2 Ch 2 The Mall
- The next day -
It was 7:30 in the morning and all three of them were outside. Ben and Gwen were waiting for their breakfast.
Ben was wide awake, while Gwen on the other hand, looked like she had barely slept at all.
Ben - "Didn't get much sleep?"
Gwen - "Try none... I seriously don't understand how you and Grandpa are fine after yesterday."
Ben - "Try not to let it bother you."
He stroked her head to give her some comfort.
Gwen - "What are you doing?"
She pushed his hand away and blushed while holding her head, thinking it was actually quite soothing.
Then Max came over with a smile on his face.
Max - "Breakfast!"
He then placed a bowl of worms infront of them.
Max - "Eat while they're fresh."
Then he walked off to do...whatever old people do...?
Ben looked towards the bowl for a moment before picking up one of the worms, placed it his mouth and started chewing.
Both Gwen and Gabriel couldn't help exclaiming to him at the same time.
Gwen/Gabriel - "Gross!"
After watching him chew it a few more times, Gwen could take it anymore.
Gwen - "Do you actually like it?"
When he heard this, he pulled out a napkin, spat out what he was chewing into it, went into the RV and back outside with mouthwash. He poured a mouth full into a glass and proceeded to wash his mouth out while swishing the godly liquid(in comparison) and finally spitting it out.
Ben - "No."
He was blunt and to the point.
Gwen - "Then why the hell did you try it?"
Ben - "Curiosity."
Then he proceeded to go through the Omnitrix.
Gwen - "What are you doing?"
Right as she asked, she was blinded by a flash of red and when her vision came back, she saw a reptilian creature with a striped tail.
Ben - "Going fishing."
Before she could question him, he sped off towards the nearest body of water, changed into Ripjaws, dove in and soon came back out with 3 fish in hand.
Switching between forms drains the charge more than normal, so he went back to human for a few minutes to recharge. Don't want to be dropped out of your transformation at the speed of sound.
He put the fish in his inventory and after a short break, he changed back into XLR8 and ran back to the Rustbucket. The whole trip only took 15 minutes.
When he got back, he relit the fire from the night before and put the fish on stick before setting them over the fire. All the while leaving Gwen staring at him in shock.
Gwen - "What was that!?"
Ben just smiled at her.
Ben - "I guess you can call that one XLR8."
Gwen didn't say anything as she was just too shocked by what her life was becoming.
Another 15 minutes and the fish were done, Ben then put them on plates so that they could use utensils, then lightly seasoned them.
Gwen - "I don't know if I can eat this."
She kept looking at the heads of the now cooked fish.
Ben - "It's this or the worms."
Saying nothing more, he started eating one of the fish.
Gwen - "Uhg... Thanks."
After hesitating and whining a little more, she eventually started to eat the fish.
Gwen - "This is actually pretty good."
She then started to eat a little faster, while Ben just chuckled at her.
5 minutes later and they were done.
Max had already come back and also ate one of the fish, along with the worms, which almost made Gwen throw up what she had just eaten, but she managed to hold back.
After cleaning up all the dishes, they made sure the fire was put out properly.
When that was done, they all got into the Rustbucket and discussed what they would be doing.
Max - "So kids, where do you want to go for the day?"
Gwen - "Ooh! I want to go to the mall!"
Max - "Is that okay with you, Ben?"
Ben - "Yeah, sounds good."
Max - "Let's get going then."
With that decided, Max started driving to the mall.
- 10 minutes later -
Ben - "*Sigh* I'm bored..."
Gwen, who was sitting infront of him staring at the sky, resting her head on her hand, gave him a side glance.
Gwen - "Why don't you find something to do then."
Ben just looked at her blankly, but then thought of something and smiled.
He got up and walked over to his luggage while buying some stuff from the system store.
Ben - 'Gabriel, can you but me a sketch book, some pencils, a sharpener and an eraser, please."
Gabriel - "Okay. Items are in your inventory."
Ben - 'Thanks.'
Ben shuffled through his stuff in the guise of looking for something and then pulled out the items he'd just bought. He then went back to his seat and started to draw some random things, so that he could adjust.
