Chapter 6 - Character development - part 1

[TOURIST TRAP]

—MC'S POV—

On the road outside of Casey city in the state of Illinois, we continued our journey after our last encounter with the alien bounty hunters, my family still a bit shook with the aftermath.

Lucy was probably the best amongst them to hide it, she mostly used her easygoing attitude as a defense mechanism, but I could definitely tell she felt responsible for not keeping both Max and Gwen safe. Which fortunately benefited my plans of raising her as a competent fighter, given how she occasionally dropped the childhood crush she had over me and actually approached me to help her train and learn how to improve.

Which just happens to be just the opposite case for Grandpa, sure, age and his own personal traumas must be really troubling him into feeling guilty about not being able to keep us safe, but he was the one constantly drilling me into mastering better combat skills that I believe must've been taught to him when he began his career as a plumber.

As for Gwen, didn't even need to look at her to see how being constantly put in the role of a damsel in distress was beginning to irk her. Which sort of was a fortunate result of previous experiences, I mean, instead of panicking about the danger, she was actively thinking about ways of being useful. Unlike the comical displays of superhuman strength and agility her original counterpart displayed in the cartoon series way before she had anything to do with magic or Anodite spark, this Gwen was literally a little girl with slightly above average physical and mental capabilities.

As for me, besides circling my mana around the RV in order to keep everyone healthily casual about everything that had happened up till this point, I spent my time analyzing the piece of alien Tetrax left me without telling anyone else but me.

In it I found a holographic record that sort of info dumped me about his participation in a small band of alien fighters dedicated to protecting the galaxy, a few salutations and training exercises for the hoverboard he gifted me. It also got some insights about my transformations, like their culture and reputation throughout the galaxy, though by far it had plenty more information regarding the Petrosapien of Petropia.

Which I believe makes logical sense in a way, despite not being born one, Tetrax must somewhat see me as one of his kind, or at least a way of making up for what he did to them. Only hate that since he never brought it up, there's no reasonable way that I could've asked about the whole Chromastone Jesus convoluted storyline.

Even my aura of honesty and confusion wouldn't have done it, since his physiology seemed to be kind of resistant to mana.

Damn it, the guy still wasn't entirely open about the existence of Vilgax, which I had to say was already getting old with grandpa being so sensitive with his own secrets, but Tetrax was at least very direct about the fact that the other mercenaries weren't the only ones that would come after the Omnitrix.

Unfortunately there wasn't anything useful about Samus, which I still couldn't wrap my head around the fact that her presence in this reality made me once again worried about how different this timeline could develop for me in the future.

This entire summer trip, after getting the Omnitrix, has been basically my way of making sure that most of the world ending events wouldn't come to pass just as it did in the canon story. Even missing one day of the schedule might result in some weirdly catastrophic results, such as if we arrived one day earlier or later and missed when the Big Tick landed on earth, things would go south really hard if I wasn't ready to stop it.

Sure, it definitely sucked balls to be stuck with the canon, but fortunately it still served as a nostalgic trip through the summer trip I've been dreaming and fantasizing so much about during both my childhoods in each life.

Finishing my private time alone, I decided to get out of the bathroom and join the crew again, picking up my guitar on my way to the nearest seat.

As I had come to expect, Lucy was the one this time making funny faces at a kid inside of another car moving right alongside the Rust Bucket, with Gwen sighing in annoyance right.

"I'd warn you that your face might freeze if you keep doing that, but in your case, I don't even think it's a possibility." Gwen sarcastically remarked, her attention immediately turned to me once I sat next to them.

With my hand on my chin, I started to gently strum my guitar as I tried to come up with something to entertain them.

Meanwhile, the kid in the other car that Lucy had been provoking then ate some of his burger he got from a drive-thru restaurant, chewed it and then stuck his tongue out at her as she snorted with a chuckle.

"Oh, man. How cute!" She exclaimed with a mischievous smile. "Time to pull out my secret weapon." She then held a finger up to the boy as she ducked under the seat, out of view of the window as she shifted her image into a monster of mud and then stuck her face back at the kid, growling with a mouth that resembles a jaguar's and contains sets of teeth much like the ones from sharks.

The kid then screamed before his father noticed the muddy monster and he then screamed as well before he floored the gas and drove away from the Rust Bucket as Lucy collapsed on her back laughing, her sides hurting in hysterics as she shifted back to her human look.

"You know, there is such a thing as taking a joke too far." Gwen pointed out, a bit grumpy if you ask me.

However Lucy didn't stop laughing before she shot a stream of mud from one of her hands onto Gwen's seat as she sat down, instantly feeling the moistness and she glared at her cousin.

"Impossible!" Lucy declared. "Funny is funny!"

'Man, it's just me…' I thought to myself in amusement. 'Or Lucy has a thing for Gwen's butt? I mean, it's not even the second time she eithers comments on it or literally messes with it.'

"Ben, better get up here." Max said from the driver's seat before he slammed the brakes and Lucy came soaring to the front of the car, prompting both Gwen and I to follow Lucy. "We've got trouble ahead."

We all looked out the windshield to see a massive truck accident, there I spotted a fuel truck that crashed into another truck with a fire going down on the floor, the fuel truck's driver called for help by banging on his door, which was stuck due to the truck's position.

"Help!" The man kept shouting.

"The door's stuck! He can't get out!" A civilian pointed out the obvious, putting quite the effort into remaining a simple mob and doing basically nothing to help out.

Suddenly, the flames reached the leaking fuel from the truck and blazed brighter, much to the driver's fear.

"If that propane he's hauling catches fire, that truck will become a rocket to the moon!" Max exclaimed as I nodded and transformed into my Pyronite (Heatblast) form in a flash of green light.

"Inform the authorities! I'll be right back." I said before dashing out of the door in a cloud of smoke and into the scene. "Come on people." I announced, guarding the civilians who had pulled over to watch the scene unfold. "Give me some space. Leave the job to the alien guy."

"The fire's too intense!" Someone said completely ignoring that I was literally on fire, it took me to stare at her with my burning eyes for the woman to apologize. "Sorry!"

Ignoring the expectating crowd I then raised my hands together and a cyclone manifested amidst the burning ground and flew towards my bright hands, instantly absorbing the blazing flames as the driver looked confused. I then walked towards the truck, without burning anything despite my appearance, and used my burning fingers to precisely slice the top of the truck down and open it.

"Don't be afraid, I'm here to help." I said, taking into consideration the fact that my burning magma skull made it harder to not scare someone and made use of my calming aura, thanks to it, the driver nodded and left his broken vehicle.

The kid from before, now standing close to the crowd of people on the road, then gasped at me. "That's a… what's their name? From that awesome game!"

"You mean a Pyronite? Could it be? They really exist?!" A nearby teenager replied, mimicking the boy's excitement to see me.

"I'm glad to be able to help!" I announced to everyone, glad to see that my investment in the entertainment industry was already paying off even without the internet being that much of a thing yet. "Since I did everything I could, I'll leave the rest to the authorities and be on my way!"

Using my pyrotechnic projections to fake blasting off into the sky, I instead vanished into a subtle cloud of smoke before I entered the RV and changed back to my human form.

"Nice work, champ!" Max told me, with the girls complimenting me in their own way, before grandpa started analyzing my thought process and how I could improve further.

A little bit later, we were back on the road, entertained for the moment after I played a couple of songs with my guitar, until Lucy started reading the roadside signs that were showing up.

"You'll have a ball with it! Next exit!" She read out loud.

"Come on, Grandpa!" Gwen said. "At least give us a hint of what 'it' is."

"Uh-uh, no hints." Max said, genuinely excited to keep this secret. "I've been planning this stop all summer." When we finally arrived at the destination, grandpa reached the door first before letting us out. "Now, the three of you close your eyes."

We exited the Rust Bucket with our eyes closed.

"Okay, open 'em up." We heard Max saying.

And we did it, before looking up at the sign before us.

"Ta-da!" Max announced, visibly thrilled. "Welcome to Sparksville!"

We then looked down at the town to see the old-fashioned culture. There was a hotel next to a giant jackalope, a gift shop and a hot dog restaurant among other things.

"Is this place great or what?" Max asked, a smile never leaving his face.

"Let's go with 'or what'." Gwen said, disappointedly.

"Eh, I'll go with 'I don't know'." Lucy admitted, a bit dismissive about everything, and making me wonder what her original planet would look like. "What do you think, Ben?"

"Gwen makes it seem a bit too boring.' I said, a bit unsure if I was mentally younger I might not find it all that interesting. "But maybe I'm the boring one, because I find this place pretty interesting."

"Really?" Lucy and Gwen asked me, the former with her curious puppy eyes and the latter with one of her eyebrows raised.

