Summer Blastoff

The first episode of Secret Galaxy.

## The Episode

Dead silence filled the room, silence which was broken by the rythmic sound of tapping that was getting faster and faster. A lone occupant sat in this dimly lit room looking out the window down towards Earth, his ruby eyeballs seeping with disgust and hate. There was nothing in this place but him, the table, the chair, and the deactivated hologram projector in the middle of said table.

Psyphon was a skinny nightmare. Gaunt and pale with black markings on his face and head fin which looked like war paint. His dark attire was littered with spikes, raised metal shoulder pads, and the numerous plates on his body were most likely weapons and were clearly going to pop out. Their presence did not make his unspoken menace any softer to deal with.

He touched the side of his temple and snarled, flashing his yellow shark like teeth, and dragged his talons across the table with a screech as he got up. He grumbled, speaking to himself about “indignities” and was about to head to the doors when they opened, and a familiar face walked in.

“Althaus!” he exclaimed. Relief turned to barely veiled rage. "... You're late!”

“I wouldn’t be that late if you picked a better meeting spot!” The man barked at the alien.

He was no less strange looking than his business partner. His face was ghostly pale which somehow made his odd facial features such as his icy blue eyes and the fangs sticking out of his lower jaw stand out more. However it was clear that he took care of his looks. His ashy blonde hair was well brushed and looked like it had been washed with only the best shampoo. His outfit was also very expensive looking, a blue designer coat with a pink turtleneck sweater and gloves, a light yellow scarf draped across his shoulders, and black dress pants and dress shoes.

“I don’t know if you noticed, but with my current budget I didn’t have the resources to rent a better meeting room.” Psyphon sighed as Althaus looked around the room in disgust.

“So you rented one in the middle of a spaceport!?!” Althaus waved his hands in offense as he gestured to a window overlooking a station with multiple aliens and a few humans waiting for their ship to arrive.

“Attention all passengers! Alpha spaceline 57 is currently running 5 minutes late. Thank you for your patience with us.”

Psyphon and Althaus looked down at the passengers with disgust as the announcement rang through the area.

“Anyways, let’s get to the point.” Psyphon said as he and Althaus sat down across from one another to finally discuss what they came here for.

"Right. So about the Omnitrix… What's the plan?” Althaus asked.

Psyphon piped up "The plan you say? I will hire whatever bounty hunter I can find to lure the Tennysons out into space and away from their precious planet! Once the Tennysons reach them I will have the bounty hunters steal the needed parts from one of their Omnitrixes and send that chip to my scientist who will make one for me! And I will finally show the Tennysons and I will finally be able to do what Vilgax wasn’t able to do! Getting the Omnitrix and using it to take over the galaxy! Do we have any questions?" The gaunt alien puffed up his chest in pride.

Althaus merely gave him a look of annoyance. "Yes I do have a question. What exactly do you plan to have the bounty hunters do that will get the Tennysons out of Earth's atmosphere?"

The gaunt alien laughed in response to that question “You see, I will create a series of deadly events on a few planets that would require mass exodus, all while the bounty hunters are there waiting. The Tennysons will hear of this and jump to save as many lives as possible. And that will be when the bounty hunters attack them!”

Althaus’s face also contorted into a sadistic grin upon hearing that. “Oh that is so deliciously vile, I love it!”

“I know right?” Psyphon couldn’t help bouncing up and down like a teenager that just heard they can finally spend the weekend with their buddies.

But that giddy celebration of an idea didn’t last for long as Althaus looked up at Psyphon and asked “Wait, aren’t you forgetting something else?”

Psyphon instantly stopped celebrating and his frown dropped into annoyance. “Oh right… the Shard of Kur. What is their obsession with that shard anyways that they told me “I will only make your Omnitrix if you bring it to me”?”

“Because it’s connected to Kur!” Althaus threw his hands up in excitement.

“Yes, yes, I know you told me a billion times…” Psyphon rolled his eyes.

“You don’t understand Psyphon, you don’t understand!” Althaus leaned in so close their eyes were mere centimeters apart. “Since this is connected to Kur, no doubt about it that the Saturdays are probably going to get in on this, and I will be able to show them who the real master of cryptids is! I will finally avenge my one true idol! You don’t get it Psyphon I have been preparing and waiting my entire life for this moment! The moment to avenge V. V. Argost and beat the Saturdays until they are broken beyond repair!”

“Alright I get it!” Psyphon shoved away Althaus’s face with a clawed hand. “You have given me that exact speech seven times these past few days.”

“As if you aren’t the same with Vilgax.”

“Right…”

Psyphon crossed his arms behind his back and went up to look out the window overlooking Earth, with Althaus following suit.

"That said, if things go smoothly...we will both get what we've desired for oh so many years!"

—

A few days later…

The human class of Wyatt Elementary School was eagerly awaiting the ringing of the bell. It was the last day of the school year and the first day of summer vacation. Graduation was only a few days ago and that meant that after this summer the human kids would be heading into middle school. Denny Tennyson and Sam Saturday were sitting next to one another and were particularly impatient about finally leaving class, but their ways of showing that were different.

Denny was one of the shortest kids in the class. He had a green and black striped shirt with a dark green sleeveless vest and dark green baggy pants that were puffy on his lower legs making him appear somehow ever shorter. His short, somewhat messy dark brown almost black hair draped over his head as he stared at the paper with his brown eyes, not knowing what he wanted to doodle to pass his time while his green and white futuristic sneakers squeaked on the floor as he dragged them back and forth.

Sam on the other hand was taller than Denny by a good amount and was noticeably more athletic than him. Her most striking features were her golden eyes which were decorated by freckles on her cheeks, and her black hair with a short ponytail had a spiky white spot on the front. She had an orange and black shirt that had an “S” on the front, and her yellow hoodie that was tied on her waist made her look taller when sitting. Her black shorts and leggings ended in orange boots that bounced as she looked at the clock to see how long she had left in the class.

“Denny!” Sam whispered in Denny’s direction. He remained silent.

“... Denny!”

Still nothing.

“... Dennifer!”

Denny jumped at how loud that one was. “I thought I told you to never call me that again.”

“Well I had to get your attention some way or another.” Sam replied.

Denny looked at his best friend and sighed. “What is it?”

