A Hero's Life Reboot EP 5: Brain Drain

I don't own anything except my OCs.

Ben was kicking it at the local skate park, enjoying his Sunday, 2 days after the dance, shredding his board on the half pipes as other pre-teens and teens do the same! "Check this out!" He cries to a group as he skates down and up a ramp, spinning his board around as he punches and kicks like a kung-fu flick star, spinning 3 times as well. He lands perfectly and screeches to a stop as the group cheers. "Dude! Awesome! What do you call that?!" Ben looks off in thought with a smirk. "Hmm… 'The Tetramand Tornado'!"

"NICE!" "Okay, guys! I'm heading home! I had enough shredding for the day! SEE YA LATER!" He calls out as he rides out of the park as the other skaters, wave bye to him. "LATER LITTLE DUDE!" one guy calls out. Ben stops by a smoothie shack for a quick drink. "One triple Strawberry smoothie to go!" "Coming up!" Ben pays the man with his allowance and grabs his drink, skating home while sipping his drink. "Hmm… for some reason, I feel like I'm supposed to be disgusted by smoothies. But these things taste pretty good!"

BEEP BEEP Ben saw his sister and the others pull up in the car. "Hey, bro! What are you doing?" "School's out for the day, so I hit the skate park to catch some air!" "Well, you're going to be on air!" "Yeah! Don't you remember? It's my big TV debut!" Sam exclaims excitedly as Ben looks bored. "You mean that 'Brain Blaster' show?" "Brain BUSTERS! To be exact!" Clover corrects as Ben shakes his head. "Sorry, but no way! Game shows are so lame! I would rather do extra credit homework than humiliate myself for cash!"

He turned and was about to leave, as the girls exchanged devious looks, and quickly grabbed him, tossing him in with his board. The car then speeds away to Hollywood. "AW, MAN!"

The screen is black, only for a bolt of green lightning to make a flash of white light as upbeat music is heard.

Ben stands as he is smirking at the camera as a black with green bubbles background is behind the tween, making the boy raise both his arms and show off his new Omnitrix and then slap down with a grin, making a flash of light.

"BEN 10!"

"He's a kid and he wants to have fun!"

Upgrade with hands on hips appears as a close-up of his face shows up in the background as a bolt of lightning comes down.

Big Chill flies across and freezes as the same thing happens to Swampfire, leaping out of an explosion.

"But when you need a superhero, he gets the job done!"

"BEN 10!"

Shock Rock smashes his fists together, sending out waves of electricity that affect the 4th wall.

"With A device that he wears on his arm."

"He can change his shape and save the world from harm!"

Ben poses with his Omnitrix, just as headshots of Shock Rock, Water Hazard, Big Chill, and Swampfire show up, one-by-one.

Rath was staring at Grey Matter, who hopped along a bunch of platforms with the watch symbol on it while the tiger alien was confused before it turned into rage as he held his head in anger.

"When trouble's taking place."

Ben was then running towards the screen.

"He gets right in its face!"

"BEN 10!"

Humungousaur, Slapback, Fasttrack and Upgrade's headshots show up as well!

A green circuit board background is shown as 5 aliens show up in a row while Ben is staring at the 4th wall as his right side is shown. The aliens are Shock Rock, Fasttrack, Rath, Swampfire, and 4 Slapbacks.

"When lives are on the line."

The same thing happens with his left side as more aliens appear. The aliens are now: Big Chill, Water Hazard, Grey Matter, Humungosaur, and Upgrade, which is still in normal form.

"It's hero time!"

"BEN 10!"

It ends with Ben and Alex, standing side to side with crossed arms and smirks as the title appears above.

At the Brain Busters set, the girls were surprised while Ben yawned in boredom with his hands in his pockets. "Is it me or does the set look bigger on TV?" Clover questions as a voice from behind answers. "That's the magic of Hollywood, my dear!" They turn to see a man with a fancy suit and black combed hair with a small, matching mustache. "WINK WEATHERDALE!?" They exclaim and zip up to him, with smiles. "Speaking of magic: I can't believe how real you look in person, Wink!" Alex comments.

