A collaboration between Steelcode, Redbat132, and newbienovelistRD. Here you go, Amigos! Enjoy! :)
Ben 10 belongs to Cartoon Network and Man Of Action. Sage belongs to Steelcode. Tommy and Macy belong to Redbat132. I only own Rachel.
An Alien Crab For A Teacher
Tommy just started getting used to his new school in Staybrook in the fourth grade. Although new, the young boy seemed to fit in okay. Unfortunately, he was struggling with the multiplication and division table in his math class. He'd been trying to take it seriously since he's kind of falling behind on that subject. And, much to his luck, his parents are usually too busy to help him. Same with Macy, though it was because she was in college, so he understood that. So, while going to the Grant Mansion, Tommy decided to try to finish his homework there, only to get nothing.
"No, that doesn't seem right either!" He grunted to himself while trying to solve one of the equations, not realizing that his struggles were attracting the attention of a certain crab-like alien.
"What the deuce?" Brainstorm said when hearing noises, becoming curious when hearing the sound of a child struggling with something. Deciding to satisfy his curiosity, he checked the living room and spotted Tommy in what seemed to be distress.
"Ugh, this is so hard! I'll never get it done!" The boy exclaimed, completely brain fried. He got so frustrated that he threw his work to the floor and slammed his head on the table, groaning and wondering how he was going to bring up his math grade if he couldn't even do the math work.
Watching the boy's reactions, Brainstorm deduced that the kid had to be another friend and or resident of the Grant Mansion and appeared to be having a hard time with something. Deciding to see if he could help, he went up to Tommy, who still has his face on the table. "I say, what seems to be ailing you, old boy?" He asked in a friendly voice.
Tommy turned his head to the source of the new voice and immediately picked up his head in surprise, staring at the crab in shock. "Whoa! What the? Who are you?" He managed to stammer out, looking at the alien with wide eyes.
"Top-ho, my lad! I am known as Brainstorm, a Cerebralcrustacean from Encephalonus IV," the crab alien introduced himself, holding out one of his claws for a handshake.
"Oh, cool!" Tommy said, shaking one of his claws in eagerness, getting over the shock of meeting the alien, but excited to meet someone new. "Nice to meet you, Brainstorm. My name is Tommy. I'm a friend of the Grant Mansion aliens who live here and the stepbrother of Macy. She also goes by Black Rebel."
"Ah, yes. The Black Rebel. Rachel informed me that this individual was a good friend to Sage." Brainstorm then noticed the pieces of paper on the floor and pointed at it. "Now, what appears to vex you so, Thomas? Does it involve this disgraceful amount of debris?"
The boy liked Brainstorm right away, even thinking the way he talked was cool and while he really didn't like being called 'Thomas', he didn't really mind his new friend calling him that. "Yeah. I'm struggling with my math homework in class," he admitted, looking at the floor in awkwardness while rubbing the back of his head. "I just can't seem to solve any of these problems. And every time I try, I keep getting brain fried."
That drew some concern from the alien. "Have you discussed your dilemma with your sibling or parental units?" He asked gently.
The boy shook his head. "No. My parents are too busy with work outside of home to help me out. And Macy is usually busy with her own homework in college and or out in patrol. I thought I would come here to help me focus better, but it didn't seem work," he admitted ruefully.
"Perhaps I can help you, old beam," offered the Cerebralcrustacean.
"Really? You'd actually do that for me?" Tommy asked.
"Of course! It's not my first encounter assisting an aspiring youth in the field of academia. So, what subject troubles you?"
"Well, it's this multiplication and division table my math teacher had us do. The problem is that it all seems confusing to me," the boy explained, picking up his homework and placing it back on the table. "I even tried taking notes and I still keep getting spaced out."
Brainstorm looked over the notes Tommy made and became annoyed because the boy's teacher was making the math harder than it needs to be. "I must say, this method used to learn this equation is quite difficult for a fourth-grade human to learn," he said.
"You're tell me. It's like my teacher wants me to fail. But I can't back down now. I'll get in trouble and flunk fourth grade. And that's the last thing I want," Tommy said.
