A Sentient Watch's Adventures
Disclaimer: I do not in anyway shape or form own Ben 10 nor am I associated with those that do, because if I was I would be a millionaire. This is a non-profit fanwork written solely for the purpose of entertainment. This is in no way canon in any shape or form.
Response to questions or statements:
-NewGuest123: I still work in retail, it's the reason why I'm so depressed, tired, and irrationally angry. Having to deal with retarded and mean people and with my tyrant of a boss, who always finds a reason to lay into people and gives everyone a hard time just because he can. Seriously, the guy gets angry if we drink too much on the job. Not to mention that Mariah Carey plays in my nightmares now. I hate my life.
-Glad you like the chapter and inclusion of law enforcement. Hope this update was too your liking.
-TK0421: Essentially, trying to lead him onto the path of becoming who he was in canon. Trying to make him see that while it's ok to get something in return, he shouldn't expect it.
-Glad you enjoyed the fight and the change I made. Always found it weird in episodes where the fuzz was nowhere to be found, or when they did show up it was unnecessary. Like that episode Kevin 11 where an entire ESU team deployed with a dozen choppers to catch Ben and Kevin for stealing video games. In NEW YORK CITY. A theft like that would be lucky to have a single beat cop responding to it, let alone an ESU squad with chopper support. If it was in response to Ben's alien transformation, than I could understand it, but it was before that happened. Plus, this took place not too long after 9-11. So there would be a heighted sense of paranoia and security and an alien incursion would not exactly help with that.
-ArashiNokitsune: Yup.
-SO-LONG-A-BROWSER: Yeah, hence why I included it since I found it weird in the show, especially since it took in place in not just D.C but a populated city too. I mean, just the T-Rex and mutated animals alone would enough to call in the SWAT team, not to mention the alien presence as well. Maybe Max had something to do with it like you said, but I don't recall he did.
-Yeah, I mean Animo could have done so much if he wasn't so crazy. Wasted potential right there.
-Guest0508: Glad you enjoy the banter between the two main leads.
-Glad you liked the law enforcement inclusion. Figured I try a change that didn't have the MC's hand in it and see how people respond. Also, still thinking on whether or not to go deeper on the existential mental crisis. Should I or nah?
-Chronosign: True.
-Mr. E Guest: Well, I ain't going to spoil what I have in mind. All I'm going to say is that law enforcement and the military is going to play a larger role than in the show. I believe I said this before.
-Just Guest: Thanks! Hope you found this chapter to your liking!
-Austin: Yeah, poor Rexy.
-Personally, I think that since it was a kid's show the writer's didn't really need to think about real world ramifications for these kinds of things. I mean, like you said Animo managed to bring back two extinct animals from thousands of years ago. Like, the man would be famous be an access pass to every museum and graveyard on Earth, undoubtably gotten many awards for it, and gotten all the funding he could have asked for. But, since this was kids show they didn't really need to think about it too much literal ground-breaking technology like that. I mean, if someone in the real world managed to find a way to do that you can bet that guy's going to famous within an hour. Still, in the end Animo squandered it 'cause he was too crazy to realize the potential he had at his fingertips.
-Not going to spoil what I have planned, but like I said. Military and law enforcement's going to play a larger role here.
-Pedro: Sorry, but for now I'm sticking with already established alien transformations. Though I am planning on having the MC give Ben aliens from future series early on.
-Thalavrus: I guess it depends on preference. I think it's lame, but I respect your opinion.
Now...onto the chapter!
Chapter 8: Washington B.C.
As Animo was pulled off the ground and hauled by three SWAT officers to a nearby police car, the mad scientist going on a tangent about how he still deserved the award and that he did nothing wrong, the remaining law enforcement officers trained their weapons on the four-armed red alien.
"Wait! You don't understand!" Ben yelled. "I'm a good alien! I was trying to stop him!"
Unfortunately, it seems that the LEOs didn't hear him over the sound of dozens of people shouting at him to surrender and the sirens still arriving police cruisers.
"STAND DOWN! STAND DOWN NOW!
"PUT YOUR HANDS- ALL FOUR OF THEM, BEHIND YOUR HEAD! INTERLOCK YOUR FINGER!"
"GET DOWN ON YOUR KNEES! SLOWLY!"
"Stay calm, Ben. Just stay still for now." The AI instructed before turning her attention elsewhere.
"Stop! Don't come any closer!" Omni ordered as she projected herself behind Ben in front of Gwen and Max. Who were about to rush forward and see what was happening.
"What's going on out there?" Max asked.
"The entire DC metro police force is out there." She pointed outside. "They got Animo and they're demanding that Ben surrender."
"This is not good." Max remarked.
"No kidding." Gwen snarked. "Any ideas on how to get out of this?"
