A Hero's Life reboot EP 8: Zooney World

I don't own anything except my OCs.

Another average day in Beverly Hills! Well… As average as it can get for an 11-year-old kid with a whole army of alien DNA on his arm and 3 teen spies. Speaking of Ben, He and Madison were at Clover's Mansion, hanging out in the bushes outside while doing some work on the Omni-Buggy. "So… Remind me again, Maddie: Why do we need to check the buggy out? Works fine for me!" The boy asks as he looks at the engine as the purple-haired-tween type on her laptop on the shotgun seat. "Well, you know my dad always says to be safe first. I just want to make sure nothing can go wrong with this drive, okay?"

Ben glances from the side of the hood with a smirk. "Don't worry! The buggy runs as smooth as glass." "If you say so. By the way, where's Alex? I heard she would love to get into extreme sports. So, I thought she would love to go for a ride?" Maddie glances around as Ben responds. "Oh, she, Sam, and Clover are inside, watching some lame-o soap that makes me want to hurl." "Ugh! Tell me about it! I would rather pick Zooney World, any day of the week!"

Ben closes the hood with a confused look. "What's a 'Zooney World'?" Maddie looked at the boy as if he had gained 2 extra heads and spoke in Japanese. "You're joking, right?" Ben shrugs in response as Maddie types something on the computer. "Zooney World! Is this awesome, cool new TV show that's sweeping the world with us, kids!"

Ben hops in and looks at the screen, showing a bunch of kids celebrating and wearing some sort of helmet/headband item. "ZOONEY! ZOONEY! ZOONEY! ZOONEY! ZOONEY! ZOONEY! ZOONEY!" Ben was confused as Maddie took out the same item from the video. "And this is the official 'Zooney Helmet'! The hottest thing out there! Being the president's kid has its perks." "I still don't understand this show..." Ben mumbles with a raised brow.

Maddie sighed and asked while strapping her racing helmet on. "Look, there's a showing going on at 8, tonight! Just watch one episode. It wouldn't hurt to try." Ben looks down in thought, then back at the smiling girl and breathes out. "Okay…. But just 1 episode, okay!?" "COOL! And make sure you get a Zooney Helmet, too! It wouldn't be a real experience without it." Maddie tosses her Zooney helmet in the back seat as Ben starts the engine, putting the Buggy in drive as they both drive out for a while. But neither of the kids was aware that the antennae on the helmet were blinking small lights.

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.

Meanwhile, the teen spies WOOHPED to Jerry's office. "Glad to see you here, girls." The man smiles. "Well, actually, Jer. I'm supposed to be—" Jerry interrupts Clover as he displays a bunch of kid photos. "There has been a rash of child disappearances all over the city, lately. We need help figuring out how it is happening and why."

The teens approached the desk in response. "The only clue we have is that during each kidnapping, a broadcast pirated signal was detected using the frequency from the Family Fun Network, which is run by media executive, Lewis Hightower." The screen shows the man and his info.

Sam told her friends about the man. "I've heard about him. He's one to not turn down a cover interview. I think some undercover work is in order." A table with gadgets is displayed as the chief explains. "I'm sure you are familiar with your UPWATIs and Ice Queen Perfume Spray." Alex noticed a new ring and slipped it on her finger, making the teen gaze in awe. "Oh! Is this a new mood ring?"

"Not actually. Point the ring away and push the button." The teen did that, making the ring display a hologram of herself. "Hey! That's me!" "Or more accurately, a hologram of you or anything that is recorded."

Jerry then spoke as the girls got their bags. "And one more thing: You must make sure Benjamin doesn't have whatever is affecting the kids. We need to keep the Omnitrix out of the hands of whoever is behind this." The girls start to shudder at the thoughts. "Don't worry, Jerry! We'll figure this out before the baddie catches a whiff of Ben and the watch!" "Which might be hard, considering his somewhat poor grasp on hygiene," Clover mumbles. "Nonetheless, let's go, girls!" The girls were WOOHPED out in response as they went off on their latest mission.

