Chapter Text
Chapter 1
King in a Strange Land
You ever get that feeling that you were born to be something, something of grandeur, something of importance heck something that can change the world as we know it. Well that was how I felt ever since I was five years old for as long as I can remember I had one dream in mind that stuck with me for so long and call me crazy but that dream is to become king! Now you’re probably thinking that is a lame dream or unrealistic but it was my dream for so long and as I got older the dream sort of evolved in a way but the principle was still the same like becoming CEO of a company or head of branch of the government or heck even the president. Of course when I told anyone this they would just laugh at me thinking I was just some dumb kid with childish dreams, the only people that supported me were my parents and I was thankful for them but by the time I turned eleven I started to think that I can never achieve my dream that I should give up on it but then one day I saw something that ignited my spark again.
You see when I turned twelve I stumbled across a Japanese show called Kamen Rider, I heard about from some kids at the park. Apparently it was a super hero show with all these different armored warriors that fight against monsters and of course this caught my attention so I decided to look into it. Before long I was completely immersed into the world of Kamen Rider before long I was watching more and more loving every moment of it, the amazing suits, the awesome characters and the story was amazing but the one Rider the really stood out to me was ZI-O. When I first watched ZI-O I was shocked when I meet the main character Sougo Tokiwa for when I saw him it was like I was looking into a mirror, he was like me in so many ways even having the same dream as me but unlike me he kept that dream alive in his heart for so long and no matter what people told him he never gave up on it not unlike me. Ever since then I fell in love with ZI-O and with it sparked my dream again to become king. Hence forth I remained steadfast in my goal to become king and the first step was make sure I was the top of all my classes from grade school all the way to high school and it was thanks to this dream that I passed many grades with honors much to my parents delight.
Of course when I turned sixteen things started to get bad, my mom died from cancer which made my dad spiral into depression and started working late nights at work, leaving me alone in the house most of the time. It wasn’t easy during this time but I moved on, my dream of king pushing me to get better while also helping those around me as a good king would. It stayed this way for a good long while with me continuing my studies and my dad working later and later but one night when I came back home after school I stumbled on a note that was placed on the fridge and when I read it I couldn’t help but choke out small sob, my dad had ran away from home saying I deserved better than a father who barely takes care of me. Along with the note was a small gift that my dad left on the dining room table and when I saw it I couldn’t but tear up for on the table was the ZI-O ridewatch from the show, the very same I wanted for so long since I was little. After that it was too much to handle and I slowly made my way up to my room, Ridewatch grasped in my hand and slowly lowered myself to bed, where I then let the tears roll out as the anger and sadness washed out of me. I don’t know when but after crying for so long in my bed I fell to sleep with the Ridewatch close to my chest but what I didn’t know is that the Ridewatch started emitting a soft light.
The next morning I woke up not in my bed but in the front yard of someone’s house, seeing this I started panicking drastically, multiply thoughts running through my head at hyper speed so I could make sense of this situation I was placed in. Luckily after a few deep breaths to calm myself I was now of sound mind so I can think more rationally and once that was established my first order of business was to figure out where I was and good thing for me I had a place to get said information. So I then walked up to the house and rung the door bell and before long the door opened and on the other side was a young teen who almost looked as old as me. He had brown short hair and green eyes and for his attire he wore blue jeans, a black t-shirt under a green long sleeve jacket with a number ten on the left side. I then introduced myself as Daniel Faust to the boy and he in turn introduced himself as Ben Tennyson, firstly I asked where I was and he replied that I was in a place called Bellwood and off the top of my head I couldn’t think of where that could be on the maps. Of course that brought me to my second question and that was to ask if I can use their phone to call for my father, at first Ben was a little against this idea since he was home alone but after explaining that I was lost and I woke up here he decided to let me use their phone. I then dialed in my father’s number hoping beyond hope that he had his phone on him and didn’t change his number but to my utter despair the number I dialed didn’t exist, so next I tried my grandparents and just like last time I got no reply and even tried my friends parents but that didn’t work either!
I couldn’t believe it everyone that I knew was just gone, disappeared right off the face of the Earth without a trace; I never thought I would feel so alone I even just plopped on Ben’s couch and just curled up into a ball as I felt my entire body just shut down. I guess seeing me like this caused Ben to call his parents asking them to come home and after a couple of hours they came back when they saw me in that fetal position on the couch they quickly flew to my side asking me what was wrong. I then told them about what had happened, to me going to sleep in my bed and then waking up on their front lawn, even about my dad abandoning me that night. Hearing all this Ben’s mom Sandra wept tears and embraced me in a tight hug which honestly made me feel a lot better, even Ben gave me the definition of bro hug which made me smile a bit at this and during all of this Ben’s dad Carl called up child protective services to see about finding my father but until then they offered me a place here at their house. At first I was shocked by this, after all I was total stranger to them, for all they know I can be deranged serial killer and they let me into their home but honestly it was a nice change of pace considering the life I was living before.
