A Sound of Thunder

The Garage

It's been a few days since the Whirlwind incident, and Ben finally had time to renovate his new home and work on other projects. At this moment, the alien hero was finalizing the repairs and upgrades on his car. A small red goblin-like alien was working on the engine block. He wore an aviator's outfit with an ascot and the Omnitrix symbol is now on his waist. "FIX FIX FIX FIX FIX!" Nuts and bolts flew everywhere in the gremlin's excitement.

"I believe you should stop while you are ahead," chastised Azmuth.

"Aw. Come on," groaned Juryrigg. "A little more, and I can double energy efficiency."

"While I admire the creativity and utility of your work, estimated stability would drop below 80%." Azmuth sighed. "I would have preferred if you had used your Greymatter transformation. Call it bias, but I trust Galvan ingenuity more."

"Greymatter is great with science and other high-tech stuff, but this guy is good for immediate results. This is just the prototype, and I'll revise the design later. Besides, Juryrigg is more fun." The Goblin cackled with glee.

Azmuth looked around the room at the various other experiments and prototypes. "I've noticed."

With one final adjustment, Juryrigg stood with glee. "Pull the lever, Azmuth!"

The AI rolled his digital eyes and sent the respective console commands.

The car's dashboard lit up as its fusion engine went online. A few seconds later, the wheels glowed neon blue and rotated to face the ground. The elevation of the car stabilized, completing the hover conversion.

The red devil jumped in glee. "Hell yeah!"

Azmuth simply chuckled. "While this form of propulsion is still primitive to most off-world civilizations, you did well with the resources at hand." The Omnitrix sounded with a ping. "Hmm. I'm detecting reports of superhuman criminal activities."

Juryrigg dropped what he was doing and looked at him in anticipation. "Where's it at?"

The screen on the wall lit up with a map of the city and its target location. "About 7 miles due south."

The red devil grinned at his devices. "Looks like it's time for a test run!"

The Docks

Several workers were strewn around the area. The laborers and security didn't put up any resistance.

A wrecking ball swings at a wooden shipping crate, opening it without damaging the contents. "Uh, this is it. This is what the boss wanted." Thunderball says to Wrecker. "A Gamma Energy Emitter. Stark may have stopped making weapons, but he still makes all kinds of good stuff." The wrecker is interrupted by the sirens.

Wrecker looks down to see they have police and S.W.A.T. arriving. "Get your toy, Thunderball. It's time to go," he orders.

SWAT vans and police cruisers screeched to a halt. Many officers deployed in a defensive formation, waiting for the threat to appear. "Spread out. Weapons hot." To their surprise, they didn't expect someone coming from above.

Piledriver jumped onto a police car, crushing it easily.

"Contact!"

The villain proceeded to tear off its hood and throw it at a SWAT member.

"Officer down!" called out the Captain of the squad. In the corner of his eye, another threat came. "We've got another one!"

Out of nowhere, Bulldozer began charging towards them.

The squad fired at the man, but the bullets just bounced off his body. "Out of the way!"

The man in orange rammed headfirst into two cruisers, sending them flying through the air.

In a similar fashion, Wrecker comes in, unfazed by their weapons. He swung his custom crowbar at an officer and SWAT, launching them into nearby walls. With another overhead swing, he demolishes another car taking our three more officers. Whoever was left standing tried to retreat to no avail.

Just as Wrecker was about to crack a few more skulls, he heard something. [All aboard! Hahahahaha.] It was faint music in the background. The drums and guitar riffs grew louder by the second. "Is that ?" Following it, their eyes widened at the sight of a bloody demon using a gun as an air guitar while riding a rocket that was headed right toward them.

"I'm going off the rails on a crazy train!" Juryrigg screamed. With the trajectory set, he backflipped off, activating a glider jetpack hybrid.

Acting fast, Thunderball whipped out his chains to divert the attack. He managed to strike it, but that was what the little imp wanted as the resulting explosion filled the area with smoke. They heard a loud cackling from all around.

"Hahahaha." As the air cleared, Juryriigg stood atop a shipping container with his own bootleg Proto-Tool. He looked at all the downed officers and frowned. Medics were already on route, but he needed to stall them from hurting anyone else on their escape. "Guess I'll have to bring you guys in." He strapped on a set of combat goggles and primed his gun. "It's showtime!"

Wrecker grit his teeth at their new nuisance. "Get the bastard!"

