I hope you like this, this is my version of Washington BC. Please review and tell me how I did.

Also, since this is all one chapter it is more than three times as long as the last one.

In Washington DC a building was on fire. But even worse was the fact that two people were trapped inside. On the 2nd floor up of the multi-leveled apartment building a mother held her son closely as the fire spread around them. It had already blocked the door. Not knowing what else to do the mother prayed furiously for a miracle.

As if in answer a loud smash was heard and both looked around for the source. Then they saw a being that looked like it was made of fire and magma shaped into a person.

"Who're you?" the kid asked.

"Me . . . I'm a hero!" the being exclaimed dramatically. Ben, for it was he, surveyed the situation around him. Making his choice about how they would get out he concentrated and just like that the fire around him and the door was snuffed out. The door, which was severely burnt, was kicked down by Ben as he motioned for the family to follow. They did so and Ben kept snuffing out the fire as they went along. Finally they reached the entrance but it was blocked by large amounts of rubble.

Ben concentrated and gathered fire up in his hands. Then he blasted right into the rubble and it cleared a path. He led the mother and son out of the building and they both stood coughing as Firemen rushed to help them. People were staring at Ben as he stood there, unsure of what to do.

Ben straightened up and started to say in a dignified voice "well . . . all in a day's work for-" but then he stopped abruptly as an RV pulled up and a girl with orange hair stuck her head out the window and said "yo doofus! The fire was only a diversion; the real crooks are getting away from a bank robbery."

"Uh, I knew that."

The Robbers were quite happy with the job, set the fire and, while everyone was swarming around that, make off with money from the bank. It had worked perfectly and right now they were currently speeding down the road in a car with the spoils. They were just congratulating each other when suddenly the back of the car rocked and they turned around to see what looked like some sort of creature that was made of lava and fire, which was currently shooting fireballs at their car.

The driver tried to swerve away but it was too late, a large and well-aimed fireball smashed into the back of the car and it flipped over, skidding for a long ways before it finally came to a stop. They all crawled out, relatively unhurt but very shaken. Then the monster was there again and it said "hands up against the wall, now!"

All of them, not wanting to argue with the intimidating creature, immediately put their hands up against the wall of a building. They stood there for a few moments until they heard a weird beeping sound and saw a flash of red shine on the wall.

Turning around, they didn't see the monster, but saw a 10 year old boy standing with a smirk on his face.

"Hey, it's just a kid here, let's go."

But before anyone got to act on that, several police vans pulled up and the criminals were promptly arrested.

An officer looked at Ben and said "go home son, this isn't a place for kids."

Ben stuck his arms out, an annoyed look on his face.

"Hey, I'm the one who just caught these crooks!"

Nobody was listening anymore and Ben stomped back to the RV.

Back on the road Ben was sulking in the RV. It was quite noticeable and Gwen called to him "hey doofus, why the silent stare. Usually you would've tried to skip out on us with the Watch at least twice already."

"Now she's right Ben, is there something that's bothering you?"

"Nobody thinks I'm a hero. I do all this work and nobody respects me."

"Now Ben, being a hero isn't about other people knowing you did a good thing, it's about you knowing you did a good thing."

"Yeah, well right now I'm not so sure I want to be a part of the good guys if work is all it is."

"I know, maybe once we figure out how to get that watch off of you, you can give it to me and I can actually use it effectively."

"What? No way in a million years."

Meanwhile, in the poorer section of the city, in an abandoned building, a man with rather greenish skin was hunched over what looked like a helmet with horns sticking out of it.

He was writing down notes and eating a sandwich at the same time while also muttering calculations under his breath.

A few rats ran in through some holes in the wall but they were carrying several pieces of metal and wires. They scurried over to the man and he leaned down to pluck the pieces out of their mouths.

He grabbed some food and set in down on the floor and as the rats dug in he smiled and petted them.

"That's it my sweets, eat up. After all the parts and spare money you scrounge out of the back alleys for me along with your brothers and sisters you deserve a good meal."

He returned to the helmet, his notes, and his sandwich. He grabbed the pieces that the rats had brought him and began inserting them at various places all along the helmet.

"Finally, the last parts I need in order to complete my Animanipulator."

He finalized it and then he put the helmet on his head. It sparked into life and he moved some dials and switches around on the harness that he'd put on with the helmet. Red light arced from the horns of the helmet and hit one of the rats. The rat grew bigger and bigger until it was about the size of a lion.

