A bright moon was lighting up the foggy forest below. A large lake could then be seen, surrounded by trees and mist, peaceful and undisturbed.
"Such a beautiful scene. I have paintings of moments just like this. So calm, so quite. It's perfect." Yaoyorozu said with a smile, admiring the ambiance.
"So, you know it's about to get ruined." Aizawa sighed, feeling like the watch-wearing boy will ruin the peaceful moment any second.
Until... "Cannonball!" Ben cried out as he jumped into the lake, making a large splash. He then popped up back to the surface. "Judges score... yes! Perfect 10! Yeah!" He imitated a sports commentator, before imitating a crowd woo-ing. "The crowd loves him!" He cheered for himself.
"Of course." Aizawa said, raising his arms and letting them drop in annoyance.
"Oh, come on, Mr. Aizawa! He's on Summer vacation! He's just trying to have a little fun." Ashido defended the boy.
"True, but they are on a camping trip, which means they're likely at or near a camping SITE, which means he could be disturbing other nearby campers. One should always be considerate of those around them." Iida stated, chopping robotically.
"Not to mention, swimming at night is pretty dangerous if you don't have a good Quirk for water. You could get caught up in seaweed or covered in leeches and wouldn't even know until you're out of the water." Asui added.
"'A perfect dweeb' is more like it." Gwen said from her spot on the pier, shining a flashlight on him, unimpressed with his antics.
"Come on, dive in!" Ben invited.
"Please! Who knows what nasty, slimy things are slithering around in there." She said as she shined her flashlight around the lake's surface, landing the torch on Ben. "I rest my case." She taunted.
"Oh, come on. Ben's not even being a jerk to you right now, Gwen. Why do you have to be a jerk to him?" Mineta complained, feeling sympathy for Ben, remembering all the times the girls were either mean, rude or dismissive to him when he hadn't even done anything pervy yet!
"Because not being a jerk or a perv once doesn't make up for all the times you WERE one." Jiro told him.
"What's the point in camping by a lake if you're afraid to get wet?" He asked and splashed the water from the lake onto Gwen.
The female cousin gasped at this. "Knock it off, midget!" She snapped, before walking away back to the Rust Bucket.
"Gwendolyn Tennyson! That is highly rude and disrespectful to those vertically challenged!" Iida snapped.
"Honestly, that sounds better than 'vertically challenged'." Maverick said. "But, on a more serious note: again, it was 2005. The era of super sensitiveness hadn't kicked off yet. Short of saying any SERIOUS slurs, you could basically say anything and no one would care." The mantis man explained.
"Is no one else going to focus on the fact She's only, like, AN INCH taller than Ben?" Hagakure asked.
"Eh. They're kids. Back then, any advantage you had over someone was the biggest flex in the world." Sero told her.
But as she retreated, Ben began to violently splash around in the water. "Hey!" He exclaimed, coughing violently as water threatened to go down his throat. "What's - Happen-?" He questioned in a panic, before getting sucked under the surface.
"Oh, no! Ben!" Uraraka cried out in concern.
Bakugo scoffed at this, however. "He's fine. The brat's just pulling a prank. I doubt there's anything dangerous in that lake." Bakugo began, not noticing the hosts hiding their smirks. "Not to mention, the kid would be screaming in pain if anything bit or grabbed him." He added.
"But what if he's caught in seaweed like Tsu said?" The gravity girl asked.
"Then he'd just be stuck in place. Seaweed doesn't PULL you underwater like what Ben's doing." Todoroki jumped in.
"Very funny Ben... I'm not falling for it." Gwen scoffed, but still walked back over to shine a light on where Ben went under. "...Ben?" She called again, actually starting to get concerned. (The girls and a few boys started to get worried, but said nothing.)
The water bubbled and a giant green swamp-creature lurched out of it towards Gwen, growling at her. Gwen screamed in fright, falling over and dropping the flashlight [1], which rolled on the ground to shine on the creature, revealing it to be Four Arms covered in seaweed.
The girls (minus Asui and Jiro, but plus Mineta, Koda and Kaminari) all shrieked when the "lake monster" rose up from the depths, but all huffed at the reveal of the aline. "Ben!" They complained.
"He's wasting the watch again to pull this foolish trick." Tokoyami sighed.
"Hey, you never know. There could be a monster right now, so this could be great timing on Ben's part!" Dark Shadow defended the boy.
"Perhaps, but it could be an issue Four Arms isn't equipped to deal with, or another hero could deal with better." All Might noted.
"Ben?" Gwen asked in annoyance.
"You should have seen the look on your face!" The Tetramand chuckled. "Ah, priceless!" He declared happily.
"You are so busted when I tell Grandpa!" Gwen snapped as she got up and went back to the RV.
Four Arms continued to laugh to himself as he took the seaweed off. "I can't believe she fell for it! A monster in the lake! How dumb can you be?" He laughed at his cousin's gullibility.
"How dare you, sir! There are countless stories of monsters in lakes! So many that they MUST be true!" Aoyama declared, many of the other students giving him a "really?" look.
"And thus, that's how urban legends are born, young listener. One person tells a story and it spreads like wildfire, while there's almost always a simple solution. Besides, if giant monsters did exist, people would've found them, by now. And anyone that tells you there are is just trying to trick you and probably sell monster merch." Present Mic declared.
"I hope there's not. Because that means some poor creature is stuck in a lake way too small for them." Koda said.
"You'd be surprised, Koda. America has some pretty large lakes in it. They couldn't live in the freshwater, but some of America's great lakes are big enough to sustain even the biggest whales in the world. So, something like this is certainly possible." Midnight explained.
Suddenly, the water bubbled and splashed behind Ben, causing him to turn and see a gigantic silhouette of a monster rising out of the water behind him, shocking him greatly.
Everyone cried out in shock at the sight of the massive beast. "I hate irony!" Kaminari cried out in fear at the beast.
"N-no way! There was something like THAT in a lake!? That's impossible! Something like that should need an ocean!" Kirishima exclaimed.
"Midnight just said how big these lakes can get. If this is one of those Great Lakes, it'd be more than enough to house that monster. Maybe multiple." Yaoyorozu said worriedly.
"And now Ben's a sitting duck for it to prey one." Midoriya said in concern for the boy-turned-alien, hoping Four Arms was enough to take on the massive beast.
Four Arms looked up towards the monstrous silhouette lurching above him. A tendril from the figure shot out at him, grabbing and launching him across the lake.
"Oh, come on! It's got tentacles, too!?" Sato asked in disbelief.
"No. Those are tendrils. They're more dexterous and better at gripping holding things." Shoji analyzed.
"And it's strong, too. He threw Four Arms a good distance across the lake." Ojiro said worriedly, fearing the creature's strength may be greater than Four Arms'.
The Tetramand popped back out of the water and looked around him for the monster. As he did, something latched onto him and dragged him under. While underwater, the alien brawler got a look at the monster's giant eye. He gasped at this, but then managed to break free of the tendrils to get back to the surface.
"Oh, thank goodness. He got away." Hagakure said in relief.
"But now he's got to deal with that thing. If Ben jumped in and went swimming, that probably means it's open to the public. So other people could swim or probably even boat in this lake. And I doubt they'd get off as easy as Four Arms did." Asui said.
"Th-there must be a reason it's doing this." Koda tried to defend the creature.
"Yeah, because it's a monster! Did you see that eye?! It was practically blank, like it had no soul!" Mineta cried out.
Four Arms then burst into the Rust Bucket, waking Max and Gwen. "I was just attacked by a giant lake monster!" He told them as he was out of breath.
However, rather than the two leaping into action, Gwen just lazily threw a pillow at the Tetramand's face. "Hello? Current events? You already got me with that one." She complained.
"But I'm not kidding this time!" The alien brawler insisted.
"Come on champ, joke's over." Ben told him tiredly.
"But I-" The mutated ten-year-old tried to argue.
"Get some sleep, remember we have an early day tomorrow for our fishing trip." Max reminded him.
"But there's really a monster in there! You guys gotta do something!" Kaminari exclaimed.
"That's what happens when you joke around like this. Ever heard of 'the boy who cried wolf'?" Aizawa sighed.
"At least it's only dangerous if you're in or near the water." Iida said.
"Still, Young Kaminari is right. This creature will have to be dealt with at some point, if this creature makes this lake all but untouchable. The Great Lakes have several vital roles in America, such as providing drinking water and generating money from gross domestic product." All Might noted.
"Still, I agree with Koda. There has to be a reason it's doing this. But why?" Midoriya wondered. While not an animal expert like Koda, he still did find wildlife fascinating and was fond of animals, so to see an animal raging like this for no apparent reason was strange to him to say the least.
"It's an animal! It probably wanted Four Arms for a snack or wanted him out of its turf!" Bakugo scoffed.
"No. There has to be more to it than that. There HAS to be." Koda insisted, looking at the screen intently.
At that moment, Four Arms timed out, transforming back into Ben, lying starfish-positioned on the ground.
Ben, Gwen and Max all walked along the coast, Max with a fishing rod in hand. "No, really! It was humongous with these red glowing eyes-!" Ben insisted as he again told them about the monster from last night.
"Red? I think this kid needs glasses, because those eyes were blue. And they didn't look like they were glowing to me." Jiro said.
"Maybe his memory is recreating the memory differently. Sometimes, after scary events, we remember them being more traumatic than they really were." Midnight theorized.
"I'm sure it was just some kind of big fish, that's all." Max said dismissively.
"Yeah, so give the mega-fish story a rest, will you 'Captain Dweeb'?" Gwen snapped.
Ben wandered ahead, coming across a bucket of wriggling worms, to which he smirked.
