Episode 2 (3)

Suddenly, Gwen began screaming again and thrashing about as the green veins spread up her arm and across her body. 

"Ben, be careful not to hurt her or let her hurt herself," Max instructed.

Arthur nodded but continued to observe Gwen's change. Doing so through a vulpimancer's unique senses was a strange oddity as her body temperature skyrocketed.

"What's happening to her," Kim asked.

Gwen's body began to change with her screaming gradually turning more bestial. Her body began to expand as her muscles grew. Her clothes and shoes tore as she seemingly doubled in size. Only the tattered remains of her shirt and leggings - reduced to a pair of booty-shorts straining against and digging into her pronounced rear - remained. Her hair began to rapidly grow and cover her body in orange fur - covering part of her face and her chest, shoulders, lower arms, and lower legs. Hard spines could be seen mixed in along her back and limbs. Her eyes turned entirely green, her lips turned black, her teeth became sharper - gaining an underbite with her bottom canines prominently poking out of her mouth. A pair of gill-like openings appeared on either side of her neck. Black claws grew from her fingertips and toes.

Arthur gently set Gwen down. 

Blinking her eyes, Gwen's gaze shifted around before settling on Max. "G-Grandpa," she asked fearfully - her voice having become slightly deeper and carrying a growl. 

"Gwen," Max yelled in concern. Unsure of what exactly to do, he asked, "How are you feeling, can you move?"

Gwen squinted and tried to move. Though slow, she managed to stand up. Standing on her toes, the bones in her feet seem to have also changed some - becoming slightly more digitigrade. She breathed heavily with her new gills flexing along with every breath. "I…I don't know," she said. Growing slightly panicked, she turned to Max, "Grandpa, what's happened to me!?"

Max did not answer and turned toward Aloysius. "Change my granddaughter back now!"

"I couldn't even if I wanted to," Aloysius dismissed - keeping his attention on Gwen's transformation.

"What did you do to her," Kim demanded. 

Arthur let out a growl seemingly in agreement, but inside, his thoughts were different. "Yes, please monologue to us about what 'you've' done. I'm curious to know how reality intends to explain this and how my changes may have affected things."

"I haven't done anything, little girl," Aloysius began to explain. "What you see before you is more than likely the resulting transformation brought about by the girl's own innate meta-gene awakening itself."

"Meta-what," Kim asked.

Raising his hand and clenching his fist, Aloysius explained, "The meta-gene! During my research, I discovered an anomaly within the genetic makeup of living organisms. Though my specialty was in animal biology and zoology, I studied other fields of biology as well and found this anomaly was consistent across all organisms - both plants and animals."

"It was twenty-years-ago I came into contact with an individual who displayed powers beyond the scope of human ability. It was with their help that I was able to isolate and identify what we would name - the meta-gene! This genetic anomaly seemed responsible for rewriting the genetic code of those who possessed it and transforming them into super-powered mutants."

"However, I also discovered two important details about the meta-gene. The first was, while present in all organisms, it was dormant and recessive. That is, until fifty-years-ago! Collecting various samples, I found that humans over the age of fifty lack the meta-gene. It is only within the last fifty years that we too have begun to develop this abnormality and only in the last forty has it made its influence known to create mutants."

"The other important detail was that the meta-gene only becomes active when it attaches to the double-X-chromosome. While men can possess the meta-gene, it will remain recessive and can be passed on but seems incapable of becoming active. Only in female organisms can the meta-gene become dominant and express its influence upon the organism."

"When I presented my findings, I was ridiculed and cast aside as mere theory without definitive proof! They could not see the anomaly for what it was - writing it off as junk DNA. I tried to get my associate to come forward and demonstrate their powers but they refused."

"I can imagine why," Max interjected. "I've seen some things in my day, but I've never seen anything like what you're describing. This meta-gene you're talking about must not be that common. I can't imagine people would be all that understanding of this - especially if these mutants are a minority."