He would draw as a hobby in his past life and in his humble opinion, he is pretty good. But now, he can actually see his skills.
[Status -
Name - Ben
Lv - 2 (140/200)
Title - Wielder of the Omnitrix
State - Healthy MP - 420
STR - 11
END - 11
AGI - 11
CHA - 11
INT - 21
LUK - 666
AP - 12 SP 1,000,200
Primary Skills: CQC Lv-5, Marksmanship Lv-5, Danger Sense Lv-3
Secondary Skills: Drawing Lv-3, Math Lv-3, Writing Lv-3, Running Lv-5, Driving Lv-4, Engineering Lv-3, Cooking Lv-2, Programming Lv-2]
Ben - 'What do skill levels actually correlate to?'
Gabriel - "Lv-1 Beginner. Lv-2 Intermediate. Lv-3 Adept. Lv-4 Expert. Lv-5 Master (Peak human). Lv-6 Grandmaster. Lv-7 Legendary. Lv-8 Legendary Master. Lv-9 Demigod. Lv-10 God."
Ben - 'Thanks again.'
Gabriel - "You're welcome."
Ben also decided to check his missions while he was at it.
[Missions -
Impress Gwen - Do something to gain Gwen's attention in a positive way. The attention will vary depending on your actions.
Reward - 60xp]
When Ben saw this mission, he immediately accepted, as it fell in with what he planned to do already.
There was another mission with better rewards, but he didn't understand what it was talking about and so didn't accept it.
After accepting the mission, he immediately got to work on completing it.
He wanted it to be done in a way that would get her to open up to him more and convey that he liked her.
So with that, Ben began to draw Gwen. He thought it would charm her a bit, like in that one movie. (Cliche but idc)
When he got to work, he had to take a few peeks for better results and fortunately, Gwen didn't notice.
- 2 hours later -
He had been drawing for about 2 hours, before finally finishing and he had done a fair amount in those 2 hours. He had drawn everything he could, with as much detail as he was capable of. All in all, it came out pretty good in his opinion. (A pic would be appreciated.)
Ben - "Done."
His exclamation caught Gwen's attention. She had been curious about what he was drawing to be as focused as he was.
Gwen - "So, what were you drawing this entire time?"
Hearing her question, Ben smiled and carefully removed the page out of the book, then passed the page over to her face down.
She took the page while giving him an odd look and to her amazement, shock and embarrassment. There she was, beautifully drawn and looking very life-like.
As she kept looking, her face turned redder and redder.
Ben was looking at her with a toothy grin.
Ben - "What do you think? Like it?"
He couldn't help chuckling when he saw her face become even more red and eyes become a bit dazed, which he thought was cute.
Gwen - "N-NO! I hate it! Why on Earth did you draw me!?"
Ben pretended to be sad.
Ben - "Oh... Well then, you can give it back."
Gwen - "No! I... I'm going to get rid of it."
She got up and ran to the bathroom, not knowing that she wasn't at all convincing. It especially wasn't convincing to Ben when he got a notification saying that he had completed the mission. [60xp received]
Gwen was in the bathroom, looking at the picture of herself while blushing.
Gwen - "Doofus..."
She carefully folded the paper and placed it in her back pocket, she then flushed the toilet to pretend that she got rid of the drawing.
After that, she adopted an angry look to cover for her embarrassment and went out.
She stormed past Ben and sat back down.
Ben - "You didn't have to flush it down the toilet."
He was still pretending to be sad and even added a pout.
Gwen - "Hmph!"
Max, who was still driving, was wondering what was going on.
- 10 minutes later, at the mall -
Max - "Okay you two, we're here."
He got up and walked over to the both of them.
Max - "So, what do the both of you want to do? Look around as a group or go on your own?"
Ben - "I want to look around alone."
Gwen - "Yeah, me too."
Max - "Okay then, don't cause any bother and stay safe. We'll meet in the food court from 11:30-12:00 and get something to eat, got it?"
Ben/Gwen - "Yes, Grandpa."
With that, he handed them $50 each, they walked in together and then separated.
Max went to look at camping equipment, Gwen went to look at clothes and Ben, he went to an electronics store.
