The next update most likely won't be next week since I want to finish up "A" before I do so and A8 has been a complete pain to write. I thought A7 was painful, but A8 seems to want to overthrow that. I feel like A9 will be more of the same, but enough complaining from me.

EightEight pushed her concerns down, putting a hand on her mask which resembled an African Wild Dog. She knew very well the mask allowed her to live among humans, but couldn't help those feelings of concern that came up from protecting her siblings when she saw the now titled Wyrmlings.

Children. Literal children who didn't seem to have parental guidance. The only female of the three, Cobra, looked the most unsettled about joining, but that just left EightEight to wonder why Cobra joined the two males. To be fair, she caught glimpses of Crow when she explored the city, but she never interacted with him.

But Cobra and Rat. Her focus returned to those two. Even after the two put on the masks, she noticed a watch on each of their left wrist. The male's was black and a reddish metal with a symbol that looked like teeth biting on meat. The female's watch was bulky, gray, and its faceplate had the symbol of a green hourglass.

"Hey, Afri. Hey, snap out of it."

EightEight blinked before looking at the person next to her. They wore a vulture mask, a large feathery cloak draped around them.

"What is it, Vulture?" EightEight asked in her native tongue, tilting her head slightly.

"One: I don't understand whatever you're saying. You learned American Sign Language for a reason. Two: You have a reason you had this weird vibe while staring at the Wyrmlings?" Vulture replied.

EightEight sighed before taking her ID mask made hands and signing to Vulture. 'Sorry, V. They just reminded me of my younger siblings.'

"Didn't pin you for the sisterly type, Afri. Guess you learn something new every day, huh?" Vulture stated.

'That notion is wildly-'

"Siblings, eh?"

The two looked at the voice, seeing Cat.

"You always seemed interested in helping out with hits that involve children. You're really good with 'em, you know," Cat commented, holding his tail-like scarf. "Maybe Dragua will put you in charge of the Wyrmlings's training or something."

"I hope not," EightEight gurgled.

…

Why did she say ANYTHING? EightEight looked at the three children, then back at Dragua. She signed, 'May I ask why you want me to watch over them, dragon-mask?'

Dragua smiled- his unnatural, toothy smile that reminded her of a Piscciss Volann- and said, "Well, I don't see anyone better than you to make sure of that."

"So, like, older sibling things, right? Not babysitters?" Crow asked, looking at EightEight. She nodded and Crow added, "Good. We're aren't babies anymore."

EightEight laughed. Celestialsapiens, Crow reminded her of one of her siblings. The Wyrmlings gave her an odd look and a laugh came out of Dragua.

"So… what do we call you?" Rat asked before jokingly suggesting, "Sister?"

She signed four letters. 'A-F-R-I.'

A few seconds later, Cobra repeated, "A…free? Afri?" EightEight nodded.

"Sister Afri!" Rat smiled. She fully looked at Rat and she could tell he had an evil smile under that ID mask.

"It is ok if we call you that, right?" Cobra asked. EightEight nodded, which caused Cobra to relax. She hadn't realized Cobra had tensed. "If you say so, Sister Afri."

Dragua's smile seemed to get wider. "Good, good. Start training them, would you? Even some battle knowledge is valuable, as you know."

She knew very well. She forced herself to push down a memory. She nodded. Dragua kept up his smile as he walked out of the room, silence reigning until the door closed behind him.

Crow watched the door for a moment before looking at EightEight and saying, "You want our actual names or what?"

"Hey, aren't these supposed to be alter egos for a reason?" Cobra said.

"But we aren't on the streets on our own. It's just us and Sister Afri," Rat responded.

EightEight forced herself to ignore the memories wanting to surface.

"Um, Sister Afri? Is it ok if we tell you our names?" Cobra asked.

She signed, 'I do not mind if you do so.'

Crow and Rat stared at her blankly while Cobra nodded. Cobra looked at the two males and said, "She basically said if we want to, we can."

"Cool," Crow chirped. "Name's Kevin."

Rat and Cobra looked at each other before Cobra shrugged. Rat said, "I'm Ben, and that's my cousin Gwen."