"Aah!" Koda and Present Mic both screamed. "Get those things away from me!" Present Mic exclaimed, jumping into Aizawa's arms à la Shaggy and Scooby, only for the narcoleptic teacher to simply drop his friend after a moment of annoyance.
"Mon dieu! Such horrid little beasties! They have no or elegance such as moi!" Aoyama declared dramatically.
"Come on, guys! How are you going to be heroes if you're scared of bugs?" Sato asked them.
"Excellent question. Any ideas, Mic?" Aizawa asked the radio host with a smirk, who just looked away with a huff, telling Aizawa to shut up.
As Gwen approached, Ben shoved a handful of worms up to Gwen's face. "Ah!" She screamed
"Breakfast?" He offered.
"Eugh- Ben, gross... What's with the bucket of slimies?" Gwen asked.
"Bait." Max explained.
"How did she not know that? Isn't she the smart one?" Ashido asked.
"Somehow, she doesn't strike me as a big fishing girl." Sero said simply.
"Why not? Everyone should love fishing! It's so manly to rely on your own hands and catch your own food!" Kirishima declared.
"Unless you don't catch anything, then you've simply wasted a whole day you could've spent doing more productive things." Todoroki said.
"Yeah- Well, I think I'm gonna pass on the fishing thing, I'll stay here and catch some sun instead!" She told her family members.
"Sun? It appears both Tennyson children need glasses, because it looks cloudy enough to rain." Tokoyami said.
"Seriously, this is MY weather for catching sun. Because there's no sun." Dark Shadow agreed.
"Actually, up to 80% of UV rays still make it through the clouds, so yes, she could still very well enjoy the sun on a cloudy day like this." Yaoyorozu said.
"Okay, but you don't know what you're missing!" Her grandfather told her.
"I'm pretty sure I do..." She said dismissively.
Max shrugged at this, then turned to greet the man in the boat beside them. "Captain Shaw?" The elderly man asked.
"Who wants to know?" The captain asked.
"Jeez, it is it a requirement for boat captains to be gruff and irritable?" Mineta asked.
"Selkie isn't like that." Asui quickly defended the hero she interned with.
"I'm Max Tennyson and this is my grandson, Ben." Max introduced himself and Ben, who waved. "We chartered your boat today for a fishing trip." He explained.
"Well what're you waiting for, an engraved invitation? Get aboard, I ain't got all day." Shaw told him, heading for the boat's cabin. Ben excitedly moved to get on the boat, though Max seemed concerned.
"Well, that was rude." Ojiro said.
"He doesn't start making money until they get on the boat. It makes sense." Uraraka defended the man.
"I don't know... Something about this guy doesn't sit right with me." Shoji said suspiciously.
The ship set off, down the lake, sailing slowly."Anything... interesting out there to catch today?" Max asked.
"More than you can imagine..." Shaw said ominously.
"Y-yeah, that's totally not creepy at all..." Sero said with a shiver.
"The guy could definitely use some socialization lessons." Midnight agreed.
"Anyone else imagine Aizawa like this in twenty years?" Present Mic asked, earning some laughter from All Might and Midnight. A few students wanted to laugh, but wisely decided against it. As for Aizawa, he decked the radio host.
He then looked over and saw Ben with his head over the end of the boat. "Looks like your boy's using his breakfast as chum." The captain informed him.
"Ben? You feeling okay?" Max asked, walking up and placing a hand on his grandson's back.
"Oh, boy. Sea sickness. You have my sympathies, Ben." Uraraka said sympathetically, as she of course has had numerous bouts with motion sickness and nausea from excessive use of her Quirk.
"Yeah, I'm just keeping an eye out for the lake monster. That thing's not taking me by surprise this time!" Ben declared. And no sooner than he said that did he see a monstrous silhouette in the water, to which he gasped.
"Oh, no! There it is!" Kaminari and Sero said.
"Quick, Ben! Change into Four Arms! Or whatever your best fighting alien is!" Ashido exclaimed.
"Anything as long as it's not Grey Matter! Jump in and bring that thing down!" Kirishima cried out.
"Wait. Something's off here." Bakugo said, noting that the movement of the creature was far too calm and passive compared to how hostile it was with Four Arms last night.
"There it is!" The boy cried out. However, the silhouette became clear as it passed, revealing just a collection of brambles and rubbish. "Oh, my bad." He admitted.
The Bakusquad, minus its leader, all chuckled nervously at this. "Okay. Our bad." They said together.
"You know what they say about assuming. It makes and ass out of you and me." Bakugo told them.
"While you are not wrong, such language is not appreciated." Iida said, chopping his hands.
"Now, Ben. This is a fishing trip, not a monster hunt." Max told him.
"It's called 'the Krakken'." Shaw told them.
"He knows? So it IS real!" Hagakure exclaimed.
"Or he's a whacko that buys into the rumors." Jiro said.
"Regardless, any information he might have on it is valuable at this point." Yaoyorozu stated.
"Whoa. You know about it?" Ben asked, surprised.
"It's my business to know about." Shaw explained as he showed Ben a photo reminiscent of the 'Loch Ness Monster' photo. "I've been on its tail for years. Folks say my rudder's not right." He told them.
"Why doesn't that surprise me?" Max asked.
"Huh. Kind of reminds me of the Loch Ness monster. Meanwhile, the Kraken is generally believed to be a massive squid or octopus." Midoriya noted, writing this down in the notebook.
"And a lot of people think the Loch Ness monster is a plesiosaur that somehow survived up to the modern day." Koda said.
"The photo he showed definitely looks something like a plesiosaur. But none of those creatures possessed the strange tendrils the beast that attacked Ben did." Todoroki pointed out.
"We don't know what it does or doesn't have, since we've only seen its head! In the dark!" Dark Shadow complained.
"Indeed. Any further speculation is likely useless without a decent visual of the creature's full body." Tokoyami said.
"Sightings go back hundreds of years, on this very lake. Some say it's a myth... not me! I could take you to a spot where I personally laid eyes upon the beast. That is, if you've got the stomach for some real adventure!" The boatman declared.
Ben looked up to a reluctant Max expectantly. "I guess so..." The grandfather finally accepted.
"Alright!" Ben cheered.
"Ordinarily, I wouldn't approved of a civilian going out where a dangerous creature might be, but I suppose someone has to investigate the creature. And Ben is likely the best person to do so with the Omnitrix in case it is hostile again." All Might said.
"In case? It attacked Four Arms out of nowhere! Of course its hostile!" Present Mic exclaimed.
"It's either highly territorial or an active predator. In which case, humans aren't safe around it and, since its territory is vital to the nations survival, it needs to be dealt with." Aizawa agreed.
"I don't know... This still doesn't feel right..." Koda said, concerned for the creature.
And as they sailed to the location Shaw told them about, the captain showed them the set up that would help him discover the beast. "Sonar, high-def video setup, ultrasound. I got it all. And I will find it. Mark my words, it can't hide." The boatman declared.
"Whoa. Impressive set up." Kirishima said.
"Yeah, makes you wonder how he hasn't caught this thing yet." Ashido agreed.
"The thing must be smarter than it looks." Kaminari said.
Ben looked on in awe, before he was taken aside by his grandfather. "Ben, I don't want you to put too much stock in what mister Shaw says. I don't think he has both oars in the water, if you know what I mean." Max told him.
"Why? Just because he saw the Krakken too?" Ben demanded, before walking away in a huff, which saddened his caretaker.
"Ben! That is an incredibly rude tone to take with your grandfather!" Iida snapped.
"It's somewhat understandable. Max and Gwen have repeatedly dismissed his claims about the Krakken. But Captain Shaw is now validating these claims, thus making Ben himself feel validated, so Max now questioning Shaw makes Ben feel invalidated once again. It's making Ben feel like his own family doesn't believe him or even that they are against him. He's still only ten, after all, he doesn't have all of the necessary faculties to process these complex feelings he has." Yaoyorozu pointed out.
"But Max's point of view is understandable. Ben played a prank on Gwen earlier about a lake monster, so it's understandable he's skeptical of Ben's claims. Meanwhile, Shaw's displaying some slightly disturbing antisocial tendencies. And VERY disturbing obsessive tendencies about the creature. Even without his claims to have chased it as long as he has, spending so much money on expensive equipment for a creature whose existence can't be outright confirmed is questionable to say the least. We're only on their side now because we've seen the creature. If we hadn't, we'd likely be as skeptical as Max is now." Midnight countered.
"They're both being idiots! We get it! Let's move on and see Ben turn this thing to fish sticks!" Bakugo snapped.
The ship floated by, Shaw at the helm paying attention to the sonar, until he came up against a blockage of buoys and tape. "'Do not enter'? What's going on?" The captain demanded after reading the tape.
"Looks official. Maybe we should turn back!" Max suggested.
"Nonsense, this is my lake and I'll go wherever I-" Shaw began, before being interrupted.
"He should really listen. Maybe there's something out in the water that's hazardous." Asui said.
"That might explain however that thing came about. Maybe something caused a mutation, like a less extreme version of Animo's device." Aizawa theorized.
"Did you see that thing?! I wouldn't call that any less extreme!" Mineta cried out.
"Fishing boat! Stop where you are." A distant voice called, before a larger research vessel pulled up beside them. "I am Jonah Melville, the founder of 'Friends of Fish', we've closed this section of the lake for an environmental study. You'll have to turn your boat around." The leader of the group greeted them in a friendly manner before he explained why they couldn't continue.
Koda smiled at this. "Good! These guys will surely find anything harmful if it is there. And keep the people and animals safe in the meantime!" He said happily.
"But where does some environmental group get the authority to section off a part of the lake like that? With a name like 'Friends of Fish', it doesn't sound like a government group that would have that authority." Midoriya wondered.
