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(WARNING: The following prologue is not a required reading for the Christmas special. It sets up the plot and serves as a bit of fan-service, but you are allowed to skip it if you would like. The real story starts when we return to the “present”. Either way, I hope you enjoy!)

>10 years into the future…
>Omnitrix City

On a warm summer day, a long, yellow hovering transport cruises along the right lane of a rather wide highway. It’s undercarriage is outfitted with hover pads, which allow it to minimize turbulence and prioritize fuel efficiency.

The children inside burst with excitement as the bus fills with the sound of their laughter and idle chatter. Most of them were either aliens, or alien hybrids, as it was rather uncommon for humans to be part of the majority, even on their native planet. By this time, most humans have taken the opportunity to move to distant planets from neighboring systems or sectors. But despite being the minority, humans were well respected amongst the many species that populate the galaxy. And this was mostly due to the fact that the legendary hero known as “X” was confirmed to be a human in several of Darcy Drew’s articles.

Inspired by his heroics, aliens from across the galaxy began migrating to the blue planet. Their efforts were further encouraged by X’s incredibly successful Pro-Xeno campaign, which greatly improved human relations in the Milky Way. There’s even been talk of the Galactic Council allowing humans to apply for a seat on the council!

Amidst the excitement of his fellow students, a lone Sphoeroid/Human hybrid struggled to breathe in this particularly muggy weather. The stuffy conditions of the school bus had already caused his sinuses to flare up and his mucus to build up at an unnatural rate. He was often mocked for involuntarily drooling in class, and required a mouthpiece to catch his oral discharge. Due to this physical trait of his, the others tended to stay away from him during recess and after school. And it was beginning to look like their treatment of him wouldn’t improve in the slightest on the class trip.

The Sphoeroid allowed his head to hang out of the open window, while being mindful of how much mucus he was producing. If a large glob flew from his mouth and onto the windshield of a vehicle behind the bus, the outcome could be chaotic. He always felt as if he had to restrain himself, which made him tense and anxious most of the time, but he attributed this to his hybrid nature at the end of the day.

Suddenly, he receives a slap on the back that nearly causes him to lose his lunch. He constantly cursed his sensitive stomach and weak nerves, but he was far too poor to receive species altering surgery.

[Ko-D]: Whoops! My bad, Tanner…

The Sphoeroid coughed violently, before fishing several pills out of his backpack and popping them in his mouth. He relied on them to quell his nausea and calm his nerves.

(Cont.)

Tanner raises his eyes to face the ever-so insensitive Kineceleran/Human hybrid known as Ko-D. He got along well with just about everyone due to his warm and inviting personality, which made it even stranger when he would try to interact with Tanner. After all, why would the most popular guy in class try to hang out with a dork like him?

[Tanner]: I told you never to sneak up on me like that!

Ko-D crosses his legs and lays his head back against the leather seat.

[Ko-D]: Well you were looking pretty glum, so I thought I’d keep you company for a bit.

Tanner scoffs at Ko-D’s casual remark, and blows a small bubble in the process. He was in no need of pity or empty gestures. He had initially thought that Ko-D was being dared to talk to him, or that he were part of some sick game or bet. However, he had found it most unusual when he noticed that Ko-D wasn’t leaving him alone like the others did. Tanner just couldn’t figure out what the young Kineceleran wanted from him.

[Tanner]: ...Do what you want. But don;t come crying to me when the other guys start making fun of you.

Tanner surrenders to Ko-D’s kind aura and faces the back of the seat in front of him.

The two become silent for a minute, before Ko-D loudly clears his throat to break the unbearable silence. That minute must have seemed like an eternity to him, Tanner thought.

[Ko-D]: So, what are you most excited about for the exhibit?

Ko-D wags his tail expectantly while waiting for tanner’s response.

Tanners eyes light up at the mention of the exhibit, and a glob of drool trickles down the side of his mouth as it hangs agape.

Of course, the exhibit he was referring to was none other than the “X-hibit”, the most popular museum on Earth. It contained relics and informative segments that detailed the most thrilling moments from X’s adventures. The hero was personally involved in carefully selecting the information that was divulged in the museum. Not even the identity of his wife has been revealed, and you have no idea if he has any kids or not.

[Tanner]: Oh man, I don’t even think I could choose! First I wanna see the life-sized hard-light projections of his rogues, and then I’m gonna walk through the interactive origin story section!

Tanner was a bit of an X fanboy, which allowed him and Ko-D to get along very well. When Tanner opened up, that is.

Whenever Tanner blabbered on about the legendary hero, Ko-D always listened intently with a smug grin. For some reason, the Kineceleran would exclusively report specific pieces of trivia to the Sphoeroid in exchange for his time. At first, Tanner was skeptical of Ko-D’s sources, but after his information was confirmed by one of Darcy’s articles, he’s secretly been very eager to speak with him. But his method of obtaining the information would remain a mystery to Tanner.

------

(Cont.)

After gushing about X for a few minutes, the two of them failed to realize that they had arrived at the museum already. As the kids poured out of the bus, a few kids tried to invite Ko-D into their group, only for him to refuse their offers with a sickeningly sweet smile on his face. Tanner didn’t fail to notice the looks that the other kids gave him when Ko-D decided to stick with Sphoeroid, but despite this, Tanner tried his best to push them out of his mind.

As Tanner peeled himself off of the hot leather seats, they left noticeable marks on his bare legs. Ko-D impatiently tapped his foot on the floor while waiting for his chance to exit the vehicle, but Tanner wholeheartedly understands his desire to depart. After all, when else would he get a chance to receive a free trip to such an outstanding galactic monument!

When it’s finally their turn to leave, Ko-D races past Tanner in the form of a blue and black blur, nearly causing the bus driver to jump out of his seat.

[Ko-D]: Race ya!

Tanner chases after the boy, but not before receiving a scowl from the bus driver.

[Tanner]: W-wait up!

The moment he steps out of the bus, he’s faced with the glorious visage of the X-hibit!

There are many people pouring in and out of the black and purple building, but the chill that’s running through Tanner’s body prevents him from taking another step.

Just then, Ko-D grabs Tanner and carries him to the front entrance.

[Ko-D]: Damn, you’re slow.

For a moment, Ko-D forgets about Tanner’s sensitive stomach, and begins to panic as the Sphoeroid hybrid falls to his knees. The G-force must have taken a toll on his body.

[Ko-D]: Oh crap! You okay, man?

Suddenly, a chill runs up Ko-D’s spine, and his tails goes erect as he catches the teacher glaring at him out of the corner of his eye. Her curly brown hair just barely managed to peak out of her head covering, causing Ko-D and the other kids to wonder how she looked without it. She had dark skin, and gorgeous features that would be more fitting for a model, rather than a teacher.

[Mrs. Saturday]: What did I tell you about dragging poor Tanner around?

She placed her hands on her hips and leaned down to chastise the children with her stern glare. She wore a purple blouse and a black skirt for the special occasion of entering the X-hibit.

[Ko-D]: Sorry, Mrs. Saturday. I’ll be careful…

Ko-D bashfully shuffles his wheels along the ground with his gaze fixated downwards. Seeing that he’s repentant, Mrs. Saturday decides to let him off the hook with a deep sigh.

[Mrs. Saturday]: Well, as long as you understand.

She brushes a lock of her luxurious hair aside and kneels down to help Tanner to his feet. And once he gets caught in her beautiful brown eyes, he freezes up and begins stammering uncontrollably, eliciting a snicker from Ko-D.

[Mrs. Saturday]: Are you okay, Tanner? Would you like me to call a nurse?

Her concern is touching, but Tanner doesn’t appreciate being belittled.

(Cont.)

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He enjoyed when Mrs. Saturday gives him special treatment, but he doesn’t want her to think of him as a weak man.

His crush on her is no secret, as she’s expressed genuine concern for his well-being on many occasions. However, Tanner knows that he does not possess the confidence or physical qualities to steal a grown woman from her husband.

And despite her husband’s frequent absences and his unusual line of work, his wife loves him very much. Tanner couldn’t bring himself to get in the middle of that.

[Tanner]: I-I’m fine! I promise!

Tanner grabs Ko-D’s hand and runs through the front entrance, leaving Mrs. Saturday behind with a confused expression.

-------

Once inside, the two boys are absolutely awestruck by the radiance of the holographic displays surrounding them. The hustle and bustle of the museum’s visitors would normally make Tanner feel rather intimidated, but not today.

Because today, Tanner is gonna geek out without restraint!

[Tanner]: Let’s go!

Before the two of them can run off into the museum, a loud whistle rings through their ears, causing them to recoil. Mrs. Saturday struggles to corral the kids in one spot, which took at least 3 minutes to accomplish.

[Mrs. Saturday]: If you’ve got your lunches packed, your Holo-gen devices affixed to your wrists, and at least a group of three people, step to my right. If not, then step to my left.

Everyone except Tanner, Ko-D and a bat-like alien steps to the right. Both kids were unaware that they needed to form groups of three.

The bat-girl known as Louise scoffs at the two boys and turns her nose up at them.

[Louise]: Nope! Uh-uh. There’s no way I’m tagging along with this dope.

She points a claw at Tanner, who cowers before her abrasive personality.

Mrs. Saturday raises an eyebrow crosses her arms.

[Mrs. Saturday]: Not even if Ko-D’s in the group?

Louise’s cheeks turn red and she grits her teeth while tightly clenching her hands. Ko-D appears to be confused as to why he was mentioned in the conversation.

And in one last act of defiance, Louise throws her hands down, before screeching loudly and stomping towards Tanner with a scowl on her face.

[Louise]: Fine! Whatever…

She crosses her arms and taps her foot impatiently, however Tanner spots her glancing over in Ko-D’s direction every now and again.

Mrs. Saturday claps her hands together and closes her eyes while grinning.

[Mrs. Saturday]: Wonderful! Now that that’s settled…

She pauses for dramatic effect, and the kids lean closer to her as they see their teacher bringing golden whistle to her lips.

And as soon as they hear the sharp whistle ringing through the air, the dart towards the atrium at full spint!

[Mrs. Saturday]: Have fun! And be careful!

(Cont.)

Tanner, Ko-D and Louise excitedly race around the atrium, running circles around the giant statue of X in the middle of the room. Tanner Marvel's at the finely chiseled details in his suit, while Louise pays close attention to his well sculpted muscles. But for some reason, Ko-D doesn't appear to be as blown away as the others.

As soon as they get tired of ogling the statue, the three of them run off to explore the rest of the museum.

Tanner spends 15 minutes going through the Rogues Gallery, while Louise and Ko-D closely examine the gadget exhibit.

But the real attraction here is "The Archive", the most massive and elaborate retelling of X's adventures, via holographic projection!

The three of them enter the famous exhibit with elated expressions, barely managing to contain their excitement.

[Tanner]: Oh man! I can't believe we're actually here! Do you guys think they'll let us take home personal archive copies?

Ko-D rolls his eyes while holding his hands behind his head.

[Ko-D]: Eh, I've got a bunch at home. If you wanted them, you could've just asked.

Tanner gets uncomfortably close to Ko-D, causing him to jump back in surprise.

[Tanner]: What?! No way! Think you can let me borrow them sometime?

Ko-D shrugs his shoulders while grinning.

[Ko-D]: Sure thing. Just need to let my Dad know in advance.

Louise visibly flinches at the mention of Tanner going to Ko-D's house.

[Louise]: Y-you know, I'm also interested in this archive nerd-stuff.

Tanner and Ko-D exchange confused glances with one another, causing Louise’s embarrassment and frustration to bubble over.

[Louise]: Invite me to come over, you blockheads!

Tanner and Ko-D instinctively raise their hands and slowly back away from Louise. Their submissive behavior was similar to that of a feral beast relenting to a powerful predator.

[Tanner]: D-do you want to-

She snaps at Tanner without warning.

[Louise]: Not you, lardo.

Her harsh glare causes Tanner to clam up and avert his gaze.

[Ko-D]: ...Do you wanna come over to my place sometime, Louise?

Her eyes light up and her mood does a complete 180 as wide grin spreads across her face.

[Louise]: Why Ko-D, I’d love to!

Tanner and Ko-D are more confused than ever, but they decide to let the moment pass out of fear. The young Kineceleran approaches one of the available archive consoles and proceeds to sync his group’s Hologen’s with it. This way, they’ll all be able to listen to it to experience the retelling without being distracted by outside influences.

Ko-D quickly punches in a sequence of digits with his filed claws, while Tanner and Louise shout suggestions from over his shoulder.

However, Ko-D’s wide grin quickly turns to disappointment when he encounters several error codes.

[Ko-D]: Hey, what gives? Most of these files are corrupted.

[Tanner]: What?! Move over.

Tanner squeezes next to Ko-D and examines the console before him.

[Tanner]: ...He’s right. Did we break it somehow?!

(Cont.)

Louise’s antagonistic accusations cause Tanner to fly into a panic. But before Ko-D can calm them down, the group is approached by an android. Her frame is curvy and sharp in all the right places, and her black chassis is highlighted by a violet luminescent light that shines through the gaps in her armor.

[Trixy#626]: May I help you children with something?

Her facial features are surprisingly soft, causing Tanner to suspect that she may be made of a synthetic, latex-like liquid metal.

[Ko-D]: This console isn’t working. Can we try another one?

The android’s warm smile grows a bit bigger once she notices Ko-D, but you aren’t sure why.

[Trixy#626]: Hmm. I’m afraid that you will receive similar results from the other consoles in this department. Most of our data files were corrupted during The Mother-Load’s recent attack on Omnitrix city.

[Tanner]: Aw man! Now what are we supposed to do?

The android drifts over to the Sphoeroid hybrid and kneels down to pat his soft head.

[Trixy#626]: Not to worry, young one. There a few files that were left intact.

Tanner and the others enthusiastically glance at one another as they silently celebrate the android’s kindness.

After fiddling with the console for a minute, she manages to pull up a small, purple orb of light from the archive. She cradles the orb for a moment, before stretching it outwards, causing it to expand until it covers the entire room.

A grid-like pattern spreads along the walls, floor and ceiling, while forming hard light projections around the trio’s feet.

Soon enough, their surroundings expand infinitely around them. The ceiling stretches upwards and takes the form of a starry night sky. The walls collapse to the ground and sink down, before they mold into shapes that are reminiscent of buildings. However, the ground beneath their feet remains ever the same.

[Tanner]: Miss, where are we?

[Trixy#626]: We are in Bellwood, 10 years ago.

The android’s artificial eyes scan the horizon and cityscape, and Ko-D notices that she almost appears to be nostalgic for a moment.

[Louise]: So you chose for us? I thought we got to pick the simulation on the tour.

The android’s glowing gaze shifts to the tiny frame of the bratty bat, yet there isn’t even a hint of annoyance or resentment.

[Trixy#626]: Normally, yes. However, this is one of my favorites, and I thought that I might share it with you.

The trio smiles at the kind synthetic tour guide, but their attention is immediately drawn away from her when a holographic projection of X enters the simulation!

[Tanner]: No! Way!

He swaggers towards the trio with his head raised high and his broad chest puffed out. His muscular frame and athletic body type is enough to make Louise swoon, even through the armor. Tanner figures that the android has seen this trick thousands of times already, but judging from the look on her face, he doubts that she’ll ever really get tired of seeing it.

(Cont.)

[X]: Ah, I see that you’ve brought guests, Trixy. I hope you aren’t giving them too much of a hard time.

The guide known as Trixy gazes at X as if he were an old friend, but tanner assumes that anyone would feel that way after working here long enough.

[Trixy#626]: Why, perish the thought, X! I was simply making preparations for your arrival. And might I say that it was a wonderful one.

X takes a bow and chuckles to himself, which seems to humanize the trio’s idle. He speaks in a manly and verbose tone, very similar to how he sounds during interviews and news events.

[X]: Was it? Well, that’s a relief. And here I thought I’d have to do a few poses to wow the crowd.

Tanner and Louise are visibly disappointed, as they lower their heads and sigh deeply.

[X]: Unless...you want me to do the poses?

The two of them gasp in anticipation, as X begins to flex his muscles in a showy display. He switches between several different poses, and with each one his armor plates shifts to make the pose comfortable for him.

After the 5th pose, X returns his hands to his hips and stands upright before the trio.

[X]: Now that we’ve gotten warmups out of the way, which story are we retelling today?

[Trixy#626]: The Case of Citizen Cane.

For a moment, you notice X’s holographic projection losing his confidence and composure. Something about what Trixy said must have dredged up some nasty memories.

[X]: Ah, yes. I remember. There have been many deranged criminals, villains, monsters and warlords that I’ve faced over the years, but none of them were like Citizen Cane...

He snaps his fingers and causes a younger, and smaller version of himself to spawn on a rooftop nearby.

[X]: Now, let’s start from the beginning. It’s Show Time!

The trio cheers as the simulation initiates and sync’s their virtual projections with their portable Hologens.

--------

(Prologue End. Cont.)

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>Bellwood
>Present Day…

(START here if you wish to skip the prologue!!!)

You jump from rooftop to rooftop on a particularly chilly summer night, as the pale moonlight peeks through the dark clouds that gather above the city. But you don’t have time to appreciate the scenery. You need to catch up with this kidnapper!