"Just one." Said Omni as she looked over the blueprints for the building. Spending half an hour going over it, being the equivalent of 0.2 seconds in real time. "There's a tunnel that leads all the way to Smithsonian castle. That's our best chance to get out of here."
"First we need to figure out a way to distract the cops first." Gwen voiced. Suddenly, a familiar caw emitted from the nearby hall. As all three of them turned their heads to see the parrot waddling out.
"Ben, on my mark, duck." Omni said to her host. As her projection ordered for the others to take cover as she focused on the movements of the bird. Seeing that it was preparing to fly out.
"What?" Ben whispered as he continued staring down the dozens of guns pointed right at his head.
"Just trust me." Was all she said. "In three...two...one...mark!"
Ben did what he was told as he ducked his head and went prone. As soon as he did, a familiar bird flew overhead with a caw. Startling many law enforcement officers with several of them falling on their backs, yelling out commands and calling out what they saw. It managed to get several meters into the air before it was hit by a .50 BMG round from a M82 from a police sniper. Who must have been one hell of a marksman in order to make the shot since it was moving at pretty high speeds.
"Fall back! Now!" She ordered as all the officers focused on the huge parrot. With it losing control from the gunshot and landing on a nearby cop cruiser. It thrashed around for several seconds as it was lit by the surrounding LEOs. It soon fell dead from all the bullet wounds with several patrol officers closed in on it.
"Hey! Stop!" A SWAT officer ordered as he noticed Ben running back inside. With him firing his G36K as it narrowly missed the red alien. Immediately, the SWAT officers began moving into the museum through the destroyed wall.
"This that leprechaun you were talking about!?" Ben said as he ran down the corridor with Gwen and Grandpa Max close behind.
"Shut up! We need to get down to the basement!" Omni said to the Tennyson's. "SWAT's swarming the building and patrol officers have got every exit locked down!" She informed as she watched through the museum's security cameras. With dozens of SWAT officers pouring through every entrance and exit.
"You got any ideas?" Gwen asked as she followed close behind. Them turning the corner as the SWAT team followed behind. "They're almost right on us!"
"Head back the way we came!" She ordered. With her activating the museum's built in sprinkler system to wake the Mammoth. As she had a distraction in mind.
Passing by the corridor where they encountered Animo with them running right passed the wet and now awake Mammoth. Who honked its horn angrily at them as soon as they saw them.
"Oh crap!" A SWAT officer yelled as stopped as quickly as they could at the sight of the reincarnated Mammuthus, who turned its attention to the newly arrived LEOs. Aggravated by the whitelight shined at its head as it began to charge them with a roar.
The policemen then began falling in what Omni could best describe as organized chaos. With several officers providing covering fire to slow the beast down while the rest ran to reposition. Those officers then began laying down gunfire of their own as the process started again. Their discipline and coordination not faltering, which was impressive considering that they were battling an angry behemoth of an animal. With it pushing on regardless of its wounds as it chased after the men, who were leading it outside so they could take it out with the M82s.
The group continued moving and soon reached the entrance to the basement, with Omni continuing to guide them. Reaching it just in time before another SWAT team to come bursting down the doorway opposite of them. Their surefire weaponlights pointed right at the human turned alien.
"Don't move!" The lead SWAT officer ordered with his Remington 870 shotgun aimed straight at Ben. Who stood in front of his cousin and grandpa and shield them from view as they burst down the door. Once they were through, he leapt through as he once again missed several gunshots aimed right for him. Hearing the officers close behind, he followed Gwen as Omni ordered them into the room with the tunnel entrance. With Ben quickly barricading the door with anything he could find once he was through.
"It's locked. So you have to pry it open." She informed to which Ben complied. Using his newfound strength to break it down.
"Go!" Ben ushered to Max and Gwen through. With him being the last one as he closed the hatch right behind him. Just in time too as SWAT finally managed to break down the blocked door and toss several M84 stun grenades inside.
After finally entering the tunnel with their only source of light being the watch. Ben was engulfed in another flash of light before he turned into a Kineceleran, an alien he dubbed as XLR8. Ben didn't have time to question her as he heard the watch's voice reaching his ears
"Get everyone out through the other side of the tunnel." She commanded hastily. "And hurry! You only less than two minutes left."
Ben complied as he grabbed Ben first rushed down the tunnel to the exit before coming back and getting his grandpa just in the nick of time. With them leaving Smithsonian castle minutes before the first police cruisers arrived. Having realized their intention and deployed officers to intercept.
It was a day after the showdown at the museum, with the Tennyson's and their companion finally leaving the American capital. Max was driving the RV while Ben, Gwen, and Omni's projection gathered around the small dining table. Omni spent the majority of the night making sure that no video or security camera caught Ben's transformations or caught Gwen or Grandma Max with them. Wanting to keep Ben's identity a secret and trying hide the connection between the teenage girl and adult man with the aliens.
