Chapter 3: Some more base builing

After my nap, I showered, I was too tired too last night so I compromised and showered now... And took some time to appreciate my new body. I didn't notice it yesterday since I was clothed already, but Ben was built. Not bodybuilder built mind you, more swimmer built. I wasn't muscled or anything originally, so this was another pro in my opinion. Adding in the bright emerald eyes, the green tips and coloring to my hair in general, and I was apparently an anime character in a book world. Sure, I had to deal with puberty again and shit, but I had an Ultimatrix, so puberty and the issues that came with it didn't mean a god damn thing compared to that.

Anyway, morning routines and some vanity aside, I made some scrambled eggs and got some orange juice, and thought about stuff while I ate. (Okay, what do I need to do for today?) I'd already set up the framework for my base, but I'd need to set up the mechanical defenses like my turrets. (I still need to BUILD the turrets though... Ugh.) There was one thing I was going to be working on. (Uh... I have to go raid a few junkyards first though, forgot about that yesterday because of XLR8 and his general ADHD self.) There was another thing. (... Thinking about it, I don't think that was ever an issue for Ben...) I frowned at that thought, and looked at the Ultimatrix. Now that I was taking the time to look at its base form, instead of just transforming, I noticed a few things.

It was a gauntlet, yeah, but it was slimmer then I remembered from the show. The green was darker, closer to the emerald like sheen of my eyes, and hair. There weren't any exposed areas on it, instead it was a smooth and thin gauntlet that looked cool. The changes weren't really that big, but that was fine with me. This was MY Ultimatrix, and I had time to figure out just what else made it unique to me.

After looking at it for a little longer, I nodded. (So, another thing is training with my forms. Water Hazard and Diamondhead proved that I'm not an instant prodigy with them, so I'll need to figure out who else I need to work with, and get started on that. I've got a few months before canon starts, so I should be able to figure everything out by then.) So far it looked like my plans were set... Then I remembered something else. (Helping Taylor...) I frowned. (Why do I care though?)

That thought really made me think. Yes, I was in Worm. Yes, it was a death world of fucked up proportions. Yes, fucked up things happened on a daily basis... (But why do I care about Taylor?) I wracked my brain trying to think of reasons I should care about the girl that the story revolved around... And couldn't figure out any reasons why I should care...

That made me frown even more, setting aside the breakfast I'd finished while I was thinking, and got up. There had to be SOME reason I was thinking about the girl, beyond some cliche insert morals or some shit.

Making my way to the bedroom, I took a seat at Computer God, and started checking in on the future Queen of Escalation. I checked the alert about her getting checked into the hospital, and dove deeper. The hospital kept... Somewhat decent records, so I got a look at what she had to deal with on check in... And holy shit was it bad.

I'd read fics that had Panacea get into what she had to fix and whatever, but reading about portions of her skin being eaten off so maggots could get inside and lay eggs in her was just different... And I was also kinda regretting eating breakfast. Sure, I was sort of used to nasty shit, friends and I fucked around with Reddit 50/50 back in High School, but this was different.

I wasn't going to harp on about some 'She didn't deserve this', or some shit, because that was obvious... No, it was different because this world was already shit, and seeing how people were going out of their way to just make it worse... Which was fucked up considering Taylor could've lost her shit and just shot up the school at any point in time... (Where am I going with this?) Shaking the former train of thought away, I looked at the damage they catalogued, and huffed. (This is a fucking mess.)

Looking through the rest of the information, I paused at a picture of Taylor before the whole locker thing. Looking at her, there was a niggling feeling in the back of my mind... And after a few moments, I figured it out. "Huh... She's a Hex Maniac. Granted, thinner then them, but still a Hex Maniac."(The cover image) Taking that in, I narrowed my eyes a bit, something else pecking at my thoughts.

I figured what that was when I felt my dick decide to remind me it existed... "You've gotta be shitting me. I don't even know her!" That meant nothing to the attraction I was feeling, and that just annoyed the hell out of me.