Aloysius growled, "You sound just like them! Who cares if people have difficulty accepting mutants!? This was my life's work! A chance to rewrite how people knew the world! Thus, I spent the last few years developing my transmodulator! Through intensive study and research, I have discovered a means of stimulating the meta-gene. Then, by adjusting the frequency and increasing the power, I have invented the means necessary to forcibly trigger it into activation!"

"Once exposed to the ray released by my transmodulator, the meta-gene is put into a state of hyperactivity that forcibly causes it to activate and bring about accelerated mutation at the genetic level."

Listening to this, Arthur would have raised an eyebrow if he could. "But, you yourself just said the meta-gene only works with girls. What? Did you get lucky or did you just know the animals you were blasting were female? Or, does your transmodulator also cause those hit by it to gender-bend too?…Wait…That could actually work…"

"I haven't gotten to the point of human testing," Aloysius said. "Due to the delayed transformation, I can only assume that rather than be a direct result of my transmodulator, the girl's transformation was a result of her meta-gene activating. This would suggest that my creation will have limited effect on humans - or at least human females. No matter!" 

Hopping off the monster frog, Aloysius patted it. "I know you already had a snack earlier, but I hope you haven't ruined your appetite. Attack!"

The mutant frog then opened its mouth and its tongue shot out - revealing the tip to be covered in barbs. 

The group scattered to move out of the way. However, Gwen - unfamiliar with her new body - overshot her jump and slammed into the aisle. 

The frog tried to leap toward Gwen but Arthur intercepted it. Unfortunately, the frog proved much heavier than the cockatiel and hamster. The young vulpimancer managed to save Gwen but was also knocked aside by its superior weight. 

The frog sent out its tongue again and this time managed to hit Arthur while he was unbalanced. However, rather than stick to him, the pointed barbs seemed to harden and pierced the canine alien's shoulder and side. Howling in pain, he dug his claws into the ground to try and resist the strong pull of the frog's tongue. 

During this, Kim ran to Gwen's side. "Are you okay?"

Groaning, Gwen managed to say, "Yeah…I think so." She then looked at the tongue-of-war going on before her. Her eyes widened at the blood flowing from Arthur's injuries. Her new gills seemed to be synchronized with her eyes as they too seemed to flex and inhale. 

This caused Gwen to be overwhelmed by the new sensations this was causing her. She could smell everything - Arthur's blood, Kim, the frog, the things around her, etc. - and an image of her surroundings entered her mind. This combined with the input from her other senses overstimulated her. She became disoriented and yelled out in pain. 

Kim knelt beside her unsure of what to do. 

Pain. Fear. Confusion. The mutant frog. Arthur bleeding. Gwen was too overwhelmed by it all. Slightly opening her eyes, she reached out toward the frog not far from her in a silent plea to do something to stop this. When she did, new muscles in her arm flexed and the dozen or so spines on it shot out - revealing them to be more like quills than simple spines.

The quills flew through the air. The smaller ones uselessly bounced off the frog's tough skin while the larger ones seemed to pierce it but only the surface layer. Fortunately, a few managed to strike the frog's eye. 

The monstrous creature roared in agony and pulled its tongue back. The barbs attaching it to Arthur seemed to relax as the tongue whipped away - pulling them loose but also causing further damage to Arthur's body as they were pulled out.

Arthur collapsed with one hand holding his injured, bleeding shoulder. 

"Gwen, you did it," Kim cheered. 

Scrunching her eyes shut to reduce the stimulus and managing to calm down enough to stop her gill-like nostrils from reflexively inhaling, Gwen said questioningly, "I did."

"Yeah," Kim then looked over what was happening. Max had approached Arthur and was seeing to him. The frog was recoiling from the injury to its hopefully blinded eye. Finally, Aloysius was barking orders for it to attack. She began throwing her head to the left and right to get a wider grasp of what was around them when she saw something. 

Looking back to Aloysius, Kim narrowed her eyes. "Hey, do you think you can keep that frog thing occupied?"

"What," Gwen unintentionally but incredulously growled. "I can barely open my eyes and that's a giant monster frog."

"And you're apparently some sort of mutant hedgehog thing," Kim argued back. "I have an idea but I'm not sure I can handle that frog thing. If your eyes are overwhelming you…then keep them shut."