You chase a large, hairy beast with large horns and even larger muscles. You would’ve had trouble keeping up with him, had it not been for the chains around his wrists rattling with his each and every movement. But the most bizarre part of his appearance would have to be the bright red santa hat that he wears.

[Wade]: C’mon, dude! Do I need to buy you a calendar for Christmas? Because it really looks like you’re having trouble keeping track of your dates.

This annoyingly long chase would have felt more appropriate had it not been smack dab in the middle of August. Krampus here must have gotten out of hibernation a tad too early.

Despite your rambling, the brown, hairy beast picks up his speed and leaves a mess of shattered tile and shingles in his wake.

[Wade]: Oh, forget this…

You disappear behind a building and take a shortcut in order to get ahead of the creature. You see a puff of white fog as the beast mocks you from afar, but you’re more worried about the kid he’s got trapped in that red sack that he’s carrying on his back. It’s made it very difficult to attack him from behind.

Once he thinks he’s lost you, you cut him off on the next building and draw your sword. He attempts to bring his lumbering body to a screeching halt, but your quick reflexes allow you to slash at his arm before he can avoid you.

The feeling of sharpened steel carving through his dense fur and into his thick skin causes him to stumble and slide along the rooftop until he hits a chimney.

He pulls himself off the ground whilst rubbing his head, and you notice that his red eyes are now filled with rage. You ready your blade for another attack, but the beast’s next action is much more despicable than you could’ve expected.

You watch helplessly as he precariously dangles the squirming red bag over the edge of the roof.

[Wade]: Alright, just take it easy…

You slowly sheathe your sword in order to appease the beast, but the wicked grin that spreads across his face causes a shiver to run down your spine.

It feels as if time slows down when he drops the bag, and you nearly lose your composure as you desperately run towards it. However, you’d be much more distraught if you didn’t have backup.

Just then, a giant purple cat leaps from the shadows and snatches the sack midair. It dangles from her mouth as she lands atop a nearby rooftop. And mounted on her back is none other than your cousin Olivia! But for tonight, she’s just Lucky Girl.

(Cont.)

[Olivia]: Thanks for the assist, Gwen.

She gently pats the giant cat, eliciting a sizable purr from her. The strange noise and sensation, along with the feeling of falling off a tall building must have spooked the kids, because they begin screaming loudly upon hearing Gwen purr.

The beast watches the two of them from above with a confounded expression, but you quickly draw his attention back to you by loudly cracking your knuckles.

[Wade]: Gotta love family. Now, where were we?

The creature roars loudly and charges towards you like a lumbering behemoth.

What do you do?

>Transform into an alien. (Which one?)
>Use a Water Style sword attack on him.
>Shoot the area beneath his feet and cause it to collapse.
>Tackle him off of the roof in order to get him to a more stable location.
>Grab his horns and deliver a knee strike to his face.
>Write-in.

Quicklist:
>Big Chill
>Diamondhead
>Zipmunk
>Bloodrush
>XLR8
>Fourcast
>Thriller Whale
>Knuckle Duster
>Hack N’ Slash
>Snapdragon

Aliens Unlocked:
https://pastebin.com/JVq4NM2t

Skills, Stats and Inventory:
https://pastebin.com/iEYrGZS1

>>3988154
>>Transform into an alien. (Which one?)
Hotspot

>>3988173
>>3988154
Actually, changing my vote. Make it Vertigoat.

>>3988183
horny on horny fight lets do this

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You raise your hand into the air, before slamming it down into your belt. Patches of itchy, blue fur grows beneath your skin, and sharp bony horns grow out of your skull and break through your skin. And in a flash of violet light, your body transforms into that of Vertigoat!

You scrape your gloves against the roof tiles, causing sparks to fly from the friction.

[Wade]: Looks like you've been baaaad this year, Krampus.

What do you do?

>Charge at him, and as soon as he touches your horns, greatly decrease his weight.
>Creature a gravity fissure on the roof, sending a wave of stone and debris at him.
>Charge him off the roof, while greatly increasing his weight.
>Target his chains and use them to weigh him down, until he falls through the roof.
>Kick a barrage of heavy tiles at him until he crumbles to the ground.
>Write-in.

>>3988252

> Charge him off the roof while greatly increasing his weight.

>>3988252
>>Creature a gravity fissure on the roof, sending a wave of stone and debris at him.

>>3988272
>>3988252
Gonna switch to
> Charge him off the roof while greatly increasing his weight.
to help get the ball rolling

>>3988256
>>3988360
Roll 1d100, bo3!

Rolled 89 (1d100)

>>3988361

Rolled 34 (1d100)

>>3988361

>>3988252
> Charge him off the roof while greatly increasing his weight

Rolled 14 (1d100)

>>3988361
one more roll since there hasn't been another

>>3988362
>>3988371
>>3988385
Writing...

Rolled 98 (1d100)

>>3988361

>89

You meet his charge with your own, and your tiny horns collide with his muscular chest, causing him to trip and fall backwards. But as his palm touches the floor, the tiles lying beneath him begin to crack under his incredible weight. And before he can regain his footing, you ram into his chest once more, causing both of you to plummet to the streets below at a rapid rate.

As the wind whips away at your fur, Krampus crashes through several obstacles and solid objects without slowing his descent. But before you reach the ground, you reduce the weight of your horns and allow the beast to collide with the pavement.

With a resounding thud, the beast’s crumpled form creates a large impression in the ground, as well as cracks that spread outwards towards the road and surrounding buildings.

His pained groan alerts you to his well-being as you hover over him, allowing you breathe a sigh of relief.

Olivia approaches you from behind while shoving Gwen into her satchel. Her radiant smile is a direct contrast to the bleak outlook that you’ve developed over the period of a year as a superhero.

[Wade]: Thanks for the assist.

You time out in a flash of golden light, returning to your human form.

[Olivia]: No prob, cuz. You know I’ve got your back.

She shoots you a playful finger gun and a wink, but you nearly miss it as you take a moment to stretch and yawn. You’ve been patrolling the streets all day, and you could really use a break. But the thought of having to watch the kids when you get home is making you even more tired.

Just then, Olivia snaps her fingers and moves her face uncomfortably close to yours.

[Olivia]: Hey, I’ve got a great idea! Why don’t you sleep over at my place? It’ll be just like old times.

[Wade]: I don’t know…

You avert your gaze, but she circles around you in order to follow your eyes.

[Olivia]: C’mon, we both need a break.

>”You know what? You’re right. We do deserve a break every now and again.”
>”That sounds awesome! I miss when we used to hang out like this.”
>”I guess I can ask Olumar to watch the kids again…”
>”Sorry Ollie, but I made a promise to K8-E and the kids, and I can;t go back on it. Maybe another time?”
>”What if you came over to my place instead? That way, we can hang out and watch the kids at the same time.”
>Write-in.

>>3988464
>>”What if you came over to my place instead? That way, we can hang out and watch the kids at the same time.”

>>3988464
>>”What if you came over to my place instead? That way, we can hang out and watch the kids at the same time.”

>>3988469
>>3988488
Writing...

[Wade]: Wait, what if you came over to my place instead? That way, we can hang out and watch the kids at the same time.

She taps her chin with her finger while humming, before returning her hands to her hips.

[Olivia]: Alright, let’s do it. I mean, watching kids can;t be that hard right?

She’s never had to watch kids that can break the sound barrier while running around the house. But you’ll remain silent for the time being.

[Gwen]: Uhh, guys? The kids?

Gwen pokes her head out of Olivia’s bag and points towards the dark alleyway that Olivia returned from. And at the end of the alley, you see a red sack squirming around on the floor.

[Olivia]: Oh right, the kids!

The two of you free the kids, return the children to their homes, and arrest the alien creature that had been kidnapping children. What he’s done with the ones that he’s successfully captured is a matter for the police to handle. And you don’t even think you want to hear the result of the interrogation.

Once the two of you have wrapped up the case, you return to the rooftops in order to avoid traffic. Gwen jumps out of Olivia’s bag, and uses some sort of spell to make herself grow bigger.

[Gwen]: Hop on.

You and your cousin climb onto her back and grip her fur as she takes a running leap off of the building that you were resting upon.

You brace for impact as she lands on another rooftop, but for some reason the pads of her paws absorb the shock, allowing her to pounce towards another building while maintaining her momentum. You aren’t sure if this is a product of her magic or a physical trait that she’s always had. But for now, you’re just going to sit back and enjoy the ride.

-------

Once you arrive at your house, you and Olivia quickly change back to your normal clothes in order to avoid being seen by your neighbors. And as soon as you enter, you’re immediately greeted by K8-E, who appears to be incredibly stressed out at the moment.

[K8-E]: Oh, thank goodness you’re here.

She struggles to hold the youngest of the children in her arms, while she restrains the oldest with her tail.

[Wade]: What’s going on?

[K8-E]: E-N and ML-E were roughhousing, and N8 was trying to sneak out earlier!

You watch as the little ones grasp at air as they struggle to reach one another. N8, on the other hand, simply rolls his eyes at you and the others.

[Olivia]: How do you get caught sneaking out when you have super speed?

N8 turns his head to your cousin and shrugs passively.

[N8]: Mom’s got the house booby trapped. There were tin cans tied to our windows.

[Wade]: Wait. Is that why I got lectured by the neighbors about recycling?

K8-E wags a finger at you while shaking her head.

[K8-E]: Technically, we are recycling. The cans are being put to great use.

She curls her tail to pull her son closer to her.

[Wade]: You need to check on your sister, right? We can take it from here.

(Cont.)

She adopts a worried, and partially guilty, expression for dumping the kids on you.

[K8-E]: Are you sure? Because I can just visit her and run right back. It would only take a moment.

You place your hands on her shoulders to reassure her.

[Wade]: Your sister’s sick and she’s always helped us out in the past. She needs you by her side right now.

If it weren’t for Natel-E, you’d almost never have time to spend alone with K8-E. You at least owe her for that.

Before she can protest, you grab the kids from her arms and signal Olivia to keep an eye on N8.

[Wade]: Don’t worry, we’ll be fine. I promise.

She nods with a relieved smile and wraps her hands around your neck to deliver a kiss to your lips.

[K8-E]: Oh, you’re wonderful…

She removes herself from you and runs off to the bedroom, before returning a second later with several, fully packed duffle bags.

[K8-E]: I promise that I’ll be back in a day or two. I just need to make sure that she’ll be okay without me.

[Olivia]: Take your time, girlfriend. We got this!

She winks at K8-E, who mimics the gesture and returns it to your cousin.

K8-E plants kisses on the foreheads of her children, before racing towards the door.

[K8-E]: I love you all. And children? Behave yourselves until I return.

[ML-E]: Does that mean we can act up when you get back?

After hearing ML-E’s snarky remark, K8-E equips her visor, and uses her claws to point to her eyes, before pointing back to ML-E. And with that, she departs in the blink of an eye.

But as soon as she leaves, the kids start acting up again!

[Gwen]: We’ve gotta keep these speed demons under control for two days? Something tells me that the genie had the right idea by hiding in the lamp.

Gwen watches you from a high perch while licking her paws and avoiding confrontation altogether. Eventually, she jumps down from her perch and attempts to enter Olivia’s bag. But her entry is denied after Olivia snatches the bag from the ground.

[Gwen]: Hey, what gives?

[Olivia]: Oh no you don’t! You’re helping us entertain these kids, whether you like it or not.

Olivia and Gwen scowl at each other for a while, before Gwen exhales deeply and plants her butt on the hardwood floor.

Now then, how do you plan on entertaining these kids for tonight?

>Watch a movie with them. You’re always up for a bizarre and ill-advised cinematic experience.
>Use Diamondhead to create a crystal skate park nearby.
>Allow Gwen and Olivia to use a sleeping spell on them.
>Let them play with the watch for a bit. They’d probably get a kick out of it, and you might gain something from it.
>Play video games with them. You and Olivia will have to school them in the art of fighting games.
>Put on a magic show for them with the help of the other two.
>Write-in.

>>3988605
>>Let them play with the watch for a bit. They’d probably get a kick out of it, and you might gain something from it.
or
>Watch a movie with them. You’re always up for a bizarre and ill-advised cinematic experience.
or
>Play video games with them. You and Olivia will have to school them in the art of fighting games.

>>3988605
>>Put on a magic show for them with the help of the other two.
We must USE THE MAGIC
MASTER THE MAGIC
Don't let the MAGIC MASTER US
WE ARE IN CONTROL

>>3988605
>Put on a magic show for them with the help of the other two.

>>3988615
>>Put on a magic show for them with the help of the other two.
>>3988605

>>3988615
>>3988714
>>3988762
Writing...

[Wade]: I think I’ve got an idea.

You summon Olumar and tell her to make sure they don’t leave the couch for a few minutes. And once they’re dealt with, you, Olivia and Gwen come up with ideas for a magic show. The two of them are pleasantly surprised by your suggestion, and support your plan wholeheartedly.

--------

Once the stage is set, Olivia pops into the living room in a puff of purple smoke. This opening act seems to entertain the little ones, but N8 doesn’t appear to be very impressed.

For this special occasion, Olivia has equipped her Bunny girl costume, as well as a top hat and magic wand for performance purposes.

She bows before the crowd and removes her hat. And with the tap of her wand, she causes a purple cat to appear from her hat!

Gwen jumps out of her hat and onto the ground, but this particular trick doesn’t seem to be winning the crowd over. But Olivia isn’t worried. This performance is far from over!

Olivia’s hat rests on the floor, while Gwen desperately paws at it. Olivia rolls her eyes and zaps it with her wand, causing a large trout to leap out of her hat, along with a bit of water from an unknown source. The kids giggle with excitement upon seeing Gwen catch the large fish in her mouth and swallow it whole.

Gwen begins to paw at the hat once more, clearly unsatisfied by her over-sized meal earlier. Olivia shakes her head and pinches the bridge of her nose, before zapping the hat once more. And out of it, comes an even larger fish! It barely manages to squeeze it’s way out of the hat’s opening, but Gwen readily drags the fish out of the hat and gulps it down. The audience is clearly surprised by how much she’s been eating. And yet, she still looks hungry!

Gwen paws at the hat once more, causing Olivia to place her hands on her hips in a frustrated huff.

She proceeds to kick her hat out of anger, nearly causing it to tip over. However, the hat begins to shake and shiver, almost as if it were alive. Pressure builds up inside of it, and a flock of white doves burst out of the black accessory. Once they materialize, the audience watches in awe as the flock of birds desperately fight over a fish skeleton, picked clean of its meat.

This angers Gwen, causing her to engage the flock of birds in a tug of war. However, she clearly underestimates her own strength, as the flock overwhelms her and swarms around her body.

Olivia and the audience watch in horror as the animals roll around the floor in a violent entanglement. And as they tumble towards Olivia, she places the hat’s opening towards them, causing them to disappear into its seemingly infinite depths.

Olivia seems to panic for a moment, but she clears her throat and quickly composes herself in preparation for the next act.

(Cont.)

She kicks her hat, causing it to flip and land on her slender legs. And as she twirls and gyrates her body, the hat travels alongside her curvy frame, until reaches her hand. She quickly slides the hat from her right arm, to her shoulder and back, and finally to her left arm. And with a tap of her wand...nothing happens.

Olivia taps it again, but with a similarly disappointing result. She takes a peek inside the hat, only to be pecked in the eye by a dove. She nearly curses the winged beast, but seeing as children are present, she resigns to a professional smile and a thumbs as tears roll down her eyes.

Olivia tosses the hat into the air, and the kids stare in awe as the hat spins while being suspended in the air by an invisible force. Olivia rubs her gloved hands together, wiggles her fingers and points them towards the empty space beside her. And in a flash of purple smoke, you arrive next your cousin with her hat resting atop your head. The audience applauds your arrival, so you give them a preemptive bow.

Finally, you and Olivia face one another and shake hands. However, you recoil upon seeing that her hand has become detached from her body!

Olivia laughs at you as you wave around her fake hand, so you decide to get a little revenge.

You reach up to grab your tophat with her severed hand, and you proceed to shove your hand deep into its opening. While Olivia laughs, your hand replaces her missing one, causing her to jump and scream.

Despite the sudden development, she gives you a proper smack with your own hand. Feeling slighted, you pull her hat over her head with her detached hand. You mock her as she struggles to remove the hat, but when she does manage to pull it off, her head appears to have changed to that of a large bird.

She glares at you and begins squawking at you out of anger. You attempt to calm her down, but she quickly starts chasing you around the living room while pecking at your head. The audience laughs uncontrollably upon seeing you flee from the rabid bird woman, so you try to extend the chase a bit, while adding a few comedic elements.

Once you return to the living room, you and Olivia collide with one another, causing a miniature purple twister to form during your scuffle. Various cartoon-like noises can be heard from the twister, before the both of you emerge from it with all of your parts back where they belong.

You and Olivia look to one another with confused expressions, as both of you take a moment to make sure that everything has been returned to the way it was before. Once you confirm the sanctity of your anatomy, you and Olivia spend a minute thinking of how to interact with one another. You think about shaking hands, but the thought of pulling her hand off again prevents you from doing so. You think about giving her a hug, but the thought of being relentlessly pecked prevents you from doing so.

(Cont.)

So finally, you settle on awkwardly bumping fists. The two of you take a bow before the audience, causing them to stand and cheer.

