American comics: Random transformations

But, he didn't understand, why was the DNA inside the Omnitrix different from what he knew?

He had already transformed into: Mickey Mouse, a blue tabby cat, a golden retriever husky, a Blazing Roaring Tiger, Magikarp, Lucario, an Asian elephant, Greymon, a beetle, a Cactusmon, Garurumon…

“Damn it! What the hell is all this!?

What about XLR8? What about Four Arms? What about Upgrade? Are you kidding me?

This is… this DNA isn't even from the same world, hey!”

Tian Xiaoban originally thought about transforming into Upgrade to fix this broken watch, but the Omnitrix just wouldn't transform!

Moreover, this Omnitrix had so much DNA from other worlds, this chaotic mix of species made Tian Xiaoban not even know which world this broken watch came from.

He remembered that the initial genetic data of the first generation Omnitrix in "Ben 10" was only ten species!

But the one in his hand… it was hard to describe!

Even though he had transformed so many times, the species he transformed into hadn't repeated even once!

The biodiversity within the Ark of Life was vividly displayed to Tian Xiaoban by the "little broken watch."

Tian Xiaoban had reason to suspect that this Omnitrix wasn't from the "Ben 10" world!

Perhaps, it was some kind of alternative gene pool from a treacherous multi-fusion universe.

Therefore, it was mostly impossible for Tian Xiaoban to transform into a powerful creature to fight, just like in a pay-to-win game, it was impossible to draw a golden legend with a single pull!

The idea of transforming into Upgrade was shattered.

Tian Xiaoban's current use of the little broken watch was to transform first and see, if the species after transformation was strong, then he would go rob a gang.

If the species after transformation was very weak, then he could only stay at home and wait for the transformation time to pass.

Chapter 4 Jason Todd

Tian Xiaoban's most unlucky time was when he turned into a red Magikarp… then, it flopped around on the floor of his waterless rented room using the [Splash] skill for a whole hour.

One hour!

Damn it! He just wanted to manually slap the Omnitrix to cancel the current transformation, but he couldn't do it!

Because Magikarp didn't have hands!

Moreover, the Omnitrix's hourglass icon was located on the back of its fish head, so even if he bumped into the wall, he couldn't hit it!

Tears flowed uncontrollably from Magikarp's big eyes.

Tian Xiaoban, who had become a salted fish, didn't get free until the transformation time ended.

Since then, Tian Xiaoban would prepare a basin of water by his side before transforming, or find a place near a river, just in case, he didn't want to experience that kind of living hell again.

Ahem, back to the topic.

Twelve-year-old Tian Xiaoban, after eating a full twelve alkaline breadsticks as thick as his forearm, gulped down a whole pot of tap water like a cow.

“嗝, eight-tenths full!”

Since obtaining the Omnitrix, his appetite has been getting better and better!

Tian Xiaoban glanced at the time on the clock, quickly turned off the TV, and trotted out of the somewhat dilapidated house, heading to the place where he worked.

… … … … … … … …

Are you curious about how this newly debuted poor kid managed to rent a house?

Hey, it's all luck, this rented house was rented from Catwoman Catherine.

The story started when Tian Xiaoban randomly transformed into the Pokémon—Meowth.

After all, it was Tian Xiaoban's first time transforming into a four-legged creature, so he was running back and forth in a deserted alley to adapt to Meowth's body.

As a result, he was caught by Catwoman who was passing by on the roof…

When Catwoman was jumping on the roof, she noticed a shiny thing moving back and forth on the ground, and her curiosity was instantly piqued.

She took a closer look, good heavens, a yellow cat actually had a golden thing on its head.

With her years of theft experience, this was definitely something valuable!

So, she jumped down lightly from the roof, and carefully watched for a while beside an extending stone pillar.

Then, she took a fancy to the shiny gold coin on Meowth's head, her intuition told her that the thing was definitely gold!

At that time, she jumped in front of Tian Xiaoban, wanting to kidnap Meowth Tian Xiaoban!

In theory, humans can't catch up with the speed of cats, let alone a Pokémon cat, even Catwoman can't.

But also because Meowth Tian Xiaoban had just transformed into the Pokémon Meowth and hadn't adapted to his new body yet, he was easily caught by Catwoman by the scruff of his neck.

And then… he was taken home by Catwoman.

And Meowth Tian Xiaoban, after the one-hour transformation time ended, he turned back into a twelve-year-old boy, and under Catwoman's confused expression, Tian Xiaoban shamelessly said that Catwoman Selena should be responsible.

Selena was originally unwilling, and even a little angry at being deceived.

But after Tian Xiaoban said one sentence, she agreed.

Tian Xiaoban: "Catwoman Auntie, you wouldn't want your true identity to be known to the whole of Gotham, would you?"

“Bang!”

His head suffered a blow, Tian Xiaoban hugged his head and squatted down for defense.

Catwoman retracted her hand that hit his head, and released a little of her irritable mood.

“Kid, call me Selena-jie-jie! Also, it's okay to live here, but I don't provide food, and you have to pay rent!

Well, unless you turn into a cat, then I won't charge you rent, and I can feed you cat food every day.”

Selena didn't care, she had several secret bases in Gotham, it was no problem to leave this safe house for this kid to live in.

Tian Xiaoban: "…Damn, I want to transform too! It's not like I can transform! Paying rent is paying rent, it's just earning money."

So, Tian Xiaoban began his days of working to pay rent.

… … … … … …

The place where he "worked" was a black market car shop located on the east side of Gotham Harbor, in a remote location.