To keep things short, he bought 2 old mobile that weren't working for $20 together and a few other bit and pieces for another $15.
When the shop clerk asked why he wanted these things, Ben just said it was a hobby.
He then left before any more questions could be asked, along with his bag of what seemed like junk to others, but was something that would soon bring him a lot of enjoyment.
Since he still had 40-45 minutes left, along with his last $15 to spend, he decided to look around.
- Later -
Ben was chatting with Gabriel while eating some candy from a mixed bag he got for $5.
When he came into the clothing section of the mall, he suddenly thought about how plain his attire was and decided to browse. He literally only had black, white and grey clothes.
Before actually going into a store, he suddenly thought of something he once read in his past life and confirmed it with Gabriel.
Ben - 'Hey, Gabriel, can the Omnitrix scan clothes, store the designs to be synthesized and worn later?'
(A/N: I saw this from another Ben 10 ff and liked the idea.)
Gabriel - "Yes, it can. Why?"
Ben - 'Just thought I would wears something with a little more style is all.'
Gabriel - "Then why not just buy clothes from the system?"
Ben - 'Because, then I would have to explain where they came from... And that seems like a waste of points.'
With his answer, Ben went into a store for males, and with a bit of help from Gabriel on the 'how to', he started scanning clothes. It was mostly black, white, grey and red stuff, but he also got other colours just in case.
On his little spree, he remembered that he would be attending a wedding later in the summer, so he also went to a suit store. When he went there, he was as quick as possible as he didn't want to explain his reason for being there.
He just picked a normal, black three piece suit and also, a silk shirt. The great thing about the Omnitrix clothing function, is that you can customize the sizes, colours and materials so long as it's been scanned once.
And, while he was at it, he scanned a few accessory items. Watches, earrings, rings, necklaces, you name it. He even scanned some cufflinks that he will customize with the Omnitrix symbol later.
Some might say it's stealing, but the items never left the store, so it doesn't count.
It was coming up to the meeting time at this point, so he made his way over.
Ben arrived at the food court at 11:30 on the dot.
The other two seemed to have finished up their shopping early and were just waiting on him, so he went over.
They ordered food and talked a bit.
But then, trouble came in the form of a mad man with a semi-automatic rifle.
*Bang!* *Bang!*
Mad man - "Everyone, down on the ground! NOW!"
The moment the man started firing, everyone panicked and dropped to the ground. Some of the weaker willed people started to cry.
Max and Ben were both quite calm, complying with the mans demands so as not to set the man off.
Gwen on the other hand, was too scared to move.
The man saw this, so he went over and picked her up by the collar of her shirt. He then held her in a hostage position.
Ben was about to reach for for the Omnitrix when he saw this, but he stopped as Gwen could still be hurt.
When Max saw this, he sighed in relief that Ben didn't lose his rationality.
Mad man - "Everyone, take out all your valuables!"
He waved his gun at everyone as he shouted.
Everyone started to comply out of fear, making a small pile of the belongings.
Mad man - "Okay, now-AAHHHH!"
It was at this point that Gwen bit the man.
In response, the man ended up letting go, but he also got angry and hit her with enough force to send her a few feet away.
She hit her off the floor and was knocked out, while a small amount of blood came from her head.
Luckily, she fell close to where Max was and he immediately went to her.
However, Ben, who could see the blood from her head, had a sudden change in demeanour.
He stopped breathing and it was like the world stood still for him.
Then his sight shifted to the mad man, who had an angry expression.
Ben started to pant heavily, his eyes were bloodshot and almost glowing.
Slowly, he stood up and walked over to the man.
The man saw him and pointed his gun at him.
Mad man - "What are you doing, you little shit?"
Ben didn't answer and just kept walking while staring at him with rage filled eyes. He had completely lost it and didn't even hear the man or the panicked shouts of the surrounding people. Not even his system or Gabriel were getting through to him.
When the man looked into the eyes of the kid infront of him, he felt a chill run down his spine, while his instincts told him to run.
His hands started to shake, as his finger started to pull the trigger.
*Bang!*
Everyone in the surroundings closed their eyes, not wanting to see the outcome.