However, once Olivia takes a step back, she trips over her cape, and falls backwards. But as soon as she hits the floor, her body explodes into a pile of playing cards. Gasps can be heard from the audience as they cease the applause, and you stand alone on the stage, absolutely speechless.

You cautiously approach the pile of cards, but once you flip one over, your expression changes to one of delight. You motion for the kids to come over as you lay the cards on Olivia’s cape.

The kids join you on the stage and examine the cards, only to find that each card is part of a single moving image. N8, ML-E and E-N smile to one another, as they quickly work together to arrange the cards in the correct order. Once they do so, the cards form a single moving image of Gwen and Olivia desperately banging on the face of the cards, almost as if they were trapped behind a plane of glass.

You nod towards them, before wrapping the cards in the cloak and banging it on the floor violently. Screams can be heard from the cloak, and you nearly smile at the concerned expressions that the kids give you, but you resist the temptation with all your might.

After banging the cloak on the floor a couple of times, you shove it inside of Olivia’s hat and twirl it around for a while. Once you’re satisfied with your work, you pull the cloak back out and toss the hat into the air, where it remains spinning above the floor.

You take the cloak and spread it like a sheet as you display to the audience that it is just a normal cloak. And with a single flap of the sheet, Olivia and Gwen come flying out of the cloak and onto the floor.

The hat that was levitating lands on top of their limp bodies, but they do not respond. So you clap your hands and clear your throat to alert them of their position, which seems to wake them up. The two of them clamber to their feet, and Olivia places her hat back on top of her head. And after Ollie fixes her hair, you and the others bow to the audience and close the curtains on your performance. Their applause can still be heard even after you’ve departed. They cry for an encore, but you’re way too exhausted to try that again so soon.

------

Once you’ve helped them clean up, the kids pass out on the couch, and you proceed to carry them to their beds.

After they’ve been dealt with, you join Olivia and Gwen on the couch and open up a couple of beers.

[Olivia]: We totally crushed it!

Olivia nearly jumps off of the couch out of sheer excitement, but Olumar places a hand over her mouth in order to remind her that the children are sleeping.

[Olumar]: Shhh!

(Cont.)

You notice that Olivia and Gwen both have confetti stuck in their hair, but you decide to remain silent about the subject.

>”Yeah that was pretty fun. We should go pro.”
>”Couldn’t have done it without you guys. Thanks for the assist.”
>”Alright, I have to admit, it was kinda nice to stretch my magic legs again.”
>”We’ve got this babysat the hell out of those kids!”
>”I don’t think we could pull that off a second time. I hope K8-E comes home soon.”
>Write-in.

>>3988777
>”Couldn’t have done it without you guys. Thanks for the assist.”
>”I don’t think we could pull that off a second time. I hope K8-E comes home soon.”

>>3988777
Meant to write:

>"We babysat the hell out of those kids!"

Forgot to completely erase the previous sentence. My bad.

>>3988777
>”Couldn’t have done it without you guys. Thanks for the assist.”
>”Alright, I have to admit, it was kinda nice to stretch my magic legs again.”

>>3988960
You say that, but if we had to roll we would have gotten a nat 1

>>3989126
Yeah, you are probably right. It's just that i liked magic. It was a cool thing, but the dices didn't let us enjoy it.

>>3988809
>>3988960
Combine these

>>3988809
>>3988960
>>3989810
Writing...

[Wade]: Couldn’t have done it without you guys. Thanks for the assist.

You and Olivia open your beer bottles and clank them together. However, Gwen appears to be having trouble getting hers open.

[Olivia]: Don’t mention it. I had a blast!

You take a swig of your drink and swirl it around in the bottle for a moment.

[Wade]: Alright, I have to admit, it was pretty fun to stretch my magic legs again.

Olivia and Gwen seem excited to hear that you’re warming up to the idea of practicing magic again.

[Gwen]: See? All you needed was a little push.

You reach over to grab the purple cat’s bottle, easily opening it and handing it back to her casually. She pleasantly smiles at you and begins chugging the bottle.

[Wade]: Yeah, but I really don’t think we could pull this off a second time. Those kids lose interest as fast as they run. I hope K8-E gets home soon…

The three of you sit in silence for a while, nursing your drinks over the course of several minutes, while watching the TV at a low volume.

[Wade]: I never asked, but why do you guys want me to continue learning magic so bad? I mean, I have the Omnitrix, my sword and my suit. I feel like that would be enough for most situations.

Olivia places her drink on the table and exhales through her nose.

[Olivia]: Because in all the years I’ve known you, I’ve never seen you give up on anything or anyone. You kept playing soccer, even when you sucked at it.

[Wade]: Ouch…

[Olivia]: But then you kept practicing and you didn’t suck all of a sudden. If you put your mind to it, you could literally do anything. But for you to drop something just because you screwed up a few times...it’s not like you.

You hate to say it, but she’s right. You can’t explain the bad feeling you get when you use magic. You’d like to explain it away as an irrational fear, built upon the fact you nearly got yourself and your loved ones killed several times, but you feel as if there’s more to it than that. Your Omnitrix is strange and you barely understand it, but it’s certainly more reliable than magic. Maybe...trying to master both isn’t an option for you. Would one stop working if you used the other? And what of the voice in your head that whispered of ill omens while you were comatose.

[Olivia]: I just think you might need to give it another shot. Could you at least consider it?

Your cousin’s voice pulls you back to reality, and you pretend that you were listening to her the entire time.

[Wade]: ...I’ll think about it.

A small smile spreads across her face, and the three of you proceed to empty the rest of the beer bottles that you brought along. Shortly afterwards, you all pass out on the couch.

-----------

[ML-E]: Wade!

You jump off of the couch and look around in a panic, only to see ML-E standing before you wearing a winter jacket.

[Wade]: Why are you wearing that? Aren’t you hot?

(Cont.)

You rub the sleep out of your eyes, only to realize that the house is freezing! The temperature shouldn’t have dropped this low overnight. Especially in the Summer!

[ML-E]: Nope! It’s a snow day!

She runs outside, and the other kids follow close behind her while wearing similar snow gear.

You put on a jacket to cover your bare skin, and walk towards the window in order to assess the situation. And low and behold, it really is snowing! In August!

You witness your kids playing with some of the neighbor’s kids as they engage in an intense snowball fight. Clearly, your kids have the advantage, but decide to let them have their fun while you figure out what’s going on.

You return to the living room and change the TV’s channel to a news station. After turning up the volume, Olivia and Gwen rise from their slumber. Both of them have disheveled and ruffled hair from sleeping on the couch.

[Olivia]: W-what’s up?

According to Darcy Drew’s report, numerous heroes and villains have been running rampant throughout the city. Eye witness reports suggest that they may be working together. Experts are looking into this unusual weather, but they have no idea as to whether it’s directly correlated to these recent incidents.

[Wade]: Trouble…

What do you do?

>Suit up and head downtown to get a grasp on this situation.
>Call K8-E. You’re really worried for her safety.
>Bring your kids inside and tell them to stay inside until all this blows over. But you’re gonna need to put someone in charge of them. (Gwen, Olivia, N8, Olumar, Neighbor girl)
>Try to contact some of your friends in the hero community to see if they know anything about this.
>Run some tests on the snow that’s been falling from the sky. Maybe there is something wrong with it.
>Write-in.

>>3990449
>Call K8-E. You’re really worried for her safety.
>Try to contact some of your friends in the hero community to see if they know anything about this.

>>3990449
>Call K8-E. You’re really worried for her safety.
>Try to contact some of your friends in the hero community to see if they know anything about this.

>>3990449
for her safety.
>Try to contact some of your friends in the hero community to see if they know anything about this.
>Run some tests on the snow that’s been falling from the sky. Maybe there is something wrong with it.

>>3990455
>>3990465
>>3990488
Writing...

You pull out your phone, select K8-E’s contact and hold it to your ear as the sound of dial tone fills it. After about six or seven rings, it goes to voicemail and your heart sinks.

[Wade]: Hey K8-E, I need you to call me back when you get this. It’s getting a little crazy out there, and I want to know that you’re safe.

You hang up the phone and grip it tightly as you weigh your options. You can feel Olivia’s gaze upon your back, and it feels like a massive weight is pressing down upon your shoulders. And that weight is called responsibility.

You open your phone screen once more, but this time you call a couple of your friends from the hero community. If there’s some sort of coordinated assault at play here, you’re gonna need some backup.

The first person you contact is Birdie, but she does not return your call. And neither does Wilderbee or Blindside. That either means that they’ve been defeated...or they’re part of this unusual attack.

The majority of the heroes that you attempt to contact do not respond to you, which causes you to worry. However, your mood improves when The Cowl answers your call.

[Cowl]: X? Are you alright?

[Wade]: I was gonna ask you the same thing. What’s going on out there?

You can hear some sort of physical conflict occurring in the background, but The Cowl tries his best to ignore it.

[Cowl]: I do not know. It started snowing late last night, so everyone went outside to investigate. And a few hours later, the majority of Bellwood’s population went berserk. Including the heroes and criminals.

So the snow is somehow related to this incident. You wonder what the correlation could be.

[Wade]: Are you okay? Is there anyone else that’s been compromised?

You hear a pained grunt on the other end of the line, but The Cowl tries his best to play it off as if nothing happened.

[Cowl]: I’m fine. I managed to grab a few members of the Birds of Paradise, but I was unable to save the others.

That’s a decent amount of backup. And here you thought you’d be facing everyone with only the assistance of a cat and your cousin.

[Wade]: Got it. Is there anywhere we can meet up?

[Cowl]: I’m across the road from the Mr. Smoothy on McLean. We’re taking refuge above-ground on a nearby rooftop.

>”We’ll be there as soon as we can.”
>"I'll join you soon. But first, I need to make sure that my...'friend' is safe."
>”How can I tell if someone’s been compromised? Are there any symptoms?”
>”Wait. How do I know that you’re not compromised as well?”
>”Do you have a plan in mind? I don’t even know what we’re supposed to be fighting.”
>”Is there any way to avoid being mind controlled?”
>Write-in.

>>3990577
>>"I'll join you soon. But first, I need to make sure that my...'friend' is safe."
>”Wait. How do I know that you’re not compromised as well?”
>”Do you have a plan in mind? I don’t even know what we’re supposed to be fighting.”

>>3990577
>"I'll join you soon. But first, I need to make sure that my...'friend' is safe."
>”How can I tell if someone’s been compromised? Are there any symptoms?”
>”Do you have a plan in mind? I don’t even know what we’re supposed to be fighting.”

>>3990613
>>3990760
Gonna combine to speed things up...

[Wade]: I’ll join you soon. But first, I need to make sure that my…”friend” is safe.

[Cowl]: Understood. We will remain here for the time being.

Before you hang up, you feel the need to confirm one more thing.

[Wade]: Wait. How do I know if someone’s compromised or not? Are there any symptoms?

[Cowl]: Erratic behavior, general lack of social skills, and complete and utter disregard for their own or anyone else’s safety. You’ll know it when you see it. Unfortunately, there is no way of knowing until you get close enough to observe them.

You narrow your eyes and summon your armor to your side.

[Wade]: What about you? How do I know that you're not compromised?

The Cowl remains silent for a moment, but his voice does not waver.

[Cowl]: They’re only able to focus on one thing at a time. It’s unlikely that they’d be able to multitask effectively. Most of them haven’t been answering their communicators, so I’ve written them off as traitors for the time being. The fact that you called me tells you that you haven’t been compromised yet. At least, I hope not...

[Wade]: ...I guess that makes sense. I’ll get to you as fast as I can.

You aren't sure if you can trust him completely, but you don't have much of a choice at the moment.

You turn to face Olivia, who’s already heard the context of the situation and has equipped her suit.

[Wade]: We’re going to get K8-E and meet up with The Cowl.

You walk past her to finish equipping your armor. Thankfully, it wasn't terribly damaged during last night’s encounter.

[Olivia]: What’s going on?

[Wade]: Dunno. Some sort of attack, I think. We've gotta get the city back under control.

Gwen and Olivia appear to bothered by the lack of information, but they decide to follow along with your plan regardless.

[Wade]: Olumar, can you bring the kids inside and watch them for me? Call me if they start acting weird.

[Olumar]: As you wish, Master.

A plume of blue smoke emerges from her golden lamp, and passes you by as you and the others exit the house. You hear her bringing the kids inside and shooing the neighbors away, so you resign to leaving her in charge as you bring your motorcycle around.

------

After Olivia shoves Gwen into her bag, she hops on the back of your motorcycle and holds on tight as you race down the city’s streets. Considering the state of these roads, you decrease your speed to avoid losing control of your vehicle.

You face forward, never taking your eyes off of the road, but you can feel Olivia turning her head to take in the destruction and chaos that this disaster has brought on. You don’t have time to think about any of that right now. The city may be in danger, but so is your world.

------

Once you arrive at Natel-E’s apartment, you notice that the surrounding area has been thoroughly ravaged by a metahuman of some sort. The overturned cars are completely covered in powdery snow, and you can feel the crunch of shattered glass beneath your feet.

(Cont.)

But before you can enter the building, your body is flung into the hood of a car in the blink of an eye. You groan as you slide off of the dented vehicle, but not before seeing your cousin slammed onto the ground by a silver blur.

Without even having to be told, you recognize the blur as Blindside. She’s a mysterious speedster that doesn’t interact with others much. The full potential of her abilities is unknown to you. You really hope she doesn’t have any backup.

>Transform into an alien. (Which one?)
>Create a mana wall in front of her so that she slams into it.
>Bait her into attacking you, and allow Trixy to override your suit’s motor controls in order to hit her while she’s moving.
>Swing your sword at her in order to limit her movements and distract her, while Olivia hits her from behind.
>Call out to K8-E and Natel-E. Maybe they’ll show up to help you.
>Write-in.

Aliens Unlocked:
https://pastebin.com/JVq4NM2t

Skills, Stats and Inventory:
https://pastebin.com/iEYrGZS1

Quicklist:
>Big Chill
>Diamondhead
>Zipmunk
>Bloodrush
>XLR8
>Fourcast
>Thriller Whale
>Knuckle Duster
>Hack N’ Slash
>Snapdragon

>>3993099
>>Create a mana wall in front of her so that she slams into it.
Knee high so she trips

>>3993099
>>Swing your sword at her in order to limit her movements and distract her, while Olivia hits her from behind.
or
>>Transform into an alien. (Which one?)
XLR8
>>3993110
you know that's just inviting disaster

>>3993099
>Create a mana wall in front of her so that she slams into it.
>>3993118
We said we would think about trying magic again, so why not try now?
Plus, it's a very efective way of dealing with the speedster

>>3993099
>Transform into an alien. (Which one?)
>Diamondhead

>>3993118
Yes, but it would be very effective.

>>3993110
>>3993135
Roll 1d100, bo3!

Fingers crossed!

Rolled 63 (1d100)

>>3993140
c'mon 1!

Rolled 53 (1d100)

>>3993140

only one chance left

Rolled 31 (1d100)

>>3993140

>>3993144
>>3993147
>>3993363
Better than a nat 1! Writing...

>63

You take a deep breath and stretch your hand out as a stream of purple mana flows from it and into the ground. As it travels along the earth, you command it to erect a barrier at knee length. And once Blindside runs into it, she stumbles over the barrier in an attempt to clear the hurdle in a rush. But as soon as she slows down, Olivia smashes her in the face with an extending boxing glove made out of mana. The glass visor on her mask cracks, and you see a trickle of blood fly from her mouth as she falls backwards and collapses to the ground.

[Wade]: Huh. That was surprisingly not terrible…

You gaze at your hand, before clenching it and rising to your feet once more. You join Olivia’s side, who’s currently tying Blinside up in a tangle of mana whips. The Asian speedster struggles to break free, but she doesn’t seem to be making any progress.

[Olivia]: I’ve got this. You go get your girl.

Olivia rubs the back of her head while giving you a thumbs up. It looked like she hit the ground pretty hard earlier, but it must've looked worse than it actually was. Either that or she landed on a favorable angle and mitigated the damage.

You nod towards her and break off into a sprint as you enter Natel-E’s apartment. The front doors have been torn clean off the hinges, and it would appear that several people have left their front doors slightly ajar, while some have been left wide open.

But once you reach Natel-E’s room, your worst fears are realized.

The door has been forced open, and the inside looks an absolute wreck! There are clothes strewn about, shattered dishware scattered along the floor, and damaged furniture decorating this crime scene. However, you don’t notice any blood in the room. There are certainly signs of a struggle, but no signs of anyone being gravely injured.

Other than that, there seem to be anyone else here.

You clench your fist and grit your teeth as you try to find a way to track down your girlfriend before something terrible happens to her. If it hasn't already...

>Transform into Monitor Lizard and track her by scent.
>Use a divining spell to get a feel for where K8-E is.
>Contact Pyth0n and ask her to use her tech skills to locate K8-E.
>Search the apartment for clues.
>Call The Cowl and ask him if he’s seen someone by her description.
>Go back downstairs and interrogate Blindside.
>Write-in.

>>3993479
>>Transform into Monitor Lizard and track her by scent.

>>3993479
>Transform into Monitor Lizard and track her by scent.

>>3993479
>Transform into Monitor Lizard and track her by scent.

>>3993488
>>3993495
>>3993765
Writing...