Due to its remote location, this black market car shop was quite large, with its own open-air parking lot.

This shop used real materials (a black shop that relied on dismantling other people's car parts to sell).

The prices are fair (the tires are all stolen, so there's no need to pay for inventory; every sale is pure profit).

The boss is also very charitable, providing jobs for orphans (don't even think about it; they're all "professional" tools recruited by the shop; they learned their car dismantling skills here, which is basically teaching you how to quickly steal cars and bring them to this shop to sell).

Gotham, this wretched place, is filled with malice towards everyone.

For someone like Tian Xiaoban, a mere twelve-year-old, besides being a pickpocket to survive, the only other option is to work in a black market shop (and basically still be a thief, only stealing bigger items).

Here, the eleven or twelve-year-olds are generally short, making it easier for them to hide among the vehicles.

Moreover, when they run, they're more agile than adult thugs and more likely to escape when discovered.

The rich people find it troublesome and can't be bothered to deal with these kids (after all, even if they catch them, they don't have the money to compensate for the car).

(The boss's original words: "Dumbass, don't steal from poor people's cars; they're not worth anything. Steal from luxury cars! Even stealing a part from those cars is worth more than stealing an entire poor person's car! Today, I'll teach you how to recognize license plates...")

Most importantly, for these black market shops in Gotham Harbor, hiring these kids is much cheaper than hiring thugs!

Just providing two meals and some meager wages is enough to make these nimble little devils work hard.

These orphans are the black-hearted boss's favorite cash cows.

Tian Xiaoban, in particular, is doing relatively well.

His adult soul allows him to understand the structure of cars more easily.

The faster he understands, the faster he dismantles, making his car dismantling skills the best among this group of workers!

(The Omnitrix's transformation power for Tian Xiaoban is too random in its strength. Before Tian Xiaoban solves his personal combat power problem, he still needs to learn some survival skills.)

What's that classic saying? — Serious tone: Farm safely and don't be reckless!

At least before Tian Xiaoban becomes an adult, this sentence is very useful to him!

Interestingly, the kid who works with Tian Xiaoban is named — Jason Todd.

Yes, that's the future second-generation Robin who is destined to die, the future anti-hero Red Hood!

Tian Xiaoban often laments how small Gotham is, that he would actually encounter this guy!

— — — — —

Jason Todd likes to wear a red hoodie and tattered jeans. His belt has been modified to hold many car dismantling tools.

Moreover, Jason's strength is comparable to that of a grown man, easily loosening car wheel nuts. One person can do the work of two.

He has a stubborn personality (doesn't like to lose), a violent temper, and is three years older than Tian Xiaoban!

They met because Tian Xiaoban saw Jason Todd fighting two strong men who wanted to rob him.

Tian Xiaoban stepped in to help, attacking the two thugs' balls with stones from the roadside. His past life's memory of throwing stones allows him to hit his target every time now.

The two thugs, clutching their balls and howling, ran away!

Jason Todd thought Tian Xiaoban was promising material, so he tried everything to make him his little brother.

Competing with him to see who could dismantle cars faster, competing with him in speed and strength, acting like lifelong rivals.

But unfortunately, Tian Xiaoban wouldn't agree to those unreasonable demands and continued to do things his own way.

However, after spending a long time together, the two still became brothers.

… … … …

"Hey, bro, come eat lunch. Today we have fried chicken sandwiches! I bet that slovenly boss won money gambling yesterday! And won a lot!"

Jason Todd waved the sandwich in his hand when he saw Tian Xiaoban coming over.

Tian Xiaoban's eyes lit up. Wow! This is a rare treat, much better than tasteless baguette bread!

"Jason, you're here so early today? That sloppy, blood-sucking boss won't pay you for waking up early! Give me one!"

Jason threw the unwrapped fried chicken sandwich next to him over.

Tian Xiaoban quickly caught it, almost dropping it on the ground! He naturally unwrapped it and took a big bite.

"Eat quickly, bro, we'll have work to do soon! It's a big order!"

Jason Todd excitedly spun his lug wrench on his finger, his five fingers nimbly creating afterimages.

"You have a target?" Tian Xiaoban asked, surprised.

A big order! There's actually a luxury car coming to this broken place?

"Today, there's a Rolls-Royce in the parking lot behind the Keysia Bar. I've seen it, and the tires are easy to remove. Give me five minutes, no, three minutes, and I can take one off!"

"Do you know who's car it is?"

"Probably some gangster's, why do you ask? We only recognize cars when we remove tires, not people! Anyway, we just need to know that the person isn't poor!"

"That makes sense. Okay, Jason, I'll be the lookout. You need to be fast!"

… … … …

The Keysia Bar's parking lot.

Tian Xiaoban, observing the environment, saw someone coming and quickly said to Jason:

"Hurry, hurry, someone's coming! Someone's coming! Can you do it or not? The cleaning lady is faster than you!"

"Almost, almost, Ban, don't rush me! ... OK! gogogo!"

Jason quickly unscrewed the lug nuts on the tire, then pried hard, and the wheel came off in his hand.

The front left and rear right tires of the entire car had already been removed by Jason, but unfortunately someone came, otherwise he would have removed all four tires!

With Tian Xiaoban's help, the two quickly fled the scene, each carrying a tire!

The parking lot security guard saw them and immediately chased after them! And not just them, the thugs who heard the noise also ran out.

"Oh! Damn it! Don't run!"

"You little devils! Stop!"