Another great story by guestsurprise. :)

Ben 10 belongs to Cartoon Network and Man of Action. Gena, Shayira, Madison, and Maxine belong to guestsurprise. I only own Shelby.


Learning A Valuable Lesson

Maxine and Madison were currently being looked at by an angry Gena and Shayira, Four Arms and Heatblast's fiancées. They had caught the girls talking to some former warlords and they didn't like it one bit.

"You were going to make a deal with them?!" Gena said in shock.

"Hey, he was gonna offer me some good money," Maxine argued.

"That's enough. little one. We already spoke to Shelby since she is out of town and she and Upgrade will be calling soon." Gena answered.

Madison hung her head and Maxine only rolled her eyes. Maxine was still learning to stop a few crime habits and it caused trouble now and then. After a few moments, Gena's cell rang and she answered it. She saw that it was Shelby and she handed it to both girls.

"Hello?" They both said.

"You two know better! How could you do that?!" Shelby said sternly.

"Hey it was all me! Not Madison!" Maxine argued.

"Enough, Maxine. You both are in trouble," Upgrade said angrily. "You both are grounded to the Mansion until we get back."

"WHAT?!" Maxine said in shock. "Grounded?!"

"Mom, Dad, you can't!" Madison begged.

"No buts. You both are grounded until we get back," Shelby voiced again. The twins grumbled their anger and Upgrade spoke again.

"Are we clear, you two?" Upgrade asked.

"Yes," Madison said meekly. But as the parents waited, they heard nothing from Maxine.

"Maxine? Maxine, are we clear?" Upgrade asked, his voice still stern.

"Whatever." She growled.

"Watch your tone with me, young lady," Upgrade said, now getting even more heated.

"This stinks! I didn't do anything wrong!" She snapped again.

"One more word and you will be grounded for two weeks," Shelby said, her voice now low and firm.

Maxine was about to answer but Madison placed a hand on her shoulder. "Maxine, stop! We're already in trouble!"

"Back off, Maddy!" Maxine growled, now turning and stomping off.

Gena and Shayira witnessed everything and explained that Maxine had stormed off.

"Give her time," Upgrade said, his voice sounding a bit sad. "She will come around. But she needs to be respectful and learn the rules."

"And Madison…you stay out of trouble too 'til we come back," Shelby said firmly.

"Yes, Mom…," Madison said, now scampering off and leaving the phone with Gena.

"Madison? Madison, where are you?" Upgrade asked. But when Gena told him, he understood and hung up the phone. Once he was off the phone, he looked at Shelby.

"They ran off before we could say we love them," he said sadly.

"Do not worry; they know we do, but they needed to be reminded of the rules too. We'll be home soon to speak with them. Gena and Shayira have it under control," Shelby said, even though she was sad too about the grounding. But the girls needed to learn it for their own safety.


An hour later…

Gena saw them outside building some kind of trap. It didn't look safe so she ran to stop them, but got tangled in the tarp and net. She squealed in horror and that caused Shayira to run out too and help, but she got trapped too!

"Great! Just great! We'll be in trouble for this too!" Madison said, smacking her head gently against the tree. The trap was made for Forever Knights, but they didn't tell anyone they were making it.

"This place is out to get us!" Maxine growled, now banging her head against the tree too.

"Hey! Help us, you two!" Gena called out, now squirming to get free of the tarp. Her upper half was entirely covered and tangled. Shayira was the same.

"What's going on out there?" Shayira called out, now trying to get on her knees.

"Shouldn't we just help a little then go and hide out in town? They'll just tell on us and get us in even more trouble!" Maxine said, now seeing both girls squirm more to get free.

"Hey! Not so fast!" Gena called out, now hearing Maxine. "We aren't going to tell on you!"

"We just wanted to make sure you both were okay!" Shayira added.

"So how about letting us out of here so we can see you and talk to you," Gena soothed, now trying to get up on her knees. The twins nodded to each other and got down out of the tree to help the women get free. But as Maxine sat on Gena's back to get her free, Gena began bouncing her playfully.

"H-Hey!" Maxine said, now trying to hold on to her waist.

"Loosen up there, honey! Being grounded is not the end of the world." Gena said calmly. She was going to keep bouncing her until she at least heard a small giggle.

"Th-there's nothing to smile about! Once we let you guys go we-gah!" She said, now feeling Gena bounce her even higher.

"Ah, ah, ah, now enough being angry, Maxey; loosen up, kiddo, or I'll keep bouncing you until you smile," Gena said in a determined and playful manner.

As Gena was playing around with Maxine, Shayira was having fun with Madison. Madison was trying to get her free, but Shayira had managed to pull the young girl's leg through the tarp and tickle her foot.

"Smile, sugar plum! C'mon!" Shayira smiled, now tickling her foot and making Madison burst into giggles.

Soon Madison was struggling to get free, but Shayira managed to her upper half free from the tarp and she pulled both girl's feet to her.

"Now then…how about you helping me finish getting loose and we can get a smile more on that face of yours," Shayira smiled. But Madison looked away sadly.

"I can't smile, Shayira. We're in trouble! And even worse trouble now that you all got caught in our Forever Knights trap," Madison said sadly. But she squeaked as she was thrown from her thoughts as Shayira gently squeezed her knees.

"Hey…you can't be upset the entire day! Your parents won't be back 'til tomorrow morning. And we won't tell anyone. We know this trap was for the Knights, but we need to clear it up so that no one gets hurt," Shayira cooed.

"And we need you both to not let the grounding ruin everything," Gena said, now feeling Maxine holding on for dear life and that made Gena chuckle. "Maxine, all you have to do is smile and I will stop bouncing you, honey."

