章 4: Strange Satellite
Entering the Rust Bucket full of energy, Ben Tennyson came across a certain someone he wasn't expecting. "Great, what are you doing here? Why is she here?" he asked, seeing Gwen seated opposite Fred.
"It's not like I wanted to come, you know. Besides, it would've been better if I didn't spend my summer vacation with a dweeb," she snapped back.
"Hmm. Who's that?" Ben asked, noticing Fred sitting just in front of Gwen.
"This is Fred, Fred Rodwell. His grandfather is friends with Grandpa, and he'll be with us throughout the summer vacation," Gwen explained.
"Woah, that computer looks awesome! Where did you get it?" Ben asked, skidding to sit next to Fred, seemingly ignoring Gwen's explanation. "This display is insane! Does it have Sumo Slammers?" he asked eagerly.
"It doesn't, actually. I'm not a fan of it. I tried it, and it wasn't for me," Fred replied.
"What! There's no way that's true! Sumo Slammers is awesome. You're missing out, dude," Ben responded, leaning back in disbelief. "So, does this have multiplayer mode?" he asked, seeing Fred still playing the game.
"It can actually hook up four controllers, but I only brought two with me," Fred replied as he paused the game.
"Not interested," Gwen interjected.
"It's fine, you see," Ben said. "Hang on then, it's in my backpack," Fred replied as he rummaged through his backpack, taking out two wireless controllers.
"Wait. Where are the cables?" Ben asked as Fred handed him a controller.
"Oh, just press that button there to turn it on," Fred answered.
"But it doesn't have a cable. How will it work?" Ben asked, perplexed.
"Don't worry about it. It's a wireless controller, and it'll connect automatically," Fred explained. Ben's face lit up with astonishment. "Cool," he said as they played games along the way.
The Rust Bucket arrived at the campsite late, just as the sun was setting. "Who's up for some marinated mealworms?" Max presented a bowl full of them, placing it in front of the kids.
"This looks even worse in real life," Fred muttered, holding his mouth.
"Don't you have any normal food, Grandpa?" Ben asked, eyeing the bowl of worms with disdain.
"Nonsense, this summer's gonna be an adventure for your taste buds," Max answered as he strolled away. Ben silently approached Fred and Gwen, mentioning the snacks he had left, trying to avoid eating Max's food.
"I knew this would happen. I did recall Max's weird taste in food," Fred thought to himself with a smile.
"Um, are you okay?" Gwen asked, seeing him crossing his arms as he nodded suddenly.
"Oh, sorry, it's a small habit. I've brought a couple of canned foods with me. I've got canned beef, beans, fish, and some more canned beef," Fred said.
"I'll just go borrow a pot and cook by the fire," he added as he stood up. Though it wasn't a burger, they still sighed in relief, knowing they had options now. As Fred went to cook, Ben decided to take a small walk out of boredom while Gwen was glued to her laptop.
"This is lame. At this rate, it would've been better if I stuck with summer school," Ben said, kicking a stone as he walked. Suddenly, he saw a streak of light in the night sky. "Woah, a shooting star," he marveled as the object turned and headed straight towards him. He ran out of the way as it crashed into the ground.
"Cool. It looks like a satellite or something," he marveled, looking down at the object that made the crater. The ground beneath him crumbled as he fell into the crater. The spherical object opened up, revealing a watch that glowed green. Entranced by the beauty of the watch, he reached out his hand. "What's a watch doing in outer space?" he wondered aloud, a smile spreading across his face as he thought he could snag it.
The watch leaped onto Ben's arm as if it had a mind of its own. Ben screamed, freaked out, and tried desperately to get the watch off him. After some time of fruitless efforts, he knelt down on his knees to rest. Curiosity filled his mind as he fiddled with the watch, pressing the dials. The display changed, showing Heatblast's icon.
"Cool," he muttered as the dial popped up. Ben pressed it, and a green light flashed. He had transformed into Heatblast. Seeing himself enveloped in fire, he panicked and started running amok, screaming, "I'm on fire!"
"Ben is taking too long. I'm starting to get worried," Max said back at the campsite.
"It has been quite a while. Maybe we should look for him," Fred replied. The others, knowing Ben, figured it would be the best course of action.
"Hey, I'm on fire, but it doesn't hurt," Ben said after calming down. His next action was to try shooting fire from his fingers, followed by a bigger fireball. He soon noticed what he'd done—firing balls of fire in a forest. The fire quickly caught on and started spreading.
Max, Fred, and Gwen noticed the smoke. Before they questioned the cause of such a fire, they knew it was Ben's doing. Taking two fire extinguishers, Max gave one to Gwen as they ran towards the fire's direction. What followed was more or less what happened in the original story, but with Fred there.
Now sitting down by their campsite, Ben was still in his Heatblast form. Fred, reminded of his supposed pending wish, said, "Ah, great. I don't wanna be stuck like this."
"Don't worry, we'll figure things out together," Max said, calming Ben's anxiety.
"You know, I may sound out of place, but there should be a lesson somewhere in this," Fred said as he ate a s'more. The others looked at him wordlessly. He wasn't wrong, but it wasn't the best time to bring it up. The watch started beeping and flashed a red light. In a red flash, Ben turned back to normal. He immediately tried to get the watch off of him again, struggling.
"Ben, I think you should calm down for now and not play with that watch," Max said. "I'll head back to the crash site to see if I can find any clues," he added. But Ben, stopping a little too late, bumped into Fred. As the Omnitrix touched Fred's shoulder, a wave of green energy burst from the watch, sending Ben and Fred flying in opposite directions.
"Ben!" Max yelled. Ben was fine; he got up from the ground. Max quickly turned to assess Fred's situation. The matter was slightly different—streaks of green and indigo energy surged around Fred's body. Fred's bracelet started to glow an indigo color. Seeing this, Max drew a breath of relief. He picked Fred up and placed him in the Rust Bucket. George had told Max about the possibility of Fred's powers awakening during this trip, and an indicator of such would be his bracelet glowing an indigo color.
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