19 The Krakken: part 1

After Limax attack, Team Tennyson spent the last for day at Aunt Vera resting up and not really doing anything, which was surprisingly ok with Ben, After all, something not spent fighting or being chased was a good thing. Once the weekend was up, the Tennyson trio was back on the road, spending the next few day in a cooler climate.

"Come on! Work! Harder! Work!" Gwen yelled, looking as Ben lefted a set of weights while he was doing crunches. While he was glad that Gwen had gotten over the whole "Going off on adventure without her" thing, he still wasn't fully convinced that she was over the whole "Wants to kill him" thing as she was working him like a goddamn mule horse all the while.

It was honestly scary how intense that girl was getting, working him harder then he ever thought was possible and not letting him rest for a single second. Was this pay back for him leaving her behind? He didn't know but what he did know was that he sure was that she was enjoying this a lot more then she really should. Eventually has torment ended as the Tennyson arrived at Lake Crescent, with Grampa Max let out a happy cry as soon as he saw the lake, "Alright here we are kids, campsite of Lake Crescent! The sun is shining, the lake is nice and cool and the boat is waiting for our fishing trip. Come let's enjoy the Sun while it's still out!"

The two cousins didn't need be told twice as they both quickly placed on their bathing suit. A set of blue swim trunks for Ben and a purple one-piece swimsuit with a light blue diagonal stripe across the torso for Gwen as they rushed out to the lake.

First thing first with quality Gandpa and grandson time with the two sitting on the edge as they quietly begin to fish.Of course, fishing was a game of patience and Ben had none so the next 20 minutes was hell for him and in the end he didn't catch anything.

"Uhhhh this is impossible!" Ben said in a whiny voice as he looked at his pole, while Max gave him a fatherly nod. "That's what you get for trying to jump the gun, son. Sit down, relax and we'll get something for you."

Ben sat down at the very edge of the pier, taking in the cool water as he watch as Max then suddenly fished up a rather large fish. "See? If you rushing this without the full context of the situation it just makes it that much harder."

Ben didn't know if he was supposed to respond to that or not so he just sat there in silence until Max caught another fish.

"Grampa, do you know anyone by the name Sheila Go?"

"Why do you ask?" He fired back rather quickly as if sensing that he wasn't supposed to be asking those kinds of questions.

"I was just wondering, that's all. She seem to know who you were and acted like she know you." Ben answered back, keeping his eyes trained on Max, who looked back at him without a hint of guilt or anything at all.

"I traveled around a lot as a plumber, met a lot people, and, well, let's say you picked up your habit of helping people from me." Max answered back, sounding quite nostalgic as he gave Ben a small smile.

"Your a good kid alway remember that." sincere as he gave Ben a small smile.

After two hours, Ben decided to go off for a little deep and transformed into Ripjaws (after making sure that no one was watching him of course), enjoying the cool water against the summer evening as searched around the lake floor for anything interesting, finding some cheap looking old Rings, earings, necklaces.

Once finish, he returned up to the surface notice Gwen sitting off the edge of the dock, alone.

Suddenly, an idea began to pop in here. Oh wicked, truly deliciously evil idea as the though of pay her back for the last few days was almost too great to pash up.

Circling around and around her like a shark, his mouth contorting into a wicked smile as Ripjaws jumped out of the lake, letting out a primal Scream as water splashed all over Gwen, who screamed in fright, falling over herself in fear. Just as she try running away only for him to start laughing his ass off at her.

"Ben?" She asked, looking back at him before her whole face turned red in a mix of embarrassment and anger. "You are so busted when I tell Grandpa!" She yelled at him as she stormed off, while Ben was still pissing himself laughing.

Realising that he was definitely gonna get in trouble for this, decided to walk back his decisions for a bit. "Hey! Gwen! Don't tell Grandpa! I'll do anything you want!"

She stopped before turning around giving him a curious grin. "Really now?"

"Uh..." He muttered as he was covered by a green flash of light before back into a human, "Yeah,"

Her grin grew even wider as she gave him a predatory look. "Ok then,I know just the thing that you can do that can make it up to me."

"What is it?"

"Close your eyes and don't open them until you say so. Got it?" Ben felt himself go red at her request as she was now face to face with you as Gwen lend in-

AND PUNCHED HIM IN THE STOMACH AS HARD AS SHE CAN!