Sam raised an eyebrow and smirked. “You ready for summer?”

“Of course I'm ready for summer. I can finally get away from school.” Denny sighed in relief, briefly looking out the window and into the outside, seeing some human and alien kids and teens already starting their summer vacation.

“Yeah, same here.” Sam laid back on her chair, crossing her arms behind her head.

Sam stared into the classroom door’s window that revealed the empty halls of the school. That’s when she got an idea, and shot Denny a grin that was laced with playful mischief.

“Say, wanna race who gets out first?”

Denny looked up at her, then looked at the door and grinned back at her. Finally something they both agree will be fun.

“Sure!” Denny piped up “Where do you want to race to?”

Sam thought for a second. “Up to the flagpole.”

“You’re on!” Denny exclaimed.

As the two kids stared at the clock, time felt like it was slowing down. Both felt like they could see dust slowly floating across the room.

Ten… Nine… Eight… Seven… Six… Five… Four… Three… Two… One!

And with that the bell rang, prompting Sam and Denny to immediately dash out the room at full speed and into the school halls, which were now being flooded by classes of different races. The round yellow shelled arburian pelarotas, the blue raptor shaped humanoid kinecelerans, the giant dinosaur like vaxasaurians, among other races separated from their respective classes and joined up in their friend groups. The groups gossiped about what they did during class, talked about what they will do for the summer. Some of these groups were especially excited to talk to one another knowing that this may be the last summer they spend time together as friends.

Denny's shoes squeaked under the floor as he dodged kids and teachers left and right. The hallways were swarmed with aliens and humans. At some point Denny almost fell down as he tried to dodge a tetramand student. The red four armed alien looked down and raised an eyebrow.

“Sorry!” Denny squeaked as he got off and sped off.

Meanwhile Sam bulldozed through students and teachers, using them as platforms and parkouring through the hallway like it was a video game level. At some point she bumped into a lobster-like alien student with yellow eyes.

“Outta the way Sebastian, I got places to be!” Sam called out behind her.

“My people will not forget this!” The alien shook his claw in Sam’s direction if it was a fist.

Denny turned the corner to the elevator, hoping to get on it. But when he saw how crowded it was, he shrugged and ran towards the stairs. He stopped to start going down the stairs quickly, as to not trip or accidentally shove any students down the stairs.

At the same time Sam reached the stairs, but instead decided to take the smooth ramps meant for legless races or certain speed based races. She jumped on the ramp and started sliding down it like it was a playground slide, almost hitting a kineceleran girl and a blue cheetah like citrakayah girl who gave her disgusted looks as she slid past them. Sam zoomed past Denny who was still on the stairs, shooting him a smug grin as he stared at her with a shocked and almost offended look.

“So long sucka!” Sam flashed a peace sign mockingly at Denny as she slid away.

Denny however, quickly shook off the shock and instantly jumped over the rails and also started sliding on the ramp. Unlike Sam though, Denny lied down on his belly and started sliding down like a penguin, which proved to be a useful technique as he quickly caught up to Sam who was now wearing the same expression Denny had just a few moments prior.

“Hey no fair! That’s cheating!” Sam whined in offense.

“Work smarter not harder.” Denny mused playfully.

Sam humphed as she started using her arms to scoot and give herself little speed boosts to keep up with Denny. However, the two were now getting closer to the bottom of the stairs every passing second. By the time they noticed how close they were, the two slid off the ramp and roughly landed on their face and behind respectively. The two kids stood up recovering from the blow of the fall for a few moments as students passed by and gave them weird looks.

After Sam and Denny recovered they looked to face the doors to the school right in front of them. Seeing the finish line so close to them, the two kids looked at one another and smirked.

“You might as well give up, because I’m going to make it!” Sam puffed as she prepared to dash forward.

“I mean, I wouldn’t get too confident now but you do you!” Denny did some stretches himself.

With that, Sam and Denny took off, bolting straight to the exit doors. But as they both reached the doors the two accidentally bumped into one another, which resulted in them ungracefully tumbling out of the school and right in front of the flag. The two kids rubbed their heads in pain and they laid on the grass on top of one another.

As they both got up they noticed two flying cars parking right outside of the entrance to school. One car was right orange with black stripes and an “S” on the hood. The other was dark gray with silver stripes on the doors. Out of the orange car stepped out a woman with long well brushed black hair and a look of exhaustion on her face as she saw the two kids laying on top of one another and face first in dirt.

“Sam, what have I told you about parkour in school?” The woman walked over to check up on her daughter and her daughter’s friend. She instantly picked up Sam while dusting her off.

“Mooommmmm.” Sam droned, “I’m not hurt, and besides school’s out now.”

“I know you’re fine.” Seiko sighed. “But I'm not fine with you lying face first in the dirt! You could've hurt someone else, let alone yourself!.”

As the woman donning what looked like a white and orange futuristic shrine maiden uniform and black knee high boots picked up her daughter and checked to make sure that she didn’t have a single scratch on her, the dark silver car’s doors opened and out came a woman with dark brown, long messy hair with a braid and a white tank top with blue knee length shorts. She instantly got a bit worried when she saw Denny getting up.

“Eh?!?” The other woman, Chi Tennyson, approached her son to make sure he was okay. “You okay squirt?”

“Yeah, I’m okay mom.” Denny dusted himself off and leaped in for a hug.

“Well that’s good to hear.” Chi hugged her son back. “Would've been a bad way to start summer vacation. So how was your day?”

“It was alright. We didn’t do much, just watched a movie and then waited for the bell to dismiss us.”

“I see.” Chi mused while playing with her braid. “What movie did you watch?”

“Spongeman Out Of Water.” Denny replied excitedly.

Chi stared at her son for a few seconds, trying to keep her face from shifting to slight disappointment. She honestly hoped the school would pick out a better film. But knowing her son liked it made the feat easier for her. “... Oh. Well at least it seems you enjoyed it.”

Seiko and Sam on the other side were now getting ready to hop back in and get home. But before Sam could hop into the car after her bag Seiko stopped her.

“Aren’t we forgetting something?” Seiko asked.

“But we’re meeting together tomorrow morning.” Sam answered. “Besides it’s not like today is the last day we’re seeing each other. He’s going to come with us on my first worldwide trip tomorrow, and we’re going to the same middle school anyway!”

