Oversized kitten

When we got to the base again, Creel and Steve had shown up, and the Graveyard survivors had come out of the APC that had brought them so they could start their testing. Creel was standing by the door waiting for us when Thor and I dropped in. Thor put me down gently on the ground and we walked up to him. I looked between Thor and Creel for a moment, noting that Hulk was speaking with Marian nearby. In another universe, Creel: The Absorbing Man would be a bitter enemy of both Hulk and Thor. Here, Creel, known as the hero Alloy, was their ally. Heh. Alloy the Ally.

Creel nodded at Thor, then looked at me. "You guys caused a hell of a ruckus."

It was true. The once clean base was kind of a mess. Sand was everywhere, piled up in corners, soaked from the rain that had been falling, while bits of hail melted in the heat of the desert and turned the sand into mud.

"Sorry," Thor and I said in unison, both of us looking contrite.

Creel snorted, then turned and walked towards the section of the base set aside for the survivors.

The survivors who had volunteered that is.

Of the group the Omnitrix had healed, most of them had simply wanted to go home, to find some semblance of safety and peace after years of torture. Director Maria Hill had those people put into a program being developed just for that. For people who suddenly got powers and never wanted them, or wanted to make a life of their own. It was... complicated. A lot of the group were enhanced to be almost as strong as Steve and Bucky while others had limited versions of Creel's powers. The idea of them out in the world and causing trouble, or using their abilities for profit in unfair ways, was something that worried the people in charge. After all, what's the point of sports if you know the other team has a guy who can lift trucks over their shoulders and treat 10K's like light warmups?

That was still being discussed, but here on the base were those few who had decided they wanted to use their powers to join BRIDGE in one way or another. The section set aside for them was formerly the school for the children on the base, using the gymnasium for the main testing, the classrooms to organize everyone, and the locker rooms to give them somewhere to change into some sweats. Creel walked us into the gymnasium and everyone stopped to look over at us. For a moment, things were awkward.

Then, like something out of a movie, one guy started clapping. A few others joined in until a large portion of the room was clapping while looking over at us. Four of them, all wearing BRIDGE-issued workout clothes, walked over as Thor and I blinked in confusion, though he was apparently more used to applause than I was.

The people walking toward us were showing signs of their powers in some ways.

The oldest one was a tall and well-built black man, with piercing eyes and a steady confidence, his muscles piled on muscles as he walked towards us. He strode towards us and smiled at me.

"Surprised?" when I didn't say anything, he chuckled. "I figured. Not every day you get a standing ovation from the people you saved.

Well... shit. What was I supposed to say to that? That was a hell of an honor to be given. I kind of shuffled awkwardly, not knowing what I should do.

The younger black man behind him gave me a brooding look. He looked like the older man, if lither in size, but still built like an armored truck. He nodded respectfully but said nothing else.

A teenage girl waved timidly at us. She was tall and almost alarmingly skinny, right on the edge of looking unhealthy. Her purple hair had the look of someone who had recently dyed it.

The final woman looked like someone's mom, with white streaks in her hair, some wrinkles on her skin, and a slightly too big smile. She reminded me of a Korean woman I'd known on my world, with a similar nose and eyes with the same kindness.

"I'm Jamal," the older man introduced himself. "This is Mike," the young man nodded. "Abigail," purple hair shuffled nervously. "And Jung Moon," the oldest woman smiled at us. "We were the ones chosen to represent our little group."

"Nice to meet you all," Thor said kindly.

"Same from me," I added weakly as the clapping died down. I noted that none of their names were familiar. Not people from the comics. Civilians, who would have died nameless otherwise. Thank you, Omnitrix.

Creel spoke next. "So far, it looks like only the absorbers like me and the super-soldiers like Steve have powers. Only one gamma-enhanced being kept its powers, and it's an animal," I blinked at that, but he continued before I could question him. "Jung Moon, show them what you got?"

The older woman reached into a pocket and pulled out a piece of red stone. She clenched her hand around it and immediately shifted into a rock statue in a kaleidoscope of random colors. Jung Moon chuckled her lips the color of emeralds, and spoke in Korean. Thor chuckled as well.

"Indeed, my lady, you are quite beautiful in this form," he said kindly, getting the older woman to blush.

"You speak Korean?" Jamal asked curiously.

"A benefit of being Asgardian. I am gifted with the ability to speak in all Midgardian languages, as well as those of other realms," the God of Thunder explained.