"UHHH!" He cried out in pain, his knees coming out from under him as he clutched his stomach, while looking over him giving him a dry look.

"Now we're even." Gwen said calmly before going back to the RV.

"Yeah... I probably deserved that," He moaned out to himself under his breath. Still that doesn't mean that he wasn't playing to pay back later.

But as while he was plotting his revenge, the water bubbles and splashes behind him, causing Ben to turn and see a gigantic silhouette of a monster rising out of the water.

"You gotta be kidding me!" Ben yelled, looking up towards the monstrous silhouette lurching above him as a tendril from the figure shoots out in an attempt to grab him. Which he dodge like a champ as our hero ran away (like a bitch tactical retreat) from the dangerous situation, manages to make a break for the the Rust Bucket, bursting through the door and closing it behind it, sterling Max and Gwen.

"I was just attacked by a giant lake monster!" Ben yell out, feeling himrself out of breath as throws pillow at his face.

"Hello? Current events? You already got me with that one."Which he dodge like a champ as our hero ran away like a bitch tactical retreat from the dangerous situation, manages to make a break for the the Rust Bucket, bursting through the door and closing it behind it, sterling Max and Gwen.

"I was just attacked by a giant lake monster!" Ben yell out, feeling himrself out of breath as throws pillow at his face.

"Hello? Current events? You already got me with that one."

"Gwen I will bet you ANYTHING that I'm Not Kidding." Ben replied with a yell. Max, hearing this, got up, walked over to the door, opened it to reveal….Nothing.

The monster is now gone without a trace.

"Oh no, an invisible lake monster! How convenient?" Gwen said with a deadpan look. Max was no better as you turned. "Come on champ, you had your fun, now it's time to hit the hay. We have an early day tomorrow."

"I bet you anything that I can prove there's a lake monster!" Ben said, doubling down as Max gave you a tired look.

"Well, it can wait until the morning then he said." He said as both he and Gwen to leave him alone with himself.

"Hey, Eunice, you saw that right?" Ben ask the A.I. as she responded in her usual cold tone.

"OH, YES OF COURSE. I AM ALWAY ACTIVE EVEN WHEN YOU ARE ASLEEP."

"Can you show an image to the others?" Ben asked, getting excited at the prospect of being proven right but as she pulled up the images, all hope was replaced with frustration.

"What the hell is this?!" You yell out at the A.I., scrolling through the grainy dark mess that was the images. "You can't see anything in this image! Hell you can't even see me!"

"MY APOLOGIES, FOR THE POOR QUALITY OF THE IMAGE. NEXT TIME, PLEASE THE POINT OMNITRIX AT THE INTENDED TARGET WITH AN APPROPRIATE LIGHT SOURCE IN THE BACKGROUND IN ORDER TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY." She said in a way didn't intend to be condescending but was. "IF YOU FIND THIS EXPLANATION UNSATISFYING YOU CAN FILE A COMPLAINT AND IT WILL PLACE ON A LIST TO BE FIX IN THE NEXT UPDATE ."

"Now I know how cryptozoologists feel." He muttered to himself as he let out the longest sign he didn't even know you had in him before heading off to sleep off the problem until tomorrow.

The next day, Ben woke up at the crack of dawn as he began your personal quest to find it and show you're not crazy. However he were having little luck and as him, Gwen, and Max walk along the coast while Ben try to once again explain what he saw.

"No, really! It was humongous with these red glowing eyes--!"

"You're seriously talking about that?" Gwen asked with a sign, tired out by all the monster talk. "You've been talking for hours about it the mega-fish story. When are you going to give it a rest, "Captain Dweeb"?"

"Yes, because aliens. Robots. Reanimated dinosaurs. A lake monster is where you draw the line. I see how it is that the next time you need me to have some faith in you you'll find me quite sceptical." Ben said, his frustration making him come off as arrogant and aggressive than he attended. "I asked Eunice, and she saw it to... so even if you don't believe me, believe her."

At that Max gave him a sympathetic look. "Look I don't know what you saw, but whether it has you spooked and you wouldn't take a joke this far." Max gave you a much softer look now. "So, let's head out on the lake and if you can find anything that can prove this thing is real then I'll be behind you 100%, understand?"

