3 Early adventures - part 1

[WASHINGTON B.C.]

A fire was going on in an apartment building in Washington D.C., inside its chaos a mother and son were running for the door only for flaming debris to fall around them. They were about to be crushed as they braced themselves for the worst, but the crushing blow never came.

When the two opened their eyes and looked to see what had happened, they were greeted by the image of a volcano man radiating high amounts of heat holding up the debris.

"Who are you?" The mother asked, still shocked by the amazing view before her while also partially blinded by a combination of both heat and brightness.

—MC'S POV—

"Don't worry, I'm here to help." I said, sufficiently aware of my own blazing aura that the flames of my body quickly dimmed to a minimum. Still amazed by how much stronger I was in this form, I effortlessly tossed the debris aside and rubbed my hands together before proceeding to absorb all the flames in the room into my own body.

"Wow! You are a Pyronite from Pyros! The comics were right about your people really existing!" The boy gushed to me, though he still knew better than to just approach me, instead the boy showed me his golden card. "I have your trading card, could you please give me your autograph?"

"Sure thing buddy." I said in a friendly manner to my first fan and complied to his request, tactfully brazing a small sign on the golden card while swiftly leading the family through the door.

You see, this was a little secret I've been keeping for a while now. Since I knew it was just a matter of time for me to become a celebrity just as famous as the original Ben had eventually become, I wanted the masses to know about the world beyond them, the one filled with aliens of all kinds. But I also knew revealing the truth all at once would be too shocking of a plot twist for most.

That's why I've been secretly pitching a bunch of stories and merchandise material, to slowly get people used to it. Currently I've only managed to have it reach the comic book and video game market, but soon enough, with all the exposition and free market I will be with the news televising my heroic accompaniments, let's just say that I might be able to build a cinematic universe.

I like to believe that I'm doing a public service, with all the near world ending encounters I might have to face in this summer alone, and it doesn't hurt that I'll be making more than a few bucks. It's the kind of synergy that would make any studio mogul proud.

Now, back to my heroic rescue, after ignoring the staircase that was about to cave in, I led them straight into the hallway.

"This way!" I eventually pointed and they looked to see a dead end with a window until I fired a heatray, blasting a hole into the wall before punching it out of the wall. "Come. Trust in me." I told them as I held out the woman's hands in a reassuring gesture. Fortunately, I've mastered my body temperature enough to make my fiery hand surprisingly bearable to the human touch.

The mother looked really nervous at first, but her son soon vouched for me and so the two moved forward. As us three vanished in a tornado of fire that cascaded downwards, both mother and son reappeared again back to normal on the ground safe and sound.

As for me, instead of revealing myself to all the other civilians, I opted for keeping my identity as just a freaky fiery tornado and left the scene in a puff of smoke.

Rushing just because I knew that the fire I had just stopped was actually a diversion to cover up a jewelry store robbery. But since I wasn't an amateur, I handled the fire just in time to stop the bad guys from getting away.

Meanwhile, at an intersection in the city, a car that was being driven by the robbers sped right by, ignoring the stoplights and with no regard for the lives of the civilians as they ran away to the sidewalk.

As they looked in the rearview mirror, they saw that a bright cloud of fire and smoke was on their tail and rapidly closing its distance.

"What the hell is that?!" One shouted as the driver made the car go faster.

Suddenly, the fiery cloud formed a fireball in its core before tossing it at the robbers' car, hitting it in the back and sending it flying in the air right into a brick wall as the driver screamed. The car came crashing down to the ground as the robbers rubbed their heads still in a daze.

The cloud condensed itself again, bringing me back to my Pyronite humanoid form. I then pulled the ruined door off of the car and glared at the criminals I had just stopped.

"Unless you guys want a permanent sunburn, hands against the wall. Now!" I ordered while doing my best Ghost Rider impression, with perhaps just a little help of my mana being used to raise an aura of intimidation, and soon enough the robbers obliged.

Although I knew that my watch symbol wouldn't start beeping any time soon, I still hadn't been entirely open with both Grandpa and my cousins, so I flew off before they came to suspect my long absence.

And just as I had anticipated, while on my way out of the scene, I managed to see some police cruisers come riding up when the cops quickly got out and pointed their guns at the robbers who had already surrendered themselves.

Further away, I controlled my powers so that my burning cloud dimmed its light as it got close to the Rust Bucket on the highway, reallocating myself through the vehicle's ventilation system and returning to solid state right before transforming back to my human form.

Flushing the toilet just in case, I washed my hands and joined the group. No one seemed to have noticed the blast of green light or questioned why I've taken so long using the bathroom.

'Another great success!' I thought to myself, relieved that it had worked in the end, but still aware that this situation was merely provisional until I managed to finish setting a couple of things up.

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The next morning, somewhere else entirely…

A mysterious figure with his face covered, wearing gloves and a trench coat knocked on an apartment building with a sign hanging over the door that said 'Dr. Animo'.

Expecting to not be answered and completely ignored, the figure briefly retrieved one glove, revealing a black metallic pattern with green stripes, before casually unlocking the front door lock.

As it quietly entered the apartment, it immediately heard several animal sounds while also noticing a cluster of cages with a collection of animals in them. There were birds, reptiles, and mammals of all sorts.

It was quite literally a zoo.

As the mysterious figure continued to wander around in silence, the disguised man eventually found the dedicated doctor, known as Doctor Animo, had been working with one of the cages, the one with a bullfrog.

As the stranger walked up behind him, stepping into the light, Doctor Animo halted his experiments and immediately demanded. "Who are you? How did you get in?"

Dr. Animo was once a respected and promising researcher in veterinary science who was driven crazy when he desired to rebuild animal DNA into super animals. His career was cut short though when it was discovered that he was performing twisted genetic experiments on animals.

He had hoped that his research would win him the Verities Award, which is an award in the veterinary science field. However, because of the nature of his research, he lost the award to another doctor, named Kelly.

