Chapter 3: No Money for Rent, Only Robbery
Early morning sunlight spilled across the campsite as Klein and the others packed their luggage into the Rustbucket, preparing to hit the road for their next destination.
"Finally finished packing! I'm ready to kick off an awesome summer vacation trip!" Ben exclaimed excitedly, wiping a bead of sweat from his forehead with a wide grin.
...
Miles away, on a clear morning in a city bathed in pale yellow sunlight, a bald, heavily overweight man stood before the peeling door of a rundown apartment building.
Knock knock knock.
"Hey, Dr. Animo, open up!" The landlord pounded his meaty fist against the wood before jamming a master key into the lock.
Creak. The rusted hinges groaned in protest as the door swung open.
The landlord waddled inside uninvited. The interior was a dilapidated, damp nightmare. The only visibility came from thin slivers of sunlight squeezing through the grime-caked blinds. A suffocating, sour stench of unwashed animals hung heavy in the air, accompanied by a chorus of frantic squeaks, croaks, and rustling from the shadows.
"Ugh, it's nothing but the sour stench of animals in here!" The landlord pinched his nose and covered his mouth in absolute disgust.
"How did you get in?" A raspy voice echoed from the gloom behind him.
The landlord spun around. Standing there was a man with wild, stringy white hair, looking incredibly unkempt. His skin was a sickly, translucent pale from long-term confinement indoors, making him look hardly human anymore.
"With a key. I'm your landlord, don't you remember? Dr. Animo, you haven't paid rent for six months." The landlord was already numb to Animo's eccentric appearance and brushed off the unsettling vibe the mad scientist gave off.
"All my funds need to be used for research! Get out! Don't disturb my experiments!" Dr. Animo snapped, his eyes wide and manic. He genuinely believed his work justified any eviction notice.
"You were already crazy before I even disturbed you, buddy! Listen to me, Doctor, pay the rent quickly! Otherwise, you and your little petting zoo will have to move out onto the street!" The landlord stood his ground. Six months was the limit. If this dragged on, he might as well sign the deed over to the lunatic.
"Animals? Yes... you like animals." Dr. Animo's voice dropped into a deranged whisper as he lifted a strangely shaped, bulky helmet and strapped it onto his head.
"Pfft! Hahahahaha! What is that? Are you a member of the animal association?" Seeing the ridiculous contraption perched on Animo's head, the landlord burst into a fit of mocking laughter.
"This is my Transmodulator, the first-stage prototype. It can accelerate the genetic mutation of various animals. Watch closely!" Dr. Animo reached into a nearby glass terrarium, snatched a small green frog, and dropped it onto the floorboards.
He slammed a button on his chest rig. The metallic horns on the helmet sparked to life, shooting a crackling beam of red electricity directly into the amphibian. The frog's muscles bulged. Its skin stretched and tore as it rapidly grew, expanding until its massive, warty bulk crowded the cramped living room.
"Ah! Ahhh!" The landlord scrambled backward in sheer terror, but he was too slow. The giant frog lunged, its massive jaws snapping shut around the man, swallowing him halfway.
"Hahahahaha! Why is your voice so strange, like a frog stuck in your throat! Hahahahaha! Or, perhaps, the opposite!" Dr. Animo threw his head back and cackled, thoroughly enjoying the reversal of power.
Bang! The mutated frog violently spat the landlord out. Hitting the floor in a heap, the terrified man ignored his bruised ribs and the thick layer of viscous slime coating his clothes, scrambling out the door and fleeing for his life.
"Just a few more parts, and I'll be able to reclaim what's mine!" Dr. Animo muttered to himself, his eyes gleaming with madness.
Just then, the flickering television behind him blared a cheerful supermarket advertisement: "Here... here you can find everything! Whatever you want, we have it!"
Dr. Animo slowly turned toward the screen. "That's it! That's the one!"
...
Later that day, at the supermarket that proudly claimed to have everything.
Grandpa Max pushed a squeaky shopping cart down the aisle, with Klein, Ben, and Gwen trailing behind. Max paused at a shelf, picking up a tin of pickled octopus tentacles. "Why can I only find these here? I thought this place really had everything." Max shrugged, tossing the octopus can into the cart.
"Sumo Slammer Gold Card!" Ben yelled. He had just spotted a promotional cereal box with his favorite franchise plastered across the front and immediately sprinted toward the breakfast aisle.
"Then, Grandpa, I'll go browse over there." Klein already knew exactly where Max was heading next. Having accompanied the old man to the pet section far too many times to witness his bizarre culinary discoveries, Klein wisely decided to make himself scarce.
"Then let's meet at the checkout counter later. Come on, Gwen, let's go to the pet section and take a look." Grandpa Max pushed the shopping cart toward the pet aisles.
