It was a short drive, but eventually, Max pulled the Rustbucket over, parking it as Ben locked eyes with him. Max nodded, giving Ben his approval to use the Omnitrix.
Ben primed the Omnitrix and found the icon he was looking for, a robust figure that seemed to be made out of stone. "Here goes nothing." Ben states, pressing the dial down.
Ben is within the strange void, yet again. Several large brown and yellow chunks of stone, rock and sediment grow along his body. Ben could feel his body becoming heavier, but far bulkier than it was before. He felt his back hunch out a fair bit as the rocks grew around his face, sculpting into a yellow and brown colored head made of stone, a pair of small green eyes peering out from some small eye slits. A pair of black pants grew over the creature's legs, allowing for a white belt to form, with the Omnitrix's badge being smack-dab in the center of it.
The flash of light dies down, revealing the hefty stone goliath to Gwen and Max. "Ok, so what can this guy do?" Gwen asked.
The rocky creature looked itself over, and finally bawled its hand into a fist, letting a small cloud of dust escape his grasp. "I don't know, but I'm bettin' it'll be several kinds of cool. Let's see what kind of damage I can really do." The rocky creature stated, its voice rough, gravelly, and very warped.
The trio arrive to see a gigantic droid attacking a campsite full of RVs and people screaming. "Looks like it's big papa-robot this time," the creature looks to Max. "I'll take care of Gearhead over there, while you two get everyone to safety!"
"This is a dumb thing to ask, but do you have a name for this one, something to call you so we don't expose your secret?" Gwen asked.
"Hmm... Rocks?" The creature suggested.
Before anyone could debate any further, a car was soon flung their way. Instinctively, Rocks jutted his foot into the ground, letting a huge yellow stone monolith come up from the ground, catching the car and keeping it from crashing onto them.
"Rocks will have to do, we have to get them out of the way!" Max exclaimed, grabbing Gwen and pulling her towards the panicking campers. Rocks looked towards the giant bot, smirking as he ran in its direction.
The giant robot proceeds to pick up a park ranger who was already trying to get one of the deserted campers some help, with the others running off screaming. The man proceeded to scream as if his life depended on it, only for a parking sign to be flung at the robot's head, drawing both their attention towards the yellow and brown rock creature.
"Howdy, you bucket of bolts! Why don't you leave him alone and pick on someone your own size?" The robot proceeds to scan him, identifying the Omnitrix being present on the creature. "or rather, someone who weighs just as much as your scrap-metal keister?" Rocks taunted.
Without a moment's hesitation, The robot drops the Park Ranger and blasts Rocks away. He lands in an RV, which the robot also immediately blows up. Ben is underneath it, but manages to tear a hole in the metal with his enhanced strength. "Okay, this is not alright. You wanna shake things up, big boy?" Rocks climbs out and jumps into the air, his eyes glowing an orange color. "Then I'm gonna make your Earth quake!" He called out.
Rocks slams his feet onto the ground as he lands, causing a massive Earthquake to happen all around the area, setting off car alarms and breaking up pieces of the road and the building nearby. The droid was struggling to keep itself balanced, and would soon fall over as the Earthquake subsided. "How'd you like that, you waste of parts?" Rocks asked, confidently smiling.
Before Rocks could do anything else, the droid soon got up, leaping into the air as its three legs spun for a moment. It then proceeded to land on the rocky alien hero, trapping it underneath. "...I'm so gonna crush you like a soda can when I get outta dis." Rocks gritted.
Max rushes over to the ranger, helping him up as more civilians scream and run towards the lodge. "What is going on here?" The ranger asked.
"You probably wouldn't believe me if I told you," Gwen remarked. "Now come on." No-sooner than she finished that sentence, Rocks ends up being grabbed by the robot and thrown into the ranger's truck, just barely missing the ranger himself.
As Rocks is dodging various laser blasts a stray one hits a tree, causing it to fall down exactly where a little blonde girl is standing. The little girl stands, wide eyed, as the tree before her is cracked into various small pieces and falls around her. Rocks is in front of her, having shattered the tree into pieces by catching it in his hands. His eyes stopped glowing orange as he looked down at the little girl.