This drove him even madder and he faded to obscurity for five years until he could finally perfect his research and show everyone that he was right.

Since he had locked himself indoors for five years, his skin and formerly brown hair turned pale from overwork and lack of exposure to sunlight. He now wore a gray shirt with a brown vest, cargo pants, and black fingerless gloves and boots.

"Apologies, the door was open and I did knock before entering." The figure, now identified as a male, said with a very subtle voice modulation.

"Clearly no one told you that an unlocked door isn't an invitation to enter." Animo said while chastising himself for forgetting to lock the front door, not really interested in why the man was masked or why his voice didn't sound normal. "Now get out! You're disturbing me."

As the unhinged doctor was about to go back to his animals and completely ignore his visit, the disguised man reached for his attention once again.

"Doctor Aloysius Animo, believe me, I'm not here to get your goat, instead, I've come to make you an offer." The mysterious man suddenly said. "I've got ties to an influential organization that will certainly welcome someone with your particular set of skills."

"Not here to get my goat, you say..." Dr. Animo Pondered for a while. "Interesting choice of... words." He said, before returning the bullfrog to its cage. "You must be an animal lover like me."

"They do fascinate me, like most living beings do." The mysterious man replied with a nod of his head. "I'm a firm believer that life… no matter the adversity it faces, always finds a way."

Dr. Animo gave him a wide smile. "Apologies for my previous rudeness. I'm so often interrupted that I can occasionally become quite savage. And I must say, it's been a while since I last spoke with another man of science. Please, elaborate further on your offer."

"I will be straight with you Doc, my organization is beyond puzzled as to how someone with your résumé of achievements has escaped its radar for so long." The masked man handed him a phone that the doctor inspected for a moment. "Our offer is to hand you the necessary funds and adequate equipped facilities to aid you in your research, in return you will sign a contract of first-look with us. Of course, you will still receive all the accolades and admiration a genius of your caliber deserves, but we will be expecting you to present every idea of yours to us first."

"Do I look like someone that requires a strong backing?" Dr. Animo asked, this time with less aggressiveness in his voice. "You see, I'm nothing if not resourceful and crafty."

"But that's exactly the point of my visit." The mysterious man stated. "Alone by yourself, you've already gone this far. Just imagine what new discoveries you might accomplish with the best equipment money can buy and with a steady supply of test subjects. Besides…" The mysterious man grabbed something from his trench coat's pocket. "Consider this a sign of good faith."

Dr. Animo widened his eyes in surprise. "It is… it is the…"

"The very same Verities Award's trophy that should've been yours." The mysterious man replied as he handed the object to the shell shocked doctor. "My organization has the necessary connections for not only acquiring this trophy to you, but also cleaning everything regarding your sudden disqualification five years ago."

"I-I…" The Doctor muttered as the years he spent isolated perfecting his work seemingly returned to him. "I thank you for this, it really means a great deal to me."

"Don't mention. And please, just call me Mister Green." The mysterious figure replied as he moved to leave the place. "You should be receiving a more formal invitation through that phone I gave you. If by some reason you still end up deciding to not work with us, I still wish you farewell Doc." The man stopped. "Oh, and don't worry about your rent, the last six months have already been paid. Consider it one last incentive, my organization is really invested in making business with you."

As he was left alone, the mad scientist with delusions of grandeur finally stopped to consider his current situation and decided that it was time to change. He had potential for much more and it was finally time that others came to realize it as well.

The deranged doctor had been discredited, disgraced and tossed aside. Everything that he had up to that moment accomplished and worked so hard for was passed off as he was thrown off. But in one day, years later, he not only gained an ally, but regained everything he lost and more. All his achievements would be acknowledged, he would regain his credibility and find meaning in his work aside from vengeance.

"Mr. Green, huh? What an intriguing individual." Dr. Animo said, in one of his brief moments of feeling sentimental, not understanding why he felt that he could trust such an enigmatic figure.

After finally receiving a call from the organization the strange man had mentioned, Dr. Aloysius Animo began packing the things he would need for working elsewhere.

He placed some sort of helmet on his suitcase that looked like it was made from a pasta strainer and other parts. It had two antennae-like protrusions on it and a strap on the bottom of it.

Dr. Animo also placed some sort of strap that would go over his vest with some sort of dial at the strap that connected it.

"My Transmodulator!" Animo remarked to himself. "Phase number one creates and accelerates mutations at the genetic level." He pondered with a wide smile. "I can't wait to test its limits and reach phase two."

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At the grand opening of the district's newest Mega Mart, Grandpa Max had decided to make a stop to go shopping there. After entering it and finding their way around the place, Ben looked to his side and noticed the cereal aisle.

He then stepped aside to find his own brand represented by the Guardian of the Universe cereal and at the bottom left corner, there was a caption that said 'Free: Inside Guardian of the Universe Cards'.

"Marketing towards kids should never be underestimated." Ben exclaimed smugly to himself, rather satisfied with the most recent experiment his agent had taken in order to expand his brand.

As Ben made his way towards Lucy, Gwen and Max, who were standing with the shopping cart, he heard Max picking up a can in disappointment.

"Only canned octopus? I thought this store prided itself on a wide selection of goods." Max complained.

"Grandpa?" Ben called for his attention. "I think it's because we are at the can aisle. Perhaps you should look at the seafood aisle."

"Hum… I think you might be right Ben." Max concluded after accepting his logic. "Thanks."

"Uh, Grandpa? No offense, but can we please, please, please just continue to have normal meals on this vacation? One that doesn't involve stir-fried tentacles?" Gwen asked.

"Yeah! How about some hamburgers and French Fries? What do you say Ben?" Lucy joined in, practically shouting in excitement.

"Nonsense." Max smiled amicably. "Now where do you suppose they keep the sheep's bladders?"

