Early adventures - part 2

[PERMANENT RETIREMENT]

At a gas station somewhere in the desert, the Rust Bucket was parked and Max was busy at an ATM getting out some cash, meanwhile the three kids were inside of the convenience store getting ice cream.

Just then, a pick-up truck pulled up and from it a thug emerged before walking up behind Max who was using the ATM.

"Out of the way, Grandpa!" The thug ordered menacingly. "I've got a major withdrawal to make."

He then violently tossed Max out of the way, at the feet of another thug, before smiling smugly. Inside of the convenience store, the kids were currently looking over the ice cream selection.

—MC'S POV—

"What do you have that's non-fat, less than 3% sugar?" Gwen asked.

"Napkins." The clerk said before turning to Lucy and I. "What about you two?"

Just as Lucy was about to make her selection, she then noticed one of the thugs hooking up a chain from the truck to the ATM, planning to drive away with it.

She then smirked and winked at me. "You may do the honors Ben. I got you covered."

"Thank you, Lucy." I bowed dramatically before turning to the ice cream man. "Nothing for me, thanks."

I then walked out of the store and mentally commanded my watch while Lucy turned to the clerk. "One chocolate with rainbow sprinkles, please."

The first thug from before then hooked up the chain to the ATM before turning to his buddy. "Hit it."

The other thug then gave a thumbs-up and tried to start the truck, only for it to not go anywhere after hitting the gas pedal.

Then, right before his eyes, the steering wheel dissolved and the entire front of the truck became a formless black and white mass with green data-like markings on his body forming some kind of limbs and a single circle on the front of the head representing an eye.

This was another of my transformations, a subclass of the Galvanic Mechamorph (Upgrade), which was incomplete due to not being able to replicate my upgrades with being in direct contact with external technology.

"Your cash request has been denied!" I announced comically in a digitized version of my voice, my singular eye lit up as I spoke.

Outside of the car, one could see that I've taken over the entire truck, since it turned the same black and green. Tossing the first thug out of the car before I de-merged with it, I rematerialized ready to face the other thug who immediately greeted me by tossing the hook and chain at me like an improvised weapon. In response, I allowed it to wrap around my arm and then yank the remaining thug right into a power-line pole, knocking him nearly unconscious.

'Can't believe this weapon worked so well for the second time.' I thought, recalling my underwater fight against a mecha-suit. 'This form has a weird concept of density and physical strength. But the upgrades are still a neat concept.'

Just then, when the thug I had just tossed against the power-line pole tried to get up while still very dizzy, Max prevented him from doing so by putting his foot on his chest.

"Where do you think you're going?" Max asked in satisfaction before looking at me in my alien form, instead of fear I could only see confusion in his expression. "And what are you doing here?"

But before he had a chance to investigate it further, Gwen and Lucy walked out of the convenience store, enjoying their ice cream with my doppelgänger created by Lucy walking alongside them.

The brief instant that Max got distracted, he noticed the vigilante alien had vanished.

"I wasn't that hungry." My duplicate told Gwen before faking surprise while Lucy struggled to hide her laughter. "What happened Grandpa?"

Max looked around for any signs of the alien he had witnessed stopping criminals, but remembering how those Mechamorph Galvanic were capable of easily blending in with technology, he just gave up. "N-nothing. Just some troublemakers. So kids, are you ready to hit the road?"

"Sure thing grandpa." My clone replied, wrapping his arms around Gwen and Lucy, the two girls showing stark different reactions at my gesture.

"Where do we go next, Grandpa?" Gwen asked, still groaning under the intimate contact.

"We're heading off to see your Aunt Vera for the weekend." Max said, reminiscent of his sister.

Both Gwen and Lucy grew horrified looks upon their faces, albeit for different reasons.

"Dear Aunt Vera? The one who always pinches our cheeks too hard?" Gwen asked before shouting in terror. "NO!"

Later that day, the Rust Bucket drove through the hot empty desert with no interesting scenery in sight as the two girls slumped on the table in disappointment.

"Wow." I said, having finally found the time to switch back without anyone but Lucy noticing. "When Aunt Vera said she wanted to move away from it all, she really meant it. I mean, who does live in the desert with summers like this? If being left alone was the purpose, why not just go live in a forest like a hermit? Next to a waterfall while you are at it."

"Oh man." Lucy complained before sighing in defeat. "This summer was supposed to be about F-U-N. Not hanging out at some old lady's house. Eh, no offense Max."

The Tennyson Grandfather merely nodded with a smile, clearly not bothered by her previous statement.

"For once, I'm in full agreement with you." Gwen added. "I don't know how long I'm going to survive on old people's food. I'd honestly rather be forced to eat a feast of Grandpa's cooking."

Lucy then shuddered uncomfortably, not really sure why since food wasn't really a bother to her.

"A bit exaggerated, don't you guys think? Besides, I miss Aunt Vera." I said, genuinely nostalgic of the grandmotherly lady.

"Duh!" Gwen immediately retorted. "That's because you act like you're 100 years old."

"That's not true. He's a cool guy." Lucy stated as she laid her head on his shoulder. "Aren't you Ben?