"I think you need to go to the lodge, little lady. It'll be safer there." Rocks stated.
The girl smiled, running past the rocky alien hero. "Thanks, mister!" the little girl cried out.
Before Rocks could answer back, the robot suddenly grabs him by his entire body with one hand. "Oh no!" He uttered.
The robot lifts Rocks up and grabs his left arm, where the Omnitrix would've been on Ben, with its other hand. Rocks struggles, his eyes glowing orange as he destroys its hand by sending an earthquake through it, dismantling it to pieces. Unfortunately, Rocks isn't able to break himself free, and is then shot away with the other hand, landing in a building. The previous hand falls apart, with a portion of it exploding and taking out the whole arm it was attached to, causing the robot to stagger.
"Rocks!" Max and Gwen call out.
Ben gets up and tries using his arms to block the next blast. He manages to block and tank a few blasts, but he knows he can't block, or take the attacks head-on forever, especially when the Omnitrix times out. He remembers what he did to the robot's arm, as well as the earthquake he caused, and the way he destroyed that tree. He looks at his hands and comes up with an idea.
Rocks walks up to the robot, getting its immediate attention. "C'mon, you overgrown wind-up toy! Is that all you got, or am I too much to handle for the likes of you?" Rocks taunts. The robot proceeds to get closer, with Rocks allowing it to grab it this time. The robot raises the rock creature to its eyes, all while a smirk forms on Rocks' face.
Max looks up and can't help but wonder just what his grandson is trying to do. "Get out of that thing's grasp! Run!" Max called out.
The robot keeps its eyes on the rocky creature, not noticing that he was putting his hand in the robot's laser nozzle, located within the palm of its hand. "Tell me, you discontinued collector's model. Ever felt like you was falling apart with victory?" Rocks asked. The robot didn't respond. "Let me show you what that's like!"
Rocks' eyes began to glow orange, the robot's hand beginning to shake in a violent manner. The hand began to break, the metal plating wasn't gonna be able to handle the sudden disruption and forceful dismantling of its interior structure. Soon enough, the hand blew up, as did the arm. Rocks was freed, but he grabbed onto the robot's chest, climbing up and grabbing at the helm of its head, causing it to shake all over, parts of it were coming loose and dismantling, breaking and collapsing.
"Gotta love shaking things up, but you seem to be coming to pieces! So long, ya techno freak!" Rocks remarked.
With a final strike to the robot itself, the robot then started to dismantle itself, blowing itself up in the process as Rocks landed on the broken ground, his eyes glowing a vibrant green with a confident smile on his face.
"All right!" Gwen and Max cheered.
"Way to go, Rocks! You really gave him what-for!" Max praised, still trying to not blow his grandson's cover.
"Well, it's all in a day's work. Though, I did look pretty awesome back there, huh?" Rocks smiled and waved to the campers, who all cautiously waved back. "Well, I think my work here is done. Uh... see ya!" Rocks then proceeds to jaunt away as Gwen and Max silently tip-toe away, only for the campers to wonder what just happened.
Back in space, Vilgax was viewing the last remaining footage that the droid had recorded from the fight. Witnessing the rocky stone creature rupture the mechanical threat from the inside-out. As impressive as it was, it was still a massive failure.
"Me? Fail!? To some puny Earther?!" Vilgax wanted to thrash about so much, but he was smart enough to realize that any sudden movements or attempts at lashing out, it may extend his time in that tank to recover. "No! I refuse to believe this! It's unbelievable! The only Earther who could provide such a challenge, is that pesky plumber who launched me into the stratosphere all that time ago!"
"Sire, there may be a possibility that the Omnitrix was sent down to Earth, mainly because Max Tennyson is still alive, and was entrusted to use its power, but we're still trying to rule that out from our... unexpected pick-up." The individual stated.
They pressed a few buttons, revealing an unconscious alien female being shown on-screen. The details of the female are too hard to recognize, but she was under constant surveillance.
Vilgax sighed and leered at the still image of the rocky alien creature. "The puny Earth being that is keeping the Omnitrix from me, whether it be Max Tennyson, some other plumber, or simply put, some unfortunate soul- will soon hang on my trophy wall. For now, I need to rest." Vilgax stated, closing his eyes as the individual left the room.
