3 Settling In

3:46 PM

"Man, that walk took forever." Ben reached the end of a forest line near the city limits. 'I don't want to scare people, so I better change back.' With a thought, he reverted back to human. He checked his jeans, black shirt, and a green jacket to make sure nothing made him stand out too much. Seeing nothing wrong, he continued walking toward the city and approached a large green sign. "Welcome to Central City. Huh. Not much of a creative name there." He shrugged. 'Well, time to explore the place.'

The city had its usual social classes: upper, middle, working, and lower. After exploring the middle of the city, his stomach growled. Reaching into his pockets for his wallet, he only found his ID, credit, and debit card. 'Of all the days, I forgot to bring cash.' Ben sighed at his situation, deciding to take a look around town. Seeing a pawn shop, he had an idea. After confirming that it was empty, he walked into a nearby alley and activated the Omnitrix, transforming into Diamondhead.

Ben remembered the time when Kevin's body was used to farm taydenite. Initially, Diamondhead could only control silicone crystal, but after much training and focus, he could control crystals of varying compositions. Calming his mind, Ben grew a high-grade sapphire from the ground. He decided against making a diamond since he learned that diamonds are intrinsically worthless. He dug up the sapphire and transformed back to human. From there, he went to the pawnshop and spoke to the manager.

The man examined the stone with his eyepiece. "This is some high-grade crystal. You didn't steal this, did you?"

"No, I didn't." He gave a slight glare to the rather large pawnshop owner. Ben lied, giving an innocent smile. "It's been in my family for generations."

The man sighed and took another look at the rock. 'There is definitely no professional cut, so it wasn't from any high-end place. There also doesn't seem to be any identifying marks. Even if this was stolen, there would be no way for police to identify it.' He gave a small smile. "Okay kid, I'll believe you."

The semi-high grade crystal was about 1 carat, so Ben received a respectable 10 grand.

The first purchases he made was chili fries from a nearby vendor. 'Thank whatever God exists that chili fries are an Omniversal concept.' Now that his hunger was taken care of, he had to rebuild a life here. He walked near the government district and found the city library. Luckily, people only needed a library card to borrow books. He walked to a computer terminal in an empty corner of the room.

Ben decided to update himself on this Earth's current events. What surprised him was that there were a good amount of superheroes and supervillains around. The US even made a prison specifically for villains and criminal "meta-humans" as the article said. Apparently, there is a group of superheroes that formed an organization called the Justice League that works alongside the UN for the world crisis. 'They remind me of The Galactic Enforcers. I really hope that they aren't similar in personality.'

He continued to browse through various articles learning about the members of the league and the respective adversaries. One article came from a newspaper called The Daily Planet from Metropolis. 'Did they really use a word that describes a city as the city's name?' What really caught his attention was the headline "Superman Prevents Plane Crash". The cover photo showed a Caucasian man in a blue suit and red cape and tights holding up a plane that has its engines in flames. On his chest was an emblem with the letter "S". 'So that's Superman. From what Swamp Thing said, he's an alien.' He looked up some general info about the guy and was surprised. 'Apparently, he's the last of his kind. I wonder if I can get his DNA in the database later.' He looked back at the Omnitrix. 'Other than helping people understand other species, the Omnitrix is also an Ark of sorts for the DNA of many sentient beings. What's more surprising is that Martians exist. I never did ask Orb and Decka if there were any Martians there. They called it the popcorn planet, but where did it come from? In any case, I'm pretty sure that the other heroes will take care of any trouble while I settle down here.'

He whispered to the Omnitrix. "Hey, Azmuth."

The hologram appeared. "Yes?"

"Do you think you could get into the network and set up my identity?

"Very well. It will only take a moment." The hologram disappeared, and the Omnitrix connected to the local Wifi signal. A few seconds later, it disconnected. "All information has been made with nothing left behind. You may visit the district office nearby to pick up your replacement papers and driver's license."

Ben smirked. "You got me a license too?"

"Of course. You didn't think I would let you walk around forever in this place. Would you?"

"Thanks, Azmuth. I really appreciate all this. Now I have to get a car." Ben did as Azmuth said and retrieved his papers. With the required documentation, he could now start looking for a home. After some browsing on Craigslist, he found a modest studio apartment at the north side of the city.

The Next Day

Ben's Apartment

Ben was currently lying on the couch, watching some T.V. The apartment looked fairly modest. It was a studio apartment with a proper bathroom and kitchen. He was able to get some decent furniture from thrift and discount stores. He may have money, but he's not wasting it all at once.

Azmuth decided to appear around noon. "What do you intend to do for continued stable living conditions, Ben?"

"Even though living off sapphires would be easy, people would get suspicious about the recent influx of sapphires in the market. I need to make a steady income."

"Oh?"

"Luckily, I've had an idea ready for this situation for a long time now." He gave a beaming smile.

Azmuth knew that smile. "I take it that this will be something rather personal to you." All he received back was a grin and a nod.

Time Skip - 3 Months Later

Two women walked down the street. One appeared to be an emerald haired Brazilian with a green and black attire and the other a snow-white-haired Caucasian with a white and light blue attire. At first glance, anyone could see that both women looked flawless. They appeared to be in their early twenties. The first woman's outfit was a green long sleeve blouse, black skirt and flats, gold earrings and bracelet, and a black Nixon watch. Her friend had a more modest impression. She had a light blue shirt and vans shoes with a white undershirt. Her socks were white as well, but there were blue snowflakes placed around the top. Around her neck was a simple gold lace. The two continue to walk for a few blocks toward the local mall.

The Brazilian was the first to speak. "It's nice to finally have some time together."

"I know. With you being a traveling model and all, it's hard to juggle both of our careers and enjoy ourselves."

"Yup... It's getting kinda hot. Do you mind if we stop for a drink nearby?

"Personally, I like the heat." The woman in blue rolled her eyes at the inside joke. "But... If it'll make you happy, sure."

"You're the best!" she said, giving her best friend a quick hug.

The emerald beauty reached for her phone and did a quick search. "According to Yelp, there's this hot and new drink place up ahead."

"Even better!"

About half a block later, they reached the storefront.

The Brazilian raised a brow. "Mr. Smoothy?"

"I love smoothies! Let's order." She ran inside dragging her model friend along.

The inside had a modern look. The walls were pearl white and the floors were hardwood. There were also wooden tables with houseplants placed around. It gave off a homely atmosphere. They reached the counter and took a look at the chalkboard menu. No one was here but they noticed a bell on the counter.

DING

"Coming!" A voice came from the back room. A young man soon came walking in. He had worn his common black shirt and jeans under his green apron. He looked at the two and smiled. "Welcome to Mister Smoothy. What can I get for you ladies today?"

The snow-haired girl was the first to reply with a smile. "I'll have a Winter Melon please."

'Huh...Nordic. You don't see them often. Her outfit really suits her along with her Brazilian friend.' He turned to her and asked, "And you?"

'Green eyes...' the emerald woman thought. Shaking her head out of her stupor, she gave her order. "I'll have a Strawberry Sunrise."

"Sure. Coming right up. Can I get your names?"

The emerald Brazilian was the first to speak. "You can call me Beatriz,

Her friend spoke next. "And you can call me Tora." She smiled happily at the man before them.