"It's possible they have permission from the local authorities. But I will admit, Max simply believing it to be official is a bit naive. It's not that difficult to acquire 'do not enter' tape. If someone WANTED to close off an area, they could. But most people simply wouldn't bother, so the public would likely believe it is official." All Might admitted.
"'Suppose you make me, fish-hugger?" Shaw questioned the group confrontationally.
"Well, since I chartered the boat for the day, I believe I'm in charge. Isn't that right, Captain?" Max asked.Shaw grumbled and reluctantly made his way up the boat.
"Jeez. I mean, I get you don't like being told where to go, dude, but take it down a notch. Definitely not helping your 'crazy' allegations." Jiro said.
"Still, at least he's willing to listen to Max and takes his job as a captain seriously." Todoroki noted.
"Yeah, it's a good thing Max is here to be a voice of reason. I bet he might have actually believed Ben if he hadn't pranked Gwen first." Uraraka said.
"But- what about the Krakken?" Ben asked.
Jonah chuckled to himself. "The Krakken? Not that old fish story? Look, I'm a marine biologist. Anyone who tells you they've seen a monster in this lake, is casting without a hook." He told the boy.
"Well, from what Shaw said, your people are in the area the Krakken frequents, so you better hope that's the case." Shoji said.
"Even though we already know it isn't." Ojiro said, worried for the group.
"But, at least Ben's around to deal with it this time. Right?" Hagakure said nervously.
"It depends. We still don't know what the heck this thing is. Might be too big for any of his aliens. Especially with it spending most its time in water. Unless he has some kind of alien shark in that watch, he could have a tough time." Present Mic said.
Shaw's boat traveled back to the docks, trailing behind the 'Friends of Fish' boat. But suddenly, the ship's sonar pinged, alerting Shaw. "The sonar! We've found something!" The captain called out.
"Or something's found us! Look!" Ben said worriedly as a shark-like fin popped to the surface of the water.
"A plesiosaur with with tentacles AND shark fins?! What form of abomination IS this creature?!" Aoyama exclaimed.
"All we can do now is wait and see." Midoriya said, although with clear concern in his voice.
Shaw walked out and saw the fin dip below the water. "The Krakken!" He exclaimed as the fin passed under Shaw's boat, revealing its true size and rocking the boat. "It's heading for the docks!" Shaw said in a panic.
"Gwen!" Ben and Max said together.
"No!" The students all cried out at once as the teacher's tensed up, worried for the people.
"Hurry, Ben!" Sato yelled.
Meanwhile, the female Tennyson happily sat on the dock, kicking her her feet, blissfully unaware of the impending danger. "Ah. Finally, a little sun. And with my big-mouth cousin nowhere in sight, I can just lay back and relax." She sighed in content, completely oblivious of the sea monster rapidly approaching her position.
"Pay attention, know-it-all! How can you not see that shit barreling towards you?!" Bakugo demanded.
"Probably because she's not looking." Aizawa noted.
"But shouldn't she be able to hear it? It's probably making a lot of noise with the wake from it pushing the water as it moves." Ashido pointed out.
"Hey, sometimes when you're zoning out, you can miss EVERYTHING happening around you." Dark Shadow said.
"Indeed. Often times during meditation, you can completely lose yourself. Even the greatest noises won't phase you." Tokoyami agreed.
The Krakken rushed towards land as Captain Shaw tried to warn the dock-goers by ringing the ship's bell. However, few people actually believed the danger. "How many times does that doofus think I'm gonna fall for this?" Gwen scoffed.
"Come on, Gwen! Think! I doubt Ben could get the boat captain in on his little prank! Especially a grumpy old man like Shaw!" Hagakure told her frantically.
"Especially since that would be Breach of Peace and Inducing Panic. I'd hope most people aren't willing to risk jail time for a simple prank." Yaoyorozu said.
The Krakken reared out of the water, slumping back down and crushing the pier to pieces, sending the people standing on it into the water. Gwen popped back up to the surface and gasped. "That's not Ben." She realized worriedly.
"NO SHIT!" The Bakusquad all shouted together.
"Language!" Iida scolded them.
"It has legs, too!? What the heck is this thing?!" Mineta exclaimed.
"Well, since it's never expressly said, I suppose we can tell you. It's a creature known as a Cryptid. Scientifically unexplainable creatures that many claim to have seen, but there's little to no proof of them existing. And they can range from giant creatures like these to simple frogs." Anemone explained. [2]
"Well, clearly, if they are this harmful someone should be doing something about them!" Iida declared, chopping his arms.
"There are a handful of scientists that covertly monitor and handle cryptids to ensure that no harm comes to humanity or the cryptids, but it's a small group. A family of six and a few of their close fellow scientist friends. They can't be everywhere at once." The Apophis woman elaborated.
"Ooh, any chance we might see them in action?" Kirishima asked eagerly.
"I mean, WE'RE not gonna show you, but maybe some other cosmic entity will." Maverick said, looking off to the side with a smirk and a raised eyebrow. [3]
"I told ya! It's real! The Krakken lives!" Shaw declared.
"Sail now, gloat later." Max told him, before turning to Ben. "Someone's got to rescue those people." He told his grandson, putting a hand on his shoulder.
Ben nodded and ran and leapt off the side of the boat into the water, priming the watch to transform into a new alien, based on the silhouette. "Ripjaws to the rescue!" He declared, before dipping below the surface and transforming with a green flash.
"This must be his water alien." Asui said, getting a bit excited.
"It better be a big one to handle something like that." Sato said worriedly.
"What are we thinking? Alien shark? It has 'jaws' in the name." Present Mic asked.
"We'd be here all day guessing. Let's just watch." Midnight told him.
However, what emerged from the water was not some new form of alien, but instead the familiar form of XLR8. "Hey! I said Ripjaws, not XLR8! Stupid watch!" The Kineceleran complained at the form he took.
Everyone did a double-take at this. "Wait, what?" They all said at once, utterly confused why Ben didn't become the alien he picked.
"But, why would it turn him into XLR8? Was he not looking at the watch right or something?" Uraraka asked.
"Well, it's unclear, but universal observers like us have a few theories. First, despite being a highly advanced piece of technology, this Omnitrix is actually just a prototype, so it's likely prone to a few bugs. Second, it's possible Ben constantly SLAMMING down the watch face causes some sort of short-circuit or bug in the system." Anemone began.
"Or, the final theory, the Omnitrix has a highly advanced AI inside it- which it does, since it sometimes lets him stay an alien longer or turn back sooner than normal to save his life, that's not part of the theory- and this AI is able to observe and assess the situation and if it notices Ben making a less than ideal choice of alien for the situation- which happens a lot- it goes 'No, stupid. This one.' And then turns him into an alien better for the situation. In this case, while Ripjaws is a decent choice, Ben's trying to save people here, not fight the Krakken, so 800 mile an hour XLR8 would be faster getting the people out of danger than Ripjaws." Maverick added.
"Wow. Those are all pretty crazy choices." Kaminari said in confusion.
"Well, it is super advanced alien tech. We shouldn't really be surprised." Midoriya said, writing down each of the theories in his journal.
"Man, they really should've sent that thing with an instruction manual." Ojiro said.
"And once again, why a child shouldn't have a piece of technology like that." Aizawa grumbled at hearing the theory Ben's rough treatment causes malfunctions in the watch, still fearing the possibility of a self-destruct mode.
"But now that he doesn't have the alien he wants, he'll have to be smart and adapt to this situation. Let's see how he does." All Might said, leaning in.
But the raptor-like alien had no time to worry about that, as the Krakken dove under the water, heading towards Gwen and the other civilians trapped in the water.
"Here goes nothing..." XLR8 declared, before rushing forward, his speed pulling him out of the water until he reached and was able to run on the water's surface. He almost slipped once, but soon got the hang of it.
"WHOA!" Many of the students cried out in amazement.
"Wow, that's so awesome! Right, Iida?!" Uraraka asked happily, turning to the class president, but got no response. "Iida?" She asked again, turning to see the boy frozen with shock.
"Running... on water..." He said in utter shock, before lowering his head in defeat. "I must admit defeat. XLR8 is better than I could ever hope to be." He resigned in shame.
"Don't look at him as a goal you can never reach, Iida, but a goal to aspire TOWARDS. Even if you never reach his level, continue to improve and be more like that creature. Become a hero as close to him as you can be." Todoroki offered advice to his friend.
"Just maybe less of a troublemaker." Uraraka giggled.
And with this speed, he managed to reach the people in trouble, snatching Gwen out of the way of the Krakken, getting her back to land.(Everyone cheered, but said nothing.)
"You okay?" He asked.
Gwen coughed water, but soon nodded. "I think so, thanks for the save." She said thankfully.
However, as the alien speedster zipped back to the water to save the others, he splashed Gwen with some mud upon taking off. "Hey! You did that on purpose!" She snapped.
The raptor-like alien then rushed and took the other people in need just before the monsters could grab them, bringing them back to land with Gwen.
"Not bad. So, XLR8 was pretty good for the job after all." Asui praised, although she was a bit disappointed she didn't see this "Ripjaws" alien.
"Right. Even on water, XLR8 was too fast to see properly. And even then, those rescues were pretty close. If Ripjaws were ANY slower, not everyone would've made it out of there." Shoji noted.
"Well, the kid better get to using those claws if he wants it to stay that way." Bakugo said, glaring at the Krakken.
"I'm... not sure those would even go deep enough to hit anything important." Jiro said. She'd been studying and learning a lot more since she began dating Yaoyorozu, so she became more knowledgeable in many areas, including biology. Sure, there wasn't anything about this Krakken, but she could guess based on creatures of similar size like whales.
