The next "lovely" destination on the Tennysons' cross-country road trip was the foggy swamps of Florida.
The Rust Bucket rolled to a stop beside a particularly damp and miserable-looking marsh as fog drifted slowly across the muddy water. The sound of croaking creatures echoed through the swamp while insects buzzed loudly in the distance. The entire place looked like something straight out of a horror movie.
Max stepped outside first and took a deep breath of the murky swamp air with a smile on his face.
"Ah, looks like we beat the crowd," Max said proudly.
"Yeah..." Gwen replied nervously as she leaned halfway out the RV door and stared at the endless swamp around them. "You sure we're in the right place, Grandpa?"
"Tomorrow this place is gonna be packed with Gator Fest fans," Max explained.
"Quite an interesting place for a festival," Orfevre commented as she casually walked past Gwen and stepped outside without hesitation. Unlike the others, the gloomy atmosphere did not seem to bother her at all.
"Let's go fishing!" Gold Ship suddenly shouted as she bolted out of the Rust Bucket carrying several of Max's fishing tools in her arms. She looked more excited than scared.
"Golshi, watch your step," Evan called out as he walked out after her. Honestly, he did not mind the environment either. Compared to some of the things he had already experienced in this world, a creepy swamp barely registered on his danger list anymore.
Gwen finally forced herself outside and immediately regretted it when her shoes sank slightly into the mud with a wet squelching sound.
"Ugh..."
The strange noises coming from the bushes definitely were not helping either.
The redhead circled around toward the back of the Rust Bucket and somehow was not surprised at all to find Ben hiding there like a raccoon digging through garbage. Judging by the flathead screwdriver in his hand, he was currently trying to pry open the Omnitrix.
"What are you doing?" Gwen asked immediately.
"Since Evan's watch was shown to have multiple aliens inside it, and mine probably works the same way," Ben started confidently.
"Already off to a bad start," Gwen muttered.
"Who knows how many hero dudes are inside this thing?" Ben continued while carefully wedging the screwdriver under the Omnitrix faceplate. "I just gotta figure out how it works."
"You really should not mess around with that thing, Ben," Gwen warned him.
"Relax, I know what I'm doing," Ben replied while pushing the screwdriver in deeper.
Unfortunately, he absolutely did not know what he was doing.
"Gwen's right, Ben," Max said as he walked over toward them. "I want you to promise me you'll take it easy with the Omnitrix. You don't understand it the same way Evan understands his watch."
"Okay, Grandpa," Ben answered immediately.
A little too immediately. Gwen narrowed her eyes suspiciously.
"Now don't stay up too late," Max said, completely missing the suspicious behavior. "Tomorrow's a big day. Goodnight."
Max and Gwen headed back toward the RV.
Ben waited exactly until the door shut before immediately going back to work.
He shoved the screwdriver harder underneath the faceplate and pushed with all his strength until... The faceplate suddenly flew off the Omnitrix and landed in the dirt.
"Yes!" Ben whispered excitedly.
But the second after that, the exposed core of the Omnitrix started glowing brighter and brighter.
Green sparks burst wildly across the surface.
"Oh no."
A massive pulse of green energy exploded outward in a blinding flash that knocked Ben flat onto his butt.
The burst briefly lit up the entire swamp.
Ben groaned and rubbed his eyes as the spots in his vision slowly faded away. When he looked back down at the Omnitrix, the exposed core looked unstable, frozen midway through some kind of transformation while green electricity sparked across it nonstop.
"Aw man," Ben groaned in horror. "I am so busted if anybody sees this."
He quickly scrambled back to his feet and snatched up the faceplate just as the Rust Bucket door burst open again.
Max and Gwen rushed outside, while farther away near the lake, the Gold siblings also turned after noticing the bright flash.
"Ben?" Max called out worriedly.
"What was that just now?" Evan asked immediately, narrowing his eyes toward him.
"Er... what was what?" Ben asked nervously while hiding the Omnitrix behind his back.
"What was that noise?" Max questioned suspiciously.
"Uh... lightning?" Ben answered weakly.
"You sure you guys weren't just seeing things?" Gold Ship asked while looking up toward her older siblings.
