Tourist Trap/Tennyson Bonding

Inside the Rust Bucket Nico had just finished explaining how he knew about the Conqueror's Challenge and the command code's for the Omnitrix from his past life. But, he decided to just say that the knowledge of all of it was only gained when he hit his head on the first day of the trip, as he didn't have any physical proof to show he was actually a demigod/apostle at the moment.

"So, let me get this straight, you were a guy who was bedridden for almost all of his life, and one of the few things you had to keep you from going crazy was watching a show that was really close to what our lives are like, including the stuff about the Omnitrix?" Penn asked just to verify what she heard Nico say was correct.

"Yes, and if you want I have more ways to prove my words than just messing with that watch." He said while under the scrutinizing gaze of the girls at the table while Max drove the RV and listened in.

"What? Can you tell us winning lottery numbers or something?" Lucy asked, still trying to process the fact that the guy she loves was, mentally, much older than her.

"No, that's a bit out of my wheelhouse, but I can tell a certain someone here that they're probably stronger than all of us combined if they actually start training properly." At Nico's words both Gwen and Lucy looked at Penn, believing that he was talking about the wielder of the Omnitrix.

"And, it's not Penn, believe it or not." He quickly said to keep them from misunderstanding his words further.

"Then who is it? Penn's literally the only one with the alien watch that an alien warlord wants to use to rule the galaxy." Gwen hated to admit it, but she knew that the only one out of them that could actually beat Penn was Nico, if the girl focused more on practical combat skills.

"Well, funny you ask, Gwen, 'cause Max has been keeping another secret from us, or more specifically, you. Though I can understand why he did it." He said while looking over at the driver seat where Max was, as the old man never actually told Gwen that she had the spark.

"Grandpa, what is Nico talking about?" Gwen said she also looked over to Max wanting an answer to her confusion.

"Umm- well- you see...." Max didn't expect that this topic would be brought up so soon, he also didn't expect Nico to actually know about Anodite's this much.

"Max, if you won't tell her, then I'll just do it myself. Gwen, you, out of all of Max's descendants, are the only one with the spark necessary to be considered an Anodite, and Max was scared of telling you this too soon because he didn't want you to end up like Verdona." Nico grimaced a bit at the memory of the particular Anodite, he didn't like that woman in the slightest.

"I-I have the spark?" Gwen asked, too stunned about the first half of what Nico said to properly listen to the half about Max being scared.

"Yes, and if you actually start properly training you'll be able to basically warp reality however you want." He said while taking a cherry vanilla flavored snow cone out of his messenger bag and started eating it, as if he didn't just tell Gwen that she can actually do anything if she put in the effort.

"How do I train!?! I'll start right now!!" Gwen hurriedly asked as she slammed her hands on the table. It seems she was sick of being the only 'normal' one out of them, which to her might as well mean that she's the real black sheep of the family.

"Well, meditation to clear your mind and trying to absorb the mana in the air is a good start. Then you'll need to figure out how to release it from your body bit by bit, so you can get used to using mana for combat and other things." Nico didn't actually know if this would work, he was just telling her a rephrased version of how he trained his Osmosian abilities.

"Got it!" Gwen excitedly said as she quickly went to the back of the RV to start meditating on her bed, practically forgetting all about Nico having knowledge from his past life that involved their lives.

"Damn, and here I thought I was supposed to be the excitable one out of us." Lucy said as she watched how fast Gwen moved to start training after Nico told her how to.

"To be fair, imagine if you didn't know you were a Lenopan, Lucy, and then someone came along and told you you were one, wouldn't you be excited to see what you could do?" The Osmosian said before the Rust Bucket suddenly screeched to a halt.

"Nico, Penn, get up here. We got trouble up ahead." Max said as two got up from their seats and could clearly hear the sound of someone yelling for help on the road.

"Oh shit, that's not good." Penn said as she saw the overturned propane truck that crashed a few meters away from the Rust Bucket with the driver trapped inside, what made it actually bad was the fire that was beginning to spread around the truck.