I knew this wasn't natural. Sure, Taylor DID have characteristics I liked, the willingness to say 'Fuck you' and escalate, her ingenuity with a power as simple as 'Insect Control', plus her willingness to compromise on her morals when she had too... "Shit, this isn't helping." Closing the files I brought up, I left my room.

With some inkling of what was going on, I was brought here the same day Taylor Triggered, I was probably supposed to get her out of the damn locker early, mix that with my unnatural attraction to her, as well as my tendency to get attached to people fast, and I'd be making sure that she was safe instead of chilling in my brand new base...

Though as I kept thinking about that, I realized something. "Sure, I might feel something for her, but I'm not being compelled to act on it... I also didn't have the instant thought of 'Go save her' either... So I'm not being controlled... Or predicted?" Thinking about that, and the fact I hadn't seen a portal with a fedora wearing woman on the other end, I was starting to think I was a blind spot or something because if I was visible to people like Contessa, I should've been killed.

No way in hell some fucker with a goddamn Ultimatrix shows up and the Illuminati doesn't come up to kidnap and brainwash me into their service... (God, why do my thoughts go to these places?) Sure it was important to know, but it was 2PM, too early for this shit!

Getting to the stairs that led to my basement, I kept walking, idly thinking about turning this into an escalator. (I'll think about this shit later, do cool shit with aliens now.) As soon as I got into my basement, I looked around... It was really just a big cube, nothing really special aside from the fact I had Diamondhead crystals coating the area.

With something big and sturdy enough to handle a majority of my guys, I was gonna need to expand so I could practice with XLR8 and Jetray/Astrodactyl, I nodded, hand already reaching towards the dial. "I'll fuck around for a bit, then head out junk hunting." With that said, I shuffled around for a bit, and found who I wanted. So, with a grin on my face I happily pressed down the dial.

In an instant I was replaced with the massive form of one of my top 10 forms. "Humungousaur!" My voice sounded like boulders smashing against each other, something that made this cooler, and my tail slammed against the ground, a loud 'Thwack' resounding through the area. "Now this," Flexing my hands and willing my tail to move around, a weird feeling since I didn't have a tail a few moments ago, I grinned. "This, I can get used too." My tail slammed against the floor again, and I sighed. I didn't tell it to do that.

I was about to start moving around, to get used to being a big fucking dinosaur, when I caught my reflection in the floor. I looked similar to the AF/UA version of Humungousaur, but the design on my chest made me pause. I'd seen it somewhere before, but I didn't remember where... (Heroes United version.) Shrugging, it didn't matter what I looked like, just that I was the dinosaur that could grow to small Kaiju size.

With that done, I started moving around... And slipped on the crystals, my jaw slamming against and cracking the ground as the rest of my body crashed against the earth. "Note to self, get rid of this shit."

I had a long day ahead of me, and I hated it.

After that initial disaster, I went Echo Echo, which was an experience because I was now on the other end of my sarcasm and bullshit, and blasted the basement with sound. That led to me figuring out that I remembered things about my aliens that I had forgotten over the years. I forgot that Diamondhead was weak to sound based attacks, but I instinctively knew it and used Echo Echo to deal with the crystals.

That then led into me noticing that my forms were a little different. I ended up curious about what the differences were, and found out that they varied.

A majority of my aliens were their AF/UA versions, but a few of them weren't.

Humungousaur wasn't that version of him, XLR8 was his original version, so were Four Arms and Wildvine.

Then there were the ones in their Omniverse version like Ampfibian, Water Hazard, Juryrigg, NRG, Lodestar, and Grey Matter.

I was fine with this really, I liked the looks they had and was happy with them.

... I also found out that yes, this WAS an Ultimatrix... But there was an issue here... After 10 minutes as Ultimate Echo Echo I timed out. I didn't try to do much, just walking around and getting used to the new form, so I had no idea if combat would expedite the process or not. Good news was that I recharged after 5 minutes... Bad news was that it was 5 minutes. So I had to be careful with my Ultimates or else I'd be a sitting duck for 5 minutes.

More good news though was there was a cheat. As long as I changed to someone else before the time was up I could keep going. Again, I had no idea how combat would change this, but I would figure it out later. Ideally it would be against drones or something similar, but I'd need to go beat the shit out of people eventually, so live combat was going to be a hurdle I'd need to deal with at some point.