"No, I definitely saw something," Orfevre muttered while scanning the foggy swamp around them. "Although with this place, it could've been fireflies or swamp gas or something."
"There's not a cloud in the sky," Gwen pointed out while looking upward.
Max glanced up too and confirmed she was right.
"Uh..." Ben panicked. "The lightning got rid of them?"
That somehow made his excuse even worse.
"Ben," Evan said seriously, "if something happened, you need to tell us."
"Geez, you're all so paranoid," Ben replied defensively. "I'm telling you, I didn't do anything."
Evan clearly did not believe him at all.
"Okay, enough," Max interrupted before the argument could continue any further. "Everybody inside. Bedtime."
"What?!" Gold Ship whined loudly. "But Golshi hasn't gone fishing yet!"
"Don't worry," Max chuckled. "We'll go fishing tomorrow. Grandpa will take you."
"Yeah!!"
Gold Ship instantly brightened up, dropped the fishing equipment onto the mud, and rushed over to hug Max's leg tightly.
As the others started heading back toward the Rust Bucket, Evan and Orfevre stayed behind to pick up the fishing tools Gold Ship abandoned.
Naturally, the twins spent the short walk back lightly kicking at each other's legs while carrying the equipment.
Ben stayed behind for a few more seconds, staring nervously at the broken Omnitrix faceplate in his hand before quietly stuffing it into his pocket and heading inside after everyone else.
...
Somehow, Ben managed to hide the broken Omnitrix for the night, which meant that when morning came, he was already ready to put his ridiculous little plan into action. If it could even be called a plan.
He quietly slipped out of the Rust Bucket, making sure the door did not creak, then tiptoed around to the back of the RV. He glanced through the window to make sure nobody was watching, pulled the Omnitrix faceplate out of his pocket, and then took the chewed piece of bubble gum out of his mouth. With a grin, he stretched the gum into a thin string, wrapped it around the rim of the faceplate, and slapped it back onto the watch.
"There. Good as new," Ben said proudly, completely missing how terrible that sounded.
"Good as new what?" Gwen asked from right behind him.
Ben jumped so hard he nearly launched himself into the swamp.
"I wish I could say your face, but it still looks the same," he said quickly.
Gwen gave him a flat look. "I think the Florida heat has fried your brain."
The two of them walked around to the front of the RV, where Max was just stepping outside with Gold Ship perched on his shoulder like she belonged there.
Inside the Rust Bucket, Evan and Orfevre were already awake and trading light hits with each other in the kind of way only they seemed to consider a normal morning routine.
Ben and Gwen paused and looked up in surprise.
The swamp around them had changed overnight.
What had been an empty, foggy marsh was now packed with a full-on festival, with hundreds of people crowding the stalls and walking between them. There were gator-shaped signs, gator-shaped snacks, gator t-shirts, gator hats, gator popcorn, gator toys, gator games, and even a cartoon mascot named Wally grinning from every other poster.
Max came up beside them with a cheerful smile. "Ha, told you! Let the Gator-Fest begin!"
"This will certainly be an interesting experience," Gold Ship said with a grin.
A moment later, the Gold twins finally stepped out of the Rust Bucket as well, and the group headed into the festival together.
Ben did not even know where to look first. There was a stand selling cheap gator toys, a food booth with gator-meat burgers that somehow smelled really good, and carnival games like whack-a-gator and gator fishing. Everything was loud, crowded, and a little ridiculous, but in a way that made it impossible to ignore.
Eventually, they were drawn toward a large crowd gathered near the edge of the marsh.
"What are they all staring at?" Orfevre asked.
Max nodded toward a small nest sitting near the waterline. "Those are gator eggs. Everyone's waiting for them to hatch. It is a pretty rare sight."
"You mean like Ben changing his underwear?" Gwen asked with a grin.
Ben shot her a look, but before he could come up with a reply, the eggs began to crack.
A moment later, a small group of baby alligators broke free and crawled out into the open. The crowd immediately cheered and started taking pictures as the little reptiles instinctively waded back into the swamp and disappeared beneath the muddy water.