Later at 7:59 PM, Ben was on his living room couch, getting ready for the show. "Okay… Hope this show is as 'cool' as Maddie says." He takes off his beanie cap and slips on the helmet, clicking on the TV to Zooney World. "GET READY KIDS! BECAUSE IT'S TIME TO GET ZOONEY!" "Hmm… Pretty okay intro and announcer. But I'm still not understanding what's the big deal about this show. I mean why do other kids want to watch this—" Just then, Ben stops as he froze up, seemingly not moving as his eyes shrunk.

He then stood up and walked to the outside balcony as he dialed his Omnitrix to Big Chill, slapping down and morphing into the flyer as he still had the helmet. He unfolds his wings and takes off into the night sky, heading who knows where.

Back with the girls, they drove a speedboat out into the Atlantic Ocean. "According to these documents, the Family Fun Network's satellite dish is on this island." "Maybe we can find out something about the pirated broadcast transmissions, Jerry mentioned?" Alex asks Sam as they slow to a stop at a rock island. They climbed to the top, although Clover was more winded from the effort. "Next time, let's just take the escalator." They all then walk towards the dish. Only to get zapped and knocked down as a whitish force field is shown around it.

OWWW! I think I broke a nail!" Clover whines as Sam stands and touches the air in front, making energy waves appear from the force field. "There's some sort of hi-tech inviso-shield surrounding the device. Someone doesn't want us here." "So, what do we do?" As if it answers Alex's question, the shield shuts down as the dish starts moving, making the girls duck as it fires a stream of light blue rings at a satellite in space. "What is it?" Alex as Sam ponders out and deduces. "This must be the pirate transmission. I'll try and track the origin of the signal with my compowder." The redhead teen got out her mini-computer and started tracking the signal, getting the data.

But just then, the satellite fires a blue beam that makes the dish glow, much to the girls' surprise. As they stared at it, also noticing the shield was gone as well and wondering what happened to it, a muscular figure leaped out from below it and crashed in front of them. The girls braced themselves, only to calm down to see it was Rath with the helmet. "Oh… Ben! It's just you. You startled us for a second, little brother." Alex breathes out as they all stand.

"And good choice picking Rath to climb up here. I guess you want in on the action, uh?" Clover points out as Sam realizes something. "Wait a sec…. How did you know we would be here?" "And what's with the tacky headwear?" Alex points out the Zooney Helmet.

Rath merely glares in silence, not even yelling or going into his 'Let me tell you something' rants, really confusing the teens. "Uhh… Ben? Are you okay?" Sam's question was answered as he unsheathed his claws and roared, smashing the ground between them as the teens leaped to the sides at the last second. "WHOA! BEN!? WHAT'S WITH YOU?!" Alex cries in shock, only to dodge more attacks from the tiger alien.

"Hello!? It's us! Your team! AAHH!" Clover screeched as she ducked and quickly slid under Rath, barely avoiding a double hammer blow. "It's like he can't remember us!" Sam exclaims as she quickly leaps back from a claw swipe, only grimacing in pain as she glances down to see a small cut on her arm with bits of blood leaking as she exclaims. "And he's playing for keeps!"

All 3 girls slowly back away as Rath stomps towards them, holding out a claw as it shines. "Come on, Ben! It's me! Your big sister! Don't you remember? We're your friends!" Alex pleas, hoping to reach the boy. Only it didn't work as Rath roared at them, sending them tumbling down into the ocean, screaming.

SPLASH Lucky, the girls were okay as they climbed up to their boat. "What was that?! It's like he was hypnotized or something!" Alex spoke out as Sam did something with her Com-powder. "I don't know. But I did capture a sample of the pirate signal. I'll send it to Jerry at WHOOP for analysis. Maybe he can figure out what's with Ben?" "Ugg… I rather go 3 rounds with Rath than face my mother." Clover groans out.

The next day, Clover is at home, still grounded as she is reading a Manga to pass the time. After her mother checks up on her, Sam and Alex show up as the blonde sighs out. "I think you 2 are going to have to solve this case without me. Can't believe I'm stuck here." "I'm more worried about Ben. Mom told me that he wasn't home yesterday. And then he attacked us for no reason on that Island!" Alex exclaims as she gets a worried look as Sam comforts her. "It's okay, Alex. We'll find out what's wrong with him, I promise."