Anyway, I ended up taking 4 hours to do my tests, so I was long due to start my other plans.

Leaving the basement, I made my way to the front door, watched as it shifted and opened like a Transformer, then walked out. It was so satisfying watching something I made move so smoothly, especially because it was cool as fuck.

Aesthetically pleasing door aside, I waited till it camouflaged itself, then turned away. With the door closed, I popped the dial, twisting it a bit, then hit it. In a flash I was someone else. "Jetray!" I needed practice flying, and considering Jetray could fly at mach speeds, I could get practice with him and search for junkyards at the same time.

Win-Win really.

I was going to lose it.

Circling around Brockton Bay, I openly snarled. I didn't mean to come here, I was just flying and searching for big piles of junk to steal... It annoyed me that the first one I'd found just so happened to be the place in the Bay... Where that one guy... 'Trainwreck' stayed. I had no idea if he was here now, but it wouldn't have mattered anyway.

No, I was annoyed that out of ALL the places I could've ended up it was right back in Brockton Bay. I thought that I wasn't being compelled, but either I had E Rank Luck, or I was being compelled to come here. (Now, I can be a petty asshole and just fly somewhere else, ignore this until it becomes an issue, or deal with it now.) Circling the city above the clouds, I thought of the pros and cons addressing this now.

Pros : I would maybe get a clue about my earlier theory that I was supposed to be with Taylor. I could get access to the big scrapyard that was taunting me in ways only inanimate piles of objects could, while also stealing from Trainwreck. I could even yoink shit from the crackheads... Specifically, the one that made cars that were supposedly affronts to men's dreams.

If I wanted to be as big an asshole as possible then I could try phasing into the PRT base, which I was currently passing by, getting into Armsmaster's lab, and steal his shit. He was supposed to have a motorcycle full of high tech shit, and I would bet all mt money that my big brains would salivate at the opportunity to get their hands on some alien tech... I paused above the PRT base, I forgot what it was called, and thought of the irony.

Shaking that off, I went on.

Cons : I would be getting involved, even if I wasn't found/caught, with the main character. If I WAS caught, then that'd mean I was going to lose any anonymity I had, and that was bad. There was also the worry that whatever connection I had to Taylor would get stronger if I was around her. Then there were the issues of Coil and the other Villains in the city. Getting on their radars would be a disaster. Sure, I had aliens that could beat the absolute dogshit out of everyone in this world, but I needed time to learn how to use them.

A few of them were easy to use, XLR8, Wildmutt, Four Arms, Big Chill, and a bunch of others were instinctive and were easy to learn. But then there were guys like Lodestar, Arctiguana, Heatblast, Water Hazard, that needed me to spend time to work on their abilities. It wasn't a surprise to me that most of them were ones that used elements and shit to do their things, it just made sense.

So, even if I could turn into a Dino Kaiju, a walking volcano, or even Mothman, I wasn't ready to fight yet. Hell, I didn't even know how to fight yet. (Fucking Christ, how long is my to do list?!) I had a feeling it was going to get longer... "Would that be a 'she said' or 'he said' moment?" Momentary confusion about that aside, I went back to circling the bay, wondering what to do.

I came to the decision of 'Steal shit first, go see Taylor later.'

Later was subjective though.

It could mean a few minutes. Maybe some hours... Maybe even weeks/months... Though I knew it wouldn't be the latter, mainly because I'd probably 'accidentally' find myself in Brockton when I meant to go to Boston, and somehow trip face first into Taylor. There was no proof of that, but I'd suddenly found myself in Worm with an Ultimatrix on my wrist and in the body of a green haired Ben Ten... So anime level bullshit was possible.

So to offset that I was going to promise to visit her before I left Brockton Bay.

Now if I forgot about said promise, then oh well.

I think I mentioned it before, or I thought I did, but so far my favorite form was XLR8. He not only made it easy to think about things, but it was damn near impossible to be sad as him... Kinda like an extroverted therapist, but if they helped sort through issues at 5x speed.