"Come on! What's more exciting than the world's biggest fish bowl?" Max asked, apparently not giving up on convincing us that this place wasn't a literal tourist trap.

"Um, unless it has a living shark in it, everything." Gwen quickly replied.

"I mean, he's somewhat right." I pointed out. "Doesn't it make you wonder how that was even created? Was it hand sculpted by fusing together a bunch of glass? Where does all the glass come from in the first place? Or is there a machine designed to build this? In that case, where is that machine? Does it still work?"

"Well…" Gwen stopped for a second. "If you put it like that…"

Just then, a man in a suit walked over to us before speaking in a monotone voice, reminding me of that Ben Stein teacher from that old movie. "As the mayor of Sparksville, I welcome you as seekers of wonder."

Max greeted the man back before turning back to us and said as he handed us three of us tickets. "I know you guys are probably excited to see 'It', but please go explore the rest of the town and wait for me to check us in."

Lucy and Gwen just shrugged, but I decided to cheer them up and make it a worthwhile stop by taking a few pictures for us to remember. Soon later, at the Sparksville Museum, the girls and I were at the welcoming desk as Lucy rang the service bell.

The man from before then unceremoniously showed up at the desk, much to the girls' surprise. "Tickets please."

"I thought you were the mayor." Gwen remarked, intrigued by it.

The mayor then took our tickets and took his half before handing them back to us. "He who wears the crown is bound by many hats, little lady."

'Huh, poetic.' I pondered before leading the girls into the museum through the gate as the man turned back to us.

"Mind the signs." He warned them, to which me and Gwen stared back at Lucy, knowing she was the one most likely to make a mess of things.

"Ouch! C'mon, guys!" She protested half jokingly after faking being hurt. "Don't make me prefer the time when you two aren't getting along."

Several stops later and we had taken our fair share of photos as well as bought a couple of souvenirs from the gift shop, with Grandpa finally joining us we decided to show him all of our collection of pictures before moving on to the final attraction.

We had one with us three looking at a jackalope, with Lucy mocking and Gwen laughing while I made a heroic pose near it. Other with the three of us inside of a standee that looked like the American Gothic.

Another with us goofing around at a planetarium. And others with us taking forced perception photos near the World's Largest House of Cards.

One with me admiring the aroma of hot dogs, followed by one with Lucy spraying Gwen with ketchup and mustard, ending on a third where the camera caught the exact moment that Gwen tossed a hot dog at Lucy in retaliation.

Got one with us acting like fish next to the World's Largest Fish Bowl. And finally one with us taking a break on a bench with me sipping a soda can.

"I'm so glad you all have enjoyed it here, kids." Max complimented us with his grandfatherly attitude, even more pleased that I've given some of our photos to him.

Now, curious about the biggest attraction, we decided to approach a sign saying 'It is this way!' At the warehouse containing 'It', the group and I were standing alongside the mayor with admittedly interested stares.

"Through these doors lies the weirdest, wildest thing ever to make its way to Sparksville." He explained before opening the door and we walked through into the darkness with slightly worried stares.

"Please tell me this is 'It'." Lucy said as tons of neon signs that read: "This way to 'It'" lit up around us. "Because I can't stand 'It' anymore."

"Do not touch It." I read, joining their mood.

"Do not photograph It." Gwen read next.

"Do not use batteries or electrical equipment anywhere near It." Max joined in, deciding to give up the photo but totally forgetting about the Omnitrix on my wrist.

We finally reached some light and saw a neon sign that read: "This is It!"

'Please don't tell me it's the world's biggest Michael Jackson collection.' I joked to myself, recalling the American documentary album, slightly bummed that no one would get it. 'After all the fun I had, I genuinely almost forgot that this was the reason for this stop being actually important to me.'

The sign then raised up into the sky to reveal *drumroll*... the World's Largest Rubber Band Ball. *cue wah-wah trumpet*

"This is It?" Gwen asked in disappointment as the mayor walked up.

"It's a big ball of rubber bands." Lucy said, unsure of what to think of it.

"Isn't it amazing?" Max asked, totally missing the fact that after everything we've already seen, this was mildly underwhelming.

"Yeah, but how would you even make something like this?" I pondered, having never really cared before on how rubber bands were actually made. "Well, I know it takes a bit of latex, acid and enough time to let it dry. But it couldn't have been easy to pull it off on this scale."

"Indeed." Max acknowledged it, clearly happy that I've shown some interest.

"And who knows what secrets lie within?" The mayor said, still failing to express the emotions his sentences tried to convey.

"Um, more rubber bands?" Lucy tried to guess. "Am I missing something here?"

"Heh, perhaps." Max chuckled, staring at the giant ball long enough for me to imagine if in this reality wasn't he responsible for imprisoning the Megawatts inside it during his earlier years as a plumber. "I expected more imagination from you, Lucy."

"Stay as long as you like. But mind the signs." The Mayor said before walking away, leaving us to the rubber band ball.

"Look at this place!" Gwen approached me before speaking soft enough for grandpa not to hear it. "These guys are full of 'It'. We've been totally punked."

"It is pretty lame." Lucy admitted, before I gently placed my hands on their shoulders.

"But at least I'm glad grandpa is excited to see it." I said, trying to make them both feel a bit better about it, turning to Gwen I continued. "Besides, our next stop will be one you've been imploring us to go to for a while now, so let's let grandpa have some fun."

Gwen looked at me, a bit surprised by the realization, before sighing in defeat. "Yeah, you're right."

Turning to Lucy, I got a similar answer.

"Hey, what are you three whispering about?" Grandpa Max finally stopped appreciating the giant ball of rubber band for long enough to notice us.

"We were just giving our best guess of what we think is inside it." I immediately cover up for us. "Wanna hear them?"

Max stopped for a moment before nodding with a smile. "Sure thing, let's see what you got."

After entertaining everyone for a few minutes, throwing out a couple of ideas that were so ridiculous that they might somehow have been accurate. Not long after, it seemed that the hours on the road had finally caught up with Max and he told us that he would be going to bed earlier and that we could play around for a while longer before joining him.

"Alright, grandpa. Have a good rest." Gwen said first with me nodding besides her.

"Bye!" Lucy waved until Max walked out of the warehouse, before she quickly turned towards us with a wide smirk plastered all over her face.

"I know that smirk, Lucy." Gwen warned, having herself enough experience with the prankster alien girl. "What are you thinking?"

"You will see." Lucy then got behind the ball and a massive monster of mud appeared in her place as she lifted up the ball with a smile. "One good prank deserves another."

Gwen then got a mischievous look on her face and smiled along. "For once, I agree with you. What do you have in mind?"

"Maybe the World's Biggest Booger?" Lucy asked as Gwen laughed before she tossed the ball in between her muddy hands.

'Nice to see them getting along.' I thought, knowing that Lucy would commit the same mistake as original Ben did.

"Careful, Lucy! You'll drop it!" I said, ready to step in whenever the situation called for it.

"Don't worry, Ben. I can hold this thing without even looking." Lucy then turned her head to the other side, leaving the ball on one hand as she prepared to tossed to her other limb.

Unfortunately, it started to tremble and her grip gave out as the ball slipped out of her hand and almost bounced towards Gwen before I quickly shifted into my Tetramand (Four Arms) form and caught it before it had the chance to get some momentum.

"Oops." Lucy said in embarrassment while I glared at her with my four golden eyes. "Nice catch!"

As I lifted the giant ball of rubber bands, Gwen walked up to Lucy, imagining all the damage that was almost done by the ball and slapped her on the shoulder.

"Hey! What was that for!?" Lucy demanded, the slap not hurting at all.

"For almost turning me into a criminal! Or for almost making me the first person to die from a giant ball of rubber band! Do you have any idea how much money this was going to cost to repair?" Asked Gwen her.

"Knowing how much these places like to overprice everything, it would certainly be more than either of our families have in our accounts!" I said as I stomped past them and tried to contain the alien inside it with my mana.

"Don't get your panties in a twist." Lucy said proudly, making me falter for a brief second. "Even if Ben wasn't here to help, I would have just put everything back to where it was. No problem at all."

"You two go on ahead, I will see if we haven't damaged it. Make sure grandpa doesn't suspect our absence." I said, placing the rubber band ball back to its place. "Don't worry Lucy, I'll take care of everything, just be a bit more careful next time."

"I will." She said while hugging my leg before leaving and dragging Gwen along towards the Motel Sideways.

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On their way, the girls conversed over what happened.

"What are we going to tell Grandpa?" Gwen asked, worried and almost pulling her hair out. "What if Ben finds out the inner layers of rubber band in the ball have been ripped apart. What if…"

"You worry too much, the Ball barely bounced around before Ben caught it." Lucy said with her arms crossed behind her head as she made a copy of Ben. "Besides, if the worst comes to pass, I say we do nothing. We just play dumb."