"Get us out of here!" Jonah ordered, to which his crewmate, Duane, sailed the boat away. However, the Krakken took notice of this and went after it, rearing up against it and rocking the boat greatly. "Whoa!" Jonah exclaimed as the Krakken rushed towards it again, but was stopped by XLR8 creating a water tornado on the surface, scaring it back.
"Smart thinking. Even if it is giant, it's still a wild animal. It doesn't take much to spook them. So a huge water spout oughta do it." Midoriya said, appreciating the way Ben chased off the Krakken without hurting it. He wasn't as much of an animal lover as Koda, but he would still prefer the non-violent solution.
"But I doubt it will work for long." Sato said.
"Now something's definitely wrong. Predatory animals only attack for territory, prey or fighting off threats to itself, or its young if it's the kind of creature that rears its young. The first one is out, since it ignored Shaw's boat and attacked everyone else, even after they tried to leave the water. Then prey doesn't make much sense, since seeing XLR8 probably would've made it back off to begin with, since there's something out there that could be dangerous to it, while little humans wouldn't be worth any damage it might take." Koda analyzed.
"So, you think someone might have attacked it before and now it sees humans as a threat?" Sero asked, to which the animal-loving boy nodded.
"That's the case with most wild animals, but even then, they can sometimes lash out for no reason. And that's normal animals, these cryptids might behave completely differently. For now, we have to go off what we know. And that's that this Krakken is attacking people unprovoked, which means it's dangerous." Aizawa told his students. A few of them, especially Koda, didn't agree with this, but didn't say anything else.
The speedster then jumped onto the boat while the Krakken swam to the front of the boat and tried to grab a crate off of it using its front tendrils. "No you don't!" Jonah declared as he leapt onto the crate, hanging onto it to stop it from being taken.
Everyone was shocked at Jonah running in and holding onto the cart as a GIANT MONSTER tried to take it. "What the hell are you doing, dumbass!?" Bakugo demanded.
"Whatever's in that crate can't POSSIBLY be worth more than your life!" Kirishima told him.
"That DOES raise a good point, though. What could be in there that he thinks is important enough to risk his life for it?" All Might wondered.
XLR8 decided to help by grabbing the Krakken's tendril and dragging it backwards to prevent the crate from being moved, resulting in him kicking up a cloud of smoke into the Krakken's face, causing the monster to briefly let go, making the Kineceleran lose his grip and fall backwards. The beast tried again to get the box, but XLR8 rooted himself on the ship's ground and used his fast-moving feet to kick the Krakken's jaw as it came towards the ship. After being kicked in the underjaw, the Krakken reeled backwards, roaring and retreating.
"Impressive tactics, Ben. The dust cloud coming at its eyes was perfect for disorienting and startling the beast to make it back off. And it only makes sense that with such fast feet, you'd have impressive kicking power." Iida praised, despite once again feeling a bit jealous, knowing that XLR8's countless smaller, but faster kicks would likely do more damage that his one big, powerful kick before he had to regain momentum to attack again.
"I know. That was still crazy! I mean, I knew his legs were fast, but they were hitting like machine gun! So awesome!" Uraraka exclaimed in amazement.
"Yeah. It's probably a good thing he's not using the claws like Bakugo said. That would probably get messy." Hagakure said.
"Thanks for the hand, and the feet!" Jonah said thankfully.
However, the raptor-like alien hissed at the man, finding something suspicious and peeling back his mask. "What's so important in that crate that you'd risk your life for it?" XLR8 questioned.
"Excellent question." Present Mic said in suspicion.
"Well, it's good to see Ben is willing to ask questions and not just blindly look at everyone who's not the immediate threat as a civilian." Midnight said, looking to the students. "That's going to be a big thing you'll have to learn, students. Sometimes criminals and villains will hide in plain sight while heroes are busy with other matters." She told them.
"Um... Our lunch!" Jonah answered after a moment of hesitation.
"You almost got munched for a few sandwiches?" The speedster asked incredulously.
Everyone raised a skeptic eyebrow at this. "Okay, those are either the greatest sandwiches in history, or that was a complete lie." Kaminari said doubtfully.
"Even if WERE the greatest sandwich in history, it's not worth your life. This guy's hiding something." Jiro said.
"Yeah. The Krakken wanted it for some reason. But, even if it could smell the food, it wouldn't risk coming back every time if XLR8 was there and could hurt it every time it got close if it didn't have a good reason." Koda insisted.
But before the interrogation could continue, the Krakken jumped out the water and grabbed the crate, bringing it back into the water before it could be stopped.
And if that wasn't bad enough, the timer of the Omnitrix started ticking red. "Uh oh. Sorry, gotta run." XLR8 told them, before leaping off the boat and running towards Shaw's ship.
"Almost there... I think I'm gonna-" The raptor-like alien began, before the watch timed out and turned the alien back into Ben. "Aah!" The boy cried out as he was still moving with XLR8's momentum, causing him to skip across the water's surface like a stone, landing right behind the ship. "Make it." He groaned.
Everyone winced at this. "Ooh. That's gotta hurt." Sato said sympathetically.
"Indeed. At the speeds XLR8 was going, it would have to be the same as hitting the water from several stories in the air and hitting terminal velocity. At those speeds, it would be similar to hitting concrete, due to the density and incompressibility of the water. So, it was as if Ben just bounced off concrete multiple times. Thankfully, water isn't nearly as rough and course as concrete, so Ben won't have many skin tears or anything like that like if he fell on actual concrete." Yaoyorozu pointed out, also feeling sorry for the boy.
And this only further made people wince. "Suddenly, Iida, I think you're better off NOT running on water." Mineta told him, to which the class president nodded.
Max then spotted his grandson in the water. "Man overboard! Shaw, Ben is overboard! Bring the boat around!" He called to the Captain.
Shaw had been preparing to launch a harpoon into the beast, before being alerted by Max. "Next time you're in my sights, you won't be so lucky..." He promised the beast, before heading back to help the boy.
"Again, at least he knows what's important and that rescuing people comes before taking monsters down." Ashido said.
"Yeah. He may be a bit creepy- and also probably crazy- but he doesn't seem like a bad guy. And he's been pretty open with Ben and Max so far." Asui agreed.
"Right. Definitely more than those friends of fish guys. After that crate, they're definitely hiding something. I can't be sure yet, but I've got an idea what might have been in those crates. Too soon to share the idea now, though." Todoroki declared, thinking back to what Koda said that animals react violently to threats to themselves, but also their children.
Later that night, campers and dock-goers were all packing up and leaving, not wanting to stick around a place with a rogue monster on the loose.
Ben, Gwen and Max sat by a campfire as Ben was drying off with a towel. "See, I told you so. That was the same thing that tried to munch me last night. Captain Shaw and I were right." The boy declared.
"Of course. We had to get the 'I told you so'." Ojiro said.
"You can hardly blame the boy. His family dismissed his claims all day and called the only person who believed him crazy. Not to mention saving everyone afterward. I'd say he's more than earned it." Aoyama told him.
"Just because he was right about the Krakken doesn't mean I was wrong about him. I want you to stay away from that guy. He's trouble." Max warned his grandson.
"You're just being stubborn." Ben complained.
"Yeah, don't you hate people like that?" Gwen teased.
"Oh, come on, Max! He helped Ben after he 'went overboard' and tried to warn everyone at the docks." Uraraka said.
"But, on the other hand, he could be A LOT less intense about wanting to hunt the Krakken." Midoriya admitted.
"Still, Ben should show his grandfather more respect. He only has Ben's best interest in mind." Iida countered.
"They both have valid arguments. And they're BOTH being rather stubborn about these points. They should step back and remind themselves of the big picture." All Might stated.
"We'll leave this to the experts Ben, like those 'Friends of Fish' guys." The eldest Tennyson explained.
"Tch. Yeah, some expert, if he's dumb enough to risk his own life over some crate." Bakugo scoffed.
"Agreed. No matter what's in that crate, it can be replaced. His life cannot. He shouldn't risk it over some material item." All Might agreed.
"But if he was willing to risk his life for it, it must be incredibly valuable. But that doesn't explain why the Krakken would want it." Asui pondered.
"Experts? Who better to snag a lake-monster than the guy with the monster-buster on his wrist." The boy questioned, holding up the Omnitrix on his arm.
"I'm afraid this is just gonna have to be the one that got away, son." Max told him.
"What!? But why?! Ben can TOTALLY take this thing on!" Kirishima declared.
Aizawa sighs at this. "I hate to admit it, but I agree with Ben here. With the Omnitrix, he's the one best suited to handle a monster like this. Without heroes to fight this thing, the only way I see to bring this creature down is the military, who I don't see rolling up. Max not wanting Ben to help here puts a lot of people's lives in danger. It's irresponsible at best and negligent at worst. Maybe even criminally negligent." The erasure hero stated.
Maverick let out a gasp. "But Aizawa! He doesn't have a heroes license! Doesn't that make him a vigilante?!" He asked mockingly, happy he finally got the hero to admit to being a hero without a license.
The narcoleptic teacher groaned. "When there's a threat this big, it can't simply be ignored. Ben should do something about it, even if he doesn't have a license. Because they don't exist, as you've said many times." He said, being sure to add that last part to justify his claim.
Just then, Shaw walked onto the scene, looking none too pleased. "...low-down no good fish kissers!" The captain cursed.
"Captain Shaw, what is it?" Ben asked.
"The nerve of those 'enviro-punks'! They shut down the entire lake! Nobody tells me where to sail and nobody's gonna keep me away from reeling in the catch of the century. Nobody." The Captain declared. And shortly after, Shaw's boat was sailing across the lake.