Seiko kneeled down in front of Sam and put a hand on her shoulder. “I am aware. But it's still polite to tell people goodbye even when you’ll see each other again soon. Just simple courtesy.”

“Oh alright.” Sam turned to approach Denny. “Hey. So, see ya tomorrow?”

Denny turned to face Sam. “See ya tomorrow.”

The two kids shook hands and then bumped elbows before turning back to reunite with their mothers and head home.

As Denny walked back to his mother’s car, he stopped mere feet away from his car and his heartbeat sped up in panic. His mother was surrounded by multiple fans trying to get her autograph.

“Please sign my autograph Chi Tennyson!”

“Tell Ben Tennyson I said hi!”

“Is it true that you fought off raiders from taking the Obsidian Axe of Quetzalcoatl?”

“How do I become an adventurer like you?”

“Can you sign my shirt!?!”

Chi was desperately trying to give her fans as much attention as possible. Denny quietly walked up to her and tugged on her pant leg, which made his mother look down and meet Denny’s gaze which clearly told her that he wanted to go home now. Chi grabbed her son’s hand and led him to the car.

“I’m so sorry everyone but I have to take my son home. I really enjoyed all your company though!”

The crowd of fans groaned and whined at the disappointment that the adventurer and daughter-in-law of Ben Tennyson was leaving. Chi and Denny crawled into the car and sped off.

Meanwhile, Sam saw the commotion and gazed in awe at the crowd of fans, wishing that she was the one receiving all the attention and signing autographs.

“Mom, can I please go outside and say hi to all those fans?” Sam asked.

“No Sam, we have to get home as soon as possible and you know that.” Seiko replied as their car took off.

—

After about an hour of driving Seiko and Sam finally arrived back at what was the new Saturday Headquarters, a giant futuristic treehouse that was four stories tall and as large as a mansion. The moment Seiko unlocked the car, Sam jumped out and started proudly strutting into her home. Seiko could only smile and chuckle to herself as she locked the car and followed her daughter.

On the second floor in the living room Simon Saturday, a man with short white hair and beard wearing a futuristic orange and black jumpsuit and black goggles on his forehead, was sharing files of his newest project with a tall spindly limbed being that resembled a hybrid between a cat and a primate.

“Look, Fisk I’m 100% certain that this new model is going to improve the Cortex Disruptor.” Simon spoke with confidence.

Fiskerton cocked his head to the side in slight confusion as he mumbled something that Simon somehow seemed to understand.

“The switch is going to control the strength of the disruptor. With this we can now knock out creatures too small to be a human, and no longer have to connect multiple disruptors to knock out one bigger than a human.” Simon gestured to the blueprint of a flashlight-like device with a handle. “That and it's smaller and easier to carry than the one we have been using for heavens know for how long.”

The lemurian eyed the blueprints before looking back at Simon and nodding understandingly.

As the two mulled over the blueprints the door suddenly slammed open and Sam walked in wearing the biggest smug grin on her face, causing them to instantly turn their attention to her.

“Well well well! School is out, which means I have arrived!” She grinned as she opened her arms and puffed out her chest as if making a grand entrance. “... Actually wait, that didn’t sound good.”

“Sam!” Simon exclaimed as he and Fisk walked over to greet Sam. “How’s your day been?”

“Well we watched Spongeman Out Of Water but other than that it was extremely boring. Me and Denny raced to the school exit. I still don’t think we figured out who won.”

Fisk picked up the human girl to give her a playful noogie as he mumbled a greeting to her.

“Yeah I missed ya too Uncle Fisk!” Sam laughed as the lemurian’s fist messed up her hair.

While Fisk and Sam continued to playfully greet each other, a pair of golden eyes peeked out from the shadows, eyeing Sam. Then the eyes leaped out of the shadows and revealed themselves to be a dark blue coated and white bellied and muzzled bird-deer hybrid with silver horns on his head. The bird-deer leaped at Sam, taking her by surprise and pinned her to the ground as he started licking her face.

Sam laughed as the rough tongue tickled her face. “Ha ha ha, cut it out Perry!” But Perry continued to lick her face. “Yeah, yeah I missed ya too!” The bird-deer squealed playfully as he crawled off of Sam. As he did Sam and Fisk reached out to pet him.

As that was going on, Simon’s and Seiko’s eyes met and they approached one another to hug and kiss.

“How’s the upgrade going?” Seiko giggled as she and her husband hugged in the reunion.

“Eh, I'm still working on it.” Simon replied as he and Seiko stepped away from the hug, "I got the plan done, I just need to figure out how to build it.”

Before Seiko could reply both she and her husband noticed that Sam was already standing right beside them. Sam’s parents faced each other and nodded at one another.

Simon turned to face Sam as Seiko left to get back to her research.

“Yes Sam, what is it?” Simon asked his daughter.

“So um, where’s Shepherd?” Sam asked, pointing to the couch. “He usually hangs out here and he and Raven are supposed to look after the house while we go on the cryptid research trip.”

“Oh he and Raven are just staying at the Levins for the day and night. They’ll both be here tomorrow morning so you will see them before we take off.” The bearded man answered.

“Ohhhhh I got it!” Sam exclaimed. She looked around the room and looked back at Simon. “So if we take off early in the morning when is Denny coming?”

“Raven and Shepherd will pick him up when they leave the Levins house to come to our place.” The bearded man sighed, “I explained this plan several times to you, were you not paying attention?”

The human girl shrugged, “I dunno. Must’ve slipped my mind.”

Simon looked at Sam before sighing again. He loved his daughter but if there was one thing that annoyed him to no end was Sam’s tendency to forget things she finds boring, which usually happen to be very important.

Sam’s gaze then wandered to a box on the table and her curiosity peaked. “Ooh what’s in there!?!” She asked as she scrambled over to take a closer look. Fisk quickly reacted by grabbing Sam by the collar and picking her up to scold her. “Aw c’mon I just wanna see what it is!”

Simon walked over to the box and picked it up. “This Sam, is The Claw.” He answered his daughter.

The young girl’s eyes instantly lit up upon hearing those last two words and excitement rushed through her veins. She recognized all too well that The Claw was an artifact that was once weilded by her grandpa Zak when he was her age. And knowing she would soon have the honor of being the new wielder of her grandpa’s artifact made her even more ecstatic. Fisk noticed her expression and looked at his nephew as if he was telepathically asking Simon why he told Sam that now. Both of them knew what was coming next.