As they continued into the electronics aisle, Max suddenly suggested. "Let's check out the pet department."

"Please tell me you aren't looking for our breakfast." Gwen begged in a desperate mood.

Ben looked confused. "Yeah, why are you going to the pet department? We don't even have a pet."

"I-I… I was just kidding with you kids." Max smiled rather awkwardly before moving on.

Later that day, after buying some supplies they needed for the journey and as the Rust Bucket rode away heading south, the kids and their grandfather were recalling their adventure in Washington DC.

They had spent the day touristing around, taking pictures in front of places such as the White House, Lincoln Memorial and the United States Capitol. Besides taking a quick visit to the National museum of natural history and the Library of Congress.

Max made sure they didn't miss the opportunity of experiencing the half-smoke, which was sold as the undisputed champ of Washington DC's best foods. Consisting basically of a sausage casing filled with beef, ground pork and a special spice blend.

'Well, I didn't get to fight an actual T-Rex and a mammoth. But at least I got myself a mad scientist.' Ben thought as he placed a copy of Animo's Transmodulator into a suitcase which already contained a small piece of Vilgax's robots.

He was now going to use it as his Trophy Box for anything he got from his encounters. Besides, Ben knew he could work through the night with his galvan and galvanic mechamorph form to master such tech without having to run all the way to the hidden location where he had been hiding what he managed to scavenge from his fights.

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[THE KRAKKEN]

—MC'S POV—

Late at another night with a full moon in the sky by a lake, I found myself in my blue bathing suit after spending some time showing off my athletic body and before running up to the lake.

"Cannonball!" I then performed said dive into the lake before surfacing and spitting the water out. "And he scores…Yes! PERFECT 10! Yeah! *Imitates crowd cheering* and the crowd loves him!"

I then saw Lucy and Gwen on the boardwalk as Lucy smiled, ignoring her dislike for water while Gwen gave me her usual sigh.

"A perfect moron is more like it." Little pumpkin girl finally argued.

"Hey, let him have some fun. It's not like he's making fun of you." Lucy quickly defended me.

"Yeah. Come on, dive in with me!" I tried to encourage her.

"Are you kidding me? Please! Who knows what nasty slimy things are slithering around in there?" Gwen then shone her flashlight on me. "I rest my case."

"Okay, that was totally uncalled for." Lucy chided her cousin, to my great amusement, but Gwen paid her no mind.

"What's the point of camping by a lake if you're afraid to get wet?" I asked as I splashed some water at Gwen.

"Knock it off, Dweeb!" Gwen complained with a little blush before standing up and walking away.

"So, wanna join me?" I eventually asked Lucy while I approached her and climbed onto the deck she was sitting on.

"I'm not a…big fan of swimming." Lucy excused herself with an awkward smile.

Of course I wasn't convinced by that weak excuse, but I already knew her little secret and also a little bit about Lenopans peculiar physiology. Water wasn't exactly her ultimate weakness but still must be quite uncomfortable to be exposed to.

"I'm not falling for it, but don't worry, I get it. I'm here for you." I said jokingly. "I won't make you go through something you are afraid of."

"I-I'm not afraid of drowning. It's just…" The blonde hesitated before I touched her hand gently.

"Don't worry." I reassured her, finding it the perfect opportunity to play that card, before momzilla came around and attacked us out of the blue. "I already know."

"You know?!" She asked in cold sweat.

"Hey! You aren't the only one with a secret." I smiled before dipping back to the water and submerging myself once again completely.

Noticing a green blast of light, Lucy tilted forward, a bit concerned as she saw bubbles rising up out of the water with a look of concern. "Ben?"

Then, a monster resembling a humanoid anglerfish rose up from out of the water, with a voice resembling a growl, I spoke up. "Surprise!"

Instead of screaming in fear, Lucy stretched her hands and grasped my face. Curiosity was clear in her expression as her hands mapped my monstrous face.

"You…are not human?" Lucy questioned with surprised eyes. "I-I thought my side of the family was the only one."

"Well, I was born as a human… but..." I told her before having the watch's insignia on my left pectoral beep with a green color before another bright blast of green took place, and as soon as Lucy regained vision of me, she noticed I had morphed into some sort of semi-armored velociraptor.

Despite being previously half submerged in water, with a sudden burst of speed I effortlessly spun around and flipped back into a seating position beside Lucy on the boardwalk. "As you can see, I'm now able to be so much more."

"Oh boy, I already liked you before, but now I think you just can't be more amazing!" Lucy gushed as she mimicked my Kineceleran (XRL8) and Piscciss Volann (Ripjaws) form, making me smile with her reveal before she assumed her humanoid Lenopan appearance.

"The feeling is mutual, dear cousin." I winked at her before turning to appreciate the view of the lake.

"Wait, you too? You think I'm amazing?" Lucy asked incredulously with a chuckle, while being unable to contain her trademark snort.

"You better bet that I do." I said while mentally ordering the omnitrix's insignia in my chest to turn me back into my human form. "Lucy, you are the best upbeat and happy-go-lucky girl, who loves playing pranks on people, that I've ever met. And from what I can finally see, you are even more special than you allow others to see."

Almost unable to avoid being put to blush, Lucy lowered her head. "T-th-thanks Ben! I was worried that you would find me too nasty and slimy."

I doubled down on my sweet-talk by gently raising her head so I could look her in the eyes. "Can't argue with the slimy part, heh, but I would never think you're nasty."

"Please, don't tell me you are pranking me!" Lucy muttered with her infatuation for me growing by the second, and that was all without me using my magical aura.

"I wouldn't dare." I told her before planting a kiss on her cheek.

"B-Ben…I-I…" My cute Sludge Puppy of a cousin struggled to get a hold of herself and stuttered to the point of almost making me laugh.

However, just then, interrupting our wholesome moment without warning, I noticed a green-scaled monster with two tendrils coming from its mouth and a long neck rising up from out of the lake, causing Lucy to scream out loud.