"Sounds about right." I remarked with a chuckle, not really that embarrassed with her display of affection.

"You guys..." Gwen banged her forehead against the table. "Ugh…I'm too tired to argue."

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At the retirement complex, Vera was talking to her neighbor, Marty, who was watering his garden.

"It's been years since I've seen Max and the kids." She said excitedly. "I'm not sure I'll even recognize them. Stop by and say hello whenever you've got the chance."

"I'd like that." Marty said in a friendly manner before he went inside his apartment.

There he put down some snacks and sat down on his sofa to watch a movie. But just as he picked up his snack, a slimy formless mass stuck to his hand and he gasped, unable to do anything as it attacked him.

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—MC'S POV—

"Oh man, this is going to be so boring!" Lucy stated as the Rust Bucket eventually entered the retirement complex. "The idea of excitement in this place is probably watching the paint dry."

Gwen was going through her movie collection desperately. "Let's see. Action, adventure, comedy and comedy. Anything should do it."

"You know she probably doesn't have a DVD Player." I reminded her, not really pleased to spoil her plans.

"Really?!" Both girls almost shouted, with Gwen really wishing she had her notebook cd reader fixed before going on vacation.

"Really. But don't worry, I brought mine." I replied to their distressed expressions before offering. "I can lend it to you two."

Gwen narrowed her eyes. "What's it gonna cost me?"

I simply shrugged my shoulders. "Nothing, consider this my peace offer for the summer."

As Gwen stood up after putting my portable DVD Player into her backpack, she stood up, momentarily looking through the RV's side window and witnessed an old man slip on his roof while trying to fix his satellite. But before she could scream and tell everyone about it, she saw the old man backflip off of the roof before landing square on his feet.

"Whoa!" Gwen exclaimed, completely stunned by the display of the elderly man. "Did you all see that?"

I looked up from my own laptop and just saw a bunch of senior citizens doing their usual thing, looking back at her I asked before faking ignorance. "See what?"

"Gwen, I know you're trying to keep the fun alive, but it's not really working on me." Lucy said while still resting her head on the Rust Bucket table.

Gwen then sighed and shook her head in disappointment. Now she knows what Lucy and I must've felt about the whole Krakken encounter.

Once we finally reached Vera's house, the girls stepped out and were blinded for a few seconds by the hot sun.

"Seriously?" Gwen complained, caressing her orangish red hair bang to the side. "Why do old people have to live where it's so hot!? Is it because of arthritis or anything like it?"

Just then Lucy smirked mischievously to herself before proceeding to spray Gwen with two water guns she had concealed all this time for an opportunity such as this.

"Hey! It's freezing cold!" Gwen shouted back, shielding her face with her arms. "Is that my water gun?"

"No. Ben made these! Thought you would appreciate cooling off a little." Lucy then laughed out loud before running up ahead.

The girls joked around for a brief moment, after Lucy was done with her latest prank, both of them then looked into the window of the neighbor's house and were greeted by Marty, the neighbor who snarled at them and stretched his neck rather disturbingly before closing the blinds.

"Wow." Lucy commented, handing me back both water guns before I stored it back in the RV. "They really make you feel welcome here, don't they?"

"Just watch the cheeks. Heh" Max told everyone, completely oblivious to what Lucy had been talking about. "Vera's a pincher."

"Don't remind us." Gwen said in a mixture of both dread and defeat.

"Max!" Greeted Vera, an elderly woman who had a similar build to Max, before running out to hug her younger brother.

She had gray hair, which reached down to her shoulders, and wore earrings alongside a beaded necklace. Vera wore a magenta top, purple shorts, lavender shoes and a wristwatch.

"Vera!" Max smiled as he approached and hugged his older sister.

The girls and I then walked up to her as the girls gave her a fake smile.

"I can't believe you're finally here." Vera said as she hugged Gwen before pinching her cheeks. "And look at you two! So grown up!" She then moved on to Lucy and pinched her as well. But Lucy showed more boredom than pain by the act.

As for me.

"Now look at you young man!" Vera said while sounding both proud and nostalgic. "You are just like Max in his youth. Tall, strong and handsome!" She complimented me while grasping my shoulders instead of my cheeks.

"Thanks aunt Vera." I smiled, glad to have been spared the same fate as the girls. "If I grow up to be just half as incredible as he is, I will be considering myself very lucky."

"Oh, I'm sure you will get there." Vera remarked with a motherly smile. "I'm told you've just entered college. At such a young age, you must be nothing short of a prodigy."

"He is." Max, the Captain Kirk of this reality, confirmed, placing a hand over my shoulder. "His parents and I are very proud of him."

As I stood there still enjoying the compliments of the elderly duo, I noticed Lucy looking at me with heart-eyes while Gwen couldn't help but to roll her eyes.

"Come in. I can't wait to chew the fat with all of you." Vera told us, visibly excited to catch up on all the time we've haven't seen each other, before the four of us went inside.

"Just as Ben told me…think like a proton." Lucy started talking to herself. "Stay positive. Stay positive."

Little did most of them know that Marty was still glaring at us through the blinds in his window.

Inside Vera's house, it was pretty much what you would expect from a retirement complex. The walls were entirely white and your basic furniture was there.

