Chapter 7: Forest Fire 101
Disclaimer: I Don't Own Ben 10 Or Any Of The Characters. I Don't Own The Rights To Nathan Black Or Any Associated Characters, The Rights Go To annihalator2015
Disclaimer: This Series/Story Has Nothing To Do With The Ben 10: Ultimate Alien Cartoon Series. Any Similarities That May Pop Up Aren't Intentional
Author's Note:
* Hello and welcome to Chapter Seven!
* So, for this chapter Ben will be using the Omnitrix for the first time, as you could have guessed! I will also say that this will most likely be a short chapter. So, with that said, on with the chapter!
Earth-6101
Saturday Morning – Late August
The Tennyson House
Ben
I bolted upright in my bed in a cold sweat, breathing heavily as I did. I sat up cross-legged in my bed, as I rested my forehead in my right hand. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw something. I turned to look to my right, and I saw that thing, that alien watch from last night, was still on my wrist. I sighed as I flopped back down into my bed.
Crap. And here I was thinking that last night was just a dream.
The Previous Night
As soon as I pressed down on the ring, I was engulfed in a flash of green. Once the flash of light had dissipated, I seemed to be the same. Actually, I seemed to be taller. I looked down at the ground, as my hands came into view. My hands seemed to be much bigger than they had used to be. And on top of that, they were an emerald green color and seemed to be composed of some material akin to that of a gemstone!
This can't be happening. This is only a dream. Yeah, that's it! I'm not really here! I must have fallen asleep at my desk while I was reading! Now to wake myself up!
I began slapping myself.
"Got to wake up!" I exclaimed as I continued.
However, my slaps did nothing. In fact, they didn't even hurt. I let out a sigh as I slumped down into the crater. I looked at my hands once more, unsure of what to do. They did appear to be made out of some kind of emerald, but it realistically could have been anything. I decided that I should get out of the crater and away from the pod. So, I stood up, walked to the edge of the crater and pulled myself out.
Once I was out of the crater and I was standing back up, I noticed that my right hand had changed. Anything that could be recognized as a hand was gone. My fingers had changed into razor sharp emeralds, almost like stalagmites. And it made it look even more like a crystal formation.
"What the hell?" I muttered, as I lifted my hand up a bit.
As I did that, it seemed that part of my right hand exploded, as a few shards of the emerald-like objects flew away from me. The projectiles eventually lodged into a tree. I walked over to the tree and alternatively looked at the shards and my hand.
"Come on, change back!" I exclaimed as I whacked my right hand against the tree.
After several seconds of that, I looked at my hand once more, to see that it was now one straight, razor sharp emerald shard, instead of many. Once I saw how sharp it looked, I walked over to one of the thinner branches and I whacked it. I was right. Once it made contact with the branch, it was cut clean off.
"Well, how about that?" I muttered.
Five Minutes Later
Eventually, I "timed out" after I heard a series of beeps and I turned back to my normal self. Now I noticed that the alien watch on my wrist was red. When it had originally jumped onto my wrist, it was green. So, why was it red now? I tried interacting with the watch, but any button that I pressed resulted in a beeping sound and nothing else. One button that I pressed, resulted in the alien watch changing, to look more like a human wristwatch.
It was just an ordinary one and it didn't look all that expensive, but it was something. However, I pressed that button again and it reverted back to its normal alien form. And it was still red, not green. So, I decided to sit down to wait and see if it would turn green again. After five, maybe ten minutes, I heard a different sound. Not a beeping sound, more of a chime. I looked at the alien watch, to see that it was green again.
So, I began pressing buttons again, until the ring popped up once more. I began turning the ring as I had done the last time and eventually, I came to a silhouette that wasn't humanoid. This one looked like some kind of mutated dog, by my definition anyway. Not seeing what another transformation could hurt, I pressed down on the ring. After that, the rest of the night was a blur.
The Next Morning
When I had pressed down on the ring, I transformed into some kind of quadrupedal creature. The creature was blind, or I was, and I had to find my way by smell and some sort of built in sonar. It was as if the creature had a radar sense. I decided to test the creature's abilities, trying to use my senses to track animals in the woods, but I was only able to sneak up on one raccoon.
It must have been a deaf or really clumsy animal, as I had been making a lot of noise. But the rest of the night had gone by like that. Once I turned back to my normal self again, I snuck back home and got into bed, just hoping that it was all a dream. But of course, once I had woken up, it was still there. I let out a sigh as I got out of bed. I looked to my nightstand at my digital clock, which said it was ten o'clock.
Oh my God, I slept that long? Even on the weekends, I'm usually up early! I'm setting a bad example! For myself!
I decided to get dressed before I left my room, as being seen in my pajamas past nine o'clock or even eight thirty was uncommon of me. Once I was dressed, I left my room and I automatically picked up on the fact that the house was unnaturally silent. That wasn't normal. My father worked a government job, which required he have daily access to a laptop and the Internet.
Even on Saturdays, I could hear him typing away at his keyboard in his office. My mother worked for a medical insurance company, but she didn't work Saturdays. Usually, she'd be in the living room, watching T.V. or doing that as she folded and put away laundry. But no. The house was completely silent.
"Mom!" I called. "Dad!"