Ah. That explained why the girl was there.

She signed, 'You may call me EightEight.'

"EightEight?" Cobra- Gwen repeated.

"Why are you named after a number?" Rat- Ben asked.

Dear Celestialsapiens, now she wished that they hadn't made her species only able to speak their native tongue. The children were humans, but at the same time, two of them wielded a device which could be considered the strongest weapons in the universe. She wondered if they knew about aliens.

Eventually, she signed, 'It is the best translation of my name from my native language.'

"Then why aren't you speaking our language, then?" Gwen questioned. Crow- Kevin just looked at them in confusion.

'I do know your language, I am just unable to speak. I can only speak my native language for some god forsaken reason,' EightEight signed. Somewhat inaccurate, she doubted they knew of Celestialsapiens, so 'god' would have to do.

"That's… kinda sad," Gwen said.

"You know, it would be nice if we knew what you were talking about," Ben deadpanned.

"Sister EightEight is only able to speak her native language," Gwen explained.

"Oh," Ben muttered. "I wonder why that's the case."

"Or it could be a coverup for damaged vocal cords," Kevin shrugged.

"Kevin, don't be mean to her!" Gwen hissed.

Wait, wha-

EightEight sputtered slightly at their words. "Child, you don't have to be so kind," she gurgled.

Suddenly, upon hearing her voice, Ben's watch beeped purple and a mechanical voice said, "Sotoraggian language detected. Activating Sotoraggian translator."

Well, screw her, the Celestialsapiens decided.

"… does it always do that?" Kevin asked as the purple changed back to red.

"No, this is the first time it's happened," Ben replied, staring at his watch.

EightEight stared at the device, silent. After a few moments, she said, "A… Sotoraggian translator?"

"… what's a Sot…Sotoraggian?" Ben asked, slipping up slightly at pronouncing the species.

Yup, they hated her at that moment. However, she couldn't help but feel curious. "A translator that works…" EightEight muttered.

"It would be nice if that also affected us," Kevin hummed, crossing his arms. Something clicked and he chirped, "Why am I the only one who can't understand Sister Afri?!" Ben shrugged and Gwen smiled a bit.

EightEight returned her attention to Ben and gurgled, "You are aware of what the device on your wrist is, correct?"

Ben seemed to process what she said for a moment before asking, "The watch has a name?"

EightEight signed, 'I can tell you more after we train a bit.'

"If you say so," Gwen replied. "What do you want us to start with?"

She signed, 'Is there anything any of you used to do for training before coming to the dragon gang?'

"Dragon gang? Oh, there's no sign for Dragoon is that's what you sign them as," Gwen realized. EightEight nodded. The child continued, "Ben and I been trying to get my Styx form to not get terrified when Ben's Belltail form rings the bell at the end of its tail."

"Literal names, huh?" EightEight gurgled, looking towards Ben.

"If it fits, it fits," Ben shrugged.

"What about you, Crow?" EightEight continued, her attention moving to the taller boy.

"It would be nice if I knew what you said," Kevin deadpanned.

"What do you do for training?" Gwen repeated.

Kevin answered with a scoff and nothing else.

"Very well then," EightEight stated. "Rat, Cobra, can you please change to those two forms?"

Ben activated his wat- the Predatrix and the red hologram appeared. The hologram was of a stingray with a curved stinger at the end of its tail. He turned the dial clockwise once, the hologram changing to an odd dragon-ish wisp. The child pressed down.

In a red light, he felt his fingers fuse into three claws on each hand and legs fuse into a wispy tail. A reddish metal bell formed on his tail and his head changed to that of a wyvern.

"Belltail!" he hissed in a harsh, wispy voice. Gwen followed, activating her wa- the Omnitrix. She turned the dial counterclockwise three times before pressing down on the faceplate.

In a green light, skin-like cloth began to surround her, molding her body to a more ghost-like appearance. A golden bronze bar formed around her neck, connected to a diamond-shaped amulet with a small blue, square gem in the middle of it.

"Styx!" she announced when the light disappeared.