It looked around and then the man raised his hand and began petting it. It arched its back as the man rubbed its fur. Then the helmet glowed again and the rat shrunk back to normal size.

"Yes, with control over animals at the genetic level, I shall be able to benefit mankind in the greatest ways. Breed new types of cows to eat, help third world countries, even-"

But what other benefits to mankind his device would bring was not to be heard for at that precise moment, the door was smashed in and several men dressed like your stereotypical secret agent walked in. One who had an official looking badge on stepped forward and said in a confident tone "I think it's time you give all your research over Dr. . . . what is it you call yourself now? Animo . . . Well Dr. Animo I think you've run from the me a bit too long. Now come with us, or I'm afraid things will get rather messy."

The man grinned malevolently as Animo stared at him in great fear. The men moved forward but before they could do anything, Animo's helmet flashed and the three rats that were in the room suddenly grew as large as lions and grew to look far more lethal. The men all stumbled back in surprise and fear and the rats leapt at them, giving time for Animo to gather up all his notes and papers and deposit them into a large backpack.

He turned around and gave a sharp whistle. The rats, who had currently been sitting on the men, turned around and bounded over to him. He leapt atop one and shouted "FORWARD, CHARGE!"

They charged forth and burst through the wall. It looked as if they were home free until the sound of a helicopter and several cars told him that the chase wasn't over yet.

Animo gritted his teeth; it was time to take this chase public. He steered the rats into the main street.

Ben was sitting at the table, still sulking. Max was driving them down one of the main streets. Gwen was reading a book but found that it just couldn't keep her interested. She tossed it aside and sat down at the table. She looked at Ben, then said "Hey doofus, can I ask you something?"

"You just did dweeb."

"Lighten up; I just wanted to know why you're so attention-seeking."

Ben looked at her incredulously "why do you want to know, I thought you said that "whatever tragic events made me who I am should be forgotten so as never to be inflicted on another poor unfortunate soul""

"Call me crazy but I really am interested as to why you want people to acknowledge you so much that you sulk for half an hour or more over it not happening. Or maybe you're just a spoiled brat."

Ben looked at her and she saw that on his face there was more than mere annoyance, there was anger "leave me alone!" he said with unnecessary force that caught both Gwen and Grandpa by surprise. But before they could comment on his outburst Max had to slam both feet on the brakes. The all looked out the front window and what looked like a man with a horned helmet on rode past them on another thing strange, three gigantic rats. They were followed quickly by several jet black, official looking suburbans.

Ben, willing to take advantage of any excuse to get away from the other two at the moment, clicked the dial on the watch and selected an alien.

"GOING STINKFLY!" he shouted as he slammed the dial down. But as the green flash dissipated they all saw, not Stinkfly, but-.

"HEY, I SAID STINKFLY, NOT XLR8, STUPID WATCH!"

After his bout of complaining, Ben zoomed out of the RV and off in pursuit of the man on the rats. The other two watched him go, then began to follow in the RV. As they went, Gwen commented "what a jerk, I ask a simple question and he shouts at me."

"Now Gwen, I think you're being a bit unfair, you don't know that much about why he likes attention so much."

"What? What do you mean Grandpa?" she said eagerly. But Max shook his head.

"If Ben doesn't want to talk about it, then I don't think I should tell you, at least not yet. I'm not sure that even I know what's going on."

Gwen lapsed into silence as they sped down the road.

Animo knew he was in a bit of a predicament, the black vans were gaining on him and he didn't know how long the rats could keep running.

Suddenly, what looked a blue Velociraptor in a running suit was suddenly running alongside him and it said "game's over punk, time to pull over!"

Instead of getting angry or scared, Animo looked at the creature with intense interest.

"Amazing . . . a form of life that has managed to adapt to break the sound barrier on its own. Tell me are you an alien?"

Ben was rather taken aback at the man's lack of fear "uh . . . yeah I guess I am."

"Fascinating, oh the research I could do if I had the time-"

But just then a bullet whizzed past his head and the two sheared away from each other. Ben fell back and found himself running alongside one of the vans. He looked at an open window and saw the man that had threatened Animo earlier gazing at him. Ben leaned in "so what you chasing this guy for, he rob a bank or something?"