"Watch out!" I shouted before pushing her away safely and instantly activating the Omnitrix, just before the monster grabbed me with its tentacle. I had already assumed my Piscciss Volann (Ripjaws) form when the creature tossed me a few miles out further into the lake. Not needing the chance to resurface and fight back, I immediately proceeded to engage in a fight with the monster of the lake that swam after me.

"Hang on, Ben!" Lucy shouted as she dove into the water as another Piscciss Volann (Ripjaws). She used her claws and jaw against the monster, but they just melted off due to the monster's hard scale body and the water constantly messing with her density.

Lucy wasn't capable of perfectly mimicking my powers, proven by the fact that I had just managed to injure the beast with a few strikes. The monster then grabbed Lucy, while escaping from me, and pulled her closer to it.

She was then forced to look into the monster's giant blue eye and gasped, letting loose her breath before she focused again and lowering her density slightly, as she was trying to escape the monster's grip. But despite water not being a direct weakness of hers, being submerged while shifting her density was very dangerous to her.

Fortunately, I munched through enough part of the tendril and struggled her out of its grip. As the two of us then quickly resurfaced, I morphed into my Kineceleran form and ran to the shore as fast as I could.

As Lucy resumed her human appearance and recovered herself from the experience, I did the same, knowing that the danger was already over. I just checked to see if I hadn't hurt the monster to the point of making it propense to seek vengeance, but was glad to confirm it had finally disappeared.

Spewing out a piece of the monster's tendril, I stored it away before stopping Lucy from running towards the Rust Bucket and barging inside. She wanted to wake up their drowsy cousin and grandfather in hopes of alerting them.

"We were just attacked by a giant lake monster!" Lucy argued.

"I know, but it has already left. The chances of them actually believing us are pretty low. Besides, we are already far enough from the lake." I reasoned with her. "Not only that, but since you've been pranking Gwen ever since our vacation trip started, she will have even less reasons to believe us."

"But I'm not kidding this time. You saw it too, you can testify to this!" Lucy remarked.

"You heard me saying that Gwen is a major problem with your idea." I pointed. "What makes you think that I will have a better chance of being believed? Couldn't you guess by this point that she isn't one of my biggest fans?"

"Argh! You are right." Lucy conceded. "Gee, we really need to work on our reputation around here."

"Yeah, probably." I chuckled in agreement, knowing that if I wanted perhaps I could convince Max about the presence of a possible cryptid, but just decided against it. "Come on, Lucy." I said before faking a yawn and stretching my arms up. "Let's get some sleep. Remember, we have an early day tomorrow for our fishing trip."

"But- we-" Lucy stuttered as she was still worried about the lake monster.

"Come on, if it makes you feel safer, I don't mind sharing my bed." I told her affectionately with a genuine smile.

"I-I-I…" Lucy completely lost her train of thought.

"Sike!" I announced while smiling before she had the chance to recover. "Don't worry, I won't let anything happen to either you, Gwen or Grandpa Max."

Soon after I took the lead and entered the Rust Bucket while leaving behind a very embarrassed Lucy.

The next morning, the four of us were walking together towards the same dock from last night with Lucy still trying her best to explain our encounter with a massive monster, Max was holding a fishing rod on one hand and a cooler for the fish they were to catch on the other.

"No, really!" Lucy exclaimed again. "It was humongous with these blue glowing eyes!"

"I'm sure it was just some kind of big fish." Max said, not entirely sure if he really believed it. "That's all."

"Yeah." Gwen agreed. "So give the mega-fish story a rest, will you Prankster Overlord?"

"She's not lying! I was there!" I said nonchalantly, not sure why Lucy insisted with the idea of warning Gwen and Max.

"Okay, I can expect this kind of behavior from Lucy. But from you?" Max asked while I folded my arms behind my head.

"What can I say?" I shrugged my shoulders. "It's not my fault that these cryptid related matters actually exist."

Lucy then walked ahead, disappointed with how incredulous her cousin and grandfather were about the things she said. Seeing a bucket full of live worms squirming around, she then smirked devilishly before grabbing a handful and showing them to Gwen, disgusting her. "Breakfast?"

"Oh, Lucy. Gross!" Gwen said very nauseated before asking. "What's with the bucket of slimeys?"

"Bait." Max explained in a matter-of-factly way.

"I mean, what else did you expect when he invited us to go fishing?" I asked her, genuinely puzzled.

"Yeah, well, I think I'm going to pass on the fishing thing." Gwen replied while feeling nauseated once again. "I'll stay here and catch some sun instead."

"I think I'll keep her company." Lucy said as she followed Gwen with a smirk.

"Okay. Hehe. But you don't know what you're missing," Max said with his usual grandfatherly chuckle.

"Oh, I'm pretty sure I do." Gwen said as the two walked away discussing already. "And you better behave yourself!"

Max and I then turned to the boat behind us, where the captain was preparing to go out. He wore a beige long-sleeved shirt and a red cap with a bit of white.

"Captain Shaw?" Max addressed in a respectful manner.

"Who wants to know?" The man immediately replied rudely.

"I'm Max Tennyson. And this is my grandson, Ben." Max said as I greeted the man right after him. "We charted your boat today for a fishing trip."

"Well what are you waiting for, an engraved invitation? Get aboard." Shaw said as he turned to the controls. "I ain't got all day."

Max and I climbed aboard as the boat left the dock and headed out on the lake. Both of us put on a life jacket for safety as we gazed out into the water before us and just as the boat continued on, Max turned to Shaw while the man was steering the boat.

"Anything interesting to catch there today?" Grandpa asked genuinely interested.

"More than you can possibly imagine." Shaw answered ominously before turning to me, who was looking out over the boat and into the water. "Looks like your boy is using his breakfast as chum."