When Ben saw the man was about shoot, just when he was in arms reach of the barrel, he moved his head to the side on before the man pulled the trigger and just got grazed by the bullet on his left cheek.
He then grabbed the gun and pointed it away from himself while pulling on it, knocking the man off balance.
With the man off balance, Ben kicked the mans right knee cap and shattered it, making the man yell out in pain, letting go of his gun in the process.
The man fell to the ground when he lost the use of his leg, leaving Ben standing over him with an expressionless face.
When the others heard the yell of the man, they looked up in confusion. When they did, they saw a 10 year old standing over the mad man as he raised his arm, which was holding the gun and brought it down.
The moment everyone saw him use the gun like a club and smash it into the mans face, they sighed in relief, thinking it was over.
It wasn't...
Ben started to hail down blow after blow.
Blood and teeth flew everywhere, but Ben didn't even blink his bloodshot, crazed eyes. Even though most of the blood got on him.
Seeing that Ben was about to kill the man, Max ran in to stop him and so did three other, slightly aged men.
Max got there first, but Ben just shrugged him off and continued to beat the barely breathing man.
When the other three arrived, the four of them managed to pull Ben away.
Max - "Ben! Calm down! That's enough!"
Meanwhile, Gabriel was also trying to get him to calm down.
- Before Ben stood up -
Gabriel - "Host's adrenaline levels are rising rapidly due to anger. It is advised that host calms down."
Ben didn't even register that she was speaking and stood up.
Gabriel - "Host, your current actions are dangerous to yourself and others."
He started to walk.
Gabriel - "You have already burst a blood vessel in each eye."
[*Ding* Intimidation skill acquired]
At this point, the man started shaking.
[Intimidation increased to Lv-2]
The added pressure made the man fire his gun, but Ben dodged just enough.
[*Ding* Danger Sense acquired]
Gabriel - "Host, you have just been injured, you NEED to calm down."
And then, he started his assault on the man.
Gabriel - "Host, be warned, you are about to kill that human."
He continued to beat him.
Seconds later, Max and the other three stepped in, and Gabriel took this opportunity.
Gabriel - "Host, you have completely lost yourself to rage and so I will take initiative... Shocking you out of your current mental state in 3... 2... 1..."
With a jolt, Ben immediately began to calm down.
When Max and the other three saw that Ben stopped struggling, they sighed in relief and one of the men took the blood cover gun away from him.
When Ben was shocked by Gabriel, the first thing he saw was the shocked and horror filled faces of the surroundings.
The second, was the concerned looks of his Grandpa and the other 3 men who helped restrain him.
And the third and thing, was Gwen, who was still unconscious and had a streak of blood on her forehead.
This almost set him off again, but he took a few deep breaths and calmed down.
The 4 seniors let out another sigh of relief at this.
Ben didn't even look at the mangled mess he made, because he just didn't care about it.
Ben - 'Thanks, Gabriel.'
Gabriel - "You're welcome."
One of the three men decided to break the tension a bit.
Man1 - "You're quite the strong one, aren't you? Darn near pulled my shoulder out."
He started massaging his shoulder.
Ben dryly smiled in response.
Ben - "Sorry about that and thank you for stopping me."
Man1 - "Haha, no problem."
Man2 - "Yes, exactly."
Man3 - "It's good to see a young man willing to fight for his family." 'Even if you did go overboard.'
He glanced at the mess on the floor.
Man2 - "Anyways, the police should be here in a moment, and you must be tired. Why don't you rest over there?"
The man pointed to a bench that was empty.
Ben just nodded, turned and went over to Gwen, picked her up with care, taking her with him and resting her head on his lap.
After a few minutes, the police and some medic arrived.
When they arrived, needless to say, they were surprised.
The medics quickly attended to Ben and the unconscious Gwen. And the mess on the floor.
Meanwhile, the police sergeant was asking people what happened.
Max stepped up to explain and others backed up the statement.
When the officer in command heard the story, he couldn't help but to look at the boy responsible for the mess that was on a stretcher next to him and then towards the blood covers gun that was held as evidence.
He shuddered just thinking about how it must have felt.
A while was spent to give follow up questions.