"You can't even see me!" Maxine protested, but shouted as she felt a protest bounce from Gena.

"No, but I can hear you!" came the amused response. Maxine let out a grumpy huff and Gena replied with a playful gasp. "Then I won't stop until you turn that smile of yours upside down."

And with that, Gena almost bounced her completely off her back and into the bushes. But she paused so Maxine could get a firmer grip.

"Then help me out of here, honey," Gena smirked, now lifting up and bouncing her a few more times and she finally heard a giggle. "There we go! Now that's the giggle I was looking for."

And with that, Gena used her powers to put a hole in the tarp and she broke free herself. Maxine was in shock until Gena gently knocked her over in the grass and then pulled her to her chest.

"I was not in any danger, Maxine. But I played this little game with you to make you smile. We know you and Madison are upset, but you realize that you deserved that, don't you?" Gena said gently. Both girls nodded and looked away.

"I know we shouldn't have done that, but I was going to use the money for something," Maxine said.

"But honey…there are safer ways to earn money. You don't need money from underground warlords," Shayira said.

"But…," Maxine started, but Gena cuddled her more.

"Hey, no buts Maxey," she said in a no-nonsense tone. "We need you to be more careful."

Maxine nodded and Shayira then took Madison in her arms. "How about you both spend the night with us? It's movie night and afterwards you can come to our rooms for the night."

"Sure!" Madison giggled, now feeling Shayira tickle her stomach gently. She and Gena then turned to Maxine playfully.

"Will you join us?" Shayira asked.

"No, thanks. I wanna stay in this tree for a while," Maxine said, now getting up. But once she did, she felt a gentle zap to her knees and she fell to the ground with her knees tingling due to the gentle electrical shock. Maxine then felt Gena crawl over to her and gently touch her shoulder.

"Well, we aren't going to let you stay out here alone. Now come on, Maxey…we need you," Gena grinned. Maxine looked away, but Gena made her turn to look at her. "Come on…please? You'll have fun, I promise," she cooed. Maxine gave a small smile and nodded.

And what a fun night they had! They enjoyed movies, pillow fights, and then finally fell asleep with Gena and Shayira. Even though they were grounded, Shayira and Gena made the night not so miserable for them.


The next morning…

Upgrade and Shelby saw the girls helping make breakfast as they arrived home. They knew there would be tension, but they were ready.

"Good morning, girls," Shelby said gently. Both spun around and immediately looked at each other. Shelby took a small breath and walked forward. "I missed you two."

"We both did," Upgrade said. He then saw Maxine not making eye contact and as he took a step forward, she took a step back.

"Maxine…we need to talk."

But Maxine took that opportunity to turn and run out of the room. Madison was about to follow, but both adults blocked her path.

"Not so fast, little one; why are you running? You don't have to be afraid of us," Shelby said. Madison looked up and before she could say anything, Upgrade wrapped around her, only leaving her head and shoulders exposed. He then stretched his head up and Madison soon began receiving nuzzles and playful kisses from both of them.

"Heeheeheehee, stop it," she giggled as they playfully pinned her to the floor.

"We love you, Madison. But do you understand why we had to ground you?" Upgrade asked gently. Madison nodded.

"Yeah. I'm sorry, Mom and Dad. We shouldn't have contacted them. And we missed you both too," she said sadly as Upgrade let her go. She then hugged both of them tightly and they hugged her back just as hard. They were happy there was no more tension with at least one of their kids.

"You're forgiven. Now then…when your grounding is over we can go to the park or something okay?" Shelby smiled, now kissing her head.

Madison nodded, but noticed Maxine was going out the back door. Upgrade noticed too!

"Hey! Maxine, not so fast!" Upgrade called, now quickly making his way over to her twin. Maxine turned and saw Upgrade approach her and block the way. "Wait a minute."

"Dad, I'm sorry for what I said the other night." She said, now turning to Shelby. "Sorry, Mom. But I need to go clear my head."

"Where are you going?" Shelby asked, now walking over.

"I need to visit the old house for a bit," she said, but gasped as Upgrade wrapped around her like he did Madison. "Hey!"

"Shhhh…Maxey…I want you to stay here," he cooed in her ear.

"We love you, honey. We know we had a blow out yesterday, but we do love you and we want you to stay with us for a bit," Shelby said.

"But the house is only across the meadow," she said.

"Maxey…you leave when you're uncomfortable. We don't want you to be uncomfortable," Upgrade said, now nuzzling her gently. "We forgive you, now relax."

And with that, he continued to nuzzle and hug her. Shelby kissed her head and nuzzled her too.

"Honey…relax," she cooed, now kissing her head too.

Within a few moments, Maxine broke down a bit and let a small tear fall. "I'm sorry, Mom and Dad. I know I was wrong and I shouldn't have drug Madison into it."

"All is forgiven. I'm just glad you understand why we had to ground you both. But as long as you learned you lesson, all is well. Now give me a hug. We missed you so much," Upgrade said gently, now releasing her. Maxine went to hug them but let out a squeak of shock as both parents pounced on her and began hugging her tightly.

Upgrade them pulled Madison into it and soon they were a heap of love and joy again. Both parents could only smile at each other; the tension was gone and peace was finally restored once more. They then glanced at Gena and Shayira and mouthed a 'thank you' for them helping to watch over their little ones. The two girls only smiled back, happy to always help family.


guestsurprise's words: Hope you all enjoyed it!

To guestsurprise: This is a great story! :) I was wondering, would you be willing to do a request for me? One with Madison and Maxine meeting Jocu and King Lauhin? :) Also, I forgot to tell you this earlier, you can borrow Perseus and Ursa for your stories anytime you want. :)

To everyone else: Please leave guestsurprise a review, but no flames!

GoldGuardian2418