A belated birthday story for another one of my good friends here on Fanfiction, guestsurprise. Here you go, Amiga! Happy belated Birthday! :)
Ben 10 belongs to Cartoon Network and Man of Action. Celesto belongs to guestsurprise. I only own Rachel, Apollo, and Zeus.
On Your Side Too
"That mission went well," Rook said with a smile.
Ben, who was riding in the passenger seat of the Proto-Truk, nodded. "Who would've know Psyphon was such a coward?" He asked with a laugh.
Ball Weevil had received word that Psyphon was nearing his home world, but had been on another mission and asked Ben if he and Rook would investigate. Promising his friend that they would, the two had gone right away and had found the amusing sight of Psyphon trying to escape the alien bugs, who were bravely fighting back the skeletal alien and his minions. Ben and Rook had swooped in with the Revonnahgander using his Proto-Tool and Ben transforming into Gravattack. Seeing him, the aliens had instantly asked him to help them create a giant slime ball to capture the villains. More than happy to help, Ben used Gravattack's gravity powers and helped the aliens create the biggest slime ball ever, which not only captured the villains, but also exploded, sending the four villains flying into the very cages they had brought to capture the small bug-like aliens. Ben couldn't stop laughing as he and Rook transmitted the footage to the Plumber base and one of the Magisters arrived to help transport the villains to Plumber prison.
Now, Ben couldn't wait to tell Ball Weevil the good news and show him the footage of the fight. Grandpa Max had agreed that he and Rook could show the family what happened and put the information from the video into their database to save for future reference. He chuckled again. "Bet Rachel will be laughing when she sees the video," he said. "I know she's had some run-ins with that creep."
"No doubt she will," Rook agreed before smiling. "I certainly can't wait to hold her again."
Ben smiled, deciding not to tease his partner about it. Rachel and Rook were madly in love with each other and just as the Revonnahgander missed her when he was at work, she missed him too.
Just then, the phone in the car rang and Rook answered it to find Rachel smiling at him and Ben. "Hey, guys," she said. "How was the mission?"
"It went really well, my love," Rook said, smiling lovingly at her.
She grinned. "Are you guys almost to the Mansion?" She asked. "I've got lunch ready."
Ben's stomach growled at that, making him give a sheepish, apologetic look. "That sounds great," he said.
Rachel held in her laugh, especially when Rook's stomach decided to growl too, making him look a bit embarrassed. "See you guys when you get here," the young woman said before signing off.
Excited that her man and the boy she considered to be her brother were almost home, Rachel practically floated to the kitchen, humming happily as she checked on the pot roast and baked potatoes, finding they were cooking splendidly. She now went to the fridge to finish making the salad, still humming. "Well, someone's in a happy mood," came a familiar voice.
"Perhaps because she just spoke with the man who make her heart skip a beat?" Asked another voice knowingly and in amusement.
Rachel straightened up and turned to find Apollo and Zeus behind her. "Got it in one," she said. "Rook and Ben will be home soon."
"Ah, good," Apollo said. "Father and I have been wanting to truly meet Ben."
"Yes," Zeus said. "Though, the boy may not be so keen on it."
The owner of the Grant Mansion smiled. "Yeah, you might be right," she said. "He was scared of Alien X and Celesto for a bit until they showed him they weren't like the other Celestialsapiens of the courts."
Apollo shook his head. "All that debating and arguing doesn't allow them to look beyond just one solution," he said before looking at his father. "Father, how do you stand it?"
Zeus chuckled. "I tune them out," he said. "Earth music is rather lovely to listen to, especially the relaxing music."
Rachel looked at him in surprise before chuckling. "Very clever, Zeus," she said.
He chuckled again. "A perk about being one of the high officials," he said.
Just then, the front door opened. "My love? We're home," Rook called out.
The young woman gasped. "Rook!" She called out happily, racing out of the kitchen and making the two Celestialsapiens chuckle in amusement as they watched her run towards Rook and glomp him. The Revonnahgander caught her and spun her around before kissing her and she returned the kiss.
