DISCLAIMER: Ben 10 is the property of Man of Action Studios and Cartoon Network Studios; I do not own Ben 10 or any of its characters. This is a purely fan-made fiction.
VLR7 is not my character. She belongs to and is created by venetia-the-hedgehog.
It was a late, full-moon night at the nearby park, the gravel road through it lit up at the fence posts with pumpkin-shaped lanterns and spooky candles. There was an eerie feeling in the air, that would make the weak-hearted tingle with fear and the bravado ones shiver with excitement; it was Halloween. The time of the year when the undead would rise from their graves and eat the brains of living men, women and children, and when vampires, witches and otherworldly creatures alike roamed the earth. Or for most, just another holiday where the kids could run around and beg for candy from strangers, and when friends and partners alike would pull scary pranks on each other.
However, for a certain trio of aliens, this holiday was the most exciting, thrilling and oh-so happy time of the year of them all. Maybe it was because of them getting so much attention from the children thinking they had the year's coolest Halloween outfit, or maybe it was just because of their dark, scary nature. Whatever the cause, BenWolf, BenMummy and BenVicktor fully indulged themselves into this holiday and did their best in putting fear in their fellow aliens, just for good measure and laughs, of course. Right now, they were sat in a couple of bushes in the park, plotting their next 'victim' and how to scare them.
"So, who do ya think we should scare next?" BenWolf asked as his four 'jaws' split into a wide grin. "We've already got FourArms, CannonBolt, WildVine, Grey Matter and DiamondHead to jump outta their spandex, so who could we scare next?"
"Hmm… how about XLR8 and VLR7?" BenVicktor suggested, sparks flying off the rods on his back at the idea. "They're both known to be easy-scared, but they know how to take a joke."
"Sounds good to me!" BenWolf smirked as he looked over to their mummy partner-in-crime. "Oi, Bandage-Face! You with us or what?" BenMummy was seemingly staring into thin air by this time, as while he did partake in the discussion from time-to-time, he had somewhere in the middle of it been distracted. And that distraction had decided to take the form of a buff, bulging set of chest muscles right in front of his face, belonging to a well-toned and grey-furred werewolf alien. He had never been that 'interested' in BenWolf to begin with because of his cocky attitude towards him… yet his eyes wanted his body. Craved it. How he tingled when he wanted to just wrap his bandages around his body, caress each inch of that well-sculpted body and have his way with him. It would be easy, anyway… suddenly, his attention snapped back up as BenWolf mentioned him with another of his usual nicknames for him, and growled slightly, yet his tone of voice showed embarrassment and slight nervousness.
"W-What? Yeah, sure… I'm on it." He muttered, groaning as he stood up on his aged, bandaged limbs and stretched a bit.
"You're damn weird at times, BenMummy…" BenWolf groaned slightly before jumping up and stretching while standing on all fours like a feral wolf, once again catching the attention of the mummified alien, who right now had what seemed to be a slight pink blush near the slit for his green eyes. As soon as they had decided on how to scare the two Kineceleran aliens, they took shelter in some bushes near a bench, and waited. As the waiting grew longer, so did BenMummy's impatience of finally just holding the alien werewolf close to his form, feel his warmth… being sort of undead, he always longed to feel what the others called 'warmth', and not the kind of warmth from whenever HeatBlast decided to 'joke' with him and light one of his several bandage strings on fire. Soon enough, however, they could see the two light-blue, velociraptor-shaped aliens appear near the bench, XLR8 carrying VLR7 in his arms and smiling at her.
"Aaaaaaaand, here we are, sweetie!" he grinned bashfully, his visor opening up as he nuzzled his mate, making her giggle and wrap her arms around his neck.
"Oh X, you can be so silly sometimes!" she playfully scolded her boyfriend, before she leaped out of his arms and hugged around him. "We're the same species; I could've easily kept up with you!"
"I know sweetheart, I know." X teased back. "But I didn't feel like letting a delicate diamond like you get overworked." The charming complements made V7 blush and just kiss his cheek to shut him up, which worked as both chuckled and sat down on the bench, X's fingers twirling around V7's brown hair.