In the meantime, Gwen had woken up and had her head bandaged.
She looked around and saw Ben next to her.
Gwen - "What happened? How did you get that cut? And why are your eyes so red?"
Ben chuckled seeing her confuse and worrying about him.
Ben - "After you got knocked out, the police came and arrested the guy. I got this cut when I tripped and my eyes are red because I got dust in my nose, sneezed too hard and popped a couple blood vessels.
The medics almost fell over when they heard him retelling the story in such a way and Gwen was suspicious to say the least.
Gwen - "So, you're telling me, that he just handed himself in?"
Ben - "Well, he didn't resist, if that's what you mean."
Medics - 'That's 'cause he couldn't.'
Gwen - "Why would he do that?"
Ben - "I don't know... Maybe something got to his head."
He had an innocent smile and when the medics saw this, they felt a chill.
After a while, Max had finished answering all the questions and was told that they could go after giving their contact info.
Max arrived infront of his two Grandkid and showed them a warm smile.
Max - "Well then, how about we get going?"
Right as he said that, the mall manager came towards the three.
Manager - "Please wait a moment. We would like to give you this 'unlimited use 20% off gift card' as a thank you and an apology."
He then put his hand forward, which was holding the gift card.
Max - "Oh, no, you don't need to."
Manager - "We insist! It was due to you that the man was caught, and you're the ones who got hurt."
He then handed the card to Ben and left before Max could refuse.
Gwen was confused when she heard that it was thanks to 'them' that the man was arrested.
Gwen - "What does he mean? I thought you said the police were the ones who caught him."
Ben - "No~ I only said that he didn't resist."
This only confused Gwen more and Max couldn't help but sigh.
Ben - "Anyways, why don't we get going."
He then got up from his seat and knelt infront of Gwen with his back to her.
Gwen - "What are you doing?"
Ben - "I'm gonna give you a piggyback. Or would you prefer a princess carry."
Gwen - "No way would I prefer that! It would be so embarrassing to be seen like that!"
Ben - 'Too late.'
She decided to climb onto his back in the end.
They started making their way to the Rustbucket.
Ben - 'Gabriel, is there anything I can buy that will make her heal faster and without any scars?'
Gabriel - "There is, [20% Regeneration Increase] it will increase her rate of healing by 20% until she is fully healed and won't leave any marks.
This will be the best to prevent suspicion and costs 750 SP."
Ben - 'Okay, buy 2 of them, use one on me and the other on Gwen.'
Gabriel - "Done. You also completed a mission that you didn't accept, so you'll only get half the rewards.'
[100 SP and 50xp recieved]
Meanwhile, Gwen, who was on Ben's back, felt something warm flow through her and started to feel more relaxed, while her head also hurt less.
She couldn't help but to nuzzle into Ben's back a bit.
Ben felt quite happy when Gwen nuzzled into him. It was a sign that she was warming up to him more.
He didn't show his happiness and just continued walking as normal.
The three of them got arrived at the Rustbucket quite quickly.
Ben walked straight to the bed so that Gwen could rest, but despite that, she didn't get down or let go.
Ben - "Gwen, we're back now. You should get some rest in bed."
When she heard him, Gwen realized what she had been doing and blushed.
Gwen - "Thanks."
She quickly let go of him, though she felt sad when she did, but still lay in bed.
Max then went over to Ben.
Max - "Ben, why don't you come sit up front for a bit."
Ben - "Sure, Grandpa."
Ben knew that it was more of an order, than an offer.
They both went to the front and sat down.
Max didn't talk and instead started to drive for a while, waiting for when he thought Gwen would have fallen asleep.
Almost half an hour had past before he felt that was enough time, and then started to question Ben with a serious tone.
Max - "What was that back there?"
Ben - "I was angry."
Max - "I could see that and I understand why. However, that was not a normal reaction from anger. Not to mention that absurd strength."
Ben - "I... uh... I don't really know how to explain it..."
Ben was hesitating as he didn't really have an answer and was wondering about it himself. Fortunately, Gabriel came to his aid.
Gabriel - "The reason for Host's mental instability, is due to you only recently inhabiting the vessel that was previously, for the most part, emotionless. And as for your strength increase, it was due to your new unique skill."
