
Angel watched them disappear and went up to Ben, who was looking at the complete set of Sumo Slammer cards.
"Someday you'll be all mine," said Ben to the card like he was obsessed.
Angel was about to put a hand on his shoulder when the ground suddenly started shaking, which took Ben's mind off the card. A thud echoed moments before the round quaked each time, knocking the items off the shelves. Sensing the tremors were getting closer, Ben instinctively grabbed Angel's arm and pulled her behind the display counter before the wall exploded inwards. Angel laid on the floor with her hands over her head, about to cry, while Ben took the chance and peeked around the corner, seeing Dr. Animo on his mutated frog.
"Whoa," said Ben in amazement.
The sickly–looking scientist looked down for what he wanted, jumped down from his seat on his frog, pulled out a dirty pillowcase and started stuffing it with packaged machine parts. That was the moment when Ben decided to be the hero and jumped out in the open before Angel could grab him. Dr. Animo noticed the spry boy and leered through his red–lensed goggles.
"Hey, what do you think you're doing," asked Ben.
Instead of answering the boy's question, Animo snapped his fingers and his mutant frog lashed its tongue at Ben. The young Tennyson boy ducked his head out of the way in time, but the mutant's tongue whipped the display of boxes behind him and brought the whole thing tumbling down on top of him. Luckily, the display was only of empty boxes, so there was no harm done. Ben crawled out of the cardboard box avalanche and looked up as Dr. Animo looked at him threateningly.
"Don't be a hero, kid," said Animo warningly. "Just run along and play."
Ben looked at the Omnitrix which was still recharging after his stunt at the cereal aisle.
"You're so lucky I can't go hero," muttered Ben annoyed.
Dr. Animo chuckled at the amusing threat and hoisted himself back on his mutated amphibian just as the store security showed up.
"Freeze," said the security weakly, realizing there was a giant, four–eyed horned frog in the middle of the electronics section. "Get down from that giant…frog…thing and put your hands in the air." Dr. Animo scoffed and silently commanded his pet forward, leaping over the security guards and bouncing off to another section of the store. The security guard pulled out his walkie–talkie, watching the pair go in disbelieve. "Uh…we have grab and dash at electronics. Five–foot–six riding on a giant frog or–or toad – trust me, you can't miss him."
"Ben," shouted Angel as she went up to the boy and hugged him. "Are you alright? You're not hurt, are you?"
"I'm fine," said Ben as he hugged her back. "But right now, we need to find grandpa and Gwen."
The other two Tennysons were in the pet section at the other side of the store. Max was looking at his shopping list while Gwen was playing with a hamster.
Just then, Dr. Animo arrived and used his Transmodulator on the hamster and on a parrot. Ben and Angel arrived and saw the new mutations. Gwen and Max went running as the giant hamster chased them and had them cornered soon after.
"Oh man, what kind of pet food they sell here," asked Angel as she hid behind Ben.
"Behold the genius of Dr. Animo. Nothing can stop me from getting what I deserve," said Animo. "Today I will make history, or should I say – pre–history."
"I'm starting to think you shouldn't have gone alien to look for that card," said Angel with fear.
"I don't need to go hero to stop an overgrown fur ball," said Ben as he went up to a scooter, put on a helmet and threw a ball at the giant hamster, which caught its attention. The two raced through the store's aisles before the hamster pounced, knocking over several jars of mustard. Ben then skated over the hamster, the shelf acting as a ramp and the hamster almost ate Ben like a Piranha Plant. Ben then landed on another shelf and it tipped over, trapping the hamster underneath the two shelves as Ben took off his helmet.
Angel, Gwen and Max walked by as the hamster collapsed from exhaustion.
"Uh–huh! That's right. Not even giant hamster can mess with Ben Tennyson," cheered Ben.
Then, Dr. Animo's frog landed near them.
"You fools! You can't stop me! I'll turn Washington D.C. into Washington B.C.," said Animo as he leaped on the giant parrot and flew away, with the frog following them.
A couple of store employees walked to them. "You saved the store! If there's anything I can do to repay you, just say so. Anything you want!"
Ben smiled as he thought about the gold Sumo Slammer card, but before he could say what he wanted, Max picked him up.
"Grandpa! I was finally about to score the Gold Sumo Slammer card," complained Ben.
"No time for that now, Ben. I've got a giant parrot to follow," said Max as he went for the RV.
Gwen smirked as Ben looked disappointed and followed them. Angel, on the other hand, saw the sad look in Ben's eyes and went up to one of the store's employees.