Soon enough after some shopping trips for essentials and clothes they then let me take up residence in their guest room, just up the hall from Ben’s room, not only that they got me enrolled into Ben’s school so I can continue my education thankfully enough. Soon enough months past and settling in with the Tennysons was nice of course little did I know that my journey with them was just the tip of the iceberg and believe you me I was not ready for it or maybe…I was.
(***********)
It was day of the big soccer game for Bellwood high; the game was close with our team leading ahead by one point and the clock was about to run out. Up in the bleachers you can see a kid with ginger hair and blue eyes as for his attire he wore a magenta colored t-shirt with a silver colored coat with clock designs on it and blue jeans, if you haven’t guessed already that boy is me and currently watching the game that my friend Ben was playing in. Speaking of my friend I could see him at his position as goalie for the team, his shoulders tense and a confident smile on his face, his mind concentered fully on the game, and it seems his waiting would be put to rest because T.J. just shot the ball at the goal at full force, the ball kept coming closer and closer looking like it was about to hit the net but to everyone’s amazement Ben caught the ball at the last second just as the buzzer went off ending the game and making Ben’s team the winner! Soon enough all the team members raised Ben in the air cheering for him as I smiled at the scene.
After the game we both detached our bikes from the bike rack so we can head out, all while Ben looked at his medal with pride.
“Great game Ben, you really saved it there at the last second!” I said playfully punching his arm
“Thanks Dan but really it was nothing, just doing my part for the team” Ben replied
“Modest nice touch, it’s okay to be prideful but not too much or else you shall fall hence a modest king is what I’ll be!” I shouted making Ben roll his eyes
“Alright tone it down there your majesty” Ben joked as I laughed
Yeah so a long time ago I told Ben about my dream to become King, at first he thought it was weird that someone like me would have such a childish dream but overtime, after showing what my dream accomplished, he saw and supported it more but cracked some jokes about it now and again.
“Hello” a voice said catching our attention
Looking at who spoke we saw it was a young girl that looked to be of Asian descent, with short black hair and wearing a pink hoodie and a white skirt. I saw this girl around school before I think her name was Julie and she was tennis player, from what I’ve seen she seems to have an interest in Ben something I found cute. I then turned away from the two so they can talk in private but when I did I saw something across the field or more like someone, I couldn’t make out to much detail due to how far away I was but I swore he wore a brown cloak and seemed to be holding an ornate book in his left hand.
“Wait…is that?” I thought as I squinted at the far away figure
“Hey Dan you coming?” Ben called snapping me from my thoughts
I then turned to Ben and saw he was on his bike and ready to go, so shaking my head I then got on my bike but not before looking back across the field but to my surprise the cloaked figure was gone.
“Was that really…naw couldn’t be” I thought, shrugging it off and pedaling after Ben, “So where are we heading?” I asked
“To Grandpa Max, I what to show off the medal I got” Ben replied
“Cool as long as we don’t eat anything over there” I said making us both grimace
I meet Ben’s grandpa a while back and he was quite the guy, kind, energetic for his age and wise. Honestly he reminded me of my own grandpa back home and when I told him about me dilemma he welcomed me in with open arms and heck treated me like one his grandkids.
Anyway after pedaling for a while we made it to the RV Park that the Rust bucket was, Max’s signature motor home, and once we arrived Ben was first to knock on the door.
“Grandpa Max? It’s us we came to say hi” Ben shouted
We waited several minutes but to our confusion Max didn’t open the door which left us really confused.
“Maybe he’s out?” I said
“Yeah maybe but…” Ben said with a worried look on his face
Ben then leaned down and grabbed one of the rocks on the ground and flipped it over revealing key on the inside.
“Uh Ben what are you doing?” I asked
“Call it a gut feeling but I have bad feeling about all this” Ben replied as he unlocked and opened the door to the RV
Once we walked inside we were shocked to find the place ransacked, furniture was turned over, cabinets were open and strangely enough there were claw marks everywhere.
“What the heck happened here?” I said looking at the mess around us
“Not sure” Ben replied equaling confused
We then saw a light to the bathroom on making us tense so cautiously we approached the door and once we were in front of it Ben then grasped the handle and swiftly pulled the door open and much to our relief, bathroom was empty making us sigh in relief.