There was no answer from either of my parents. I walked down the stairs to the living room and saw that it was vacant. From there, I walked into the kitchen, where I saw a piece of paper sitting on the counter. I walked over to it and picked it up. It said:
Ben,
Your father and I needed to go out, but you were still asleep. So, we decided to go without waking you. Scrounge around for whatever you want to have for breakfast.
See you when we get back,
Mom
I put the note down and was about to look for something to eat, when my gaze fell back onto the alien watch on my wrist. It was green again, so since the house was empty, this was the perfect time to sneak out and use it again.
Sometime Later
The Forest
I returned to the woods after I making sure I had my phone on me incase my parents called. I didn't return to the crater. Instead, I went deeper into the woods, past the crater. At this point, hopefully no one would see me. I stood there, looking down at the alien watch, trying to figure out how to activate it.
Let's see, it was one of these buttons...
I started to press buttons and on the third attempt, I got the ring to pop up. Just as I had done last night, I began to turn the ring until I saw another form that looked interesting. Or harmless. Eventually, I came to a silhouette that appeared to be pretty humanoid. So, I decided to go with that one. I pressed down on the ring and was consumed by that flash of green light. Once it subsided, I was still standing. However, I felt hotter than usual, as if I were on fire.
Wait, I really was on fire!
I let out a scream as I fell backwards into the grass.
"I'm on fire!" I exclaimed in a panicked voice.
That's when it hit me. I was on fire, but I wasn't in any kind of pain. I slowly stood up, still not feeling anything.
"Hey, I'm on fire. But I'm okay!"
I looked down at my arms. Just like the rest of my body, they looked to be made up of some charcoal like objects. Save for my hands and feet, which appeared to be made of pure fire. I cautiously touched one of my arms, expecting to get burnt, but I didn't. I retracted my hand with confusion.
So, if I'm on fire right now, how can I not be feeling any pain?
I lifted my hand up a bit and rubbed two of my fingers together, trying to think about what I should do. As I rubbed my two fingers together, something sparked from them. The spark fell from my hand and touched the ground, where a small flame began to grow. I began to stomp on it, trying to put it out, but that did nothing. I packed away from the flame and looked back at my hand. I snapped my fingers and a few more sparks flew from my hand.
Can I uh, I don't know, go a little bigger than that?
I concentrated on making something bigger and as if on cue, something that I can only describe as a fireball formed in my right hand. And so, I threw it at a nearby tree, not even thinking about the consequences. Once that fireball was gone, I put my hands together and began to concentrate again. This time, an even bigger fireball formed in my hands. And this one, I threw at another tree.
I continued doing that, over and over again. But I eventually stopped, once I realized it. Several of the trees were on fire now. And that's when it hit me. For the last three or four weeks, we'd been in a drought. It was really hot out and hence the drought, we hadn't gotten any rain in sometime. I had effortlessly started a forest fire. Just then, there was that beeping sound again. And a few seconds following that, there was a flash of red and I was normal Ben again.
And boy, was I feeling the heat now. I didn't feel anything when I was that, that thing. But now, I was really feeling it. I had to get out of here before I got heatstroke or something. I finally backed up and was about to return home. Of course, I had to do something first. I took out my phone, unlocked it and dialed 911. I put the phone up to my ear and waited.
"911, what's your emergency?" the lady on the line spoke.
"I need to report a forest fire." I replied in a steady voice.
Author's Note:
* And that's it! Fairly short chapter. But I suppose that they're all short chapters, right? Originally, I wasn't going to post this chapter tonight. But, this one is pretty short and the next one will be much more eventful, so I've decided to save that one for the next upload.
* Anyway, next chapter is when we'll finally see Ben start to change for the better. With that said, I think I'm done here.
* I'm going to go though, so have a fantastic day and bye!
Review Responses
DarkMinetex (Chapter 6): Neat! I really liked this chapter, and how Ben finally stands before kevin. Though he couldn't do anything, at least he's changing. Also thanks for the information you give about the comic I will try to look it up. And also thanks for answering my questions about kevin.
Hope to see his butt kicked in a future chapter by one of Ben's aliens (Maybe ghostfreak could do a great number on him, just imagine what he could do *laugh maliciouslyWhen you say Ben's family do you refer to his inner circle like a brother? or a cousin? I think i'm getting ahead of myself but it really picked my curiosity. Great work as always! And I hope to see more of this story!
Thanks, DarkMinetex. Yes, it was good for Ben to finally stand up to Kevin, even if it didn't amount to anything. You're welcome, regarding the comic book information, though you don't have to look it up if you don't want to. Sometimes I get really into things that I'm passionate about (comic books is one of them) and you guys are here to read Ben 10, not listen to me fawn over comic books.
In regards to you asking about Ben's family, yes, you did get a bit ahead of yourself, DarkMinetex. That is one question that I won't answer. However, I will say that if you know old Ben 10 canon, you may be able to answer that question yourself in the future. I'm really happy to here that you hope to see more of this story. Thanks for the review, as always.
Lightning-pays (Chapter 6): The famous scene where Ben burns down a forest can't wait to see that also happy to see Ben finally got the omnitrix can't wait for the next chapter only one question will Nathan also have powers
Thanks, Lightning-pays. Glad that you enjoyed the last chapter and for your question regarding Nathan, he will get powers eventually. Thanks for the review, as always.
Next Chapter: Ben's parents worry for him once they find out that he witnessed the forest fire. At school on Monday, with a newfound confidence, Ben tries to defend Gwendolyn from Kevin.