File: Monitor Lizard.jpg (164 KB, 1024x1449)

164 KB JPG

You open up your belt’s face-plate, and sift through your selection of aliens until you find Monitor Lizard. With his keen senses, you should be able to track down K8-E by her scent alone. And you know that there’s gotta be something in here with her scent on it.

You slam your hand down onto the Omnitrix’s core, causing a violet flash of light to flood the room. And once it dissipates, your form changes into that of Monitor Lizard!

Once you become acclimated to your environment, you use your many eyes to search the room for something that smells like K8-E. And low and behold, you spot one of her sweaters lying on the ground. She absolutely loved that thing, so you know that there’d be no chance of her leaving it on the floor like that. Her motherly instincts wouldn’t allow it.

You crawl over the torn garment and shove your nose into its soft and silky material. After a couple of whiffs, you memorize the scent and catalog it within your mind. Now, there’s nowhere in the world she can hide from you.

------

You carefully crawl along the apartment’s walls in order to exit the building, and Olivia’s eyes go wide upon catching sight of you. You don’t think that she’s seen this one yet.

As she cautiously winds her hand back to toss a mana bolt, you stop at a safe distance in order to convince her that you’re friendly.

[Wade]: Ollie, it’s me.

The guttural growls and snarls that escape your scaly lips are somehow translated into English by the device around your neck.

She raises an eyebrow as she lowers her hand and scatters the mana that was once concentrated in her palm. She seems a bit skeptical at first, but you manage to convince her when she spots the Omnitrix symbol on your shoulder.

[Olivia]: Really? What do you call that one?

The moment your feet touch the snow, they grow numb and begin to ache. Monitor Lizard’s cold-blooded nature might become a problem if you spend too much time outside.

[Wade]: Monitor Lizard.

A wide, goofy grin spreads across her face in an instant.

[Olivia]: Ha. I get it. Because of the-

She clearly points at your many eyeballs, but you don’t have the patience to entertain her at the moment.

[Wade]: They got her, Ollie. I don’t know who did it, but they’re gonna pay when I find them.

Her smile quickly turns into a frown, and she looks to be at a loss for words.

[Wade]: But don’t worry. This guy’s an excellent tracker, so we’ll be able to find her in no time.

You raise your nose to the air in order to track K8-E’s scent, but a sickeningly sweet aroma assaults your senses the moment you attempt to use them. It’s coming from all around you.

It’s intoxicating, but you think you can ignore it long enough to find K8-E.

(Cont.)

[Olivia]: It’s like what Toucan Sam said. “You’ve gotta follow your nose.”

Without you asking her, Trixy brings your bike around and parks it beside Olivia. She excitedly climbs onto the leather seat and revs the engine a few times. Normally, you’d tell her to knock it off, but you can understand the excitement of mounting a majestic vehicle such as yours.

You gallop in the direction of K8-E’s scent, with Olivia and Gwen following close behind you.

The Cowl will have to wait for a little while. Because right now, you need to put your mind to rest.

-------

After a few minutes of enduring the numbing cold nipping at your feet, you strongly believe that you’re closing on K8-E’s location.

With your many eyes, you get a chance to observe Bellwood as a barren, frozen wasteland. Every so often, you find an injured individual laid out on the side of the road, or an overturned car in the middle of the road. The amount of property damage alone is gonna make taxpayers very unhappy for a while.

All of a sudden, you stop dead in your tracks, causing Olivia to do the same. Luckily, your tires perform very well in all types of weather and terrain.

[Olivia]: What’s wrong, boy?

[Wade]: We’re close. Leave the bike there.

You run ahead of her as she struggles to dismount the bike, pushed forward by dogged persistence and sheer desperation. But once you get closer to the building that K8-E scent is emanating from, you notice that it’s a rundown shopping mall. The initial confusion stops you for a moment, allowing Olivia to catch up to you.

[Olivia]: She’s in here?

Olivia crosses her arms in disbelief stares into the abandoned establishment.

[Wade]: She must be. The nose doesn’t lie.

Olivia shrugs her shoulders and follows you inside of the building, and as soon as your feet touch the chilled marble floor, they burn from the feeling of having your blood vessels constricted. Upon entering, you realize that the first store is a toy store of some sort. It’s riddled with creepy dolls and deteriorated stuffed animals.

The two of you descend deeper and deeper into the toy store, and the creepy atmosphere seems to be getting to Olivia. However, her anxiety is quickly blown away when the two of you find a gaping hole in the center of the store, leading into the lower levels of the mall.

[Wade]: It’s quicker than taking the stairs. Hop on.

You allow Olivia to climb onto your back as you crawl deeper into this twisted and collapsing structure. You carefully avoid any exposed wires or sharp, jagged pipes that might harm Olivia. Rushing into danger right now would only prove detrimental to your mission.

(Cont.)

-----

Once you reach the ground floor, Olivia climbs off of your back and continues to follow you in pursuit of K8-E. Eventually, you pick up a couple of heat signatures, and eventually, voices.

You alert Olivia to their presence and slowly skulk through the abandoned mall with great caution. Once you get close enough, you see a large group of heroes, villains and civilians gathered around man wearing a white suit with red stripes. He appears to be an older gentleman, with white hair and a wicked burn scar across his face. Looks to be third degree.

And in the corner of your eye, you spot K8-E in the crowd! And it looks like she’s...moving gift boxes?

At this distance, you can vaguely pick up on what they’re doing. But in order to hear them, you’d need to get a bit closer.

What do you do?

>Get closer to figure out what they’re up to.
>Sneak closer to the group, use your tongue to paralyze K8-E, and drag her away from this commotion without anyone noticing you.
>Call The Cowl and alert him to your location.
>Pounce on top of the man in the white suit. He must be the cause of all this.
>Cut the power to their lights in order to throw them into disarray, and pick them off one by one.
>Write-in.

>>3993795
>Get closer to figure out what they’re up to.

>>3993795
>Call The Cowl and alert him to your location
>Get closer to figure out what they’re up to.

>>3993795
>Call The Cowl and alert him to your location.
>Cut the power to their lights in order to throw them into disarray, and pick them off one by one.

>>3993899
>>3994052
>>3994267
Writing...

You turn to Olivia and utter a low growl, while your translator does the rest of the work.

[Wade]: Call The Cowl. Tell him where we are. I’m gonna get a closer look.

You silently creep closer as Olivia angrily whispers at you, but you don’t pay her any mind.

As you approach the group, you start to notice a few familiar faces in the crowd, aside from K8-E’s.

Like Detective Hopper, the frog-faced private investigator, Psycho Cut, the ninja that utilizes illusions to fool his foes, and Loco Motion, the deadly-dancing DJ. But the people that worry you the most are Storm Raven and Wilderbee. Not only are they powerful allies of the hero community, but they’re also some of the strongest humans that you know of.

All of them appear to be loading gift-wrapped boxes onto delivery trucks. You begin to wonder how they got the trucks down here, but then you remember the gaping hole in the floor that you descended from.

Once you get close enough, you’re able to hear what the man in the striped suit is saying.

[Citizen Cane]: Come on folks, get a move on! If we wanna make these deliveries, then we’ve gotta hustle!

He sounds less threatening than his facial scar implies, but the gigantic candy cane should’ve tipped you off about that.

He barks orders at the aliens and mutants within the crowd, and they all seem to be obeying him with big smiles on their faces. That is until Detective Hopper drops a pile of heavy boxes on his own foot, causing him to jump up and down in agony. The others go quiet and cease moving as they stare at Hopper’s distracting behavior.

The man in the striped suit pinches the bridge of his nose and shakes his head in disappointment, before walking over to the frog mutant while swinging his cane in circles.

[Citizen Cane]: Hop, Buddy. What’s going on here, huh? Do you need me to take you need to go into time out again? Because I can drag you off this line if you can’t take the heat.

Hopper shakes his head in defiance and struggles to pick the boxes back up again.

[Citizen Cane]: That’s what I thought. Now, why can’t you guys be more like these gals over here?

He points to two Kinecelerans loading up a truck in the blink of an eye. It’s K8-E and Natel-E!

[Citizen Cane]: See? Now that's efficiency!

Suddenly, your Omnitrix begins beeping rapidly, signaling the end of your transformation period. You must’ve used up quite a bit of energy running all the way over here!

Everyone, including Citizen Cane, looks around to find the source of the noise.

[Citizen Cane]: What’s that beeping sound?

And in a golden flash of light, your position is revealed to everyone present on the ground floor. You slowly back away now that all of their eyes are on you. Citizen Cane is somehow amused by all of this.

(Cont.)

[Citizen Cane]: Well well well. I knew this place had rats, but bug too? Someone should really call an exterminator.

He looks around for a moment, before rolling his eyes and turning to address his minions.

[Citizen Cane]: That’s you guys. You’re the exterminators.

They continue to stare at him with confused expressions, which causes the man in the striped suit to run his hand down his face in frustration. It’s almost as if he was dealing with superpowered infants.

[Citizen Cane]: Kill him! I want you to kill him!

All of them dive towards you after getting clear instructions from their leader, and you nearly stumble backwards from the overwhelming assault.

What do you do?

>Slip past them and target Citizen Cane with your sword.
>Wake Gwen from her nap and have her transform into a living suit of armor.
>Retreat until backup arrives!
>Toss a mana bolt at a tall stack of boxes. They seem to get distracted easily, so you might be able to use that to your advantage.
>Team up with Olivia in order to tie them up with your combined mana constructs.
>Write-in.

>>3994555
>>Slip past them and target Citizen Cane with your sword.

>>3994555
>Toss a mana bolt at a tall stack of boxes. They seem to get distracted easily, so you might be able to use that to your advantage.

>>3994555
Hey, I'm>>3994584 from mobile. Just gonna add on to my post to drop a flash bang behind us if we got one?

>>3994555
>Team up with Olivia in order to tie them up with your combined mana constructs.

Can we try and improve our swordsmanship? Less chance for a disaster and it's something we can technically use while transformed.

>>3994744
This is the only possible solution.

>>3996533
Not really.

>>3994744
>>3996533
Roll 1d100, bo3!

Tried to post the roll order at work, but Captcha is being weird on my phone now.

Rolled 50 (1d100)

>>3996877

Rolled 4 (1d100)

>>3996877
happy new year
https://www.deviantart.com/rzgmon200/gallery/all
this dude is surprisingly good at making making hybrid aliens

Rolled 14 (1d100)

>>3996877
Let’s get dangerous!

>>3996908
>>3996993
>>3997055
Writing...

File: 4c6c4ef86ef4edcaf26346e6a(...).jpg (102 KB, 564x679)

102 KB JPG

Also...HAPPY NEW YEAR!

>>3997392
Happy new year, Galvan!

>50

You nod towards Olivia, and the two of you project a pair of elongated mana constructs that stretch outwards until they interlock with one another. It feels a bit weird to combine your construct with someone else’s, but at the same time, Olivia’s very presence soothes your anxious mind.

Together, the two of you run circles around the manipulated masses, entangling them in your mana construct in the process. They struggle and squirm within your grasp, but to no avail. You honestly thought they’d put up much more of a fight.

However, you initial disappointment is quickly blown away, along with you and your cousin, in a flash of white light! It would appear that Storm Raven has evaded capture, and is now raining hell down upon you in the form of lightning.

Your mana construct quickly dissolves upon being knocked back, and in an instant, you’re at the mercy of your assailants.

You can feel the weight of their strikes driving you deeper into the ground as the tile beneath you cracks and fragments. You try to rise to your feet, but the overwhelming assault from K8-E and Natel-E make that task seem impossible, almost as if you were being tossed about by the waves in a turbulent storm.

But you’re not focused on any of them right now. The only strikes you need to avoid at all costs, are the ones that Wilderbee is delivering. Any punches from him would surely break a couple bones, even through your armor.

Upon seeing the yellow idiot swinging his fist down at you, your survival instinct kicks in, allowing you to twist your body to the side in order to narrowly avoid it. And luckily, he manages to get his fist stuck in the process, which gives you some time to recuperate.

However, you quickly learn that you can’t keep this up forever. And that painful lesson comes in the form of a wicked bolt of lightning. The energy arcs through the air and strikes your body in the blink of an eye. As the others back away from your convulsing body, electricity surges through your suit as Trixy struggles to divert it in a last ditch effort.

Your body grows numb, and you feel a burning sensation spreading along your skin as the electricity racks your feeble frame.

You glance over at Olivia, who seems to be holding them at bay with a sturdy barrier. However, you don’t think it’ll last much longer.

Huh. Why didn’t you think to do that…?

Just then, a smoke grenade drops near your feet, and soon enough, the room is shrouded in a thick white fog. The mind controlled mob starts to cough and murmur amongst one another, giving you the chance you need to recover from your wounds.

A large shadow swoops down from the heavens, before landing upon Wilderbee and delivering a knee strike to his well sculpted face. And in that same fluid motion, the shadowy figure tosses a projectile of some sort at Storm Raven. The white haired harpy attempts to avoid it, but as soon as it makes contact with her skin, it unfolds into a type of insulated foam, which en-capsules her body.

The Kineceleran girls try to flank the figure, but they are quickly distracted by...a duck in a yellow raincoat?

She quacks and waves her hands around in order to draw their attention, and it seems to be working so far.

[Goose]: Say cheese!

Before they can turn to face the source of the voice, a large plasma net flies at the Kineceleran sisters, trapping them inside as they fall to the floor. A guilty feeling sinks into your gut as you watch your girlfriend struggle in captivity, but deep down you know that there was no other way of handling that.

A strange woman wearing a leather jacket, an aviator’s cap, and a leotard grabs your hand and drags you away from the conflict. You assume that she’s the one that fired the net gun. It takes you a while to recognize her, but now that you’ve seen her in the light, you can clearly see that she’s the crazed lunatic known as “Goose”!

[Goose]: Sorry about your girlfriend, but we’ve gotta go!

You laugh off her strange remark, but her choice of words make you rather suspicious of her. You honestly can’t tell if that was a joke or not.

As you distance yourself from the conflict, you see The Cowl sprinting out of the veil of smoke, while carrying Olivia and Duckie in his arms.

------

Once you make it outside, you take a moment to catch your breath. All the while, The Cowl and the child-sized duck stare at you in silence. Goose however, slaps you in back so hard that your muscles ache.

[Goose]: Sorry we're late. We came as soon as I read the quest’s last update.

Once again, you have absolutely no idea what Goose is talking about. You aren't sure why The Cowl brought her along. Even Birdie is more professional than she is.

>”...What?”
>"That net you fired at those girls won't hurt them, right?"
>”Who’s the duck?”
>”So is this everyone? These guys are members of the Birds of Paradise?”
>”Can anyone clue me in on what’s going on here?!”
>”Why was that guy down there?”
>”What were they doing with those trucks and those boxes?”
>”Thanks for showing up when you did. Thought we were goners.”
>Write-in.

>>3997486
>>"That net you fired at those girls won't hurt them, right?"
>”So is this everyone? These guys are members of the Birds of Paradise?”
>”Thanks for showing up when you did. Thought we were goners.”

>>3997486
>”Thanks for showing up when you did. Thought we were goners.”
>”Can anyone clue me in on what’s going on here?!”

>>3997486
>"That net you fired at those girls won't hurt them, right?"
>”What were they doing with those trucks and those boxes?”
>”Thanks for showing up when you did. Thought we were goners.”

You brush Goose’s hand away and gaze into her aviator’s lenses.

[Wade]: That net you fired at those girls won’t hurt them, right?

She shrugs while maintaining her nonchalant smile, but you try your best to hold back your frustration.

[Wade]: Well, thanks for showing up when you did. Thought we were goners.

Olivia tries to chime in after catching her breath, but before she can, the snow storm that continues to ravage Bellwood begins to intensify. Dark thunder clouds roll over the previous one that were pale and calm, and the wind starts to howl as it pushes against your armor plates.

The Cowl signals you to follow him, but you’re having trouble hearing or seeing anything due to high speed winds. Nevertheless, you and the others follow him into a nearby subway station. Somehow, it seems to have been spared in the wake of these apocalyptic weather conditions.

-------

The small duck-like creature known as “Duckie” helps Goose to start a fire in order for you and the others to keep warm. However, seeing that Goose wears a Leotard that exposes her bare legs, the fire doesn't do much to help her.

[Cowl]: I’m glad you could make it, X. And I see you brought a friend.

Olivia puts on her best smile while she struggles to stay warm by the fire.

[Wade]: And it looks like you brought backup too.

You glance over at Goose and Duckie, who both appear to be rather unfit for this line of work.

[Cowl]: Indeed. Goose is a reserve member who provides her assistance during dire straits. And Duckie is, well…

Duckie absentmindedly stares at The Cowl without blinking for a moment. It doesn't seem like it has much meaning behind it, but the intensity behind its gaze is unmistakable.

[Cowl]: ...Duckie is a special case. Let’s leave it at that.

[Wade]: Sure. Fine by me. Now, can you fill me in on what’s going on here?

He nods and crosses his arms together.

[Cowl]: Certainly.

He brandishes a vile of some sort filled with a purplish liquid. He swirls it around a bit, causing it to take on a clear hue all of a sudden.

[Cowl]: After a bit of testing, I’ve discovered that this snow is rather...abnormal.