"Amazing, isn't it? But enough about me. I am here to welcome Sam to the show! Are you ready to challenge Margie for lots of cash and prizes?" "Bring it on!" Sam smirks as Ben just looks at his nails, bored out of his young mind. CRASH

"AAAHHH!" They all turn around as a woman who looks like a waitress with a hairdo that looks like a beehive yells out while holding a pink shirt. "WINKY! Is this how the returning champ gets treated!? This blouse is 85% genuine silk, for crying out loud!" She loudly smacks gum as the man assures her. "We'll take care of it right away, Margie." BZZZZTTT "OH! That's our cue!" Wink cries out. "Good luck, hon! You're going to need it." She snootily said as they both walked off. "She seems nice." Alex deadpans as the others frown. "Yeah! Like a rabid guard dog!" Ben points out.

Later, Margie and Sam were in capsules as Wink was on his podium with the others in the stands, watching. "For 100 points: This famous person is the reason we have sandwiches." BZZZT Sam buzzes in. "That would be—" But just then, Sam froze up with shrunken eyes as she feels something was being sucked out of her. "Uh… um? It's…." "Margie?" "I think it's got to be the Earl of Sandwich." "THE EARL OF SANDWICH IS CORRECT!" Wink announces, making 100 points appearing above the champ, who smirks at a frowning Sam.

Clover and Alex were surprised as Ben merely looked through his alien list in boredom. For a while, Sam keeps freezing up, every time she buzzes in, and Margie keeps getting the answer, shocking Clover and Alex as Ben notices it as well. Margie's score was 5,000 while Sam has 0. "Oh, man! This stink! Sam's losing it!"

"Hey! I thought you didn't like this show?" Alex questions her brother as he responds. "I don't. But I don't want Sam to look like a brainless goofball!" "I know! What is up with Sammy? It's like her brain is running on empty!" Clover questions as Alex comments. "Yeah! And that Margie must have that crazy hairstyle to hide that huge brain of hers." Ben suddenly grew suspicious, looking at the capsules. "I got to go! I'm hungry." He said as he walked out of the stands and away from the set. "Okay! Wait… didn't he have lunch before we left?" Alex questions Clover.

Ben hides in a closet and closes the door, just as a flash of green light comes from it. Upgrade slid under the door and formed into human mode. "Let's see what's going on stage!" He quickly runs back and pokes his head out of a corner to the show, morphing into his puddle state and slipping underneath the crack, getting into the wires underneath the floor.

Slipping through the wires, he manages to reach Sam's capsule and starts merging it from the inside. "Whoa! This tech… It's some sort of brain-drain device! No wonder Sam's losing her mind! Well… time to give back what's stolen!" Using his Technopath powers, he reprograms it to return Sam's brain, just as she buzzes in. "I know this one! I just answered in science class!"

"This is super easy! Sam can't mess this one up!" "Yeah! Science is her thing!" Alex adds to Clover's comment. Thanks to Upgrade, Sam didn't freeze up and smirks. "Precambrian! Paleozoic! Mesozoic! And Cenozoic!" Her score went up to 1000 as the crowd cheered. Margie was shocked as Wink was speechless. "Um… That's… THAT'S CORRECT!" Sam waves at the champ with a coy smile as she grinds her gum in anger.

After a few more questions, thanks to Sam's brain and Upgrade's protection, the scores were tied. "All right, contestants! The scores are all tied up! It's the Do-or-die round! Winner takes all!" The crowd roared in cheers as Alex was excited. "This is great! Sam's making quite a comeback! Looks like she's getting her act together!" But just then, Clover saw some Upgrade goop leaks out from Sam's capsule, making her frown. "Yeah… All by herself. I think it's time for a replay." She grabs her Compowder and records Sam.

"This is great! One more question and that cheater is done for the night!" BEEP BEEP BEEP Upgrade widens his eye ring as he looks at the blinking dial. "Oh, no! Not now! Sorry, Sam!" He slips through the floor and quickly moves back to the closet. FLASH Ben walks out and looks at himself. "Darn it! Could this get any worse?!" "I KNOW THIS ONE EASILY! It's…. Ummm… It's- Maybe…" BZZZT "OH, Sorry! Time's up! Margie!" "It's 4,025!" "CORRECT! MARGIE IS CHAMP, ONCE MORE!" Ben slaps his forehead in anger. "I had to jinx it."