Just then, Sam's Com-powder rang as she answered. "Yeah, Jerry?" "Hello, spies. We've traced the frequency sample you gave us. Oddly, it's coming from the same island the satellite dish is on." "There must be some sort of underground broadcasting station on the island." Sam ponders as Clover comes out onto the balcony. "We're also detecting a pirate transmission taking place right now. I think you girls have some more investigating to do on that island."

But just as Jerry shuts off, Clover spots her little cousin, running past them with his new Zooney helmet. "Is that Normie? Normie! Come back!" But Clover's pleas were ignored as the 11-year-old leaps into the bushes and takes off as the teen ponders. "Okay! As nice as it is to see him with his mouth shut, something is wrong... I'm coming with!" "How are you going to do that?" Clover answers Alex's question by using her hologram-projecting ring to create a double of herself in front of the computer, looking like she is working on it.

Sam, Clover, and Alex were flying above the skies in the Omni-copter, using binoculars to look at the ground. "Do you see anything?" "Negative, Sammy! I wish I tagged Normie's ear with a tracking device when I had the chance!" Clover spoke as they kept looking, only for the blonde to spot something. "Got him! Normie's down there with a group of kids. And they are all wearing those Zooney helmets." "That's Zoon-creeper!" Alex comments as she realizes something. "Wait a sec, Rath was wearing one of those helmets when he attacked us, right?!"

Sam checks her Com-powder as she sees blinking lights on where the kids are. "You're right Alex! I think those helmets are the problem! Their helmets are receiving a signal that matches the pirate transmission." "They're heading towards the pier!" Clover exclaims as they fly down, stealthy, and exit the parked copter.

As they peeked out from some bushes, they noticed the group of 5 were standing in a boat as they hid in some bushes. "Okay! This is too freaky. It's like Normie and other kids are hypnotized or something." Clover comments. "We got to stop them!" "Wait! If we stop them now, we could lose our only chance to find out who's behind this." Sam states to Alex as the boat leaves. "We'll be noticed if we use the copter. Time to break out the UPWATIs." "RIGHT!"

Later, the boat was heading back to the same island as before, only for a large hatch to open as the vehicle moved in, unaware of the girls following underwater, wearing scuba suits and helmets, quickly making it inside as the doors closed behind them.

The 3 teens then went into a hiding space as they ditched the devices and peeked out, only to be surprised by a hidden base. Kids with helmets marched everywhere like obedient soldiers. "Okay! This is unexpected." Clover comments as Alex looks at the groups. "Hey! It's some of those missing kids Jerry showed us."

"Welcome to Zooney World!" The team looks up to see a bunch of monitors lit up with a masked boy with orange hair. "A place where kids rule, and always will! Zooney World is a brave new world. And I am your brave new leader! Remember: Anyone over 12 is your enemy! Train hard! And prepare for the coming war against the adults!"

"Zooney rules! Zooney Rules! Zooney Rules! Zooney Rules!" The kids chant in complete obedience. "'War against the Adults?' That's Zoon-terrifying!" Alex gaps out as Clover points out. "We got to get the satellite and stop the broadcast!" The trio then makes their way closer to the large building, ducking behind a corner as a group of kids marches past them. Sam and Clover were surprised by 3 familiar faces in them. "Hey! That's Normie!" "And Ben! No wonder he attacked us last night! They got to him!" "And Madison! I guess she got hypnotized as well." Sam states as they quickly grab them and try to shake them awake.

"Normie! Come on! Snap out of it!" "Come on, Ben! Remember!" "You too, Maddie! Try and remember who we are." Sam pleas, only instead…. "Adults! Zooney!" An alarm rang out as the leader ordered the kids to attack, making the girls cover the 3 youths' mouths. "Let's see: 3 of us. A thousand of them!" Sam points out. Just then, Ben stomps on Alex's foot, making the teen cry out as she holds it and hops as Ben leaps away, slamming on the Omnitrix as he turns into Humungousaur.

The dinosaur glares down as he punches his hand, making the girls look scared. "Of all the times he had to get Humungousaur..." Alex groans out in dread, quickly making a break for it, only for the alien to blast a sonic attack at them, knocking them into a wall and slumped down in a weakened state. They all managed to glance up to see the alien towering over them and reach out to them.