Piledriver sprinted to the alien, hands ready to strangle him as the alien shot a flurry of energy blasts. He expected to run through them with ease, but Piledriver was caught off guard when his arm and leg muscles started to spasm, sending him crashing into a wall. The man struggled to look up at the laughing devil.

"Hehehehe. It took me a while to get the right taser voltage." Juryrigg jumped to the ground and flipped a switch before firing his rifle, trapping the thug in an energy net. "Hope this will hold."

Bulldozer dug his feet into the concrete. "The hell is that thing?"

Wrecker jumped onto a roof. "Don't know. Don't care."

"Isn't it obvious it's a demon. I've seen a tall blue one just like him on the internet." The green-clad Thunderball took aim with the Gamma Energy Emitter and fired. "Bye. Bye."

With wide eyes, the imp held up his tool in defense, projecting a yellow shield. Tilting back, he managed to redirect the energy to the sky. Any clouds that made contact with the beam were re-evaporated, leaving a distinct hole in the middle. Regaining composure, Jurryrigg dove left and took to the air. He continued to evade the Gamma emissions, positioning himself so the open ocean would be behind him. Once he was in range, he aimed his rifle.

Thunderball dropped the gun and wound up his ball and chain. Timing it just right, he sent out his weapon like an oversized yo-yo, slamming it into the little monster's armored stomach and launching him into a distant shipping crate. After freeing Piledriver, the four converged on the brat's trail only to find nothing.

The metal head crushed a nearby container. "Where'd he go?"

Wrecker growled in frustration. "Forget him. We've wasted enough time. Thunderball, get the package. We're getting out of here."

Meanwhile, Juryrigg crawled behind a pile of wrecked police cars, rubbing his side. "Oh... Gonna feel that later." In the corner of his eye, he saw the various mechanical internals, and his imagination went wild. "Ooh." Ignoring the pain, the little devil pulled out various tools and parts from his pack and quickly got to work. "Reassemble! FIX FIX FIX FIX FIX!"

Hearing the commotion, Thunderball turned the corner, ready for a fight with the rest of the crew not far behind. However, they were not expecting what he found. They didn't know how, but somehow, the little prick was controlling a walker with clawed arm guns, a mini makeshift ED-209 with police decal. The digitized voice caught them off guard.

"Please put down your weapons. You have twenty seconds to comply. Come quietly or there will be... trouble." The mech with its devil pilot took a stance, ready for attack.

"You gotta be kidding me..." Thunderball stared dumbfounded.

Ben cackled with laughter. "Time to protect and serve."

"He's just messing with us. There's no way that thing actually works." Wrecker jumped into the air, gaining momentum, before slamming his crowbar toward the hull. "Suck on this!"

With speed and precision, the mechanized construction grabbed the other end of the weapon. Moving with the momentum of the swing and applying his superior leverage, he diverted the attack, sending the man crashing into Piledriver. "Thank you for your cooperation." Raising both arms, he fired a volley of rockets and energy blasts going in their direction, knocking away the crew.

"You're having too much fun with this," his Omnitrix voiced quietly.

"Oh, relax, Azmuth. I got this." He made several hits, but two of the crew were trying to power through. Bulldozer tanked as many hits as he could with Thunderball tailing behind him, causing Juryrigg to hit all the buttons at once. "I need more power!"

Bulldozer weaved through as best he could. As they came close, Thunderball jumped off his shoulders while Bulldozer went full charge.

Juryrigg took to the controls with the mech trying to grapple onto the man, but the just kept pushing through, digging metal shoes into the road. At the same time, Thunderball swung his wrecking ball downward. Pulling a ripcord, Juryrigg narrowly ejected to safety. The metal sphere crushed the cockpit, and Bulldozer smashed it into the side of a building. The little devil scurried the shipping crates. "Ugh. Me and my fat mouth." He pulled out his proto-tool and adjusted the settings once more. Hearing a siren in the distance, he knew where he needed to be.

At that moment, an ambulance pulled into the scene. A brunette EMT quickly exited the vehicle and bravely began to treat wounded officers. She looked at the scene. The officers didn't stand a chance against the superpowered individuals. Many of them were injured. She took out her medical kit and moved to the closest officer. She applied a neck brace and turned to her assistant for help. "I need your help. Come on."

The other EMT wasn't in the same calm mindset, refusing to leave the vehicle. "No. No way. This is crazy."

Wrecker and his crew soon crossed paths with the pair on their way out. Seeing her try to help the cops, he crossed his arms. "Would you look at that, more witnesses." He turned to the others. "Take care of 'em."

