Ben Tennyson flinched, his eyebrows twitched in irritation multiple times over. The recent ordeal with Khyber and Albedo made him tired and frustrated. Getting Atomix was very cool though. Everything turned out to be alright though in the very end. Rook got promoted on the moon base of plumbers, Kevin and Gwen returned to New York. Gwen returned back to her ivy league college and Kevin moved in with her, albeit with a new "guest" joining them. Khyber's dog which had become Kevin's pet right now; however, just like always, Ben was left behind on his own, the only thing left for him to do was superheroing and crimefighting, If superheroing was even a word in the Oxford Dictionary. And now he had to deal with this Youkai Academy shtick, this was just a bit too stressful for the young hero to handle.
Flashback Start
"You gotta have a pretty good reason for this otherwise I am not going through with it!" Ben narrowed down his eyes, throwing a glare at his Granduncle, Gordon.
Just like Maxwell, Gordon was a heavy set old man in his eighties. He had grey hair, a grey mustache, and black eyes. Gordon was Max's elder brother and when Ben was young he provided him with basic and intermediate Plumber training. He was the sort of man that was always dressed in those sophisticated suits, he even wore a hat. Gordon was the sort of man who can always offer wise words to you and even Max relied on his advice. Ben would have no issue in believing the old man, if it wasn't that absurd that is.
His eyes met Ben's, "Ben, it's an easy mission. We just need a teenager to do it."
"I am not going to Japan and even if I agree to that, there is no way in hell I am going to some weird school for Monsters. Besides, I have finished my highschool here. I am not going through all those year of torture just for the sake of some mission!" Ben huffed in annoyance, "look, Gramps. My life is kinda ruined right now. My grades suck, Plumber stipend is late as usual, Julie broke up with me cause she wants me to retire from all the alien stuff...everything is so damn complicated right now. You better have some goddamn explanation before you kick me into a country I only saw in kung fu movies and some of those anime Cooper made me watch!"
"Ben, you do realise that you owe the Plumbers for stopping your fan from releasing those pictures on the internet? And if your secret identity would have been released, you might be facing a lot of trouble from the government and media, especially this guy Harrangue. He is very popular now a days!" Gordon raised an eyebrow, he knew that this wasn't fair to Ben but it was his decision to continuously wield the Omnitrix throughout the years. He should have known what he was signing up for.
"This isn't about that. The new Omnitrix only lasts for thirty minutes, max, and even with those life form lock chips I received from Galvan Prime, I am still at a disadvantage. Besides, I lost my Ultimates. What if one of my enemies, new or old, decides to attack me there! Atleast here I can call Gwen and Kevin!" Ben explained with a sigh.
"I understand, Ben. There are risks involved. But we've sent many agents before you; however, they failed to come up with something!" Gordon explained himself, "besides, the balance between the Youkai World and Human World is in danger!"
"What do you mean?" Ben asked out of curiosity.
"Have you ever heard about the name "Fairy Tale"?" Gordon spoke with a grim tone.
"Gramps, can you please come straight to the point? You are starting to scare me here!" Ben leaned forward from his chair, straightening himself.
Flashback End
Fairy Tale was a group of Youkai dedicated to throwing harmony into chaos and ruling over the Human World. They were well-connected and maintained a great deal of assets, both in finances and in manpower. Youkais had always been the most feared individuals on this planet. They were malevolent beings as well as mischievous. They were beings with an animal form and at the same time a human form, a mixture or some form of hybrid in other words. They were beings blessed with incredible power within them, naking them capable of unleashing great catastrophes in the human world, some even able to destroy aentire cities. Not everyone of them was that dangerous but a certain number of them were capable of conquering entire continents within a few hours. That's why plumbers referred to them as Earth's last line of defence.
Their powers far surpassed that of normal humans and some aliens, which was the reason they were very tensed after learning about powerful Youkais banding together and starting a terrorist organization to conquer the world. Still, Ben had a hard time understanding what Yokai Academy had to do with all that. It was a school for Monsters but it was a school nonetheless. What good would it do to him if he was supposed to stop a terrorist organization?
The teen's eyes snapped open, a small bead of sweat trickling down his forehead as the remnants of his dreams faded to the back of his mind. "Wake up kid, we're here." Said the D
driver as the bus pulled to a stop.