The next day at school, Ben was upset as he opened his locker. "Man! I can't believe that jerk, Margie beat Sam! If only I hold out as Upgrade for a few more mins…" He sighs and shuts the door. "A few more minutes of Upgrade to do what?" "AH!" Ben screams as he falls on his behind, breathing out as he glances up to a giggling Madison. The purple-haired girl helps him up as the boy dusts his shirt and frowns at the girl, who is now sporting a more casual look of a purple with a yellow and white stripe on the chest shirt, white skirt with black skin-tight shorts, and white tennis shoes with long white socks with yellow and orange stripes that goes to below her knees.

"Maddie?! I know your dad said you can visit me once in a while! But did you have to scare me?!" "Sorry, Ben! I just couldn't resist!" He stands up as he dusts himself off. "So… I saw Sam last night on TV!" "Really? You watch that show too?" Ben grabs his backpack, swings it over his shoulder, and walks to the exit with Maddie.

"Yep! It's really popular! Anyway, what's with Sam?! I know she's like super smart and all. But did she just fumble around her answers like a clueless loon?" "Well… When I was Upgrade and I went into her capsule, I noticed that there was tech there that drains a person's brain and puts them in another. I realized that Margie must have somehow rigged her capsule to do that!"

They both exit as Madison gets a realization as well. "You know… I did find it weird that Margie always uses the same capsule, every time she's on the show." "And she tried to drain Sam's brain! Luckily, I managed to protect her from most of the drainage. But she's now only having normal smarts. Meaning she's missing half a brain."

Madison understands as she adds in. "Which means, Margie still has the other half of Sam's brain! We got to get it back!" "Yep! We're going to Hollywood!" Ben pulls out his phone and taps an Icon of the Omnitrix Symbol on it. They waited for a few minutes and the Omni-Buggy pulled up to them. "SHOTGUN!" Madison cried out as they tossed their bags on the back seat. Ben hops in the driver seat while Maddie straps in, flooring the gas and zooming off.

At WOOHP HQ, Jerry was examining Sam as she tried to think of something smart but got nothing. "So… anything, Sammy?" "Nothing! I can't think of even the simplest equation, Alex! I don't understand it! Why am I missing half my smarts?!" "This is troubling indeed." The elder points out as Alex is confused as well. "I KNEW IT!" They all turn to see Clover watching something on her Compowder. "Jerry! Patch this video onto the big screen and zoom in on Sam's capsule!"

The man did that as the screen shows the recording. He zooms into the capsule as some black slime with a green tech pattern leaks out, making him pause it. "Where have we seen goo like that before?" Clover asks as Sam realizes. "Hey…. Is that…" "Yes. It's Benjamin as Upgrade." Jerry points out as Alex frowns. "Ben should have known! You don't cheat on game shows! He's going to be in big trouble!" "Well, usually, I would be celebrating being right! But I think he had a good reason, going alien. Maybe something in the capsule did drain Sammy's brain! And he went Upgrade to try and reversed it." Clover points out.

"But during the final question, Sam lost her answer! So, he must have timed out! I wonder what he saw that we didn't?" Alex ponders as the others think as well. "OWW! Thinking is a lot harder when you only have half a brain." Sam rubs her head in pain as the other 3 sweat drops in response.

At the Brain Buster set, the kids were blending in a tour group. But just as they were leaving, Maddie pulled away and ditched her wig. "We should be good for a while! Ready, Ben?" Grey Matter zips open her backpack and smiles. "As always!" He hopped on the girl's head as she rushed to the podium.

"Whoa! This is more than just a stand for cards." Madison comments at the computer that is built into the podium. "Luckily, I managed to 'borrow' some gadgets from the girls! We got X-ray Sunglasses, some smoke bombs, and a Net grenade! It's not much, but they should help us in the long run." Madison takes out the glasses from the backpack and smiles, putting them on and activating them as Grey Matter hops on the podium.

