EmeraldMoonGreen, who owns Kristin, asked for this one. Here you go, Amiga! Enjoy! :)

Ben 10 belongs to Cartoon Network and Man of Action. I only own Rachel.

From A Misunderstanding To A New Friend

"Men, we are on Delta Orange alert until we can either find this 'weapon' the Forever Knights claim to have or until we put this rumor to rest," said Magister Tennyson gravely to the gathered aliens.

The 'weapon' the Knights were claiming to have was someone who could infiltrate the Plumber base and not worry about their thoughts giving them away, because no alien would be able to hear their thoughts or see the memories. While Max Tennyson knew that this might have been nothing more than the Knights bluffing to try and knock the Plumbers off kilter, he wasn't taking any chances.

"Don't worry, Magister Tennyson, we'll make sure every person here is accounted for, be they Plumbers, humans, visiting aliens, or even our own families. If someone is not accounted for, we'll know immediately," said Upgrade firmly.

The others nodded in agreement. "It might not hurt to also have Magister Tennyson give the okay if we'd like to bring our families up here too, as a precaution," Rook suggested. Even though he was a Magister, he was still respectful of Magister Tennyson and thought of him as his boss, since he was the one that had given Rook the title of 'Magister.'

Max nodded. "Just until we find out if the Knights are indeed bluffing or not," he said reassuringly. "Alright, guys. Meeting adjourned. Miss Jocklin is due to arrive soon with her friend to meet the new recruits who have expressed a wish to meet some younger humans."

Feedback chuckled a little. "Max, you know Rachel hates being called that by her family," he said.

"True," he admitted. "Old habit, I'm afraid."

The others chuckled as they headed out of the meeting room and got to their stations.

AmpFibian, however, was in deep thought and decided to make sure he could read everyone's mind, or at least hear an occasional thought.

And he'd bring anyone whose thoughts he couldn't hear straight to Magister Tennyson.

Rachel and Kristin arrived via the transport beams from the Mansion to Plumber HQ. "Okay, Magister Tennyson said the new recruits would be in the training simulator," said the older woman. "And he'd like them to meet you in the gym."

Kristin nodded. "I can't believe the new alien recruits want to meet a younger human," she said. "Are you sure I'm the right one, Rach?"

Rachel smiled. "Honey girl, when Tetrax told them about you, they specifically asked to meet you," she said. "One of them said they admired your courage."

"Really?" Kristin asked in surprise.

The older girl nodded. "And Snare-Oh has even mentioned you to them," she said. "From what Rook told me, these new recruits greatly admire the Galactic Monsters for coming to Earth and not only becoming Plumbers, but also becoming both friends and family to humans. They are Anur Transyl's only inhabitants to have done so."

"Because most of Anur Transyl's inhabitants think humans are monsters?" The teenager asked.

"Yeah," said Rachel. "It was that prejudice that made Snare-Oh, Ghostfreak, Blitzwolfer, and Frankenstrike come to Earth in the first place before I met them."

"How did you show them that not all humans were monsters?" Kristin asked.

Rachel chuckled. "I think it was what I did after they proved to me they wouldn't hurt me," she said.

"You mean, keeping the police out of the house so they wouldn't be discovered?"

The older girl nodded. "Because after that, they accepted me as a friend and I accepted them as not only my friends, but my family too," she said.

Kristin smiled and then had a sudden thought. "Maybe that's why the new recruits admire the Galactic Monsters. They did what the other inhabitants of their world never dared to do," she said.

"And they think if the Galactic Monsters could do it, they could too," Rachel finished. "I think you're right, Kristin."

That made the teenager smile again and when the new recruits saw her, they were both curious and enthralled to meet her. Rachel smiled as she watched the new recruits ask Kristin questions that she answered and how they were very friendly and polite towards her.

After the meeting, Rachel had to go meet up with Magister Tennyson. "Why don't you head for the mess hall and find our family members and I'll join you guys in a bit?" She said with a smile.

Nodding, Kristin went to do so, asking a few nearby aliens where the mess hall was and they kindly pointed her in the right direction.

She was eager to go tell the Galactic Monsters about her experience meeting the new recruits and reminded herself to give them a big hug, especially Snare-Oh. And when she saw Tetrax, she'd give him a big hug too.

She suddenly bumped into someone. "Whoops! Excuse me," she said apologetically.