"Ben, are you feeling okay?" Max asked, prompting me to stand up.

"Yeah. I'm just keeping an eye out for the lake monster." I calmly replied, still not sure how Max dismissed it so easily, to which answer Max raised an eyebrow at it.

"Now, Ben." Max addressed me directly. "This is a fishing trip. Not a monster hunt."

"It's called the Krakken." Shaw announced as he barged in our conversation.

"So, you know about it?" I asked, playing my role and faking surprise.

"It's my business to know about it." Shaw said as he showed a picture he took of the lake. The picture had a shadowy figure under the water, as if it was the monster that Lucy and I had encountered before. "I've been on its tail for years. Folks say my rudder's not right."

"Why doesn't that surprise me?" Max asked, slightly concerned.

'Says the man that has actually worked with the freaking Secret Saturdays.' I remarked mentally with a smug smile.

"Sightings go back hundreds of years on this very lake." Shaw began explaining with anyone asking him. "Some say it's a myth. Not me. I can take you to a spot where I personally laid eyes upon the beast. That is, if you got the stomach for some real adventure."

"You can bet your boat I do." I confirmed and Max sighed in defeat.

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Meanwhile at the docks, Gwen was staring up at the sun while Lucy strummed the guitar Ben lent to her and muttered some lyrics to herself as she tried to play the song he taught her.

She hummed some melody before looking over at her cousin and sighed heavily before she walked over to her with a soft pout. "You know, I wasn't joking about the monster in the lake."

"Oh, really?" Gwen asked as she sat up from her lying position on the docks. "Before the start of the summer, I would've sided with you on this. But after some many times of being pranked by you so far, even if you had recorded the monster itself, I wouldn't believe you."

"I know, I know." Lucy admitted with an ashamed expression. "I shouldn't be bothering you all the time. It's just, I feel I get to know you better by getting a genuine reaction out of you."

"What do you mean?" Gwen raised an eyebrow at her cousin's remark.

"I mean, you have been very reserved since you've learned that Ben would be accompanying us. " Lucy said, noticing Gwen understood her explanation. "I'm just saying. He's really not as bad as you believe he is and that grudge you have with him might end up really ruining this summer trip for you."

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BACK TO MC'S POV

A bit later, Shaw showed us the controls equipped on his boat to help him catch the Krakken.

"Sonar, high-definition video setup, ultrasound, I got it all." He said proudly. "And I will find it. Mark my words. It can't hide forever."

While I was taking mental notes of the man's equipment, Max took me aside to have a word from him.

"Ben." My Grandfather said. "I don't want you to put too much stock into what Mr. Shaw says. I don't think he has both oars in the water if you know what I mean."

"Why? Just because he saw the Krakken too?" I asked with a neutral tone. "From what I've learned at college, the universe is so vast that we shouldn't be ruling out anything out of the ordinary."

Max couldn't hide his surprised expression at the level of maturity of his ten year old grandson. Sure, he had heard about it from his son bragging it to him, but seeing it in person was still something else.

Later, the boat had stopped, the reason being that in ront of us were a few buoys floating in the water held together with a line that read 'Do Not Enter', which formed a barrier over the further area of the lake.

"'Do Not Enter?'" Shaw asked in shock that quickly shifted into anger. "What's going on?"

"Looks official." Max said, almost relieved. "Maybe we should turn back."

Shaw turned to face grandpa as if he had just insulted the sailor's mother. "Nonsense. This is my lake and I'll go wherever I-"

"Fishing boat!" A male voice interrupted. "Stop where you are!"

The boys looked over to see a big white and blue boat with a few men on it. The side of the boat had the initials F.O.F. written on the side in blue bold letters.

The boat was manned by men wearing blue uniforms with black collars and their leader had brown hair and a goatee, right then the leader stepped up to the edge of the boat with a friendly smile.

"I'm Jonah Melville, the founder of Friends of Fish. We've closed this section of the lake for an environmental study." Jonah explained without dropping his smile. "You'll have to turn your boat around."

"Who's gonna make me, fish-hugger?" Shaw immediately retorted.

"Well." Max interrupted, ready to de-escalate the situation. "Since I charted the boat for the day, I believe I'm in charge. Isn't that right, Captain?"

Shaw sighed in disappointment, knowing that Max was right. He then walked off muttering to himself a few curses.

"It's a pity we won't be seeing the Krakken." I said just to get a reaction out of the fake environmentalist.

Just as I had anticipated, Jonah laughed at my remark. "The Krakken? Not that old fish story again. Now look, I'm a marine biologist and anyone who tells you they've seen a monster in this lake is fishing without a hook."

"You want me to believe that humanity has already studied and cataloged every existing form of aquatic life?" I asked with a snicker before thinking. 'Sure, whatever you say Mr. Marine Biologist. C'mon, at least come up with a better excuse. Like EPA or just claim it is classified, better yet, how about giving a fake name. I mean, the internet isn't what it will be in the future, but still.'

Unable to find a proper response, Jonah and his crewmen walked away while staring at the strange kid. From a distance, I just waved in a mocking way just to spite them.

Later, as Shaw's boat returned to the docks, the sailor suddenly noticed that his sonar had unexpectedly picked up a blip from under the lake. "The sonar! We've found something!"

Just then fin was scraping the surface of the lake, heading straight for the boat.

"Or something found us." I pointed out, excited for a rematch. "Look!"

The two adults then looked out over the side of the boat to see the fin coming for them.

"The Krakken!" Shaw announced rather dramatically just as the fin went back under the water surface.

An overhead shot showed that the Krakken was directly under Shaw's boat, but ignored it as it moved straight past under us.

"It's heading for the docks!" Shaw exclaimed, quickly understanding the beast's actions.

"Lucy and Gwen!" Max shouted, realizing the girls were in danger.

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As the Krakken was heading for the docks, the girls were still resting on the edge of the docks, kicking their feet in the air.