Later, after night had fallen, the Rust Bucket was still chasing Animo, who was riding his parrot.
Ben was in the front seat, looking irritated that he wasn't able to get the Gold Sumo Slammer card. Meanwhile, Angel was looking thoughtful at Ben and then at her hand where she held the item Ben had been looking for – a Gold Sumo Slammer card, and Gwen was researching the team's foe on her laptop.
Max smiled at the chase that was going on.
"Ah, just like the good old days before I retired," said Max reminiscently.
"So, exactly what kind of plumber were you, grandpa," asked Gwen suspiciously.
"I – uh – a darn good one," sputtered Max evasively.
"Did you say 'plumber'," asked Angel.
"Yeah, why," said Max.
"It's just, my dad used to be a plumber, too," said Angel.
"Really," asked Gwen. "Maybe grandpa and your dad know each other."
"Uh – hey, Ben, what's the matter," Max asked his grandson almost too quickly, like he was trying to change the subject on purpose.
"I saved an entire Mega Mart from becoming hamster's chew toy and what do I get? Nothing," complained Ben. "It's not fair!"
"Being a hero isn't about others you did something good, it's about you knowing you did something good," explained Max. "Being a hero is its own award."
"Were you reading the greeting cards at the Mega Mart," asked Ben.
"Well yes," answered Max.
Gwen then gasped as her laptop beeped. "Bingo! Five years ago, Dr. Animo was a promising researcher in veterinary science. But it turned out, he was doing all kinds of twisted genetic experiments where he was mutating animals. And when he didn't win his big price called the Verities Award, he flipped out." She then turned to her cousin with a smirk. "Anything about this sound familiar, Ben?"
Max looked out the window and saw the parrot make a left turn behind some buildings.
"We've lost him. He could be anywhere in Washington D.C.," said Max.
"Or Washington B.C," Angel stated.
Ben perked up at the 'B.C.' part. "That's it! I know where he's going!"
"The Natural History Museum," said Ben as the four were standing in front of the said monument. Ben then leaned down and picked up a giant feather, obviously from the giant parrot.
"Something tells me we're on the right track," said Max. "Good thinking, Ben."
"Guess even a doofus can surprise you once in a while," complimented Gwen.
"And you should know," said Ben as they walked inside.
The group made their way into the B.C. section of the museum when Angel picked up something from one of the stands. It was a chip from Mega Mart.
Then they saw Animo by the mastodon figure who sensed them behind him. "You're very persistent. I hate persistent!"
"We know all about your freakazoid experiment, Dr. Animo! It's over," said Ben.
"Oh, but it's only just begun. You see, I only needed a few components to push my work into Phase 2. Reanimation of dormant cells," explained Animo.
"Uh, does this guy come with subtitles," asked Ben.
"Wait a minute. That means –," started Max.
"That means bringing back to life into that which has been long since lifeless! Observe," said Animo as he adjusted the dial on his Transmodulator and fired at the mastodon, which came back to life with glowing red eyes and then stepped off the stand as Ben, Angel, Max and Gwen stepped back in horror. "Behold the genius that is Doctor Animo!" He then ran away to another part of the museum.
"Please tell me the watch is recharged," Angel said hopefully to Ben.
"You bet it is," answered Ben as he looked at the Omnitrix and turned his attention to Angel, Gwen and Max. "You guys get Animo. I'll take care of Jumbo." Ben activated the watch, slammed the hourglass and was surrounded in green light. When the light faded, in Ben's place stood Shocksquatch.
"I'll give this mammoth a shock it won't forget," said Shocksquatch as he charged towards the mammoth and punched it with an electrifying fist which pushed the mammoth back. As much as Angel, Max and Gwen wanted to stay, they knew they had to go after Dr. Animo.
The trio chased Animo into the next room only to have their path blocked by the mutated cockatiel. Angel noticed a bone lying nearby and threw it at the cockatiel which caught its attention and glared at the 8–year–old girl.
The mutated avian charged towards Angel, but Gwen got in its way with a spear in hand. The redheaded Tennyson confidently approached the avian as she twirled the spear in her hands with great coordination, making the cockatiel twitch uncomfortably. Once she had reached a good enough distance, Gwen gripped the spear's end and slammed it on the bird's head. The mutated avian squawked and stumbled deliriously, then Gwen went in for the finishing blow by spinning around and breaking the spear across the cockatiel's face. In panic, the mutated bird ran away with its tail feathers literally between its legs.