“I have been waiting all my life to get it! Can I please have it? Please please please pleeeeaaaaase? I promise to not break it!”

Simon instead looked at her and shook his head. “You can have it tomorrow Sam because that’s when you start your training. And besides, The Claw is not a weapon. … Okay well it kinda is but that’s not it’s main purpose. It’s here to help you control your cryptid powers. Now go get ready, me and your mother are going to be waiting for you outside to sketch up some data.”

“Awww man…” Sam whined as Fisk put her down. She instantly turned around and headed straight to her room.

Simon tapped Fisk’s shoulder which prompted the lemurian to look at him. “Please make sure she stays on task Fisk.” Fisk gave Simon a thumbs up as he followed Sam.

—

Meanwhile, Chi’s car finally pulled up to the parking lot of her family’s house. The house was a big three story tall futuristic white mansion with green lighting around the edges and windows looking out onto the street in front of the house. Chi’s black futuristic combat boots stomped on the sidewalk as she stepped out of the parked car and went over to check up on her son.

“We’re here Denny!” She smiled as she opened the door.

However Denny wasn’t smiling. Instead he looked almost disappointed that he was back home as he quietly hopped out of the car and almost dragged his feet into his house. He entered the hallway which led to the kitchen. There Denny looked up to see a tall brown haired man wearing a black and white striped uniform shirt with dark green pants and black boots. He instantly recognized the man as his father Ken Tennyson. Ken didn’t instantly see Denny however, as he was talking on the phone with someone.

“Yeah don’t worry Wendy, I’m sure he’s gonna have a blast there!”

Judging by that tone, Denny guessed that he was talking to his sister and his own aunt, who was probably trying to convince Ken to change his mind about the trip. The young boy sighed and started making his way to his room when his father noticed him.

“Hey there sport!” Ken got up from the table to ruffle Denny’s hair. “How’s the day been?”

“Yeah it was good, dad.” Denny sheepishly mumbled.

“Well that’s good to hear! Are you excited about tomorrow?” Ken asked, his own voice made it clear that he was excited about tomorrow’s event.

Denny looked around the kitchen before his eyes landed on a small box in the center of the table his dad was sitting at just a few moments ago. He knew exactly what the box contained. A watch-like device known as the Omnitrix, which could transform any wearer into multitudes of different species in the galaxy. It was also the exact same type of watch that made his grandfather, his father, and his aunt into famous heroes.

But the knowledge that the Omnitrix in that box was meant for him didn’t fill Denny with excitement. If anything it brought sorrow to him that he was soon going to be forced to become another criminal punching celebrity no different from his grandpa, aunt, or father. But he sucked it up and tried to hide the disappointment from his dad.

“I guess.” Denny whispered as he shuffled around wanting to finally go to his room.

Ken picked up on his son’s disappointment, and in response tried his best to cheer up his own son. “Look, I know you’re scared and not sure how you’ll do as a hero. But I know that you will make a great hero!”

Denny forced himself to put on a small smile. “Thanks dad.” He said as he went up to his room.

Chi walked up to the stairs and called out, “If you need anything you can call us!”

Once Denny left Chi and Ken hugged one another.

“So wanna watch a movie?” Chi asked.

Ken stood and thought for a moment, “… Sure why not.”

As his parents prepared to watch a movie, Denny entered his tidy room covered with posters of animal documentaries and space travel anime for kids his age. He plopped down on his bed and wrapped himself up in blankets as he took out his SPad and opened up StarTube. The boy scrolled for a few minutes before he finally found a compilation of clips from a documentary about the wildlife of Galvan Prime. He smiled watching the gorgeous scenes of animals, trying to make the most out of the rest of the day before tomorrow.

Meanwhile Chi and Ken were already starting to watch some mediocre superhero flick to pass the time. But before they could get into it both of their SPhones buzzed in a loud alarm which was clearly a Plumber Emergency Alarm.

“Oh no…” Chi stared wide as she opened her phone to answer the call. As she pressed the answer button the couple saw a blue alien that resembled a human with cat like features. The alien had a worried expression on his face.

“Magister Rook!” Ken exclaimed, “What happened? Why is there an SOS signal?”

“I am deeply sorry to call you at this hour, but we do indeed have an emergency!” Rook pulled up a video feed of a tree city burning and falling apart on another planet. “Goodall is currently under attack, and the residents require immediate evacuation! We need both of you and Wendy Tennyson to come there as soon as possible.”

Upon hearing that, Ken’s and Chi’s eyes widened and they lept up from their couch. “We’re on our way!” Chi exclaimed while Ken got a call.

“Yes Wendy I know, Magister Rook just told us the same thing!”

“Thank you so much for taking this mission, I bid you good luck.”

Rook disconnected as Ken and Chi ran throughout their house, changing into their uniforms and getting all the weapons and equipment they needed for this mission.

Denny was upstairs during this whole commotion, almost going half way through the playlist of clips until he heard running and noises from downstairs. Worried about what might have caused his parents to make so much noise, Denny got up from his bed and crept downstairs where he was greeted to the sight of his parents running around and changing into their plumber and hero attires.

“... Mom? Dad? What’s going on?”

As Ken was getting all his equipment he heard Denny’s question and realized something upon hearing it, his son was going to be all alone in their house. As that thought crossed his mind he picked up the phone and called Simon Saturday.

Meanwhile back at the Saturday HQ, Simon was still trying to figure out how to properly construct the new model for the Cortex Disruptor when his phone buzzed. He answered the call and saw Ken looking a bit panicked.

“Ken? What’s going on? Why do you look so worried?”

“Hey Simon, I’m really sorry to call you right now but the plans have changed.”

“Why?” Both Simon and Denny asked, the latter of whom was standing right next to Ken.

“Magister Rook just called me and Chi and Wendy and told us that we have an emergency on Arachnascimia that we have to attend as soon as possible. So can Denny come over to the Saturday HQ today instead of tomorrow?”