"Listen, whatever you are" the man said in a menacing voice "I don't know what you are, but you'd better not get in my way or you'll regret it."

The man took another shot at Animo and Ben blinked. Then another man leaned out of another window and took aim with a grenade launcher. Ben's eyes widened, using that in such a public place, it was liable to kill a lot of people.

The man holding the grenade launcher took aim and was just about to fire when suddenly the weapon wasn't in his hands anymore. He blinked, and then saw that the blue running lizard thing was holding it. It grinned and then sped off towards Animo. Animo felt something grab him and suddenly he was racing along at incredibly high speeds. He looked and saw that the blue lizard was holding him along with a grenade launcher and they were speeding along, far out of sight of the black vans.

Remembering something suddenly, his helmet glowed, and far back behind them, the rats grew back to normal size and scurried away. Animo and the alien zoomed on for 5 minutes or so but suddenly the icon on the lizard's chest began flashing an ominous red.

Ben chose an abandoned building and zoomed in, stopping just as the icon flashed red. Animo covered his eyes, when he opened them he saw a boy standing where the alien had been.

Ben scratched the back of his head, a nervous smile playing on his face.

"A boy, but how, you were just a blue alien?"

"Uhhh, what are you talking about, there's no such thing as aliens."

Animo just raised an eyebrow and Ben sighed, knowing he was caught. Then a thought occurred to him "I'll make a deal with you, tell me who you are and then maybe I'll tell you how I can be a blue alien."

Animo stroked his chin as he considered this.

"Very well, first off, I am called Dr. Animo."

"Nice name" Ben remarked, at an annoyed look from Animo he shut his mouth.

"Now where was I? . . . oh yes, I once worked for the United States Government as part of the scientific development division. Not the type you see out in public mind you but the super-secret type. I specialized in the area of mutating animals. My superior's name was Mr. Thompson. He was very interested in my research and eventually I became curious as to why he was so interested in it. So I did a bit of digging and found out the horrible truth. He was going to use my research as a biological weapon."

"Uh, you lost me."

Animo sighed and then said "Think of it this way, you've seen what my helmet can do to simple rats. Think of the amount of destruction it could cause if it were turned into a weapon to be used on humans."

Now that Ben understood he gasped, it was a scary idea.

"So what did you do then?"

"I disappeared, I went on the run and have been dodging the Government ever since. I've also been improving my genetic modification device. I'm trying to make it so that no one can ever use such technology to harm humans ever. But that doesn't mean that I can't use it on animals to help people."

Ben considered this, "so what about Mr. Thomson?"

"He was the man who was chasing me just now. The person who threatened you I believe. He's been trying to get my research back ever since I left. I left some nasty sabotage in the project so now they need me to complete it."

Ben considered all of this, he seemed sincere, "Soooooo, what are you going to do now?"

Animo shrugged "what else, try to escape the city and find a new hidey hole where my research can continue."

Ben sat thinking but his thoughts were interrupted by Animo "well, I've told you more than was necessary about me, now it's time for your end of the bargain."

He looked expectantly, Ben sighed and held out his hand with the watch on it "fine, my grandpa, my goofy cousin and I were camping one night and this weird alien space pod fell out of the sky. When it opened up it had this watch thing in it that jumped on my wrist and now I can't get it off. It lets me turn into different aliens."

Ben was almost knocked to the ground as Animo grabbed his arm with the watch on it and began examining the device.

"Fascinating, alien DNA all inside this singular contraption. Oh what I would give to have time to study it and all its functions."

Ben tugged his hand out of Animo's grasp "well you don't have time, I'm not going to sit around and be bored while you mess around with the watch. Anyway, weren't we going to try and get you out of the city?"

Animo nodded "I thank you for your assistance . . . I'm sorry I don't believe I got your name?"

"Ben."

"Ben, well I thank you for your assistance Ben. I hope you have a nice summer vacation. A bit of advice before I go, keep that thing from being discovered by Thomson, he'll want it and he will find you if he ever finds out your secret identity."

Animo began to walk away but Ben caught his hand "wait a second, where are you going?"

"To get out of the city" said Animo as if this had been obvious.

"Then I'm coming with you" Ben proclaimed while point to himself. Animo's face grew serious.

"No, I forbid it. I will not endanger a 10-year-old boy."

"Hellooooo, I have a super-duper alien changer thingy strapped to my wrist, I can take care of myself."