"Aw, they were actually kinda cute," Gwen said, sounding a little disappointed that she had not gotten a better look.
But just seconds after they went under, the baby gators suddenly scrambled back to shore and bolted into the tall grass.
The strange sight made the crowd go quiet.
"What are they running from?" Ben asked. "They are alligators."
"Very odd," Max said, squinting toward the swamp. "What do you think scared them off?"
"Take one guess," Gwen said dryly while pointing ahead.
Everyone followed her finger.
Rising from the swamp water was a black alien creature with a skeletal, biomechanical look that made it seem more machine than animal. Its head was smooth and cylindrical with no visible eyes or face, and its long limbs ended in sharp talons. A heavy, muscular tail curled behind it like a metal spine.
The creature landed on the shore with a snarl, and the crowd predictably screamed and scattered in every direction.
Ben stared at it in shock. "No way. What even is that?"
"A Xenomorph?" Max said, sounding alarmed.
Before anyone could move, the alien lunged forward with its bladed tail raised high.
Then a golden light erupted from behind one of the booths.
A small disk shot upward, followed by a golden slime-like figure that quickly pulled itself into a humanoid shape.
"Goop!" he announced.
Without wasting a second, he hurled himself straight at the Xenomorph and slammed into it, his body stretching and binding around the black alien as he tried to hold it back.
Then, before the fight could settle, a huge mutant frog suddenly leaped out of the swamp and landed directly in front of the group.
That immediately got everyone's attention.
"No way," Gwen said, frowning at it. "I know that croaker."
"I know it too!" Ben said. "That's Dr. Animo's frog."
"Who?" Orfevre asked, clearly weirded out by the giant frog and the black alien at the same time.
"He's this crazy scientist who messes with animals and turns them into weird monsters," Gwen said quickly.
The frog shot its tongue out at them.
Max, Orfevre, and Gwen all moved to the side, while Ben rolled away just in time.
"This is so not my idea of leapfrog," Ben muttered.
Unfortunately, his awkward dodge knocked the Omnitrix faceplate loose without him even noticing.
Back by the fight, the Xenomorph bucked hard and managed to throw Goop off with a violent twist.
Goop splatted onto the ground, then floated back into shape as his anti-gravity projector lifted him upright again.
From where he hovered, he caught sight of Animo nearby. He looked almost exactly like he had before, only now he was carrying his Transmodulator and wearing a pair of gorilla-like gauntlets that made him look even more dangerous than usual.
Seeing Ben already busy confronting the mad scientist, Goop shifted his attention back toward the black alien standing before him.
He tapped the Another Omnitrix dial, causing a golden flash to erupt around his body.
"Diamondhead!" he announced.
The transformation finished instantly, aquamarine crystals spreading across his body as the familiar crystalline alien appeared. Without wasting time, Diamondhead slammed his fist into the ground, sending sharp crystal spikes erupting upward around the Xenomorph from every direction.
The black alien hissed and immediately leaped backward with frightening agility, narrowly avoiding being skewered. It landed on all fours and began circling Diamondhead rapidly, its long tail swaying behind it like a blade searching for an opening.
Then it lunged.
The bladed tail whipped forward and slashed across Diamondhead's neck, leaving behind a shallow scratch that forced him back a few steps.
Before he could fully recover, the tail swung again and carved another scratch across the side of his shoulder.
"Okay, this is getting annoying," Diamondhead muttered.
The crystals across his body immediately shifted and expanded. Sharp crystal spikes suddenly protruded from his shoulders, arms, and back just as the tail came around for another strike.
The Xenomorph's blade-like tail became lodged directly into one of the crystal spikes.
The alien screeched. Diamondhead instantly grabbed the trapped tail with both hands, crystal fingers locking tightly around it.
The Xenomorph reacted immediately and rushed him head-on, its claws slashing wildly as it tried to tear into his body with sheer brute force.
Diamondhead stomped down hard. Crystals erupted from the muddy ground and wrapped around one of the creature's legs, trapping it in place for a brief moment.
The Xenomorph shrieked at him in fury before suddenly jerking forward and smashing its hard skull directly into Diamondhead's face.
The impact launched him backward.