The next day, the Tennysons were busy packing up their stuff to get back on the road, but it wasn't until Max noticed a lack of his grandson's presence. "Gwen, where's Ben?" Max asked.
"I haven't seen him since breakfast, but when I did see him during breakfast, he was muttering about how he wanted to do something real quick before the summer really got rolling," Max looked at her with a raised brow. "He had that look in his eyes, grandpa, you know which one. Anyways, the moment he finished eating, he ran outside, turned into another alien, and was gone before I could get a look at him."
Max put his face in the palm of his hand, massaging the space between his eyes as he tried to figure out where his grandson went. Before he could go too deep into thought, however, there was a loud, but very light boom in the distance. A speeding white blur passes Max and Gwen by, only for the entity to stop in its tracks and present itself.
The creature itself was some kind of horse-like creature with these wings on the side of its torso. It didn't have any noticeable hooves as its white coat was growing over them. It wasn't necessarily huge, it was more like a pony of some kind, it looked more like a pegasus. The dark desaturated cyan-blue color in its spiky mane and tail slightly waved in the wind that caught up to the speeding equine. Gwen was the only one to notice, but on the creature's flank, there seemed to be a strange marking present, though it didn't feel important to remember. Around its neck, a studded black accessory with gray metal rings was affixed to the equine. In the middle of it, was the Omnitrix.
"Ben?" Max asked, not exactly sure of how to react to the new alien in-front of him.
The pegasus smirked. "Sup gramps, thought I'd try one more transformation 'fore we hit the road. I think I'll call this one, Bravefeather." The equestrian remarked, speaking in a fluent New-York accent.
"So, what was that thing you wanted to take care of, doofus?" Gwen asked.
"Ehh, decided not to do it. Cash and J.T. are a couple of jerks and really deserve everything that's coming to them, but it feels like with every time I come up with a plan to use my new powers to get back at people, it doesn't necessarily feel right." Bravefeather stated.
Gwen and Max looked at each other, the both of them felt equally confused. They looked back at the pegasus, "What do you mean, it doesn't feel right?" Max asked.
"Maybe it's just Bravefeather that's putting things into perspective, but it don't feel right. It's like biting into a cheeseburger with extra mayo and ketchup, but suddenly you're tasting peanut butter and toothpaste! It don't make a lick of sense, but you know that ain't right. You try to take another bite, just to make sure, and it's still peanut butter and toothpaste!" Bravefeather explained.
The pony noticed the confused, and slightly grossed out remarks on his family's faces and sighed. "Look, point is, I couldn't go through with it. I wanted to, but something just didn't set right with me, ya dig? It's one of the oddest feelings I've ever had the general displeasure of feeling, and I'd like to not think about it. Not now, at least." Bravefeather stated.
Soon enough, the Omnitrix times out and returns Ben to his normal form. "I think this is gonna be the best summer ever, no matter what happens." Ben states.
Max smiles. "Absolutely." He says.
Gwen looked uncertain, but could actually agree with her cousin. "It's definitely going to be interesting," the trio soon started to pack up the rest of their stuff into the Rust Bucket, only for her to realize something. "Wait, if you didn't go through with getting revenge on those two knuckle-heads, where exactly did you go?" Gwen asked.
"I figured I'd take care of something else before this vacation really got rolling. It's not revenge," Ben reached into his backpack, showing off the various frozen treats and snacks he got. "But this is just as cold, as it is sweet." Ben smiled, handing his cousin an ice cream bar.
"Ben, please tell me that's-"
"All paid for?" Ben interjected. "Yeah, I got that covered, grandpa. And uh, don't worry, I'll work off the several bucks I owe ya." Ben smiled sheepishly.
"Benjamin!" Max yelled.
The RV begins to move, and thus, a story like many have seen before, is about to change.
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
Not gonna lie, I'm actually hyped for this story. What started as a silly little What-If in my head, and through some experimenting, it started off fairly well. I hope you all enjoyed this, because the next episode, it's gonna be crazy.