I didn't say anything. I mean, the Omnitrix worked the same way with its universal translator, but it wasn't information I threw around. Never know when you might need to overhear something after all.

"Dial!" I turned to see Jennifer yelling towards me, the tall Gammazon attracting attention from the people working out. A guy who was bench pressing around five hundred pounds of weight near her started going really fast, probably to impress her, only to go faster when she rewarded his efforts with a wink. She turned back to me, ignoring the guy currently burning out. "Hulk wants you to see this!"

Steve walked up to join us from a group of people doing squats with car engines, sweating a bit.

"Any idea what that is about?" He asked.

"Who knows?" I ran towards She-Hulk, leaving the awkwardness of everyone staring at me. Technically, I had saved them. But only because I had a really cool watch. When you boiled things down, all of my victories were often the Omnitrix's victories with an assist from me. Getting treated as though I'd done something great when I did the alien tech equivalent of pressing a button just made me feel as though I was cheating everyone.

She-Hulk led me outside to a dirt field covered in sand and hail, with a series of pens set up. The place looked like a hastily set up zoo, the pens made of all thick metal and plastic spaced evenly to keep those within from escaping.

"Huh," I said as the cacophony of sounds surrounded me. "I forgot how many there were."

Dogs and cats were the common ones. One was familiar, and apparently, he remembered me, because the little guy started barking loudly and wagging his tail as I passed. I remembered him when he changed into a steel form, grinning brightly at me with sunlight reflecting off metal fur. We walked past him, and I noted a cat that was about twice as large as a normal house cat, with corded muscle underneath it's gray fur. A lady in a lab coat was in his pen trying to get the guy to do something with a rubber ball. With the typical sassy attitude all cats have, he cocked an eyebrow, rolled over on his muscular stomach, and went to sleep, the lady in his pen sagging in disappointment.

Past those 'normal' animals were the more wild fare. Monkeys with abs or the ability to change into different materials, a rhino with enhanced eyesight (according to a scientist studying the massive animal), and more.

We ended up at an eighteen-wheeler truck, where a large group was waiting nervously outside of it. Hulk stood nearby, his arms crossed and gaze steadily on the being within. The large truck was open at the back, with a familiar being within.

I walked over next to Hulk, who turned to look down at me. He nodded towards the truck, walking forward with me.

As men with guns watched us walk up, the being inside looked up at me. I reached for the Omnitrix and began flipping through the menu before smiling at the guy within. "Hey, buddy. I guess you're the only one who kept those gamma powers, aren't you?"

The tiger inside looked at me, green eyes blinking lazily. He rested in a massive pen with by far the thickest bars of any of the other cages. Even then, I could see that they had been bent outward by some powerful force. Clearly, that was the fault of the green and black furred guy inside. He was about as big as a small car and... you know what, let's not mince words.

"You look like Battle Cat," I said, moving deeper into the truck. The tiger blinked at me, then at Hulk when he joined me. "So what's going on?"

A scientist about thirty feet behind me yelled. "It doesn't want to move! Every time we get near him he freaks out!"

"Haven't you tried a steak or something to attract him?" I called back.

"He has enhanced intelligence! He stopped taking bribes about three days in, and he hasn't changed into a normal tiger since!" the scientist sounded like he was at the end of his rope. "We need to get him into one of the other pens so we can scan it properly! He's the only one who kept gamma powers, but he was recorded as lacking the Gamma gene!" the scientist yelled. He yelped when the tiger lazily yawned.

She-Hulk hopped in as well, looking over us. "So, what's the plan?"

"Hulk help kitty," goddamn, how did he manage to make that sound tough? He strode forward and the tiger slowly backed away as the shadow of the Hulk went over the cage. He reached out and grabbed the door to the cage.

"Uh, buddy, maybe we should-" I started to say.

"Raagh!" With a single pull, Hulk ripped the door off the cage.

"Or, sure, let's do that," I weakly reached for the Omnitrix, ready to transform as the tiger stared between the three of us.

"Is this a good idea?" She-Hulk asked as she stepped in front of me.

"I don't know, this whole thing took a direction I didn't expect at all," I admitted.

The tiger moved forward slowly. I began to press on the Omnitrix, ready for any random action that followed. If someone had sneezed, I'd have changed into Diamondhead immediately.