Animo was about to open his mouth to bring forth another argument but Ben beat him to it "I'll follow you even if you try to make me stay behind."

Animo considered this, then his shoulders slumped.

"I hate the stubbornness of youth. Fine, let's go."

They walked off towards the edge of the city.

The Rustbucket had long since lost Ben. Currently they were driving around the city, trying to find Ben. They came around one of the exits to the city and found that it was blocked. They tried other such exits and found them all blocked. The city was in lockdown.

Ben and Dr. Animo were watching one of the blockades of one of the roads out of the city, there were currently some official looking men speaking to the men enforcing the blockade. Apparently they were debating whether the blockade was necessary or even legal.

"It's pretty well built, I don't know if we'll be able to get through."

Ben was thinking furiously as he cycled through the aliens. He landed on four-arms and suddenly his face lit up.

"I know what to do!"

"And what would that be?"

"This city's sewers go out of the city don't they?"

"Yes, but they're sure to have those guarded."

"But if something big, say a huge alien starts wrecking the blockade don't you think they'd rush to help, leaving the sewers unprotected?"

"Yes bu-" Animo began but then he realized what Ben was saying.

"No, no, no, no, I forbid it, I won't allow you to go out there an-."

But he stopped in mid-sentence because Ben had hit the dial on the watch.

"YEAH! GOING-"

The glow vanished to reveal-.

"-Diamondhead . . . oooookay . . . not what I was going for but it works."

And before Animo could say a word to stop him, Ben had leapt out into the open and began charging the blockade. The soldiers looked up and their faces registered alarm as they saw what looked like a big diamond behemoth bearing down on the.

Ben leapt and landed right in the middle of the soldiers. He lashed out and smashed several of them back. The rest opened fire but the bullets merely bounced off of Diamondhead's skin. The men called in for reinforcements and continued to try and bring down the large monster attacking them.

Grandpa Max and Gwen were now seriously worried, Ben had been missing for 2 hours now. They were driving along the outskirts of the city, trying to get a clue on where he might be when they suddenly and instantly knew where he was. They saw what looked like a huge crystal monster attacking one of the blockades.

"What the heck is he doing! Why is he attacking the soldiers!" Gwen exclaimed.

"I have no idea" Max replied.

Ben was having the time of his life. The soldiers couldn't do anything against him, he was smacking them around like they were 10 years old, though to be fair, he was only ten, so . . .

One soldier watched as the monster kept smashing their stuff, and then his eyes fell on the weird symbol in his chest. Figuring he had nothing to lose he took careful aim and fired.

What felt like an electric shock lanced through Ben's body and he fell over on the ground. He looked down and saw what looked like a bullet was lodged in the watch. Ben tried to move but he couldn't, it hurt so much. He felt himself starting to lose consciousness.

The last thing he saw before he completely fell unconscious was a man in a black suit walking up to him and smiling in a mean way.

Mr. Thompson said in a satisfied voice "well, even if I cannot get Dr. Animo, at least I have something new and exciting to experiment on."

Then Ben lost consciousness.

Max and Gwen watched as they loaded Ben into a truck and carted him off into the city. They followed from a safe distance and watched.

The military quarantined the park around the Washington Monument and set up shop there. They sat, trying to make a plan but coming up with nothing. Then Gwen noticed something.

"I think something's wrong with the watch."

"Why do you say that Gwen?"

"Because Ben isn't changing back."

Ben woke up.

The pain was gone but he felt groggy. He opened his eyes and found himself looking at various trucks, tents, and soldiers strolling around the green park that he was being held captive in.

One of the soldiers noticed he was awake and scuttled off for whatever reason. Ben then noticed that he was being held on a long slab of metal with his hands and legs held down with metal straps.

Ben then noticed that the soldier who'd seen that he was awake was walking back with Thompson. Thompson walked up to him and looked him up and down. Then he asked in a deceptively friendly voice "I suppose you're a friend of that blue creature that helped Animo get away?"

It took Ben a moment to realize that he was talking about XLR8, of course he wouldn't know that Ben could turn into different aliens.

"Maybe, so what?"

"Did Animo make you; are you one of his failed experiments or something?"

"What, no way!"