Gwen then sniffed in the air and groaned. "Why do old people's houses always smell like someone's cooking socks or something?"

Aunt Vera then walked up to Gwen with a smile and handed her a slip of paper with the word 'Pie123abc' on it.

"What's this, our dessert tonight?" Lucy asked, raising her head over Gwen's shoulder.

Vera then chuckled a bit and smiled. "The wi-fi password. I'm not out of the time."

Gwen then pulled out her cell phone and logged it onto the WiFi when she spied a piano next to the wall. "Is that a piano?"

"Sure is." Vera stated as I sat down onto the seat before cracking my knuckles, having always wanted to do something like it before, and started to play the piano while nodding my head to the music, Lucy and Gwen just stared at me as they approached closely.

A thousand miles was the first song that came to mind, eventually, after getting aunt Vera and the girls to sing along I stopped playing.

"I didn't know you knew how to play piano?" Lucy asked while still visibly engaged with the previous melody.

"Yeah, but I'm still not as used to playing it as I'm with the guitar." I told her the truth. "After all, it's harder to bring it along with me everywhere."

"That was delightful." Vera told me as she laid one hand on my shoulder and the other over her heart. "You really are as gifted with music as Max had told me."

"Thanks, Aunt Vera." I thanked, glad to be able to lighten up the mood.

Later that day, our family sat down to dinner and after it got an orange Jell-O mold with white and brown bits for dessert, which was put in front of us and the girls nearly threw up in their mouths at the sight of it. Although knowing Lucy's secret, I came to understand she enjoyed mimicking basically everything Gwen did.

"Vera, this is delicious." Max said as the girls just picked at it. "What are these brown chunks in the mold?"

'Alright, that line delivery was funny.' I laughed mentally. 'Has Vera beaten you in your own game, Grandpa?'

"Pork chops. And the white chunks are cauliflower." Vera explained, clearly proud of her creation.

The girls then gulped in horror as Gwen gently pushed her dish away. "I'm full already."

"Me too. We had take-out on the way here." Lucy said, covering up for her.

Vera then approached Gwen with a smile and a bowl in her hands. "Gwen, would you like some candy?"

"Sure!" She said as she took one and put it into her mouth before immediately saying. "Coffee? As a candy?…I'll pass, but t-thanks, I guess."

"You are welcome, dear." Vera said, trying to get to know us better one by one. "So, Lucy. What have you been doing so far this summer?"

"Dealing with some monsters." She said in a bragging manner.

"And I'm her partner." I added with a smile, being so glad that Lucy was either usually fooling around or just childish enough to come up with weird stories.

"I see." Vera then chuckled a bit. "Oh, you kids and your wild imaginations. I most certainly miss those days. Don't you do as well, Max? Remember when you kept talking about fighting aliens in space. Hahaha. You were always so afraid of heights, imagine being so much up there."

"Yes. Those were the days." Max smiled back, his eyes betraying his daydreaming thoughts.

As the conversation finally came up naturally for us, Gwen decided to join in and got up once she saw the model bird collection on Vera's shelf, very intrigued by it until she spotted the red bird. "Aunt Vera, is that a stuffed red-billed North American chickadee?"

Vera gasped before saying. "How perceptive, Gwen. And did you know the song of the red-billed North American chickadee is actually-"

"-a call indicating alarm or excitement?" They both finished before imitating the call, much to the amusement of Lucy.

Being a bit of an airhead, Lucy was the one that quickly got bored of all that talk, she immediately got up from her seat. "I need to use the bathroom." She said before racing for the bathroom before closing the door with a start.

"It's Attack of the Old Boring People! I need to get out of here. Let's see…" She then turned into two, her second form visibly lacking her upbeat personality, but still maintaining the illusion of being her. "Now to get out of here." She said before spotting the air vent and going through it, traveling through the house's inner workings.

Meanwhile, as the 'second Lucy' came out of the bathroom, Vera was showing both me and Gwen her seashell collection.

"And this one is a Valentiana." She said as she handed the conch shell to Gwen. "Can you hear the ocean?"

Gwen held it up to her ear and smiled.

Meanwhile, I turned to 'Lucy' and smiled. "Are you okay? Where are you going?"

"Boring... boring..." She muttered with distracted eyes. "Somewhere else."

I then immediately noticed a sudden movement through the grates and looked to see a flow of purple mud, giving her a thumbs up before signaling for her to be careful.

—LUCY'S POV—

As I managed to crawl out of the air vent and out through the conditioner's tiny window, I slithered out to explore the grounds, before pondering to myself. 'There's got to be something fun to do around here.' Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a golf cart. "Hello."

I then moved towards it and pressed a segment of my liquified body against the gas pedal to make it go while using another to push the steering wheel. To the onlookers on the street, it looked like the cart was driving itself, much to their confusion.

I snorted and chuckled at my own prank before a whiff of something delicious made its way to me as I pressed against the brake to make the cart stop.

Finding my prize, Inwas so glad that I've finally mastered the ability to smell odors. "Mmm... apple pie."

But just as I was about to dig in, I caught something in my peripheral vision before looking through the window and into the house.