Thunderball smirked and aimed the Gamma Energy Emitter right at them and the wounded. "Let's see what this thing can do." He chuckled as the emitter powers up.

Ben needed to act fast or else the entire emergency response crew would be vaporized. He prepped his grappler, only for them all to flinch at the sudden crash of thunder. "Huh?" He turned to the Wrecking crew only to see an object shooting through the air and striking the emitter. However, it didn't stop there. The object continued to ram Thunderball into several shipping containers. As the dust clouds cleared, he could clearly see a hammer flying back to its owner, buff blond warrior in strange armor.

A clap of thunder sounds once more. "Move back mortals!" the newcomer bellows. "Thor the Thunderer will deal with these villains."

"This is unexpected," noted Azmuth. "I've read reports, but I held my reservations on the matter."

Juryrigg blinked at the appearance of the god of thunder. "Huh. A real-life Deus ex machine."

"That would depend on your definition of a god. He has DNA. That much I can tell."

Dropping to the ground, Thor backhanded Bulldozer into a stack of containers with his hammer, cracking the criminal's helmet.

Seeing this, the rest of the Wrecking Crew split up.

"Well, he certainly fits the description to me." Juryrigg dropped to the floor ground near the supposed god. "Uh... Thanks for the help."

With the crew on the run, Thor looked to his left and met eyes with the alien hero with curiosity. "Worry not, creature. I saw your earlier fray against the ne'er-do-wells along with the Midgardian's work." He gestured to the woman working with the others. "I must say, I was not aware Goblins lived in this part of Midgard."

Juryrigg looked up at the thunder god in return. "Eh, it's an okay place to live. Personally, I'm surprised you're blond. I thought you had red hair?"

Thor shook his head at the reason in his head and didn't answer. "Regardless, Thor will handle it from here." As he went back into the fray, he mumbled the name of the man in question.

As much as Ben wanted to see Thor in action, there were more important tasks at hand. Scampering his way to the ambulance, he accidentally caused a bit of a scare.

"Oh, Jesus!" The EMT flinched at the sight of the red devil, haphazardly forming her arms in a cross shape. "Stay back, demon. He's not dead yet."

Her assistant still in the vehicle quickly locked the doors and hugged the medical kit. "

Juryrigg held his hands up in a placating manner. "Woah, woah, woah! I'm not a demon, I swear."

"Isn't that what a demon would say?" She steadied herself and calmed down a bit. She was skeptical of the being before her. She scanned the little imp until her eyes landed on his belt buckle. "Wait a minute. That symbol. You're with that giant talking bug, Stinkfly!"

The alien shrugged to ease the tension. "Yeah. He and I are friends of sorts."

She eyed him critically for any sign of maliciousness only to find nothing. Sighed in relief, she continued to work on her patient. "That's somewhat comforting." The woman rubbed her forehead. "Sorry. I've seen a lot in this city, but you're a first."

He pointed in the distance. "You've seen Norse Gods before?"

"Point taken." She applied a splint to the man's broken arm after setting the bones. "So, what's you're name?"

"Just call me Juryrigg, Jane."

She gave him a confused look. "Did Stinkfly mention me to you?"

"Something like that, but the real giveaway was your ID badge." His gaze drifted to the man curled up in the ambulance. "Uh, is your friend gonna be okay."

Jane finished applying gauze to a thigh. "He's in a little shock on his first superhuman assignment. He'll be fine in a few hours."

"If you say so. Anyways, I'll help get everyone prepped for your care. I think I saw a few of them trapped in their vans."

She nodded in approval before they heard a loud crash deeper into the shipyard. "Thanks, but aren't you gonna help that Thor guy with the Wrecking Crew."

Juryrigg waved off her concern. "These guys are more urgent. Besides, I'm sure Thor has everything under control."

Meanwhile

"Sit your ass down, pretty boy!" Piledriver ran up to him and landed a series of heavy punches on the Thunderer's abdomen.

However, Thor wasn't going down that easy. He countered the next swing with his hammer ramming against the Piledriver's stomach, leaving him to crumble to his knees wheezing. While he downed one wrecker, a crowbar met his back, knocking Thor to his knees.

The Wreckers are known for beating their victims while they're down, and it was no surprise that Wrecker griped his crowbar and bashed Thor flying out of view. The man laughed. "We won't be seeing him again."