"Again, how do they have the authority to do that?" Ashido asked.
"Well, this time, with a credible threat out on the lake, it wouldn't be surprising if they contacted the actual authorities to get permission to close the lake." Yaoyorozu said.
"I doubt it. Shaw probably would've mentioned the police showing up. And Max didn't mention them, either. So, we can assume it's still just the 'Friends of Fish' people. Who I'm also surprised aren't clearing out after these events." Midnight pointed out.
"But should Shaw really be going out like he is now?" Mineta asked worriedly.
"Probably not, but at least he's trying to deal with the thing. Let's just hope that harpoon works for him." Present Mic said.
Meanwhile, the Rust Bucket sat nearby the pier. Gwen was seen inside, knocking at the bathroom door. "Come on Ben! What did you do- fall in?" She questioned. Max opened the door to reveal Ben was not there.
"What the?! Where is he?! Did he actually fall in!?" Kaminari asked.
"Don't be an idiot. He obviously snuck out somehow to try and go along with Shaw." Jiro told him with a roll of her eyes.
"While I can't condone his sneaking away without his guardian's knowledge or permission, I do commend him for attempting to do the right thing and deal with the Krakken." Iida stated.
"But IS IT really the right thing?" Koda asked quietly.
Shaw sailed the boat, but heard cluttering behind him coming from under a tarp. "Hey! No stowaways on my boat, even if you are only a filthy rat!" He snapped, grabbing a nearby oar and uncovering the tarp to reveal Ben sitting there.
"Um? First mate Tennyson reporting for duty... sir?" Ben said nervously.
"Whoa, dude! Chill! He was way too eager to use that oar!" Sato cried out.
"Well, someone was on his boat. He has the right to self-defense at that point if he reasonably believes someone is a threat to him or his property." Shoji said. They'd learned a bit about American laws in some of their classes.
"Yeah, Ben didn't think that one through very well, did he?" Uraraka asked.
"Then again, I doubt Shaw would've let a random kid of a man he didn't get along with too well on his boat just because he asked." Todoroki said.
Shaw glared for a moment, but it soon lessened. And the two were later far out into the lake. "She's probably been chased deep by our 'fishy friends'. Only one way to flush her out... with a little live bait." The captain declared, now wearing a green wetsuit.
"Maybe I should go with you? Y'know, just in case." Ben offered.
"No need. I've got my dive body right here." Shaw declined, holding up a harpoon gun. He then sat on the edge of the boat. "Wish me luck." He said, before leaning back and falling into the water.
"I wish you sanity if you're going down in the water like that." Asui said with her usual bluntness.
"Right? The giant spear on his boat made sense, but a tiny harpoon gun is pushing it a little." Sero agreed.
"Unless he gets a REALLY good shot on a vulnerable area." Yaoyorozu agreed as well, as she had knowledge of these weapons, having made a few before in training for underwater rescue and/or villain combat. [4]
Ben looked towards a red dive-suit left on the boat.
"Ben Tennyson! You were instructed to remain on the boat! Furthermore, that diving equipment is not yours to take!" Iida scolded, chopping away.
"But still, it WOULD be better to have Ben along for back-up in case the Krakken DOES show itself, because we've already agreed that harpoon gun won't do much." Ojiro said.
"Though, would it not make more sense to turn into an alien immediately?" Aoyama asked.
"Not really. Shaw doesn't know the secret, so he wouldn't know it was Young Ben if an unidentifiable alien were to come at him out of nowhere when he's actively searching for a monster. That's likely to get Young Ben shot." All Might said, not noticing the hosts sharing a look and a smirk.
Captain Shaw dove through the ocean. He got startled by a bit of seaweed, but soon reached the Krakken's nest without incident. And there he discovered a yellow sphere with red veins. An egg.
Everyone was shocked at this revelation. "Those... are eggs!" Present Mic exclaimed.
"So, the Krakken's not an evil monster trying to eat everyone. It's a mommy protecting her family!" Dark Shadow declared.
"Of course. Few things in this world can match the fury of a mother trying to defend their young. And the lengths they'll go to in order to ensure their child's safety are endless." Tokoyami agreed.
"I knew it! I knew there had to be a reason! The Krakken wasn't just being a monster mindlessly harming people!" Koda declared triumphantly.
The teachers all took in this knowledge and sighed, looking down in shame. "It looks like we were guilty of judging something by its cover without really trying to understand it. Just like Ben and Shaw with the Krakken and Max with Shaw. We owe an apology both to the Krakken and to you, Koda." Aizawa admitted, the Anivoice User giving his teacher a grateful nod.
Meanwhile, Ben's silhouette was seen swimming nearby. He then began to approach the Captain, who noticed him and was startled once again, turning and firing, but the boy was narrowly able to avoid it.
Everyone shrieked as Shaw fired at Ben. Though most were content to let out a sigh of relief after Ben dodged it, others were more vocal about there disapproval. "What was that!? This man has NO trigger discipline! You should only EVER fire at something when you know what it is! Otherwise, your finger shouldn't even be ON the trigger!" Yaoyorozu snapped, having trained extensively with several kinds of weapons as she worked towards being a hero.
"And how the HELL did he confuse a TEN-YEAR-OLD BOY for a GIANT MONSTER!? If his vision is that bad or he's that confused about the size and shapes of creatures, he shouldn't even be allowed NEAR a weapon!" Midnight snapped. [5]
The captain breathed a sigh of relief, before gesturing for Ben to approach and see what the captain had discovered. The boy swam up and touched down beside the captain, shocked at seeing the egg as Shaw swam back to the surface. But once he reached the surface, he noticed a black speedboat armed with heavy weaponry pulled up beside his boat.
"What the? Who's boat is that?" Kaminari asked.
"I don't know. But judging by that machine gun on the back, it can't be good." Mineta said worriedly.
"Villains? But why? And where did they come from all of a sudden?" Hagakure said nervously.
"Something tells me they've been here all along..." Bakugo said in suspicion, sharing a look with Midoriya, who nodded with similar suspicion on his mind.
As he climbed up onto his boat, he was grabbed by a masked figure. "Don't you know night diving is dangerous, old timer? Unless of course, you went with a friend." The Masked figure interrogated.
"I work alone. I ain't got no friends." Shaw declared.
"Again, at least he's not willing to sell out Ben." Ashido said.
"But now they know there's no one around to help him. And no one that will be looking for him." Iida said, concerned for the Captain.
"... And with a sparkling personality like yours?" The Masked figure taunted.
Ben popped up to the surface and spectated the confrontation. "I haven't anything worth stealing either." Shaw added.
"Ah, but you have us all wrong. All we want is information. Like, what did you see down there?" The villain interrogated.
"So, the villains know there's something in the area. But how?" Sato asked.
"Either they stashed something there at some point, or they've been monitoring the area for some time..." Aizawa said, growing more suspicious along with his "problem children".
"Nothin'. Same as always." The captain lied. There was a short pause for a moment, before the masked figure punched Shaw to the ground, knocking him out.
"Oh, no! Shaw!" Several students cried out.
"But why'd they knock him out?! What are they gonna do with him?!" Uraraka asked worriedly.
"Unfortunately, they're probably going to off him right here and now. They can't have him alerting the cops that there are heavily armed criminals in the area, looking for something in the lake." Present Mic told the students with a grim tone to his voice.
"Ben, hurry! You have to do something..." Ojiro urged.
"Well... I have to be sure." The Masked Figure declared, taking off the mask to reveal he was Jonah Melville.
"What?! Jonah!?" Most of the students exclaimed in shock.
"But why?! He seemed so nice!" Ashido said.
"It makes sense. When Ben saved everyone from the Krakken earlier as XLR8, it gave up once he brought everyone to shore, even though it has legs and can probably leave the water. But it targeted the Friends of Fish boat multiple times. And it was determined to get that crate from Jonah, trying trying three different times. And Jonah risking his life for the crate makes sense, too." Midoriya began.
"And so they closed off the beach for 'environmental studies' to keep people away so they wouldn't disturb the Krakken as they looked for the eggs. If the dumbass was willing to risk his life for them, they'd have to be worth a fortune." Bakugo finished.
"Poachers..." Koda growled, now as furious with these villains as he was with Animo.
"It makes too much sense now. I can't believe we didn't realize it sooner. Excellent work, Young Midoriya. You as well, Young Bakugo." All Might congratulated them both.
Ben was shocked at this and looks to the Omnitrix to see if it was possible to transform. Unfortunately, he was met with the device was still in recharge mode from his escape from the Rust Bucket. "Come on, work!" Ben pleaded quietly.
"Oh, come on! Why isn't the stupid Oomi-trix working!?" Kaminari complained. [6]
"IT'S OMNITRIX, DUNCE-FACE! GET IT RIGHT!" Bakugo snapped.
"More than likely, it's still out of power from when he somehow escaped the RV." Asui theorized.
"Take 'Ahab' here with us. Find out if he knows anything back at the Cannery. We'll come back later with a mini-sub to snatch the rest of the eggs." Jonah ordered, throwing a tracker in the lake to mark the location.
"The rest of?" Aoyama parroted.
"That must mean that they already have one of them." Todoroki realized.
"Then no wonder the Krakken's been freaking out and attacking everything, she thinks someone at the beach has her egg! All because Jonah stole it. So not manly!" Kirishima snapped.
He then looked back to Shaw's boat after they were back on the speedboat. "In the meantime," He began, priming an explosive., "I think his boat just got lost at sea." He declared, throwing the explosive over into Shaw's ship and sailing off, the explosives and the boat exploding behind them.
"Oh, no! Shaw's boat!" Hagakure said.
"But why would they do that?" Uraraka asked.