As the girl scans the computer, she finds something interesting. "Weird." "What?" Grey Matter questions as Maddy taps a few buttons, making 2 capsules light up. Grey Matter took over and hopped on the keys, showing a pic of 2 brains. "Wait a minute..." He taps another button, making one bar lower while another rises. "I knew it! Those capsules are designed to transfer the brainwaves of one person and install it to another capsule, thus allowing the person to steal intelligence." BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP FLASH

"Which means that Margie and Wink are in cahoots with each other! Since that capsule is Margie's." Madison said as they quickly ran off the stage, just as 2 guards walked in! "HEY! WHAT ARE YOU 2 DOING!?" They quickly ran after them, making the kids try to close the door with all their strength! They managed to slam them shut, making the guards crash headfirst. "That was close," Ben exclaims as he wipes sweat from his forehead. "Yeah."

Madison then remembers something. "BEN! Tonight is the Battle of the Geniuses! Which means that more smart professors are going to get brain drained as well!" Ben nods firmly as he exclaims. "We got to get back in there and figure out a way to stop them! Maybe if we come back later, we can figure something out." The girl nods as well and they run off.

At night, Big Chill phases through the studio's walls while carrying Madison. "Okay! Let's see if we can open a capsule." Madison whispers as they go to one of the sealed capsules and try to pray it open. RUMBLE "Uh, oh!" Big Chill exclaims as the room starts to shake, making the alien grab the kid and fly up as the stage starts going down. As it came to a stop, Big Chill and Maddison flew down to see a secret computer lab. BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP FLASH "Whoa! Secret underground lab!" Ben exclaims. "Which means more proof that Wink and Margie are behind this." Maddie frowns as they walk over to the computers to check things out.

"OW! OW! You're killing me!" They both turn to the voice in recognition. "That's Margie's voice!" "It's coming from down there!" Ben said as they both ran through a hall to a set of double doors. They quietly peek through them to see the champ getting a massage. "Jeez! Watch it! I'm trying to relax!" "Don't you worry, Margie!" Wink said as he walked through another door with a smirk.

"Once we're through with tonight's 'Battle of the Geniuses, we'll be living large and in charge!" "You said it, Winkie!" The kids turn to each other. "I can't believe that they think that they are going to win this whole thing..." Ben comments as Maddie comments. "I can't believe that she called him 'Winkie'." Ben then decides to count down. "Okay, on the count of 3, we tossed the smoke bombs to blind them and then finished them with the net grenade. 1… 2... AH!" They were suddenly caught and lifted by their shirts by the guards from before. "I'm guessing we should have counted to 2, huh?" Madison deadpans.

The kids were in a sound booth as the door was shut closed. "Welcome, Kids! To Wink and Margie's soundproof booth of doom!" The man spoke as he and the girl stood in front of the window while the 2 youths, glared with crossed arms and hands on hips as the boy stated. "We figured that you 2 are in cahoots!" "You got that right, pipsqueak!" "PIPSQUEAK!? Why I ought to…" Ben growls out

"You should respect your elders, young man. Especially with one with an IQ of 196 and growing!" "Growing? Okay, we know you're draining smart people's brains and putting them into her! But why that beehive for a head?" The purple-haired girl sassed out. "BEEHIVE!?" Wink calms the waitress down as he explains. "Well, intelligence isn't something you can buy at a store." "Except for the fact that all the victims are brainless! They can't remember anything and it's wrong! You're both stealing and cheating!" The tween girl states.

Margie adds in. "Well, yeah! It's wrong! But Winkie and I realized that you have to bend a few rules to be rich and famous!" "And powerful." Both children were confused by the statement as the green-eyed boy asked. "What do you mean, 'powerful?'" Maddie crossed her arms as she wondered as well. "After tonight's 'Battle of the Geniuses', Margie's brainpower will be that of a thousand supercomputers! We'll be unstoppable! First the rulers of television! Then the rulers of the world!" Ben rolls his eyes in annoyance. "Another 'take over the world' scheme. Can't these guys come up with something original?" "I know! Talk about a broken record." Maddie groans.

"Plus, we get 10 million dollars!" "That's right, sweet stuff." Wink and Margie lean and start kissing, grossing the kids out as they look away. "Okay! That I didn't need to see!" Madison groans out. "I don't know what's worst: Being locked in a booth with limited air! Or those 2 making out!" Ben exclaims in disgust as the 4 adults leave. "Well, it's show time! Unfortunately, there's not enough oxygen till the first commercial break!" They shut off the lights, making the kids look at each other.