"Ben's not the only one with skills," said Gwen proudly; Max stared openmouthed at his granddaughter.
"Thanks, Gwen," said Angel thankfully.
"No problem," said Gwen. "Come on, let's get Dr. Freakazoid."
The trio got into the next room. Dr. Animo noticed them coming in and smirked before turning his makeshift machine on the gigantic dinosaur display in front of him. The red energy struck the prehistoric skeleton, materializing flesh sinew to fill in the empty space. Soon, the trio were staring in horror at the monster known as T–Rex, though several chunks of its flesh were missing, but that did nothing to take away its deadliness.
Back in the other room, Shocksquatch was thrown clear across the chamber and smashed into a wall. The alien yeti fell on his hands and knees, glaring at the reanimated mammoth.
"This is gonna be harder than I thought," said Shocksquatch to himself. Shocksquatch fired electricity at the mammoth which caused it to stumble a little as Shocksquatch grabbed one of its tusks, but the mammoth shook off from the electricity and easily lifted the Gimlinopithecus off the ground and tossed him into the air, sending him flying into the triceratops bone display. "I had enough of this."
The reanimated mammoth charged towards Shocksquatch, but this time the Gimlinopithecus managed to grab the mammoth by trunk and send a powerful electric charge through the mammoth's body. The mammoth screamed in pain as Shocksquatch spun it around in circles until the furry beast was no longer touching the floor. After multiple rotations, Shocksquatch released his grip and flung the mammoth across the room. The massive furball slammed into the upper edge of the doorway, breaking off large pieces of stone that hit the mammoth when it hit the ground.
Back with Shocksquatch, the electric yeti was hobbling around dizzily and holdin his hand over his mouth.
"I think I'm gonna hurl," groaned Shocksquatch, before he felt the bile rising up to his throat.
Angel, Gwen and Max ducked underneath the T–Rex's tail before it slammed into the wall next to them. Dr. Animo climed on the dinosaur's neck and the two made their way to the exit with every earth–shaking stomp.
"I'd love to stay, but I need to claim the award I so richly deserve," said Animo.
The T–Rex lowered its head to fit under the entryway, but the rest of its body was too massive to fit through, so the walls crumbled around them as they made their exit. The trio could only stand and watch through the hole in the wall until they heard a familiar avian screech and spun around. The mutant cockatiel was back and it wasn't too happy to see Angel and Gwen again. The massive bird swooped down, grabbed the girls by the shoulders with its talons and flew out of the museum with its preys screaming in its claws. Max wanted to chase after the cockatiel, but the avian was too high so he went with the next best thing.
"Ben," called Max.
The instant he heard his human name, Shocksquatch came from around the corner, dashed out of the hole and fired electricity on the ground behind him to launch himself high into the air. Max noticed a note that was left behind, picked it up and pondered.
Up in the air, Shocksquatch managed to reach the mutant cockatiel and grabbed a bundle of its feathers, which made the avian squawk in surprise.
"You're not getting away with the annoying Gwen and cute Angel, birdy," said Shocksquatch.
"Did he just call me 'cute'", Angel asked Gwen.
The giant avian managed to shake off the alien sasquatch as the watch began to time out as he fell to the earth. Luckily, he was still transformed when he hit the ground, leaving a crater as the watch timed out in a flash of red light. Ben crawled out of the crater to see the parrot fly away with his cousin and friend in tow.
Gwen, Angel," cried Ben.
Max arrived in the Rust Bucket almost immediately.
"Somebody call for a taxi," said Max.
Ben wasted no time and jumped into the RV before Max slammed his foot on the accelerator.
"Spend a summer with your grandpa, honey. It'll be an adventure," Gwen mocked her mother with a deadpan look and her arms crossed as the cockatiel flew away, grasping her backpack with its claws.
"I hope Ben is OK after a fall like that," said Angel.
"I'm sure he is," said Gwen.
Meanwhile, on the ground, the T–Rex roamed through the streets, throwing the civilians in panic as they ran away from it as it crushed a bus with its feet. Then, it let out a terrifying roar.
"I do love my work," said Animo from the beast's neck.
The mutant cockatiel had moved Gwen from its talons to its beak, however, Angel was still in its talons.
Both girls were freaking out when Gwen came up with an idea. She pulled out her cellphone from her pocket.
"Well, my mom said to only use it in emergency," said Gwen as she dialed a number and held the phone to her ear. "I guess this qualifies."
The Rust Bucket sped through the streets as Ben and Max looked for the parrot.
