OUT OF THIS WORLD .. ben tennyson x reader

xviii. reunited

"I hadn't realized Vilgax was still alive until [name] showed up at the door with a sorry basket in hand.. how many years ago?"

"Nine."

Max chances a glance into the rearview mirror. He chuckles at the way Ben and Gwen crowd around [name] on the bottom bunk. She sat as a more accurate representation of a Chimera Sui Generis, the only difference between her and Vilgax being the orientation of her tentacles and the mole just below her lip. How she managed to stay so tolerant of the way they poked and prodded around her body like she was some prized show pet eluded them both.

Gwen only speaks once she pulls her hands away, fingers testing the viscosity of the mucus that coated her entire body. "Excuse me, but what exactly was that job?" Her brows raise at the way the substance quickly absorbs into her skin and leaves it feeling more than moisturized.

"The Plumbers worked in the shadows," [name] answers when Max takes a moment to think. She swats Ben's hand away when he pokes at the twin sacs at the top of her head, forcing herself not to flinch at the sensitivity of the organs. "Officially, they didn't exist. They fixed the problems no one else could.

"Extraterrestrial," Max hums.

"Extrasensory," [name] adds.

"Extraordinary," they say in sync.

"That was terrifying," Ben and Gwen scoff as though they haven't been doing it for the past month.

Neither acknowledges the irony of it and Ben turns his attention to the way multiple tentacles wrap around each other to form her arms. He tries to unravel the one closest to him and gasps at the individual limbs writhing idly. "So, what? I'm, like, a Plumber-in-training?"

Gwen captures [name]'s face in her hands, forced to use both from their more than obvious difference in size and strength. "We knew you knew about the watch," she says pointedly while examining her face by twisting it this way and that. Her next words are aimed towards Max when she huffs, "but you too, Grandpa? The whole time?"

"Rumor and scuttlebutt. I was surprised as everyone here when it turned up on Ben's wrist." Pulling over when sirens wail behind him, all four watch as ambulances and police cars speed by without care. Ben lets out a curious noise and Gwen pulls out her phone to investigate, both still leaving one of their hands lingering on [name]. "All we figured out was that it was the most powerful weapon in the universe."

"Tool," [name] corrects as she rises. The tentacles that make up her limbs and are on her head wildly unravel, about to accidentally hit the cousins, had they not ducked back. "Azmuth created it to be a tool to bring all species of the universe together." Before either of them knew it, she was standing before them as she had for the past month. A human skin tone, five fingers and toes on each hand and foot, less dramatic claws that could be passed off as nails, hair resembling locs, and no longer towering over everyone in the RV.

Ben pops up beside her and is already fiddling with the face of the Omnitrix when Gwen turns her phone to show them what's happened. There's a creature running rampant inside a hotel, only fueling his excitement while he cycles through his options. "Well, I guess this is a chance for the Plumbers to get back to work! We could be a family business!" Settling on XLR8, he grabs [name]'s wrist and pulls her to the door. There's an attempted argument from Max, Gwen, and her- Max even goes as far as slamming on the brakes when he opens it and jumps out and onto the road.

"There is no family business!" Max leans in his seat so he can see the two, flinching when the telltale, bright, green light flashes and Ripjaws stands in Ben's place. "My hero days ended a long time ago!"