Ben - 'What's a unique skill?'
Gabriel - "The skill [Wrath], it was obtained when you anger broke a certain threshold."
[Unique Skill - Wrath
You are strongest when you're enraged. Increases your strength up to 5 times, but there are risks of losing control. When you lose control, you won't naturally stop until your enemies are dead]
Gabriel - "You previously showed a 3 times increase. This skill is similar to a passive skill and will activate by itself when you're angered to a certain point. Unique skills do not have levels. It will only be activated when fighting or someone is designated as an enemy in Host's mind."
Ben - 'Is it possible to suppress it myself? So that I don't accidentally lose control?'
Gabriel - "Yes, but it will be required for you to be in complete control of you emotions. Needless to say, it will not be easy."
This was all a lot to be said, but it only took a few seconds in his head, which is fortunate considering Max was still expecting his answer.
Max - "What is it? If you know something, you should tell me."
Max was looking at him from the corner of his eye, his concern clear, but not losing any of the sternness.
With his situation made clear thank to Gabriel's help, Ben had come up with something to tell Max.
Ben - "Well... I'm not entirely sure, but I think it's thanks to what the watch did."
Max - "What do you mean?"
Ben - "Well, ever since it 'fixed' me and I started to feel all of my emotions, this is the first time I have gotten angry. Plus, it was because I saw a person I love get hurt."
He was looking down and clutching at his pants. This was because he was nervous and really hoping that Max would buy his answer, it was technically true after all. But, from Max's point of view it came of as a child who was worried about something he doesn't understand, making him feel sympathetic for his 'confused' Grandson.
Max - "Hmm, I see."
Max's tone and expression softened considerably.
Max - "But, that doesn't explain your strength."
Ben - "I think that was also because of the watch."
He lift his arm for Max to see.
Ben - "When I got angry, it sought of felt like when I turn into an alien."
Max became thoughtful and started formulating different possibilities.
Max - "It is possible that the watch reacts to and even amplifies the emotions of the wearer."
There was silence between the two for a moment.
Max - "But still, you could have killed that man!"
Ben - "I know, I will try to keep a better control over myself. I am sure I just need time to adjust." 'Like I would actually care...'
Max - "Okay, good..."
Max then sighed and continued to drive in silence, while Ben looked forward feeling relieved.
[Acting skill acquired]
Ben - 'I feel like I will be using that a lot...'
Meanwhile, Gwen, who Max and Ben thought was sleeping, was in fact awake and listening to their conversation.
She was quite confused about what had happened, but she did piece together that Ben did something.
When she heard him say that she was some the he 'love's', she turned bright red.
She then started thinking about when she was on his back and how comfortable it was.
Then she had other typical thoughts one had when developing a crush on someone at a young age.
Eventually, she did actually fall asleep due to the fatigue catching up to her.
Ben was still sitting up front with Max, in silence.
He was talking to Gabriel though.
Ben - 'Hey, Gabriel, is there a better way to get control over my emotions?'
Gabriel - "Host could always meditate and start practicing Mana Manipulation with the manual you recieved."
Ben - 'I completely forgot about that... Um, Gabriel?'
Gabriel - "Yes, Host?"
Ben - 'Well... it's just... Why do you keep calling me 'Host'? I mean, it's not really a problem, it's just that it feels awkward.'
Gabriel - "Would you like me to speak in a less formal manner?"
Ben - 'If you wouldn't mind.'
Gabriel - "Okay then."
Ben - 'Thanks.'
Ben then started to read the Mana Manipulation manual. Fortunately, he could read it from the system and didn't have to pull a book out of thin air.
After reading it, he started the initial process of finding his Core and moving the Mana inside it.
Finding the Core was easy, he had almost 20 times more than an average talented, but untrained human. Moving the damn stuff was the difficult part.
If he was an Anodite it would be easy, but that had to wait until he was level 10.
The mere fact that Charmcaster was so good at her her age is proof of how much of a genius she is, granted she had Hex there to guide her, but still...
And then there is Gwen, she is only a quarter Anodite, yet at the age of 10 she could do basically any magic immediately after getting her hands on a damn spell book. What happened to Mana Manipulation there, huh?
