“…ugh…” Ashton groaned out, his eyes squeezing a bit when he felt his body aching.

“Wha? Yo! He's coming to!” a voice sounded out close to him, hearing movement shortly after.

He slowly lifted a hand up to his head, holding the side of it as he tried to sit up, only to feel someone gently push him back down.

“Whoa there, pal.” a more authoritative voice sounded out. “Need to rest after that rather nasty fight you had.”

“Wha…?” Ashton muttered, slowly opening his eyes to see who it was that just spoke.

His vision was blurry, obscuring most of the surroundings around him. A faint and familiar smell greeted him though, able to quickly figure out that he was in his bedroom, wondering how he got here, seeing that everything was a blank for him when he tried to remember.

“How…?” he tried to ask, finding himself unable to find the rest of the words.

“Wondering how ya got here?” the voice asked. “Well, after the fight and ya collapsed, some girl…Emily, if I recall…came out and gathered you up.” he explained “If you're gonna ask how I know it was you, Emily told me and others that it was you, I even witnessing ya change to your current self to boot.”

“Wait…” Ashton weakly said, trying to sit up again only to be pushed back down.

“Ya need to rest. I dunno how tough you are, but after literally getting slammed onto the ground by some hulking machine and even into the side of a pickup, I can tell ya that those will sting for a while. Not even gonna mention the fatigue you must be going through as of now.” the man urged, soon letting up when Ashton was on his back again. “Speaking of…exactly how do you feel as of now?”

“Aching…slightly tired…” he replied, his vision clearing up and looked to his left, seeing the man that was with him as of now since his vision cleared up enough.

He had to be around his thirties in age, signs of gray hair among the top of his head and in parts of the beard he had. He was clad in what was supposedly a white coat, light blue clothing underneath it. The tops of several pens were visible poking up from the top of a pocket that was on his coat.

“Just those?” the man asked, putting a hand to his chin. “And the tiredness isn't from the fatigue you went through?”

“Wait…what? Am I…supposed to be close to blacking out or something?”

“More like in a comatose state.” was the man's response. “The amount of stress and damage that you may have gone through in what Emily described was just ten minutes would reduce any man into a recovery coma lasting up to weeks or maybe even month. Hell, some weaker-willed ones would have died outright when the adrenaline wore off. Even though you weren't human at the time, any normal person would have died after the first blow you went through.Yet here you are, waking up after just a full twenty-four hours worth of rest.”

“A full day…?!” Ashton cried out in surprise.

“Yeah. I and others, as well as Emily have been taking turns watching you. Things have been pretty busy while you've been out like a light; People are clamoring to see the 'Shapeshifter', as they're calling you now, news media is dying to get an interview, authorities wanting answers…”

The rest of the words from the man were lost to Ashton, who wanted to try and rest in his spot. He was surprised on which groups wanted his presence, but doubts and new-found fears were starting to well up inside of him. Even though that it would easily get people to accept his new…abilities…he wasn't sure on how much of that attention would bring the wrong kind of people to him. Still, even though that he faced the risk of being portrayed as a threat by some media outlets, it was something that he was willing to risk.

Tossing his initial idea to rest aside, he started to get up from his spot, ignoring the man's insistence on staying in the bed. Saying that he was fine was able have the man back off, slowly getting up from the bed. He stumbled slightly when a wave of dizziness hit him, having to lean against a bookshelf of his room to steady himself.

“Guess you still need a while to rest then.” the man spoke, seeing Ashton sitting down in the chair that was in front of his crafting table.

“Right…” Ashton looked over to the other four models he had laying on the table, the bases of them seeming to have a bit of a glow. “Now that I think…of it…wonder how the others will be…”

“Whaddya mean?” the man asked in a questioning tone, seeing Ashton reaching over to the smaller one of the group and lifted it up.

“These models I'm talking about…” he responded, holding the flight suit one, holding it out for the doctor to inspect it himself. “When I first got this device…” a gesture to the Swapper on his left wrist, “…I found five model bases with it. I came in here…and set them down on the table here and went to get something to eat. When I returned, the bases…were gone, at first thinking I misplaced them. When I…first became a greninja, I was able to find out that the bases converted the…models into Swapper ones.”

“'Swapper'?” the doctor quoted in a questioning tone.

“Yeah, it's what this device is called.” Ashton replied, looking down to it. “It's short for…Single…Singular…?” he tried to recall but with difficulty.

“Singular Wired Adaptation Platform for Perpetual Emergency Requisitions.” the device in question seemed to voice out after the screen lit up on its own, making the two jolt in response.

“Well, quite the mouthful for a name for one, but that thing also has a form of AI in it as well?” the doctor asked astonished.

