Crabthorn {Ben 10 Brainstorm FtM TFTG PMC}

Well, isn't this a strange predicament? As you can see, standing right in front of you is... in the most simple terms, a gigantic telekinetic space crab... a gigantic, British telekinetic space crab. This sounds like something that would be implausible at best, but I used to be a human being, and a female human at that. This is a story of the past, told by the main centerpiece himself! Or... herself, back then. I used to not be as sophisticated or intelligent as I am now, and despite how perplexing my structure is to a human's normal comprehension, I feel absolutely incredible in mind, body, and... power. Since you didn't react with immediate hysteria upon seeing me, I shall monologue to you about how I ended up in this hard-shelled, hyper-intellectual form. Here, relax, and have a nice drink with me.

For a rather blunt beginning, I will introduce who I used to be, and if I am to be honest... it will not be the most pleasant thing to recount. Like I said, I used to be a female; a woman by the name of... eugh... Barbie. Yes, I know, not the most promisingly intelligent name, but this was in the past, and I couldn't exactly name myself back then. I was considered "quite the looker" back then, as well, and extremely attractive: an hourglass figure, buxom, thick lips, large eyelashes, bright blue eyes, thick and shiny blonde hair... I was a "man magnet," if you will. I could get anybody who was tripping over themselves for me to do whatever I wanted, and admittedly, it was nice. One night, one man, who always seemed to be willing to kiss my feet if he got the chance, told me to come with him to this bar called "Dawnbreaker Delights." I can't quite decide if either my real name or the name of that pub was worse, but I digress. Since I wanted him to keep on doing whatever I wished, I went with him to that place, and it... was very underwhelming, to say the least. The tables were clean, and the food and lighting were good, but the drinks he was talking about were sub-par at best... at least, until we get to what caused this little conundrum in the first place.

There was this one smell that I just couldn't block out of my thoughts, and it was a magnificent smell. I asked one of the bartenders what the smell was coming from, and after I described it, he mentioned that special name: Crabthorn. Now that I look back on it, the name must have been a special foreshadowing as to what the drink could do, but I couldn't see that back then. I asked the price, not caring about any of the expenses; my beauty gave me the money to burn, after all. Despite how much I paid, when the man gave me the drink, it was in a very small glass, half a pint at the very most. I downed it very quickly, and... it was the most delicious beverage that I ever had; the very drink made my head feel... different. I asked him to give me more, and he declined; he said that the drink would be dangerous in high amounts, and such a low amount was the only measure that was safe every few hours. "If it was so dangerous, why would it be served at all?" I argued, before demanding that he give me more. He refused, saying that since it was okay every few hours it could still be served, and that he couldn't give me more unless I waited.

I was not a patient person back then; if I wanted something, I'd get it, lest I begin whining and yelling. I don't know how I did it - maybe it was because I wanted to keep my composure in front of a bunch of people - but I managed to keep my trap silent. Something in that small shot gave me a new perspective on getting my way, and my way was now one goal: I needed more... more, more, more! That drink, Crabthorn... I wanted more!

...

...Did I get a bit melodramatic there? My apologies... back to the story.

So, I waited, twiddling my thumbs and watching everyone. I left with the rest of the patrons as the place closed, but used the worker's distracted perceptions to sneak through the back doors. I don't know how that drink gave me lock picking skills, but I used them to unlock those guard doors and slip through, my common sense making me close them behind me. I crept through their shoddy watch, walking straight past cleaning bartenders without them so much as looking in my general direction as I walked in those loudly-clicking high heels that I used to wear. I observed the place, and then I saw it; a bottle with a crab overlayed on a strange green-and-black helix symbol, and that name: Crabthorn. I couldn't help myself, I just couldn't; I took the entire bottle and ran off back deeper into the bar. Why I didn't just straight-up leave is beyond me, but again, the past is the past, and I just wanted a place to drink it. I settled into a place that I thought was private, took some glasses, and began drinking more... it was great. That drink made me feel unusual, but I liked that unusual feeling.