"That's the cue, boys! Let's go!" BenWolf almost inaudibly whispered to the others as, while XLR8 and VLR7 would not be able to snap it up, BenVicktor and BenMummy would be able to. BenVicktor was fully prepared, as he started off by making sparks appear near the bench and managing to haywire the nearby street lamps and shut them off, making both of the Kinecelerans gasp and shriek slightly. Next, BenMummy would restrain the two of them on the bench, and BenWolf would finally leap out and roar at them. But for some reason, BenMummy was nervous for once, and getting all riled up and confused, his bandages instead snaked off towards BenWolf, and tied up his foot paws. Not realizing it until it was too late, BenWolf took the leap, but tripped on the bandages as he fell face forward into the ground in front of XLR8 and VLR7. A moment's confusion and awkward silence occurred, before BenVicktor realized the joke was a bust, and re-lit the lamps and revealed their fiasco assault, BenMummy just hiding his face in shame. BenWolf was growling in annoyance, and the two 'victims' just giggled and chuckled respectively.
"Aaw, that was sooooooooooo close, guys! But you better get workin' on it a bit more!" X grinned in his usual teasing manner, before he and VLR7 said their farewells, and dashed off. BenVicktor merely shrugged his shoulders a bit in a manner that would only suggest him saying 'well, better luck next time', taking it rather easily. For both BenMummy and BenWolf, however, it was slightly humiliating to having made such a mistake in front of XLR8 and VLR7, for BenWolf especially. He was already glaring daggers at the mummy, who was once again slightly nervous, this time of the possibly wrathful retribution of the 'pack leader' of their little gang. He knew BenWolf had a very short temper for screw-ups, and this one was a very big one.
"S-S-Sorry…" he muttered, before he turned around and prepared to walk off and return when BenWolf was better, but the werewolf would not have it. He growled and rushed straight up on his feet, pouncing onto the mummy and pinning him down onto the dirty ground and grinding his frail body onto it, glaring down at him with a look that could kill.
"Sorry? SORRY? You don't know HALF the meaning of the word!" he roared, sheer anger and frustration pumping through his veins from the humiliating failure occurring only seconds ago, and it was all being poured out onto the helpless BenMummy at this point. "But oh, don't worry. I'll make you feel REALLY SORRY!" he raised his paw, his claws gleaming in the moonlight before they lashed down at BenMummy, tearing up most of his bandages as the other screamed in agony.
"A-Aah! S-Stop, BenWolf!" BenMummy begged out loud, looking with plea up at the werewolf's eyes. "I-I said I was sorry! I-I-I mean it! Please… l-let me go!" BenWolf was about to claw up another section of the mummy's bandage-wrapped body, but a powerful hand stopped his paw, and he glared over at BenVicktor, towering above both of them and with his firm, massive hand grasped like a vice around BenWolf's claws.
"Stop it." The Frankenstein-looking monster demanded with a low, rumbling tone. "Can't you see he's in pain just from having accidentally turned our Halloween tradition into a small setback? He's as prideful of our tradition as you are, BenWolf, but he expresses disappointment in a far more different way than you do. Let him go, or I'll let you feel how it feels to have 100.000 Volt shot through your body at once." Even being a rather big pacifistic scientist rather than a warrior, BenVicktor knew how to lash out pain in the most effective ways, and his threat made even BenWolf cringe a bit. Growling, he removed his claw from the massive humanoid's grasp, and growled at the torn-up mummy one last time before turning his back on him.
"Hmph… fine. That pile of old rags is nothing but a distraction anyway." He said, leaping off and leaving the other two behind. This was too much for BenMummy to handle. Not only had he been attacked and viciously lacerated by the one he so secretly admired… but now he had also possibly been rejected by him even before making an approach. He felt a great pain heave in his chest, and he clutched his hand around his thin chest, sniffling a bit as he was soon heard sobbing lightly. Hearing this, BenVicktor instantly turned to his partner.
"Something wrong, BenMummy?" he inquired, but the mummy just shook his head in denial.
"N-No, Vicktor…" he sobbed, feeling like his dead heart had been shattered into ash fragments, if it not already was that. "I-I'm-… oh, who am I kidding! I feel terrible!" Vicktor took pity upon his partner, and crouched down, letting one of his massive hands pat him along the back.