"If that propane catches fire it won't just be his ass that gets blown sky-high." Nico pointed at the other cars that stopped near them as the truck had blocked the road.

"Penn, I'll deal with the fire, and you get the guy out of there." He pulled out a black hoodie from his bag and put it on to hide his face, it still wasn't time for humans to know the full truth of the world.

"I think I can handle this one, or should I say, Heatblast can handle it!" She tried to make the Omnitrix turn her into the said Pyronite, but instead when she pressed down the dial she ended up getting Stinkfly instead of the alien she wanted.

Penn's version of Stinkfly actually looked a bit more like centaur version of the alien, with the lower half being more like the foul smelling creature. But the top half looked like it was more inspired by Attea, the Incursean Princess, who Nico would make a mental note to try and meet later as he once had a crush on her, and Looma, in his past life.

"Yeah, I knew that would happen. Now, come on, let's hurry, or else we might be caught in the blast too!" The Osmosian quickly pulled the hood over his head and jumped out of the Rust Bucket with Penn following close behind, but not without grumbling about not being able to use the Master Control to get the alien she wanted.

As the two got closer to the truck the flames' intensity increased making the two step back a bit from the raging blaze. "I really need to get in some training with heat, or at this rate I'll be scared of going near candles!" Nico said before breathing out a gust of cold air which began to make the flames die down.

"Ugh! It's like this watch wanted me to turn into bug barbecue!" Penn said as she went over the dying fire and onto the top of the truck, where she used her sharp tail to tear into the roof of it so she can get the driver out.

The driver screamed in fear as she used her hands to make the hole bigger and pulled him out of it, Penn then safely dropped him on the ground a little away from the truck. There the man continued to scream and even ran away from her, even though she just saved his life.

"Jerk! Don't scream at a lady when she saves your ass!" Nico, who just finished putting out the fire, yelled at the running man. He didn't like someone treating Penn like a freak, even if she was in alien form at the moment.

"Let's just go, it doesn't matter if he's scared of me or not, we still saved his hide." She said as she grabbed Nico and flew away so she can let the Omnitrix time out away from view.

********

After a couple more hours on the road they were nearing their next location and Lucy was looking out the window, reading some of the signs that were on the side of the road.

"'You'll have a ball with it!', 'Next exit'." Lucy read them aloud for all of them to hear, even Gwen who was still in the back meditating.

"Come on, Grandpa. At least give us a hint on what 'it' is." Penn asked as she watched Nico mess with a piece of tech that he called a screwdriver, even though it didn't look like one. She even saw him turn one of his fingers into the same green and black alien she saw him turn his hand into before.

Turns out when you learn early on that a lot of your family are/fucked aliens, and that your grandpa was a space cop, you begin to expect something weird to occur in your day-to-day life. So, it's a good thing that Nico got Max to tell the truth to them early on.

So after they had enough time to process it, Nico having knowledge of his past life became just another odd experience for them, especially after they realized that it doesn't really change who Nico is. Though, Max is still disapproving/shocked of Nico's plan to issue a Conqueror's Challenge to the alien warlord that he thought he killed decades ago.

"Uh-uh. No hints. I've been planning this stop all summer." Nico still didn't understand why Max wanted to go to Sparksville so much, because it obviously wasn't for the Nosedeenian (Buzzshock's Species). Though, it doesn't matter, since he planned to absorb the alien while its trapped in that rubber band ball.

Soon they arrived at their destination and Max parked the Rust Bucket near a large sign, the old Plumber then stepped out of the vehicle from the driver side and walked to the main door. After he opened the door he called to the back of the RV to tell Gwen to come out with the other's.

"Now, all of you, close your eyes!" Max excitedly said as the four walked out of the Rust Bucket, all of them (except Nico) were curious about what had the man so excited.