[Olivia]: Abnormal how?

[Cowl]: It’s nothing more than diluted sugar water. However, the freezing point of sugar water is quite-

[Olivia]: It’s pretty low, right? Like 26 degrees Fahrenheit?

The Cowl’s eyes widen a bit, but his surprise is rather subtle.

[Cowl]: Correct. And seeing as I’ve found traces of this substance in the blood of the mind controlled victims, I can assume two things. This storm is being artificially created by means of a weather manipulation device, and it is likely that the substance mixed in with the water is somehow responsible for the abnormal behavior of our allies.

You don’t really understand how ingesting sugar water could make someone go crazy, but it must have something to do with that weird guy from earlier.

[Wade]: So, what do we do?

(Cont.)

[Cowl]: We have a few options. We can go directly after the weather device, but that might mean that we’d fall prey to the effects of the sugary substance. And it is likely that it would be heavily guarded.

Getting rid of the device would help you out in the longrun, but it would also tip off the guy that’s in charge. And you can’t risk him getting away with whatever was in those boxes.

[Goose]: Well, why don’t we just face him head on? I can change a couple of the QM’s updates to help you guys out!

She raises a fist triumphantly, but yet again you have no idea what she’s on about. The others appear to be just as confused, but The Cowl seems to be used to her tomfoolery.

Just then, Duckie flaps her wings and pecks at Goose’s bare legs. The goofy girl proceeds to pick up the bird and hold her like a child.

[Duckie]: Quack.

She lets out an adorable quack, which leaves you feeling rather confused.

[Goose]: Ooh! Good idea.

You tilt your head and raise an eyebrow at the strange pair.

[Goose]: She said that we should look into this bad guy a bit. Maybe we’ll find something like a weakness or a bargaining chip.

Not a bad suggestion for a duck.

What do you suggest?

>Go with The Cowl’s plan. Stopping that weather machine should be your top priority. If this storm spreads any further than Bellwood, then you might be in serious trouble.
>Go with Goose’s plan. You hate to say it, but a frontal assault is the safest way to end this as soon as possible.
>Go with Duckie’s plan. There might be more to this guy than you initially thought. It might pay off later to do some research.
>Ask Olivia and Gwen for their input. Their solution most likely incorporates magic in some way, but it might be worth a shot.
>Split the team and tackle separate objectives simultaneously. (How do you split them?)
>Write-in.

>>3998077
>>Split the team and tackle separate objectives simultaneously. (How do you split them?)
Us and cowl going for Gooses plan. Goose, Duckie, Gwen and Olivia going for Cowls plan

>>3998109
Supporting this one

>>3998077
>Go with The Cowl’s plan. Stopping that weather machine should be your top priority. If this storm spreads any further than Bellwood, then you might be in serious trouble.

>>3998077
>>Ask Olivia and Gwen for their input. Their solution most likely incorporates magic in some way, but it might be worth a shot.

>>3998077
>contact Pyth0n, offer to pay for information on Citizen Kane, then move out.
>Split the team and tackle separate objectives simultaneously. (Cowl, Olivia and Gwen melt the snow. Goose, Duckie, and us break the Kane.)

[Wade]: We should split the team up. Me and The Cowl should go after the weird dude with the oversized candy cane, while the rest of you guys go for the weather machine.

They nod at you, seemingly satisfied with your compromise. Considering you and The Cowl are the strongest front liners on the team, the two of you might be able to take out is well groomed menace.

[Cowl]: Fine. But before we do that, we should change into our winter gear.

Everyone seems a bit confused by his statement.

[Cowl]: Did none of you bring a change of clothes?

Olivia scratches the back of her head, while averting her gaze and whistling a jagged tune.

Goose however, snaps her fingers and winks at no one in particular.

[Goose]: Aw shucks! If only I had some winter wear...to wear…

She scans the room while looking slightly agitated for some reason.

[Goose]: Psst! That's your cue, Gal…

>...All of a sudden, Goose stumbles upon a pair of sweatpants, warm gloves and winter boots sitting in the corner of the room.

[Goose]: Yay! You're a doll, Gal!

She squeals in a high pitched tone as she rushes to equip her newfound articles of clothing.

Olivia proceeds to pull Gwen out of her bag and whisper something into her ear. Gwen nods, before shifting into an amorphous mass of light and enveloping Olivia's body.

And in an instant, Gwen transforms into a protective suit that's well acclimated to your current weather conditions.

And while you weren't looking, it would appear that The Cowl has changed into a white suit with light blue lines replacing the gold trim on his previous one. You make a mental note to call this one the "Snow Owl Variant".

[Cowl]: X, are you going to change as well?

Everyone looks to you expectantly, hoping to see what kind of costume change you'll pull out of thin air.

[Wade]: Nope. Not changing a classic.

You cross your arms and firmly stand your ground, which causes a collective disappointed sigh to echo throughout the subway tunnels.

------

After seeing your friends off, you and The Cowl ride your motorcycles down the snow-covered streets. However, the roads soon become far too treacherous for the two of you, which causes you to take to the rooftops for the rest of the trip.

From your elevated position, you see that Bellwood has been covered by a thick blanket of snow, and the storm shows no signs of letting up anytime soon.

You nearly slip off the roof a couple of times, but Trixy quickly adjusts the treads of your boots for better traction. You mentally kick yourself upon seeing The Cowl flawlessly flip and fly through this treacherous terrain, knowing that he most likely prepared for this beforehand.

------

After about 12 minutes, you begin to wonder whether The Cowl knows where he's going, until you see a white truck driving down the road that bears a striking resemblance to the one you saw in the basement level of that mall.

(Cont.)

Without a word, The Cowl tosses a birdarang at the truck's tire, popping it in the process and causing the truck to spin out of control.

The driver slams his foot on the brakes just in time, allowing him to narrowly avoid tipping the vehicle over.

The driver kicks the door open and jumps out of his seat, revealing himself to be Hunk, a down to earth Superhero that's got stone skin.

His eyes scan the surrounding area in search of the one who popped his tire, but he doesn't think to look up for some reason.

And when you look to your right, you notice that The Cowl is gone! Without a word of warning, he's scampered all the way back down to the ground and concealed himself within the snow.

And while Hunk's back is turned, The Cowl creeps up from behind, jumps on his back and sprays some sort foam-like substance all over his face.

The foam quickly solidifies, causing the big brute to fly into a panic, and throwing The Cowl off of his back in the process.

You watch as Hunk desperately claws at his face, struggling to breathe as he falls to one knee with a resounding thud. But soon enough, Hunk simply punches himself in the face as hard as he can, breaking the solidified foam in the process. Interestingly enough, he doesn't appear to have hurt himself at all with the self inflicted punch.

He shakes off the remainder of the foam and starts looking around with an agitated expression. However, The Cowl is nowhere to be seen. You share in his initial confusion for a moment, before the Caped Crusader reappears next to you on the rooftop without warning. Had you not been used to his usual antics, you'd be pretty damn spooked right about now.

[Wade]: Wanna tell me what that was all about?

He brandishes a gift-wrapped box from his cloak, similar to the ones you saw when you had first encountered the man in the striped suit.

The Cowl examines the tag attached to the ribbon.

[Cowl]: "Stay Sweet-- Citizen Cane"

He attempts to remove the box's lid, but before he can, Trixy quickly scans the contents of the box and speaks up.

[Trixy]: Do not open that box! A highly sensitive magnetic strip has been placed inside. If the ribbon is removed, then it will displace the magnetic strip, causing a chain reaction.

The Cowl quickly removes his hand from the lid and distances himself from the box.

[Wade]: You think there's a bomb in there?!

[Trixy]: Among other things, I am detecting a high concentration of sugar within the box. It is likely that this Citizen Cane character is planning to ship these boxes all over the country.

[Cowl]: And if he uses the sugar to control his victims, then he could use these bombs to amass an army in mere minutes!

[Trixy]: Precisely. But that will not happen, because I am tracing the chemical residue to show points of extremely high concentration.

(Cont.)

------

After visiting several points of high concentration, you finally managed to find the location of Citizen Cane's bombs. And along with them, Citizen Cane and his brainwashed minions.

You breathe a sigh of relief upon seeing that K8-E and Natel-E are safe, but you're a bit concerned by the absence of Storm Raven and Wilderbee.

They must be guarding the weather device. You hope the B team holds up during their mission.

Just then, a large Jump Jet soars over your head and lands in the middle of the road, right in front of Citizen Cane. And out of it, come Agent Six and Lieutenant Steel!

[Citizen Cane]: Glad you boys could make it. I was starting to freeze my hams off out here.

The two of them remain motionless and expressionless before him, causing Citizen Cane to roll his eyes in frustration.

[Citizen Cane]: My God, you guys are boring. Couldn't you at least smile for me?

They maintain their deadpan expressions without fail.

[Citizen Cane]: ...Fine. Then allow me to sweeten the deal.

He brandishes a silver canister from his breast-pocket and uses it to spray a pink, misty fluid in their faces. And upon coming into contact with it, Six and Steel's mouths curl into a wide, toothy grin. It almost looks painful.

[Citizen Cane]: There. Now isn't that better?

The scoundrel laughs to himself, before snapping his fingers and leaving forward on his oversized candy cane. Immediately afterwards, the Kineceleran sisters proceed to load the gift boxes onto Steel's Jump Jet.

From the looks of things, they'll be done in no time! You need to do something, fast!

>Transform into an alien. (Which one?)
>Stealthily take out as many goons as you can before revealing yourselves for the big confrontation.
>Hit em' fast and hit em' hard!
>Target the Jump Jet to prevent them from escaping.
>Draw everyone's attention to yourself, while the Cowl sneaks around them and goes for Citizen Cane.
>Write-in.

Aliens Unlocked:
https://pastebin.com/JVq4NM2t

Skills, Stats and Inventory:
https://pastebin.com/iEYrGZS1

Quicklist:
>Big Chill
>Diamondhead
>Zipmunk
>Bloodrush
>XLR8
>Fourcast
>Thriller Whale
>Knuckle Duster
>Hack N’ Slash
>Snapdragon

>>3998902
>Transform into an alien. (Which one?)
Either Ghostfreak or Big Chill

>>3999022
Or Upgrade now that I think about it

>>3998902
>Transform into an alien. (Which one?)
>Big Chill

>>3998902
>Transform into an alien. (Which one?)
Big Chill

>>3999022
>>3999152
>>3999153
Writing...

You quickly open your belt’s faceplate and sift through the aliens in your quicklist, before you finally decide that Big Chill is the best alien for the job. And as the Omnitrix’s core pops out as the final method of confirmation, you slam your hand down onto your belt, causing a bright flash of violet light to envelop the white snowscape surrounding you.

Once you morph into Big Chill, your body immediately acclimates to the freezing weather that plagues your poor city. You should’ve done this ages ago!

Unfortunately, it seems that a few of Citizen Cane’s minions have taken notice of your transformation.

What do you do?

>Fly high into the sky and freeze as many people in place as you can.
>Become intangible and fly through a cluster of brainwashed minions in order to freeze them.
>Phase through the ground, and ambush Citizen Cane when you re-emerge.
>Freeze the Jump Jet solid! They’re not getting away from you.
>Whip up a snowstorm with your powerful breath, while The Cowl rushes in to attack the enemy under the veil of snow.
>Write-in.

>>3999227
>Freeze the Jump Jet solid! They’re not getting away from you.

>>3999227
>>Freeze the Jump Jet solid! They’re not getting away from you.
>Try to freeze Cane along the way.

>>3999227
>Freeze the Jump Jet solid! They’re not getting away from you.>>3999227

>>3999229
>>3999232
>>3999261
Roll 1d100, bo3!

Rolled 48 (1d100)

>>3999263

Rolled 52 (1d100)

>>3999263

Rolled 73 (1d100)

>>3999263
Rollan rollan rollan

>73

You fly high into the air, take a deep breath, and exhale a plume of cryogenic gas at the Jump Jet.

Citizen Cane and the others dive to the ground in order to avoid it, but you intend to deal with them later.

As soon as makes contact with the vehicle, a thick layer of ice begins to form over its surface, rendering it completely inoperable.

And luckily, you managed to freeze Agent Six and Lieutenant Steel in the process. Both of them wear the same painfully stretched smile as they remain frozen in a solid block of ice.

Citizen Cane rises to his feet, brushing off his striped suit with a sly grin.

You thought he'd be absolutely livid after what you showed up to rain on his parade again, but he seems strangely pleased.

[Citizen Cane]: X, baby! Glad you could make it. After all, it's never a real party until the fun police show up to shut everything down.

His smile quickly disappears when he spots three birdarangs flying towards him.

And using a reaction speed that you never knew he possessed, he transforms his giant candy cane into a bladed weapon and uses it to parry the ranged projectiles, effectively knocking each of them out of the air without receiving a scratch.

The look of shock on The Cowl's face is unmistakable. Both of you thought he was going to be a bit of a punk, but it looks like you can never judge a book by its cover.

[Citizen Cane]: Now that...was rude.

He takes a moment to slick his hair back and straighten his wrinkled suit, before pointing in your direction with a twisted grin on his face.

[Citizen Cane]: Get him boys!

The horse of brainwashed mutants and aliens rush towards you with reckless abandon.

What do you do?

>Box them in with a large, elaborate ice construct.
>Keep them at bay with your powerful breath, while the Cowl takes them out with a few carefully aimed projectiles.
>Cause them to slip by freezing the ground. This should pacify the Kineceleran sisters as well.
>Phase through a cluster of them and freeze them solid.
>Switch to another alien.(Which one?)
>Go Viral! (Which one?)
>Write-in.

Aliens Unlocked:
https://pastebin.com/JVq4NM2t

Skills, Stats and Inventory:
https://pastebin.com/iEYrGZS1

Quicklist:

>Big Chill
>Diamondhead
>Zipmunk
>Bloodrush
>XLR8
>Fourcast
>Thriller Whale
>Knuckle Duster
>Hack N’ Slash
>Snapdragon

>>3999917
>>Phase through a cluster of them and freeze them solid.

>>3999917
>Cause them to slip by freezing the ground. This should pacify the Kineceleran sisters as well.

>>3999919
>>3999917
Actually gonna switch to
>Cause them to slip by freezing the ground. This should pacify the Kineceleran sisters as well.
>Phase through a cluster of them and freeze them solid.

>>3999930
+1

>>3999930
>>3999979
>>3999925
Roll 1d100+10, bo3!

Rolled 73 + 10 (1d100 + 10)

>>3999986

Rolled 13 + 10 (1d100 + 10)

>>3999986

Rolled 57 (1d100)

>>3999986

>83

You exhale another wave of cryogenic gas, but this time it's directed at the ground. In an instant, the blanket of snow covering the ground is frozen solid, causing those that were once charging towards you to slip and fall. This includes K8-E and Natel-E, but thankfully it looks like they weren't hurt too badly.

While the flustered group of minions slide along the sheet of ice, you proceed to turn your body intangible and phase through as many people as you possibly can. As you your body passes through them, a thick layer of ice forms along their skin and effectively immobilizes them. And for the ones that are still left, The Cowl seems to be keeping them busy.

Now would be a perfect time to go for Citizen Cane!

You turn towards the white-haired menace, only to be met by his sickeningly sweet smile. It is then that an odd sense of righteous anger overtakes you, and you find yourself blindly charging forward at full speed.

It is very much unlike you, but you don't think you can afford to let this go on any further.

But as you get closer, the harsh winds grow ever stronger, and your vision is blurred by the snowflakes that whip away at your face. And before you can reach him, he disappears behind a veil of snowfall.

You dig your feet into the ground to halt your charge, whilst looking around sporadically. His disturbing laugh echoes all around you.

[Olivia]: Wade! Can…hear me…?

Olivia somehow patches into your Omnitrix with a direct call, but the signal is a bit fuzzy due to the storm.

[Wade]: Olivia? What's going on?

[Olivia]: ...weather machine…couldn't get to it in time...overloading now! We lost Goose...she started going crazy and saying that...was gonna start shouting spoilers.

Doesn't sound like brainwashed Goose is any different from regular Goose.

[Olivia]: At first I thought she was stupid, but now...I dunno. I think the "spoilers" that she's been yelling about may have been about us. Like...our future or something.

The signal is growing weaker with each passing moment.

[Olivia]: Oh man, Wade...think we might be in trouble! She told me that Wendy becomes a…!

She keeps cutting out. You can't hear anything that she's saying.

[Wade]: What?

[Olivia]: And poor Kirby has to fight his…! And then Grandpa gets…! We can't let that happen!

She sounds frantic. You can barely understand a word that's coming out of her mouth.

[Wade]: Ollie! Calm down. What's happening?

You hear nothing but static. The line went dead somehow. You have to go help her!

[Citizen Cane]: Family troubles? You and the dentist have something in common, then.

Citizen Cane's voice continues to echo all around you, but the storm prevents you from spotting him.

[Citizen Cane]: Did you really think I wouldn't pay you back for the humiliation you put me through? You naive fool…

What's this guy even talking about. Unless he was someone's masked henchman once upon a time, you're pretty sure that you've never seen this man before in your life.

[Citizen Cane]: But after drifting through the infinite expanse of space for a year, I finally managed to hitch a ride back to Earth.

Wait. Is he an alien or something? You're confused.

