Hidden inheritance

Chapter 9: Picking up broken pieces

It was still a bad idea to use electricity near water, but Ben still had his fun flying around the place at the speed of light (or rather, electricity).

Since he didn't know other species beside the Limax and the weird alien mushrooms from Camp Opinicon, he couldn't turn into other stuff since he didn't know other aliens. They told him that, since the Omnitrix was meant for an adult, it was expected the wearer already knew plenty alien species to turn into. And since Ben was a kid and lacked experience as well as knowledge, all he could do was turn into stuff he already saw before.

It was a bit upsetting for the boy to still have limits when he got Master Control over the watch, which made him even more excited to see Vilgax again. He couldn't wait for the man to show him what other stuff he could be, what secrets lied within the Omnitrix, what else he could do now that he had total control and how he could use it to be a better hero.

And most of all, he wanted to see his dad's face when he'd show him his Chimeran form.

There was however something confusing. Ben could turn into any alien form and back to his human self by will, but not his Chimeran form, and vice versa. He could go alien by simply thinking it, but if he was human, he had to hit the Omnitrix's dial to become an alien. Likewise, he could switch aliens as a Chimeran, but he had to hit the dial to go human.

He wondered why the Omnitrix still looked like a watch on his wrist in that form. Maybe it had something to do with being Vilgax's son, which reminded Ben of another thing that had been bothering him for a while, and that his guards couldn't answer: why was he human?

How come Vilgax, a squid alien man, had someone that looked perfectly human as a son? Did he turn human after leaving Vilgaxia? Was he a mutant? Was his mother, his biological mother, a human? It was unlikely, considering he was told by numerous people that Vilgax hated humans with a passion, though nobody told him why. Probably Max's fault, but from what he was told, they've been at it before he was even born.

It was so weird knowing this new body was not only his, but also something he could've possibly had, instead of being human. When he switched between being human and a Chimera Sui Generis (that was a mouthful), unlike with his other aliens where he felt some form of stretch, he barely felt a difference, it was all natural to him. Being a Chimeran was a second nature for him.

He did feel different when practicing his moves however. He couldn't make his arms bigger (apparently, Vilgax's robotic enhancements were the cause of that, it wasn't a power he naturally had), but he could jump at great heights, land on his feet with no damage whatsoever, hang onto a surface with his claws, and when trying to give a few punches and kicks, while it wasn't all that different from his human form, his moves were quicker and a bit stronger.

If Vilgax showed him how to be as strong as him, Ben felt he would be capable of stopping any threat, protecting everyone from any bad guy who dared trying to fight him.

He also noticed something else that made this form different from others. Aside from the fact that he still looked like a kid, only a bit taller, his alien birthmark was still present, something that his other alien forms didn't have, he checked.

He was a bit bummed he couldn't go take a swim, now that the water seemed a lot more appealing. Chimerans had another form they called their "true form", a giant squid form that could breathe under water and had an enormous level of strength, but it could only be accessed through some types of water, one of which was abundant on Earth and covered about 70% of it. In other words, unless Kraab and Sixsix could find a boat big and solid enough to fish him after he became bigger, he shouldn't make things difficult for them and should stay on land.

As he went down to lay on the grass, reverting into his Chimeran form, he wondered what he'd do after today. He needed to follow Gwen and Max again, and he didn't want to confront either about his argument with Max. There was no way they'd let him come back without an apology or without making things even more difficult between the three of them, he had to hear them lecturing him, put restrictions on the Omnitrix, not letting him get dessert or another way to punish him for his behavior.