It was an old lady that I saw, swatting violently at a fly before she leaped up, stuck to the ceiling and actually ate the fly before falling down on her feet and cracking the joints in her neck rather grotesquely.

'Blech!' At first I was disgusted by her eating the fly, since I knew humans weren't supposed to behave like that. But just then, realization at the amazing sight hit me like a truck. 'No way! Ninja old people?! Okay, that's more interesting… and a bit weird.'

I then turned and saw Marty driving the cart I had just hijacked away, probably intending to return it to its place. But then, the lawn sprinklers turned on and he got a panicked look on his face as he veered the cart away, almost flipping it over by accident, giving a sigh of relief once he succeeded in avoiding getting wet. "I wonder what Mr. Friendly's up to."

I then followed him by stalking the man behind, going unnoticed by the onlookers due to my shapeshifting abilities. A few minutes later, I had followed Marty to the complex's waste area where he lifted up a suspicious folded red rug onto his shoulder.

On his way out of the cart, he proceeded to casually walk over to the gate, stretching up his legs and stepping over it with no effort at all, leaving me totally puzzled.

"This place just keeps getting weirder by the minute." I remarked to myself before walking through the gate as if it wasn't even there, and looked to see Marty moving the garbage dumpster out of the way and revealing a hidden staircase underneath it.

He was about to go down when Marty somehow noticed my presence and stretched his head around to the back of his body. Since it caught me completely by surprise, even after all that thing with his stretching legs, I couldn't help myself from letting out a squeal.

"That is so wrong coming from a human." I announced as Marty then stretched around the rest of his body and lunged while screeching at me, he attempted to grab me by the shoulders but I easily slipped out of his grasp. "You aren't even a Lenopan, stay away from me!"

Quickly making it to the golf cart as Marty stretched over the gate again and ran for me, being once again surprised that despite it being floored, the golf cart was still going about as fast as Marty was running.

"Okay. Creepy old guy coming right for me. Maybe I wouldn't mind if this continued to be the most boring place on this vacation?" I told myself while keeping it floored, but the golf cart only went 40 mph and I grunted in annoyance at that fact. "If only I was a better runner."

It was then that Marty stretched his arms forward, grabbed the front of the cart I was in and started dragging it back. This made me panic and in return immediately formed blades with my hands and sliced off his.

I thought I had finally managed to drive away from him, but soon after I felt a bump on top of the cart and knew that Marty had climbed on top of it. With the sudden jolt, I lost control of the cart and then hit a parking space block, sending us both flying into a tree.

Quickly reforming my body, I groaned in confusion and leaned against a tree. Unfortunately to me, Marty suddenly reformed himself from a green blob much faster than me.

Before the man had the chance to make a move though, Marty noticed the lawn sprinkler spraying onto him and grunted in fear as he ran off, leaving me very confused.

"What the heck was that all about? Another species like mine?" I asked no one in particular, putting my brain to use. "But this one seems deadly afraid of water. Then why did he come to Earth?"

Having more questions coming up by the minute, I decided to go talk with Ben, since he always knows what to do.

Later back in Aunt Vera's house, Ben, Gwen and Max were in the kitchen when I came rushing up to them out of breath.

"Guys, something is seriously wrong with this place!" I shouted before Max shushed me.

"Did you forget that Aunt Vera is sleeping?" He calmly asked me.

"Are you for real? It's only like 6:30!" I evaded his question by asking another.

"Hey, weren't you here when..." Gwen was about to ask me something before being the one shushed by Max this time.

"What's wrong, Lucy?" Ben spoke more softly, interrupting Gwen and Max's questioning.

"Ben, this place is so much creepier than we thought. I was out for a walk and I saw some pretty strange things to say the least. First, this old woman ninja scales up a wall, munches on a fly and lands on the floor without so much as a scratch on her. Then, Marty, the creepy guy from next door is this weird monster who has the ability to stretch his neck 180 degrees and he can stretch his body to limitless forms and-"

"Slow down, kiddo." Max said reassuringly.

"When did you have time to walk around by yourself?" Gwen asked confused.

"Just did." I came up with a lame excuse.

"I believe you. We've already seen one strange stuff this summer, so the line between possible and impossible is still not clear." Ben said, helping me out again and being really awesome while doing so.

"Thanks. I think WE should go check out Marty's apartment." I suggested, trying to imply we were the most qualified to do so.

"Well, maybe I should do some investigating. But you two stay exactly as you are." Max told us in a serious tone.

"Fine. Okay." I sighed while Ben nodded.

As grandpa walked off, Gwen turned to us. "You know, ever since our summer trip started, you two have been acting very weird to one another."

"What can I say, we've missed one another." Ben said with an eye-smile. "I missed you too, but I figure you don't want to spend more time than it's strictly necessary with me."

"I-I don't hate you, stupid." Gwen replied a little too harshly before walking away.

"Oh, so she does care." Ben said while looking at me with a dramatic posture.

"Didn't I tell you? Heh!" Was my reply to him, as I joined in with his play. "She's just a bit shy."

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MAX'S POV

Later that evening, as I entered the neighbor's apartment by cracking open the door just a tad before calling out. "Hello? Anyone home?"