"Easy for you to say. You're a lot better at it than I am." Gwen argued, still not entirely convinced.

The two of them then pushed open the door to the hotel room, which, true to the name, was entirely on it's side to see their grandfather waiting for them inside.

"Hey, there you are." Max said. "Isn't this place a riot?"

"Why? What'd you see?" Gwen asked, worried. "We don't know anything about it!"

Lucy laid a hand on her shoulder. "She means, 'It's great! Can't wait to check out the bathroom." Lucy said with a calm smile. "Right Ben?"

The mud clone just nodded, but remained silent.

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—MC'S POV—

After zooming in and out of the warehouse with my Kinneceleran (XRL8) form, I now had all the equipment I had prepared beforehand with both my Galvan (Grey Matter) and Galvanic Mechamorph (Upgrade) transformations.

Reaching back toward my mana containment, I literally pulled a ball of green light restraining a living yellow lightning chain that occasionally slowed down to display its appearance which was strangely similar to an Earth dry cell battery, albeit rounded out.

Placing the mana sphere nearby a special battery I had personally crafted for it.

Not giving it the chance to crash through Sparksville, as the alien creature kept giving it wicked cackles, I activated the electricity absorption system and watched as I got the alien known as Megawatt stuck inside the battery.

"Non-conductive containment sealed up tight Sparky, won't be going anywhere." I remarked, placing my Omnitrix next to a segment that would emit a sliver of its electric capacity, watching as a new silhouette was added to my collection. "No wiping towns for you."

Making sure the Giant Rubber band ball was intact and would remain so at least until it wouldn't be traced back to us, I cleared all of my equipment and found an area isolated enough to test out my newest transformation.

Despite the darkness, the green flash of my Omnitrix easily went unnoticed. Just then, I noticed the Omnitrix merging into my shrinking body, green sparks of energy circling inside my body, as if it was a cage, before bursting out of my skin, my eyes glowing a lighter tone of green and my skin morphed into black, with some battery nodes popping up along my arms and on top of my head. By the time I was the size of a head, I noticed the Omnitrix badge resting on my chest over a white lightning bolt stripe from neck to groin.

"Well, so far so good." I said, speaking with an extremely high-pitched voice, similar to one an ordinary human being has after inhaling helium. "Hahahahaha!" I let out an uncontrollable laughter, before quickly covering up my mouth. Noticing that similar to my Galvan (Grey Matter) form, I felt hyperactive to the slightest stimulus. 'Urgh, don't tell me Nosedeenian DNA messes with my personality.'

Conjuring up for my mana, I eventually managed to get my emotions under control. At least, to the point where I could test out my abilities with adequate focus.

'Let's see…' I thought, opening up my eyes and finally noticing that my vision was somewhat different from before. '…wait, don't tell me…'

On top of my regular vision, which appeared to be more sensitive to photons to the point of giving me an improved night vision, I also felt what appeared to be a radar pulse that sort of resembled my Vulpimancer (Wildmutt) senses. Instead of sound, smell and temperature, this radar constantly scanned a large area for any electrical activity and material conductivity.

Basically giving me a boosted version of a Shark's electroreception.

'What an unexpected surprise.' I thought, dedicating some effort to manage all that overload of information before clapping my small hands together, once I brought them apart a lightning arc raced in between each palm. 'My first electric transformation, I mean if I don't count the Galvanic Mechamorph (Upgrade), which I don't.'

Other than having innate bio-eletrokinesis and electricity immunity, I was able to absorb energy, with the added bonus of empowering it before opting to release it back, I could very easily lift my body above the ground and hover for what felt like an indefinite amount of time. Spending some of my charge, I managed to fly off at an impressive speed and still react to multiple obstacles with casual ease while momentarily morphing into a chain of lightning.

This time however, I finally managed to get an idea of the amount of charge I had in me. Albeit not being small by any measure, its existence made me weary of being drained out. I mean, there weren't many places in this modern age where I wouldn't have access to any source to recharge, even in this isolated area I could still feel the nearest road with its own phone lines.

Best part of it all was that I found out that I was considerably faster while traveling through conductive structure.

'What else?' I wondered while resting high above in the air, metaphorically salivating whilst thinking about the possibilities.

I recalled having a natural healing that made me somewhat immortal to regular means, or at least nigh unkillable depending on the overpoweredness of other species. That and the fact that I could multiply myself with enough energy or even due to being forcefully bisected was amazing, and the level of control was better than I had anticipated, though whenever I changed back to my human form all the other duplicates vanished in a burst of sparks.

Similar to my Galvanic Mechamorph (Upgrade) transformation, I could hijack electronic devices and control them from within, albeit not as refined as the conglomerate of nanites, but still skillfully enough to either power or fry the electric circuitry, which should be sufficient to expel any other of the other species inhabiting the same piece of tech.

'One last thing…' I thought, rushing away as a speeding lightning towards an even more isolated area, using my radar pulse to make sure no one would hear me. '…I was very worried about this form's weaker body and how it had constantly been undermined by non conductive structures such as glass. But this species must be really stupid to not make use of their ace in the hole.'

Opening up my mouth, I emitted a sonic screech that should've been more than enough to shatter glass and pierce eardrums. The cacophonous sound echoed farther away into the distance, shaking the ground and producing a medium sized blast of concentrated air around me.

'Yeah, baby! Let's gooooo!' I mentally shouted, mimicking the gesture of doing a guitar solo. 'First new transformation and I'm still just barely halfway through the first season.'

Technically I've had the opportunity to collect a couple alien DNA since the summer trip started, hell I was literally living with a good candidate for my next transformation, but I would rather do it with Lucy's knowledge and consent, for no reason other than my growing respect for her… that and the fact that I was still interested in fusing her DNA with the one from the Limax's sample I've got stored in order to get some extra benefits while also eliminar some of its major weaknesses.

Speaking of her, after I finally finished testing out my latest prize, I joined my family in the hotel room, gently waking up Lucy for her to dismiss my cover up clone before letting her once again sleep soundly in her sideways bed.

The next day in Sparksville, we all packed our stuff and made ourselves ready to hit the road again.

However, thinking of a way to make our leave memorable, I reached both Gwen and Max for something I had come up with.

Since she was the only one still sleeping by that time, probably because her uses of her cloning ability had become more frequent lately, and the fact that she didn't need to pack any luggage, I heard Lucy shrugging and heading to the Rust Bucket as she yawned loudly. "I'm all pranked out for today."

She was so glad I had managed to prevent a disaster from happening.

"There's a time and a place for a practical joke." Max said as Lucy opened the door to the Rust Bucket, only to have a bucket of water fall on her and I smiled as we all chuckled. "But funny is funny. Especially when it's not on you."

Being a good sport, Lucy joined us in our laughter and we all got into the Rust Bucket to leave Sparksville for good.

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[KATE 11]

—MC'S POV—

In New York City, the crew and I were checking into a hotel as Gwen in particular looked over the brochure that detailed all of the attractions available in the hotel.

"Wow, this hotel has everything! Indoor pool, full day spa." She announced, her tone betraying all the days she had been missing a proper bath in an actual bathroom.

"Also an All-you-can-eat buffet!" Lucy added while appearing very hungry.

Incidentally, Max was the one that appeared to only be there to make the girls happy. He wasn't dragging his feet or acting grumpy, Max was too mature for that, but I could easily see that he wasn't that much into all that luxury.

"Indeed, but don't get too excited, you two. It's only for one night." Max said before turning to the door.

Glancing over the reception hall, I smiled once I saw what was in front of me: a sneak preview of my newest game which was being guarded by a bouncer.

'It's always neat to see the changes I've been making in this world. Might as well play for a while!' I thought as I informed grandpa about it before making my way towards it.

"Pass?" The bald bouncer asked, blocking my path.

Quickly searching my pockets, I handed him my VIP pass before thinking. 'Why do they even bother advertising VIP events? I never really cared that much to intervene in this development, but I still find it odd how many announcements I saw even before reaching this place.'

The bouncer's eyes widened in surprise, not having expected to be letting the first kid that approached him in the day to enter. "I-I…Welcome."

"Thanks." I said before proceeding to walk into the room and glanced at the video game stands with a sly smile. I turned on the game and started playing it. 'Alright, let's test the final product my list of instructions resulted in.'

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Eventually Ben's absence was noticed by both Lucy and Gwen once they were alone with Max at the main elevator about to head up to their room.

"Ben?" Lucy asked, genuinely surprised she hadn't noticed it earlier.

"He will miss the spa!" Gwen pointed out, moving to block the elevator's door before grandpa stopped her.

"Don't worry, girls, I don't think he will miss the spa. He told me that he would be playing a new game he had received permission to test from the mail." Max told them. "It might take some time, but I think he needs some alone time."