"There now, it's alright." The massive monster smiled, sitting down shortly thereafter. "Now, what is it that makes you feel so terrible? Has it to do with BenWolf, and how he treats you?" he was always eager to help his friends, no matter what their problems were. Lately, he had begun to consider himself as an inventor, scientist, doctor and therapist all in one. Not that he minded the numerous tasks he automatically took upon himself whatsoever.
"Y-Yes…" BenMummy managed to whimper out, feeling a bit better as his friend comforted him. "I-I mean… I just can't stand it. He treats me like I'm made of dirt. No, even worse; Air. I am nothing to him, and he just keeps on scolding me and ignoring my words. What the hell is it that I've done against him in the first place?" he sighed a bit, and BenVicktor understood what had to be done. More so, he knew what was going on now as well, which made it easier for him to understand the mummy's feelings.
"Well, as far as I see it…" he started as he shifted a bit to make himself more comfortable. "I think that you're not the one at fault. He is." This made BenMummy very confused as he tilted his head up to Vicktor, who chuckled at his response. "Well, think of it this way; when a dog is scared, what does he do? He barks and shows himself vicious when he's actually deep-down inside scared, and wants to defend himself. Maybe it's the same with BenWolf. If that's so, then he's simply in denial of something involving you. Perhaps…" he decided to let BenMummy know the full extent of his theory, but played unknowing of it. "Yes, yes of course! I think that someone is in love… and it's not just you who have those feelings." He smirked a bit at seeing the mummy's otherwise dirty rags turn a slight pink again.
"R-R-Really?" he stammered, before looking at Vicktor again.
"Of course. I'm not the smartest next to Grey Matter for nothing." The Frankenstein alien chuckled. "Now, what I think both you, and he needs, is some time alone to sit down and talk out about things. I know he is scary to you, but you have to confront those fears and face him. Or else both your romances will all be in vain." He helped the mummy up and gave him a slap on the back, sending him forward. "Now, go get him, Tiger!" he grinned, before he marched off to somewhere else. The mummy was still nervous of Vicktor's idea, but he felt that he could trust him, and so he nodded to himself, and walked off.
In a matter of minutes, he'd find BenWolf near the park lake, just glaring into the watery mirror of his own reflection. BenMummy first thought he was angry, and that just made him even more nervous about approaching the werewolf. But at second glance, he could see a glimpse of something in his eye. Regret? He could not believe it, but after seeing it, he managed to sneak up near BenWolf, but the creature's ears perked up and heard him.
"Hey, Mummy…" he called out, and the latter shrieked slightly. "It's fine… I'm not gonna attack you." He added, which made the mummified alien sigh in relief, before he sat down near BenWolf. "Look, you… I'm sorry."
"s-Sorry?" BenMummy looked up at the vulpine. "For what?"
"For… attacking you." BenWolf faced the mummy, both eyes literally screaming 'forgive me' out of their depths. "I didn't mean to do it… I was just so pissed off that I lost control of what I was doing, and I-!" BenWolf did not utter another words as the mummy wrapped its bandages around the neck of the wolf as if embracing him, and pulled him closer and made his muzzle connect to somewhere inside the 'mouth' area of his face. He didn't have any lips, but BenWolf could definetly feel an area which was warm and soft, and more importantly… that was kissing him. A soft murr escaped his throat as he then wrapped his paw around BenMummy's neck, pulling him closer as he kept 'kissing' him, and both of them were just in their own worlds, until the werewolf had to breathe, and they broke off. "H-How… w-what in the… w-why?" he asked.
"Because I love you…" BenMummy stuttered out a bit, blushing inwardly. "I've always loved you, BenWolf… I've just had such a hard time to admit it because of your behavior against me… why did you keep treating me like that?" hearing the mummy's confession, it made BenWolf feel easy of a secret of his own, and he smiled a crooked smile.
"Because I love you too." He told him, and BenMummy shot his eyes up at his lover. "And well… I am more defensive of my secrets than you are. I'm sorry, but… that's who I am, right?" he chuckled a bit, and the mummy followed in soon enough. As the full moon raised itself upon them, BenWolf reared his head and raised it against the skies, and BenMummy just smiled and listened to his lover's howl.