Princess Mera of Xebel stared through the transparent aluminum viewport of her transport vessel, watching the golden spires of Atlantis grow larger in the distance. The sight should have filled her with wonder, after all, she was about to enter the most magnificent city beneath the waves, seat of an empire that had ruled the oceans for millennia.
Instead, she felt only the cold weight of duty settling around her shoulders like chains.
The marriage proposal from King Orm had arrived with all the diplomatic flourishes expected between allied kingdoms, but Mera wasn't naive enough to mistake political necessity for romance. Orm needed Xebel's military support for whatever campaign he was planning, and her father King Nereus needed Atlantis's protection against the changing tides of underwater politics.
She was simply the currency being exchanged to seal their bargain.
"Your Highness appears troubled," observed Captain Murk, the grizzled Xebelian warrior assigned to escort her safely to her new home. His scarred features showed genuine concern despite his professional demeanor.
"Just contemplating my future responsibilities," Mera replied diplomatically, adjusting the flowing pink gown that marked her royal status. The garment's bioluminescent fibers pulsed gently in the water, creating patterns that reminded her of jellyfish dancing in deep currents, beautiful, graceful, and ultimately trapped by their own nature.
Her flame-red hair caught the artificial lighting of the transport's interior, creating a corona of color that had inspired countless court poets to compare her to coral gardens in full bloom. Such beauty was both blessing and curse in the political arena of underwater kingdoms, it made her a valuable prize for alliance-seeking monarchs.
"King Orm is said to be... intense in his convictions," Captain Murk offered carefully, his diplomatic training warring with personal loyalty to the princess he'd helped raise.
"I'm aware of his reputation," Mera said with quiet resignation. "His hatred for the surface world is well-documented, as is his military ambition. I suspect my marriage is merely the first step in a much larger campaign."
The unspoken truth hung between them like a toxic current: she was about to become queen of a kingdom preparing for war, wed to a man whose obsessions might doom both their peoples to unnecessary conflict.
But Princess Mera had been born into responsibility, raised to understand that personal desires were secondary to the needs of her people. If her sacrifice could prevent bloodshed between Xebel and Atlantis, then she would endure whatever marriage Orm offered with royal dignity.
Even if the alternative, a half-human prince living among the surface dwellers, might represent a very different path for Atlantis's future.
Meanwhile, several thousand leagues away from the approaching royal drama, Ben was conducting his own form of diplomacy with the scattered genetics of the seven underwater kingdoms.
Breaking the surface tension with explosive force, he transformed from Ripjaws back to his human form while floating in the vast emptiness of the open ocean. The transition always felt strange in aquatic environments, going from perfectly adapted marine predator to air-breathing primate in seconds.
But the Omnitrix required him to be in human form for genetic analysis, and the samples he'd collected from the Fishermen Kingdom were too valuable to analyze anywhere but in complete privacy.
Ben held up the crystalline scale he'd carefully preserved during his diplomatic visit, its surface still shimmering with traces of the bioluminescent proteins that marked its original owner's species. The material felt warm against his palm, despite the frigid ocean temperature.
"Time to see what evolution has been up to down here," he murmured, pressing the scale against the Omnitrix's sensor array.
[Acquiring DNA genetic information. Detected abnormal similarity between candidate genes and existing Piscciss Volann template. Suspected subspecies divergence through natural selection. Initiate genetic fusion protocol?]
"Confirmed," Ben replied, watching as the device's core began cycling through complex bio-algorithmic calculations.
[Fusion successful. Piscciss Volann genetic optimization complete. Bioluminescent organ efficiency enhanced, amphibious locomotion systems improved, overall physical capabilities increased by 340%...]
The percentage increase made Ben's eyes widen with surprise. Most genetic modifications to existing alien templates provided marginal improvements, typically 10-20% enhancement in specialized areas. A 340% boost suggested the Fishermen Kingdom's evolutionary adaptations had been far more significant than he'd initially realized.
"Let's see what that translates to in practical terms," Ben said, activating the transformation sequence.
The familiar sensation of cellular restructuring washed over him as human tissue gave way to aquatic perfection. But immediately, he could feel the difference in his transformed state. Where the original Ripjaws had possessed strength roughly equivalent to an enhanced human, the new version felt like a completely different organism.
Every muscle fiber hummed with concentrated power, while his hydrodynamic design had been refined to near-perfection. His jaw muscles alone could probably generate enough force to bite through submarine hulls, while his swimming speed had increased exponentially.
"Now this feels more like it," Ben said with satisfaction, his enhanced vocal cords translating his thoughts into subsonic frequencies that carried clearly through the water. "Original Ripjaws could maybe lift a few tons. This version..." He experimentally flexed his powerful tail, creating a shockwave that sent displaced water rushing outward in all directions. "I could probably deadlift a battleship."
The improvement was transformative in more ways than simple physical enhancement. For the first time, Ben felt like his aquatic form was genuinely suited for space-level conflicts rather than being relegated to specialized reconnaissance roles.
"But why stop at one genetic upgrade?" Ben mused, his tactical mind already plotting the next phase of enhancement. "Atlantis developed seven distinct subspecies, each adapted for different oceanic environments. If I can sample them all..."
The possibilities were intriguing. The Brine Kingdom's inhabitants had evolved thick, armor-like shells to survive near volcanic vents, integrating those genetic markers might grant his aquatic form natural defensive capabilities that rivaled Tony Stark's best armor designs.
"Time for some deeper diplomacy," Ben decided, diving back beneath the surface with renewed purpose.
His enhanced swimming speed turned him into a gray torpedo cutting through the oceanic depths, water parting before him as if the medium itself recognized his authority over aquatic environments. Pressure that would crush conventional submarines barely registered on his consciousness, while the growing darkness posed no navigational challenges to his enhanced senses.
The diplomatic credentials provided by the Fishermen Kingdom's ruler opened doors that would otherwise have required military action to breach. Within hours, Ben had gained access to the Brine Kingdom's heavily defended territories near active volcanic systems.
The inhabitants proved less philosophically inclined than their Fishermen cousins, but their territorial nature worked in Ben's favor. They challenged his presence through direct combat rather than political maneuvering, giving him ample opportunity to study their enhanced physiology during ritualized duels that ended without permanent casualties.
By the time he'd collected sufficient genetic samples and diplomatically withdrawn from their territory, Ben was practically vibrating with anticipation about the potential improvements waiting in his next transformation.
Returning to the surface once more, he initiated the Omnitrix's analysis protocols with samples from the Brine Kingdom's most elite warriors.
[Gene collection in progress. Genetic markers acquired. Orishan star system template downloaded successfully.]
"Orishan?" Ben paused, studying the alien designation that had appeared in his transformation roster. "That's not... wait."
He scrolled through the available options until he found the new entry, and his jaw dropped as he read the accompanying data.
"This is... Waterhazard?"
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