“I…guess? To be honest, I'm not really sure on what this thing's fully capable of.” the human looked down to the device, setting the model down on the table before lightly tapping the screen of it. Seeing the main menu pop up, he started to browse through the various menus again, the doctor watching silently as he sat back down in his seat. When he reached the menu of registered forms, he noticed a new statistic next to the greninja.

“'Adrenal Overcharge'?” Ashton read the words, seeing that there was the number one next to it.

“Hmm?”

“According to this, it's saying that I went through something called an Adrenal Overcharge.” he explained, looking over to the doctor.

“Guess that's what caused you to collapse, if I heard Emily correctly.”

It was Ashton's turn to ask, in which the doctor explained. Turns out that he ended up sparking one when he thought he was going to get killed, giving him enough of a boost to win the fight at the cost of him blacking out once it wore off. It was also the cause for his current exhaustion, the doctor also explaining that the Swapper may also have been a factor in his single-day recovery. The two were about to converse further until an audible grumble sounded out, making the two jump.

“A-another one…?!” Ashton asked in a panic before looking to the source. “Oh, never mind. Need to get something to eat…” he chuckled slightly, starting to get up.

“I'll get it for you, no need to exert yourself.” the doc offered, getting up from his spot, calmly gesturing for Ashton to sit back down. Thankfully for him, he complied, leaning back in his seat. With a smile, the doc left the room, heading downstairs and left Ashton alone for the time being. During the wait, he couldn't help but wonder; What group could have sent that machine after him and for what purpose? He recalled it saying to 'capture Swapper device', looking down to his forearm. He knew that his chance for a normal life was thrown out the window once it latched onto his arm, letting out a sigh before starting to fiddle with it again.

Seeing that he didn't want to be solely Greninja due to the chance of that group exploiting any weaknesses they find, he was thinking of trying out a different form. Of which one he wasn't all that certain, looking over to the models. Of those present were the Sledgebot, the one he was finishing before getting the Swapper, the Minion Commando, the flight suit, and then the Gunner.

The Sledgebot would be arguably the strongest, seeing it was a late-game character from where it comes from, as well as packing all kinds of weaponry built in. The Commando would be rather unpredictable, seeing that minions are rather violent and…well, unpredictable. To give one guns was a rather dark and unsettling thought seeing that with simple blades and sturdy-enough armor they're capable of pillaging a village. The flight suit one, which he has yet to name, would allow him to go practically anywhere vertically, though wasn't all that sure on how it would perform not only in combat but underwater as well. Gunner would be somewhat manageable if not slow, given the suit it's wearing. It would be ideal for offense though given its gun and the abilities the in-game counterpart has.

His line of thought was interrupted when he heard someone coming in, looking over and saw that it was the doc again whom was holding a bowl in his hands, though accompanied by Emily, sitting up in his spot as he looked to her. Before he could say anything, he saw her quickly come over to him, embracing him an a hug that showed signs of great relief.

“Oh thank Arceus you're alright…!” she managed to say, the doc looking to the bound human, both doing a small shrug before looking back to Emily.

“Yeah…nice to be in the world of the living again.” he tried to joke, chuckling slightly before clearing his throat. “Mind letting go of me? My body's still aching and all.”

A small squeak came from Emily, much to the humor of both the males present, her quickly letting up on the hug and took a couple steps back. “S-sorry, I…didn't know…” she meekly stated.

“It's alright, Emily.” Ashton assured with a small smile. “Still, I shouldn't have…made you worry so much about me.”

A nod was her answer, the doc setting the bowl down on the crafting table, it filled with some soup. Issuing his thanks, Ashton started to eat, feeling his strength slowly returning as he ate.

“Oh, almost forgot.” the doc chimed in, earning the gazes from Emily and Ashton. He reached to a pocket on his coat, pulling out an envelope from it and presented it to the latter, whom arched an eyebrow at such. “This was in your mailbox earlier today, addressed to you. Based on the chicken-scratch handwriting on it, it must have been written in a hurry.”

Taking the envelope, Ashton started to open it, pulling the slip of paper out from it, unfolding it to read what was written on it.

Wearer of the Swapper. I'm glad that my creation has wound up in capable hands after all. I've heard of your fight against that contraption, even prevailing over it but just barely. As much as I want to praise you for your efforts, I have to keep this letter short and to the point.

They are now aware of you and will no doubt actively hunt you down. They were the reason I had to leave the Swapper with you since I did NOT want it to fall into their hands. I personally will try and help you along the road that you are now on, and there's no doubt that times will be troublesome for you and others. Trust no figure of authority, especially those who claim to be government officials. Only place that trust in those that will follow you to the very end of this road and back if need be, and be prepared for any kind of attack that They could launch against you.