"Okay, open 'em up! Ta-da! Welcome to Sparksville!" The four of them opened their eyes to see the large billboard, and the mundane town that had various attractions and stores in it.

"Hah, is this place great or what?" Max said to the teenagers who didn't look as excited as him.

"Uh... I'll go with 'or what'." Penn said, thinking about all the interesting she could be doing right now, like asking Nico what else the Omnitrix can do.

"Come on! What's more exciting than the world's biggest fishbowl?" The former Plumber asked as he gestured to the large fishbowl for all of them to see.

"Learning more about aliens and their planets, working on some of the alien tech I got, and thinking about what to make for dinner, even though I know I don't have to cook tonight." Nico said, stunning Max as he didn't expect him to list things he found more exciting than seeing a huge glass bowl for fish.

"As the mayor of Sparksville. I welcome you, as seekers of wonder." A monotone voice said to the group, causing them to look at the man that the voice originated from strangely.

"Umm, I know you four are probably excited to see 'it'. So, I'll go check us in." Max said as he quickly gave each of the teens a ticket, before going to a nearby hotel. Seems Nico actually listing things he found more interesting than this place made the man uncomfortable.

The four looked at each other and shrugged before they went to go explore the place. They first went to an exhibit that was named 'The Jack-A-Lope', which Nico remembered to be a taxidermy camel with antlers glued on it. Penn went up to the entrance kiosk which had a service bell, and not seeing that anyone was there, she decided to ring it.

"Tickets, please." The monotone man said as he suddenly popped up from under the kiosk making Nico wonder if this guy was an alien or was the descendant of one. Because they passed him earlier and he shouldn't have gotten here that fast them seeing the man.

"I thought you were the mayor?" Penn said as they each gave him their tickets, she didn't seem to notice how the man literally popped up out of nowhere.

"He who wears the crown is burdened by many hats, miss." He said as he took the tickets, and the four walked through the entrance. "Mind the signs."

After that the four took some pictures of them looking though the tourist trap of a town. One was of the 'jackalope' that was in the first building they explored, another was of Gwen spraying Penn with bottles of ketchup and mustard after Penn made one too many puns, and the final one was of them sitting on a bench next to a sign that talked about 'it'. They did grab some souvenirs, which Nico ended up storing in his messenger bag so they wouldn't have to carry all of it.

"Through these doors lies the weirdest, wildest thing ever to find its way to Sparksville." The monotone man said as he stood in front of the doors of a building that looked like a barn that has been recycled for the attraction inside it specifically.

He then opened the door for the teens to see what was inside. As they walked into the dark building they saw various signs light up, which Penn and Gwen read aloud.

"Please tell me this is 'it, because I can't stand 'it' anymore. 'Do not touch it!'" After seeing all the signs about 'it' Penn started to get annoyed with all of this.

"'Do not photograph it!'" Gwen read the next sign they passed, which made her put her phone in her pocket.

"'Do not use batteries or electrical equipment anywhere near it!'" The two cousins said in perfect sync, which made Nico and Lucy snicker a bit at the fact that the two girls that hate each other managed to do that.

They then saw a huge sign that had the words 'THIS IS IT' written on it in big letters, and once the lights returned the sign moved to the side and what they saw was just a giant rubber-band ball. The same giant rubber band ball that had the electric alien in it that Nico wanted to absorb.

"This is 'it'?" Penn said, already feeling a headache coming on, as she was beyond done with this shit.

"It's a big ball of rubber bands." Gwen said, feeling as if she had been cheated out of an actually decent experience by this underwhelming attraction.

"And who knows what secrets lie within." The monotone man said in his best suspenseful tone, which just made it seem more underwhelming.

"Uhh, more rubber bands?" Penn just wanted to get back to the Rust Bucket and do something else at this point.

"Stay as long as you like. Mind the signs." The monotone man said as he left the recycled barn, and not really paying attention to the fact that the girls were just annoyed by this ball.