"Because if people found an abandoned boat out in the middle of the lake, it'd raise suspicions and the authorities would probably be brought in, which would make things a lot harder for Jonah." Asui answered, learning about such crimes from her time interning with Selkie.
"And that also means they're probably gonna dispose of Shaw so he won't be able to talk to the authorities, either." Midnight said darkly.
The debris fell onto Ben, the boy narrowly dodging it and coming back up to the surface a safe distance away. (They all breathed a sigh of relief at Ben's safety, but said nothing)
Ben primed his watch, looking at the silhouette of Stinkfly. "It's hero time!" He declared.
"Why Stinkfly? Why not that Ripjaws alien? Isn't he supposed to be the water one?" Jiro asked, wanting to see the rest of Ben's aliens like the others.
"I'm starting to think Ripjaws is a large, powerful alien, not suited for speedy chases. Or maybe he's not as equipped to deal with their heavy weaponry. Although, I doubt Stinkfly is much better in that regard." Yaoyorozu theorized.
"We'll just have to wait and see." Aizawa told them.
Back on the boat, Duane noticed something and pointed back the way they came. "Is that a bird?" He asked the rest of the crew.
"Nah. Looks like a plane." Another F.O.F crew member argued.
But finally, the Lepidopterran got close enough for Jonah to clearly see him. "It's a bug!" The boss declared.
"Anyone else feel like that's some kind of reference?" Kaminari asked.
"I feel like everyone here needs their eyes checked. First Shaw shoots at Ben, thinking he's the Krakken, then these guys confuse Stinkfly for a bird or plane?" What the hell?" Bakugo questioned.
"Man the harpoons!" Jonah ordered.
"Give it up! You are totally busted." Stinkfly demanded.
Jonah's crew fired lasers at the insectoid alien, who was able to dodge them, then fired jets of green slime from his eyestalks, immobilising the criminals.
"Oh, yeah! I forgot he could do that!" Ashido realized.
"Understandable. We were TOLD he could do that, but never shown. So it would make sense that it slipped your mind." Iida defended her and any others who forgot that ability of Stinkfly's.
"That's actually very useful. like we're seeing, it's very useful for restraining villains. And since he's keeping up with a speedboat, that means he'd be pretty capable in keeping up with or staying ahead of any enemies without a vehicle or speed Quirk and restrain them with relative ease. Now the only question is the strength of the slime and the duration it lasts for. It could be a bit of a problem for the police when they try to arrest criminals trapped in the slime if they can't get them out of it..." Midoriya analyzed, before going into a mutter storm that only stopped after Asui slapped her boyfriend with her tongue.
"True, but it's quite ghastly to see the slime come from his eyes. Quite sickening, no panache at all." Aoyama said.
Jonah unloaded explosive barrels from the inside of the ship, some almost hitting the flying alien. Eventually, he blasted a tree, causing it to fall and mess up Stinkfly's path of travel, causing him to fall into the water below.
Stinkfly emerged from the water and tried to fly, but he was unable to get into the air. "Aw, man. My wings are too wet for take-off." He realized in concern, looking at his wings.
Everyone was shocked at the levels Jonah was going to. "Oh, jeez! Explosives! And he's bringing down trees! He's gonna destroy the whole lake at this rate!" Hagakure cried out.
"If they're desperate enough, villains will do anything to escape pursuing heroes." All Might said in anger, remembering a time a villain he was chasing with energy manipulation shot a blade of energy at a telephone pole, slicing it and making it fall towards a family of four, All Might having to abandon the chase to stop the falling pole.
Then, many were immediately worried after Stinkfly claimed he couldn't fly with wet wings. "Oh, come on! What are the odds, THAT'S this thing's big weakness?!" Dark Shadow complained.
"Indeed. 'Tis quite the tragedy that has befallen Ben in this dark hour." Tokoyami agreed.
"I guess it makes sense. A lot of flying insects can't fly well if they get wet. And I guess even alien bugs have that problem." Koda said worriedly.
"What will you do now, Ben?" Midoriya could only wonder.
Now unable to take off, the Lepidopterran was targeted by Jonah driving the ship towards him. "Let's squish that bug, once and for all!" Jonah declared.
"This guy's a monster!" Sato said in horror.
"How did we EVER think he was a good guy?" Shoji asked.
"Another good lesson for you to learn, young listeners. The most dangerous kind of villains are the ones that can make you believe they're your friend." Present Mic told them, no one noticing Aoyama subtly looking down in shame after this statement from his teacher.
Now spotted in the floodlight, Stinkfly slowly swam away as Jonah's ship barreled towards him. He reached a hunk of driftwood and turns his eyestalks around behind him to see the oncoming threat. "Aw, come on, come on! Dry off!" The insectoid alien complained, flapping his wings to dry them faster.
"Hurry, Ben! Hurry!" A number of students all exclaimed.
Barreling closer, one of Jonah's crew stood with a turret, firing toward him. The Lepidopterran looked around him for means of escape, before looking to a hanging tree branch. He then spat a streak of goo onto the tree branch and then slurped it back up, reeling himself in like a grappling hook, pulling himself to safety just before the boat could run over him, blasting the driftwood into bits.
"Oh, god... That's disgusting!" Ashido said, trying not to vomit.
"It may be a little gross, but that's a pretty clever use of his power to get away from a deadly situation." Ojiro admitted.
"That slime is awesome! It's crazy versatile! Now if only it melted clothes." Mineta said, imagining himself in possession of the Omnitrix, using Stinkfly's slime to melt the clothes of all the women in UA, even the teachers, minus Recovery Girl. This, however, got him knocked out of his chair with the force from the slap from Asui's tongue.
Jonah circled the boat around and looked around with a spotlight, unable to find Stinkfly, who was hiding behind the branch. However, his search for the insectoid alien was cut short when he saw a fin in the water. "It's getting too crowded around here." He declared, before shining his light on an unconscious Shaw. "Dump the trash." He ordered. And Shaw was thrown overboard as Jonah and his crew boated away.
"Shaw, no!" The students cried out again.
"Okay, Stinkfly made at least A LITTLE sense, since it's a giant monster-looking bug coming at you, but Shaw is unconscious and helpless!" Hagakure exclaimed.
"It's like All Might said, villains don't care about who gets hurt as long as they can get away." Aizawa said angrily.
Stinkfly, hovering above the water's surface, grabbed Shaw before he could sink. (Another sigh of relief was breathed.)
He then flew towards land, seeing the Rust Bucket on the shore. "Almost there!" The Lepidopterran declared, before the Omnitrix's emblem on his face began to flash red and sound an alert. "Aw, not again... " Stinkfly complained.
"No! Not now!" Sero said worriedly.
"Ugh. DEFINITELY starting to hate that sound." Jiro groaned, both because the timing of the watch both this time and last was seriously screwing Ben over and because the loud alarm was hell on her ears.
Gwen peered through a pair of binoculars, searching for her cousin. "Any sign of Ben and Shaw?" Max asked.
"Not yet..." She told him, before the sound of Ben's alien form timing out caught their attention. They looked upwards to see Stinkfly, who soon after transformed back into Ben, who began screaming as he and the unconscious Shaw fell.
Thankfully, the two landed safely in the Rust Bucket's sun-shade. "Aw, I hate it when that happens." Ben complained.
"Whew. Way too close." Present Mic said in relief as he and a few students let out a sigh.
"But since he knew the Omnitrix was about to time out, he should've started descending once he heard the timer. If that sun-shade hadn't been active, that landing REALLY wouldn't have been pretty." All Might said.
"He also should've looked for a safe place to drop Shaw so he wouldn't be hurt by any emergency landings. The safety of civilians should be a hero's number once concern." Yaoyorozu added.
From inside the Rust Bucket, Ben was telling everything that happened as Gwen tapped keys on her laptop. "... And the Krakken's nest was full of eggs! No wonder she's been attacking everything, Jonah must be stealing her eggs!" The boy finished the tale.
"So, looks like Midoriya and Bakugo were right. Despicable." Iida said in disgust.
"It's a sad fact, but humans are often driven by greed. There are plenty of heroes that are only in it for the money." Midnight said, her thoughts drifting to Mt. Lady.
(Like me...) Uraraka thought guiltily, before shaking her head. "No! I'd never be like that! Sure, I want to be a hero for the money, but I'm still gonna do the right thing!" She declared to herself, before turning to the others. "Everybody, I'm gonna do my best as a hero for the right reasons!" She declared once again, much to the confusion of her peers, but they still gave murmurs of encouragement.
"And I think I know who Jonah is. I did a little checking on 'Friends of Fish' and found out it's not listed on any environmental website. But I did find this." Gwen informed them, turning her laptop to reveal a criminal rap sheet on Jonah. "Jonah Melville isn't a friend to any kind of wildlife, he travels around the world poaching rare animals. then crates them up and sells them to private collectors." She told her cousin and grandfather.
"But who would want one of those monsters for a pet!?" Kirishima asked incredulously.
"Oh, you'd be surprised. People in certain worlds have the craziest pets you could imagine. "Lions, bears, hippos, hyenas..." Maverick listed.
"And it's believed there are more tigers owned as domestic pets in the United States than there are wild tigers in the world." Anemone added.
Aizawa then looked to Present Mic. "Hizashi? Anything else about the guy on those cards?" He asked.
The radio host hero looked at all the cards and just shrugged. "Nope. Nothing more than what Gwen just said. He doesn't even have his own card." Mic said.
"Yeah, that's pretty much all there is to know about the guy. And you'll never see him again after this, so there's no point in doing a deep dive on him." Maverick explained.