Ben wanted to make a snide comment about how he clearly doesn't believe him, but stopped himself just as the words formed in his mouth. Being a hot head wasn't going to prove his point anymore than he already has.

So, Ben decided to go with Grampa on this one as there will be an opportunity to prove himself later.

And so with that the Tennyson arrived at the ship, where they noticed an older man with greyish-green hair on both the sides of his head as well sideburns working on a harpoon gun.

"Captain Shaw?"

"Who wants to know?" The man known as Shaw said, his face holding nothing but mild irritation.

"I'm Max Tennyson, and this is my grandkids, Ben and Gwen." They wave at the man. "We chartered your boat today for a fishing trip." The man gave you and Max a once over before turning away. "Well what're you waiting for, an engraved invitation? Get aboard, I ain't got all day."

"Hm, He seems like he missed his coffee." Ben said to Gwen who gave a nod as they and Max got on the ship and took off down the lake.

"Anything... interesting out there to catch today?" Max said, looking at the harpoon gun as he said this.

"More than you can imagine..." Shaw said more to himself than Max as he had this dark look about him. Five minutes in and the teens could already feel a tension growing between Shaw and Grampa Max, which made things incredibly awkward.

"Captain Shaw?"

"Who wants to know?" The man known as Shaw said, his face holding nothing but mild irritation.

"I'm Max Tennyson, and this is my grandkids, Ben and Gwen." They wave at the man. "We chartered your boat today for a fishing trip." The man gave you and Max a once over before turning away. "Well what're you waiting for, an engraved invitation? Get aboard, I ain't got all day."

"Hm, He seems like he missed his coffee." Ben said to Gwen who gave a nod as they and Max got on the ship and took off down the lake.

"Anything... interesting out there to catch today?" Max said, looking at the harpoon gun as he said this.

"More than you can imagine..." Shaw said more to himself than Max as he had this dark look about him. Five minutes in and the teens could already feel a tension growing between Shaw and Grampa Max, which made things incredibly awkward.

"So, I thought I saw something big and... weird earlier, is there by any chance others or rumours of others that have seen anything similar before?" Ben asked the man, feeling like he could know something. A long pause followed as Ben felt like he had said something stupid and was about to retract a statement when Shaw suddenly spoke up.

"It's called 'the Krakken'."

"Whoa. You see it!" Ben asked in astonishment as Shaw handed him a photo reminiscent of the silhouette of the Monster he saw. "I've been on its tail for years. Folks say my rudder's not right."

"Why doesn't that surprise me?"Ben heard Max say under his breath as Shaw continued. "Sightings go back hundreds of years, on this very lake. "

"Any idea why it's in a lake and not at sea?"Shaw exclaimed, "This lake, it's truly special," as he retrieved a map from his backpack. "It harbors the largest underground cave system, extending all the way to Florida. The cavernous space is so immense that even Rafa the beast could easily remain hidden within. Some dismiss its existence as mere legend, but I firmly attest to its reality. If you're up for a daring and genuine adventure, I could guide you to where I witnessed the creature firsthand. That is, of course, if you possess the mettle."

"Compared to what I've been through this summer? This is nothing; I'm in!" Ben looked at Max and Gwen. "Grandpa, Gwen?"

Gwen looks up from the book she was reading and gives him mildly interested "sure" before looking back. Meanwhile Max had a much more reluctant look but smile anyway. "I guess so…"

"Alright!" Ben exclaimed, fist raised as their fishing trip turned to monster hunt with Ben stay at Shaw side as he showed off the equipment on display. "Sonar, high-def video setup, ultrasound. I got it all. And I will find it. Mark my words, it can't hide forever."

At this moment Ben felt the hand of Max pull him to the side to give a good talk. "Ben, I don't want you to put too much stock in what mister Shaw says. I don't think he has both oars in the water, if you know what I mean."

"Why? Just because he saw the Krakken too?" Ben countered as Gwen suddenly chimed in. "Because he sounds like he's about to tell you that the government hired a wizard to assassination JFK."

"Fair, but you also actually have Magic Gwen, I can turn into aliens, everything else we've seen. " He countered ponting out just how crazy their lives are. "Even if he's a little out of it, that doesn't mean he's wrong...and he has to have some brain to him to get a ship with all the tech."