Thompson smirked "well, I believe I shall enjoy studying you, maybe even taking you apart . . . piece by pie-"

But at that moment they all heard what sounded like, believe it or not, the roar of a T-Rex. Everyone turned to look and saw that coming around a corner, life size and quite life-like, was a T-Rex. Everyone gaped, but that wasn't all. Around the corner came what looked like a gigantic mutated Parakeet, several huge dogs, and a small horde of large, mutated rats.

And sitting on the back of the T-Rex was none other than Dr. Animo.

"I, DR. ANIMO, COMMAND YOU TO CHARGE!"

And charge they did. Men shouted with shock and tried to stop the tidal wave of unnatural animals but they were swatted aside. Thompson growled, but he recognized that he didn't have the required firepower so he turned and ran off.

The T-Rex was the most destructive animal and it walked straight through the men who were still sticking around. Once it got over to Ben it leaned down and Animo leapt off.

"I thought the whole point of my attacking was for you to get away?" Ben said incredulously.

"I couldn't just leave you in the hands of Thompson; I shudder to think of what he'd do to you."

He examined the bindings that were holding Ben down and then turned to the T-Rex. It bent down and carefully ripped each binding off. Ben fell to the ground and then stood up.

"Where'd you get all these animals?"

Animo grinned "you'd be surprised how many different types of animals you can find living on the streets. I found the parakeet looking for food in a dumpster and the T-Rex, well I once was able to scrape a sample of DNA off of some T-Rex bones so all I had to do was project that onto a small lizard. He'll change back when I want him to."

Ben nodded and then he noticed that the park was almost completely deserted except for Animo, him, and the animals.

That is, except for two people who were running out to see them. The animals began to bar them entrance but Ben quickly said "wait, that's my grandpa and my cousin."

Animo looked at the animals and gave a nod. The animals parted and Max and Gwen ran up to them.

Before anyone could do anything Ben suddenly found that a very large stick had been thrown in his face by Gwen.

"JUST WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING!" she shouted "HELPING SOMEONE WHO'S RUNNING FROM THE GOVERNMENT AND JUST ATTACKING A BLOCKADE FOR NO GOOD REASON!"

Ben held up his hands, or rather, he held up one while the other massaged his head "calm down, Animo's a good guy."

Gwen was about to shout some more when Max put a hand on her shoulder to stop her. He looked between Ben and Animo with a calculating look, then turned to Ben and said "how do you know he's telling the truth."

"Look, those guys who were chasing him, they didn't have one problem shooting a grenade launcher in the middle of a crowded city. And their leader was talking about how he was going to take me apart!"

Max thought a bit, then nodded "so what do we do next?"

"Well we need to get out of the city and away from all the military" Ben explained and Max nodded.

"I think I have an idea on how to do that."

Thompson was in a foul mood, he'd lost both Animo and that diamond creature. Luckily they were both still in the city so he still had a chance to catch them.

He was pacing up and down one of the blockade lines when he heard the same roar that had heralded the attack in the park. The T-Rex came out of an alleyway along with the rest of the mutated animals and they charged. Thompson was ready this time though. He relayed the order to bring the heavy weapons to bear and to reinforce the position.

The T-Rex stomped around, smashing vehicles and kicking men into buildings. The other animals were fighting but Thompson noted with satisfaction that his troops were doing far better and were actually able to kill an increasing amount of the animals.

But then it hit him that the crystal creature, and Dr. Animo were nowhere in site.

"Soooooo, how exactly is this different from my plan before?" asked Ben who was still Diamondhead.

"Because this time, it'll actually work doofus" answered Gwen who was wearing a hoodie and a jacket just in case they met resistance. They were jogging through the sewers while the battle took place up above. Max had said he'd meet with them in a forest outside the city once the lockdown had been lifted.

"It would've worked before if Animo hadn't come back to help me" Ben quickly looked at Animo and said "no offense."

"None taken, but I believe this time is better because our forces up above are expendable."

Then they heard a wholly unwelcome voice speak as a flashlight shined at them "expendable . . . good Animo . . . a pity you can't see that it's the same case with humans."

They turned to see Thompson looking at them. He had 5 soldiers beside him and both they and Thompson were toting guns.

"Now, there's no need for violence, I'm a reasonable man. Drop the helmet, let Animo come with me, and I'll let the girl go. Even as a token of goodwill, I'll let your monstrous friend go Animo. I promise."

When Animo replied every syllable was full of disgust "I had enough of your worthless promises back when I worked for you. You used me that whole time and now I have no inclination to ever consider that you'd keep your word unless it benefit you."