"Grandpa, I also... Grandpa! You're not seriously thinking of buying tomorrow's breakfast from the pet aisle, are you? Grandpa, please don't get mad when I say this, but can we just eat something normal for once? Like, not roasted tentacles or anything weird?" Gwen had originally planned to stick with Klein, but hearing Grandpa Max's destination, she immediately shifted gears, determined to convince him to buy something actually edible.
...
"This box? This box? No! This box!... Ugh! Which box of cereal actually has the Sumo Slammer Gold Card inside anyway?!" Ben stood in the middle of the aisle, holding a box in each hand, looking up at the ceiling and shouting in utter frustration.
Static crackle.
Ben blinked, noticing that the massive wall of display screens in the nearby electronics section had all simultaneously switched to black-and-white static. Faint, panicked screams echoed from the front of the store.
Boom!
The wall behind the televisions exploded inward in a shower of plaster and sparks. A giant, monstrous frog crashed through the debris. Riding atop the beast was the wild-haired weirdo. Dr. Animo steered the frog directly toward a display of electronic components, casually reaching down to rip a specific piece of hardware right off the shelf.
"Hey! Put that down!" Ben shouted, stepping out from the aisle. He highly doubted this freak was planning to pay for that at the register.
"Kid! Don't bother me!" Dr. Animo glared down from his mount. The giant frog opened its maw and shot its thick, muscular tongue straight at Ben like a fleshy whip.
Ben quickly dove out of the way, rolling across the linoleum. Seeing the nuisance dealt with, Dr. Animo no longer paid any attention to Ben and rode away on the frog.
"Damn it! If only I had a watch..." Ben muttered, pushing himself off the floor. Never had he wanted the Omnitrix more than at this exact moment. Although he didn't have the watch, Ben's stubborn sense of justice still made him sprint after them.
...
Over in the pet section, Grandpa Max and Gwen were still debating tomorrow's breakfast. Gwen's attempts at persuasion were failing miserably. Suddenly, the sound of crashing shelves and terrified screams reached their ears. They stopped dead in their tracks.
Dr. Animo rode his giant frog straight into the pet aisle. Raising his Transmodulator, he fired twin beams of red energy at a caged hamster and a colorful parrot. The animals shrieked as their bodies rapidly expanded, tearing through their enclosures as they mutated into towering, aggressive monsters.
The giant hamster locked its beady red eyes on Grandpa Max and Gwen, baring its massive, yellowed incisors as it took heavy, thudding steps toward them.
Grandpa Max immediately stepped in front of Gwen, shielding her with his body as he backed away slowly, his eyes scanning the area for a weapon.
Ben sprinted around the corner just in time to see the danger. He frantically looked around for anything to save his Grandpa and Gwen. His eyes lit up when he spotted a display of motorized scooters.
Just as the mutated hamster lunged for Grandpa Max and Gwen, Ben hurled a heavy soda can right at the beast's head. Smack!
"Hey! You stupid oversized mouse, come and get me if you dare!" Ben yelled, waving his arms.
The hamster roared, pivoting away from Max and charging furiously after Ben. Ben darted through the aisles, leading the giant rodent on a chaotic, high-speed chase. He vaulted over spilled groceries and ducked under falling displays. Finally, he reached a towering metal shelving unit. Using his momentum, Ben threw his entire body weight against the support beams. The heavy cabinet tipped backward, crashing down directly on top of the giant hamster and pinning it securely to the floor.
"Hehe! Even without the watch, I can still be a big hero... Uh oh, I'm done for."
Just as Ben was secretly congratulating himself, a massive shadow fell over him. He looked up just in time to see the giant frog leaping through the air, its massive jaws wide open, ready to swallow him whole.
Boom!
A blindingly bright, thick pillar of roaring fire erupted from the side aisle, slamming directly into the frog mid-air. The kinetic force and intense heat stopped the beast dead in its tracks. The frog crashed heavily to the linoleum floor. Its body was completely charred black, emitting a strong, savory scent of cooked meat. It was definitely not getting back up.
"Ben, have you ever had charcoal-grilled bullfrog?" A calm, dryly amused voice echoed through the smoke.
A tall figure stepped out from the dissipating heat. His body appeared to be made entirely of dark red magma rocks, burning intensely with bright, crackling flames. Although Ben had never seen this specific alien form before, the glowing blue hourglass emblem resting squarely on the fiery chest immediately made Ben recognize his identity.
"Cousin!"
[Akarin's Note:
Enjoying the story? Dropping a quick review, comment, or Power Stone means the world to me and keeps these daily updates flowing!
Want to read 50 chapters ahead or just want to help keep a shameless translator alive? (My livelihood actually depends on this, haha 😭). You can support me directly here:
(P.S. Just remove the brackets and replace the [.] with a regular dot . to use the links!)
✨ Patreon (50 Advanced Chapters): patreon[.]com/AkarinTL
☕ Ko-fi (Support / Sponsor): ko-fi[.]com/AkarinTL
🔗 All My Links: linktr[.]ee/AkarinTL
Thank you so much for reading and keeping this project alive!]