"What your cousin and I are trying to say is it regardless if Shaw is right or not isn't the issue." Max said, trying to be clear and open about what he was trying to say.

"The man seems obsessed with this thing and I can say with experience that those obsessed really are those who had a sense of Reason to them."

Ben was about to say something back when their conversation was interrupted as they came up against a blockage of buoys and tape.

"Do not enter"?" Shaw said in a low angered voice, reading the tape before becoming visibly angry. "What's going on?"

"Maybe we should turn back!" Max suggested, but Shaw scoffed at that. "Nonsense, this is my lake and I'll go wherever I--"

"Fishing boat! Stop where you are." A tall and tanned man with a hawk-like nose calls out, his boat pulling up alongside theirs. "I am Jonah Melville, the founder of 'Friends of Fish". We've closed this section of the lake for an environmental study. You'll have to turn your boat around."

"Friends of fish?" Grandpa, have you heard of them?" Ben asked, to which he responded with a simple"no ".

" I don't expect you to know us, after all her organisation has only been around for like two years." Jonah let out a small laugh at that.

"Oh really?" Gwen asked, sounding less than impressed by the explanation."Do you have actual, provable, legal clearance to bar anyone from any part of the lake for your research? Or do you think 'I wanna do things here' gives you that right?"

"Oooohh, and what do we have here?" Jonah asked in the most generous interpretation would consider as condescending. "You must be a smart girl to know so much about the law?"

"My father is a lawyer, so I pick up a thing or two."Gwen said stoneface to Jonah who let out a "oh" as his smile grew even more then before.

"Then by all means, We have copies of legal documentaries on the ship right now and we would love nothing more if you want to sift through the hours of red tape." He said, keeping the smug look on his face. "And if you think there is anything wrong we would be happy to help you file a complaint so we can get it fixed, though be warned it may take a few days to get a reply, the whole bureaucracy and all that."

"Why is that you have blocked off this part of the lake, you young blood." Shaw yelled at the "environmentalist".

"Like I said we've closed this section of the lake for an environmental study." He calmly said, though Ben could tell very easily that he was annoyed by the old timer. "Now would you please turn your boat around, I will not ask again."

"'Suppose you make me, fish-hugger? Shaw said Using a confrontational tone to Jonah and the other crew. But before things could escalate: Max came between the two. "Well, since I chartered the boat for the day, I believe I'm in charge. Isn't that right, Captain?"

Captain Shaw grumbles and reluctantly makes his way up the boat.

So...regardless of if he was telling the truth, we can all agree he was a jerk, right?" Ben asked Gwen as Shaw's boat travels back to the docks, trailing behind the 'Friends of Fish' boat.

"Abso-fuck-lutely." Gwen said back, wanting nothing more than to punch him in his smug prick face. However, they were brought out of conversation as the ship's sonar pings, alerting Shaw.

"The sonar! We've found something!" Out of the corner of his eye, you saw a shark-like fin pop to the surface of the water. "Or something's found us! Look!"

Shaw walks out and sees the fin dip below the water. "The Krakken!"

The fin passes under the boat, rocking it as it went under as it want for-

"It's heading for the docks!"

The Krakken rushes towards land as Captain Shaw tries to warn the dock-goers by ringing the ship's bell as he sailed at max speed towards docks, meanwhile seeing the perfect time to sneak off and go hero.

"Grandpa, I think you're going to need a bigger fishing line for this one!" Ben said jokingly to Max before Transforming into RipJaws before turning around and remembered to give Gwen a big, fat "I told you so."

Before diving into the water, and following after towards the pier as the Krakken rears out of the water, slumping back down and crushing the pier to pieces, sending the people standing on it into the water.

Krakken was a giant, bipedal creature with four webbed legs and a tail with a fin, and two tentacles coming out of their mouths which act like two extra arms. Its eyes were blue with golden teeth, six gills on its necks, and the upper part of the body was dark cyan, while the lower part was olive. It was about to to crush a small group of people when Ripjaws intercepted, taking the blocking the attack. However that just left him open as the Krakken simply picking him up with its tentacles and threw him away, like garbage. Sending him skidding across the water like a stone before smashing into a rock.