“Well…that was anticlimactic”
Suddenly the curtain to the bed area then opened up swiftly and to our surprise and horror what stood before us was a monster! It had slimy yellow skin with razor sharp claws and feet but the most disturbing part was the single green slanted eye, the exposed brain and the large opening where a bundle of tentacles was seen where ones stomach exist. The monster then opened its self-up like peeling a fruit and unleashed a swarm of tentacles at us causing us to jump out of way quickly. Strangely enough Ben then suddenly slapped his left wrist which I found a bit odd but I pushed that to the back of my brain because the large monster was coming at us again, causing us to jump away from the attack. The monster then placed the tentacles back in its body and then pounced at us, trying to stab at us but Ben quickly blocked the claw with a fridge door but the monster ripped it right through it and tore the door off with ease. Thinking quickly I then grabbed a broom that was on the ground and tried to swing at the monster but the monster then grabbed the broom and yanked it from my hand before snapping it in half with ease.
“Um, sorry” I said with a forced smile
That was received with a backhand to the face that sent me flying across the RV and into the front seat. I clenched my face in pain, than pain being unbearable like getting hit by a truck or more like a train, but the creature then loomed over me as it raised its claw to strike me but it stopped when a certain someone tapped it on its shoulder making the monster turn to Ben.
“Peek-a-boo”
Ben then blasted the monster with a fire extinguisher, the force of the foam blast sending it backward until falling out of the front window with a roar of unnatural sounds which sends shivers down my spine.
“Hey Dan, you okay?” Ben said holding out his hand to me
“A little in pain but I’ll be okay” I said grabbing his hand as he hoisted me up, “So what was that thing?” I asked as Ben dropped the fire extinguisher
“Don’t know but it was looking for something here but what?” Ben said
Ben walked up to the dashboard of the Rustbucket and flipped several switches, then with a small click the clock on the wall opened up revealing a hidden compartment much to our surprise. In the compartment was a silver disk that Ben promptly grabbed and held in his hand and once he did a small hologram appeared of Max Tennyson, Ben’s grandpa, decked out in his red floral Hawaiian shirt and brow pants.
“Hello Ben” the hologram said
“Grandpa what’s” Ben said but was cut off
“I left this recording in place only you can find it, I’m in a situation but it’s nothing I can’t handle and certainly nothing you need to worry about, there’s renewed alien activity on Earth I’m investigating”
Then just like that the hologram vanished but when it did I went slacked jaw by what I heard, Aliens?!
“Aliens exist?!” I shouted in surprise while Ben rubbed his neck in awkwardness
Suddenly the hologram popped back open again catching both our attentions again.
“Oh and don’t worry about the omintrix either, I have it and it’s completely safe they’ll never get their hands on it, say hello to your cousin Gwen for me, love you Max out”
The hologram shut off again but once it did Ben looked at it with pure shock.
“You’ve got the omintrix?!” he said
Then without skipping a beat Ben then ran outside the RV and jumped on his bike and peddled away much to my confusion.
“Ben wait, what’s the Ominitrix! Darn it!” I shouted as I hopped on my bike too and followed after him
Before long we both arrived at Ben’s house where he then jumped off his bike and ran inside the house and I quickly followed behind. Ben then made a mad dash for his room and I followed him.
“Ben no running in the house and that means you too Dan”
“Sorry mom!”
“Sorry Mrs. Tennyson!”
I then went into Ben’s room and found him digging through the pile of dirty clothes and garbage, looking for something and hastily too.
“He says he’s got the omintrix I know it’s here somewhere” Ben said still digging through his stuff
“And again I ask what’s the Omintrix!?” I shouted in return
I then got my answer when Ben opened a small box under his bed and inside it; hiding behind a deck of Sumo Slammer Cards was a large watch. Picking it up I saw it was a bulky wristwatch that was black with white accents and tubes connected to the center and the center was a small disk with a green hourglass symbol on the front.
“What are you trying to tell me Grandpa?” Ben said staring at the small watch in confusion
“Ben, what is that?” I asked making Ben sigh
“In short, it’s alien device I got when I was ten years old and it allows me to turn into different aliens, with it I became a super hero” Ben said
Once again my jaw went slack at this staring at the device in Ben’s hand with utter shock and surprise, just then a thought came to my mind, I then fished around in my jacket pocket until I pulled out what I was looking for. In my hand was a blank ridewatch, I found this when I first awoke in the this strange world, somehow my Zi-O ridewatch had turned into this and it’s stayed this way for a long time, but now seeing Ben’s watch and mine I couldn’t help but think.
“What’s my reason for being here?”