newbienovelistRD requested this one. Here you go, Amiga! Enjoy!
This story has a few spoilers for the Ben 10 Omniverse episode "Something Zombozo This Way Comes".
Disclaimer: I only own Rachel in this story. All other characters belong to their respective owners.
Tickles To Understanding
Rook had brought Ben over to the Grant Mansion for lunch after they had cracked a bit of a hard case and were feeling hungry. Rachel had just made some sandwiches since everyone else was out on patrol or on missions and so she was fixing some snacks and sandwiches. She turned with a smile to her love and they kissed for a moment before she invited Ben to sit down and the three of them ate lunch together and the top of conversation was their fears.
"I'm deadly afraid of spiders and rattlesnakes," Rachel admitted. "I'll scream if there's a mouse, but I can handle that. Spiders and rattlesnakes? No, thank you."
"I'm afraid of losing those I care about," said Rook, hugging Rachel, who smiled and hugged him.
Ben just laughed a little. "I'm not afraid of anything," he said boldly.
"What about clowns?" Rachel asked.
Ben scoffed. "I got over that after Zombozo turned a lot of the town, including many of the Plumbers into zombie clowns," he said. "They don't scare me anymore."
After lunch, Rachel talked with Rook. "I think he wasn't telling the whole truth," she said.
"I agree," said Rook. "But how can we get him to admit it?"
Rachel shrugged, but they didn't see the alien that had heard the conversation and became thoughtful, before an idea hit him and he quietly moved away.
After a bit, Rook took Rachel to the movies and they asked Ben if he'd be okay at the Mansion. While he was a bit nervous, he agreed to stay there since the other aliens were all out doing other stuff and told them to have fun. He would have joined them, but he didn't want to be in the middle of a romantic date.
Now, it had been very quiet for a bit and Ben was sitting on the couch, enjoying the peace and quiet. But that was shattered when someone chuckled, making Ben jump in alarm and look around. "Hello, Ben," said a voice that he recognized and turned to see Snare-Oh behind him.
Ben yelped and jumped a little before realizing it was only Snare-Oh. "You scared me," he said.
"Oh?" asked Snare-Oh. "You're scared of me? But you said nothing scares you."
"I'm not scared of you," said Ben, trying to cover up his embarrassment. "You just scared me now when you appeared."
"Hmm," the mummy alien hummed thoughtfully. "But you were still scared."
"No, I wasn't."
The teen hero got up to move away when he saw the long tendrils coming towards him. He then turned to run, but bumped into a wall instead, which gave Snare-Oh the perfect moment to tie the boy up and take him upstairs to his room.
Ben looked around the mummy's room and was amazed it was decorated with Egyptian-like things. It actually looked similar to a museum, only better.
He then felt Snare-Oh place him in a chair and tie his wrists behind the back of the chair and then tied his ankles together, connecting the ropes so that the boy's ankles and wrists were bound together. Ben noticed the ropes were snug so that he couldn't move, but they weren't uncomfortably tight, although he did try to squirm, making the mummy alien chuckle.
"Don't bother squirming, Ben," he said. "You won't get free unless I free you and that won't be until after you tell me the truth."
Ben looked confused. "The truth about what?" he asked.
"About what you are afraid of. You told Rachel and Rook that nothing scares you, but they know you're lying. Now, tell me the truth."
"That was the truth!" Ben insisted. "I'm not afraid of anything."
Snare-Oh chuckled evilly and stepped behind the bound boy, lifting his shirt up to reveal the boy's stomach and part of his ribcage and two tendrils reached to the boy's feet and took off his shoes and socks, leaving his feet bare. Ben was now really afraid as he knew what the alien was going to do to him.
"You can either tell me, or suffer a huge tickle torture," said Snare-Oh. "And it will be a long tickle torture as well."
Ben gulped but tried to be brave. "I already told you I'm not afraid of anything," he said, but his voice was filled with a small bit of fear that the mummy alien heard and chuckled.
"Alright, boy. You've made your choice."
The evil tendrils that made up the alien now stretched out to tickle Ben's bound feet and his sides while his hands reached for the boy's stomach and tickled him. Ben squirmed and laughed as he couldn't hold back his laughter with Snare-Oh tickling three of his tickle spots. He only hoped the mummy wouldn't go for his ultimate tickle spot, otherwise he'd be in trouble.
"Ahahahahahahahaha! Stop! You're tickling me! Heeheeheehee! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Ben laughed as he tried to plead for Snare-Oh to stop, but the alien only laughed.
"I gave you a chance for me to show you mercy, boy, but you chose to be silent. Now, you'll suffer from the tickles until I decide to show you mercy."