She suddenly felt a tentacle wrap around her arm. "So, the Knights' 'weapon' is real," a voice hissed at her.

Kristin looked up to see a jellyfish-like alien glaring at her. "They did find someone who no one would be able to read their thoughts," he continued angrily.

Just as his grip on her arm began tightening, Kristin pulled her arm away quickly and ran down the hall, which was deserted since the others had gone to the mess hall. Seeing the angry alien come after her and seeing him stretch out his arms to grab her, she screamed, dodging fast.

This seemed to surprise the alien that a human would have amazing dodging skills like that, but he also became angrier. "You won't escape me!" He called out to her.

Kristin kept running. "Rachel! Rachel! Help!" She screamed out, hoping Rachel would hear her. A door opened up ahead and in desperation, Kristin raced inside past the startled alien that had opened the door and she dove under the table, curling up in a ball and hoping that her pursuer wouldn't find her.

The gathered Plumbers, who had been going over battle plans to stop the Incurseans from attacking a peaceful planet a few galaxies away, were stunned to see the human girl and confused when she had dove under the table, apparently using it as a hiding place, but the look on her face told them that she was afraid for her life.

Rook then came in and saw their surprised faces. "What is it?" He asked in confusion.

"Magister, sir, a young girl just ran in here and is hiding under the table," said one of the Plumbers.

"What does she look like?" Rook asked.

"Brown hair and brown eyes, sir."

Rook's eyes widened. "Kristin," he said and went over to the table. "Kristin?"

Hearing Rook's voice, the teenager shot out from under the table and practically tackled him. Thanks to his reflexes though, he caught her and held her as she began crying into his armor.

"Is she alright, Magister?" Asked one of the other Plumbers.

Rook shook his head. "Something, or someone, badly spooked her," he said.

Rachel suddenly burst in. "What happened?" She asked. "I heard Kristin screaming my name a moment ago."

She then saw said teenager holding onto Rook as if he was her lifeline. "Kristin?" Rachel asked gently.

The teenager managed to to calm down a little. "Blue jellyfish," she said. "Said he couldn't…r-read my m-mind."

One of the gathered Plumbers came up to them. "What does she mean?" He asked curiously.

"Ninja meditation technique," said Rook suddenly in realization and then looked guilty. "I…taught her that in hopes it would…stop the bad memories of her past."

"So that she'll have less panic attacks?" Rachel asked gently.

Rook nodded. "Blue jellyfish, though?" He asked. "What is a jellyfish?"

"An aquatic Earth creature you don't want to tangle with," said Rachel seriously. "They use their tentacles to sting prey or anyone that gets too close. Some have tentacles that are several feet long."

"How do they sting their prey?" Asked another Plumber.

"Venom, or electricity," she said and suddenly, her eyes widened. "Electricity. Kristin, this blue jellyfish, did he have blue or green eyes?"

"Green, like Ben's," said the teenager. "But why would Ben call me the 'Knights' weapon'?"

Rook's eyes went wide again. "Oh, no," he said. "AmpFibian. He said he'd be making sure he could hear our thoughts."

"And with Kristin using that ninja technique you taught her, he couldn't read her mind," said Rachel in realization. "Rook, get Kristin to the mess hall and have the Galactic Monsters take her home. I'm going after AmpFibian."

Rook nodded. "Yes, ma'am," he said and then gently caught her arm. "My love, do be careful. AmpFibian is not one to mess around when he's angry."

She smiled. "I'll be careful," she promised as Rook pulled her in for a quick kiss. The other Plumbers discreetly looked away and Rachel blushed a bit, but was happy that Rook wasn't ashamed to show how much he loved her. As she left, she looked at the other Plumbers.

"No, I'm not ashamed to say that he's my Valentine," she said with a smile.

That broke the tension and amused chuckles followed her out as she tracked down AmpFibian.

Said alien was still searching for the girl, frustrated because he couldn't sense her. "Those Knights are going to wish they…,"

"AmpFibian!"

He ignored who was calling him and growled to himself. "They'll be…,"

"AmpFibian!"

The all-too-familiar ghostly wail that sounded out his name made him wince and cover his ears, turning to face Rachel, who took a couple deep breaths to prevent another ghostly wail from accidently happening. She glared at him.

"Do I have your attention now?!" She asked.

Her ticked-off tone made him wince. "My apologies, Rachel. I didn't realize it was you," he said softly, hoping to appease her.