The girls were speeding towards Hollywood as Clover was on the wheel. "Okay! So, Wink is up to something big! And it involves sucking out brains! Including mine!" Sam growls out in anger as Alex adds in. "So, we just need to sneak in on set and figure out why!" "But there's something I don't understand. Why hasn't Margie's brain been drained as well?" "I guess we'll find out soon, Clover..." Sam said as they kept driving.

As the kids wait around, the Omnitrix beeps green, making Ben smile as he exclaims. "All right! I'm in the green!" "Well, what are you waiting for? Dial up a good one!" Ben nods and pushes the button, scrolling to Rath's icon. "Let's see how Wink and Margie handle Rath!" FLASH

Ben holds his arm out as it becomes Slapback's arm. He then spins around as his jumpsuit forms around him with the mask forming on his head. His green eye shined as he posed.

"Aw, man! I wanted Rath! Now what?" Maddie got annoyed as she walked over and hit his back with both arms, splitting him into 2. "I don't know. Maybe a cloner that gets stronger, every time he splits?" "Oh…right." "Yeah! Uhh…. We knew that." The 2 aliens quickly save face as they charge and bash the door down. They split into 4 as Madison ran out. "Hey, Maddie! You still got your backpack?" "The goons never took it off!" She points at it with a smirk. "Then let's cancel that show!" Slapback #1 smirks as well and they all run off.

"Okay, players! The category is weird science! Chromosomes are pheromones! As Pizza is to—" "Sorry, Wink!" The man gasps to see the 4 Slapbacks as a smirking Maddie holding 2 smoke bombs "But this shoe is canceled! Now, Mads!" The girl tosses the bombs, releasing smoke that scares the crowd and camera crew, along with the professors, away. "WINKIE! DO SOMETHING!" Margie cries out as she tries to unbuckle herself. The man zaps them with a laser built into his microphone.

But Maddie takes cover while the laser reflects off a Slapback. 2 of them toss the others at the man, knocking him down and pinning him with his weight. Margie frees herself, only to run into the other 2 aliens. "Hi!" One grins out as the other punches his palm she groans. "Oh, no." She was grabbed and dragged to the ground, being tossed to Wink as the other 2 clones leaped out of the way. Maddy throws the net bomb, trapping the bad guys.

The clones merged into one as they both tower over them. "Sorry, Wink and Margie! But it looks like you are today's Grand Prize losers!" Madison smirks with crossed arms as Slapback adds in. "Yep! And by the way, cheaters never win!"

Sam was strapped into Margie's booth as the waitress was being put into the other by WOOHP agents. One gives a thumbs up to Jerry and the others. "Are you sure this is going to work, Jer?" "Oh, yes! With Sam and Marg switching capsules, Margie will be the brain-drained contestant this time." Jerry responds to Clover's question as Maddie comments. "I hope so! Because the longer Sam's smarts are in that girl's head, the more I feel like they're going to stay there." Jerry activates the transfer, sucking Sam's thoughts out and placing them at home. Sam shakes her head and blinks in surprise, making her best friends walk up in concern. "Sammy?" "Are you there?" The redhead stared as she spoke. "Clover? Alex? What's going on?" They both hugged as they laughed, glad to have their friend back.

"Oh… my head. I need to lie down." The waitress groans as agents hold her. "You'll have plenty of time to rest in prison! But first, there are some ex-contestants we need to visit first." The men start to escort her out as Maddie comments. "Just goes to show ye: Cheating never works out." Ben nods as well. A businessman walks up to him. "Excuse me! Kid! I'm a representative of the studio."

He hands the boy a business card as he scratches his head in confusion. "I want you to be a contestant in a new game show! It's about kids! Who—" "No deal!" He tosses the card away and walks up to the others. "Wha-? Kid! You don't want to be rich and famous?" "What? Like that freak?" He points at Margie as she groans. "My head feels like a drum…" "Yeah! I'm passing!" The man slumps and walks away as the others smile. "Nice job, little brother!" "No big deal! Game shows are so overrated." "Tell me about it..." Sam mentions as they all chuckle.