When nobody answered, I moved on to enter the apartment with caution in my walk as I saw the suspicious shadows scrawled upon the wall. I also heard a ticking noise followed by a ringing.

Searching the apartment for a light switch so I could see my way around for anything unusual, I couldn't help feeling sort of nostalgic about my old job. I noticed something moving just as I was about to flip the light switch, seeing it now I understood it was just a coat and hat on a rack blowing by the open window.

"Well, nothing seems out of whack." I assessed before persisting with my investigation. Eventually, I saw a faded spot on the carpeted floor.

'Lucy did mention that the neighbor had something rolled up in a rug and stashed it in a secret passage under a dumpster.' Max recalled, fearing that it might've been a body or something similar. 'This must be where the rug was. I'll admit, it does seem unusual that a rug would be removed from an apartment like this.'

Back at Vera's house by sunset, I showed the kids to their rooms. "You kids sleep well. I'll be in the guest room if you need me."

"But Grandpa-" Lucy began before I interrupted her.

"There's nothing more I can do tonight. I'm going for an early walk in the morning. When I get back, I'll check things out again. Now get some rest." I said before leaving them alone as Lucy nodded.

"He's got a point. We're going to need all the energy we can get to uncover whatever's happening here." Ben said before he gave out a loud yawn and stretched. "Nighty night."

"Good night everyone." I told them before turning the lights off and leaving them be in order to find my own bed.

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In Vera's room, the sleeping Vera's hand fell off of the covers as the same substance that attacked Marty when the crew just arrived suddenly slithered in the rafters.

It then slithered up her arm before she suddenly woke up as the slime-like substance covered her body completely 'Spider-Man 3' style before she could even scream or warn everyone in any way, shape or form.

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GWEN'S POV

The next morning, I found myself going through Vera's fridge. "Prune juice, prune juice, and, oh what a surprise, more prune juice." Lucy watched me getting a glass of water in misery. Lucy sighed and rubbed her brow with her fingers. "Why does it seem that old people have always been old? I know that they were once young like us, but man doesn't feel that has been the case."

Ben snickered at my comment, provoking a grin from both me and Lucy as I felt we were finally getting along.

However, just then, Vera silently came down the stairs to her kitchen.

"Good morning, Aunt Vera." I said with a smile, willing to keep trying my best to make the most out of this situation. "How did you sleep?"

"Just... fine." Vera said with little emotion in her voice, which caused Ben and Lucy to raise their eyebrows in suspicion. "How about you?" Then, she reached out like a zombie and pinched Lucy's cheeks rather painfully.

"Fine, Aunt Vera." Lucy replied, from her looks I saw a bit of uneasiness over the sudden change in the older woman's behavior.

But I wasn't concerned about anything. "I made you some coffee, Aunt Vera."

However, being so clumsy I tripped and sent both coffee and water sprawling to the ground, causing Vera to panic, jump up and do an impressive split between the kitchen shelves, her legs being long enough to make it seem unnatural.

"Clean it up! Clean it up right now!" Vera ordered almost shouting as we looked absolutely shocked at the sight of it.

"I'm sorry." I tried to apologize before immediately rushing to clean up the coffee and water with a towel.

Vera then jumped down once it was all done and glanced over to see the empty guest room where Max had slept last night. "Where did your grandfather go?"

"He said he was going for an early walk." I recalled hearing it.

"Well, behave yourselves. I'll be back soon." Vera said before walking away from us and Lucy looked at me with crossed arms.

"She's one of them!" Lucy said.

"One of what?" I questioned almost dismissively, still embarrassed from my recent mistake.

However, just as I was about to connect the dots with what I first saw when we were arriving at the complex, Ben barged in and said. "Whatever's possessing these old people. I've seen senior citizens who are rather spry in my life so seeing one do the splits is not out of the realm of plausibility for me. But an entire community and one of which seems to have elastic powers? I can only suspend my disbelief so far."

"Exactly!" Lucy almost cheered at his words.

"But Aunt Vera wasn't anything like that before." I reminded them.

"Maybe she was normal before. Or at least normal when it comes to old people. But someone or something has got to her and who knows how many of the other fossils around here." Lucy argued, surprising me with how much thought she had been putting to it, which doesn't mean I considered her to be dumb, but I still acknowledged as not being usual for her.

"We've got to do something." Ben declared while being serious, to which both me and Lucy nodded. "And I think we must first go looking for Grandpa Max." He assessed as the three of us walked out of the house.

Later in an alleyway, we were walking down an alleyway in the complex silently with Lucy leading the charge.

"So, where are we going, Sherlock?" I asked Ben, noticing how he began behaving as our leader, with Lucy pressing herself against the wall and informing us that she sighted two seniors looking suspicious walking around.

"The trap door by the dumpster." Lucy pointed out. "When I first confronted Marty, he was stowing something in it. If I'm right, it might be the real Marty." She stated, visibly moved by the possibility.

The three of us waited for the seniors to pass out of our sight before we made a break for it and hid in another alleyway.

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Meanwhile, the fake Marty and another male senior were waiting by a wall as the fake Vera walked up to them.