Getting rid of useless thoughts, he continued his attempts at moving his Mana.
- 4 hours later - (16:00-17:00)
Ben - 'It hasn't even budged... Can't I just buy a skill for this...?'
Gabriel - "Yes, you can. It costs 100,000 SP."
Ben - '...Yeah... No. Not happening.'
Gabriel - "Thought so. Back to meditation you go."
Ben - 'Haah...'
And so, he went back to meditating.
...
It was 18:00 when he decided to stop.
Gwen was awake again and Max had stopped driving.
Ben went outside while stretching and saw Gwen sitting at the bench that was set up.
They were apparently next to the road in a small clearing with trees around.
Gwen was watching as Max made some more of his weird food.
Ben - "Hey Gwen, feeling better?"
Gwen - "Yeah. What was with you?"
He looked at her in confusion.
Gwen - "We tried to tell you that we had stopped, but you didn't wake up no matter what."
He scratched the back of his head.
Ben - "Haha, sorry. I didn't even notice.
Gwen - "You were like a statue or something. If we didn't see you breathing, we would have thought that you were dead."
She was looking at him with a pout.
Ben - "Haha, sorry to have worried you."
Gwen blushed and turned her head to the side.
Gwen - "Who said I was worried about you!? Doofus!"
Ben chuckled at her tsundere attitude.
Max then came over with plates of some sort of insects.
Max - "Foods done, enjoy!"
Ben and Gwen looked at each other and gulped in fear.
Ben/Gwen - "T-thanks."
Neither of them could actually bring themselves to eat it and would just throw part of it away when Max wasn't watching.
Max - "So, you two finished?"
Ben - "Yeah... Hey Grandpa, how about I cook from now on?"
Max looked at him, confused.
Ben - "I mean, it's just that you already do so much already."
He then nudged Gwen to get her to go along, which she did.
Gwen - "Right! Yeah, and then you would have more time to relax."
Max started to think about the proposition.
Ben - "How about this, we are going to get some groceries tomorrow, right? Then, I will get those and then make something for dinner?"
Ben had a nervous sweat at this point.
Max - "Hmm... Okay, why not."
After that, he went into the Rustbucket with his usual smile, while both of his Grandkids sighed in relief
For the next few hours, they all spent some time doing different things and then went to bed.
- The next morning -
Ben woke up at 6 AM and started to make a good old fashioned breakfast. Eggs, bacon, toast and a glass of orange juice. (I despise baked beans!)
It was fortunate that Max had everything. Though it does make Ben question why Max makes all that weird stuff.
After making all the food, he set the table.
Gwen had already been awoken by the smell and Max was up even before Ben was.
They all sat down and dug in.
A few minutes later and they were finished, so Ben cleared the table.
Gwen - "That was great."
Max - "Thanks for that Ben."
Ben - "No problem."
He wasn't a great chef by any means, but he was still good.
After that, Max got up and went outside for a of exercise to digest the food. Gwen just stayed where she was, sitting with a satisfied expression.
Ben cleaned up a bit while humming to himself.
After finishing his cleaning, he went to the bathroom to freshen up and change his clothes.
He first washed his face and then got undressed.
Then, he sorted through the articles that he had previously scanned with the Omnitrix.
The clothes he decided on were; a long sleeved t-shirt, a red and black sleeveless jacket, black jeans with a red belt, and a pair of sturdy comfortable boots that go just above the ankle.
He looked at himself in the mirror and was quite please.
He had a dashing, uniqueness about him. Taking a final look in the mirror, he pushed his sleeves to just below his elbow and then went out.
Gwen was still at the table, watching the clouds go by.
When Ben came out of the bathroom, she was stunned.
He smiled seeing her expression.
Ben - "What do you think? Good?"
She nodded.
Gwen - "Yeah... But wait, how did you get those clothes."
He raised his left arm.
Ben - "The watch can synthesize clothing."
Her mouth hung open for a moment before she spoke.
Gwen - "That is so not fair."
Ben - "It does other stuff, just not worth mentioning."
Right then, Max entered.
Max - "Nice clothes Ben, they suit you."