Alex groans as she starts to come around, waking up, only to gasp at being tied to a pole. She notices her best friends are waking up as well and see Humungousaur, watching with crossed arms, and a group of kids, holding 2 water hoses. "You adults are about to learn how strong we kids are!" "ADULTS!? Hello! We're teenagers!" Clover huffs out in annoyance. Alex quickly comments. "It's okay! Common mistake. If you can just untie us…"

"Not a chance. The first team to get one of the girls to explode gets all the candy they can eat!" "ZOONNEEEYYY!" The girls gasped in shock. "Explode!?" "I don't like the sound of that." Sam dreads as the alien gives a signal, making them blast streams of water at the spies. "We're going to drown!" Clover exclaims, trying to spit out water as more is forced upon her. Thinking quickly, Alex gets out her Ice Queen Perfume Spray and freezes her bounds, breaking free, much to the kids' surprise. "Nice work, Alex!" "Thanks, Clover!" They set themselves free as Humungousaur roars out, smashing a fist that separates the 3 of them.

Alex backs away as the dinosaur stomps toward her with a glare. "Come on, Ben! Break free! You need to remember who you are." Alex tries to plead, only for the alien to try to crush her with his fist. As Alex dodges, the mind-controlled hero uses his tail to try and hit her. "Wow! For being brainwashed, you got some cool moves." Alex comments as Ben luckily timed out. The boy then roundhouse kicked the perfume out of Alex's hands, sending it flying and spraying the helmet, freezing and breaking it to pieces.

Ben immediately stopped, blinking in surprise before shaking his head. "Ugg… My head… What happened?" He glances around and asks his sister. "Alex? Where are we and why are we here?" The girl merely smirks as the other 2 teens get the idea. "Use the Ice Queen Sprays on the helmets!" They got to work spraying and freeing crying kids, except for Maddie, who merely shakes and rubs her head.

Normie tries to tackle Clover, but the teen merely dodges and yanks off the helmet and smashes it to bits. "Normie?! Come on! Say something!" Clover pleads as she shakes the kid, making the boy regain his senses as he looks around in a frantic tone. "Clover?! What happened!? Where the heck are we!? And why are you out of the house when you're supposed to be grounded?! I'm telling your mom!" Clover merely hugs the kid in relief.

After the teens briefed Ben and Maddie on what happened and kept the other kids safe and secure, the 3 teens moved out of the large building. "We still need to stop that satellite broadcast," Sam spoke as a voice got their attention. "You do that. While I'll handle the Loony Zooney!" They glance to see Shock Rock exiting with his hands on his hips. "I want some payback for brainwashing me into a puppet!" "Okay! We'll handle the dish! You get the masked pint-size!" Sam spoke out. "Good luck and be careful, Ben!" Alex adds.

The teens ran off as Maddie and Normie walked out from behind Shock Rock. "While we give him a piece of our minds!" "You'll show him! Right, Ben?" Normie points out, making Maddie and the alien concerned. "Uhhh... What are you talking about? He's just one of those friendly aliens that are here to help." "Please! That Ben kid disappears and one of those aliens shows up, out of nowhere!? How dumb do you think I am? So, how do you do it?" Normie asks. "I'll explain later. Right now, we got a caped weirdo to stop!" Shock Rock spoke as he ran down a hall with the kids following.

They stopped as they heard laughter from around. But just then, a trap door opened, sending the trio sliding down with screams. They eventually landed in a control room. "You think you can all stop me, but you can't." The screens flashed on. "You and the others will be destroyed! HAHAHAH!" "Oh yeah, caped dork!? Come out and say that to our faces!" Shock Rock exclaims as they all look around for something to use. Madison then notices a mirror she taps it a few times.

"Ben! Over here!" She cries out, making the alien approach and narrows his eyes. He made a sword and sliced through, breaking it to reveal a hidden room with the masked boy himself. "Ha! Hiding like a rat, are you?!" The alien smirks as Shock Rock leaps up and throws a punch, missing the boy as the fist smashes the panels. The masked boy tried to run, only for Normie and Maddie to trip him up. "Wow! Nice trip!" "Thanks! I saw it in a movie once." Normie grins out before the trio approaches the kid.