[Citizen Cane]: And after being alone with my thoughts for so long, I had plenty of time to plot my revenge.

Just then, he grabs you from behind and grips the Omnitrix symbol on your chest. You try to shake him off, but your Omnitrix begins to chirp loudly and blink rapidly.

[Trixy]: My apologies, Wade. It would appear that I have made a grave error in my calculations. My DNA scan has revealed a crucial detail pertaining to the composition of the snow.

In a flash of golden light, your Omnitrix forcefully times out due to a mysterious phenomena caused by Citizen Cane. Just what did he do to you?

[Trixy]: I've detected the presence of a microscopic species within the snowflakes. Their genetic signature matches that of the sentient alien virus that you fought back in Texas.

As you reel from the shock of both your belt's failure and Trixy's revelation, Citizen Cane grabs one of your lenses and tears it out of your mask in a superhuman display of strength.

And in that instant, your mask is flooded by snowflakes, bearing a sickeningly sweet scent.

[Trixy]: I believe they were called-

[Wade]: The Flash Mob…

Your vision grows hazy, and the world around you melts away as your body sinks into the ground. The sounds of the outside world sound distant and muffled. Almost as if you were underwater. And you continue to sink deeper, and deeper, and deeper, and deeper...until your back finally touches something that feels like solid ground.

------

Once you come to, you recoil at the disorienting feeling that preys upon your senses. You can't see too well at the moment, but you're sure that this area looks alot like Bellwood at night.

Just then, a hand reaches down to you, and connected to it is a strange man that looks oddly familiar to you.

[???]: Need some help?

Your eyes take a moment to adjust to your new surroundings, but once they do, you can clearly see that CITIZEN CANE IS STANDING RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU!

You jump to your feet and assume a defensive posture, but this only leaves the man feeling confused and dejected.

Although his face is the same, he isn't wearing the striped suit, and he doesn't bear the 3rd degree burn that he had before.

There's a gentle nature hidden behind his green eyes. You can tell just by looking at him that this man wouldn't hurt a fly.

>"Who are you? What's going on? Where am I? What'd you do to me?!"
>"Okay, I'm confused."
>"You're...Citizen Cane, right?"
>"Look pal, I've got questions and you'd better have answers. You've officially exhausted all of my patience and Goodwill."
>"What's your angle? Why are you doing all of this?
>Write-in.

>>4000074
>"Who are you? What's going on? Where am I? What'd you do to me?!"

>>4000074
>"You're...Citizen Cane, right?"
>"Look pal, I've got questions and you'd better have answers. You've officially exhausted all of my patience and Goodwill."

>>4000074
>"Okay, I'm confused."

You grab him by the collar and pull his face closer to yours.

[Wade]: Look pal, I've got questions and you'd better have answers. You've officially exhausted all of my patience and Goodwill.

He gulps loudly as a bead of sweat runs down his forehead, but he still struggles to maintain his friendly disposition.

[Citizen Cane(?)]: ...Okay then. What do you wanna know?

[Wade]: Who are you? What's going on? Where am I? What'd you do to me?!

You frantically jump from question to question with barely any delay in between, leaving the kind old man stunned and confused.

[Citizen Cane(?)]: Whoa, slow down son. You don't have anything to be afraid of. I won't hurt ya.

He reassures you with warm smile that thaws away at your cold skepticism. You carefully place the old man onto his feet and fix his wrinkled shirt.

[Wade]: You're...Citizen Cane right?

The old man rolls his eyes at your assumption

[Citizen Cane(?)]: That's the name "they" picked out for me. It's not mine.

He extends a hand towards you once again, but this time your cautiously grab it.

[John]: The name's John. Nice to meet you.

You use your other hand to clutch your head in frustration.

[Wade]: Okay...I'm confused.

[John]: Then let me clear things up for you. Right now, you're in my mind. I managed to pull you in before those body jackers could get their grubby mitts on ya.

[Wade]: You mean The Flash Mob?

[John]: Yeah, them. They really don't like you by the way.

[Wade]: Yeah…I noticed.

You passively wave your hand at his remark. It's no big news when a bad guy doesn't like you for busting him.

You take a moment to examine your surroundings, and it seems that your previous suspicions have been confirmed. The inside of John's mind looks like Bellwood, and the attention to detail is absolutely remarkable. From the potholes to the faded street signs, everything is where it's supposed to be.

[Wade]: So John, you live in Bellwood?

[John]: Yes. Well...I used to. Before the incident that is.

All of a sudden, the world begins to swirl around you, as the shadows and streetlights blend together to form a solitary muted color. And in an instant, the colors and shifting shapes form an entirely different environment. Looks like the inside of some dude's house. Very classy and simple, like it jumped straight out of the 1950's.

[Wade]: What is this?

[John]: My home.

John wears a sullen expression on his face as he takes a moment to inspect his old home.

Just then, a man looking nearly identical to John bursts through the door, looking absolutely exhausted. His tie is loose, collar wrinkled and his sleeves are rolled up to his elbow. But the biggest thing you notice is the massive scar spread across his face.

[Wade]: How'd you get the scar?

[John]: Had an accident when I used to make Honey Baked Hams. Some hot sugar splashed on my face when my supervisor told me to work faster on Christmas Eve. Got a huge settlement out of it, and it was enough to buy myself a house.

(Cont.)

File: Swanky house.jpg (179 KB, 1500x1071)

179 KB JPG

He smiles while recalling the terrible memory of receiving his scar, and you can't help but feel that he should be more angry about his past than he is.

[John]: Darla, I'm home!

As he hangs his hat up on a nearby rack, a beautiful blonde woman wearing a pink dress rushes to greet John at the door.

She hastily grabs his suspenders and pulls him in for a kiss. You look over to John, and he appears to be genuinely happy upon witnessing his past.

[John]: That's Darla, my Sweetheart. And the fella she's frenching over there is me. I considered myself a lucky guy back then.

He sighs deeply before walking into another room of the house. You follow him, until both of you end up in the kitchen. And once you're there, you notice that both John and Darla are now dancing with one another while cooking a turkey.

You begin to wonder whether these memories are being remembered fondly due to nostalgia.

[John]: Darla was the light of my life. I was a dentist that was getting close to retirement, and she was a waitress with her whole life ahead of her. Everyone told me that she only wanted me for my money, but I never listened to 'em. All I wanted was to make her smile.

[Wade]: So what happened?

John's smile disappears, and he lowers his gaze towards the checker pattern kitchen floor.

The scene changes once more, and you see the two of them stressing about bills in the dining room.

[John]: Darla had alot of debt, and no way to pay it off. She'd borrowed money from the wrong people, and the interest kept racking up, until they came knocking at our door.

A group of well dressed men forcefully enter the room, and John pushes Darla behind his back for her protection.

[John]: They told us that they wanted the money by tomorrow, or else they'd get it from us in...other ways.

The three men leave after threatening the couple, and you see Darla break into tears as John wraps his arms around her.

[John]: She didn't know what to do. We were both so scared and confused, and calling the cops simply wasn't an option.

The light in the dining room dims considerably z until you cannot see either John or Darla anymore.

[John]: So that's when I decided to take matters into my own hands.

The scene transitions to that of a bank.

Oh god, John. Please tell me you didn't-

[John]: That's right. I withdrew my savings and took out a loan. I wanted more than anything for Darla and me to be free of this curse. So I went home and stashed it beneath the floorboards.

As if he had read your thoughts, John answers every pressing concern that weighed on your mind.

The scene transitions to John and Darla celebrating with one another by drinking the night away.

[John]: When I told her, she was ecstatic. We danced the night away and drowned our troubles in liquor. I felt like I was at the top of the world.

You can already guess what's going to happen, but you feel as if it would nice to ask anyway.

[Wade]: So then what happened?

(Cont.)

File: SWanky house2.jpg (294 KB, 1500x882)

294 KB JPG

[John]: I drank until I passed out, and when I woke up, she was gone...and so was the money. She left without so much as a note.

You can see John's memory of frantically searching for his Sweetheart, but to no avail.

[John]: If there's one thing you should know about me, it's that I'm a Sucker for a good sob story. Always have been, and always will be. She fed me everything I wanted to hear so that she could stay under my roof, and I ate it up.

The scene transitions to John packing his suitcase in a hurry. But before he has a chance to finish, the loan shark forcefully enter his home once more. They appear to be displeased, and one of them fiddles with a pair of pliers in one of his hands.

You watch in horror as they tie him to a chair, beat him senseless and proceed to pull his teeth out with the pair of pliers.

[John]: They asked me where my Sweetheart went, and whenever I told them I didn't know, they'd pluck one of my teeth out.

John looks mortified upon seeing himself being tortured. The poor guy is on the brink of tears.

[John]: I told them "no" 32 times that night. They thought it was funny that a dentist was getting his teeth pulled, but I was the only one that wasn't laughin'.

You can see John's swollen and bloodied face begging for mercy as he sobs uncontrollably. Your don't think you can stomach this gruesome scene any longer.

[John]: And then…"it" happened.

Suddenly, a sizeable object comes crashing through John's roof, and creates a massive crater in the floor as the room fills with smoke and debris.

After the cloud of powdered drywall and cement clears, John's eyes widen upon noticing that the loan sharks had been killed in the crash.

[John]: I don't know if it was due to dumb luck that I lived, but I was kinda hoping that it would've put me out of my misery back then.

The fallen meteorite begins to glow a bright shade of green, illuminating the entire room in the process.

[John]: But the rock...it offered me something different. The chance to be somebody. The chance to stop being a loser and a maroon.

You see John crawling towards the meteorite and stretching a hand out towards it.

[John]: Like I said. Once a sucker, always a sucker.

As soon as his hand makes contact with it, a bright flash of light envelops the entire house.

[John]: The virus took over my body, and helped me get back on my feet. I got dentures to replace my teeth, a nice clean suit, and a job selling candy to folks on the street.

The scene transitions to one depicting the fellow you now know as Citizen Cane, giving out candy to aliens and humans alike. His warm smile is unimpeded by his nasty looking scar.

[John]: At first it seemed like a good gig. But then I learned that no one's ever as sweet as they say they are.

[Wade]: They used you.

He slowly nods and faces away from you.

(Cont.)

[John]: When I would go to sleep, they'd use my body to create all kinds of crazy things. Like bombs and weather machines. And by the time I'd realized what was going on, it was too late. They'd already taken full control of my body.

His appearance is now exactly like that of Citizen Cane's.

[Citizen Cane]: What a sucker I turned out to be, huh?

>"I'm so sorry that all of this happened to you. I promise, you'll get your body back and I'll help you sort all of this out."
>"They've been using your body, so you have to know what their plans are, right?"
>"John, I need you to fight them. Even if it's only to buy a couple seconds of time. If you don't then we're stuck here."
>"Is there any way out of here? I can't let them take control of my body while I'm wearing the Omnitrix."
>"I once made a cure for this virus. I'd just need to contact a friend of mine to get it, and this'll all be over."
>"Maybe you can get a message out to my friend, Trixy. She might be able to help us from the outside." (Write-in.)
>Write-in.

>>4001710
>"Is there any way out of here? I can't let them take control of my body while I'm wearing the Omnitrix."

>>4001710
>"I'm so sorry that all of this happened to you. I promise, you'll get your body back and I'll help you sort all of this out."
>"I once made a cure for this virus. I'd just need to contact a friend of mine to get it, and this'll all be over."
>"Is there any way out of here? I can't let them take control of my body while I'm wearing the Omnitrix."

>>4001710
>>"I'm so sorry that all of this happened to you. I promise, you'll get your body back and I'll help you sort all of this out."
>>"I once made a cure for this virus. I'd just need to contact a friend of mine to get it, and this'll all be over."
>>"Is there any way out of here? I can't let them take control of my body while I'm wearing the Omnitrix."
>"John, I need you to fight them. Even if it's only to buy a couple seconds of time. If you don't then we're stuck here."

>>4001721
>>4001772
>>4001828
Writing and combining.

You place a hand on his shoulder and you feel his muscles tense up just from your touch.

[Wade]: I’m so sorry that all of this happened to you. I promise, you’ll get your body back and I’ll sort all of this out.

He brushes your hand off and turns to face you with a serious expression.

[John]: How?

[Wade]: I once made a cure for this virus. I’d just need to contact a friend of mine to get it, and this will all be over. So if you could show me how to get out of here, that’d be great.

He slowly shakes his head from side to side.

[John]: We don’t have that kind of time, son. The moment I let you go, they’ll be all over you like shit on a shoe.

Gross metaphor, but okay.

[Wade]: John, you need to fight them. Even if its only to buy a couple seconds of time. If you don’t then we’re gonna be stuck here.

He shuts his eyes tight, clenches his fists and grits his teeth. You know that you’re asking alot of him, but he’s the only one that can help you right now. If he can’t, then the entire population of Earth might fall under the influence of a sentient alien virus.

Once he opens his eyes again, you can see a glimmer of hope in them, along with a hint of desperation and fear.

[John]: You’re right. I’m tired of having them take my body for a joy ride. I’ll let you out, and I’ll get rid of them while I’m at it.

Oh? He knows how to get rid of them? That’s a bit unexpected.

[John]: Take care, kid.

Before you have the chance to respond, the world around you melt away once more, and you can feel your body rising up out of this mental abyss. A bright white light overwhelms you, and in an instant, you’ve returned to your body!

The freezing cold air hits your face, causing it to grow numb from the shock. Your limbs feel weak and your heart is racing a mile a minute. Could the virus still be in your body?

As you struggle to remain standing, you feel a foreign material coursing through your body. It crawls beneath your skin and flows through your veins, but you are certain that it does not belong. It is a maddening feeling that threatens your sanity along with your physical health.

But at that very moment, you feel the foreign material forcing its way out of your body. It flows from every orifice on your face, and materializes itself in the form of black powder. It feels like you’re throwing up, but out of your mouth, nose, eyes and ears. The way it moves through the air makes it clear to you that this substance is alive.

The black substance leaves your body, and flows back into Citizen Cane’s for some reason. As you begin to question whether this is due to John’s influence, the storm around you begins to pick up.

[Olivia]: Wade! The storm’s disappearing. I think we can get to it now.

You can barely hear your cousin’s transmission over the high speed winds, but you’re glad that she’s safe.

You witness the very same black powder that flowed out of you, flowing out of Citizen Cane’s victims. Including K8-E and Natel-E.

(Cont.)

This powder swirls around the air until it forms a massive, shifting swarm of particles that hangs above Citizen Cane. This continues for about a minute, as it takes a while for Citizen Cane to gather traces of the virus from all over the city. And once he’s finished, he consumes the black powder, along with every last bit of The Flash Mob.

Honestly, this act of willpower is rather impressive. You don’t know if you could do the same if you were in his shoes.

[Wade]: That’s it, John. Fight it! We can still win this.

All of a sudden, you see him stumbling away from you and picking up a strange object from the ground. What’s he doing?

He looks back at you with some sort of black ichor leaking from his eyes, nose and ears. But for some reason, he’s smiling.

[Citizen Cane(?)]: Only one way to cure the plague, kid…

He raises the object that he’d just picked up, and your heart sinks when you recognize it. It’s a phosphorous grenade! He must’ve gotten it from Steel before you froze him.

You need to do something, fast!

>Transform into Fourcast and try to create the cure from memory. It’ll be a bit of a gamble, but you don’t have alot of options here.
>Transform into Thriller Whale and try to manipulate the virus. You’ve done it before, and you can do it again!
>Transform in Ghostfreak and try to possess his body. You’re going back in!
>Transform into Viral Snotrocket and use your powers to purify the virus! It’ll be really risky, but you think you might be able to pull it off.
>Create a mana bubble around the grenade to prevent him from using it.
>Convince him to hold on just a bit longer.(Write-in.)
>Write-in.

Aliens Unlocked:
https://pastebin.com/JVq4NM2t

>>4002560
>>Transform into Viral Snotrocket and use your powers to purify the virus! It’ll be really risky, but you think you might be able to pull it off.

>>4002560
>Transform into Fourcast and try to create the cure from memory. It’ll be a bit of a gamble, but you don’t have alot of options here.

>>4002560
>>Transform into Viral Snotrocket and use your powers to purify the virus! It’ll be really risky, but you think you might be able to pull it off.

>>4002572
>>4002998
Roll 1d100, bo3!

Rolled 20 (1d100)

>>4003031

Rolled 73 (1d100)

>>4003031

Rolled 57 (1d100)

>>4003031

>>4003038
>>4003041
>>4003059
Finally back! Writing...

File: Snotrocket.jpg (32 KB, 409x360)

32 KB JPG

>73

You quickly slide open your belt's faceplate, before sifting through your selection of aliens. After frantically searching for an alien that can solve your problem, you pause over Snotrocket's icon.

If you were to use Snotrocket's Viral form, you might be able to purify the virus that's infesting John's body.

It might be dangerous, but it's a risk you're willing to take!

[Wade]: Trixy, get ready to go Viral!

[Trixy]: On your mark.

You select Snotrocket, before slamming your hand down onto the Omnitrix's core. And in a flash of violet light, your body goes through a significant change!

Your limbs shrink, your bone grow denser, your skin thickens, and your teeth are sharpened into fine points. And right when you thought it was finished, a gelatinous substance covers the front of your face and solidifies to substitute as a nose.