"Is the food supply ready for transport?" She asked.

"The pods are in the final stages of gestation." Fake Marty replied. "What about the young ones?"

"Too chewy." Vera sighed and shook her head. "They need to age more before they get nice and tender."

"I'm not talking about eating. The blonde girl isn't human and already suspects too much." Fake Marty remarked.

To that, Vera came up with an appropriate plan of action before giving an evil smile.

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MC'S POV

Oh boy, one aspect I had willfully underestimated up to this point, mostly thanks to my successful experiment with my Anodite powers, was how dangerous this summer vacation would've been for the original Ben had he never received the Omnitrix.

I mean, sure, he wouldn't have to face every obstacle Vilgax sent his way in order to retrieve the watch from him, but even if he somehow avoided both Animo's rampage through Washington and the Krakken's little skirmish with the F.O.F, the Limax would have certainly taken grandpa from him for good.

Fortunately, all my scheming to make Lucy join us this summer trip had paid off incredibly. Seeing how useful she has proven to be given that it didn't take much effort to make her follow the original Ben's steps, just with the occasional aura manipulation and there she went willing to venture out by herself, especially now that Lucy knew I could keep her family side secret and maintain appearances.

Having said that, since we were reaching the end game with these Limaxes, I kept playing the part while leading the girls until we finally made it to the dumpster Lucy had pointed out earlier.

"It's right over there." She remarked and the tree of us sneaked over to it.

"Just follow the disgusting smell." Gwen added, holding her nose.

"That's one way to put it." I admitted with a smile.

Soon, we were eventually spotted by two seniors who might've been after us from the start and were just playing shuffleboard to appear less obvious.

Whatever the reason, they gave us a menacing growl as soon as they saw us and started chucking the pucks in our direction, to which Gwen grew concerned to point out the obvious. "Run!"

And so ran for cover, dodging several flying pucks that were thrown with enough force to easily bruise a regular human, if I hadn't used some of my Mana barriers just in time, not sure if Gwen would've made it with us all the way to a corner in the closest lane.

"So do you believe me now?" Lucy immediately asked, apparently annoyed to be in this place for the second time that summer.

"I-I do. Phew." Gwen said while still panting heavily.

Just then, as I was glad that my mana manipulation feats were noticed by the girls, something resembling our grandpa Max came out from behind us.

"Guys, what's going on?" He asked, drawing our attention.

"They're everywhere!" Lucy shouted almost running towards him, not finding the timing of Max's appearance odd at all, but I raised my arm to stop her in her tracks.

"Heh. Clever boy." Max told me before he stretched out and revealed his jagged teeth before giving out a roar, to which Lucy glared angrily.

"No one messes with my Family!" Lucy blasted the 'fake Max' with her stretched arm that soon became a sludge wave.

"Let's get out of here!" Noticing how Gwen was looking weirdly at Lucy, I immediately shouted before dragging the two girls by the arm.

But soon, our passage was blocked by Vera, Marty, and another senior standing on our way while holding up a car together, just then we looked back to see the fake Max charging again at us with Gwen still in utter shock.

"Oh, this is not good." Lucy said as the seniors tossed the car at us and we ducked out of the way as the car then suddenly landed on fake Max, with Gwen becoming immediately concerned about it.

Understanding that it wasn't really clear how these aliens snatched other people's bodies, I tried to calm her a little with a few words explaining that despite its appearance it couldn't have been our grandfather.

As if to prove my point, suddenly from the wreckage of the tossed car, a formless slime-like being flowed from out of it and formed itself back into Max's appearance, although with its left eye socket exposing its greenish slime nature.

"Gwen, get to the trap door!" Lucy quickly ordered her while staying with me to keep the Limaxes at bay, Gwen nodded and immediately ran to the dumpster, finding the trap door just underneath it.

The still dormant Anodite first tried her best to move it but she just wasn't strong enough, leaving Lucy and I looking at each other as we backed up from the impostor old people stalking towards them.

"You hold them?" Lucy asked me, showing me one of her rare cases of being serious.

"Of course." I confirmed confidently and finally ready to share my secret, pulling up my sleeve while mentally commanding the Omnitrix to activate and picturing what transformation I wanted to become.

The watch immediately sank into my wrist, causing my veins to pulse and expand rapidly, until they reached his eye, which I clenched shut. After a brief green flash, I shifted into becoming my Vulpimancer (wildmutt) form, growling and snarling menacingly at the alien impersonators before charging at them.

I was finally allowed to let loose against something that was capable of quickly recovering from my precise yet devastating strikes.

Meanwhile I took my time to stall our pursuers, Lucy ran towards the dumpster and then elongated her arms in order to properly toss it to my direction, to which I easily sensed and lunged towards, grabbing it both arms before slamming it down and crushing it against my opponents.

I then metaphorically glared at a surprised Gwen and snarled lightly at Lucy who had been just standing there instead of quickly entering the trap door.

"Sorry, I just love seeing you in action." Lucy replied and then got to undo the locks of the door, this time trying to explain what was going on to Gwen. "I know, It's kind of scary at first." She remarked to Gwen before winking at her as she shifted into her humanoid Lenopan form. "But believe me, you'll get used to it."