Ben - "Thanks, Grandpa."
Max - "Well then, how about we get going? We can look around DC and then get the groceries."
Ben/Gwen - "Okay."
Max - "Good. It should only take another hour to get there."
With that, Max went and started up the engine, and they were off.
Seen as he had time on his hands, Ben decided to do something he forgot to do yesterday.
He went and got the things he got at the electronics store, along with some other stuff he took from Vilgax's drones.
He poured everything onto the table, startling Gwen.
Gwen - "Whoa! What are you doing? And why do you have all this stuff?"
Ben - "Nothing much, just a small project. Anyways, how is your head feeling?"
Gwen - "It's feeling a lot better. Just a scrape and a bruise in fact, it's kind of weird."
Ben - "Guess you heal a bit faster than most."
Gwen - "Yeah, I guess..."
She was clearly confused, but she decided to not think about it.
During the talk, Ben was taking the phones apart and separating a few bits and pieces.
Once he was done, Ben started to look through the Omnitrix.
Gwen - "Hey, what are you doi-"
Before she finished, there was a flash of red and then she saw a grey frog like alien.
Gwen - "What is that?"
Ben - "An extremely smart alien."
With a short reply, he began to sort through the piece on the table and wrote down simple instructions.
When he finished, he tapped the Omnitrix on his back and turned into a 2 metres tall alien with a black back, white chest and a strange mix of green and red in circuit grid all over.
He was now confused for two reasons.
One, why was the Omnitrix so big and located on the back of Greymatter? Nanomech isn't like that.
Two, why the hell does he look like a mix of Malware and a normal Galvanic Mechamorph?
He could deal with these questions later.
Gwen - "And this one?"
Ben - "Better to see."
He then merged with all of the parts on the table.
A few moments later, he came off of everything and left two phones.
Not phones that were around in 2005, but touch screens from 2020.
But, these were far better, having been mixed with alien tech, designed by a Galvan and produced by a Galvanic Mechamorph.
Ben turned back to human.
He picked them both up and threw one to Gwen.
Gwen - "What is it?"
Ben - "A phone."
Gwen - "I've never seen any phones like this."
Ben - "Of course you haven't. These were 'upgraded'."
Gwen - "Wouldn't this kind of stand out?"
Ben - "Should be fine, but try not flaunt it around for a while."
He was planning on sending blueprints of different technology to some major companies after summer vacation.
This should speed some things up.
He wasn't just going to give it to them for free though and they wouldn't be anywhere near as good as what he made.
Gwen - "So, what can it do?"
Ben - "Unlimited free access to the internet, can't be tracked or hacked by Earth standards, portable super computer, battery lasting almost a month and it is solar powered."
Gwen - "Wow."
Ben - "Cool, right? You can watch TV show and movies."
Gwen - "Amazing! Thanks Ben!"
She jumped and hugged him.
Ben - "No problem."
He chuckled as he patted her head.
Gwen quickly realized what she had done and what he was doing, she immediately let go while blushing.
The both of the sat down, Gwen was playing with her phone and Ben looked at a couple missions.
[Missions -
A minor villain - Beat up Animo when he appears.
Reward - 250xp, 100SP and 1AP.
Failure - -1000SP.
Rustbucket's Chef - Convince Grandpa Max to let you be in charge of the cooking by making him a good meal.
Reward - Lv-3 Cooking skill and 100xp.
Failure - You have to eat Max's food.]
Ben chuckled at the last mission and then accepted both.
He then closed his eyes and relaxed for the Next hour or so.
[Status -
Name - Ben
Lv - 3 (50/250)
Title - Wielder of the Omnitrix
State - Healthy MP - 440
STR - 12
END - 12
AGI - 12
CHA - 12
INT - 22
LUK - 666
AP - 12 SP 1,000,200
Primary Skills: CQC Lv-5, Marksmanship Lv-5, Danger Sense Lv-3
Secondary Skills: Drawing Lv-3, Math Lv-3, Writing Lv-3, Running Lv-5, Driving Lv-4, Engineering Lv-3, Cooking Lv-2, Programming Lv-2
Unique Skill: Wrath