"No sign of beak breath," said Ben as he was looking from the window.
"There can't be that many places for a parrot the size of an elephant to roost," said Max before handing Ben a note. "Here, look at what Dr. Animo left behind."
Ben took it and looked at it. "Dr. Kelly accepts Verities Award."
"He's finally gonna pick up his award," said Ben. "We've got to stop him!"
"First thing's first. We've gotta find Gwen and Angel," said Max.
Then, the phone on the dashboard rang and it showed that Gwen was calling them.
"Gwen," they exclaimed.
"Hang on, girls. We're coming," said Ben.
Angel and Gwen were hanging to the monument's flagpole for dear life.
"I can't hold on much longer," said Gwen as lost her grip of the phone, which came pummeling down to the earth.
The RV came with a screeching halt in the shadow of the monument, and Ben and Max rush out of the Rust Bucket to see the phone smashing into pieces.
"Oh no, Gwen and Angel are next," said Max worried.
Ben looked at the Omnitrix and felt relief when the watch's faceplate glowed green. He wasted no time in raising the core and cycled through the aliens until he found the right one.
"Not if I can help it," said Ben. "It's hero time!"
He slammed the hourglass and was surrounded in bright green light. When the light faded, in Ben's place stood an alien that had a bug/insect body and four insect-like flat legs with two arms, whose hands were human – style ones with a black coloration, similar to fingerless gloves, and had three clawed fingers. He had four pedunculated eyes that were pretty small and yellowish–orange in color. The eyes were linked directly to the sides of his huge black head. His wings were very fragile with lines on them. His limbs were a brown–greenish color and his wings werere light green. He wore the Omnitrix symbol on the top of his forehead.
"Just what I wanted," said Stinkfly happily and flew upwards just as Gwen and Angel lost their grip on the flagpole and started falling down, only to be saved by Stinkfly.
The girls looked at each other and then at what had caught them, and saw the insectoid alien.
"Butterfly," asked Angel.
"That's Stinkfly," said Stinkfly.
"Does it matter," asked Gwen. Anyway, thanks for the safe, but – INCOMING!"
Stinkfly turned around as the mutated bird swooped down from behind and snapped its beak at Stinkfly's tail, but the Lepidopterran pulled up and dodged at the last second. The mutant cockatiel curved around the air, flying in a direct course for Stinkfly. The Lepidopterran pulled up sharply at a vertical angle, which scared the living things out of Gwen, but Angel was screaming in excitement, which surprised the redhead.
"You're actually enjoying this," asked Gwen.
"Yeah," said Angel. "It's like a rollercoaster without the rails."
"Hold on," said Stinkfly as he looped back around behind the Washington Monument with Animo's flying pet close behind.
Stinkfly did a quick barrel roll, let go of Gwen and Angel, and stopped spinning to let the girls land safely on his back with Gwen landing behind Angel. The mutated flying monster glided in from the side and snapped its talon at the trio, only just missing when Stinkfly did a quick dive out of its reach.
"Watch the nails there, polly," yelled Stinkfly.
The flying beast screeched and flapped harder to increase its speed; Stinkfly doing the same. But unfortunately Gwen was not feeling so well as the high speed was making her stomach very uncomfortable.
"Ooh, I think I'm gonna be sick," said Gwen queasily.
"Spew on me and you better learn how to fly quick," said Stinkfly before pulling a sharp turn and headed back to the monument.
"This is the best ride I've ever been to," said Angel.
"At least someone is having a good time," said Stinkfly.
Meanwhile, Max had made his way to the top floor of the Washington Monument.
"Like it would've killed the Founding Fathers to install an elevator," said Max, gasping for breath in exhaustion. Soon, he looked to see the fight from the window.
Stinkfly saw his grandfather leaning out of the window signaling him.
"I can't shake cracker breath," Stinkfly told Gwen and Angel.
"Trust you," repeated Gwen incredulously.
"I trust you, Ben," said Angel as she gave Stinkfly a quick hug.
"At least someone treats me nicely," said Stinkfly.
Then, Stinkfly stopped in the air and let Angel and Gwen fall forward off his back. Stinkfly snatched them by their shoulders before they could fall too far before looping up into the air and going for a sharp dive on the side of the monument. The Lepidopterran saw Max holding out his arms waiting to catch them and dropped off Angel and Gwen in the split second when they crossed each other. Max held the two girls with all his strength. Gwen felt relieved for the first time since the incident at the museum…until the mutant bird started flying towards them.