Signed, a friend.

The letter turned out to be more of a warning to Ashton, whom was wondering who the mystery person was as well as who 'They' were. That second to last line especially struck out at him, looking up to the others.

“That look…I can tell that letter was anything but good…” the doctor stated in a concerned tone, Emily showing the same expression.

“Yeah…” he replied, folding the letter up and set it back in the envelope, setting it aside as well. A sigh came out from him as he leaned forward, planting an elbow on his knee with his face moving into the hand, unsure on what to do now. On one hand, he wanted to try and return to a somewhat normal life, but on the other he had to constantly be on the move but didn't really want to leave everything of his behind. “Jesus, I don't know what to do…”

“Maybe…” Emily spoke up, reaching down to rest a hand on his shoulder, though she wasn't sure on what to say as well.

“I…I guess I can risk staying here…” he finally stated, looking up to Emily. “I'm thinking of showing…one of the other forms to the crowd outside, provided they haven't swarmed my house yet.” he stated, getting up from his spot.

“Good thing that the police are indeed keeping them out after we told them of your previous state.” the doc stated, heading to the door of the bedroom. “I'll head down there and inform them that you're awake and coming down now, but will still have them keep the crowd at bay.”

A nod was Ashton's response, looking among the four he had. He did want to make a bit of an impression when it came to the transformation, but wasn't really sure on which one to go with. He thought for a few minutes while the two others left his room to leave him be for the time being. After another few minutes of indecision, he let out a sigh and looked down to the Swapper, booting it up to try and find something else relating to the models. After flicking through the menus again, he came to a stop at the model base construction segment, tapping it to try and find out what to use to make one of the bases.

“Hmm…Two inch in diameter circle of wood, quarter-inch thick…five grams of copper? I hope copper wire can fill that part…” he mumbled as he read through the ingredients needed, blinking when he saw the last part. “Fifty volts of electricity, jeez…though, really just those three ingredients…” he kept the part open, looking around for anything that could fit the bill for each part. The first one was easy, seeing that he did make model stands in bulk for if and when he wanted to make some actual models. The copper was again easy to find, since he did use it for when it came to models larger than four inches in size, used mainly for stability purposes.

After getting the first two components, he set the model plate he had on the screen to see what would happen before carrying through with the third component. Nothing seemed to happen at a moment's glance, but the screen soon lit up a bit more, the wooden disc slowly being deconstructed similar to what happened to the greninja model. When the last bit of it was gone, the number for the model base went up one tick, showing that it did take in the component. Smiling a small bit at such, he got a roll of copper wire he had in one of the drawers of his crafting table, pulling out what he could estimate was five grams worth of it. He also got a pair of wire clippers, using them to clip the wire before coiling it up a bit, setting it on the screen and hoped it would be accepted. To his relief, the copper was being deconstructed much like the base, soon seeing the counter for copper go up to five point thirty-one grams.

'Alright, now for the power…' he thought to himself, letting out a small groan as he looked to an outlet.

He walked over to the nearest one he could find, crouching down close to it. He had to move an end table out of the way since it was somewhat blocking him, the outlet being next to his bed. He let out a sigh, hoping that what he was doing wouldn't end up killing him, soon holding the device close to the outlet to see if anything would happen. Like he initially thought, nothing was happening, though he did see one option pop up onto the screen of the Swapper, looking at it.

“Power source detected.” the first short sentence read, “Siphon?” was the following question, a Y/N pair of choices popping up.

Hoping this process wouldn't end up electrocuting him, he hesitantly pressed 'Y', squeezing his eyes shut as he braced himself. He heard the soft hum of electricity coming from the outlet, but was surprised that he wasn't being fried, slowly opening his eyes expecting the worst. Much to his relief, his body was still intact, though the device indeed was siphoning power from the outlet, two arcs of electricity flowing from it and to a couple of prongs that were poking out of the device. He couldn't help but watch in awe, glancing down at the screen and saw the voltage counter of it ticking up, around three per second that passed. A grin started to show, slowly moving his left arm, only to quickly stop when a warning about such popped up on the Swapper's screen.

Now not wanting to risk himself being electrocuted, he stayed still while watching the counter tick up with each second. The siphoning soon stopped once the number was reached, the prongs withdrawing into the device after the arcs of electricity ceased to exist. When they fully retracted, a new option popped up since all the components were now gathered, the human sitting up in his spot.

“Well, lets make the base and add a new one to the potential arsenal…” he whispered, pressing the confirmation to make the base, seeing it starting to form above the screen of the Swapper.

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Feel free to leave a comment. I don't care if it's criticism, praise, or a mix of both.

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Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about this story, seeing that I'm gonna stick with the bi-weekly uploads for it.