"Okay, not the best plan to go head on against something 7 themes your size." He said to himself up off the rock and writhe in pain for a bit, then head back to the dock to try and keep people safe. "ALL OF YOU GET OUT OF HERE NOW!"

Luckily, having a giant monster and fish-man screaming at you was more than enough motivation to get the hell away, leaving them to fight.

"Okay, let's have a redo, nessy!" Ripjaw said, trying to throw down. But Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Jonah's boat sailing away, with the Krakken taking notice and going after it, rearing up against it and rocking the boat greatly. Seeing this he Took off after following the sea monster as it grabbed onto the front of the boat and tried to grab a crate off of it using its front tendrils.

"No you don't!"Jonah yelled out as he leaped, hanging onto the crate to stop it from being taken. Moving quickly he grabbed onto Jonah and pulled him away from the crate. "What are you-"

"Your life is not worth whatever is in that box?" Ripjaw told him as the Krakken dragged the crate into the water before disappearing. "What's so important in that crate that you'd risk your life for it?"

Jonah was caught off guard by your questions. "Um... Our research samples that we were transferring to a lab in up stat."

"Well, either those 'research samples' are going overboard or you are." He joked as the timer started ticking red. " Uh oh. Sorry, gotta run." Before leaping off, running towards Shaw's ship, snacking back on board as you timeout. A bit later after Ben dried off, the Tennysons returned to the Rustbucket with Ben having a chip on his shoulder at being proven right.

"Man, for people supposed to be smart you would think you would believe a certain handsome someone when he said that there was a monster in the lake ." Ben said with an obnoxiously smug tone, causing Gwen to give him a smack across the back of his head.

"Ow!" He let out rubbing the back of his head, "What with you and hitting me?!"

Gwen was about to say something back only to be stopped by Grandpa who got between the two of them.

"Okay, that's enough Gwen." He said with a stern tone before turning to Ben. "Yes, you were right and we are sorry for not believe you."

"It's fine. Though I'll be honest. I'm more than a bit suspicious of those guys. Think they might try going back to steal whatever was in the box again?" Ben asked, while the older man gave him an inquisitive look. "Not sure, but whatever this is, we should leave this to the experts Ben."

"What some nature preserve or something?" He asked incredulously as the idea of leaving this alone didn't sit well with him, however before you got the chance to say anything, you heard Captain Shaw yelled. "Low-down no good fish kissers!"

"Captain Shaw, what is it?" Ben asked the older man, who gave a look that screamed livid. "The nerve of those 'enviro-punks'! They shut down the entire lake!"

"Welp, that's suspicious." Ben said to himself, heading this information already confirmed his suspicions about the group, especially that Jonah who made him feel like there was so much more to this group then them being some "environmentalist". However Ben was brought out of his thoughts by the sound of fist slamming against the wood.

"Nobody tells me where to sail, and nobody's gonna keep me away from reeling in the catch of the century. Nobody!" The Captain yelled, leaving with a fire in his eye.

"Sooo, I don't think we have time to go to the proper authorities here grandpa. I'm going to go Ripjaws and check things out, maybe I can find the monster and talk to it now that it's calmed down, see if I can help any-"

"Hang on there, son." Grampa Max cut him off. "While yes, I understand you want to help but this isn't our battle and I don't want you to get hurt doing something stupid."

"I picked up my heroics from you Gramps, remember? Sides, I won't get hurt. Between the Omnitrix and you two, we're awesome!" Ben yelled, showing an unabashed in himself and his family.

"And rushing into a conflict may not be the best solution." Max said, trying to be calm and reasonable. "Just because you can fight a battle, doesn't always mean you should fight a battle."

"So what? Should I not save people when I should help?!" He asked, frustrated by his Grandpa lackluster exclamation as Max gave him a sympathetic look.

"You should always help others, but that doesn't mean you need to go out looking for conflict." He calmly tried to be as understanding as he could. "I promise you that I'll make sure that the "professionals", real professionals who I am true to, will handle this right. Until then, just worry about how you're going spend the summer and being a kid, son."

"Ok, I will." Ben said, lowering his head and making sure Max couldn't look him While yes, lying straight face to someone who he had always thought highly of was difficult. At the same time, Ben couldn't let this go, not when he could help someone.