Dr. Animo's pet opened its beak to devour them, but Stinkfly grabbed the giant bird and slammed it against the wall and the giant avian crashed hard on the ground.
"You guys OK," asked Stinkfly.
"Go, stop Animo before he hurts anyone else," shouted Max.
"We'll be fine. Don't worry," said Angel.
"Speak for yourself," said Gwen, who was feeling a little better.
Stinkfly silently nodded in agreement and flew off into the night sky.
At Kelly Industries, Dr. Kelly was giving a tour to two visitors. They were at the trophy case where he was presenting the Verities Award that he won.
"And here is my Verities Award," said Kelly. "Of course it was an honor just to be nominated along with a group of distinguished scientists."
Suddenly the room shook violently like an earthquake. And then, Dr. Animo and his T–Rex burst through the window, shattering it to pieces. The Tyrannosaurs stopped as Animo glared down at his rival.
"Kelly! I believe you have something of mine," said Animo as he jumped down for the dinosaur and seized the award. "I'd ike to thank the committee for this honor!"
Then, when the T–Rex was about eat Kelly alive, Stinkfly came in and slammed the dinosaur across the face. The giant beast retaliated by slamming him with its tail and Stinkfly collided with the wall and slumped to the ground, dazed.
"Now I know how that elephant felt," said Stinkfly.
The insectoid alien then noticed the T–Rex picking up Kelly by the jacket of his suit as the other scientists stood back helpless.
"Somebody help me," screamed Kelly.
"Just when I thought this hero stuff will be easy," said Stinkfly as he took off, causing another rock slide.
The T–Rex tossed Kelly up and opened its jaws to eat him, but just before Kelly landed in them, Stinkfly flew by and caught him.
What are you pest," asked Animo as he glared at the Lepidoperran.
"I'm Stinkfly! And I'm here to kick some tail," said Stinkfly as he set Kelly down.
Dr. Animo fired his Transmodulator beam. Stinkfly flew out of the way, but the mad scientist followed the flying alien with his red energy beams, growling in frustration that the Lepidopterran always managed to keep one step ahead of him.
Stinkfly got behind Animo and fired streams of slime from his eyestalks that struck the T–Rex in the side of its face, which distracted the scientist.
Using the moment, Stinkfly punched Animo across the face which caused Animo to stumble back as he dropped the trophy.
"No," shouted Dr. Animo helplessly as the award shattered on impact with the floor.
"I'll take that," said Stinkfly as he snatched the device from Animo.
"My Transmodulator," shouted Dr. Animo.
Stinkfly then tossed it against the ground, causing it to send out a wave that reversed its effects. The Tyrannosaurs slowly decomposed back into a skeleton and it broke apart on top of Animo.
Back at the Washington Monument, Max and Gwen backed up helplessly as the mutant parrot cornered them. Suddenly, the wave hit it and it reverted back to a normal parrot that perched on Gwen's arm.
"Don't even try to kiss up to me now," said Gwen.
In the morning, Ben, Angel, Gwen and Max stood with a smirk as the cops took Animo away.
"Let me go! I deserve that award! I've got it coming to me! I want it," shouted Animo as he was loaded in the police car.
"For some reason, that sounds kind of familiar," said Ben as he came up to the car.
As the Rust Bucket rode away, the kids were discussing their adventure in Washington D.C.
"I didn't get that Gold Sumo Slammer card, but at least I snagged a trophy from Animo," said Ben as he placed a piece of the Transmodulator into a cardboard box, which he was now going to use as a Trophy Box. "Besides, saving the city from Doctor Wacko is its own award."
"Don't forget you saved Angel and I," said Gwen, smiling. "Thanks!"
"By the way, Ben. I have something for you," said Angel as she showed Ben a Gold Sumo Slammer card, much to the boy's shock as he took it.
"Where'd you get it," asked Ben.
"Well, I –," started Angel, but was interrupted by Ben.
"You know, don't answer that. It doesn't matter," said Ben as he gave Angel a huge hug. "You're the best friend in the world!"
"And you're the best hero in the world," said Angel as she hugged Ben back, smiling.
To be continued…
There you go, guys. I finally managed to finish this chapter. And trust, it took me even longer to write the first one. Anyway, sorry for the long wait. I had some health problems, so I hope you'll forgive me. I'll start writing the next chapter tomorrow and I'll try to post it by the end of the month. I hope you liked this chapter. Please share your thoughts in the reviews or send me PMs and I'll see you all soon I hope. See ya, guys.
R&R