You've become Snotrocket!

[Wade]: Now!

[Trixy]: G͓̜̪̐͆̈͝ͅo̺̳͌ȉ͖̺̩̋̈́̉͟n͕͉̂̊̃g̯̰͊͡ ̫̊͞V̗̗͑̚į̨̺̹͑̔̍̕ȑ̫̘̤̂͘a̮̳̻͛͛l̨̥̇͂

The Omnitrix on your wrist changes to display a Biohazard symbol instead, and in an additional flash of violet light, your body undergoes yet another drastic change!

Your limbs grow longer, as does your claws and your tail. The gelatinous fluid spreads up your face, until it completely covers your head and horns.

Your grey flesh and black exoskeleton turn pale white, and your feral nature overtakes your logic and reasoning. There is but one reason for your continued existence, and that’s to exterminate the filth of the galaxy.

You’ve become Viral Snotrocket!

You snarl and hiss as you glimpse the wretched impurities of this planet. Others might see a serene, untouched blanket of snow covering the city, but all you can see is an endless ocean of bacteria. Such...filth.

You immediately turn your attention to the fellow known as Citizen Cane, who now prepares to pull the pin on the phosphorous grenade in his hand.

With a burst of inhuman speed, you race over to him and grab hold of his arm. You squeeze it gently, and apply a bit of your purifying decay to his decrepit flesh. An agonizing burning sensation overcomes him, causing the man to scream loudly as he drops the grenade to the ground. But he has no idea how grateful he should be. After all, it is very difficult for you to hold back when purifying filth.

To stop him from screaming, you wrap your long claws around his face and hold his mouth shut.

[Wade]: Be quiet. Your vessel is filled with sentient rot, and I am here to rid you of it. But due to the nature of this...disease, you will now experience a great deal of pain. Nod if you understand.

He nods slowly with tears in his eyes.

[Wade]: Good. Try not to swallow your tongue.

You send your decay deep into his body, eliminating every trace of the alien virus in the process. It tries to flee, but has nowhere to go. Should they try to leave his body, you will be here waiting for them.

(Cont.)

File: Viral Snotrocket.png (713 KB, 1320x1000)

713 KB PNG

You shut out the man’s screams and focus on completing your task. His pain is irrelevant, but his mortality you shall preserve.

Once you are completely sure that you’ve eradicated the virus, you release the man and allow him to slump to the snow.

[Wade]: You’ve managed to withstand the purge. Well done. You’ve earned the right to feast and fester as you please.

You grab hold of his body, lift him up and move him to a safe area with shelter from the snow.

[Wade]: But, do try to keep the festering to a minimum.

You glance over at the frozen jump jet, and sense the slumbering remains of the alien virus.

[Wade]: Hmm. Leftovers…

Two sharp blades pop out of your arms as you slowly walk over to the frozen vehicle. And with them, you thaw out those still alive inside.

------

After an hour, the snow begins to melt and the sun peeks through the clouds once more. Those that were once under Citizen Cane’s control have begun to wake up, including K8-E.

You find a nice quiet corner to sit with her and warm her up.

[K8-E]: T-thanks. S-sorry about at-t-tacking you earlier.

You nearly forgot that her species is cold-blooded. She cuddles up to you while wearing a safety blanket and drinking hot chocolate.

>”It’s cool. I’m sure you’ll find a way to repay me later.”
>”Hey, I’m just glad that you’re safe.”
>”It’s no big deal. But just to be safe, we better keep you and the kids away from sugar for a little while.”
>”How’s your sister holding up?”
>”Just another day in Bellwood, right?”
>Write-in.

>>4003810
>>”It’s no big deal. But just to be safe, we better keep you and the kids away from sugar for a little while.”
>”Hey, I’m just glad that you’re safe.”

>>4003810
>”Hey, I’m just glad that you’re safe.”
>”How’s your sister holding up?”

>>4003810
Hey I'm >>4003813
Mobile just wanna add on
>Want me to help you warm up?

>>4003810
>”Hey, I’m just glad that you’re safe.”
>”How’s your sister holding up?”

[Wade]: Hey, I’m just glad that you’re safe.

She snuggles up to you and buries her face in your armored chest. The sound of metal scraping against metal fills your ears.

[Wade]: How’s your sister holding up?

[K8-E]: Well, her cold got worse. Seeing as she was...out in the cold all day. I will probably have to look after her for a few more days. Would you be alright with watching the kids for a little while longer?

Uh-oh…

[Wade]: Sure, no problem! You can count on me.

She smiles warmly and plants a kiss on your lips.

[K8-E]: Oh, you are just wonderful! I will pop by the house to pick up a few things and check on the kids for a moment.

She rises to her feet and hands the safety blanket back to you.

[Wade]: See you back home.

She waves at you before racing down the alleyway and off into the city. Shortly afterwards, the authorities arrive to tend to the wounded and arrest the escaped convicts that had been running loose.

Interestingly, it would seem that no one has any memory of what has transpired today. Yet another secret that you’ll have to hang onto for a while.

You watch as they carry Citizen Cane on a stretcher, before bringing him into an ambulance, and you worry that they might check the security cameras that were set up around the city. If they find out what he’s done while under the influence of The Flash Mob, then he might have to undergo a trial.

Maybe you’ll hire Pyth0n to erase the footage. As the devious thought lingers in your mind, you’re approached by Olivia.

[Olivia]: Heyyo! Looks like you handled things over here pretty well.

You notice that Duckie and Goose aren't with her. And oddly enough, you don't see The Cowl anywhere either.

>”Where’d the birds go? I never got to thank them.”
>”Hope you like babysitting, because we’re gonna be doing alot more of it.”
>”What were you talking about earlier? You were kinda freaking out there.”
>”Same to you. But you had me kinda worried there for a minute.”
>"What exactly happened over there?"
>”This was one hell of a team-up. And you say I never include you in them anymore.”
>Write-in.

>>4004176
>”Same to you. But you had me kinda worried there for a minute.”
>"What exactly happened over there?"
>”Hope you like babysitting, because we’re gonna be doing alot more of it.”
>"Hope flash mob is gone for good now."

>>4004176
>”Where’d the birds go? I never got to thank them.”
>"What exactly happened over there?"
>”Hope you like babysitting, because we’re gonna be doing alot more of it.”

>>4004386
>>4004698
Writing and combining...

[Wade]: Same to you. But you kinda had me worried for a minute. What exactly happened over there?

She bashfully rubs the back of her head and laughs nervously.

[Olivia]: Yeah...that’s a bit of a funny story. Storm Raven’s lightning caused the weather machine to malfunction, so we couldn’t even get close. I don’t remember much else after that though…

You guess she must’ve gotten infected by The Flash Mob sometime after that.

[Wade]: Speaking of, where’d the birds go? I didn't get a chance to thank them?

[Olivia]: The Cowl showed up to take his friends back to The Nest.

You’re impressed that he managed to slip away, travel halfway across town and gather his friends in under an hour.

[Olivia]: He told me to tell you “Thanks…”.

She covers her face with a cape made of mana and speaks in a low, mocking tone. You roll your eyes, cross your arms and look over to the victims still receiving medical assistance. And among them is Agent Six and Lieutenant Steel. Both of which give you the stink eye.

[Wade]: Do you think the Flash mob is gone for good now? It was really lucky that they attacked me directly, but if they tried this on an alien planet…

You shudder at the thought.

[Olivia]: If Viral Snotrocket couldn’t sense them, then I think it’s safe to assume that they’re gone for good.

If only you had your cousin’s optimism. Your life would be so much easier.

[Olivia]: So, what do we do now? I’ve still got some time to kill.

Oh, you’re gonna make her regret making that statement.

[Wade]: Hope you like babysitting, because we’re gonna be doing alot more of it.

Her disappointment is visible as her shoulders slump down and her smile falters.

[Olivia]: You’re lucky that I’ve still got some tricks up my sleeve.

She pulls out her hat and taps it with her magic wand, but nothing happens.

And when she takes a peek inside, a torrent of doves erupts from the hat and flood the air, wreaking havoc on Bellwood once more.

--------

>10 Years Later
>Omnitrix City

[Wade]: So, what’d you think? Pretty cool, huh?

Tanner, Ko-D and Louise cheer unanimously, immediately forgetting their differences and inhibitions.

They recount their favorite parts of the simulation to one another, but their voices overlap in an inconceivable jumble of words.

They’re so caught up in their conversation, that they don’t notice the hospitable android drawing near.

[Trixy#626]: Settle down, now. If you would like, I could be your personal tour guide for the afternoon.

[Tanner]: Do you mean it?! That’d be awesome.

Tanner is practically shaking with excitement, which amuses the mechanical tour guide.

[Louise]: Chill out, you spaz.

Louise scowls at Tanner, but the Sphoeroid hybrid is far too hyper to care or notice.

[Ko-D]: Lead the way, Trix.

As the children depart with the android, X’s holographic projection watches them as they leave, before fizzling out and resetting his memory to accommodate the next set of visitors.

(End of the Christmas Special)

Hope you guys enjoyed it. Sorry that it took so long to finish, but my work schedule gets a bit heavy during certain weeks.

I’m always looking for more opportunities to create specials, spin-offs and one-shots for your viewing pleasure. I’m currently entertaining the idea of a Valentine’s Day special, which I’ll have to work on outlining alongside the 30th thread special.

Tonight, I will be posting the conclusion to the Mad Max special, and hopefully we should be able to get the quest’s story back on track by Tuesday!

So until then, have a bit of useless lore! I'll do my best to update the hero/villain registry in a bit!

Power Ranking of the Strongest Members of the "Birds of Paradise"(According to The Cowl):

The following members are ranked by their potential.

1.) Storm Raven
2.) Duckie(Final Form)
3.) The Omen
4.) Emperor
5.) Blackhawk

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44 KB JPG

>Back in Mad Max’s dimension...

The sweltering heat bears down upon Max as he lay atop the scorching sands of the wasteland. The fact that he’s even still alive to experience this suffering is a relief to him. After all, Argit had sent him on quite the suicide mission.

For him to confront the Triumvirate’s forces and take down the planetary barrier with only the help of a ragtag group of rebels is rather impressive.

Max clambers to his feet and tears off the damaged spacesuit that had been cobbled together by Decima and Argit’s lab boys. His ship, however, is most likely still floating through orbit as burning heap of space debris. He was glad that Decima and the others had gotten away, but it was at the cost of his own life. At least...that’s how it was supposed to be.

He took a moment to take in his surroundings, trying to assess as to whether he was truly still alive. Max had always believed that the wasteland was hell on earth, but in this moment he had wished that he had been wrong. Although he knew that he deserved to be cast down into the flames of judgement, he still had regrets.

For all the lives he had taken, all of the people he had failed to save, and the loved ones that he would be leaving behind. Phoebe and Decima’s faces flash through his mind for a moment, and he finds himself grinning at the thought of spending the remainder of his days with them. But his attention is soon brought to a dark, looming shadow that washes over him and covers the land.

Upon gazing upwards, he witnesses a dark figure descending from the heavens. Its body cannot be described with the color black, but rather the absence of light, with tiny stars dotted along its body. Max is now faced with his greatest pride, and his deepest regret. The Angel of the Abyss, his grandson, Ben Tennyson.

As Ben’s feet touch the ground, Max recalls the events that had transpired near the end of his mission. He had nearly lost it all. His friends, his family, his planet, and his life. Were it not for Ben’s interference, Max would be floating through space along with what little remained of his ship.

The two of them stand in silence for a few minutes, unsure of what to say to each other. But before Max can open his mouth, A red flash floods his vision, causing him to cover his eyes until it dissipates. And when he looks at where Alien X once stood, he sees the face of his beloved grandson once more. His hair’s grown longer and he looks to be exhausted, but he’s definitely still the same young man that Max had raised.

[Max]: ...Ben? Is that really you, son?

His eyes meet Max’s, tired and glazed over from not having gotten any sleep for the past decade.

[Ben]: ...Grandpa?

He squints and shields his eyes from the blinding sun.

And without hesitation, Max runs up to the slender young man and wraps his arms around him. But Ben’’s arms hover over Max’s broad back, as he remains unsure of how to react to this act of unbiased love.

[Max]: It’s good to see you, son.

(C.)

File: Seriously-no-one-knows-you.jpg (63 KB, 1258x617)

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Before Ben can process the situation, he finds that tears have begun welling up in his dry, bloodshot eyes.

[Ben]: Yeah...you too…

He wraps his arms around Max, and the two of them remain motionless as a torrent of emotions come flooding out. Although there were many things that they intended to say to one another, they both remain silent. All of their doubts, frustrations and regrets had amounted to nothing in the wake of their unexpected reunion.

Max is the first one to break the hug, and he takes this opportunity to take a good long look at his grandson.

[Max]: How’d you get out? I thought you were stuck in there.

Ben brushes aside a long lock of brown hair in order to see max clearly.

[Ben]: So did I. But I think I’ve gotten pretty good at negotiating with them.

For the first time in a long time, Max sees his grandson’s smile, and it warms his heart. He’s absolutely delighted to have such an important part of his past return to him.

[Max]: Well, we should get you somewhere safe for the time-being. There might be a few folks that remember what happened all those years ago, and I don’t want them to-

Ben removes Max’s hand from his shoulder and backs away from him.

[Ben]: That’s not what I’m here for. I came to set things right.

Max’s expression changes to one of confusion and despair.

[Max]: What do you mean?

Ben takes a moment to scan his surroundings, but he quickly finds that there is very little to see in The Wastes.

[Ben]: All of this...all of it is my fault. It never would’ve happened if I hadn’t done something so stupid!

Ben clutches his head in frustration, and Max reaches his hand out to help him. However, Ben only gets further away from Max after he witnesses the genuine act of kindness.

[Ben]: Stop that. I don’t deserve it. I can never fix what I’ve done…

He looks down at the Omnitrix on his wrist and tightly clenches his fist.

[Ben]: But I think I can remake it.

[Max]: What are you saying?

Max thinks about getting closer to Ben once more, but ultimately decides against it.

[Ben]: This messed up universe. I can remake it so that the world doesn’t turn into…whatever ”this” is.

Max looks at Ben as if he had two heads. The way he speaks so lightly of this subject is scaring the old man.

[Max]: Ben, that’s crazy talk! You can’t just remake the universe.

[Ben]: Actually, I can. And I know what I’m doing now. I’ve had alot of time to think about this.

Without even touching his Omnitrix, the faceplate slides open and the Omnitrix core begins to rotate on its own.

[Max]: But I-

Ben walks up to Max and places his hands on his face.

[Ben]: I’m sorry, but I’m not asking for permission. I just wanted to see your face one last time.

Max’s mind is flooded with questions, but he just can’t seem to get them out.

[Max]: Ben...it’s alright. What’s done is done. It’s time for both of us to move on.

(Cont.)

File: Ben-_Ben_10_Extranaet.png (389 KB, 558x1399)

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Max takes Ben’s hand and grips it between his calloused fingers.

[Max]: I forgive you. I forgave you a long time ago. Just come back to me…

Ben closes his eyes, inhales deeply and shys away from Max’s caring and compassionate expression.

[Ben]: I’m sorry, but I need to do this.

Before Max can respond, the sound of a roaring engine in the distance draws his attention. It’s Swiss and her boys! And they don’t seem like they’re in a good mood.

Max knew that they had struck a deal with the Triumvirate to keep the planetary gate closed, but now that their contract’s been voided, they’re more pissed than ever!

[Ben]: We don’t have alot of time. I have to go.

He steps away from Max once more and fiddles with his watch by entering a complex command of some sort.

[Max]: I know that I can;t stop you. Just know...that I love you, son. And no matter what happens, you’ll always be welcome to come back home.

Ben pauses to gaze into his grandfather’s kind eyes one last time. It was an expression that Max himself wasn’t aware that he could still make.

[Ben]: ...I love you too, grandpa.

Ben closes his eyes and raises his hand into the air. And in a bright green flash, the world is swallowed in darkness.

-------------

>Present Day
>Washington, DC

[Ben]: Grandpa, wake up already!

Max is abruptly woken up by his adolescent grandchild, Ben. His eyes unconsciously drift to the Omnitrix on his arm, and a pang of guilt begins to stab at Max for reasons he was not able to explain. If only Ben knew how dangerous that weapon was, he might hesitate, if only a little bit, before using it.

Max was doing his best to teach him how to use it responsibly, but none of his verbal warnings seemed to reach the boy. So Max thought that it’d be best to lead by example.

[Max]: Alright, I’m up.

Max groaned as he sat up from the lumpy bench that he’d been resting on. He knew it was bad on his back, but the RV was so packed that he had no other choice.

He raised his arm to inspect his Omnitrix, and its crimson glow seemed almost hypnotic to him. Interestingly, it was opposite to green, Ben’s Omnitrix color, on the spectrum. The white frame of Max’s was a direct contrast to Ben’s black frame.

[Gwen]: Ben! Leave Grandpa alone. He nearly threw his back out fighting Vulcanus last night.

Gwen places her hands on her hips, while showing off her pink and blue Omnitrix at the same time. She was the most responsible out of the two, but Max always felt like she was trying to darn hard to act mature. She should appreciate her childhood while she still has one.