As a person, I was lazy, sarcastic, and if I didn't know someone I either ignored them, or was slightly antagonistic against them. Slightly because it was more of a passive antagonism instead of me going out of my way to be an asshole.

That's where XLR8 came in. Because of how fast I processed and thought about things in his form, I didn't exactly have any excuses to hold off on thinking about things. There was no 'Later' in my mind, so I thought about things I didn't really want to think about before turning into him.

Like the attraction I was feeling for Taylor. On the one hand she was not only my type, but her personality was ideal. She was someone that wouldn't be loud for no reason, was a fellow introvert, even if she was bullied into being one, was smart and resourceful, and could be a fucking nightmare to anyone that got on her bad side.

On the other hand, these feelings weren't mine. I looked at Taylor and I felt for her...

And I wasn't sure what to think/feel about that.

Sure, the lazy and 'Can't give a shit' part of me was all for a ROB given relationship, but the clear minded and ADHD mind of XLR8 made me think into it more.

What if I lost who I was and turned into someone else, someone suited for her? What if this feeling turned into some kind of obsession? What if I ended up being some Deus Ex Machina for her, or became a one sided love interest?

What if she didn't reciprocate?

Normally, I would just brush those thoughts aside, do whatever I felt like doing at the moment, and leave them be until they didn't bother me anymore. But as XLR8 I couldn't do that. As a teenager these thoughts hit my mind like a jackhammer, and I hated it. I didn't like confronting myself, hell, I didn't like confrontation in general.

But I was forced to think while I was running from Brockton to my base, which I found out was Mount Bear in fucking ALASKA. So here I was, a blue and black Velociraptor carrying trash from America to Canada, thinking about whether I should try to actually give a relationship between me and the girl that could kill Alien Jesus and the Illuminati... I paused inside my base, head cocking to the side as I thought about that. "Ok, that sounds badass." I blinked... "I'm gonna end up giving this a try aren't I?"

'Yes, yes you will.' I felt a vein in my head throb as I heard what I was assuming was my future self. It sounded like Grey Matter, so I knew whose fault that was.

Huffing, I kicked the nearest piece of scrape and sped off. I could think of what the hell was going on on my run.

I was coming to an epiphany. (XLR8 is probably going to be my most used form.) I wouldn't say it was addicting, because it wasn't, but the clarity I got from being the Velociraptor Speedster was probably the most healthy my mind had been in years.

It helped give me perspective really.

I was fine with being alone, I preferred the peace that came with silence instead of the annoyance of activity that came with noise. And sure, I liked to blast music I liked whenever I could, but that was different. Music was relaxing and helped me tune out whenever I wanted.

But I didn't have that luxury now.

Songs that I loved weren't made yet or wouldn't be made at all.

I didn't have the time to be passive considering three Kaiju's and a knock off GOO were roaming the world.

I had a few months, at best, to learn my aliens, get my base fully set up, to gather an ally/allies.

I just didn't have the time to fall into bad habits... And I hated that I was going to be using one of my favorite aliens as some kind of hyperbolic therapist to get me to function like a somewhat decent person.

Sighing, I looked up at the closest pile of trash, and just let my thoughts wander. XLR8 was good for that. (I'll check in with Taylor later, probably around 11 or go for Ampfibian since he can go intangible. Sure Big Chill can too, but I'm not braindead, so no big scary moth to check in on the bug controller.) Nodding, I was about to take a step forward, but then I heard something.

Now here's a little interesting fact. Because of how fast XLR8 can run, I was gonna have to sit down and try to see if I could learn the name's of my guys' species, his senses are refined. What that means is I can hear something move in a 25ft radius around me and know where it is, how fast and heavy it is, and understand where it came from and is going. Normally, that'd give me information overload, but this was where the tech in my helmet came into play. The helmet was linked to my Nervous System, so it processed that information for me and gave me a neat little mini map/HUD for me to see what my senses were picking up...

That wasn't the main point though. The point was that my hearing was used to moving fast as fuck, so I instinctively recognized something else coming towards me at speeds of 'Fast as Fuck.'