"Aw, finally a little sun." Gwen said excitedly. "And with Ben nowhere in sight, we can finally just lay back and relax."

"You know that he would love to befriend you. From the time we've been spending together, I have yet to hear him badmouth you." Lucy kept attempting to make a bridge between Gwen and Ben.

"We were very close once, you know? Back when we were in kindergarten, he and Kenneth were my best friends." Gwen stated before correcting herself. "Okay, they were my only friends. But that was before Ben began trying so hard to leave me behind in every aspect and Kenneth stopped living with my parents and I."

Lucy then sighed as she looked out on the lake with a gloomy expression. "At least now you have tons of friends."

The girls just then heard Shaw ringing out his horn to warn the people on the dock.

"What's happening?" Gwen asked, noticing the fin. "W-what's that?"

"Um, Gwen. That is the monster from last night." Lucy said, getting a worried look in her eye as the Krakken rose up in all of its glory and let out a loud shriek.

The girls then screamed as it smashed the docks, sending the civilians sprawling into the lake. They then resurfaced, the girls among them, their soaking wet hair drifting down in front of their faces.

"Alright, Gwen, I hate to say 'I told you so' but... I TOLD YOU WE WEREN'T LYING!!" Lucy shouted while struggling to maintain herself afloat.

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BACK TO MC'S POV

"I told you, it's real!" Shaw exclaimed from his cabin. "The Krakken lives!"

"Sail now, gloat later!" Max ordered, his mind focused on rescuing the girls.

With a little use of my confusing aura covering for me, I succeeded in leaping into the lake and ordered my watch to turn me into my reptilian speedster form.

"It's finally time for my quicksilver scene." I said just after assuming my humanoid raptor shape, closing my visor before disappearing in a blur over the water. "Sweet dreams baby!"

I was running so fast that I was actually able to run on the water surface without skipping a beat. Faster than the water surface reacted, I had manipulated with my mana massive vines of kelp bursting out of the lake and wrapping them around the Krakken, briefly incapacitating it while I picked up Gwen and Lucy before running them over to the shore, safe.

"You okay?" I asked as a Kineceleran.

Gwen was still coughing up some lake water while Lucy sighed in relief. "I think so. Thanks for the save."

I gave her a claws up before turning around and zooming out in a blur.

"Hey! You know that thing?" Gwen finally asked, not having seen it enough to distinguish any major characteristic.

Soon enough, the Krakken broke free of its binds and started to pick people up seemingly threatening to eat them. Fortunately, I zoomed by and picked up one person at a time before zooming over to the shore where they would be safer.

"These people are not on the menu!" I shouted as it swiped a claw at me, which I easily dodged. "Hey! Watch those nails!"

"Get us out of here!" Jonah ordered his crewmate, back on the F.O.F. boat, who fired up the engines and engaged the gears, causing the boat to start to go away. Unfortunately, the Krakken took notice of this, tossed the boat it was terrorizing aside and swam after it.

Running after the boat as fast as I could, following the shadow going after it, I decided to pull another one of jokes. "It seems we've got a Jaws reenactment going on! Not on my watch!"

Soon enough, the Krakken popped out of the lake and roared. The captain tried to turn the boat around, but not fast enough as the Krakken knocked it aside with its tentacle.

Just as it was about to destroy it, I zoomed in and created a strong waterspout with my running, which knocked the monster back into the water before I effortlessly backflipped onto the boat.

As the Krakken quickly adapted and popped up on the other side and shredded apart a cannery box, Jonah ran towards it in an effort to protect it. "No, you don't!"

I then ran forward, still interested in measuring myself against the massive creature, grabbed the tentacle and ran in reverse, pulling the Krakken back before circling back and rapidly kicking it in the neck and knocking it back into the water, forcing it to retreat back to deep within the lake.

"Thanks for the hands... and the feet." Jonah said as he shook my hand, totally fine with my inhuman appearance.

"That crate must be really important for you to risk your life for it." I remarked, raising his visor and ready to get the worst attempt at deception.

"Uh... yeah, it's our lunch." Was the best Jonah could come up with.

"You are a terrible liar." I grinned.

Then, without warning, the Krakken's tentacle popped out of the lake and grabbed the crate, dragging it into the lake.

"Oh, a pity for the sandwiches, gotta run!" I said before disappearing in a blur. I then zoomed towards Shaw's boat, as I noticed the old sailor taking aim to shoot at the retreating beast, I commanded the Omnitrix's insignia on my chest to deactivate, forcing a time out and making me come splashing down into the water.

"Oops! Help!" I shouted just after dispersing my aura of confusion and my grandpa finally looked out for me.

"Man overboard!" Max announced.

"I lost my life jacket!" I said while pretending to almost sink.

"Turn the boat around!" Max ordered as Shaw snarled in acceptance.

"Next time I see ya in my sights, ya won't be so lucky!" Shaw said as he turned the boat around and tossed a net that I quickly climbed, smiling and wrung the water out of my clothes.

"Sorry, captain." I said but Shaw merely ignored me, instead I turned at Max who appeared genuinely worried for me. 'And sorry Max, it won't take long before I let you in on my secret. Besides, it's not as if you would've believed in me on these earlier encounters from the start. Much less share your secret past.'

That night, a lot of campers were leaving the lake due to the incident that had happened. The others and I were by a campfire drying off with me having a towel around me just to sell my acting.

"We told you! That was the creature that tried to munch us last night!" Lucy said for the thousandth time.

"Captain Shaw knew about the monster too." I pointed out, just to lead the talk somewhere else.

"Just because he was right about the Krakken doesn't mean I was wrong about him." Max advised while still concerned.

"Won't argue otherwise." I just shrugged. "But that doesn't disqualify his statement about sighting the creature long before and no one believing."

"Ben is right." Lucy backed me.

"Yeah, of course he is." Gwen mocked.