While I was binging, I was rudely awakened to the fact that I wasn't alone. There was a banging on the door, before armed personnel busted through, sealing the door and aiming their guns at me like they were psychopathic. Even as intelligent as I had become through that drink, I acted on complete impulse, and despite my current nature, I don't feel any regret for it in the slightest. I uncorked the bottle and downed the entirety of its contents, having to catch my breath after chugging for about... if I remember correctly... ten seconds? I could hear the bartender that served me gasping behind the cocking of guns, before he devolved into incoherent screaming. "Do you not know what you've done?" he said, and back then, I most certainty didn't... oh, how I was going to learn.

Completely new feeling overcame me, and I dropped the bottle, causing it to shatter everywhere and the guards to reel back. Everything I saw felt... enhanced. I could think, and think, and think... I could see and think... I could find a way to escape! Whatever was happening inside of me, my heart raced intensely, my skin tingled... it felt amazing. I couldn't help but whimper in pain when I began having a terrible throbbing headache, hissing at the armed men; I was spiteful back then. I almost felt like throwing up as... ehem... I won't sugarcoat this, my gender completely changed, going from a female to the male that you're standing in front of; that left me curled up on the floor. On one hand, it was pure agony, but on the other... there was something about it that I liked. My breasts completely disappeared as my body began to change shape and structure, my body becoming round and my skin flat.

My body proportions distorted, my arms becoming much longer and my fingers merged together and changed position, my hands turning into sharp pincer-claws. I couldn't help but click their tips together, as if I was a fascinated child. My organs shifted and twisted as my torso and abdomen changed structure and placement, and my head and brain grew much larger in proportion to the rest of my body. My head changed structure as well, my hair falling to pieces and my nose and ears disappearing entirely. My bright blue eyes became a bright, blank yellow, and black markings formed around my eyes and my lips became black. I could feel my skin begin to harden and become sturdier... like an insect's or crab's shell. My shoulders moved to the sides of my head, and my arms became large segments of sectioned shell with black flesh within the segment joints.

Aside from the black around my eyes and mouth, most of my skin, or shell, became a bright orange, and as parts of my head split apart to open up, the ridge around those segments became black as well. My legs shifted position, and I could feel the large majority of my skeleton dissolving and melting away, seeming to make my shell even stronger. My legs moved to the sides of my abdomen, and my feet shrunk away, leaving the ends of my legs as sharp points. My legs cracked as they reached out wider, becoming split into three pieces and joints, before four more legs sprouted from my sides, leaving me with six clawed legs. Three spines grew from the sides of my face, and three ridges formed on each side of my head shell. A black band wrapped itself around the center of my claws, and my clothes warped and rippled into a silver-and-black band around where my torso would be, and a strange green-and-black, metal and glass medallion jammed itself into the center of my torso. Having a piece of metal and technology jammed into your torso... almost as painful as your gender inverting... almost.

The pain of my entire body changing structure somehow quickly subsided, allowing me to maneuver my body freely and stand up. I couldn't help but look at myself, and... grin. It felt great back then, and it still feels great now. The guards and bartender looked mortified by my new physical form, and I decided to taunt them in a blunt and straightforward manner. "Do you really need such overzealous and overpowered utilities to prepare your seafood?" I laughed at them, noticing that I didn't need to use my mouth or vocal cords to speak... and that I had a British accent. I looked all over, and managed to comprehend everything around me three times over in a matter of seconds, and one important thing caught my keen eye: next to the door and all of the personnel was a high-voltage power box. These people were incredibly ignorant to not see that power box as a disaster waiting to happen... for them. I can't help but smile widely when I remember doing this: I opened up the shell on my head and released a large burst of electricity, blinding the guards and stunning them, before using my electricity to grab a chair and hurl it at the electric box. The box exploded, blasting open the wall, knocking the workers down, and sending shrapnel flying in all directions. My shell was more than strong enough to shrug off the sharp metal shards, and I quickly made a break for the new hole in the wall as an escape. I slammed my full weight into the bartender, before skittering down the halls and climbing on the walls, seeing that I now have the ability to scale walls like I'm walking on the floors; this body really does have spectacular abilities. I scuttled up the walls and onto the ceilings, before breaking through the glass ceilings and finding my escape through the roof.

That's how we found ourselves here, talking about such an... unusual series of events. I just realized that I haven't informed you of my new title... "Brainstorm" was a fun title to come up with.

...Oh, you're wondering about that drink? Well, on my way out, I snagged another few bottles of the Crabthorn... "for the road," if you will.