Upon hearing that Denny felt his heart drop in his stomach. His parents were going on some dangerous mission, far away from earth. He didn’t know if they were ever going to come back. He didn’t want them to go on this mission but he knew they had to and no amount of begging would change anything. Not only that, but the event he dreaded that was supposed to be tomorrow is now about to happen. He looked at the Omnitrix on the table, shaking his head while muttering “no” under his breath.

Simon upon hearing Ken’s explanation got up and started to make his way downstairs.

“He can stay at our place, I’m just going to have to let everyone know first.” As he said that Simon passed Sam’s room, next to which Fisk stood waiting for Sam to get ready. However it seems that Sam overheard the conversation as she burst out of the room, eyes full of stars and wearing a wide excited grin.

“Denny is coming here today?!?”

Simon was slightly startled by Sam’s exclamation, but he turned around to confirm her guess. “Yes he is. The Tennysons had an emergency and a change of plans so Denny is going to be here today.”

Upon hearing that Sam jumped up in the air with excitement. “Alright!”

As Simon continued to make his way down he crossed paths with Seiko, who noticed that something seemed to be off. “Is everything alright dear?”

“Tennysons have an emergency on another planet and have to head there, so Denny has to come to our place today instead of tomorrow.”

“I’ll check the guest room if it needs tidying up in any way.”

Seiko and Simon nodded at each other before heading their ways. Soon Simon was in the garage and turning the car on before speeding off in the direction of Bellwood.

Meanwhile Ken and Chi have already packed up and gotten ready to leave. Denny hoped that either one would get a call back telling them that the situation is now under control and they don’t have to leave, and that today they won’t try to get him to open and put on his gift after all. But that assumption was proven wrong when both Ken and Chi turned to face him.

“Before we leave Denny, I wanted to give this to you.” Ken said as he went over to the table and picked up the box. He came over to Denny and gave him the box, which Denny anxiously took. He really didn’t want the Omnitrix, but he didn’t want to upset his parents.

“Well? What are you waiting for? Open it and try it out.” Ken smiled at his son.

Denny stared at the box for some time, a part of him hoping the box would just disappear if he stared at it long enough. Instead he caved into the pressure of his parents looking at him with excitement and opened the box, and there he found a silver watch-like device with a green and black hourglass like symbol on the window. The Omnitrix. This was it. The moment where he would be forced to become just like his dad, aunt, and grandpa. Another villain-punching celebrity. Denny held back tears from the pressure as he picked up the Omnitrix with a shaking hand and put it onto his left wrist. He shakily looked up at his parents and forced a smile.

“Oh would ya look at that! It looks so good on you!” Chi smiled as she ruffled her son’s hair. Denny knew that she genuinely meant to compliment him with that comment, but deep down the comment felt like a mockery. He genuinely hoped his parents wouldn’t make him have his first transformation right here right now. But fate seemed to be in his favor for once as Ken looked at his phone.

“Simon’s here Denny! Looks like ya have to go now.” Ken kneeled down in front of his son and put a hand on his shoulder. “I know you’re nervous about having an Omnitrix now and being a hero. But I said this before and I will continue to say this, deep down I know that as my son you will be an amazing hero.”

Ken smiled at Denny and Denny forced himself to smile back. As he did his fear of losing his parents bubbled up again and made him leap forward and hug Ken as tight as he could, making Ken hug him back. “Th-thanks dad.” And with that the Tennysons left their house, with Denny heading for Simon and his car and Ken and Chi heading for their own car. Before that however, Chi ran up to Denny and hugged him.

“I’ll miss you so much Denny, please promise to call me.”

Denny slightly teared up at the interaction and hugged his mom back. “I will mom.”

With that Chi let go of her son and watched him run over to Simon. Chi and Simon made eye contact and smiled at one another. “And Simon, thank you for taking in our son.”

And with that Ken and Chi got into their car and sped off, leaving Simon and Denny alone. Simon looked down at Denny and noticed that the boy was trying to hold back tears. He couldn’t help but be concerned for his daughter’s best friend.

“Hey, Denny.”

Denny looked up at Simon, his eyes getting wet.

“Is everything alright?”

The boy sniffed. “Y-yeah.”

Simon raised an eyebrow, he felt like the boy was secretly lying about something. “You sure? Cause you seem to be tearing up.”

Denny realized that Simon could see him tearing up and he slightly panicked. In the end Denny decided to tell a half truth. “I’m scared that mom and dad and aunt Wendy will die on their mission. I don’t want them to leave.” Denny responded between held back sobs.

The bearded man felt pity swell up in his heart as he watched the boy try not to break down. He really just wanted to hug the boy right here and there and tell him everything is going to be okay, but he didn’t want to accidentally make Denny even more uncomfortable. So he knelt in front of Denny and looked him in the eyes.

“It’s okay to be scared about your family. It shows that you truly care about them. However, you still have to remember that your family are the Tennysons. Your grandfather has been through so many crazier adventures and he always came out on top. And your parents and aunt and frankly the rest of your relatives are no different. You have to trust them, that they will always have the situation under control.”

That speech made Denny calm down a bit, and for the first time in the past hour he felt a bit better. And despite the fact that he didn’t want to be a superhero like the rest of his family members, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride knowing that they were his family. Denny smiled back at Simon and wiped away what tears were originally swelling in his eyes.

“Thank you Mr. Saturday.”

“Your welcome Denny Tennyson.”

After a few seconds Simon and Denny let go of one another and then got up. “So are you ready to go back to the Saturday HQ?” Simon asked.

Denny nodded and the two got into the car and sped off in the direction of the Saturday HQ.

—

Psyphon looked at the departing Plumber ships with a mix of contempt and glee. He watched as his enemies flew away towards his trap, but his loathing of that bloodline seemed to overpower any sense of satisfaction he could've had. It was then that a thought hit him.

"Assistant." He commanded. A spherical drone appeared out of his pocket and expanded like a balloon to the size of a soccer ball as it floated in front of Psyphon.

"Yes Lord Psyphon.”

"Give me a list of all the bounty hunters in my employ that are within the local sector." The little machine made a humming noise as Psyphon's crest glowed for a moment. Meanwhile as Althaus watched all of this he titled his head.

.

"Planning to alter the plan?" He pondered aloud.

"No, you fail to understand the amount of risk I take to just be here, to see this plot fulfilled. Should worse come to pass, I want to know who I can call for backup."