"I missed you, my love," he said.
"And I missed you, handsome," she said.
Ben smiled at them, thinking about his own wife and was looking forward to seeing her later as she was currently on a mission too. "Welcome home, Ben and Rook," said an unfamiliar voice and he turned to find two Celestialsapiens behind him.
Rook turned to them and smiled. "Thank you, Apollo. Thank you, Zeus," he said.
Ben looked at the two of them, seeing that they looked different from the Celestialsapiens he had seen before and with a start, he realized they had to be from the Celestialsapien Courts. Swallowing hard, he tried to quietly slip away, but Zeus noticed him trying to escape. "Is something wrong, young hero?" He asked in concern.
Apollo noticed how the boy was looking very nervous. "Ben? Are you alright?" He asked.
Ben quickly faked a smile. "Yeah, I'm good," he said. "Just a little worn out from the mission."
That was true and Rachel grew a bit concerned. "Dinner will be ready in about an hour," she said. "You could rest before dinner if you want."
"That sounds great," the hero said before moving upstairs to his room, moving rapidly but trying to keep himself from running so that the Celestialsapiens wouldn't catch on that he was afraid of them.
But Apollo and Zeus knew right away what the issue was and looked at Rachel and Rook. "Guess we'll have to help Ben out," Zeus said.
"And we know the perfect tactic, don't we, Father?" Apollo asked.
The two Celestialsapiens went up to Ben's room while Rook gently dragged Rachel to the living room, making her laugh as she followed and he lay on the couch and gently tugged her to lay on his chest. She gazed up at him as she rested her head on his shoulder, enjoying the feel of Rook's arms holding her. "I'm glad you're home, handsome," she said.
"I am too" he said before kissing her again. "I love you, baby."
"I love you too, hon," she said, kissing him back.
Meanwhile...
Ben sighed as he lay on his bed, kicking off his shoes and closing his eyes. "Guess using Gravattack's gravity power was a little draining," he said to himself. "At least Psyphon is in jail."
"That is good."
The young man jumped at the unexpected voice and turned to see Zeus and Apollo enter the room. "Forgive us for intruding, Ben," Apollo continued. "But my father and I are a bit concerned that you seem...uncomfortable around us."
Ben swallowed hard, sitting up. "Um, whatever gave you that idea?" He asked, deciding to play dumb, but his fear was growing.
Zeus moved closer, noticing the boy looked more nervous. "We can tell when someone is nervous around us, especially when they pretend everything's fine," he said gently. "Ben, why are you afraid of my son and I? You are good friends with Alien X and Celesto, correct?"
Now he felt trapped. He didn't want to offend them, but he knew that if he tried to lie, they would see through it. He tried to think about what to say, but could come up with nothing, something the two seemed to sense. "Ben, are you afraid of us because my father is one of the higher officials of the Celestialsapien Courts?" Apollo asked gently.
Ben flinched, a sure sign that was exactly why he was terrified. Zeus moved towards him and sat down beside him before pulling the boy into a hug. The young hero froze in shock. "Shh," he heard him say. "Ben, calm down."
"My father and I won't hurt you," Apollo soothed, sitting on the other side of the bed. "My father is more open-minded than some of the other officials, as am I, which is the reason I was banished from the courts."
The boy looked at him in surprise, making him chuckle. "Not all Celestialsapiens are against you, Ben," he continued. "Just like Alien X and Celesto, we too feel that you have done your absolute best to use the Omnitrix for good."
Ben looked at the device. "But I don't always get it right," he said.
"But you're learning," Zeus said gently. "Any good hero learns from their mistakes and explores ever option before acting, something that we've seen you do many times and sometimes, when your plan doesn't work as you hoped, you improvise and do the best you can. That's all any hero can do."
The boy's shoulders slumped. "Wish others saw it that way," he said softly.
The older Celestialsapien looked up at his son. "Apollo, what do you say we cheer Ben up?" He said.
Apollo chuckled. "I'm for that," he said.