Pulling the headphones from his ears, Ben looked out the window and furrowed his brows. The environment was...a lot different than what he was expecting. Gathering his stuff and stepping off the bus he got a good look at his surroundings. Everything looked like it had come out of a Halloween party store. Black, dead trees formed a forest all around the area with a large castle-like structure that must have been the school in the distance.
Feh! Why do superheroes always get the short end of the stick?
"You've been awful quiet, young man," the bus driver said, talking around the cigar. The smile on his lips pushed his neat mustache up slightly. "Something on your mind?"
The bearer of the new and improved Omnimatrix greedily sucked in the fresh air. He was never going to complain about Kevin's driving from now on. The school bus, a very old fashioned one to be exact, wasn't a great place to chill out in. Even though he was the only person in the bus, he felt suffocated to the point that breathing itself started feeling like a chore. So it was the obvious fact that he was finally happy to take in some cool morning breeze himself. It satisfied his lungs and made him alive once again. The young Plumber turned to face who appeared to be the most disturbing bus driver he had ever seen in his life. Rad Dudesman was a saint compared to this creep.
Yes, he was that creepy, otherwise Ben would never have praised that Walking dinner item, even in the face of his death.
"Nothing much. Would you like to join a screampark? You can definitely make more money there and you would get to torture more people with your creepy voice!" Ben remarked sarcastically.
The bus driver paused and stared at him with his hollow eyes. Hollow was an operative word because the driver's eyes were more like glimmers in the darkest of night. He gave the American a blank stare. The young Plumber stared back at him with intensity in his eyes. Several moments passed and when the creep didn't stop staring at him, Ben opened his mouth to throw another witty remark at him, only to get interrupted at last moment.
"I think you'll be more than just fine, even in a frightening place like Youkai," the bus driver said, chuckling darkly. "You're not the type that scares that easy. I can tell. And that spark shining in your eyes...yeah, you'll do just fine."
Ben's eyes widened, not understanding what he meant to say; however, before Ben could utter another word, the bus doors abruptly slammed onto his face. The vehicle was heading back toward the tunnel that had brought them into this empty new world.
"No wonder the entire bus was empty, you are never getting a raise with that sort of attitude!" Ben shouted at the retreating yellow eyesore. The Omnitrix bearer clenched his fist knowing that the creepy driver must be cracking jokes on him right now.
He turned around, coming face to face with some sort of a scarecrow. It was tall, dark, and creepy, reminding him of his visit to the hometown of Viktor and the Yenaldooshi. The pumpkin head appeared to be smirking towards him, as if attempting to mock him. The hands were a bit crooked and they were spread out in a way as if the creature wanted a hug. Ben rolled his eyes, as far as Google was concerned, Halloween was nowhere near this month or another. He didn't know Japanese culture but he could trust Google-sama to provide correct answers most of the time. At first he attempted to read the sign which was placed right infront of the worn out statue, but his attention quickly went to the large body of water behind it.
"Whatever it is, this puts the red sea to shame!" Ben muttered. It could be due to some sort of chemical reaction or pollution, maybe it was thanks to magic, maybe the light reflection was involved, or an even creepier thought was it being the people that had lost their lives here, now that was a creepy thought Ben didn't want to think of. Ben couldn't be too sure how this phenomenon happened but a red ocean was flowing right infront of his own eyes.
"Nice theme these guys have got here. First that weird creep with no eyeballs, second a ridiculous scare crow with a huge pumpkin head, qnd now a red ocean that you probably don't want to go swimming in, oh, and we have a haunted castle too. I am not sure about this, is that a castle or a creepy church? Whatever. All of this is just fan-frigging-tastic. Did an elderly man take a look at all that and decide to send his brother's grandson to this amazing place!" Ben exhaled loudly, squared his shoulders and stared forward, looking to the school in the distance and listening to the crows caw from the barren trees around him, "I will make sure to pose with an Orc or a Werewolf, Take a selfie, and send it to my dad with a caption "Greetings from the Twilight Zone" or "Enjoying my stay in halloweenland!"
Jokes aside, Ben narrowed down his eyes. The place which appeared to be taken straight out of Castlevania or Hellsing was sounding alarm bells inside his head back and forth. It felt as if the place was challenging him to step a foot inside the creepy church/castle/school. Ben picked up his suitcase and slowly began to jog down the path.