My mind thought of everyone I knew in this would that could move that fast, narrowed it down to BB, and came to the conclusion that it was Velocity. Knowing that I didn't want to be spotted yet, I palmed the dial on my chest. my form going from my favorite speedster to the other blue boy. (Big Chill.) Instinctively reaching out to my intangibility, I flew towards a pile of trash and flew in, ignoring the random shit around me.

And thank fuck I did because not even a few moments later the resident speedster showed up just a little ways away from where I'd been standing. I took the time to give him a once over... And did my best to not audibly scoff. (I love red, I really do... But it's just not a good look for this guy.) It was like he was trying a little too hard to look like The Flash. (Still... The fuck is his suit made out of? It just looks like normal spandex or something.) I made another note to make sure the costume I made would be made out of some super Kevlar or some shit, no way in hell was I putting on Spandex of all things.

He looked around, obviously searching for me, and frowned. Then he turned into a red blur, my eyes unable to follow as he ran around the Trainyard, coming to a stop right back where he started a few moments later. Tapping the side of his head, he spoke. "Velocity to console, I'm at the Trainyard and while a few piles of trash are missing, there's no sign of the culprit. Over." I could hear the faint sounds of a response, but my hearing wasn't good enough to make out what was said. Though seeing Velocity nod, I could guess I'd find out soon. "Understood. Countdown to timer, over." My eyes narrowed, an idea of what was going to happen forming in my mind.

That idea was solidified after I strained my ears to pick up what was being said over his comm. "- 1. 0." Velocity moved and I couldn't track him anymore...

And now I was stuck here as a red streak ran through the Trainyard, searching for me... (Hopefully this doesn't last long.)

I was going to lose my shit. I couldn't tell how much time had passed, but when you're stuck in one spot and forced into doing the equivalent of bird watching, you find that patience is the virtue that leaves that quickest... Or atleast MY patience left me quick. I was tempted to get out and fly away, but going intangible didn't make me invisible, just harder to see, and I was worried I'd be spotted. I was already suspected to be around, but if I flew off before Velocity left, and was seen, then I'd end up on the PRT'S radar.

So I waited for the fucker to finish, and hoped I didn't snap.

By the grace of god, Velocity left after a few more minutes. After making sure he was gone, I phased out of the trash pile and looked around. Nothing seemed out of place, so I shrugged and turned back into XLR8.

I'd make one more run then chill back at base, either working on my aliens or working on my defenses.

A few hours later, I changed into a comfy black hoodie with dark sweatpants and sneakers. I had no intention of switching back to myself at any point of my visit, but if the universe was going to pull some shit and time me out while I was in her room, I'd be ready.

Checking my God Phone, it was basically my 10XR just better, I made sure I knew where her room was. Sure, I could float around as Ampfibian until I found her room, but that would just be a waste of time. Nodding at the information, I put away the God Phone and twisted the dial. Quickly turning back into my fastest flyer, I left my base before I could try to talk or reason myself out of visiting who would be the most dangerous woman on the planet.

When I reached Brockton Bay, I circled it for a bit. Jetray seemed to be a normal transformation, he didn't make me think about anything and everything, didn't make me change personality wise, didn't really do much aside from being a form different from my new 'normal.'

So it was my natural aversion to confrontation that was holding me back from going down there and figuring out what would happen if I was in the same space as Taylor... I didn't want to go. That was simple.

But I knew the next time I was XLR8 I would think about this and see it as a wasted opportunity... And given I was going to be using that form as some kind of therapist, as well as use it to fight, that meant that was a 'Sooner' rather then 'Later' moment... Growling to myself I sped up and flew towards the hospital. (God-fucking-dammit.) I hated the fact I was doing this, but I had to do it now or else I'd keep putting it off, even if I had no viable excuses.

When I was directly above the hospital, I tapped the dial and changed. "Ampfibian!" With an instinctual flick of a switch, I went intangible and slipped through the roof. Sure, I could've gone for Nanomech, but I wasn't going to risk it given what I knew of Taylor's powers. So, the electric jellyfish was going to be the go to.

And so I went towards a meeting that was going to change my life.