Out of nowhere, Phoebe sprints past Gwen, forcing her jump back in order to avoid a head on collision. It would seem that she’s chasing her pet Sand Tiger around the Rust Bucket.

That little girl is a bundle of joy and sunshine, but Max really wished that she’d take things more seriously during battle. Especially since she’s the owner of a teal and grey Omnitrix.

(Cont.)

File: Gwen_10.png (2.58 MB, 1920x1080)

2.58 MB PNG

Max picked her up as an orphan a while back during an alien trafficking bust, and she’s been part of the family ever since.

[Gwen]: Hey, watch it!

Phoebe sticks her tongue out at Gwen which incites a snorting chuckle from Ben. Gwen however, it not amused in the slightest. Max swore that she’d get wrinkles by the age of 15 with all her worrying.

[Max]: Phoebe, go play outside.

[Phoebe]: Okay!

The little pufferfish alien gladly did what she was told, so long as it wasn’t an order from Gwen.

[Decima]: Are you kids fighting again? You know that sort of thing stresses your grandfather out.

Max is approached by his loving wife, Decima. She was an alien refugee that came to Earth seeking shelter, and the Tennysons were glad to give her one. but that wasn’t the only thing she got.

When she places her hands on his aching shoulders, the first thing Max notices is the gleam of her wedding band, and the second is her orange and purple Omnitrix. She rarely used it, but she wasn’t afraid to get her hands dirty for the sake of her family.

Just then, a loud explosion rocks the RV and everyone inside of it.

[Max]: What was that?!

Phoebe swings the screen door open with a worried expression.

[Phoebe]: Trouble!

[Ben]: No duh.

The kids run outside to get a better look at what’s going on, and their pet follows close behind them.

[Decima]: Kids! Get back here!

Max rises from the bench, seeing as no one is listening to his wife.

[Decima]: I swear, this family vacation is anything but!

She stomps her foot in a huff, nearly putting a dent in the floor in the process. Her pale skin and white hair made her stand out in a crowd, but Max was getting used to drawing attention with his rather unusual family.

[Max]: Come on, we better go after them.

She nods and the two of them chase after their overly eager children. But once Max gets outside, he looks up to inspect the Black Sun that hangs over his head. And like every other time that he stared at it, a tear ran down his face for reasons that he was unable to explain. He didn’t think much of it, but he wondered if he should…

[Decima]: Max! Are you coming?

His wife snaps him out of his funk, and he slaps his face in order to psych himself up.

[Max]: I’m right behind you, sweetie.

As the unorthodox family of galactic defenders ran off to protect the planet from yet another alien threat, a grateful watcher in the distance could rest assured that they would protect one another. After all, family is the most valuable thing that a person can have, and the watcher would never let them forsake it like he did.

(End of Mad Max)

QM Note:

And that's the conclusion of Mad Max's adventure. He and his family were among those who were not recruited for the Council of 10.

Once again, I apologize for not being able to finish the adventure when I was still running it, but my work schedule was rather unforgiving at the time. I hope to do better with this upcoming special, and I hope you guys will stay on this wild ride with me.

Were you guys satisfied with this conclusion? Part of me regrets not being able to do any of the batshit insane wasteland stuff that I had planned. Perhaps I shouldn't have had the story be set on such a grand scale with the Triumvirate showing up. Would've been fun to fight in an alien Thunder-dome or have a drag race with the RV.

But these are just things that I think about every now and again. All I can do is try to improve going forward!

As I mentioned before, the next update will be on Tuesday, where we'll resume the main storyline.

If you have any questions or concerns, be sure to let me know!

>>4005611
That ending was really bittersweet, but i liked it. It was a nice conclusion to the story. Looking forward to the next update!

>Present Day
>Wade's Dimension
>35,000 ft above the ground

You absentmindedly stare out of a window to witness the sight of your vessel breaking through the cloud line. It's a sight that you honestly never get tired of.

A little while ago, you and the other magic practitioners among your group had used a divination spell to locate The Great One. It felt a bit weird to be using magic after so long, but there weren't any flukes in the ritual. Charmy and Kirby had assured you that not much could go wrong with such a simple spell.

After that, you and the others boarded Ship and took to the skies to pursue the giant tick that threatens to suck your planet of its life energy.

Sometime afterward, Tripp and Dribble called you to provide information that you had already learned several minutes prior. But you respect their initiative.

The rest of Team Wakeman has either started socializing, or have begun conducting strategy meetings and tests to determine how you'll defeat the creature.

Alan and Red seem to be the ones conducting tests on the discarded shell that once belonged to The Great One. They must be trying to find a way to penetrate its thick armor. So far, it looks like they're not having any luck.

Julie, Carol and Charmy appear to be having some girl talk, and Malware seems as if he wants someone to save him from this situation.

Olivia, Phil and Kirby seem to be catching up with one another, and you're incredibly tempted to jump into the conversation while you still have time to talk.

But after taking a head count, you notice that the Raskadarian princess is absent from the room. Even her personal guards are having trouble finding her, it seems. Perhaps you should go look for her?

Or better yet, maybe you can take this opportunity to train her guards to be more useful during a fight. They were pretty pathetic back there when those alien hoodlums showed up.

>Conduct tests with Alan and Red. You might learn something useful before you reach your destination.
>Butt into the girl's conversation for the sake of Malware's sanity.
>Catch up with your family. It's been a long time since you've all been in the same room.
>Ask one of the mages in the room to give you a refresher course. (Charmy, Kirby, Alan, Olivia)
>Look for Princess Coco.
>Offer to train Coco's personal guard.
>Write-in.

>>4007678
>Offer to train Coco's personal guard.
Zipmunk is one of our most useful aliens. If we turn those guys into competent fighters, we will have some really strong allies. Imagine what 3 our 4 zipmunks could do together. Also, it would be interesting to see how Wade would fare as a teacher

>>4007678
>>Butt into the girl's conversation for the sake of Malware's sanity.

>>4007678
>”Carol would it be possible for me to borrow Malware training exercises? I want to train Coco’s Guards and well he seems idle for the task, able to control himself and communicate mistakes they make, plus if his natural state is likely vulnerable to they’re abilities, hopefully giving them a confidence boost if they do well.” “Please”(puppy dog eyes)
>Offer to train Coco's personal guard.

>>4007951
Malware: “thanks wade!”
Wade: “don’t thanks me yet, I expect you’re going to experience a lot of pain!”

>>4007696
>>4007951
Gonna go with personal guard training. Writing...

You casually approach the Raskadarian guards, causing them to cower in your presence for reasons unknown to you.

[Wade]: Hey guys, wanna get a bit stronger before we head into battle?

One of the guards approaches you, while holding up his helmet to prevent it from falling off.

[Dexstar]: I-is there a shortcut of some short? I don’t believe we’ll be molded into fearsome warriors in less than a day.

From the murmurs and half nods, you figure that the others agree with him.

[Wade]: Just leave that to me. Meet me in the cargo bay in five.

They exchange nervous glances as you walk away, and you’re left wondering why they were made into royal guards. If these were the most competent warriors on their planet, then you fear for the future of Yggdril 4.

-------

After a few minutes, the guards actually show up to take part in your training exercises. You’re pleasantly surprised to see that they at least have a desire to grow stronger. But you’re worried that if they don’t start taking this seriously, they might get themselves or the princess killed.

You begin pacing back and forth, glaring at the Raskadarian rookies and sizing them up in the process. Your intense glare seems to be causing them to shake and sweat out of nervousness.

The goal isn’t exactly to make them into fearsome warriors. Doing that much in such a short amount of time would be nearly impossible. What is possible, however, is granting them some level of confidence in combat. With confidence and the tiniest fraction of skill, they should be able to at least keep themselves and the princess alive.

So, what shall you do with these maggots?

>Transform into an alien.(Which one?)
>Tell them to come at you all at once. If they fight you long enough, they should at least learn how to properly fight as a team.
>Fight them one by one and point out the areas they need to work on individually.
>Time for PT! You're going to work them to the bone!
>Test out some genetic splicing with Trixy’s help. You might be able to turn them into a powerful set of alien hybrids.
>Write-in.

Aliens Unlocked:
https://pastebin.com/JVq4NM2t

Skills, Stats and Inventory:
https://pastebin.com/iEYrGZS1

Quicklist:
>Big Chill
>Diamondhead
>Zipmunk
>Bloodrush
>XLR8
>Fourcast
>Thriller Whale
>Knuckle Duster
>Hack N’ Slash
>Snapdragon

>>4008760
>Tell them to come at you all at once. If they fight you long enough, they should at least learn how to properly fight as a team.
I don't think PT would help a lot since we don't have much time.
Helping them see their individual flaws sounds good, but since i don't know how many of them we are dealing with, and the short time, training them all at once sounds like the most viable.
>Transform into an alien.(Which one?)
I'm torn between Hack N’ Slash and Zipmunk. The former would allow them to go all out without worriyng about hurting us. And considering what we are up against, they will need to go all out.
The latter to show them what they can do when they aren't scared.

>>4008760
>>Tell them to come at you all at once. If they fight you long enough, they should at least learn how to properly fight as a team.
>Offer to splice their genes if they're down for it.
>>4008828
I think we're working with four

>>4008828
>>4008842
There are indeed four of them. Forgot to mention that in the previous update. My bad.

>>4008842
>>4008844
I'm gonna say transform into Zipmunk., so we can get this on the road.

>>4010143
Sounds good to me

>>4008828
That was me by the way. My ID changed.

Rolled 69, 53, 10, 31 = 163 (4d100)

>>4008828
>>4010143
Writing and rolling for Raskadarian guards...

>>4010212
Well, crap. Guess we are horrible teachers

>>4010235
This just demonstrates how well they did against you. I will request another set of rolls to see how much they improve from here.

After a bit of stretching, you transform into Zipmunk after sifting through quicklist and slamming your hand down onto the Omnitrix’s core.

[Wade]: Oookay! Show me what you’ve got!

The four guards exchange confused glances and shrug to one another before returning their attention back to you.

[Wade]: Attack me. All of you. It’s the only way to figure out where you guys are at in terms of combat ability.

They still seem rather unsure of themselves, even when you’ve assured them that you won’t seriously injure them. Maybe they need a little push.

[Wade]: C’mon, already! If one of you doesn’t step forward, then I’m gonna start picking people instead. And if I have to pick people out, then I won’t be holding back…

After your vague threat, they begin to scramble amongst themselves, before uniting for a team huddle. You manage to hear a couple of faint whispers, but the team meeting doesn’t seem to last very long.

Once they break up, the first one to approach you is none other than Dexstar, the one that has trouble keeping his helmet up. In his hands, he wields an unusual looking spear.

Time to see what these boys are made of!

>69

Dexstar removes his helmet for a moment, before adding an electric charge to the fur on his head, causing it to stand upright. And when he equips his helmet again, it seems to fit perfectly fine. But what surprises you the most is the intensity in his glare. He didn’t even look that serious when the Princess got attacked.

[Wade]: Ready when you are, Dex.

You place your paws onto the ground to brace for battle, and Dex is the first one to make a move!

He begins by throwing his spear at you, but due to it being made of metal, you use your electromagnetic manipulation to stop it in mid-air.

However, Dex seems to have anticipated this, because he transmutes his body into electricity and sends his body into the spear, which seems to have transformed in appearance. The spearhead has split in two to form an elongated cattle prod of some sort.

After sending his body to the spear, Dex reforms his body next to his thrown weapon, before taking it in his hands and swinging it at your neck.

You lean backwards with your flexible body, and you barely manage to avoid the strike. The residual electricity arcing off of the spearhead causes your fur to stand on end and your skin to tingle.

Once the blade passes your face however, Dex twirls the spear over his head, before bringing it down onto yours.

But before the attack can reach you, you allow the prod to glide along your back, while performing an energy enhanced spinning kick. And as a result, the Raskadarian is sent flying across the room by your powerful counter. He bounces along the floor a couple of times, before rolling backwards towards his allies. All of them seem very impressed with his performance.

[Dexstarr]: H-how’d I do?

(Cont.)

He struggles to push his helmet onto his head once more.

[Wade]: Much better than I was expecting, to be honest! You’ve got some serious potential. I can tell that you’re smart, and you’re good at following up your attacks, but you leave yourself open in between your combos. I could’ve taken you out when you teleported to that spear, but I wanted to see what you intended to do with it.

His eyes widen upon hearing your high praise. He must not be used to receiving compliments. But thanks to his stellar performance, the others seem to be getting pumped up.

[Ego]: Ooh, me next!

A rather eager Raskadarian volunteers to go next, and the other two seem to follow close behind him. At least now they seem willing to take this seriously.

[Wade]: Bring it on.

>53

Ego scurries towards you his charged spear on his back, and just like Dex, he throws it towards you with impressive force and precision.

However, the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end to warn you of some sort of imminent danger, causing you to turn around just in time to avoid being struck by the weapon on its return path.

The spear returns to Ego’s hand, and he proceeds to toss it into the air, before charging at you with an energy enhanced headbutt.

You sidestep the headbutt, and perform a backflip to avoid the spear that comes down to stab at you from above. Ego’s specialty appears to be magnetism. But there are ways to counter that.

>10, 31

As the other two charge at you, you quickly grab hold of Ego’s spear and swing it at both of them, sending them flying across the room.

But suddenly, you feel a powerful force pulling the spear out of your hands. Knowing full well that Ego’s behind it, you hold onto the spear for a bit longer, allowing you to secretly ramp up the magnetism’s power.

And once you let it go, the spear flies at Ego with so much force and speed, that it slams into his face and sends him rolling into a wall.

In the meantime, Dex seems to have gotten back on his feet and is now attempting a flying kick of some sort. Looks like he's taking a page from your book. However, he stays in the air for far too long, allowing you to deliver a brutal headbutt to his exposed stomach.

And once he’s dealt with, the other two Raskarian rookies attempt to attack you once more. The chubby one is known as Atlas, and the female Raskadarian with a flower pattern in her fur is named Vespa.

As the two of them charge at you with reckless abandon, you send an electric charge into the air around them. At first, they don’t seem to understand what you did, which causes them to slam into one another face first.

It’s convenient to know that energy fields can be manipulated. Whether you’re draining it, or providing a bit more in order to amplify its effects and cause the user to lose control.

You take a deep breath and a long stretch as the others lay on the floor.

[Wade]: Alright, that wasn’t too bad. Now, let’s see how much you guys can improve.

Roll 4d100’s, each of you!

Rolled 13, 44, 68, 60 = 185 (4d100)

>>4010300

Rolled 38, 43, 56, 21 = 158 (4d100)

>>4010300

Rolled 85, 30, 30, 90 = 235 (4d100)

>>4010300
Training time! Do the montage!

Rolled 66, 48, 63, 33 = 210 (4d100)

>>4010300

Rolled 11, 48, 52, 99 = 210 (4d100)

>>4010300

>>4010306
>>4010325
>>4010379
>>4010524
>>4010574
Nice rolls!
Almost done writing the update...

>85

You spend the remainder of your time training the fledgling Raskadarian guards and improving on their individual talents.

Dexstarr greatly improved after a bit of instruction, as he can now chain his attacks together with barely a delay in between. With a bit of discipline, he'd most likely be the most deserving of the title “Royal Guard”.

>48

On the other hand, Ego wasn't able to improve much. He's a decent fighter, but his desire to utilize his magnetism in order to become a specialist is seriously holding him back.

One day, he might learn how to split his focus between the spear and his own attacks, but until then he will remain predictable.

Perhaps he can rely on his overwhelming offense in order to provide support to the rest of his team.

>68

Atlas managed to improve moderately due to you teaching him how to improve his footwork and coordination. He can probably keep up with Ego and Dexstarr in his current state.

If only he could work on that clumsy fighting style of his.

>99!

After teaching Vespa the basics of energy distribution and conservation, you feel as if you may have created a monster.

Her speed and control have increased exponentially, and she seems to have an unusually high learning aptitude for someone with such little experience.

During a couple of your bouts, she even managed to defeat you a few times! And you’re pretty sure that she intentionally felt you up in a few of those bouts, but you decided to ignore it.

Amongst the three of them, she seemed to be the least serious, and her technique could use a little work here and there. But currently, you can safely say that she is the strongest member of Coco's elite guard, despite being the youngest.

After your belt times out, you congratulate them on their progress and wish them luck in their future endeavors. Afterwards, the four of them go back to looking for Princess Coco.

-------

Once you leave the cargo bay, you notice that Alan and Red are grimacing at the results of their extensive tests. Despite their combined strength, they haven't even been able to crack the tick's armor. With the heat that Alan was putting out, that thing should be burned to a crisp!

You're not sure if you have an alien that can put a dent in that thing, but you'll just have to try your best when the opportunity presents itself.

Just then, a violent crash is heard, and the entire ship tilts to the side! You and the others begin tumbling along the floor, until Charmy and Olivia create a large mana platform to catch everyone.

[Coco]: What happened?!

Princess Coco and her personal guard suddenly appear out of thin air, unimpeded by this massive shift due to their ability to fly. You’re glad that she’s safe, at least.

[Ship]: SHIIIIIIIIIIIP!

The Galvanic Mechamorph loudly emotes to the group, but once again you have no idea what he’s saying.

[Julie]: He says we just got hit by a big hammer!

[Kirby]: Seriously? He got all that information out in one word?!

(Cont.)