EightEight observed the Anurian Shadow and Ectonurite in front of her. Kevin was staring at Styx, but didn't say anything. She then signed, 'What do you wish to achieve by listening to his bell over and over?'

"When we first transformed into these two and Belltail rang his bell, all I could feel was fear," Styx started, looking at Belltail.

The dragon wisp added, "You did not like it at first… what's the term? Blind fear?"

"She was blinded by an Ectonurite's natural fear of an Anurian Shadow's bell ring," EightEight hummed.

"The heck is an Ectonurite and Anurian Shadow?" Belltail bluntly asked.

"I'll explain later," EightEight replied. She then signed, 'So instead of feeling fearful, you want to gain confidence when you hear the ring from him?'

"Yea," Styx nodded.

Kevin suddenly put his hand on Styx's shoulder and began to spark electricity. The Omnitrix symbol on Styx's chest began to spark as well, causing Styx to screech and go intangible, floating away. However, two of the sparks met each other and Crow cawed in pain.

His body mutated, dark feathery cloak becoming more of a ghostly grey and hands changing to sharp talons. His legs seemed to fuse to be one thing, the underclothes also becoming a ghostly grey.

Kevin fell to the ground before looking at himself. "What was that for?!" EightEight asked, voice cracking slightly. "Did you want to risk the Omnitrix hurting you?!"

"Do I want to know what an Omnitrix is?" Belltail suddenly asked.

EightEight glared at Belltail before turning to Styx and signing, 'Child, are you alright?'

"Just startled," Styx answered, but her voice shook slightly.

Kevin stood, well, floated up, looking at the changes to his body. A grin came across his face and he chirped, "Hey, that symbol has energy I can borrow!"

EightEight became still. So many questions, yet so little answers.

"You became a ghost! Like me and Styx!" Belltail happily- it was hard to hear, but it was definitely a happy tone- chirped. "I wonder if you could do the same with my watch."

"No!" EightEight suddenly gurgled, causing the three to look at her. "… I will explain, but let's not risk it at the current moment."

"Wait, if Kevin absorbs energy from both watches, it could hurt him?" Belltail asked. EightEight nodded.

"That sucks," Kevin said.

EightEight signed, 'Let us refocus. Cobra, let us know if you can't resist that form's instincts.' Styx nodded. She then gurgled, "Rat, just ring your bell and don't fall into any predatory instincts."

"I don't know if I should be scared based on what you just said," Belltail commented.

Another question, no answer.

"You may begin," she simply stated.

At her words, Belltail's tail flicked and a ring came from the bell. Styx clearly tensed, but stared directly at Belltail and didn't move. Kevin seemed to be uneasy, but EightEight guessed the male was new to everything Ectonurite related. The bell continued to ring, like a bell on a bell tower announcing an event.

Roughly twenty more rings passed before Kevin whispered, "The hell…?" EightEight looked at the mutated child and tilted her head.

Another question, but it came with a somewhat unsure answer.

Another roughly thirty rings passed before Styx bolted towards EightEight and gripped onto her arm. Belltail's tail went stiff and he asked, "Are… Are you ok, cous'?"

Styx had her face pressed against the Sotoraggian for a few seconds before whispering, "I'll be fine… I'll be fine…"

EightEight tried to nudge Styx off of her, but the Ectonurite's grip tightened. Kevin came over and asked, "What the hell was that?"

"An Ectonurite's natural fear of an Anurian Shadow's bell ring," EightEight gurgled.

"Can you answer what an Ectonurite and an Anurian Shadow are now?" Belltail asked.

EightEight was silent for a few seconds before gurgling, "I will tell you once both of you time out."

"No secrets?" Belltail asked.

"Only if I truly don't know," EightEight answered. Belltail nodded at the answer.

…

The symbol on Styx finally began to flash and a few flashes later, she was back to normal. The fearful feeling around her body faded when she went back to normal and a few seconds later, green electricity jumped away from Kevin and forced him to normal as well.

"So you'll explain now, right?" Ben asked, rubbing a hand on the rat tail colored scarf.