Diamondhead crashed into the mud and slid several feet before stopping. He groaned and pushed himself up, only for his eyes to widen when he noticed another alien standing beside him.
"Fourbolt?" Diamondhead said blankly.
Somehow, Ben had transformed into a bizarre fusion between Four Arms and Cannonbolt.
The fusion mostly resembled Four Arms, but his upper body was covered in Cannonbolt's armored plating. His arms were thicker and sturdier, though not nearly as muscular as Four Arms normally was. Cannonbolt's shell plates covered parts of his torso and shoulders, but because of the awkward fusion, he could not fully curl into a ball. The Omnitrix symbol rested on his forehead.
"New alien kinda stinks," Fourbolt complained while standing up. "I don't have enough muscle to lift stuff properly, and I can't even roll into a ball."
Before Diamondhead could respond, the Xenomorph suddenly rushed in again.
Its claws grabbed Diamondhead by the head and immediately started dragging him across the muddy ground toward the swamp water.
The black alien snarled as it forced him forward.
Diamondhead narrowed his eyes before crystal spikes suddenly erupted straight from his face and forehead, stabbing directly into the Xenomorph's palm.
Green blood splattered everywhere. The Xenomorph roared in pain and immediately released him, stumbling backward while clutching its injured hand.
Diamondhead quickly stood back up and noticed the green blood that had splashed onto the ground was smoking slightly where it touched certain plants.
His interest was immediately piqued.
While still keeping one eye on the Xenomorph, he moved his hand to lightly wipe the green blood on his chin with his crystal fingers.
The acid hissed faintly against his crystal body, but being unable to burn through it.
"Huh…" Diamondhead murmured thoughtfully.
The Xenomorph held its wounded hand for another second before snarling one final time and leaping back into the swamp water, disappearing beneath the murky surface almost instantly.
Diamondhead watched the ripples carefully before opening the interface of his Another Omnitrix.
He scraped a small amount of the acidic blood into the device.
The watch immediately reacted.
[Data Upgrade Detected. Acidic Blood Modification is now available.]
[New DNA sample acquired.]
Diamondhead's eyes widened slightly with interest before he closed the interface again.
When he turned around, he spotted the giant frog hopping away through the swamp with Dr. Animo riding behind it.
"Hey! Get back here!" Fourbolt shouted before trying to chase after them.
Unfortunately, the Omnitrix suddenly beeped loudly.
"Oh come on-"
A red flash erupted, and Ben transformed back into normal.
"That's right! You better run!" Ben shouted anyway while pointing dramatically into the swamp like he had won.
Gwen slowly turned toward him.
"So, Ben," she said carefully, "why did you turn into some freaky alien combo platter?"
Knowing there was absolutely no point hiding it anymore, Ben awkwardly held up the Omnitrix.
The missing faceplate immediately became obvious.
The exposed core underneath was aggressively sparking green energy.
"What did you do to the Omnitrix?!" Diamondhead asked while walking over before transforming back into Evan.
"Uh…is that thing even safe right now?" Orfevre asked while staring at the sparks jumping from the device.
"This reminds Golshi of the time she tested an electrical outlet with a screwdriver," Gold Ship said casually.
Everyone slowly turned toward her.
"…You did what?" Max asked.
"For science," Gold Ship answered proudly.
"It's no big deal," Ben said quickly while waving them off. "The faceplate just pops right back on."
He paused, then he looked around. "…Now where is it?"
Everyone stared at him. Ben immediately began searching through the mud and dirt around his feet.
"Where is what?" Evan asked, already sounding concerned.
"The faceplate!" Ben said while frantically digging through the mud. "It was right here! I saw it before Dr. Animo and Froggie jumped out and-"
Ben suddenly froze.
"Oh no."
AN: Guys, I suddenly want to hit myself right now. The thing is, I got bored, remembered one of my old stories, and suddenly had a few new ideas for it. So now I'm writing a rewrite of it instead of my other works here, although I haven't published any chapter since I knew that if I did that, I would just be shooting myself in the foot. So I have decided to just leave it like that for now and see what I can cook up. If I find it's good, I will be uploading it once I finish one or two of my stories.