"'Crates them up'?" Ben asked, before he facepalmed in realization. "Oh man! I bet that crate, the Krakken took off their boat, had her eggs in it!" He exclaimed.
"Looks like we were both, a little too hard headed." Max admitted.
"Aww, at least they made up, that's nice." Ashido said.
"It's a good lesson for both of them, though. Max needs to learn to trust and take Ben more seriously and Ben needs to learn not to abuse his powers and earn that trust." Yaoyorozu stated.
"We've got to stop them! They said something about going back to a cannery." Ben informed his family.
"All this talk doesn't change a thing. Mommy or not, that beast is mine." Shaw declared.
"What?! But she's just an innocent creature, trying to defend her babies." Hagakure insisted.
"He doesn't care. He just wants the glory and bragging rights." Midnight said distastefully.
"He may not be a villain like Jonah and the others, but clearly, he's still far from a good person." Aoyama agreed.
"Let's go! I've a spare boat down at the docks." The captain told them. The three Tennysons exchanged glances, then ran to follow the exiting Shaw.
"They're totally about to find a way to ditch him." Asui said.
"Yep." All the students, minus Iida, agreed.
A short while later, the Tennysons were now off the boat. "It'll take a while until the police can get here." Gwen informed her family as she turned off and put away her phone.
Shaw untied the boat, about to get on. But before he could, the boat sped off without him. "What're you doing? Get back here!" He called after them.
"While I can't condone them stealing his boat, I do believe it's best for everyone involved if Shaw ISN'T involved." Iida said.
"In a situation like this, he'd get in the way and be a liability at best, or be a danger at worst, trying to shoot the Krakken with his harpoon gun, or maybe even Shaw and the Friends of Fish workers, which is a bit too extreme." Todoroki agreed.
"Not to mention, there's no clue how he'd react to Ben's transformations." Sero added.
"Sorry, Captain." Ben called back apologetically.
"You don't know what you're doing! A monster's a monster and I know a monster when I see one!" He continued to yell at the family.
"You want a monster? Look in the mirror." Koda growled.
"Holy crap. Koda's scary when people mess with animals." Mineta whispered to Shoji.
"Makes sense. He's connected to them. He probably feels all that they feel. So messing with them is like messing with him." Shoji explained quietly.
The boat sped off, leaving Shaw clenching his fist in anger. However, he shined a lamp around, seeing a much less glamorous rowboat off to the side of the pier, which he took a long, unbroken glare at it.
"Oh, great..." The students all groaned.
"This guy might even be more stubborn than Kacchan." Uraraka said.
"Tch. You get a pass ONCE, cheeks. Don't make a habit out of that." Bakugo warned her.
"I don't think you have to worry much. It will take him FOREVER to follow in that little rowboat." All Might told them.
A crane pulled up a submarine suit holding an egg out of the water, setting the submarine down on the dock. Underwater, a clamp attached to Melville's submarine pod, Krakken egg in tow, pulling him out of the water by a crane mechanism.
"No! They already got the eggs!" Koda said in horror.
"Then the Tennysons need to hurry." Ashido said worriedly.
It lowered him onto the cannery dock, as he passed the egg to one of his crewmates, who almost dropped them. "Careful! Or you'll be cleaning up the world's most expensive omelette." He warned as the crewmate dumped the egg in a cylindrical glass container with another, before closing the lid. "After we sell these babies to the highest bidder, we'll be kicking back on a beach in the Bahamas." Jonah declared as he cradled the eggs through the container.
"The only island you deserve to be on is Alcatraz." Kaminari said angrily.
"Actually, young Kaminari, Alcatraz has been closed for some time now. It was too expensive to keep open." All Might corrected.
"Dang it. I was trying to sound cool." Chargebolt complained.
Underneath the pier, Ben, Gwen and Max arrived to a ladder entrance of the cannery. "See if you can find the eggs." Ben instructed as Max and Gwen began to climb.
"What about you?" Gwen asked.
"I'm gonna kick some Friends of Fish tail." Ben declared priming the Omnitrix and selecting the silhouette from earlier when he accidentally turned into XLR8. And with that, he slammed down the dial and transformed.
"A decent plan, Ben takes care of the villains, as well as distracts them, making things easier and safer for Gwen and Max to do the main job." Aizawa admitted.
"Yeah! And they'll finally take that big jerk down!" Hagakure cheered.
"I hope it's finally time to see Ripjaws, ribbit." Asui said. [7]
The Omnitrix sank into Ben's wrist as grey fish-like scales spread across his arm and hand, which tightly clenched into a fist before opening webbing between the fingers and claws at the end of them. A bulge then appeared on Ben's forehead, before extending out into the lure of a female angler fish as gills appeared on his neck. The view rotated around back of the boy to show the gills on the other side of his neck, before panning up as his mouth bulged and swelled, before giant, razor sharp teeth emerged from his mouth. The rest of his skin gained the grey scales as his hair turned into green fins on his back, his eye closed tightly until it opened to reveal a blank white orb.
The aquatic alien then let out a menacing roar as he was revealed to have some kind of black loin cloth and a strap on his shoulder which had the Omnitrix symbol on it.
"Whoa! This thing looks like more of a beast than Wildmutt!" Sero exclaimed.
"It's like someone tried to turn an angler fish into a human!" Mineta said in shock.
One of Present Mic's cards gained a familiar glow as they got the info on this new alien. "Ripjaws! A Piscciss Volann! A fish-like species from a planet whose surface is entirely water! Their legs merge together into a mermaid-like tail underwater, allowing them to swim at high speeds. They're built for the aquatic life, able to withstand the insane pressures and cold temperatures at the deepest depths of the ocean! Their jaws AND claws are capable of ripping metal to shreds with ease. Their only real downside is while they can GO on land, they cannot BREATHE there and can only last a few minutes out of water." The radio host teacher informed the rest of the audience.
"Awesome! This guy looks like a beast!" Kirishima cheered.
"I would've like something more shark-like, but this guy ain't bad." Bakugo admitted.
"He's really cool! I like his angler fish light. I bet he'd be great for water rescues." Uraraka said.
"I think I might have found my favorite. Too bad he's not as good on land." Asui said as she admired the aquatic alien, "But I wonder how I compare to him in the water?" She wondered.
"Eh. It's close, but he likely out performs you in the water. He actually has fins and webbed hands to help propel him through the water, plus he has those nasty claws and teeth. But if you could manage to get him OUT of the water, you could probably get a W. Still gonna have to work for it, though." Maverick said.
A near instant after, the Krakken shot up out of the water, knocking the boat Ben stood on aside, going up through the cannery dock flooring and coming face to face with Jonah.
"Oh, man! And now they've gotta deal with the Krakken, too! This is getting insane!" Sato said.
"It makes sense. The Krakken seems to be decently intelligent, so surely it's figured out Jonah's the one that's taken its eggs, so it's probably learned to follow him to find its babies." Yaoyorozu explained.
"Let's just hope she knows not to munch on the people helping her." Jiro said worriedly, holding Creati's hand tightly.
"The bigger the Krakken, the bigger the payday." Jonah declared as he ran to his submarine pod while his crewmate open fired on the Krakken.
"He thinks he can take that thing!? Now I KNOW he's crazy!" Uraraka said.
"All they're probably doing is making her madder than she already was. Not good for their health." Present Mic agreed.
"And even if he could, the only way I see him stopping it is by killing it. And there's no payday that way." Midnight said in anger.
One guard ran off inside the building while another stayed, firing shots that bounced off the Krakken's skin. To get to her eggs, the Krakken smacked aside the gunner, but Jonah snatched the eggs through the crane operated sub before they could be reached. (A few curses and some "No's" were thrown out, but nothing else)
Jonah open fired on the kaiju as well while he repositioned himself, but soon stopped as Ripjaws leapt out the lake and onto his machine's window, encompassing his view. "You want to mess with a monster? Try me on for size." The aquatic alien challenged.
"Oh, that was awesome!" Sato said in amazement.
"Come on, Ripjaws! Show us what you can do!" Midoriya cheered.
Ripjaws then climbed down to the machine's grapple holding the eggs. Jonah moved to fire point blank, but the Piscciss Volann responded by biting the gunner arm off. The eggs got dropped and Ripjaws dove after them. He managed to catch them mid air, but got punched by Jonah, causing the eggs to hit the floor and break out of their containers, landing on the dock below.
"Already lost an arm! Nice! That's gonna make things harder for him!" Ojiro said excitedly.
However, that excitement quickly faded once Ripjaws was knocked away. "Damn! He's not giving up!" Shoji cursed.
"So that submersible is capable of melee combat as well. It's certainly full of surprises. That does not bode well." Iida said.
"And worse, now the eggs are out of the open and in danger! They probably need to stay in water!" Koda said worriedly.
Max and Gwen snuck inside the cannery, coming to a corner with a Friends of Fish member around it. Max paused and tried to communicate to Gwen through hand signals.
The students all tilted their hands in confusion. "Uh... Any clue what he's doing?" Ashido asked.
"Trying to sign out how they should handle the situation. Sometimes you can't always speak your plan out, young listeners. There may come a time you need non-verbal cues on how to proceed!" Present Mic explained.
"Right. At that distance, the guard would probably hear them if they talked to each other. Even through whispers." Aizawa confirmed, making a mental note to make this a lesson for the students.
Below the cannery, Jonah's crewmate who had opened fire on the Krakken swam back to the cannery, climbing a ladder and coming up directly in front of Max and Gwen, not hesitating to aim a gun at them. The two raised their hands and Max moved in front of Gwen, but still stayed defiant. "All right, buddy. We can do this the easy way, or the hardy way." He threatened, but the crewmate simply smiled before walking towards the two menacingly, causing them to back up.