"Okay, buddy! Show your face!" Shock Rock spoke as he took off the helmet, showing a boy with red hair. "So, who are you?" "Beats me. I never met him." Normie spoke as Maddie looked in thought. "He looks familiar… Wait a sec!" She took some magazines out of her backpack and scrolled to see the kid and a man on the front of a TV magazine. "You're Jason Hightower! Lewis Hightower's son! He's the man who runs the network Zooney World airs on!"

"Why should you care?!" Jason snaps back as Shock Rock questions out loud. "So… Is this all some sort of plan to get more kids to watch Zooney World by your pop?" The boy frowns as he turns away with crossed arms. "HA! Do you think my dad is responsible? He can't even keep his promises! He always said he would spend time with me! But he's always too busy to even remember his son!" Madison can't help but feel sorry for the boy. After all, she had some father issues before she met Ben. "Look, Jason. I understand what you're going through, and I know you have every right to be mad at your father. But taking your anger out on every adult isn't going to help! You're going to hurt lots of innocent people!"

"I don't care! Soon, Satellites all over the globe will beam my hypnotic signal everywhere! My father will be so shocked when he sees my ratings when Zooney World is a real place! And not some TV show!" He exclaims his plan, but the others are not excited about it. Maddie crosses her arms with a frown and raises her brow as Normie just stares and turns to Shock Rock, who twirls his finger around his head. "Jeez… Is it me, or do all these plans make people sound nutty?"

Jason didn't take to the alien's remark and pulled out a blaster. "I'll show you who's nutty!" But Shock Rock blasts a small beam, knocking the weapon away, and uses an energy lasso to tie up Jason. "Let me go or I'll… I'll…." "What? You tell your daddy on us?" Maddie slyly mocks as Normie goes to an undamaged control panel, seeing a button with a dome on it. "This looks like an important button." He points out as he pushes it.

Sam, Clover, and Alex climbed up to the top to see the dish's shield disabled. "Finally! I was getting sick of that thing!" Clover complains. The teens then unscrew all the bolts, working as one to tip the dish over and sending it tumbling into the sea, destroyed upon the impact.

Later, WOOHP agents were rounding up the kids to escort them back as Jerry phrases Sam. "Excellent job, once again to you and the others, Sam." "Thanks, Jerry." The redhead teen smiles out as Ben crosses his arms at Lewis Hightower. "Don't you think you need to talk to your kid? As in now?" Ben frowns as Lewis glances at his upset son, making him kneel to him. "Son. I'm sorry for being a jerk to you! How about I take you to the amusement park? To make it up?" Jason turns around with a smile. "I'll check my schedule and have my assistant call you." Both father and Son hug it out.

Ben smiles. "Well, glad they got things worked out." "Yep! Now we just need to get the rest of the kids home." Sam spoke to the Omnitrix welder. "Don't worry, Children! We'll all have you back home, safe and sound." Jerry announces as the kids cheer in response.

"Take me home, Clover! It's Lunchtime! And I need to tell my aunt about what you did!" Normie frowns as Clover gets annoyed by the kid. "Hang on! I might have a way to settle this." Maddie points out as she smirks with crossed arms. "What if I told you about something cool and fun to do, in exchange for keeping quiet about Clover's absence?" Normie ponders as the teens glance at each other. "I'm listening…."

Normie was whooping with joy as he, Maddie, and Ben drove the Omni-buggy around a big space in the park, as the 3 teens watched from a distance. "THIS IS SO COOL! WAY BETTER THAN ZOONEY WORLD!" The blonde kids cry out in excitement. "You know, Clover. I'm surprised you didn't use the mind helmet to make your cousin a servant or something." "I could. But he's having way more fun this way. Besides, he didn't tell Mom and Ben could use a male friend his age. After what happened with Kevin." The blonde responds to Alex.

"Besides, I'm more concerned about keeping the Omnitrix safe. It would be a disaster if a single baddie ever gets it, as evidenced by Ben's brainwashing." "Don't worry, Sammy! We always figure a way out, with or without aliens!" Alex smiles. "Hey… do you think Ben could get a 4-armed alien to do foot massages? My bunions are killing me from the spy work." Clover asks as the girls then giggle as the youths are having a great time, enjoying their latest victory.