EightEight nodded. "Who wants answers first?" she gurgled before repeating what she said in sign language.

The cousins looked at each other as Kevin sat off to the side. Kevin then asked, "Is there anything I can do?"

"Are you at least curious?" Ben asked, looking at Kevin. The feathery cloaked ruffled. Ben then looked at Gwen and said, "You can go first, Gwen."

Gwen looked at her cousin and said, "Thanks… doofus." The last word was said with a teasing grin.

"Dweeb," Ben teased back.

Gwen refocused on EightEight. The Sotoraggian looked at Ben and gurgled, "There are no sign names for some of the species, so you'll have to repeat what the species is."

"Uh… ok?" Ben answered, his voice unsure.

She turned back to Gwen as Ben came over to them. EightEight signed, 'Can you activate your' she stalled for a moment 'watch, please?' Gwen did as EightEight requested. The Sotoraggian continued, 'I will say the name of the species and your cousin will repeat the species in your language. Ok?'

"Ok," Gwen nodded.

EightEight looked at the silhouette the watch showed. It was of a flaming being. "Pyronite," she gurgled.

"Pyronite?" Ben repeated. EightEight nodded. Gwen took that as a sign to turn the dial and did so clockwise.

Next was a dog-like creature. "Vulpimancer."

"Vulpimancer."

Bulky humanoid with spikes. Petrosapien.

Reptile-like on orbs. Kineceleran.

Small, frog-like humanoid. Galvan.

Four armed humanoid. Tetramand.

Bug with four eye stocks. Lepidopterran.

Humanoid fish. Piscciss Volann.

Ghostly being. Ectonurite.

Living techno blob. Galvanic Mechamorph.

The dial went back to the silhouette of Pele. EightEight signed, 'All of the creatures in your watch are sapient. Your watch is known as the' she had to say this part "Omnitrix."

"What's an Omnitrix?" Ben asked.

"According to Sister EightEight, it's my watch," Gwen answered.

"That's a cool name," Kevin commented.

"Rat, show me your transformations," EightEight said. Ben moved closer to her and activated his watch.

A red hologram appeared, showing a rhino-like creature with six legs. "Crabdozer."

"How is this a crab?" Ben asked. EightEight shrugged. She wasn't too sure what humans called crabs.

She touched the dial and turned it clockwise, changing the hologram to that of a feathery wyvern that looked more like a tiger fused with a vulture. "Radioscaviger."

Ben turned the dial this time. A bat with buff legs and somewhat shorter wingspan. "Stonebreak Batcracker."

An eagle that looked gooey. Slimestorm.

Thin, vulture-like bird with a sharp beak and three tail feathers. Omnivoracious.

A giant spider-like with six legs and two heads. Spideros.

A lizard with back spikes. Buglizard.

A stingray with a curved stinger. Piscciss Nebula.

Belltail. It was an Anurian Shadow.

She paused when she saw the humanoid figure with wing flaps and wearing what seemed like a mask. "I'm… not entirely sure what this one is," EightEight stated.

"Huh," Ben replied before turning the dial again. The hologram was of a wolf with two larger bolt shaped extensions coming from roughly its shoulders. "Woah, a new guy!"

EightEight froze. She knew what this was and hated the thoughts that followed it. "Sotoricity," she muttered, looking at it. Why was its face so friendly looking? All of the ones she knew of weren't friendly in the slightest.

"Soto…ri…city?" Ben repeated, tilting his head slightly.

"That is correct, child. The device you wield is known as the Predatrix," EightEight answered.

"Predatrix…" Ben repeated before commenting, "Why does Sotoricity sound a lot like that Sotoraggian thing you said earlier?"

EightEight hesitated a bit before answering, "Sotoraggians, my species, and Sotoricities come from the same planet: Sotoragg."

"Wait, you're an alien?!" Ben suddenly chirped.

"She's a what?!" Gwen and Kevin added at the same time, though Kevin was louder.

Oh Celestialsapiens help her.

Ushindi: The Dragoon will be like the Plumbers in UAF, there but not always present. As for my favorite Vilgax design, OS/Reboot hands down.