She wasn't appeased. "What do you think you're doing chasing after that poor girl?" She asked sharply.

"That 'poor girl' is the one the Knights sent her to infiltrate our headquarters and none of us would know because we can't read their minds or hear their thoughts," he growled. "She's no doubt headed for both the security systems and the main computer room. She was headed there when she ran into me."

Rachel glared at him. "She actually ran into an important meeting and hid until Rook showed up and he's currently calming her down," she said with a growl. "And her name is Kristin."

That made AmpFibian stop cold. "You mean…the girl the Galactic Monsters and many of the other aliens speak so highly of?" He asked to clarify.

"The same one," Rachel said. "And thanks to you, she's not only scared to death, she's also in tears."

The alien flinched as the young woman's voice grew sharper. "Just because you couldn't read her mind doesn't mean she's an enemy!" She scolded him.

AmpFibian flinched a bit at Rachel's scolding and felt like a jerk. "I…I scared a child," he said in disbelief and shame.

"Yes, you did!" Rachel said, still glaring at him. "For what reason? Because you wanted to prove something?!"

He flinched again. "No," he said softly. "I had nothing to prove, except that I'm a huge jerk who made a child cry."

Rachel's face softened at that as she knew AmpFibian hated when someone made a child cry. He then looked earnestly at Rachel. "Is…is Kristin going to be alright?" He asked.

Rachel nodded. "She's with the Galactic Monsters now and they're taking her home," she said.

He nodded. "Do you think…I could apologize to her later?" He asked hopefully.

"You better before the aliens that are protective of her don't give you a chance to," she said.

Kristin lay on her bed in her room and sighed, feeling a bit cold, but too tired to get a blanket. She then felt someone place a blanket over her and looked over her shoulder just in time to have a tentacle gently cover her mouth and she saw it was the jellyfish alien.

"Kristin," he said, making her freeze. "Please don't scream. I just want to apologize to you."

She nodded and sat up as he helped her adjust the blanket so that it was draped over her shoulders. "Kristin, I…I apologize for my actions," he said hesitantly. "Did…Did Rachel and Rook fill you in?"

She nodded. "That's pretty scary about the Knights," she said softly.

"Well, thankfully a Plumber reported back that the Knights were bluffing," he said. "But I was so wrapped up in checking to make sure I could hear everyone's thoughts that went I got to you, I overreacted."

She looked away. "Sorry about that," she said.

He gently grabbed her chin and turned her face gently towards him again. "You did nothing wrong," he said reassuringly. "I did."

With that, he was about to leave when she suddenly tackled him, making him grunt in surprise before feeling her arms tighten around him and her head snuggled into his shoulder. Realizing she was hugging him, he chuckled and hugged her back. "I take it you forgive me?" He asked her.

She nodded. "But, I'm still a bit sad," she admitted.

He gently held her. "Is there anything I can do to make you feel better?" He asked.

She nodded. "Yes," she said and suddenly smirked. "You can laugh."

AmpFibian suddenly felt ten fingers wiggling into his sides. "HEY!" he cried out in shock before his laughter rang out. He had never told anyone that he was supremely ticklish, and he didn't know how Kristin knew, but from the grin on her face, he didn't have to read her mind to know that this was payback for earlier.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! KRISTIN! STOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOOHOHOHOHOHOP! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" He begged her.

"But this is helping me cheer up," she said, giving him a puppy pout that made him pause and he then sighed, deciding to throw his pride out the window for now.

"Alright," he said before actually letting out a squeal when Kristin tickled under one of his arms. "AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! GO EASY…HEEHEEHEE…ON…ME-HEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEE! PLEASE! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Kristin giggled. "And I thought I was ticklish," she said with a grin.

Ironically, AmpFibian didn't try to stop her as he kept laughing. Rachel, who had heard the commotion, shook her head in amusement and turned to the Galactic monsters who were behind her.

"I think the situation has gone from a misunderstanding to them being friends," she said with a smile.

"Who knew AmpFibian was so ticklish?" Snare-Oh asked in surprise.

"Like you?" Frankenstrike teased him.

Rachel chuckled as Snare-Oh blushed in embarrassment and she hugged him. "He's not the only one," she said and indicated into Kristin's room and they all chuckled again as AmpFibian let out another squeal that mixed with Kristin's giggles.

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GoldGuardian2418