The drone finished its search and projected several holographic screens, showing profile pictures alongside information.

Pysphon's gaze was immediately drawn to one bounty hunter who was of the same species as his late master. He kept reading and his eyes opened wide with shock.

"The son of Vilgax?!?" The gaunt alien exclaimed as he stepped back.

"Wait...Vilgax reproduced with someone!?!" Althaus screeched in bewilderment. Whether he was serious or mocking was impossible to say, but Pysphon glared at him. Althaus just smirked back.

"So it would seem..." Psyphon replied growling with impatience.

—

The doors to the Saturday HQ living room opened as Simon and Denny entered the headquarters. Denny looked around the room as he walked past the table and closer to the couch. He has been at the Saturday HQ for sleepovers on multiple different occasions but now he’s going to spend the entire summer with his best friend’s family.

Before he could even fully take in his situation, Denny heard footsteps squeak in his direction.

“Denny!” Sam yelled in joy as she ran over to her friend to greet him. “How ya doin’ my man?”

“I was feeling a bit down earlier, but I’m feeling better now.” Denny smiled as he made up a half-lie.

His friend’s gaze however caught something that he had just forgotten and hoped would stay forgotten for as long as possible, the Omnitrix. “Wait, Denny! Is that an Omnitrix!?!” Sam squealed in excitement.

As she said that Denny’s blood ran cold and he glanced down on the Omnitrix. He faked a smile as he looked back at Sam. “Yep, I just got it today.”

“Oh congrats, dude! I’m only getting The Claw tomorrow.” Sam walked up to Denny and slapped him on the back as a sign of approval, much to Denny’s secret dismay.

As Sam congratulated Denny Perry sneaked up behind him and started licking the top of his head as a greeting. “Oh! Hi Perry! How’re you doing?” Denny greeted the peryton as he tried to pet him and get away from the licking. Despite not finding the running drool comfortable he still enjoyed the distraction from the Omnitrix.

At that moment Fisk came into the room and mumbled a greeting at Denny and waved in his direction. Denny’s eyes lit up and he waved back. “Hi Fisk!”

However the greetings soon stopped as Seiko ran into the room and towards Simon. “Simon!”

Simon instantly turned his attention to his wife, as did everyone else in the room. “Yes honey?”

“I need your help!”

“What happened?”

“The Cactus Cat is getting more and more agitated while I’m trying to apply medicine!”

Denny perked up in curiosity. He has only really seen cryptids on the galanet before and in video, but he never saw one up close. Despite his better judgment, curiosity got the better of him. “I know I’m not a Saturday, but can I please come along with you guys?”

The Saturdays turned to look at Denny with looks that ranged from puzzled to slightly worried. “Are you sure you want to come to watch us do our job?” Seiko asked.

“Yes. I really want to be a biologist and I really want to see a live cryptid and what you guys do.” Denny looked at Simon and Seiko with pleading eyes.

“Ya sure ya wanna see the job?” Sam slid over to Denny. “The stuff they do down there can be… really boring.”

“I’m sure of it!” Denny piped up.

Seiko, Simon, and Fisk all looked at one another and walked off into a corner to talk.

“You two sure you’re okay with Denny coming to see us monitor a cactus cat? He’s inexperienced with cryptids and a child!” Seiko protested.

“To be fair we do let Sam constantly go down there when she’s up for it and she’s 11.” Simon retorted as Fisk nodded in agreement.

Seiko stood there for a bit and thought about it. To be fair her husband and fuzzy uncle-in-law had a point. That and her daughter was always the type to try to protect Denny. The three adults turned to face the kids, specifically Denny.

“You can come with us.” Seiko spoke, “But Fisk and Sam are going to have to stay close to you.”

Denny raised his right hand in a gesture of a salute. “Got it, Mr. and Mrs. Saturday!”

—

In what felt like a few minutes the entirety of the Saturday family and Denny were in the medical wing, standing mere meters in front of the sickly cactus cat that was lying on the platform. Denny’s eyes widened in wonder as he gazed at the creature in front of him. It was a large green puma sized cat that had spikes sticking out of its fur and three spiky tails. It was dripping snot from its snout as it was clearly sick with the cold. Even Sam had a look of pity on her face for the creature.

“I keep trying to give him the medicine but…” Seiko picked up the vial with some yellow goopy liquid and walked up to the cactus cat, which elicited a snarl from the creature. The woman turned to face her family. “He keeps trying to escape.”

Simon raised an eyebrow and tapped his chin thinking of a solution. Then he got an idea. “Sam, I know you’re going to get The Claw tomorrow. But right now I need you to try and use your cryptid powers.”

Sam perked up and grinned hearing that. “Really?!?”

Seiko on the other hand gained a look of concern on her face. “Simon, are you sure you want her to do this now? She’s not that experienced.”

“I know we’re supposed to give The Claw to her tomorrow, but she has shown on multiple occasions before that she is competent enough to use her powers.” The bearded man tried to reassure his wife. Seiko looked at her husband, then looked at her daughter, and sighed.

“Fine, she can help. But if anything goes wrong it's on you Simon.”

“Alright!” Sam jumped in the air before starting to crack her collarbone and knuckles. “Time to show everyone what I got!”

Denny watched as his best friend walked over mere inches away from the scared feline, and stood right next to the creature with little to no fear. Sam took a deep breath and closed her eyes as she extended her hands which started to glow with a golden orange aura. She opened her eyes which were also glowing a golden orange aura. The cactus cat’s eyes also started to glow as it seemed to be under her control, and the creature started calming down.

The spectacle was beyond fascinating for Denny. He was aware that his best friend had the power to control any cryptid, much like her grandfather. But to see her perform the feat right in front of him was something else. He looked up at Fisk to see what his reaction was, and found that Fisk was wearing an expression of pride for his grandniece.

As the cactus cat calmed down Seiko approached the feline and put the syringe in its mouth to inject the medicine. After that she and Simon took out futuristic touchpads and started writing notes on them. Denny was all too curious and was now trying to look at what Simon and Seiko were writing down.

“Hey, what are you guys writing down?” The boy asked.

The question caught the attention of both of his best friend’s parents, who both turned around and looked to be more than welcome to explain to him what they were doing.