"Look at this place. These guys are full of 'it'. We've been punked!" The Omnitrix wielder looked like she seriously needed a nap or something at this point.

"It is pretty lame. I can't believe Grandpa was so excited about this place." Gwen said as Nico started to walk towards the rubber band ball while rummaging through his bag.

"Nico, what are you going to do?" Lucy asked as she saw Nico bring out a strange device from his bag that had a crystal like gem at the end of it.

"Hey, isn't that the screwdriver thing you were messing with earlier?" Penn said, noticing the familiar design of the device that the Osmosian was holding.

"Yes it is, Penn, this is my first attempt at a Sonic Screwdriver, and I'm going to use it on this thing." Nico said as he pressed one of the buttons on the device causing the gem to slightly glow and make a strange sound.

"And before you ask why, well, one good prank deserves another, right?" And by prank he means, 'absorb the alien inside, taking the only thing special about this ball away from it'.

"For once, I can get behind this prank idea." Gwen said, already approving of the idea because she was also pretty annoyed with this place.

Nico pointed the device at the rubber band ball and released the button, this made a small beam of light shoot from his stab at the Sonic Screwdriver, this beam then enveloped the ball in a blue field of energy before disappearing after a bit.

"That should do it." He put the Screwdriver back in his bag and walked up to the large ball of rubber bands, and placed his hand on it.

"So... what did that thing do?" Penn asked, not seeing any difference in how the ball looks at all.

The only response that Nico gave to her question was him picking it up with a single hand while he made bits of his hand turn into a Limax so he could go through the rubber bands absorb the alien inside. 

'Damn, I know I was feeling stronger since that shit with Animo, but I'm not even using any DNA to boost my strength!' Nico thought with a small smile on his face as he held the rubber band ball over his head, much to the girls surprise.

Nico's increase in strength actually has its own reason to it. It turns out that his method of absorbing creatures had a large chance at failing and severely harming him, because he essentially tried to break the limits of what an Osmosian is supposed to do and absorb 100% of a creatures abilities, and not just a tenth of them.

That is if he was a regular Osmosian, you see due to him being part demigod, and the addition of cryokinesis (among other things), his limits already far exceeded that of a regular Osmosian. To put it in the simplest way possible, he's an Ultimate Osmosian because of Seria.

"What the!? How did you do that?!" Gwen said as she quickly went over to his side and looked for any machinery or wires that could have made the rubber band ball easier to move.

"Elementary my dear, Gwendolyn! I'm just that amazing." He said with a smirk while making them think that his creation messed with the gravity or weight of an object, when in reality it had nothing to do with making it lighter.

The attempt at a Sonic Screwdriver that he made was actually made from an EMP grenade, one of the blasters from the ship, and a piece of Taydenite that Nico shaped to fit in the Screwdriver to focus the effects of the EMP. All of this, combined with a bit of Mechamorph help, made a reusable and precise EMP that can be used to knock out aliens that use electricity as a form of attack and/or food, just like a Nosedeenian.

"Har har, Nico, very funny. Now, what's the rest of this prank going to be, cause I doubt you just wanted to make that thing lighter." Gwen said as she smiled at the Osmosian's antics.

"I'm thinking the world's largest permanent snowman with this thing as the head?" Nico said as he already started making the snow for the snowman, while putting in enough energy to make it last as long as he lived.

The girls smiled as they helped Nico form the newly made snow into two large snowballs to make the snowman. It took around fourty minutes to make the snowballs, luckily no one came into the building while they were making the snowman, it would have gone faster if Penn and Lucy didn't start a snowball fight near the start. The entire thing was actually a good bonding experience for all of them, and to make things better, Nico fully absorbed the Nosedeenian, gaining another piece of DNA to his list.

"Okay, that's the time consuming part down, now comes the easy part." Nico said as he used his cryokinesis to move the giant snowballs on top of one another where the rubber band ball stood before. He then brought out the wings of the mutant parrot to fly up and place the rubber band ball on top as the head.