Just then, the seniors came oozing out of the dumpster and resumed their attacks against me just as Lucy finally managed to bust open the trap door.

Easily dodging around their tentacles and slimy whips thanks to my Daredevil-like heightened sense, before launching them farther enough to buy us more times. After that I immediately rushed to pick both girls up on my back and they jumped down into the trap door as the seniors glared at us from above.

"Does the expression 'look before you leap' mean anything to you?" Gwen asked, suddenly acting her normal self towards me, despite my appearance. "Oh, I guess not when you're blind as a bat… OUCH!" Gwen suddenly shouted, yelping outwards into the air as she held her bottom and fell face-first into the ground with some of my transformation's smallest quills in her bottom.

"Ha! Now who's the blind one?" Lucy said as she couldn't help but giggle at what just happened.

"That really hurt..." Gwen groaned before Lucy aided her by pulling the quills off of her and helped her up. "Argh, Ben, get a saddle next time!"

Right about then, the girls glanced upwards and, much to their alarm, the seniors started crawling down while sticking to the walls like spiders growling at us.

Urging them both to hurry up back over me with some snarls, I then immediately ran through the caverns as the seniors eventually leaped down and started following us as we left no haste and didn't stop before we reached a point where the tunnel split into two paths.

"These tunnels must go under the entire complex." Gwen analyzed as she got down from me as I then sniffed the air searching for their ship, until I literally saw the heat signature of fake Max as he then stretched his arms at the girls. Just then I grabbed his arms and swung him into the wall.

'How fortunate that both Lenopan and Limaxes emit heat, otherwise I would have to switch my strategy a little here.' I thought while glaring at the quickly reforming alien I've just thrashed.

The 'fake Max' then rushed and grabbed my scruff, attempting to flip me onto its back, which caused me to claw my way out of his grab in a spin and be sent flying back before I adjusted myself and landed on all fours, my powerful claws digging into the rocky floor.

I followed by lunging at the 'body snatcher' and started clawing at its face with no hesitation. As it groaned and snarled at me, I bit its limb before slamming it into the ground continuously, shaking it like a rag doll.

Continuing with my reenactment of the Hulk humbling some Norse Gods before grabbing it and tossing it into the wall again, this time causing a bunch of rocks to fall on it, supposedly either finishing him off or buying us more time.

The latter I quickly understood to not have been the case, proven after I sniffed the air for a brief moment and then charged, not forgetting to pick up both Girls before doing so, down one of the split tunnels.

"You don't come with seatbelts, so slow down!" Gwen shouted as I ran down as fast as I could before slamming into the wall with a bit of my magical barrier working as a ram. "Hey, mutt!" Gwen told me after the dust had just settled. "What do I look like, a crash test dummy?!"

I picked both girls from out of my back and transformed back into my human form. "Apologies, I could feel countless of those things getting closer and closer. If we hadn't hurried we might've been surrounded."

"You felt?" Lucy asked, a little curious about my abilities, but I gave her a look that made her quickly understand that it wasn't the time for that.

"Listen, girls, I don't know what it is but I've picked up a scent coming through here. I believe I've also felt Grandpa." I half lied. "Come on, I will protect you two."

Receiving no protest from them, we then walked down the caverns again until we all sighted a hidden spaceship and a bunch of pods that looked like they came out of the Alien movies.

"It's like everyone in Retirement Village has been podded up." Gwen said as they looked through the pods, until she came across the one that was holding their grandfather.

"I've found grandpa Max!" She said, waiting for me to rip the pod and pull it away, ripping it open as Max came out and came to his senses almost instantly.

"I was out for a walk and then *groan* I can't remember what happened next." Max began explaining as I helped him to his feet.

"You and the others in the complex were podded up by these gross shapeshifting aliens." Gwen explained, before turning to Lucy. "I-I mean, no offense."

While Max raised an eyebrow at Gwen's comment, I ran over to another pod to free more people before I was interrupted.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." The 'fake Vera' said as she, 'fake Marty', and another 'fake senior' walked up to us.

"Well you're not me." I told her, while my cousins and grandfather got into a fighting stance.

"Not yet, I'm not." Marty said as he and the others let out a shriek and transformed into their true forms: a green amoeba-like being with the ability to screech loudly with their organs visible in their transparent bodies as Gwen looked sick to her stomach.

While I held my ground, the girls backed up in fear as the aliens approached them, only for Max to shield them.

"You can fill me in later." Max said as Gwen accidentally touched the pink wall behind her, which turned yellow and revealed itself to be a door to their ship and she looked behind to see countless pods already loaded into the ship.

"Guys, look over here." She shouted as Max and Lucy looked into it to see the pods.

"Their ship." Max exclaimed as he ran over, almost forgetting he was retired.

"They found it!" One of the aliens shouted. "We can't let them out!"

With that, the ship activated, shining brightly, illuminating the cavern.

"Get the pods on board." Another of the aliens said. "They've been marinating long enough."

"Marinating?" Max asked as Gwen looked up and gasped as she saw Vera's pod. "They've got Aunt Vera!"

Right then I took out some water guns I've brought along with me.