“This cactus cat has recently been rescued from a poaching ring and is currently staying at our sanctuary.” Seiko explained, “But when he came in he had the flu so we were trying to find a way to get him to take the medicine.”

“But now that Sam has been able to keep him calm long enough, we just have to write down that he took the medicine and wait a few days to see how he’s doing.” Simon continued.

Denny could not lie, he was especially excited now to start this summer vacation and travel with the Saturdays if this is what they did. Studying animals and making sure they are all safe and sound was always something Denny dreamed of doing one day. And now this dream was going to become a reality.

“Is he going to be okay?” Denny asked as he looked at the cactus cat.

Simon walked over to Denny to attempt to soothe any worries the boy may have. “Well he should be fine the next day if everything goes according to plan.”

Denny ended up standing on his tiptoes to look at Simon’s notes. “Can I also have my own notepad? I want to keep track of the cryptids you’ll be looking after this summer.”

Seiko smiled upon hearing that. Her daughter’s friend was just such a delightful child she couldn’t help it. “Of course Denny! But we still have to keep you at a safe distance so you won’t get hurt.” Fisk mumbled in agreement that he will in fact keep Denny at a safe distance.

Sam also smiled upon hearing that. At least now she had her best friend yo keep her company if her family’s duties were going to be this boring.

“Hey, can I also keep Denny company?”

But her question was ignored. Instead her parents continued to direct their attention towards her best friend.

“Mom! Can I please keep Denny co-“

“Honey, we're a tad bit busy here.” Seiko quickly turned to momentarily face her daughter. “We still have to do the data, so please continue keeping the cactus cat calm.” She turned away from Sam and back to her touchpad.

It was at that moment that Sam felt disappointment and loneliness wash over her. She suddenly felt completely unwanted in the room. Her parents seemed to pay far more attention to her best friend than they did to her anyways. They didn’t even bother telling her how good of a job she was doing controlling her powers. With the frustration of being ignored her face turned into a mix of sadness and anger, her powers started slipping, and suddenly her eyes stopped glowing alongside the cactus cat’s eyes.

In what felt like seconds the cactus cat went from relaxed and peaceful to going berserk and broken out of its bounds. The sound of the cat snarling and growling startled everyone as they looked in horror at the released cryptid feline. The cactus cat’s gaze met Denny’s, and in his gut Denny felt like a mouse being stared down by a cat. Before anyone could do anything the cactus cat jumped in Denny’s direction.

In her state of shock at what her slip up led to, Sam watched on in horror hoping her friend would have enough time to use the Omnitrix and defend himself. But much to her further bewilderment, instead of using the watch-like device on his wrist to defend himself Denny bolted into the corridor as the cryptid chased him.

Fisk, Simon, and Seiko scrambled to take out their respective weapons, a tibetan fire sword, enchanted paper talismans, and energy gloves. When they did they bolted down the corridor after Denny to save him, leaving Sam to stand all alone in the medical room. So many thoughts rushed through her head. It was her fault that the cryptid broke loose and is now going to kill her best friend, and why wasn’t he trying to protect himself and was instead running away?

Meanwhile Denny was running for his life. The hallway felt eternal as all he heard were his footsteps, the cactus cat right behind him snarling at him, and the faint echoes of the Saturdays trying to save him. Luckily a blast of plasma from Simon’s glove distracted the cactus cat long enough for Denny to make a run for it and hide in what turned out to be a lab full of samples.

As he crouched down in the corner Denny held his breath, the only sound being the muffled yells of the Saturdays trying to stop the cactus cat and the cactus cat’s aggressive yowls. He hoped that the cries would die down and he would come out to a much safer hallway. But instead of that, the cactus cat ran into the lab in order to also escape the Saturdays. The cryptid crept around quietly so as to not be heard, and the realization that he was in the same room as the feline made Denny’s blood run cold. His worst nightmare came true as he turned around and saw the feline right next to him, snarling in his face. Denny fell over in horror and scooted back into the corner in panic and the cactus cat prepared to pounce on him.

“Please… no…” was all Denny could muster out of himself.

But right as the cactus cat was about to pounce on him, the doors swung wide open and he heard footsteps racing towards him and a familiar voice yell. “Leave my best friend alone!”

Suddenly the cryptid cat’s eyes started to glow a familiar golden orange aura as it flailed around trying to break free from control. Denny peeked over to see Sam trying her best to control the cryptid.

“Sam!” Denny yelled as he ran towards her. “Get out of here you’ll get hurt!”

“But… You’re… My… Best. Friend!” Sam grunted as she blatantly struggled to gain control of the cryptid with her own emotions bubbling deep inside of her soul. The attempt to calm the cactus cat down was in vain as the cat’s eyes stopped glowing and it was now instead bent on hunting down the two human children in front of it. The two kids screamed as they ran out of the lab and into the blinding hallway. The two crashed into the wall across from them. They both got up to see the cactus cat right about to pounce on them. The two children hugged each other, awaiting their demise.

“Somnus!”

But that demise never came. Because when Sam opened her eyes, she saw that the cactus cat was fast asleep. Denny opened his eyes next, and the two kids looked over to see Seiko had stretched her hand out that had a rose gold glow around it. It didn’t take long for the two to realize that Seiko cast a sleeping spell on the cryptid.

“How long should the spell last?” Simon asked his wife.

“About an hour.” Seiko quickly answered as she looked over to the kids and ran over to hug them. “Are you two okay? Are either of you hurt?”

“We’re okay Mrs. Saturday.” Denny tried to calm Seiko down.

“Good. Now go back to your rooms.” The shrinemaiden commanded the two kids before turning back to her husband and uncle-in-law to carry away the sleeping cactus cat back to its pen.

Now Sam and Denny were left alone in the hallway, trying to process what just happened. Both were on the verge of tears and silent. However that silence wasn’t long because after some time Sam broke it.

“Why?”

Denny turned to face his friend, who had an agitated scowl on her face. “Why what?”

“Why didn’t you use it?”

“... Use… what?”

“The Omnitrix you idiot! You have a device that can turn you into multiple different races that have powers unlike us humans that they can use to defend themselves! And you didn’t use it! No no no! Instead you had to run away from the cryptid trying to kill you instead of turning into an alien and using their powers to protect yourself like any normal person would! I was scared you’re going to die! Why would you make everyone scared for your life when you have a method to protect yourself with it!?!”