Thunderball pointed in the direction Thor went. "Uh, we might have to try something else." To their surprise, Thor didn't stay down for long.

A sudden thought came to Bulldozer as he ran back to the ship. "Keep em busy, guys. I've got an idea."

The God of Thunder flew back into the battle in full force, raising his hammer crackling with lightning. Seeing his targets, he swung his ancient weapon against the mortals. As Thunderball crashed into another set of shipping containers, Wrecker barely reacted in time to block the strike with his crowbar. The two glared at each other as they pressed forward, neither willing to give the other an inch.

"Surrender now, and I will show mercy," Thor grunted.

"That makes one of us!" Wrecker jammed a knee into Thor's gut. He swung his crowbar with more force than last time, sending Thor crashing against the base of a loading crane.

Thunderball got back to his feet, recovering from Thor's attack. He looked back at the combatants, seeing Thor getting throttled by Wrecker. Taking a good look at the environment, he saw his golden opportunity. He swung his wrecking ball into the nearby crane's support beam. Metal creaked and cables snapped as a shipping container and the crane itself falls on top of the hero, him raising his hands to support the debris

The rogue's attack didn't let up. Surprising the rest of the crew, Bulldozer descended from the sky with a large vehicle in his grasps. "You think you can beat Bulldozer? But can you handle the Road Rollah!" The large yellow machine crashed atop of Thor and everything else with a resounding boom.

"Urgh!" Thor huffed at the added force as he attempted to push it back.

Bulldozer snarled at the resistance. "It's too late! You cannot escape!. It's useless!" His Gamma enhanced strength and speed rushed against the vehicle, effectively compacting the metal and man below. "Dadadadadadadadadadadadadadadadadada! I'll flatten you!" With a final punch, the engine of the road roller explodes. The cylinders press down on the metal, compacting it several feet and engulfing the Thunder God beneath with smoke billowing in the wind.

The area went silent as they all started to process what happened.

"Holy crap!" exclaimed Piledriver.

Bulldozer jumped off and breathed raggedly. "I did it. It's over."

Wrecker smiled in shock. "I can't believe that worked."

"Thanks. I just thought of it just now, really."

"Where'd you even find that thing?" asked Thunderball.

"Spotted it while we were going through the shipping crates earlier."

With that, the gang laughed at their apparent victory. "The dud was such a blowhard. The Mighty Thor? Ha!. More like a mighty big idi-" Wrecker was cut off as the pile of flattened metal exploded into pieces. "God damn!"

A Hammer shot from the rubble and struck Bulldozer and Thunderball. Not even the others were spared as the impact shockwave affected them too.

By the time Thor cleared himself of the debris, he was face to face with the leader once more. However, he wasn't alone. "Back off, blondie or Florence Nightingale here is gonna get the worst headache of her life." Wrecker held Jane Foster in a chokehold, edges of his crowbar pressed against her neck.

Thor glared at the thug willing to use a civilians life to save his own. "Have you no honor?"

Wrecker smirked and pressed the weapon a little harder. "Not even a little."

Thor crossed his arms. "Then you should be familiar with attacking a foe from behind."

"Huh?" Wrecker turned his head, to see the flying hammer closing in on him. He released the woman to get out of the way, but his body was soon stunned and filled with pain. With no escape, the hammer slammed into his face, sending him flying and knocking out against a wall.

Jane breathed in relief with a strange device in her left hand. "I guess he was right about that." She got back to her feet walked up to Thor. "Thank you. I don't know what else I could have done there."

From around the corner, Juryrigg ran into the two while lifting a man over his shoulders. "Hey, I got the last one here." Getting a clearer view, he blinked at the sight of Thor and the unconscious criminal. "Oh, crap. You okay?"

She waved off his concern and gestured to the god. "Don't worry. I'm fine thanks to him."

Thor decided to interject. "I appreciate your gratitude, but I am confused. Unlike the creature, you have no powers, no armor, no weapons, and yet I saw you risk your life to help the wounded. Why?"

The EMT was amused by his reaction "Because they needed my help, so I helped them." She gestured to herself. "I'm a paramedic. It's what I do. I'm Jane. Jane Foster."

Juryrigg knew that look in Thor's eye, and he smirked, letting the two have their moment.

The Thunderer admired her conviction. "I- I am-"

Suddenly, Thor is interrupted by a booming voice and a bright blue light. "Thor!" The light swirls to form some sort of portal above the two. The portal revealed a man dressed similarly to Thor, but with a horned helmet and wielded an axe.