Thankfully, it seems that they were safe for now. With reports from SWAT officers and patrol units reporting that they found no sign of the tetramand at the museum, which was still locked down by metro police from all the carnage last night. Also, Animo was being held at a nearby station pending trial for creating giant monsters that caused thousands, maybe millions, in property damage. With the mutated toad and hamster from the superstore shot dead by police after they had woken up and began attacking several officers and firefighters. Along with his prototype technology being confiscated along with his research notes, and animal test subjects, as can be seen with the LEOs coming in and out of his apartment with boxes and cages.
But that wasn't here problem anymore. For she saw that Ben was feeling sad.
"Sorry, you couldn't get your card, Ben." The AI said apologetically to her host as she noticed his downtrodden mood. While truthfully she didn't really care at all about the card, she knew how it felt to desperately want something only to not get it in the end. Despite trying to teach him earlier that he couldn't always get what he wanted in life, she still emphasized with him.
"It's alright." Ben admitted with a shrug. "Well, I guess helping to save the city from Animo is its own reward."
"Eh, I don't know about that. It seems to me the cops did all the work." Gwen jabbed at her cousin with a smirk.
Before the two cousins could launch into another round of mostly playful insults, the former human turned supercomputer in the room spoke up.
"Alright, you kids have fun. I'm going to log off for a few hours so don't bother me unless you have to."
"Why?" Ben questioned. "What are you doing?"
"Just need to work on some issues with my hardware." She responded. "Plus, the Galvan's left a few glitches in my coding so I need to try to clear it up."
"Alright, have fun." the ten-year old kid said with a nod before she logged off.
"Good, they bought it." Omni thought to herself, as she had already fixed the glitches and coding that Azmuth failed to address days ago.
No. She had plans, brought upon by a realization she had last night.
She hadn't really digested it before, but she was finally able to register the fact that the Earth was nearly destroyed hundreds of times in the series, and was only barely prevented by a ten-year old kid. That the universe she now lived in was inhabited by alien warlords, extra-dimensional beings, magical freaks, and all kinds of cosmic horrors.
Sure, Ben was able to stop them. But what if he hadn't? Many of those threats required the most powerful weapon, no matter how much Azmuth would deny it was one, to defeat. With her also remembering in the show that the military never bothered to even show up, and when they did on the rare occasion, it usually fell back down to Ben and co to save the day. There was the chance that things may be different this time, as shown with the army of cops waiting outside the museum when they only appeared at the end of the original episode, but still it had her worried.
That was not even mentioning the fact that the Plumbers often keep their resources on Earth limited and at the bare minimum. As they considered Earth to be a backwater world and not worth deploying the necessary manpower to protect it. Plus, there was the fact that many aliens tended to look down on humans for being primitive.
That was going to change. For Omni was going to get the world ready for the threats ahead. To prove to the rest of the universe that mankind was a force to be reckoned with and make those that wish to do us harm think twice before coming here. To ensure that Earth's fate wasn't dictated by some alien bureaucrat in another solar system light years away. Make Mankind stand on equal footing with galactic society and make them treat us as equals, instead of an inferior and barbaric race.
Sure, she knew that Ben managed to achieved widespread acclaim across the galaxy, assuming he stayed on track with how it went in the show. But if she remembered correctly, she knew that the rest of the galaxy still saw the majority of humanity as weak and puny.
That was going to change. She was going to show everyone in the galaxy that Mankind, not just Ben, was someone you didn't want to mess with. Give us the respect and recognition we deserve. To make sure that humanity can stand on its own feet even without the likes of Ben, Gwen, and the others. Though, something told her that the Plumbers wouldn't like that. As she recalled them keeping their technology away from Mankind as they apparently didn't trust us with it yet and thought we were too warlike to use it responsible.
Which she thought was a load of baloney, considering the kind of threats that were out there.
To hell with what the Plumbers thought. She was going to show the Plumbers that humanity was perfectly capable of defending itself and show the universe that we were made in God's image.
But first, there was something she had to do. She had to destroy a threat before it could fully form into being. For there was an enemy that had the potential to one day cause instrumental damage to all of mankind in a way that no alien, extra-dimensional , or other force could.
She had to wipe out social media before it became mainstream. Starting with twitter.
Author's note: So, the main character's goal that I've been hinting at in the earlier is now revealed. I hope you all enjoyed it. As always, thanks again for taking the time to check out my stories.
Also, unrelated note: YYYYEEEEESSSSS! Astartes 2, baby! I"M READY! WWWWWOOOOOOO! Sorry, just found out recently and couldn't contain my excitement. Syama Pendersen is an absolute legend. The secret level 40k episode being absolute God-Emperor tier was probably thanks to him. New mission objective is to survive until 2026 so that I can watch it. That's my life mission now.
Take care, lads, and rem ember... stay frosty, gents.