"You want me to run at a giant monster with my eyes closed?"

"Ben seems to be doing just fine and you kinda look like him right now so," Kim cut off her own sentence. "Earlier, Ben was saying how changing into that little guy - and I'm guessing that dog thing too - came naturally to him. That maybe the Watch gave him the ability to use those bodies and what their capable of naturally. Maybe you're the same way."

"Maybe!?"

"I don't know! Ben's hurt and I don't want to leave Grandpa Max on his own. If you can't do anything, try…I don't know. Throwing things at it."

Kim then took off toward Arthur and Max and said something to the older man. He looked at her incredulously but before he could argue with her, she was already running off into another aisle. 

Meanwhile, Aloysius was tending to and calming his minion. He glared furiously at Gwen. "Don't think that was anything more than a lucky shot, girl! You may be a mutant, but whatever powers you may have will not defeat me! Now, eat her!"

The frog obeyed and shot out its tongue. However, Arthur sprung forward - grabbing it with one arm and being careful to avoid the end.

Max then joined him.

"What," Aloysius yelled.

"From what I've seen, whatever mutations changed this thing, it's tongue isn't like other frogs," Max said as he strained against the beast trying to pull its tongue back. "The only really dangerous part is the end with the spikes coming out of it. So, all we have to do is avoid that part."

Arthur adjusted his grip and his claws dug into the frog's tongue - drawing blood and cutting deeper as the creature tried to pull back. 

"If they won't come to you, then you go to them," Aloysius barked. 

The frog leaped forward and both Arthur and Max lost their footing as the tongue went lax. It tackled Arthur in front - knocking him back but catching him between its horns. It then raised its head and threw him away.

Max had also lost his grip and fallen. This allowed the frog to reel its tongue back in. It then gave a mighty jump - seemingly intending to crush the man in front of it.

However, Gwen had used the aisle to brace herself and pull herself up. Standing tall enough to reach Max's shoulder, she thought, "Just try and do what comes naturally, huh?" She then closed her eyes as the frog jumped up. Inhaling through her gills, she had begun to get use to the 3D image in her mind if she tried limiting her other senses. She leaned forward with the intention to run but let her body move on its own accord. 

The frog came down and the floor broke under its weight. However, Max was not crushed. It turned its head to find its lost pray. 

Off to the side stood Gwen on the ground with one arm over Max. She had successfully leaped forward, grabbed Max, and pull him to the side. Starting to get back up, she could sense the frog opening its mouth to target her with its tongue. Recognizing she had more quills on her back, she tried to flex the connecting muscles and successfully launched about two-dozen quills into the opening mouth - several successfully piercing the soft flesh inside. 

Seeing his minion getting injured again and recoiling from the pain, Aloysius gritted his teeth and yelled out, "Don't worry about the pain! Just attack and they'll die!"

"No they won't," yelled Kim. 

Aloysius turned to see the young girl swinging something at him. Unable to move in time, he found himself getting struck across the head with a broom handle. 

Kim needed the others to try distancing Aloysius from his frog. She had seen there were brooms in the next aisle over and figured she could use one as an impromptu staff. Circling around, once Aloysius was on his own, she attacked.

The blow successfully knocked off Aloysius's helmet. The cables connecting the helmet to the device strapped to his chest were flimsy and easily disconnected from the sudden jerk - allowing the helmet to skid across the floor. 

"No! My transmodulator!" 

Kim then spun around and struck Aloysius across the face with the broom end. This knocked the old man to the ground. Before he could reorient himself, Kim pressed the broom handle to his throat. Glaring down at him, she said, "You aren't going anywhere."

Meanwhile, Max saw the transmodulator helmet nearby. 

The mutant frog opened its mouth again and launched its tongue at Gwen and Max. 

Gwen readied the remaining quills in her other arm when Max suddenly threw the helmet into the frog's mouth. The two then jumped out of the way. 

The frog pulled its tongue back and - feeling something in its mouth - snapped its mouth shut. This resulted in the helmet being crushed between its teeth. 

