"That was a good game, son!" The coach of Ben's football team praised Ben's goalkeeping reflexes and saves.
"If you were my son, I'd send you to Europe after your senior year so you can make a name for yourself in the big leagues. You are a lot better than some top-division goalkeepers with your reflexes. We won the state championship because of you keeping clean sheets throughout the season! That's a state record!" He exclaimed proudly, playfully shoving Ben.
"Nah, it's because of our good defense that we pulled through," Ben lied through his teeth. He knew his defenders were subpar, and the league knew it too.
"Come off it now, you are only fourteen and putting your seniors on the bench already. And our defense is the same as mannequins wearing our jersey and posing as defenders!" The coach scoffed.
"Alright, everyone go home and don't go crazy because of our first trophy. Rest well because you'll still come back for practice this summer hols." The coach bellowed at the young players.
Grunts and complaints soon filled the locker room as they prepared to head out. More than two years had passed since Ben fought Kevin and Vilgax. These were peaceful times that Ben cherished. In truth, Ben didn't want to fill the striking/forward role in the football team because he was faster, stronger, and had better reflexes than his peers and those older than him. He grew into such a monster of a human because of his encounters and experience in dealing with hostile extraterrestrial life forms and a lot of near-death experiences at such a young age.
His battle IQ has always been tested and molded by every challenge he survived. It is not a stretch to call him an experienced warrior even though he had help from the most expensive device ever created in his universe. Ben freshened up in the locker room and left for home. His parents took him out to celebrate his victory with his team and let him play video games late into the night. It was like having a second birthday for him. 'If I can keep having this, then I might remain on the school's football team as their goalkeeper,' Ben thought as he went to bed. Ben had gotten a little taller, and puberty was working in his favor.
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Meanwhile, Max Tennyson, also referred to as Grandpa Max by Ben, received a notification from his plumber's badge in his RV. It was a warning about a break-in into the forbidden weapons facility. But the plumber was kicking back and taking it easy outside of his RV, grilling some alien meat. His grandson and granddaughter were away enjoying their holidays, and it was just him and Mother Nature. He enjoyed the peace he was having but also missed the company of his grandchildren. For once, he didn't have to worry about any alien invasion or stress about work. Vilgax had his ass handed to him by a ten-year-old boy with one of the most destructive and most expensive gadgets created. That news alone had to buy Earth a few more years of peace. And most aliens aren't stupid enough to go to a planet where a planet conqueror like Vilgax failed to conquer more than once.
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Gwendolyn Tennyson finished her academics with good grades as expected but with a little help from her grimoire. She looked through her grimoire to find something that would help her memorize and store more useful spells and information in her brain much faster and longer. She already had an edge in her academics but tried this to help with her mind. For someone like her who studies and practices magic, developing the mind is the same as developing muscles for a bodybuilder. She asked her parents to sign her up early for karate classes this summer hols. Her parents were happy that their daughter at least wanted to learn a form of self-defense to protect herself if the need arose and immediately gave their support. In truth, Gwen was tired of running away from threats and aliens that tried to stop Ben or the existence of mankind. She vowed to be the best student/disciple the dojo ever produced. She spent her afternoons in the dojo and her nights practicing her spells. On a particular night, she felt a disturbance in her mana and saw a vision of Kevin in his form that consisted of various alien parts passing out.
"Kevin!" Gwen said out loud, breaking her concentration.
"Anything wrong, dear?" Gwen's mom rushed upstairs and knocked on her door.
"Nothing, Mom, I didn't know I was loud." Gwen turned towards the door.
"Alright, dear, if you need anything, come find me."
"Ok, mom."
"Why did I see Kevin just now? I hope he is alright, even though he was such a jerk for doing what he did." Gwen said softly as she looked out of her window into the starry sky.
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Two months had passed in the null void, and Kevin had finally regained his human form back with some perks. He managed to keep the Technomorph (Upgrade) and Petrosapien (Diamondhead) traits in him and recycled the remaining alien traits into energy that was broken down even much faster than before since he had control over his Petrosapien traits and tributes; one of which includes energy absorption.
Kevin woke up feeling very stiff and almost unaware that he looked human again. He knew for a fact that he had gotten his legs back, but he wasn't sure about his body until he saw his reflection on the see-through cell glass that had some light trapped in it.
"Oh boy, I am me again!" Kevin exclaimed happily.
"I liked you better when you were a buff ball of solitude. Now you are all scrawny looking." Khan snickered from his cell. Kevin didn't even get the chance to inspect his naked body properly as Khan continued his verbal assault.
"You look like you were abandoned by your parents. You look like those kids they use for street cons, haha. You look like a little goofball, a sight for sore eyes indeed. You are so skinny I thought you were a giant Galvan, haha, the only missing is a bump in your head and some whiskers. You look like a buy one get one free, only this time you are the 'free.' You make the wardens of this place look bad like they are doing child labor here instead of imprisoning the most formidable criminals in the universe. Hey, why don't you run along, kid, this ain't no place for children, haha." Khan laughed and rolled on the floor while clutching his stomach for dear life. The rest of the inmates laughed along and even made strange noises that depicted laughter but sounded like roars and screams. It is an alien prison after all, but that didn't stop them from understanding what Khan was saying.
Kevin frowned and used the Petrosapien (Diamondhead) traits to clothe himself, giving himself a Spartan warrior armor look and was satisfied with his control over it.
"If I were you, kid, I wouldn't just stupidly show off that ability to make those rare crystals seemingly out of nothing like Petrosapiens. You will be used till you die if you aren't careful, kid." Khan said with a change in the tone of his voice.
"Oh yeah, what's your problem though? You have been on my business ever since I came here, you wanna throw down big guy?" Kevin said clearly taunting the humanoid tiger. Khan
only smiled and turned his back to Kevin and let out a yawn as he seemingly went to sleep on his bed.
"Don't you dare-inner peace, remember what he taught." Kevin wanted to flare up and take action but saw a glimpse of his late master in his head and took deep breaths.
'Maybe I shouldn't be showing off like this.' Kevin thought as he absorbed the crystal armor on his body back inside him, leaving him completely naked.
"I'll just wait for those robots to pass by again." Kevin said to himself and sat on his bed in a lotus position to practice his energy circulation and cultivation technique his late master passed down to him.
Three hours later, a guardian automaton passed by and noticed an anomaly in Kevin's cell and reported it immediately.
"Hey, tinhead! Get me some clothes and some food. What? You've never seen an Osmosian before?" Kevin spoke sarcastically to the automaton and waited for its next action. The automaton didn't make a sound and just left the cell.
"Everyone's just ignoring me today, even tinhead thinks I am not worth its time." Kevin said and let out a sigh. He never left his position one bit. He was already getting to the sweet part of the technique where his whole being is rested, his cells broken down and restored, complete isolation of the outside world, and total calm. When he reaches this point, he can just review what he has done so far, any corrections or modifications to be made, and plans for the future. He used this stage to remove the traits he didn't want in his body and keep the ones he thought he needed and amplify their strength and his retention of their respective DNA. Before this stage, his body is usually repairing itself and restoring lost energy if any, and detoxification but that process could take longer depending on the amount of toxins present in his body.
The automaton came back ten minutes later with white clothing and food that it passed through a rectangular hole in the cell. The clothes were simple white long-sleeves and white trousers, the meal consisted of synthesized earth-based rice and alien meat.
"I am not starving, but I could eat."
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