Snare-Oh was only kidding about the last part as he wouldn't overdo the tickles to the point that Ben would pass out, but it was worth seeing the teen's eyes bulge out in fear that he'd be tickled until he passed out.
After a bit, Snare-Oh stopped the tickle torture briefly to give Ben some time to get his breath back. The boy looked exhausted. "Please," he begged as he breathed hard.
"Hmm, because you said please, I might grant you mercy, if you tell me the truth."
Ben's eyes widened, but he shook his head. "I told you the truth. Why won't you accept it?" he asked.
Snare-Oh leaned closer to the boy's face, making him cringe, which made the alien chuckle again. "Because I know you're lying to me," he said. "And your reaction just now only proves that you're not telling me the truth."
He raised his hands and wiggled his fingers, moving them to Ben's underarms. Ben shook his head. "No, please!" he begged.
"Too late," Snare-Oh chuckled. "Cootchie cootchie coo!"
With that, the alien's evil fingers tickled the helpless boy's underarms and Ben exploded in loud laughter that shook the walls.
"AHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Snare-Oh was quite surprised that Ben could let out such loud laughter, but it made him laugh all the same as he watched Ben try to move away from the tickling tendrils that were tickling his underarms so badly.
But then, Snare-Oh extended two tendrils and they moved down to Ben's feet, but instead of tickling the boy's feet, they moved his jean legs up until his knees were showing.
And they tickled the boy's knees.
Ben was now desperate as those evil tendrils wouldn't stop tickling him and Snare-Oh could tell he was close to either blurting out the truth or passing out.
But then, Ben's struggles started getting weaker and his laughter was starting to become silent. At this, Snare-Oh stopped, allowing the tired boy to recover.
Ben panted to catch his breath as he looked pleadingly at Snare-Oh. "Please," he gasped out. "No more."
To his surprise, the mummy nodded and released him, picking him up and carrying him to a chair where he sat down, placing the tired boy in his lap. Ben was a bit confused, but then felt a gentle hand rub his back and realized that the alien was helping him recover as Ben pulled his shirt back down and did the same with the rolled-up cuffs by his knees as he then leaned back into the alien's arm as Snare-Oh rocked him gently.
"Alright, will you now tell me the truth?" he asked.
Ben looked at Snare-Oh and looked away. "It's…really silly," he said.
He felt the tendrils tilt his chin up to look at the alien. "No fear is silly, Ben," he said gently. "If you're afraid of something, then you have a good reason to be afraid. Just like you were afraid of clowns because of Zombozo."
"That was part of it," said Ben. "But I was always scared of clowns when I was younger."
"But you've outgrown that fear now," said Snare-Oh, rubbing the teen's back again. "So what are you afraid of now?"
Ben looked down. "Don't laugh," he said. "But I'm scared of peacocks."
Snare-Oh was a bit surprised. Why would Ben be afraid of peacocks? "Well, I wasn't expecting that," he said.
Ben looked at the alien in surprise. "You're not going to laugh?" he asked him.
He saw the mummy shake his head no. "I know that took a lot of guts to admit, but I am curious, why are you scared of peacocks?"
The teen looked down. "I guess I just am," he said. "I don't really know why, they just…,"
"Make you feel terrified?" Snare-Oh supplied helpfully.
Ben nodded. "It's silly, I know."
Snare-Oh had gone silent for a moment before letting out a thoughtful hum. "As I said before, no fear is silly. And don't tell Rachel I said this, but she has one other fear besides snakes and spiders," he said.
"What's that?" asked Ben.
"The dark."
Hearing Rachel's voice, both looked at the doorway where she was standing. "I've always been scared of the dark, especially when I'm alone," she said. "It's because whenever I see something frightening, like a trailer to a horror movie, I get that horror image in my head and it's hard to get out and it gives me nightmares. So, I always have a nightlight on, and that makes it better for me to sleep at night."
"That's understandable," said Ben.
Snare-Oh gently touched the boy's shoulder, making Ben look at him. "It's okay to admit your fears," he said, gently punching the boy's chin with his fist. "I doubt anyone in this world is fearless."
"I have to agree," said Rachel, coming in and letting Snare-Oh pull her into his lap and into a warm hug that the mummy had Ben join in as well. The warm hug made him smile as the alien then stood up and carried the two downstairs to the living room where Rook was waiting and he smiled at the three when he saw them.
Ben looked at him pleadingly and Rook nodded, silently promising he wouldn't say a word about it as Snare-Oh set both Rachel and Ben down and Rachel sat next to her fiancée, letting him kiss her deeply as Ben sat down as well. Snare-Oh did the same as a movie came on for the two kids and the two aliens to enjoy together as friends.
Yes, everyone has fears, but that's okay.
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GoldGuardian2418