"I guess it makes sense." Lucy replied, already missing Ben but understanding his need for some privacy. However, just then her stomach began growling in hunger before she laughed in embarrassment. "Hehehe. Can we eat first? I'm starving."

Gwen looked once again over her brochure and replied with a shrug. "Yeah, we still have time."

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—MC'S POV—

"Not bad. No major bugs, at least none that break the game. That and the difficulty balance seems good enough for most casual gamers while also offering a challenge for those willing to master it." I mused as I speedrun my way towards defeating the final boss. "The gameplay has surprisingly kept running smoothly without any major frame drops, which was an impressive feat given how the company I chose to make a deal with has ambitiously chosen to push the end of the envelope in terms of open world games. My upcoming project should bring some innovative MMO perspective to the market by next year."

After testing a bit of each side's content through the game, in what felt like an hour or two, I decided that I'd waited long enough and left the hotel in order to finally meet the osmosian kid I'd been destined to come across.

Briefly checking on Max and the girls on my way out, I confirmed they were enjoying the Spa and wouldn't miss me for the rest of the day.

He then walked away towards the Total Zone Arcade, glancing at the games and around before stopping at a baseball game.

Smirking as I set up to play on the nearest Arcade, not missing a shot once I felt a different aura approaching me, one that fortunately wasn't powerful like the one still locked inside Gwen, but neither was it common like the one belonging to regular humans.

This one was different and stood out amongst the rest, in a way that kind of reminded me of Lucy.

Right then, a passing girl approached me from behind. "You really got talent dude! To win in a ripoff game like this, you must be either cheating or just stupidly lucky!'

"Heh. I don't get lucky, I make my own luck." I shrugged, doing my best to hide my surprise at this latest change in my plans. "But to be honest, I'm already bored with everything here."

"You're right. The games here stink." The girl I was speaking to replied as I finally turned to look at her.

She was a thin and tall scrawny girl who had long raven hair tied in a ponytail, with dark brown eyes staring directly into my emerald ones. She wore a black tank top over a gray t-shirt, black studded arm bands, brown cargo pants and black mid calf boots. The punk girl also had a key necklace around her neck to apparently match the outfit.

"Yeah…" I said, momentarily stunned while using my mana to quickly understand how this changed things, before replying. "But not as bad as the breath of those working here." I joked. "Major case of sewer mouth."

"Hehe. You're funny…" The girl laughed at that as she looked at me. "…and cute. Hey, the prizes aren't as bad as the games. So you owe me one."

She then placed her hand against one of the games, pressing it for a moment until it sparked and all of the tokens the machine gathered came spitting out of it as I looked amused at her trick.

"Nice trick." I admitted with a smile. "Wanna see what I can do?"

I then raised a hand as it began flashing green, encasing all the tokens and manipulating them into organized piles, dragging my index finger towards a paper bag I found lying nearby, I had all the tokens quickly filling it up.

"Wow!" The girl said, genuinely taken aback by that. "That's cool! You're like me."

"Yeah. It isn't that useful with technology, but I get by." I told her before offering my hand. "By the way, I'm Ben Tennyson."

"I'm Katelyn Emily Levin. But you can just call me Kate." She said while going for a fist bump.

"Nice to meet you Kate. Are you up to play some air hockey?" I asked picking up the paper bag while reinforcing it with subtle mana.

Kate looked over my shoulder and spotted two older kids looking at her and she got an annoyed look on her face.

"Naw. Maybe next time. Hey, you don't look to be from around here, want a tour of New York?" Kate asked before dragging me away.

"Trouble?" I questioned, immediately understanding the situation.

"Nothing I can't handle." Kate told me with a confident smile, which faltered for a moment. "But I rather avoid unnecessary stress."

Suddenly, just then, a third kid blocked our path as the other two kids finally caught up and surrounded us.

"Long time no see, Levin." The leader said. "Where are you going, freak. Home to recharge your batteries? And without giving me a kiss of goodbye?"

"Brad. Been a while since I last saw you, how's the hangout?" Kate boldly asked, not intimidated by the boy's attitude. "Still trashed like I left it for you?"

"Yeah and you're gonna pay!" The leader of the bullies dropped his previous smirk and displayed his annoyance at her. "You can't take us all alone, freak."

As two lackeys then attempted to restrain Kate's arms, I caught their wrists and casually squeezed with inhuman strength. "But I can!" I announced while both bullies winced in pain until they released their grasp on Kate, before I asked her. "Need some help?"

"Don't tell me the freak found a boyfriend. Ha! She's going to need a lot more than you, kid." The leader said threateningly. "Now beat it, or else!"

"I'm a freak too, you know?" I said before displaying my latest Anodite trick I've learned by channeling several green tendrils of mana as I got the other two kids hanging by their arms.

I wasn't worried about showing it to other people because these kids were already used to Kate and her energy absorption powers. Hell, aliens were showing up on the news on a regular basis.

"W-what are y-you?" The leader asked, this time gone was his bravado and fear now took its place.

"That's none of your business." I said before catching him with my last tendril, lifting them all off of their feet and sending them screaming in the air against the closest wall.

Kate approached me with a shocked expression while I dusted my hands off. "Dude, that was clutch!"

"Thanks." I replied, with the Omnitrix still hidden under my hoddie's sleeve. "You got your tricks and I got mine."

"Tight!" She exclaimed, impressed.

"So, about that tour you offered." I suggested and Kate smirked.

"Sure thing, bro. But I need to ask, how did you get your powers?" Kate asked me as we walked out of the arcade and down the street.

"I was born with it." I admitted, encasing my fist in a green light. "I can control what I call life energy. Plants, animals, people, whatever. I can soak up their life energy and dish it out when I have to... or want to. It even helps to boost my physical and mental capabilities."

"Dude, that's so awesome. Wish mine were that versatile." Kate grinned, having her hand emanating raw energy. "Like you I was born with mine. But I'm more like an energy sponge. Motors, air conditioners, lights, batteries and things like that."

"Seems useful." I remarked, knowing these weren't the limits of what she could accomplish.

"It has its perks." She admitted with a shrug before announcing. "Come on. I'll first show you where I live."

Underground in an abandoned subway station, Kate and I walked into a room. There were a few TV's, a vending machine, a poster of my game, a fridge, two beds, a kitchen area and a few mirrors.

"You live here?" I asked, looking around while trying to ignore her clothesline. "Alone?"

"Yep." Kate said, aware that I'd noticed that she had an extra bed. "I enjoy the extra space, dude."

"What about your parents?" I asked, trying to learn which version I was dealing with.

"Long gone." She admitted in a dismissive manner. "My father died and my mother married a goody two-shoes that always nagged me." She reached for her necklace and smiled. "This key here was my part away gift from all of that."

"I see. For what it's worth, I'm sorry." I told her in sympathy while still finding it a bit weird she went out her way to keep a car's key for so long. "So, why were those guys from before after you?"

"I kind of maybe trashed their hangout under the 39th Street Bridge." She admitted with a sheepish smile. "What about you? Back then it seems like you were all by yourself."

"Nah. My family is fine, just hanging in a nearby hotel. I'm on a summer camping trip with my cousins and grandfather." I told her and immediately noticed a sign of envy before she quickly hid it away.

"I see." Kate replied before opening one of the desks of her drawer and took out a stone, a piece of wood, a rubber ball, a sample of oil, a copper penny and a discarded bullet, putting them into her pockets as she sighed. "Always forget to bring these with me."

"And what might they be?" I asked genuinely curious how she learned that she could do that this early.

"Oh, I forgot to mention, I can also absorb matter. Mostly to turn my fist into some dope material, but it helps a bunch when I'm out of juice." Kate told me, making her fist shift into a metallic appearance. "So, where would you like to visit first? Unfortunately I don't think we have time to visit everything today."

"Don't sweat it. I also forgot to mention something about myself." I told her with a smile before pulling up my sleeve and displaying my alien watch. "Come, I'm sure you will find it badass."

Outside her base, Kate witnessed me transforming into my Lepidopterran (Stinkfly) form and smiled before grimacing at my smell.

"Ugh, you reek dude!" She said while pinching her nose. "Wait, I know about this massive bug!"

"Yeah, it's from those new games. As for the smell, in my defense they are from the oil my body secretes to keep my exoskeleton joints moving." I told her before grabbing her and flying off towards New York's bay.

"Oh yeah! Uhuuuu!" Kate shouted, kicking her feet against the waters of the nearby river as she smiled at me. "And people call me a freak. How'd you do that? How did you become a video game character?"

"It might be hard to believe, but I merged with a strange device that came from outer space which allows me to become multiple beings I've come to believe to be actual alien races." I said, noticing Kate didn't entirely believe me, but neither openly doubted me.