It took Ben a moment to realize what they meant and he went to move, but Zeus caught him. "Oh, no. You're not escaping us that easily," he said with a chuckle.
"We're not letting you go until you're not afraid of us anymore," said Apollo.
They began tickling him and Ben began laughing, trying to wiggle free, but the two aliens were too strong. Zeus was tickling his sides and ribs while Apollo tickled his feet and knees. The boy's laughter grew as they sped up the tickle torture.
"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" He laughed.
"Cootchie, cootchie, coo," Zeus cooed in the boy's ear, making him scrunch up his neck and giggle. "Come on, boy. Where's that real laughter of yours?"
A gentle poke to his stomach made Ben yelp. "Ah-ha," Apollo said with a grin. "I think I found a sweet spot."
He wiggled his fingers into Ben's stomach and laughter exploded out of the hero. "Well, well, look at that," the older Celestialsapien chuckled before having a hunch and poking Ben's underarms. That was met with a squeal and more laughter and he chuckled, his fingers wiggling into the ticklish underarms, which Ben tried to block by squeezing his arms tight to his sides, but Zeus smirked and created energy bonds around the boy's wrists, bonds that held their captive's arms up and leaving his underarms open for a tickle attack. Seeing what his father had in mind, Apollo formed energy cuffs around Ben's ankles, which kept his legs still as the Celestialsapien lifted the green shirt up to expose the ticklish stomach, chuckling as he did so.
"You're ours, Ben," he said playfully before he blew a raspberry into Ben's stomach and Zeus wiggled his fingers rapidly into Ben underarms.
Ben burst into laughter, unable to fight back the ticklish sensations. "NOOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!" He pleaded.
"Oh, yes," Zeus said with a chuckle. "Tickle, tickle, tickle! Laugh, little hero."
"We've got you!" Apollo cooed as he blew another raspberry into the ticklish stomach, repeating the action again and again, which was torturous to the boy as he kept laughing, squeaking when Zeus playfully blew raspberries into his neck.
"Look how ticklish he is," the older Celestialsapien said in amusement as Ben squealed with more laughter. "Such pure laughter."
"I agree," said his son before he noticed Ben was looking winded. "Father, he looks winded."
At that, both paused the tickle torture, allowing Ben to regain his breath. The boy looked at them. "You guys...are as mischievous as Alien X and Celesto," he manged to say between breaths.
Both Zeus and Apollo laughed, gently poking his stomach playfully. "Where do you think they learned the energy cuff trick?" Zeus asked with a smile.
Ben laughed. "Should've known," he said.
Apollo chuckled. "Are you still afraid of us, Ben?" He asked gently.
The boy shook his head. "No," he said honestly.
"Good," Zeus said. "Otherwise we were about to call in Alien X and Celesto."
Ben gulped, imagining how that would be with four Celestialsapiens tickling him. "That would be torture," he said without heat, making them laugh.
"We only did that once and it was with Psyphon once," Apollo said.
The boy looked at him incredulously. "You're kidding! Psyphon is ticklish?" He asked in disbelief.
"Oh, yes. A very humiliating secret of his," Zeus said. "He once tried to invade our Court and we didn't take kindly to it. So, the four of us tickled him to pieces before delivering him to Plumber HQ."
Ben laughed. "I'm so keeping that in mind the next time I face him," he said before looking at the two. "And...thanks."
"Anytime, Ben," Apollo said. "Remember, you've got Father and I on your side too."
With that, the two hugged him and he returned the hug, happy to have the two Celestialsapiens on his side.
A gentle throat clearing made them look to see Rachel in the doorway. "Lunch is ready," she said with a smile.
They headed downstairs to lunch and Ben smiled again, thinking of plans to bring Psyphon down if he faced him again. He couldn't wait to share the ideas with Rook.
But for now, he was happy to spend dinner with his friends.
Again, Happy belated Birthday, guestsurprise! Hope it was a blast! :)
To everyone else: Please leave a review, but no flames!
GoldGuardian2418