"Water guns! Why did you bring them along?" Gwen asked, confused. "I don't think they need a bath."

"Remember today's incident with Aunt Vera in the kitchen?" I told her.

"Or Marty when I was on the golf cart!" Lucy recalled.

"It seems there really are aliens stupid enough to come to a planet that is mostly covered by their weakness." I remarked out loud.

"You would be surprised how often that happens." Max chuckled out of nostalgia, before quickly clearing his throat and changing subjects. "I mean, in movies. Keep them busy while we unload these pods from the ship."

The collective beings known as Limax struggled against its fear from water as I sprayed them. They dove out trying to avoid it while still attempting to attack me by throwing things of the environment at me, eventually coming up with the idea of intimidating me by merging together in order to become a towering version of themselves.

'Oh you are lucky I don't have my Orishan (Waterhazard) form yet!' I thought to myself before putting my athletic training and slightly mana-enhanced body to test, effortlessly dodging everything they threw at me, capitalizing on each opening they gave me in order to spray water on them.

Stalling them long enough until I managed to spot a water pipeline above them, firing a concentrated projectile of mana at it, it soon began spraying water on the giant Limax as he roared in pain before I fired again and completely separated the pipe, this time spraying a massive waterfall of water on the giant alien as he melted right before my eyes just as Max, Lucy and Gwen finished unloading the pods.

"How did you do that?" Max asked as they ran out of the ship.

"Easily enough. They started throwing things at me, I just tricked them into hitting a water pipeline on the ceiling." I lied to Max.

"Clever." Max remarked as he noticed that the level of the water was rising rather quickly. "We should put them back into their condos so they'll think they never left." Max said while both girls groaned.

"But that could take hours." Gwen stated, also noticing the water level rising.

"I'll handle it. Just hope I can find out who lives where." I said, pulling up before finally revealing my watch. "Grandpa, we will need to talk after I'm done."

Despite being caught completely unaware, once the green flash of light ended and I turned into my Kinneceleran (XRL8) form, Max nodded in agreement. "We sure do, Ben."

Having completed another one of my scheduled adventures, I felt an exhilarating sensation of accomplishment as the time around me suddenly came to a halt.

Given the appropriate context, this might be the strongest transformation I currently have at my disposal. Seriously, super speed must be the most underrated and unappreciated super-power in the history of modern fiction.

For each trip I made to take one pod from out of the cave and back to the surface, I took a couple of minutes while still maintaining my time-stopping perception of both study and mapping out the alien technology left by the Limaxes.

Sure, I wasn't anywhere near as hyper intelligent as I would've been had I picked my Galvan (Grey Matter) transformation, but having all the time in the world I still made good with what I had.

Even managed to track down the last remaining sample of slime that had apparently as a last ditch effort to survive separated itself from the main body of its previously gigantic fusion, storing it away in an instant into on one of the highly resistant glass tubes I've crafted from the scraps of robots Vilgax had so generously donated to me on my first day of vacation.

Poor slimy fellas, must still be dumbfounded by how everything went from bad to worse for them in less than a day. Sucks to them I guess, I was more than welcoming to have these elderly-human eating snails as my lab rats to experiment.

Who knows, I even might have some use for their fire resistant and shape shifting DNA.

At least more than what I had with the Krakken. Man that was such a dud, I was so certain it was sentient enough to be accepted by the Omnitrix. I will have to store it until I find a way of working around that or just luck out again and get my hands on the Nemetrix.

Regardless, by the time I actually got tired from running to what felt like an eternity, I joined both Grandpa Max and the girls.

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By the end of the evening, when everything was back to normal, the crew were all standing in front of Vera's house as she started hugging both Max and the kids goodbye.

"Don't be strangers." Vera told her brother with a gentle smile.

"We won't." Max assured her, getting into the driver's seat soon after, with the kids being next to say goodbye.

"Bye, Aunt Vera." Gwen said, reaching to hug her.

"Bye, dear. You will always be welcomed here." Vera replied. "Oh, and this is for the road." She then handed Gwen a green Jell-O mold. "Lucy told me how much you loved my gelatin mold. This one's lime with chunks of grouper and chickpeas."

Just then Gwen heard Lucy's trademark snorting laugh.

"Uh, thanks." Gwen said as she walked to the Rust Bucket while grumbling at her cousin.

Vera then walked up to talk to Lucy, who had eventually warmed up to her, and then Ben.

After saying their goodbyes, Vera hugged her great nephew. "Have fun on the road."

"Don't worry, Aunt Vera. I definitely will." Ben said as he then ran to the RV.

As they drove by the cavern, no signs of the Limax's spaceship could've been found, however, a hole on its ceiling hinted where it might've gone.

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(29/04/2021)

(30/04/2021)

(02/11/2023)

*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. Not to mention adding my personal flavor to the mix.

Sorry if you expected more of it. 😅

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

If this chapter is a mess of grammatical errors, please point them out and I'll promptly try to fix it. Feel free to leave your feedback while you are at it. ☺️

Thanks as always for your time and attention, 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. 😓

*** Hope you like the cameos of this chapter. If they are well accepted, I might consider having more of them.