Flying off to Liberty Island, Kate kicked her feet against the Statue of Liberty before we ducked under the spikes of its crown and chuckled at the view we got of the city.

"That's so cool!" Kate shouted again, not afraid of the height we were in. "You gotta show them all to me. It's really just like that awesome video game! But you can have them all in one!"

I then flew off of the statue and headed towards New York City again before flying down the street level. We visited Times Square, Empire State Building, Central Park and even stopped at the Belvedere castle.

"Yeah!" Kate shouted. "Flying is so awesome!"

"Glad you enjoyed it." I told her as I transformed back into my human form.

"So that watch lets you turn into that thing whenever you want?" Kate's eyes began lighting up.

"Like I said, not just that one. It lets me turn into many more different aliens." I told her.

"You are the bomb! Please Ben, show me whatever aliens you can morph into." She began gushing in a way that reminded me of Lucy.

"Sure. You see, I wasn't a big fan of it in the beginning, but with time I learned it has its uses. If I need muscles…" I transformed into my tetramand (Four Arms) form, easily towering over Kate while proudly flexing my arms. "I have this big guy ready for action."

"Wow!" Kate muttered while blushing a little.

"Yeah, instant bodybuilder! But if I need to be fast…" I turned into my Kineceleran (XRL8) form, and zapped all around the place before appearing right before Kate. "This is my go to."

I then found myself momentarily stuck on a tangent, displaying some of my alien transformations to impress the half osmosian girl.

Surprising her with my Piscciss Volann (Ripjaws) and Ectonurite (Ghostfreak) form, made her laugh with my Galvan (Grey Matter) and Vulpimancer (Wildmutt) form, and got her curiosity with my Petrosapien (Diamondhead) and Galvanic mechamorph (Upgrade).

"And you said you weren't lucky, Ben." Kate chuckled. "Maybe… Can I test it out?" Kate asked as she reached for the Omnitrix, but I held her off.

"Be my guest to try, but it's stuck on my wrist." I told her as she got an idea alongside a mischievous look on her face.

"We should be partners." The punk girl proposed. "And between the two of us with our powers, we could do whatever we want whenever we want. We'd totally cash in. What do you say? Friends?" She stuck her hand out to me.

"I like that idea." I told her in a casual manner. "But I like my privacy just as much, so no walking around terrorizing the neighborhood for me. Doing some hero jobs here and there has its perks, you know."

"But it's no fun that way." Kate protested. "Help those that would call us freaks?"

"What's so bad about being a freak? Makes me feel special." I pointed out, which left her slightly confused. "Besides, did it look to you that I don't have fun? Just this summer I've already come across a lake monster, body snatching aliens and even faced some intergalactic bounty hunters that were looking for my watch." I tried to persuade her with an inviting smile while offering my hand. "I say you should join me instead, I know I can convince my grandfather to let you come with us. He knows about the watch, and I have a cousin with 'powers' like us."

"I-I don't know…" She said hesitantly back to me, having too much to process at the moment. Blowing off some trains and stealing video games was a walk in the park for her. But Kate had lived her life with so much sorrow, and now this kid was offering to help her to find a home, a real one. Maybe this was her chance, a chance to start anew, but was she ready for such a big step?

Perhaps the boy before her was lying and the watch could be easily removed, perhaps she could make it work with her. But what about his energy powers? What about his offer? Was she really passing up the chance of having a family that would accept her for what she was? Didn't she still longed for a family?

These were the few superficial emotions my mana was capable of reading from her, but before she could decide on anything unreasonable thanks to her energy addiction, my eyes lit up green and she felt a sudden aura of trust emanating from me as the intrusive thoughts were all dispersed.

Soon after she shook my hand almost without noticing.

"Friends, then." I announced. "Don't worry, my summer has barely begun and has already been filled with exciting adventures."

————————————————————————

KATE'S POV

After following Ben all the way back to the hotel he was staying at, I was greeted by the image of his small family. If only I had that growing up then maybe my life would've been happier instead of being filled with sorrow.

Turning back towards the boy that offered me this change, I questioned him. "Are you sure it's okay? I mean, it must be weird for them to accept a rat from the street like me."

"What are you talking about? Of course it's okay, I'm sure they will like you." The boy replied as he gently placed his hand over my shoulder and led me to meet everyone. "I just hope you like them."

"Any friend of Ben is a friend of ours." Added the elderly man with the red buttoned-up Hawaiian shirt with a floral design, he and the other girls made their way over to where Ben and I were arriving. "It's a pleasure to meet you. Kate, isn't it?"

"Kate Levin, sir." I nodded, initially worried that I would have to get used to living with a stric adult like my stepfather, however the old man faltered for a moment before giving me a grandfatherly smile.

"There's no need to call me sir, you can call me Max." I heard him telling me before being hugged by someone else.

"Haha! Or just Grandpa!" A blonde girl barged in with a childish laughter and strong arms. "Yeah, he isn't father to either of my parents, but it still feels right to call him that sometimes. Heh. You're really tall! I'm Lucy, by the way."

"Give her some space, mud brains." The girls with orangish red hair declared in a bossy tone before pulling the blonde chick away from me. "Nice to meet you, Kate. I'm Gwendolyn, but you call me just Gwen."

"Nice to meet you all." I said and watched as they surrounded me with huge smiles plastered onto their faces.

They were all very accepting of me joining their group, even after I told them the brief summary of my backstory, which for some reason I felt open to share, everyone seemed to be moved by it and genuinely wanted to help me. Finally looking back at Ben, I accepted them into my life.

"Now Kate, I don't mind if you travel and hang around with us, but there's still a lot to learn about you, and there's a level of trust to establish between us." Max spoke out to me. "Hope that doesn't sound unreasonable to you."

"I understand, si…..I mean, Max." I quickly added, not wanting to make a bad first impression but finding it weird how this man's attitude felt somewhat nostalgic to me, though I just couldn't put a finger on it.

"It's okay, you can relax, Kate." Max only chuckled at my response, approaching me before placing a hand over my shoulder. "You must be tired, or hungry, come with us."

After I released a breath that I didn't even realize I was holding, my new family presented me to the luxurious hotel they were in. I can't express how much I missed laying on a comfy bed like the ones they had.

The quirky girl named Lucy dragged me to eat something on their buffet and the other one called Gwen pushed me to try the spa early next day, which was nice and all, believe me, I really needed that delicious food, fancy bath and a long rest on a comfy bed, but the high point there has to go to sharing Ben's access to the sneak preview of that awesome game about his aliens.

All in all, by the end of the day we had to leave the hotel and enter the RV, it had been an awesome welcoming experience.

Once we were inside the 'Rust Bucket', I lingered in taking in my new surroundings. It was a bit beaten up, but seemed to fare better than the outside of the vehicle. It was a small R.V, but to me it was like a mansion after spending months in an abandoned subway.

"You can sleep here." Said Max as I turned towards where he was referring to, which turned out to be a small stained couch.

'At least it looks cozy and somewhat big enough to fit me.' I told myself while measuring up the couch.

"Come on, Kate, I'll show you around." Stated Ben as I quickly followed him. "This is the bathroom. It sometimes takes three people to flush the toilet." He referred to a small door in the wall of the R.V. before leading me to the back of the vehicle. "And this is where Gwen and Lucy sleep." He said as he pulled back a curtain revealing two bunk beds. "I sleep in the front seats with Grandpa. And that's about it!" Ben smiled at me which made me give back a small smirk in return.

"Alright kids, I think we've had enough excitement for one day, why don't we all hit the hay?" Max questioned as Gwen and Lucy moaned one after the other.

"Okay, Grandpa." I heard the girl with the blue shirt replying.

I then watched Lucy and Gwen move back towards the back of the R.V behind the curtain only for Ben to approach me with a pile of clothes and a new toothbrush for me to use. He headed towards the bathroom to change first after that.

"Here Kate, an extra pillow and blanket for you to sleep with." Said Ben as he handed the stuff over to me who managed to whisper back a small response.

"Thank you." I accepted the offer.

Ben nodded as his grandfather started the engine and drove off towards the outskirts of the city.

"We're heading towards a mall in the next town so you can get some new clothes if you like?" Ben informed me as he sat next to the table.

I couldn't help but to stare at him in awe. He was actually offering to buy me clothes with money from his own pocket. I mean, not that I would mind stealing anything, it's just that I really appreciated the gesture.

"Uh… Th...Thanks." I stuttered, barely recognizing myself after this sudden change in my life.

"Don't mention it." Ben smiled and replied as he gave a loud yawn. "Alright, I'll be taking some short rest, you should also enjoy the road for a while, talk to you later." Ben fist bumped me as he headed towards the front of the R.V to the passenger's seat.