Ben blinked at the appearance of another Norse figure. "I was not expecting more to show up."

Seeing his longtime friend, Thor stood up straighter. "What news do you bring, Heimdall?"

"I bring a grim message from thy father, Odin!" Heimdall bellowed. "He calls you home! Asgard is under siege!" He points behind him to a city beyond what looks to be a rainbow bridge.

Before Thor could reply, Juryrigg interjected. "Hold up. Is he talking about Asgard, the real Asgard?!"

The God of Thunder gave him a confused look. "Yes?"

"Isn't that the place with Valkyries and endless feats with mutton?"

"Um. Yes. Valhalla is one of the many halls of our kingdom, reserved for the mightiest of warriors."

Juryrigg licked his lips at the thought of god-tier food. "Mightiest warriors, huh? Hm... Say, if this is a round trip, you need some help with those invaders?"

Heimdall raised a brow at the interruption. "Thor, who is this imp?"

"I have only met him today, not even knowing his name, but the gremlin has a good heart." Thor smiled. "From the sound of it, he wishes to prove his valor in the defense of our home." Thor bent a knee to look at the small alien on an even level. "While I admire your vigor, I don't believe someone of your capabilities is up to the task."

Ben crossed his arms in a challenging posture. "Oh, really?" A flash of green light instantly engulfs the imp and soon fades away. In gremlin's place was a large sasquatch-like creature with yellow and black fur. The most surprising thing was that he was already posing. His arms were horizontal above his head, emphasizing his bicep and abdominal muscles. He grinned in delight. "How about now?"

Jane Foster's eyes blinked in shock for more reasons than one. First there was a ripped thunder god. Then a new god-like person coming from a hole in the sky. Now there was cut sasquatch posing while wearing a green scarf with yellow lightning stripes. Soon, her gaze rested on the hourglass symbol once more. "Wait a minute. You're not friends with Stinkfly. You are... were Stinkfly." The being in front of her could change into different creatures. The news report of the rock creature with Iron Man at the United Nations came to mind.

"Hehe." Ben scratched his cheek sheepily. "Do me a favor and keep that little secret between us. I don't need that kind of attention right now. I'm your friendly neighborhood shapeshifter."

Jane took a breath to calm herself. "Consider all the help you're doing in the city, I at least owe you that much. I also owe Stinkfly my thanks."

He grinned at her back. "In any case, I am 『Shocksquatch』." His muscles flexed once more as electrical currents traveled across his body.

The Asgardians were surprised at the development.

Standing tall, Thor got a good look at the alien. "Hmm. A changeling. I have not encountered your kind in many years; although, you seem to be a unique one. I can also see that you are able to control heaven's wrath as well."

"We must make haste, Thor," interrupted Heimdal. "If the mortal wishes to risk his life for our people, I will not stop him, but he will be your responsibility while he is in our realm."

Thor raised his hammer. "Very well. I agree to those terms."

Socksquatch positioned his left arm over his right bicep and stretched his right hand raised. "Alright, let's go to Asgard!"

"Indeed." Thor turned to the brunette. "Fare thee well, Jane Foster. I am sorry that we could not talk more."

Jane placed her right hand on her left arm. "Well, if you do come back from saving your home, you can find me at the state hospital. You can't miss it."

"I look forward to our next meeting." With all said and done, 『Shocksquatch』and Thor leaped through the portal as it closed behind them.

Back on the ground, Jane looked to the sky in wonder. "Huh. Bye."

Next Time: Icy Invasion

Omnitrix DNA Entry:

Name: Juryrigg

Species: Planchaküle

Home World: Aul-Turrhen

Powers and Abilities:

Planchaküle have the ability to completely disassemble any kind of machinery in mere seconds, fitting to their Gremlin appearance. In contrast, they can also construct complex machinery from scratch at a similar rate. Despite their small size, they have enhanced strength and durability compared to humans. As in accordance with his break/fix it attributes, Juryrigg boasts an impressive intellect, describing himself as "smart and stubborn". The Planchaküle's small size makes him unsuitable for hand-to-hand combat against larger opponents unless they happen to be machines, in which case, he can dismantle them in seconds. Planchaküles tend to have a habit of breaking and assembling machinery. Most of the devices Planchaküle creates are basically on-the-fly or 'jury-rigged'. They are not normally meant to last and will eventually fail. A Planchaküle's creations can also be unstable and hard to control