"Get it together, Benjamin Kirby Tennyson. You are the owner of the most sophisticated and advanced weapon/peace keeping device in the entire universe. You deal with dangerously super powered villains and vicious warlords for living. This place can't have anything worse than you had already faced in your life! You won against the likes of Diagon, Eon, Vilgax, Malaware, and Khyber for crying out loud. Have some confidence in yourself!" Ben spoke to no one in particular. He may have to go here, but everything inside him told him to bolt for the exit and never return. The only problem with his plan is that he doesn't know how to get out through that tunnel. Oh well, guess he only had one option left. Steeling his nerves, he faced the school.
The only thing standing between him and the Castle of Drac-ehm, Youkai Academy, was the general forest of depression and anxiety. The forest seemed to be something based on the world famous manga, Naruto and his Forest of Death. Ben was tempted to just fly over it, feeling concerned about getting lost; however, the way the castle stood tall even from the distance, it wan near impossible to lose sight of. It was still creepy but kinda enormous. All he had to do was keep his eye on it. After walking for a few moments in the dark forest, which seemed like ages to him, the young Plumber was finally out in the open. He sighed in relief as the bright sunlight greeted him once again; however, his relief didn't last for very long once he realized where he ended up.
Ben's mouth opened and closed like a dry fish, no words coming out of it. Yeah, despite being an intergalectic police officer, he was that shocked. The scenery infront of him was just like that. It was none other than a cemetery. You know, the place where the deceased gtt buried, possibly after cremation, and such. In other words a graveyard, with too many tombstones for his liking. The way crosses were peaking out from the very ground itself, it didn't make him feel any more comfortable around here.
Seriously, how high were the creators of the school before building it? Were they on some form of ancient meth or something like that...and where would you get it today? Dumping bodies right infront of a school filled with kids. Monster kids, yeah, but still kids! Or did the yokai really had too weird of tastes for his liking. Perhaps they were similar to the folks from the Anur Star System. Perhaps he was just going crazy and needed to visit a shrink. He was starting to feel lost right now. Getting the whole Alice in Wonderland sort of feeling. And man, that sucked big time! Of course the chuckles from the bus clown didn't help much either.
Suddenly, the tinkling of a bike bell broke the eerie atmosphere, followed by a girl crying, "watch out!"
At that point, Ben turned around to see a figure with long, dark pink hair barreling toward him on the bike he had just heard. Without waiting for a moment, he pressed the dial of the Omnimatrix. A brilliant display of emerald light engulfed Ben's body and it started to shift into something else. Ben Tennyson had now became his Chronosapien form, Clockwork.
It was a robot-like alien with skin that was made of copper, with black stripes and a transparent piece of green circular glass on his chest, revealing gears inside of him.
He mimicked a circular motion, and the time seemed to halt before the pinkette hit the ground.
The girl on the bike blinked suddenly when she was jerked to a stop right before crashing into Ben. Instead of pitching over the handlebars, the girl was held in her seat by a force that seemed to push against her shoulder. For a moment, she could have sworn that an emerald glowing symbol resembling a hourglass had hovered right in front of her face, and held her back in one place. However the strange flash of color soon passed, and in its place she saw a sighing Ben lowering his hand. Ben winced, the sudden stop had kicked up a rock from the ground, and cut young Plumber's cheek slightly.
"O-oh, I'm sorry." she said, getting off of her bike and putting up the kickstand. The scent of his blood, slight as it was, set off a sudden drumming in her chest that she was hard-pressed to ignore. "I must have startled you. Did you just use your powers to stop me from getting hurt?"
Ben smiled heartily and waved his hands infront of her. "It's not a big deal! I was just saving myself, stopping that accident was just a byproduct of that. I am Ben Tennyson, by the way! So can you explain what happened back there?"
"I dunno!" The pink haired girl shook her head, "I just started feeling dizzy all of a sudden!"
"Ah, maybe it was the heat! Or lack of sleep! Or you just got excited at seeing the highschool for the first time. You were excited about your immersion in a new school and a new life. Perhaps it got a little bit overwhelming and maybe stress got involved in all that! Well, I don't blame you. This place has something really...disturbing about it." He responded with a chuckle while pointing towards the graveyard.