"Later buddy." I finally calmed down before turning towards the bathroom, inside it I changed between clothes I had brought along and went to the small couch where I removed my shoes and got underneath the blankets. Sleep quickly took over me after I got used to the movement of the 'Rust Bucket' swinging over the road.

The next morning, I was awakened by the sound of a loud shouting.

"LUUUUCYYY!" A shrill voice rang out as I shot out of my bed.

Taking in my surroundings and remembering what had just happened less than a day ago, I reassured myself that I was traveling with Ben, his cousins and his grandpa. And if I wasn't mistaken, that shrill sound must be his cousin, the girl with freckles, Gwen.

Just then I had finally noticed that the R.V was not moving any more, but my thoughts were soon interrupted as the door to the Rust Bucket slammed open revealing a not so happy girl with what looked like oatmeal dripping down her hair and onto her blue shirt.

Gwen took no interest in me as she stomped her way over to the back of the Rust Bucket, a place where she disappeared for a moment from my sight only to quickly reappear with a new shirt in hand and a red towel. She marched over to the bathroom door muttering angrily as she slammed the door shut, locking herself in the bathroom.

Took me a while to come up with a plan on how to behave in this situation, it has been a while since I had to interact with other girls.

After I laid back down onto the couch, struggling to keep my eyes open, I heard a voice speaking to me. "Well, I can see that you aren't a morning person. Heh. Go back to sleep if you are still tired."

A few seconds later I heard the water of the bathroom turn on, as I listened to the spray of the water, I slowly drifted back to sleep, although it didn't last long as my eyes soon flew open to the sound of the bathroom door slamming against the nearby wall.

I slowly rose from the couch giving a loud yawn and stretching out my arms, thankful to myself of the sound sleep I had received the prior night.

"Oh good, you're finally up." The same voice from before spoke to me as I turned towards its source.

"Uh yeah." I said scratching the back of my head, strands of it still cover parts of my face, before finally asking. "What time is it anyways?"

"It's about 10 o'clock, we all figured we should give you some rest." The boy named Ben replied patiently.

"So what was that all about?" I merely nodded before questioning while I made pointing gestures to both the door and then to the bathroom.

Ben chuckled at my curiosity before explaining it as I sat back. "A little natural disaster between my cousins. You see, one is a little too serious and the other is an incurable prankster. Nothing they won't grow out of eventually… I think." Ben shrugged as he finally sunk back into the side of the couch against RV's window with his hands crossed behind his head.

Taking my time staring at him, I admit I might've lingered a little longer than I initially intended, It's just that I was not used to being around friendly boys, especially cute and dependable ones.

"Uhhh…" I was struggling for words. "Look I'm not really good with these things—" I continued before being quickly interrupted by Ben.

"Oh, don't worry, breakfast is still on the table outside." Ben said, giving me a small smile. "I know you are not used to being around that many people. Well, it's not the worst thing to get used to, I promise. Besides, it's bound to happen quite often around here."

I once again caught myself staring at the boy, this time however I was forced to hide a small blush that was creeping onto my pale face. Looking more at him, I came to appreciate how he had nice brown hair and some quite handsome green eyes.

Wait, what was I thinking?

For all of his kindness, he was still a boy I had just met.

And why did I accept to travel with him?

'Oh, right, we are partners now.' I recalled, now noticing I hadn't charged up for a while now.

Immediately trying to break the awkward moment as I cleared my throat, I said. "I'm gonna go eat something."

Ben turned to look at me before casually replying. "Sure. Just avoid eating anything that has six furry legs or antennae."

After I gave him a questioning look, he smiled and waved me away. "It's just that Grandpa likes to eat some weird stuff. He tends to prefer making food that involves insects and reptilian gizzards, so if that's not your cup of tea, I recommend you stay on alert for anything weird."

Just imagining what he was implying, my face quickly turned green. "Uh…that's okay. I'll keep that in mind for sure."

Ben let out a small laugh. "Oh, also be careful with Lucy, the blonde girl. I mean, you did see Gwen walking inside this morning wearing oatmeal as a hat, right?"

"Haha!" Unable to keep myself from laughing, I gave in and eventually replied. "Yeah, It seemed to suit her in a way."

After breakfast everyone piled up again into the Rust Bucket as we headed off towards the mall, once we arrived there, Lucy and Gwen quickly bolted from the R.V. with Max going after them.

As I was getting up from my seat, a voice stopped me from following them. "Kate, could you come here for a moment?"

I turned to the voice that belonged to Ben, replying a little nervous. "Uh, sure, what's up?"

Ben stared at me as he pulled out something that he was hiding behind his back, to me the object resembled an old plate buckle belt.

"What is it?" I inquired with a raised eyebrow.

"It's an electrical inhibitor." Ben pointed it out while smiling down at the strange object and began explaining it. "It helps control and maintain fields of electricity. From what you've told me, your powers exhibit electrical absorption, and right now you are unable to control this power." Ben finally concluded why he was handing it to me. "This device will help you by limiting and slowing down how much you absorb at a time until you are able to understand and truly control your powers."

I stared at the object and hesitantly reached my hand out towards it, as I grasped the item and slowly placed it around my waist I could immediately feel my body relaxing, like something inside of me had just stopped struggling.

It made me feel calm and reserved.

"Wow." Was all I could say as I looked up to Ben.

"I'll help you control your powers as you grow, and before you know it, you won't need this item to help you stay in control even after absorbing vast amounts of energy." Ben fist bumped my shoulder in a friendly manner. "In time we will find out where your powers derive from, so this should suffice for now. Now come, let's not make the others wait longer for us than they have already."

Quickly adjusting my gift into the belt loops of my pants, I followed Ben out of the RV and back with the crew. Once we reached them, Gwen quickly grabbed my hand.

"Come on Kate, I'll help you pick out some new clothes!" She said with excitement while not giving me space to argue..

"Oooo…kkayy" I said before being dragged by her.

However, making me feel like a toy, I was quickly snatched away from Gwen when Lucy grabbed my other arm and pulled me with more force than I had anticipated from such a small girl. "Shopping's lame, will do that last, come on Kate! Let's get some comic books and candies first!" She proclaimed, shooting her other hand up into the air.

It was almost comical, given how not long after I was stopped again once Gwen blocked our path with open and stretched arms.

"We're not here to buy more comics! We're here to get stuff for Kate!" Gwen shouted at her cousin, trying to lead us towards a nearby clothing store.

"But Kate likes Ben's game too! So she needs to get her own copy!" Lucy said, grabbing tight onto my arm.

"I'm sure he will let her borrow it!" Argued Gwen as she tried to pull me from Lucy's grasp, but the blondie was just on another level and didn't even budge.

Before I knew it, I became the item of tug of war between the rivaling cousins, however as I was about to be ripped in two, Ben finally joined the discussion.

"What's going on here?" He asked in amusement.

"I was going to take Kate here to shop for some new clothes." Proclaimed Gwen, finding that he would understand her motives.

"And I was going to take Kate to get a copy of your game, besides we hate shopping, right?" Lucy argued back, behaving like a lost puppy to Ben.

Noticing how awkward I was with all of that, he eventually let out a chuckle. "I understand where you are coming from Lucy, but Gwen is right. We're here to get Kate some new clothes, maybe if we have time we'll stop by the gaming store later, but right now, girls, why don't you help Kate while Grandpa and I go find some tools for the Rust Bucket?"

Feeling Lucy's hold over my arm lessened at Ben's reply, Gwen stuck out her tongue to Lucy and dragged us both off to the nearest clothing store.

After two hours of having to say 'no' to all the clothing items Gwen showed me, I had nearly given up finding anything.

Right now, we were sitting together eating lunch, with Gwen fussing over how picky I was when it came to clothing.

"Look, do I look like someone who wears colorful cheery clothes?" I asked the fiery female, trying my best to not sound ungrateful.

Gwen only stared at me and crossed her arms. "Well, after living on the streets for a few months I thought you might like a little change."

Lucy smiled at us before proposing. "Look, she must be a basic black wearing girl, if we help her find clothing like that, she might stop saying 'no' to everything you show her."

Gwen turned back towards Lucy, a bit surprised. "You know, that's not a bad idea. Alright, I think I know the perfect store for her then." She smiled as she got up from the table and dragged me by the arm again.

To be honest, by now I have become used to it, to my surprise we were actually getting along quite well, sure, Gwen was a bit sharp tongued and fiery while Lucy was just too air headed and playful, but I found myself liking their company.

Gwen halted our movement as we finally arrived at a store that from Lucy's remarks came right out of the dark times; everything was black from the hats to the shirts to the pants.

But in the end, I actually came to like the store as Gwen brought me over to a shirt rack that was laced with black shirts which were graffiti with band names to video games. Of course, one of the shirts that I had picked out had some of the aliens that were becoming popular in the media drawn in orange across the front of the shirt.