Brainstorm gave him a friendly smile. "Try this rule, young Thomas: Anything that is divided by an even number will equal an even number and vice versa. Multiplication is simply adding whatever number once more to the last answer. For example, 12x12 is 144 add 12 to that and you have the answer for 13x12. As for division, it is exactly the same but with subtracting even numbers instead of adding them."
The boy thought about what Brainstorm finished saying. It did start to make a little more sense, but he still seemed unsure, something the crab alien noticed and came upon an idea to make it easier for the boy. "There is also a simpler way to deal with multi digit problems. Here, draw a square," the alien crab said with a smile, handing Tommy a fresh piece of paper.
The young boy grabbed it and followed his instructions. "Okay. What next?" He asked, hoping this would really work as he really wanted to understand the math.
"Now we're doing this problem 32x43. So, split the square into four pieces. Then, draw a line from the top right corner to the bottom left corner in each of the smaller squares. From there, place the numbers 32 at the top and 43 on the right-hand side outside the big square, then do the minor math so 2x4 is 8. Put zero in the top triangle and 8 in the bottom. Now, do all the minor ones." Brainstorm instructed.
Tommy did as he was told, writing the equational technique as best as he could. Once he did, the alien crab seemed pleased.
"Good. Now, you see the pathways that lead down from top right-hand corner to bottom left?" Brainstorm asked, motioning to the diagonal rectangles.
"Uh, huh," Tommy said, nodding his head.
"Well, move diagonally and add the numbers in the same rectangle. So, 6 is all by itself so move it to the bottom of the large square then move to the next rectangle. What numbers do you need to add in this one?" Brainstorm asked, making sure Tommy was following along.
"Um…," the young boy said, only to get nothing once again. "I'm sorry, Brainstorm. You're definitely making sense. It's just been a while since I did math like this," he admitted.
The alien took it in stride, seeing the boy was really trying and decided to show him and not go too fast so that the boy could follow. "We add 9 and 8 to equal 17. Now, just like with regular addition, we carry the 1 to the next rectangle where we add 1 and 2 to equal 3. We put that on the outside of the square then put 1 on the outside of the large square. Now, all the numbers on the outside of the left side of the large square and bottom are you answer. So, 32x43 equals 1376," Brainstorm finished calmly.
"Oooh. Wow, you seriously make it look easy. I'm glad you're here. There's no way I could have solved any of that without your assistance," the boy said, both impressed and slightly down on feeling like a total idiot.
"No need to worry, Thomas. Many struggle with math. In fact, your friend and my nephew, Sage, struggles with math at times as well," the alien crab said calmly, rubbing Tommy's back soothingly.
"Seriously? I never pictured Sage as someone to be struggling in the same subject as me," Tommy replied, kind of surprised.
"Indeed, Sage's brain is stronger on the right-hand side. Where creativity is his strong point while the left side of his brain struggles with numbers and science," Brainstorm explained.
"Kind of like me, I suppose. Except for the science part. I usually have fun with that one," the boy admitted. "Still, you really think I can solve these tricky equations?"
"Well, if you keep at it and keep trying, you will. However, if you give up, then you won't. Another way to put is, if you give up, then you could possibly end up like Forever Knights, however, keep trying and working hard and you'll be following in your sister's and Sage's footsteps," the Cerebralcrustacean encouraged.
"Not sure who these Forever Knight guys are, but I'm guessing they're bad and I shouldn't end up in the wrong side like them." Tommy elaborated, seeing where Brainstorm was going with this. "Thanks, Brainstorm. I definitely don't want to give up, and I'm not gonna start now," he replied, smiling with confidence.
Brainstorm chuckled. "Very good, my boy. Now, try this problem on your own. I'll watch and you can ask questions if you get stuck."
"Okay," he agreed, getting another go on the next equation.
From there, Tommy started to get the hang of multiplication and division. He did ask Brainstorm on a few, but seemed to understand the rest once remembering Brainstorm's advice and pointers. Once he completed the whole assignment, 10 minutes later, he asked Brainstorm to check his work if it all seemed right or there were still a couple or more he miscalculated. The alien crab gladly did so and moments later, handed the paper back to the boy.