"Oh, no. Max! Gwen!" Hagakure said worriedly.
"I mean, that was a great line and all, but not smart saying that to a guy with a gun." Dark Shadow said.
"Indeed. Your aren't in a very good position for making threats." Dark Shadow agreed.
"But he might be able to intimidate that thug into hesitating. All he needs is one moment to get the upper hand and take that guy down!" Uraraka told them. While her lessons with Gunhead were mostly about handling opponents armed with knives, she also had a few classes on dealing with thugs with guns.
Behind him, the side wall broke apart, the Krakken's fin coming through.
"Oh, no! That's gotta be the worst timing for the Krakken to show up!" Mineta cried out.
"Or, if they play their cards right, it might be just what they need." Midoriya said.
"Go high!" Max instructed Gwen as he and his granddaughter jumped up onto the cannery's hooks, sliding along them as the floor beneath, along with the crewmate, were swept away by the Krakken's fin.
Another crew member ran in from around the corner, but before he could do anything, he was knocked down by Max and Gwen kicking him in succession as they jumped off the hooks. "Is this the easy way, or the hard way?" Gwen questioned as Max shrugged and smiled.
"Ha! Sucks to be those guys!" Bakugo laughed.
"It was risky, but taking advantage of the chaos created by the Krakken was their best chance to gain the upper hand." Midoriya explained.
"That was pure luck. If the Krakken's tendril was any higher up, they'd have been doomed. Not to mention, those thugs could've been quicker on the draw or fire and ended them. That was reckless at best." Aizawa said.
"Sometimes as a hero, you need to take risks in order to gain the advantage. If you only play it safe and don't take risks at critical moments, that could be the difference between people living or dying." Anemone told him.
Outside, Jonah and the Krakken both dove for the eggs, but the Krakken scooped them up first. "My eggs!" Jonah snapped as he dove after the Krakken.
"They're not your eggs!" The students and teachers all snapped together.
However, before he could reach the beast, Jonah was side tackled by Ripjaws. "They aren't your eggs." The aquatic alien declared as he shoved Jonah out of the way and let go, diving after the eggs and snatching them up.
A few of them blushed at them saying the same thing as the aquatic alien, but most shook it off. "Alright, Ripjaws! Manly save!" Kirishima cheered.
"You have to keep those poor babies safe, Ben. Please." Koda urged.
However, Jonah was furious the creatures kept preventing him from getting his payday and detached his sub, falling directly onto Ripjaws as they crashed into the water together. "Rescuing babies? Very heroic, but not very smart." Jonah taunted as he repeatedly punched the Piscciss Volann, knocking him down with one final hit and snatching the eggs as Ripjaws sank.
Everyone winced and looked on in horror as Ripjaws was beaten. "Oh, man. This is brutal." Hagakure said worriedly as the transformed hero was battered.
"This guy's a psycho. He's smiling and taunting as he's beating Ripjaws." Jiro said.
"All the more reason to put him down! Let's go, fish stick! You're not gonna let a punk in a tin can beat you, are you!?" Bakugo snapped.
However, the aquatic alien was quick to shake off the beating and return to his senses, connecting his legs together into a tail and shooting towards the escaping Jonah. The poacher looked at the eggs greedily as he believed he was about to get away, before a clawed, webbed him slammed down on his windshield, surprising him as he looked to see Ripjaws on his back. However, he spun and caught Ben with the back of his left arm, throwing him away, forcing the Piscciss Volann to recover and chase him back down.
"Whoa! His legs really do connect together to a mermaid tail! That's awesome!" Kaminari exclaimed.
"Certainly not as fast as XLR8, but he's still quite quick under the water." Iida said, impressed.
"But still, it doesn't look like Jonah's giving up any time soon." Sero reminded them.
"Indeed. And he's handling the sub like a pro. He clearly knows how to handle the vehicle inside and out. That will make him difficult to deal with." All Might pointed out.
Ripjaws dipped down and under and in front of Jonah, cutting him off and knocking the eggs out of his arms, catching and holding them in his mouth.
"Good job, Ripjaws. The eggs are safe now. You just have to get them back to the nest and the Krakken should calm down. And then you can give Jonah what he deserves, ribbit." Asui said.
"Why is he putting the eggs in his mouth!? Is he gonna eat them!?" Mineta cried out in horror.
"No. It think it's like a crocodile and he can hold them gently without breaking them." Koda noted.
"That's cool. Looks like smooth sailing now!" Ashido said happily.
He managed to push the poacher back and swim away, but was soon attacked by the Krakken, who smacked him away and took her eggs back.
"What?! No! What are you doing!? He was helping you!" Kaminari cried out.
"We know that, but she doesn't. All she sees is a strange creature with her eggs in its mouth." Aizawa told him.
"Third party situations like this are always risky. Especially when communication can't properly be made between any of the parties." Yaoyorozu said, putting a pair of headphones on Jiro's head.
"Yaomomo? What are you doing?" Jiro asked as the headphones were place on her.
"Anemone told me to." Creati explained simply.
And to make matters worse, Jonah was in hot pursuit of the mother and her unborn babies, forcing Ripjaws to pursue the poacher once again. Jonah then opened the right claw of his sub, revealing a weapon that emitted a sonic burst, causing the Krakken to reel in pain, allowing him to snatch the eggs back.
"Sonic weapons!? You're kidding me! What DOESN'T this freaking sub have?!" Jiro asked in shock, before looking to her girlfriend. "And thanks for the headphones, Yaomomo. And to you to, for telling her to give them to me, Anemone." She thanked the vice representative and their snake-like hostess, both of whom nodded.
"He's really not giving up, is he? He's willing to chase down a GIANT MONSTER for those eggs." Mineta said in shock.
"Like he said, those will net him a fortune. Not to mention, he's clearly more than a little unhinged. I don't think there's any lengths he's NOT willing to go to. That makes him dangerous." Midnight said.
But before Jonah could even begin to think he'd won, Ripjaws returned and slammed into him, forcing him down to the ground until he crashed into Shaw's sunken boat, completely obliterating the vessel. However, Jonah somehow got the upperhand upon landing and was holding the aquatic alien down to the ground by his throat. However, the Piscciss Volannnoticed an anchor laying nearby, grabbing its chain and swinging the anchor like a flail to smack Shaw with it, forcing him off and allowing Ripjaws to grab the arm and get it in an arm bar. However, Jonah sent an electric surge through the arm and forced the aquatic alien off of him, allowing him to swim away. However, he wouldn't get far as Ripjaws swung the anchor like a lasso, then threw it at the poacher, breaking the right arm off the submersible.
"This fight is intense! So manly!" Kirishima said excitedly.
"There's so much back-and-forth, it's almost hard to follow." Midoriya groaned.
"But I gotta say, the kid's resourceful and fighting smart. He's mixing up his attacks to keep Jonah guessing and he's making the fullest use possible of that anchor." Aizawa praised.
"I wonder if I can take anything I see from this, ribbit." Asui said, thinking of how she could incorporate Ripjaws' moves into her own style.
The aquatic alien tried to reel in Jonah's sub with the anchor, but the Krakken then rushed in and bit down on the chain, forcing Ripjaws to let go as Jonah freed himself, trying to swim away. The Piscciss Volann was quick to catch up and wrestle him for the eggs, but they soon both had to avoid a backhand swipe from the Krakken's claw, forcing them to separate and the eggs to be knocked loose and float freely. Thankfully, it was Ripjaws who managed to recover them in his mouth. Jonah tried to go after him yet again, but was forced to evade the Krakken's claw again and, while he was successful, he was still sent spiraling off course.
"Oh, come on! Now things are getting even MORE insane!" Sato complained.
"That's how fights are sometimes. They're never straight-forward. People are always on the fly, moving and adapting and doing what they can to gain the advantage. You've got to pay attention and be smart." Ojiro noted.
"But the eggs are loose and both Jonah and the Krakken are distracted. Ripjaws has a chance now!" Shoji said.
This left Ripjaws free with the eggs and he was quick to swim back to the Krakken's nest, with the sea monster in hot pursuit. He soon reach the beast's home and set the eggs down safely in place just at the mother arrived. He then swam back to a safe distance to show he had no intent of harming the unborn babies. The Krakken seemed to understand this and dropped all hostility towards the Piscciss Volann, simply taking her eggs in her tendrils and cradling them gently.
"Yes, he did it!" Hagakure cheered.
"But now he's in the Krakken's nest with her eggs." Uraraka said worriedly.
Thankfully, the tension was soon alleviated as Ripjaws backed away from the eggs and the Krakken calmed down. "Thank goodness. She doesn't see him as a threat anymore." All Might sighed in relief.
"She understands that he's helping her. She's smart enough to figure out his intentions. She really is intelligent." Koda said, amazed.
"We really misjudged her at first. Our bad." Mineta said, feeling guilty along with most of the other members of the audience, especially the teachers.
However, this light-hearted moment was short-lived as Jonah soon reappeared with an almost psychotic grin on his face, making a beeline for the eggs.
"Oh, come on, dude! Give it up already!" Kaminari said.
"Okay, he must have gone TOTALLY insane at this point. Look at his face!" Ashido exclaimed fearfully.
"But now, both Ben AND the Kraken have their FULL attention on him. There's NO way this ends well for him." All Might said.
But with his eyes solely focused on his prize, he was blind to the danger right in front of him and the Krakken blocked his path to her eggs. And before he could even process the barrier before him, the angry mother caught him in her tendrils to hold him in place and chomped down on the head of the sub, causing Jonah's cockpit to decompress and rapidly fill with water. And, in an instant, the sub was destroyed, leaving the poacher out in the open and vulnerable to the sea beast whose children he'd stolen.