Sam was practically in Denny’s face as her enraged snarl took up most of Denny’s vision. Maybe it was the fact that both of them were still overly emotional from what just happened, or the fact that Denny could no longer hold in his true feelings about the Omnitrix, or a mix of both, but Denny snapped back.

“Because I don’t want it!”

His response seemed to have startled Sam, who stepped back with a shocked expression on her face. Despite that Denny continued to rant.

“I don’t want the Omnitrix! I don’t want to be like my dad or my aunt or my grandpa! I just don’t want it! What’s so hard to understand about that!?!” Denny leaned into Sam’s face while raising up his left wrist to point at the Omnitrix.

That didn’t make Sam pedal back on her last statement however. In fact now she was furious as she grabbed Denny’s left wrist and brought it down.

“Hey! What are you doing!?!”

“Are you kidding me?!? Look how easy this thing is to use!!!”

And much to Denny’s horror, Sam turned the dial on the device as it revealed the silhouette of a moth-like alien.

“Sam, no!”

But Denny’s pleas were unheard as Sam slammed down on the watch and Denny began to transform. The sounds were loud enough for the rest of the Saturday family to hear because Seiko, Simon, and Fisk ran back into the hallway to see Denny transforming.

Denny glowed a bright green light which shone on everyone as his silhouette contorted into the form of the moth-like alien Sam chose. As Denny was transforming, Sam’s rage was replaced with panic as she realized what she had just done.

Denny finally fell down, and revealed himself to now be a tall black and blue insectoid alien with two antennae, four wings, a dark skull like face with large cyan bug-like eyes, and an omnitrix on his chest. He was now a necrofriggian. Denny looked down at his transformed body in horror as he slowly looked back up at Sam, who had a look of unfathomable guilt on her face.

“Denny, I-”

“Stay away from me!” Denny yelled in a hushed voice.

And with that Denny turned invisible. Seiko and Fisk ran over to Sam while Simon sped off to look for Denny. Sam sobbed into Fisk’s shoulder.

“I’m so sorry… I’m the worst friend ever…”

Meanwhile Simon ran all over the headquarters looking for the necrofriggian. This was going to be a difficult task as necrofriggians have the power of invisibility and intangibility, meaning Denny could literally be anywhere in the house. He spent five minutes looking for Denny before he saw a young necrofriggian sitting on the porch in his and Seiko’s bedroom looking over the stars in the sunset. Simon easily guessed that this young moth-like alien was the transformed Denny.

Simon made extra sure to approach Denny as calmly as possible. “Dennis?”

The question made Denny jump before looking over at Simon with large cyan eyes. “Mr. Saturday?”

“Can I please sit next to you?”

Denny seemed to think for a few seconds before hanging his head in defeat. “Go ahead.”

Simon sat down next to Denny, also looking out at the stars. The two sat looking at the stars in silence for some time, the sight in front of them was serene and calming. After a few moments of just that Simon finally spoke up.

“Is everything alright between you and Sam?” He knew that it wasn’t, but he knew that he needed to let Denny vent about it.

“No! She forced me to use the Omnitrix when I didn't want to! She called me an idiot for not using it! But at the same time she still saved me from the cactus cat and I don’t want to lose her as a friend! … I don’t know what to do.” Denny started to tear up just thinking about Sam, how he was mad at her but also didn’t want to lose his only friend. Before he could start crying however Denny felt Simon hug him to calm him down.

“What Sam did was bad and me and her mom will talk to her about it. But knowing her I’m sure she feels bad about what she has said and did. You two are probably going through a lot of emotions right now and the event with the cactus cat must’ve caused you two to finally blow up with those emotions. I think you two just need to give each other some space.”

Denny didn’t know why or how, but hearing that made more sense and thus made him feel a bit better, if only by a margin.

“Thank you Mr. Saturday. I’m probably going to go to my room for the rest of the night.”

Right as Denny said that, the Omnitrix symbol on his chest started flashing red for a few seconds before Denny glowed a bright red light and turned back into himself. He then hopped off the porch and made his way to his room. Simon watched as Denny walked back to the guest room.

As Denny was walking to the guest room he saw that the room was right across from Sam’s room, and despite both of them hoping they wouldn’t cross paths for the rest of the day, Sam was there too. The two kids stared at one another for a long time before Sam spoke up first.

“Denny… I’m really sorry about using your Omnitrix on you earlier.”

“... It’s fine I guess. But I’d like to have space for myself for the rest of the day.”

Sam looked at Denny with a slight disappointment in her gaze. “That’s alright. See you tomorrow?”

“See you tomorrow.” Denny said before he went into his room. Sam turned around and went into her room. Both kids lied down in their beds and took out their SPads to watch cartoons and play games in an attempt to take their minds off of the situation and cheer themselves up. But both kids still had their own conflicting feelings. Sam was still unsure why Denny didn't use the device he was given to fight back, but she also felt bad about how she acted earlier. Denny was still upset that Sam was acting just like his dad, but at the same time she was still his best friend. The two kids stayed that way until they dozed off to sleep.

—

Psyphon was almost falling asleep when his assistant device picked up a signal. The alien looked up to see what made the device buzz so much, only to fall over in shock when he saw that his device picked up an Omnitrix signal from Earth.

“Impossible! But the Tennysons are out the-” Psyphon stopped and thought for a second before he grinned sadistically. “Actually, if this signal is new and from Earth then the owner of this Omnitrix is oh so completely inexperienced… And this makes everything so much easier for me.”

The gaunt alien took out his phone and called Althaus, who instantly picked up despite looking like he just woke up. “What is it now, Psyphon?!?”

“Reserve some guest rooms in your headquarters… I’m coming to Earth tomorrow.”

—

Meanwhile, the same Omnitrix signal got picked up in a small motel on Mars. On the edge of a bedside stand a small device started buzzing as it picked up the Omnitrix signal.

“Master Sytrax, a signal has been detected. It's frequency is a match of an active Omnitrix-”

A green clawed hand picked up the device picking up the signal and the chimera sui generis that the hand belonged to looked at the signal with crimson eyes.

"At long last..." His black lips cured into a snarl as he gazed at the information "The Omnitrix, and it is oh so close."