Gwen merely frowned at my preference and sighed, but Lucy actually laughed in amusement.

After an hour in the store, we had purchased four pairs of black jeans and two pairs of ripped up orange cargo pants, due to Gwen stating that I needed a little variation. Wishing to avoid further arguments, I simply nodded in agreement and accepted the gift.

Not only that, but I also ended up with multiple shirts ranging from black to dark navy blue, I had even picked out a few caps that had interested me, for once I left a clothing store with a smile on my face.

As we walked back towards the Rust Bucket, I heard Lucy sniffing me like a dog, to which I gave her a puzzling look.

"What?" I asked, slightly used to her antics.

Lucy wrinkled her nose before blandly stating. "You stink."

"Of course, I think I haven't had a proper shower since I was kicked out of my home." I replied, a bit embarrassed after being called stinky, which was a bit ironic given how I made a similar comment about one of Ben's transformations back when we first met.

Lucy was lost for words for a moment at the mention of my former home as Gwen eventually elbowed her.

"It's okay." I quickly stated, ready to drop the subject. "I just don't want to talk about it right now, okay?"

Gwen nodded in sympathy. "Of course, we respect your privacy." She looked at me before smiling. "But really, you need a bath, you stink."

I only shrugged at that. "It seems I keep being outvoted around here. Okay, I will take a shower."

When we finally reached the Rust Bucket, Ben quickly approached us with a friendly smile. "Took you guys long enough, but I can see it wasn't wasted."

"It took us more than a while to find a store that Kate actually liked." Stated Gwen, placing both hands beside her waist.

"I see. Glad you found something." Ben acknowledged. "So, what are the plans?"

I was about to reply with an excited 'Play video games!' But was stopped short by the look both Gwen and Lucy were giving me, as I recalled my prior promise, my mood instantly soured.

"Uh, take a shower?" I replied looking back over at the girls who had a smile on their faces.

"Was that a question? Heh. Sure, help yourself, I have already filled the water tank of the Rust Bucket." He teased me before heading towards his chair where he began to fidget on a small machine.

I followed the other girls into the RV, they had her pick out one of my new outfits to wear as they handed me towels to use.

"There's soap, shampoo and conditioner in the shower already, once you get undressed give me your clothes and I'll put them in the wash for you." Gwen told me.

I simply nodded and headed into the bathroom.

After disposing of my old clothes and placing the towels around my body and hair, I handed my clothes out to Gwen.

"Thanks." I said.

"No problem." Gwen replied as they turned away from me and I shut the bathroom door.

After a couple of minutes, I stepped out of the shower feeling greatly relieved. It felt good to have a shower after not being able to do so for so long. My hair was no longer greasy and to myself I smelt pretty good. Hoping now that I would get an 'Okay' from Gwen and Lucy, who were waiting patiently outside the door.

Wearing my new alien shirt along with a pair of new black pants, I placed my old necklace around my neck and underneath the fabric of the shirt. I looked at my reflection in the mirror and smiled. I had to admit liking the new me, and I was going to try my hardest to make this change last.

'Why though?' I thought briefly before immediately dismissing it.

Once I finally opened the door to the bathroom, I was greeted by the smiling faces of both Gwen and Lucy.

"That looks much better!" They complimented me as they took a whiff of me "And smells much better too!"

I only snickered at their teasing before replying while scratching the back of my head. "It did feel good to get a little cleaned up."

Just then, the door to the Rust Bucket opened revealing a distracted looking Ben. "Oh, sorry for not knocking." He excused himself, went to the front of the R.V., picking up something I couldn't see before he headed once again to leave.

However , just then, he stopped right at the door, noticing the girls were acting strange. "Oh, hey that looks great on you! I dig it!"

Noticing how easily I blushed, he smiled and left us.

Lucy and I looked over to Gwen who finally gave us a small nod and smile. "Go ahead. You are now free to do whatever you want."

The ginger girl sighed as me and Lucy cheered and walked out of the RV after Ben.

Not long after, it took merely seconds for both me and Lucy to get fully absorbed into our game match with Ben, with the occasional shouting at the screen and cheering each other on.

About an hour later, Grandpa Max entered the Rust Bucket looking at Gwen who was sitting on the couch reading one of her magazines.

"Alright kids, it's time to hit the road again. We're off to our next destination!" Grandpa announced excitedly.

"Hopefully it will be better than our last stop in Sparksville, I'd rather avoid more tourist traps." Lucy eventually remarked.

I gave a small shrug in return, not really understanding what they were talking about.

"I heard that Lucy, now why don't you put that game to rest for tonight and get ready for bed. We'll stop at a nearby campground for the night and in the morning we'll get in a little exercise for all of us." Grandpa said with a smile.

"Understood, Grandpa." Ben said before turning off our game, despite our vocal complaints.

I was still taking in what Max had just said, we would be 'training' tomorrow. This meant I would get to see if my new power inhibitor really worked.

Looking down at my inhibitor, it made me feel at peace, I didn't have those intrusive thoughts of trying to hurt someone to make myself feel better. My train of thought was interrupted by Ben approaching me.

"You okay, Kate?" He asked quietly.

I shook my head and looked over to him. "Yeah I'm fine."

Ben seemed to not fall for my fake smile. "If you need to speak with someone, I'm here." He told me, but feeling I wasn't ready to talk, then said before walking to the front of the Rust Bucket. "Don't worry, I'm not going to press you about it. I guess it's good night then."

I gave a 'Good Night' response before turning towards the cupboards below the couch to where the girls had placed my new clothing. Reaching out, I pulled one of the shelves out and took out a new set of pajamas, before eventually heading towards the bathroom to change.

Once I finally was changed and had brushed my teeth, I approached the couch to retrieve my pillow and blanket.

I laid down facing the ceiling where I watched the light overhead swing back and forth to the motion of the R.V; closing my eyes as sleep took me, I found myself unusually happy.

However, it eventually faded away once I got woken up with a start and breathing heavily, I placed a hand on my head while struggling to shake the nightmare away.

'It was just a dream!' I kept telling myself while trying to calm my breathing, after I sort of succeeded in doing so, I laid back down to stare at the ceiling once more.

The dream turned nightmare was terrifying, just another reminder of who I once was, someone I've been running from.

I closed my eyes as the pictures returned to my mind.

Images of a time when lights were flashing everywhere as my temper kept building within me, I could feel the electricity building up inside my chest, with more climbing my limbs like a ladder. When I finally released the energy everything went dark, a loud rumbling was heard around me as a woman's scream echoed throughout my first home.

I felt exhausted but also relieved for the release of tension, however once I looked around to the home I had just brought down, that relief immediately vanished. A home filled with sorrow and bitter memories, tears started to build up in my eyes at the forgotten memories.

"MONSTER!" A rough voice screamed at me who looked towards where the voice was coming from.

A man in his late 40's was approaching me holding up a woman around his shoulders.

"GET OUT OF HERE!" The same man bellowed, my sadness quickly turned to fear as I started to move away. "NOW, LEAVE YOU FREAK!" He shouted again, the word freak burned me from the inside out.

Turning away, I started to run to the still standing shed at the back of the house. On my way where I found my old bike, I recall stealing a car key out of anger and pettiness, the same key I still carried with me after all those years, I then mounted the bike and just peddled.

Onward I went to near exhaustion, when I collapsed on a hillside just before I closed my eyes, I saw the early sun rising over the bland city that was Bellwood.

Finally opening my eyes that began to water, I looked around the dark Rust Bucket to realize they were at the campground, for the R.V was no longer moving and I could hear the soft snoring coming from Max at the front of the vehicle. Without thinking twice I threw my blanket off of myself and made my way outside to the dark world around me not turning back.

I started to make my way from the R.V; my mind was processing in overdrive, all I could think about was my past and what I was, stopped moving for a second and looked down at my hands; to me they were just weapons of destruction, causing nothing but pain and sorrow, even to those I didn't aim them at.

Clenching them together as tears started to stream down my face; I was at loss of what to do. If I stayed with the Tennysons, and the Mann girl, I was afraid that I would hurt them, but if I left them where would I go?

A burning sensation started to build in my body as the tears started to fall faster. I tried to compose myself, trying not to yell out, to scream to the sky of why I felt this way, and why I was chosen for such fate?

My revelation came to an end when I heard the squeaking of the door to the Rust Bucket open.

Freezing in place as I saw a dark figure exit the vehicle, in desperation I flung my body behind the nearest tree as I rubbed my eyes and face trying to get rid of the fact that I had just been crying.

"Kate?" The quiet voice spoke.

Feeling my body tense up once I recognized it was Ben, he must have heard me get up and saw that I was no longer sleeping on the couch.

"Kate, I know you're out here." Ben spoke in a calm manner.

I kept quiet as I heard him getting closer to my hiding spot.