"Wait... if you could have just moved the snow like that, why didn't you just make them into balls before?" Penn asked while Nico made an ice tophat for the snowman, and made some ice chunks to act as the eyes and smile.

"Because I wanted us all to have some fun, duh!" He said as he placed the hat on the rubber band ball, and fixed the ice chunks to make a face.

"It's been a while since we all had fun together, so of course I wanted to do something together with the girls I love more than anything." Nico's words ended up causing the girls to blush as they remembered when he confessed to them not to long ago.

"Now, come on, let's get out of here before that mayor guy comes back." He said as he started to walk towards the entrance while he planned what he steal tomorrow that would let him get even stronger quicker.

While Nico was focused on his plan for tomorrow, the girls were walking at a slower pace, so they could have enough distance to talk without him hearing them.

"I don't get why you two won't just agree for us all to share him already, I want to be with Nico already!" Lucy said to the two green eyed girls that were walking next to her.

"Shut up! Or he'll hear you Lucy!" Gwen shushed Lucy as she didn't want Nico to hear their conversation right not.

"Sorry, but that doesn't change my question. I know damn well that you two love him just as much as I do, so why don't we just agree to share him already? If we don't make him ours some other girl might come along and take him!" Lucy had actually asked this question multiple times, even before Nico confessed, as she had a suspicion that Nico loved them all before he even realized it himself.

"Because, isn't Polygamy illegal and we all want him for ourselves? If we agreed to share him we would just be getting him in trouble and would fight for his affection. Even if I don't want some girl I don't know to take him from me, I also don't want to hurt him again." Penn said as she looked down at the Omnitrix, which she was still upset with for hurting Nico when she first got it.

"And?" Lucy said, not caring about the relationship she was talking about would literally be a crime to be in.

"And what? It's illegal and we want him for ourselves, end of story!" Gwen said, obviously getting frustrated with Lucy, who she thought didn't get the point of something being illegal.

"We literally just committed vandalism by making that snowman, Grandpa was a space cop that surpassed the governments authority, I'm an alien, you two and Nico are part alien, and relationships between multiple people are actually pretty common in the galaxy, so who cares? Not only that, but its better for all of us to be with him rather than risk some whore who probably won't love him for who he is taking him away from us." Lucy listed point after point to them as they already committed a crime, have a relative that probably didn't follow most laws when it came to missions, and are not entirely human. So, why did they have to follow that one law that's keeping them from being with the guy they love?

"I... well... god dammit. She makes a good point, Penn." Gwen wanted to try and argue with what Lucy said, but she couldn't really find any counterpoints here.

"So, does that mean we don't have a reason not to share him?" Penn asked while getting a bit excited about the idea of being with Nico soon.

"Yup! You two have no more reasons to disagree with me! It may take a bit of effort to make it work, but in the end the three of us will have his love! Now, let's get onto planning where we'll reciprocate his confession!" This is probably the happiest Lucy has ever been, as she basically just got confirmation that she'll be able to be with the one she loves, and gets to start repairing the relationship with the two Tennysons that she saw as sisters.

"We could do it in New York? I remember Grandpa Max saying that it would be one of our next stops this week." Penn had asked him where they would be going this week, and other than Sparksville, he did tell her where they would be heading to.

"Perfect! We'll do it in New York then! Ah~ I can't wait!" Lucy said while her hair moved similarly to that of an excited puppy's, which if Nico saw he would probably find it cute.

"Hey! Come on girls, Grandpa's waiting for us in the hotel!" Nico called back at them none the wiser about what they talked about as he was too absorbed in his plans.

The three of them quickly caught up him as they already finished with their discussion. After that they continued to try to find interesting things to do in Sparksville while they were still their, until they eventually left after the mayor found the snowman they made. Which, Max did scold them, or more specifically, Nico, about doing that, but he was at least happy that they didn't destroy the place like he thought they would.