The girl gave him a strange look first. Once she noticed his uniform however, a small smile appeared on her face, which eventually got bigger and bigger. "Wow, You are a student at this academy too!"
"Unfortunately, yeah!" Ben let out a sigh, still a bit sore about attending highschool from the beginning once again.
The girl nodded excitedly. Bouncing in joy with the prospect of finally making a new friend. However just the moment she stood up, her eyelids began sinking and her body automatically started moving forward. She tried her best to avoid tackling him on the spot. The blood from his injured cheek just smelled so good that it was getting harder and harder to resist. Within a moment, her self-control gave out.
"I'm sorry. This is terribly rude of me, but...I can't hold back anymore," she said, inching closer to him. "That cut on your cheek...that blood...it's irresistible."
Ben blinked, but before he could respond, the girl was pressed against his body, with her mouth nestled into the right side of his neck.
In the next second, a gentle pinching sensation came from that same spot, and a sound like slurping followed after it. The girl moaned in delight as Ben 's blood flowed straight into her mouth, and despite himself, Ben found himself feeling oddly relaxed by the whole sensation.
'Huh. Wait. If she's talking about how my blood is irresistible, and it feels like she's sucking my blood...this is a school for monsters, so she's probably a vVampire.' Ben's mind recovered instantaneously from the sudden attack, quickly getting into action. Just the moment the girl detached herself from him, Ben's hand had already reached for the Omnimatrix in his hand. He pressed the dial softly, making sure to not slam it to hard and activate the randomizer. Seriously, Azmuth must be playing pranks on him by installing functions like that. As the Omnitrix was pre-set on Clockwork from his previous transformation, he was turned back into him once more.
Ben clasped his fists together, Moka's eyes widened in horror as an emerald beam sprouted out from his palms. Before the Vampire could understand what was going on, the beam struck her in the chest. The pink haired girl cried in pain as she fell awkwardly on her stomach and her hands in the air. Her entire body was paralysed for some strange reason. She couldn't move a hair, even if she tried her hardest. She can't feel anything from her body, which had ceased its functioning for some strange reason. It was like her body didn't exist in the first place. Ben leaned forward and picked her up using her waist, he planted her against a tombstone. Pinning her down by pressing onto her shoulders.
"Now listen to me Pinky. I had been pretty nice to you, I even used my powers to stop the accident where you could have gotten injured too. I dunno what sort of rituals Youkais have here. But where I come from we shake hands with each other, seems more healthy then biting each other off!" He spoke out in a serious tone.
"I am sorry! I didn't mean to do that! I couldn't control myself! It w-was just basic instincts. You see...I am a Vampire! Please let me go, I swear I won't do anything like that again." Moka struggled to break free while pleading to the Omnitrix bearer.
"Why should I believe you, Pinky? Who knows, you might be only here because you want a "treat". The last time I met someone like you, he bewitched my best friend and cousin, almost turned the girls of entire town into his love zombies, and nearly sucked the hell out of me and my friends until we were turned into skeletons. Even when I defeated him, he wasn't done and kept coming back. If you are anything like him, I can't take my chances with you. I have a lot of stuff on my plate right now. I would rather not get into a massive fight. Perhaps, I should just throw you in the red ocean while you are incapacitated or send you flying out of the atmosphere!" Ben remarked in a stern tone. His usually warm emerald eyes were now filled with anger and frustration.
"P-please don't throw me into the ocean. We can work this out. Please...I am begging you. If you throw me inside the ocean, I will die!" The girl spoke in a timid voice, tears veiling up in her eyes. Ben didn't know why but the girl clearly appeared to be scared of water. Maybe she couldn't swim. Maybe her kind was hydrophobic. He took notice of the thought, perhaps it might help him in his next fight with her race if the latter was true.
"What sort of joke is that? You can walk in daylight, you can wear a cross, but you will die if you get thrown in water. Do you really expect me to believe you, Lady Dracula?" Ben raised an eyebrow, "besides, I can't really let you go until I am convinced that you aren't a threat to others! What if you just came to this place to prey on others? Afterall, Vampires are blood sucking creatures of the night!"