'Forgot he has powers beyond the watch.' I told myself as the footsteps came closer, preparing myself for what was to come only to be surprised when I heard his footsteps quieting down.

I gave a sigh of relief, thinking he had gone somewhere else.

"Hey." A dark figure sprung out from behind me as I gave out a gasp of surprise. Ben chuckled as he quickly asked. "Mind telling me what are you doing out here?"

I merely blinked at him before I looked down to my bare feet, at which Ben raised an eyebrow.

"I heard the door open and I decided to go take a look for myself, after I saw that you weren't in your bed, I figured I should go look for you." He finished while raising his arm. "After all, you and I are partners, aren't we?"

I fistbumped him rather meekly while avoiding looking right into his face, which was full of inquiry. He finally asked as he raised my chin and looked deep into my face. "Were you crying?"

This threw me out of my thoughts before I quickly declared while I threw back my shoulders and deepened my voice in order to appear tough. "NO! Of course I'm not crying…. Only babies cry!"

In response, Ben just placed a hand over my shoulder. "Hey, I cry when I'm sad."

Reclaiming my composure as my shoulders relaxed and I turned my head away from Ben, only to lean against the tree and snicker. "Right. Nice one."

Ben gave her a questioning look. "You know Kate…" He began as he placed another hand on my shoulder and I turned to look at him. "…I was being honest before. You can tell me anything, I'm here to help you."

To me his emerald eyes were mesmerizing, but I couldn't bring myself to describe them as such or approach the feelings I was having, so instead I just looked away again.

"I'm… just thinking." I managed to mutter and Ben nodded.

"About….?" He tried helping me out.

As I began wondering if I could really trust him, I only had to think back to the good time we've been having together, smiling at the good memories I let out a breath I was holding and turned back to Ben. "It's just… so much has happened in my life, in such a short time, it's just…. a lot to take in I guess."

Ben smiled at me as he slid his hand down my arm to grasp my hand. "Do you want to talk about it?"

I felt my face turn red as his touch lingered, somehow I knew that I could trust him, he had powers too, plenty more than me. If I was a freak, he was too.

"Alright look…" I began getting a small smile from Ben who was happy that I was finally opening up to him. "I'm not ready to tell you everything, but I'm willing to explain a little, maybe… maybe it will help."

Ben nodded in acknowledgement. "I understand, you can tell me everything when you're ready. Come on, I want to show you something." He smiled as he led me back to the Rust Bucket.

This time I was the one raising an eyebrow in curiosity, as I followed him to my surprise, Ben didn't make his way back inside, instead he led me to the back of the vehicle where a ladder stood.

"Come on." Ben whispered as he began his ascent up the ladder and I followed him.

Once the two of us reached the top of the Rust Bucket, Ben tiptoed silently to the edge of the R.V with me close behind. As he sat down, he patted the place next to him, inviting me to join him, in which I complied while trying to leave a small breathing space between the two of us.

Leaving our legs dangling from the edge, Ben sat back on his hands and smiled towards the sky with me deciding to look up as well, and what I saw was amazing, the sky was lit up by thousands of stars and the moon was in full glow as well.

"Wow!" I mused with a grin. "After living in the city for a while, I forgot the sky could look like this."

Ben gave a small chuckle. "Yeah, I know the feeling, this is one of my favorite parts of these road trips, sometimes when I can't sleep I come out here to think and just let my mind become clear."

Closing my eyes, I noticed that I felt at ease, I hadn't felt this relaxed in a long time, which almost made me sad. "I wish this was how I always felt."

Ben gave me a curious look.

"It's just that…most of the time I feel angry, and like it's all twisted up inside me. And after a while, it needs to be released into this one huge explosion." I revealed my secret.

"That's not healthy Kate." Ben replied quietly. "People need to express how they feel and let out what their feelings are at that moment, to let it build up like that is just asking for trouble. Harming both you and everyone else indiscriminately."

I merely nodded as a smile plastered on my face. "Look who's talking?"

"What?" Ben asked confused with a blink of his eyes

"So what you're saying is I need to let out my emotions?" I said. "You look pretty stoic to me."

Ben only shrugged at me as he turned away. "I have my moments, some of my transformations allow me to better express myself than I ever could. But I'm far from stoic."

I couldn't resist laughing at his reply. "You know what I meant, you're doing it right now, looking cool and all."

"You think I'm cool?" He gave an eye smile.

"Hey, I've got to say that in my defense you are still a mystery to me, so I guess it sort of explains it a bit. Besides I was just joking…a little." I replied with my hands inside my pockets.

Ben didn't answer for a moment.

"Look, to tell you the truth, I wish I could be like you. You've got plenty of powers but you seem to not let it go to your head." I finally admitted.

Ben turned to face me. "You know, there are times when I get pissed too. Believe me, I can easily hurt others if I'm not careful. But I like to believe I'm protecting someone or something I care about. Even if sometimes I forget to make it clear."

"Makes sense to me, I can't blame you for that." I agreed. "You are doing your best."

Ben smiled at me as the two of us both looked back up to the sky. After a moment of silence, Ben eventually broke it. "Kate?"

"Yeah, Ben?" I replied as I faced him.

"You know, I can teach you some meditation if you like?" He began. "I mean, I'm confident it will help with your powers. But it might also help you reach the peace of mind you are wishing for."

Staring at him for a moment, I didn't know if he was just joking. "You really think so?"

"It worked for me!" He reasoned with a casual shrug, lighting up his fists in a green light. "What do you say? Every night we'll come out here and train for about an hour or so."

"Sounds awesome." I told him.

"Well, we'll start tomorrow. It's already late, so I think we should head back inside." Stated Ben standing up, I followed him in return.

"Um, yeah, it's been a long day." I smiled before following him down the ladder and back inside the RV.

After figuring that the couch was getting more comfortable every time I laid on it, I awoke the next morning feeling relatively well. The nightmares hadn't returned and I believed it was because of my talk last night with Ben.

She grinned at the precious memory, but was brought out of my thoughts by someone shouting my name.

"Kate! Breakfast!"

I felt my stomach growl before rushing to make my way outside, looking outside to find Lucy and Gwen sitting around the small pick-nick table eyeing their food suspiciously. Once I walked over to where Gwen was sitting and sat down next to her, my face was scrunched up in disgust at what was lingering on my plate; looking over to Lucy who was doing the same thing.

Before I knew it, a plate piled high with a white mush topped with what looked like black beetles was placed in front of me. I wrinkled my nose at the sight in front of me.

"Alright guys, you better eat up, the day will be long!" Shouted Max as he began to joyously eat his helping of…. whatever it was it was made of.

Gwen faked gagging into her mouth as she stared down at her plate and picked up her spoon and began to push the white mush around.

After Grandpa Max had finished eating his meal, he turned towards the kids where he noticed they hadn't even touched their breakfast.

"Everything all right, kids?" He asked, genuinely confused.

We all turned and looked at him and then back to each other until Lucy finally had the courage to say what we were all thinking. "Well Grandpa, the thing is, we are waiting for Ben to come back."

"What do you mean?" Max asked with a puzzled expression. "Where is he?"

"He went to bring some food." Gwen added. "Grandpa, it's not normal to eat food with bugs in them."

Max looked down to the ground a little heartbroken. "Oh, I see."

"What they mean, Grandpa…" Ben said as he arrived in a blue flash in his kineceleran (XRL8) form, carrying some bags. "…is that you make really good food. But we're just not a huge fan of when bugs are thrown on top." He finished as he circled around the table and placed several meals for us.

Lucy gave a silent cheer while Gwen and I shared a smile of relief.

Max gave a nod in acknowledgement and sighed. "Alright! I get what you're saying."

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(30/06/2021)

(15/07/2021)

(17/11/2023)

*Hey there! Thanks for reading my work! I hope this chapter is of your liking. I tried to have Levin be an ally from the beginning without making it too out of character. Honestly, even the original Kevin, I don't know why he hadn't accepted Ben's peace offer. As for the mind manipulation, I was aiming to make it subtle, but I've been receiving some feedback that it was too subtle to properly understand.

And yes, Lucy is taking the original Ben's place as the young prankster.

Sorry if you expected more of it. 😅

Any ideas for powers, adventure arcs and girls are more than welcomed. I might not use anything, but you will have my gratitude for trying.

If this chapter is a mess of grammatical errors, please wait, I'll promptly try to fix it. But for that I need your feedback.

Thanks as always for your time, hope you have a fantastic day and please stay safe.

Bye.

** Like always, the next update might take quite some time to come. 😓

*** Is my MC acting unnecessarily evil? I personally feel like it suits the character I'm building, but I'm open to all sorts of criticism.

**** Should I slow down with the series episodes? Have a special chapter just to flesh out the characters? Or slowly build them in between the adventures?