"Guys, we'll leave this one to the experts. Like those Friends of Fish guys." Max informed us.

"Experts? Who better to bust a monster than the ones that survived its first attack?" Lucy argued while expecting me to back her up.

"Sorry Lucy, let this be the one that got away." Max said in a serious manner, probably already made up his mind about not bothering the Krakken.

"He's right, Lucy." I said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "I'd rather not have anyone here hurt."

Before Lucy could say anything, Captain Shaw walked by and growled to himself. "Low-down, no-good fish-kissers."

"Captain Shaw? What is it?" Max questioned the angry man.

"The nerve of those enviro-punks! They shut down the entire lake! Nobody tells me where to sail! And nobody's going to keep me away from reeling in the catch of the century!" Shaw announced before walking away.

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Later that night, Captain Shaw's boat went sailing out on the boat despite the shutting down of the lake.

Inside the Rust Bucket, Gwen was in her PJs, as was Max as he knocked on the bathroom door, which Lucy was supposedly in.

"Come on, Lucy!" Gwen shouted. "Did you fall in there or something?"

Max moved to open the door, but Lucy left the bathroom just in time. Not saying a word, she smiled and moved to bed.

Noticing that Ben was already fast asleep on his bed, Max remarked to Gwen. "They must be tired, it has been a long day with everything that has happened."

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MC'S POV

On the lake, Shaw's boat came out from the docks, but instead of it being driven by the grumpy sailor, Lucy and I were the ones sailing it.

Turning to her, I saw Lucy sighing in relief.

"Hey, are you doing fine?" I asked, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I'm still impressed with how you managed to cover our absence. But please, don't exert yourself too much."

"Um, thanks." Lucy said with a smile. "But don't worry about me, I've just sent my second piece to sleep. Are you sure about stealing this boat?"

"We already tried letting this monster go on with its life, if I hadn't been fast today, innocent people might've gotten hurt." I said without skipping a beat. "Mr. Shaw is more than willing to risk his life seeking fame and recognition. I'm not suggesting we kill the Krakken immediately, let's just learn why it has come out of hiding and make sure it won't be causing anymore destruction."

"That… makes sense." Lucy acknowledged. "Honestly, I haven't considered what we should do with it. Care to share your plan?"

"It has probably been scared deep into the lake." I reasoned as he handed out a diving suit to Lucy. "Let's be the ones to look for it this time. Do you require the snorkel?"

Lucy shook her head. "Not really."

"Alright." I said, turning away so I could transform into an alien form. After a bright green blast, I shifted into a Piscciss Volann (Ripjaws). "Stay close to me." I then proceeded to dive headfirst down into the lake with Lucy following me close behind.

Under the lake, I was swimming through the lake to search for the Krakken with my sonar, scaring off a school of fish breathing through my gills, I wasn't even fazed by the eels passing near me.

I then went into a crater below the ocean, which could only be the Krakken's nest, and saw a giant ball with veins popping out of it.

Lucy analyzed it in thought. "No wonder it's been attacking everything!" She said with her mask sealed. "Someone must be trying to steal her eggs!"

"So it's an overprotective parent we are dealing with." I said, speaking through his lipless mouth. "This wreckage does seem familiar." I faked a quick investigation. "I've met some marine biologists that have been overly protective of some crates during today's attack. Back then I suspected they were either aggressive researchers or something else."

"Marine biologists?" Lucy followed my train of thought. "After everything, that seems a little too convenient."

"Like I said, perhaps they really are something else." I remarked, glad that she was capable of connecting the dots herself. "Hey, Lucy." I called her suddenly as I pointed upwards with my webbed hand. "It seems there is a boat approaching ours."

"I see." Lucy replied as her appearance shifted into Shaw's. "Here's the plan, I'll go back to the boat while you take these eggs deeper into the lake."

"Roger that captain." I agreed, finding her actions amusing.

As Lucy went up to the boat, she saw the black boat near the one she and I were using. As soon as she emerged, she was grabbed and thrown violently onto the boat's floor to see a group of men in diving suits.

"Don't you know night-diving is dangerous, old timer?" The leader asked. "Unless, of course, you went with a friend."

"I work alone. I ain't got no friends." Lucy acted along what she got from her brief encounter with the old sailor.

"Men with a sparkling personality like your's..." The leader smirked.

"I ain't got anything worth stealing, either." Lucy added, not really knowing who those men were.

"Ah, but you have us all wrong. What we want is information like what you saw down there." The masked man replied.

"Nothing. Same as always." Lucy didn't budge.

The leader then punched Shaw with enough force to signal to Lucy that she should play unconscious, the leader then removed his mask revealing himself to be Jonah, although Lucy still didn't recognize him.

"Take him." Jonah commanded his assistants. "Find out what he knows back at the cannery. We'll come back here later with a mini-sub for the rest of the eggs." He then tossed a tracking device to the bottom of the lake down to the nest. "In the meantime, I think this boat just got lost at sea." He then threw a bomb onto the boat, destroying it instantly in a ball of fire before the boat sped away.

On the F.O.F boat, the two looked at a shape forming in the sky.

"Is that a bird?" One of them asked.

"Nah. Looks like a plane." The other said before I showed up in the sky with a glare in my Lepidopterran (Stinkfly) eyes.

"It's a bug!" Jonah finally shouted. "Man the harpoons!"

"Give it up!" I warned them. "This is my only warning!"

The sailors then hooked up two harpoon guns before firing them at me, but I easily gooed the harpoons up, making Jonah angrily flip a few switches and drop charge barrels into the water.

"That's just plain stupid." I remarked as I immediately proceeded to gain altitude, easily escaping the blast range of the explosions.

The boat then went around, noticing it had no chance of escaping its pursuer.

"I will squash this bug once and for all!" With an angry look, Jonah challenged me to come get him.