"The students of this school are monsters. They are more or less capable of defending themselves." She cried, as if taking offence to his comments. She had started sobbing by now, Making Ben feel a bit bad. He didn't like tormenting people, it made him seem like to much of a bully. Moka didn't seem anything like Michael or Transyl, but he still couldn't take chances with her. Last time he took a chance with Charmcaster, she killed the entirety of Team Tennyson inside Ledgerdomain. But Moka didn't seem that vicious and heartless.
"I *sob* only *sob* came here to get away *sob* from selfish humans and *sob 2×* get an education." She spoke in between of her sobs. "I dunno what experiences you *sob* may have had with other *sob* Vampires, but I am not anything *sob* like them. I will never harm *sob* you. I swear! It was just *sob* instincts." Moka stammered, her face so flushed that it started to match her hair.
Ben sighed, a part of him was still cautious regarding the whole affair, but he thought about giving her a second chance. Perhaps she was a very good actress trying to lower his guard in order to get another bite. But Ben trusted his judgement, Moka didn't appear to be an evil mastermind. He pressed on the top of his chest, a bright green flash engulfed his body as he was transformed back into his human form. At the same time as the light dimmed to nothingness, the Chronosapien's time manipulation was canceled out, freeing Moka from her paralysed state. The Omnitrix wielder kneeled next to her and bent over her head, making eye contact with her. He placed his hands over her shoulders after giving her a handkerchief from his bag.
"Look, I am sorry for overreacting but I am not really used to people mistaking my jugular veins for juicy sausages." He spoke with a soft smile
The pinkette nodded as she slowly stood up, still feeling a bit sore after recovering from a Chronosapien freezing her body in time. She honked onto Ben's handkerchief making him frown. Now he has to wash it this weekend.
"I am sorry. It was the first time I saw blood like that and the smell was so intoxicating...I am so sorry! I wish I had more self control!" She lowered her head in shame and embarrassment. Ben gave an understanding nod. He handed her bike back and turned to leave; however, he couldn't. He blinked in confusion as he found the Vampire grabbing his hand from behind. He turned back once again, Facing the pink haired "pain in the neck".
"Can't we just start fresh? You...me...we..I mean...can't we be friends?" She stammered. The pink haired girl appeared to be a shy and innocent high school girl instead of a psycho bloodsucker who put her teeth inside random strangers.
"You want to be friends? Seriously? Even after the whole episode which happened twenty minutes ago?" Ben asked dumbfounded. He continued with a raised eyebrow. "I did threaten to throw you inside the ocean, remember!"
"You w-wouldn't have done that. I know it. I can tell by the smell of your blood, you won't harm someone unless you have to!" She spoke out with uncharacteristic confidence in her voice.
"Hehe...Is that a Vampire thing?" Ben laughed heartily, causing Moka to smile a bit. She gave an exciting nod. The Omnitrix bearer sighed, the girl surely had the cuteness advantage by her side. Besides, he was in a school of Monsters. So it was obvious that his classmates were going to be Youkais. He can't be judgemental about them, it wasn't like he never made friends with people who attacked him over the past years. Infact most of his great frienships started that way.
"Feh, it was a rocky start but who cares!" Ben stretched his arms with a yawn, "So do you have a name or would you like me to call you something like Miss Pinky or Lady Dracula, I think the latter will suit you better considering your secret hobby to puncture other's necks!" He added with a teasing grin.
Her face visibly flushed once again, matching the colour of hemoglobin, "I TOLD YOU, THAT WAS AN ACCIDENT!"
Ben rolled his eyes with some laughter slipping out from his throat, teasing Gwen was never this much fun. And that day he learned the name of "Miss pain in the neck", the same name which will be in the centre of many upcoming conflicts and conspiracies. It was Moka...Moka Akashia.
Little did he know, this girl was going to drag him inside a world filled with dangers and adventures which would make Albedo sound like child's play. The adventures which will test him to his utmost limits.
And just like that, the adventures of the young Plumber in a Youkai world began.
A/N Hello all. So what do you think of the new story? If you are wondering, yes, Ben will have Monster forms. The sixth chapter of AHAD should be out somewhere in the week, no promises though.
This story was also co-written by Dhruva, my good friend.
Not much else to say so goodbye and please review.