She-Hulk raised her hands up. Hulk was unmoved, his back to us as the tiger began to walk out.

Soon, a tiger about as big as the rhino outside was out of the cage. It looked around at us, focusing on me. Then it strode towards me. I reached for the watch.

"Stop," Hulk said calmly (well, as calmly as Hulk could), raising a hand. "Wait."

"For what, my throat to get ripped out?" I asked tensely.

The tiger went up to me and started sniffing. If you've ever had a giant super muscular tiger sniff at you, I'm sorry. Because damn, there is nothing like seeing the fangs of a tiger shine in your face as it's sniffing blows your hair back. It was that kind of primal fear deep down in your brain that stretched all the way back from the beginning of man dodging large predators in Africa.

After a bit, it surprised me by licking my arm, then moving to wrap around me and lie on the ground, going to sleep.

Hulk grinned as She-Hulk and I shared a look.

"I...I don't understand," I said slowly. I took a moment to try and remember if there was a precedent for a gamma tiger in the comics. Nothing came to mind. Guess even meta-knowledge isn't perfect. "Am..."

"Hulk good with animals," the big guys said in a satisfied tone.

I hesitantly stepped away. The tiger woke immediately and stood up, walking along with me. Trying something out, I moved out of the truck.

Walking out of the truck with the super tiger placidly following me was a weird experience. The personnel stared at him as he hopped out, his green fur almost glowing in the sunlight. Hulk and Jennifer followed, Hulk looking satisfied and Jennifer like she was seconds from laughing but couldn't because of how confused she was.

"Uh, sir," one of the scientists called out to me. "We need to study it! Do you think we can do some more invasive procedures if you can control him?"

I looked over at the tiger. He blinked lazily at me, looked over at the scientist who'd spoken, then back to me, his muzzle twitching. I rubbed the back of my neck. "Dude, I don't know what to tell you. He's kind of doing his own thing right now. Uh, Battle Cat, do you want to...?"

He growled in the back of his throat, the sound rumbling the ground.

"He says no," Hulk added helpfully.

"Cats. What are you gonna do?" She-Hulk said helplessly.

Not much else we could say to that I suppose. I walked towards the pens.

"Sir, we can't let you-" a soldier began to say.

I reached for the Omnitrix and pressed down on it. In a flash of green light, red armored skin grew across my body along with a pair of extra arms and eyes as I towered over all present.

"FOURARMS!"

The echo of my voice shook the area, the cacophony of animals petering out.

"Don't worry. I'll keep my eyes on the big guy. I think we need to figure out what the hell to do with him."

"Holy shit, you are big," She-Hulk mumbled, looking up at me with wide eyes.

I grinned. "You're one to talk, Shulkie."

"Yeah, I am, Rulk," she said with a grin.

I barked out a laugh for more reasons than one as we walked over to a pen with more soldiers surrounding us. Hulk gestured to the tiger, who walked inside with the austere grace of an emperor. Once inside, the pen closed up, and the tiger sat back on its haunches, tail sweeping back and forth across the ground.

Once inside, the scientists began tapping at screens, and Hand walked over, her eyes widening at the sight of my towering form, before looking at the tiger.

"What happened?" Victoria asked, crossing her arms.

"I think," I said hesitantly. "The Pet Avengers got their first member."

"...the what," Victoria said in the tone of voice a woman uses when she's slowly going insane.

"We've got a bunch of animals with superpowers, a lot of them more intelligent than they should be. I think people were going to talk about that soon enough anyway."

As Victoria sighed in annoyance at what she thought was a joke, I thought about the moon and a certain founding member of the Pet Avengers.

Going to have to look into that soon.

Even as I thought that Thor came out of the doors of the gymnasium and head towards us, apparently wondering about the commotion. "What-" he stopped, staring up at me. He noted the Omnitrix symbol and blinked.

"My. You're a big one."

"That's what she said," I noted, thinking of She-Hulk's reaction.

When the tittering laughter followed, I realized what that sounding like and groaned slightly, putting my lower right hand to my face. "That was an accident, I swear."

"That's what she said!" She-Hulk responded, laughing all the harder at the annoyed look I gave her.

"How strong are you?" Thor asked, rubbing his chin with a look in his eyes the Tetramand form I was borrowing knew all too well as the look of challenge.

"Don't," Victoria mumbled. "You two can spar later. Right now I need to rest."

Testing went well after that