Instead of getting mad, Thompson merely smiled and sighed a bit as he spoke "smart man, what a pity, I was so hoping it wouldn't come to this."

He turned to the soldiers "kill the girl, aim for the creature's symbol on his chest. You have my permission to shoot Animo, but only to wound, not to kill."

He then walked back and out of sight.

The soldiers immediately opened fire. But before the bullets could hit them, Ben grabbed Animo and Gwen and turned around so his back was facing the soldiers. He hid the two in front of him so all the bullets pinged off his back.

The soldiers grunted in annoyance and then they started moving forward while keeping the pressure on by continuing their stream of bullets.

They were almost close enough to touch them when suddenly Ben turned around and leapt at the soldiers.

"Ben!" both Animo and Gwen yelled as they saw Ben get caught up in a sort of wrestling match between the five soldiers and himself.

"JUST GO, RUN, I'LL CATCH UP!

After a few moments they took his advice and ran. One of the soldiers tried to get up and follow them but Ben stopped that by grabbing his foot, causing him to fall.

Ben was now given the rather difficult task of trying to wrestle 5 fully grown men who knew right off that the watch's symbol on his chest was a weak spot.

One of them who was currently latched onto the back of Ben's neck drew a knife and tried to stab it but Ben gabbed the man's arm and flung him way down the sewer, the opposite way that Gwen and Animo had gone.

Two others had also drawn knives and were circling around as the remaining two tried to hold him down in some form.

The knife holding men charged in, intent on stabbing the symbol and Ben acted at the exact same moment. He grabbed the two who were trying to hold him down and threw them right at the two who were charging.

They collided with a resounding "thump" and all four fell back, groaning.

Ben quickly began running and, hit by a sudden brainwave, he placed his hands on the ground. Diamond grew out of the ground and sealed off the way behind him.

"That should give us enough time to escape" Ben remarked to himself. Then he continued to run off down the sewer path.

Out in the woods outside the city both Gwen and Animo were panting and waiting anxiously for Ben. They were both relieved when they saw him running up to meet them.

They all sat under the cover of the trees, catching their breath. Then, when they finally could breath normally Gwen asked "so dweeb got any idea why the watch isn't timing out?"

Ben looked down at the watch and noticed something he hadn't before. Though the bullet was still imbedded in the symbol, it looked as if the watch was slowly but surely pushing it out.

"Some random soldier managed to put a bullet in the watch, that was how they caught me, the shock knocked me out. It must've stopped the time-out feature."

"Wait, so they broke the watch, how are you going to change back then?"

"I think it's in some sort of repair mode or something."

All three looked at the watch and Animo said in an awed voice "such technology, I only dream that one day I'll be able to reach that level."

Gwen and Ben both looked at him "so what are you going to do now? Thompson is still gonna be after you?"

Animo smiled "I know, he's been after me for awhile now. I'll just find some other place to lie low at while I continue my research."

"And how are you going to get anywhere?"

Animo tapped his helmet "by night, I can find something like a deer or a rabbit and mutate it to ride. By day I can rest and look around."

"But won't Thompson be able to find you?"

"Not unless I do something incredibly stupid, no. I'll just get lost in the vast majority of people."

At that moment what looked like a rabbit streaked past them, followed by a fox. Animo grinned and his helmet lit up. The beam that sprung out of it hit the fox and it grew until it looked ridable.

As the fox mosied over to them, all three looked around rather awkwardly.

"So I guess this is goodbye."

"Yes . . . before I go I have one last request."

"What?"

Animo's eyes shined as he asked "may I have a sample of your Alien DNA, I mean the one you're in now?"

Ben was taken a bit aback but recovered his wits enough to say "ummmmm . . . sure."

He grew a small crystal from one of his arms and handed it to Animo. Animo smiled and thanked him. Then he mounted the fox.

Turning one last time he said "farewell Ben. I hope we'll meet again someday. Just remember if you ever need help, I'll always be will to lend it."

Then he sped off into the growing dark.

A few minutes after Animo had left, the watch finally completed its process of pushing the bullet out of itself. As soon as the bullet was out, the watch flashed red and there stood Ben, his normal self.

Ben and Gwen stood awkwardly, waiting for Grandpa Max.

"Soooo . . . did you get to see the monuments?" asked Ben in a would-be casual voice.