"Well done, young man. All are correct," he said, smiling.
"Yahoo! Thank you, Brainstorm, thank you!" Tommy exclaimed, giving the alien a hug. Brainstorm returned the hug with a smile, glad to have helped another of his nephews.
Sage walked out of the kitchen with an apple in his hand as he saw Tommy fling his arms around Brainstorm. "Hey, what are we celebrating?" He asked, before taking a bite of his apple.
"Sage!" Tommy exclaimed, finishing his hug on the Cerebralcrustacean. "I just completed my complicated math homework! And I couldn't have done it without your uncle's help!"
Sage smiled. "Nice, little man. Uncle Brains there is the best tutor you can get," he said, giving his uncle a grateful look and the alien nodded in return.
"He sure is," agreed Tommy. "You have the coolest uncles ever!"
"You mean 'we' have the coolest uncles ever," Sage said, still smiling.
"'We?" Tommy questioned, kind of stunned on that comment, "But I'm not a Grant Mansion resident. Just a guest friend."
The shape-shifter chuckled. "You spend all your free time here, your sister visits about as often as you do, plus most of my uncles think of you as their own. So yeah, I'd say you more than a guest friend around here. Heck, I always wanted a little brother."
"You...think of me as your little brother?" asked Tommy. He was completely speechless. He first started out as an orphan, then was found by Macy's dad and became part of the family with his own sister, and now he was part of another family that happens to be aliens that live in a spooky mansion?! It was like the best thing ever!
Sage smirked before walking over and pulling Tommy into a one-armed hug. "Sure do, buckaroo," the teen shifter said and then gave Tommy a friendly brother noogie.
The boy laughed. "Hey, knock it off!" He protested playfully.
Sage chuckled again. "Nope. It's my duty as a big brother to make sure your smiling and to have some fun with you." He then moved from giving the young boy a noogie to tickling his sides and stomach. "Cootchie, cootchie, coo."
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! SAHAHAHAHAHAHAGE, STAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAP!" Tommy laughed, struggling out of the shape-shifter's hold.
"Nope, not until you say who I am," the older boy said, smiling before blowing a large raspberry into the younger boy's stomach.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I THOUGHT I ALREADY DID!" Tommy exclaimed, kind of confused while being tickled to death.
"Nope. Say I'm the best big brother ever and I'll let you go," Sage laughed, blowing a larger raspberry into Tommy's belly button.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, OKAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAY! Y-Y-Y-YOU'RE THE BEHEHEHEHEHEHEST BIG BROTHER EHEHEHEHEHEVER!" Tommy finally said in between his laughs and already in tears of joy.
"Never forget it," Sage said, smiling as he stopped tickling Tommy, picking him up and laying him down on the large couch.
"How could I?" The boy asked, getting halfway up with a smile on his face.
"Oh, believe me, it's possible. But I'm going to make sure you never do," Sage said, tickling under Tommy's chin.
The young boy started giggling again while gentle pushing his hand away. "I'm really lucky to know that I have awesome aliens as my second family. Especially a wolf-changing big brother."
"Your one special little guy, that's for sure. Now how about a movie? Maybe Black Panther?" The older boy said, smiling as he saw his little brother's face lit up.
"You have Black Panther?! I've always wanted to see that movie when I saw the commercials! I heard it was awesome!" Tommy exclaimed.
Sage smiled at his enthusiasm. "Just got it today. Thought it would be a good start for the two of us." He quickly placed the DVD into the disk player before sitting down beside Tommy.
"Thank you, Sage!" The boy replied, hugging the shape-shifter by the side. "You really are the best Shape-shifting big brother ever!"
Sage smiled again, slowly shifting to wolf form, allowing Tommy to lay his head on his furry side and giving a small lick to the young boy's forehead in affection. Brainstorm watched with a smile and nodded, seeing the close bond the two had. He then left them to their bonding time while promising himself to always be available in case any of his family members needed help in school.
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