Spotting a tree branch nearby, I immediately got an idea as I fired several streams of goo from my mouth, shaping it more precisely with my mana to resemble a net of greenish-web and sticking the charging boat to the branch, with the sudden break and kept momentum causing Jonah alongside his men to lunge and fall towards the lake.

I then grabbed my cousin and took off, leaving the F.O.F crew confused as they used their flashlights to try to spot their attacker.

"Almost there." I said, spotting the Rust Bucket in the distance as Lucy shifted back into her original appearance.

"Ugh, aren't we supposed to stop those criminals?" Lucy asked, confused.

"You should go inside and rest. The creature's eggs are safe." I told her as I commanded the watch's insignia on my face to return me to my human form. "I will take it from here."

"Are you sure?" Lucy questioned, a little disappointed. "I can still be of help."

"I'm really thankful for your help." I told her while patting her on the head, gaining a blushed pout from her. "I can call the police and have those criminals arrested easily enough. And I think I already know who the leader is." I said before showing her a webpage on my smartphone. "After the attack today, I did a little checking on Friends of Fish and found out it's not listed on any environmental website. But I did find this: Jonah Melville isn't a friend to any kind of wildlife. He travels around the world poaching rare animals and crates them up and sells them to private collectors."

"Crates them up..." Lucy thought in realization. "Oh man! So you were right!"

I just winked at her, really glad that she wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed and didn't notice the incongruence in my story from what I had just told her while back in the nest.

Soon after, in the nearest cannery, a crane hooked up to Jonah's underwater mecha-suit as he had just returned empty handed It lifted him up to the dock as some of his men were discussing their plans.

"No sign of the world's most expensive omelet." Jonah informed his workers. "Our tickets to a luxurious vacation at the Bahamas must be somewhere in this cursed lake."

But before he could do anything, I burst up from the ground and wrecked the dock, knocking them out of the boat.

"One of the eggs must have hatched! The older the Krakken, the bigger the pay day!" Jonah smiled as he ran for his mecha-suit while his men opened fire on the pissed off Piscciss Volann (Ripjaws) with their guns, which surprisingly did little to pierce my thick hide.

After easily maiming a large group of mercenaries that weren't fast enough, with few of those that still remained intact immediately giving up and running inside of the cannery believing themselves to be safe there.

But no one was safe from me.

Still playing the monster card, I tossed the few that were still screaming in pain into the lake for later and immediately rushed at their leader, but Jonah had already entered his mecha-suit by that point.

He then fired blue bullets at me, which were actually doing damage as I finally began to bleed. But just then, I leapt backwards into the lake just to come back swimming up and leaped out of the water from behind Jonah's suit.

"You want to mess with a monster? You've found one!" I asked in a gravelly and raspy voice before growling ferociously.

Crawling down again using my claws, with Jonah still trying his best to blast me off but I just ripped the blaster off his mechanical limb with my powerful jaw. Enjoying the sheer power and terror of being a Pisccis Volann (Ripjaws) I then proceeded to rip one of the mecha-suit's arms, Jonah kept attempting to swat me out of him, but my claws were just too well anchored on his suit.

"Get lost freak!" Jonah shouted while getting desperate as he kept trying to shake me off without any success, in response I began munching onto his suit's legs as if I was an entire school of piranhas.

Paying no mind to answer the previous insult I received, I growled and crawled to finally munch the crane's grip off the mecha-suit, causing us both to dive into the cold and dark lake.

Jonah scowled and braced for the fall, immediately after, he finally made his resolve to brawl with me, but was horrified to find his foe easily slipped past the punches from his heavy metal suit's last remaining arm.

"Argh! You are a fascinating creature." Jonah remarked, trying his best to remain in control, as he activated his suit's flashlights, momentarily blinding me and successfully shaking me off for the first time. "I will enjoy gutting you!"

Jonah then desperately controlled his suit to go back up to the surface, taking advantage of the brief window I gave him while still shaking my head, however, recovering faster than he had anticipated since I growled and swam back up while merging my legs together to form a tail, reaching underwater speeds comparable to my Kinneceleran (XLR8) form while running on the surface.

Eventually I reached Jonah once again, who almost reached the surface, and grabbed onto his suit with my sharp claws, resuming our brawl until I finally delivered a strong jab into the glass window of the suit and it shattered like an eggshell.

"How! Dare! You!" Jonah grunted as the suit started to quickly fill up with water. He then let loose a sonic pulse from his suit's defenses, causing me to screech in pain as the mercenary leader wasted no effort to escape me.

However, this time, he was tackled into what remained of a boat nearby. I immediately saw the anchor falling loosely before I grabbed it, swung it around like a flail and threw it with enough force that I managed to grip the suit, preventing it from getting any further as I swam in and chomped off the last arm of Jonah's suit, finally cracking open the suit and ending the last barrier before me.

Jonah then, in a last-ditch effort, pulled a knife from his pant leg, only to have it easily blocked by my thick scaly hide. Screeching like a monster from the abyssal depths and enlarging my mouth to make it extra unsettling, I made sure that I managed to scare Jonah shitless before he no longer felt anything else.

On the surface, some bubbles appeared briefly before the water calmed down again in a crimson tone. Later on that night, more screams were heard inside the cannery and the entire F.O.F group 'disappeared' without leaving traces behind.

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(29/04/2021)

(24/10/2023)

*Hey there! Thanks for reading my work! I hope this chapter is of your liking. I tried to preserve some of the original plot and character interactions while hinting about some possible plot threads that I plan to work upon.

Sorry if you expected more variety to it. 😅

Any ideas for powers, adventure arcs and girls for the MC to meet 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 until I try to fix it as soon as possible, but for that I need your feedback.

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

Bye.

** Really sorry for the constant and long delays, my college classes have resumed so I'm having a hard time organizing my time to write my fics. 😓

*** I'm even more sorry about the ridiculously long hiatus I've been putting you all through. 😅🙏