Gwen stared at him, then scoffed "that's really the best you can think of, how much time do you think Grandpa and I had between tracking you down and getting Animo out of the city."

"I'm guessing . . . not much?"

Gwen rolled her eyes and turned away to look back at the city. She heard Ben clear his throat behind her and start speaking again.

"Look, I um . . . I . . . well I . . ."

"Uggghh, spit it out already."

"Okay . . . I'm sorry that I yelled at you earlier."

Gwen turned around and looked at him, it couldn't be Ben, Ben would never apologize. This must be some freakish clone that had replaced him.

"Why are you apologizing?"

Ben looked insulted "oh, I don't know, could it be for the reason that I actually feel sorry about yelling at you."

His voice was starting to get annoyed again and Gwen, sensing that another shouting match could occur if she continued to push her luck, relented.

"Well okay . . . thanks . . . I guess."

They both turned away from each other, but both could feel that the tension between them had softened if only a little bit.

Unfortunately, Gwen was still curious as ever about why Ben wanted so much attention.

"I'll find out, one way or another" she thought.

The lockdown on the city had been lifted a couple hours after Animo was confirmed to have escaped. Max had immediately joined the mass exodus and driven to the forest they'd agreed to meet at.

When he got there, he found to his relief that both Ben and Gwen were waiting, safe and sound. Both were merely sitting/standing around waiting for him.

Once they got in the RV Max asked "where'd that Animo guy go?"

"He took off on a mutated Fox. We got him through alright and then he said he had to find somewhere else to continue researching."

"So, everything go alright while you were waiting?"

Both Ben and Gwen nodded and walked to the back of the RV. Ben started fiddling with the Watch again and Gwen got out her labtop.

The RV pulled out of the woods and got back on the highway.

Thompson sat in his personal quarters, how could he have been so stupid as to think that those incompetent soldiers could've defeated that crystal monster. True, he had been able to kill all of the mutated animals but that was small consolation after missing the two that he'd really wanted.

He forced himself to calm down and then allowed himself a small smile, no matter that he failed this time. He now had two things to look forward to capturing.

The Dr. and the Alien.

"Oh, I shall so enjoy capturing both of you. When I have the information you both can give me, then all of my dreams will come true."

If anyone had been close enough to hear it, they would've heard an insane laugh coming from the room.

In the spaceship that was hovering over the planet the repair work was still underway. The Four-Armed Alien who was second in command was currently reporting on the latest sightings of the person wielding the Omnitrix.

The alien in the tube, who's body was still nearly completely destroyed, watched the news footage intercepted from the planet.

The news depicted a large chase, a crystal monster attacking one of the blockades for no apparent reason, an impossible battle in front of the Washington monument that involved a T-Rex, and one final skirmish at one of the blockades out of the city.

Throughout three of the battles, the creature with the Omnitrix's was there.

"Hmmm, the wielder of the Omnitrix show's some skill, however, I do not know of his moral standpoint in this conflict. We must continue to observe him, I also wish any news concerning this "Dr. Animo" to be relayed back to me."

"Yes sir" the 2nd in command said. He was about to leave when suddenly Vilgax said sharply "wait! Reverse to point 6:23!"

The footage reversed to show the traffic rush out of the city and there on the screen was clearly shown Grandpa Max.

Vilgax's eyes narrowed with hatred and when he spoke, his voice dripped with contempt "Tennyson . . . I should've known that you would want to meddle in this affair, you were always too loyal to the plumbers. But how much do you know? No matter, if we meet again . . . old friend . . . it will not be pleasant. Pray that day never comes."

Vilgax turned to look at his lieutenant.

"Have drones on heavy alert and ready to deploy. If Tennyson is after the wielder of the Omnitrix and finds them, then we must be ready to intervene if necessary."

The Lueitenant bowed and began to walk away, but he was stopped one last time by the voice of Vilgax.

"And Luietenant . . . keep up the good work."

Vilgax's healing pod slid back into place so he could rest. The Leuitenant smiled. He really was lucky to be 2nd in command to his role model on this ship. He walked off to fulfill his orders and check on the repairs.

I apologize if any of this seems substandard. I was feeling a bit unmotivated for part of the chapter.

Question, do you wish me to do a mailbag for this story? I've done it for others of mine.

A mailbag is where I answer reviews at the end of the chapter. If you want a mailbag, please review and say so.