A moment passed and the monstrous creature seemed to calm. It then looked around its surroundings before it hopped toward the nearest wall. Unfortunately, this sent it toward Aloysius and Kim. 

Kim dove out of the way while Aloysius curled into himself while holding his head. 

The frog barreled past them and broke through the wall. Once outside, it seemed surprised. However, it quickly collected itself and began hopping away.

"No," Aloysius yelled as he got to his feet and watching his minion flee. Spittle began flying from his mouth as he began to rave, "Get back here and fight you-"

Aloysius was unable to finish his words as Max had come up behind him and struck him in the head to knock him unconscious. "That's enough out of you." 

Max turned to the kids. "Someone should have contacted the police by now. They should be here soon. I'll stay to keep an eye on our friend here. However, we can't have them see you two right now - Ben, Gwen. I want the rest of you to go back to the Rustbucket. Now."

Arthur stepping forward to rejoin the group made a noise of agreement.

Kim nodded reluctantly. "Yes, Grandpa Max."

Gwen on the other hand began whimpering and then tears began to fall down her cheeks. She fell to her knees as she rubbed her eyes. 

Kim rushed to Gwen's side. "What's wrong Gwen? I don't like this either, but it's nothing to cry about."

"Grandpa," Gwen whimpered, "look at me." She held out her hands. "I have to hide because I'm some sort of mutant freak. How am I supposed to live like this?"

Max looked sadly at his granddaughter before stepping over to her and placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. "That's not what I meant. We'll figure this out. Right now, I just want to make sure we're all okay, and unfortunately, ordinary people getting involved with," he waved his hand over Gwen, Arthur, and everything around them, "this, tends to make things worse." He gently grabbed her chin with his index finger and thumb to lift her head. "I promise, we'll take care of this."

Meanwhile, Arthur was staring at this scene with as close to a 'so-done' expression as his current form could muster. "Alright," he thought, "I'm bringing an end to this." Then, in a flash of green light, he turned back to normal. 

Arthur stood casually for a moment – ignoring his still bloodstained mouth and face – before a sharp pain flooded his side and shoulder. He gave a small shout before falling to his knees. Holding his throbbing shoulder, he thought, "Am I still injured?! I thought the Omnitrix would heal me! Then again, I wasn't expecting to get hurt either. I'm not bleeding, but I still feel like I was stabbed."

While Arthur thought about this, Max's eyes had adjusted from the sudden flash. He and Kim had their eyes on Arthur. The older man cringed. "That's right. Ben's transformation caused it to slip my mind, but he got pretty hurt by that monster. He doesn't look like he's bleeding, so his injuries might have mended themselves. I should make sure to have a doctor look at him."

A small gasp was heard that drew Max's and Kim's attention. Their eyes widened as before their eyes, Gwen began to return to normal. Her body had begun shrinking to its original size. As it did, her body restructured itself to its normal state and the additional hair covering her began falling out quickly.

A stunned Gwen put her hands to her face in shock before more tears of relief began to flow from her eyes. 

"Well, that's one worry taken care of," Max said. He then looked to Arthur, "What about you, Ben? How are you feeling?"

"Just peachy," Arthur groused. 

"Good enough, I guess." Max stood up before looking to Gwen and Kim. "What I said before still stands. I want you kids in the Rustbucket while I take care of things here. Do you two think you can help Ben?" 

"Yes, Grandpa," the two said before getting to their feet.

However, there was an issue. Due to her transformation, Gwen's clothes had been reduced to rags and what managed to hold itself together was very stretched-out. As a result, when she stood, what remained of her leggings immediately fell to her ankles - leaving her lower body exposed and drawing attention to her state of dress.

Max looked away as Gwen's face turned bright red. Dropping back to her knees, she wrapped her arms around her body in a futile attempt to cover herself. She shrieked, "Ben, don't you dare look at me!!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Aloysius Animo attacks the supermarket.

Kim saves mother and child.

Blast from transmodulator hits Gwen.

The fight activates Gwen's meta-gene.

Gwen becomes mutant alien-human hybrid.

Gwen's transformation ends with mine.

Our group saves the day.