sparks2468, who owns Rose, asked for this one. Here you go, Amigo! Enjoy!
Ben 10 belongs to Cartoon Network and Man of Action. I only own Rachel and Sasha. Title was inspired by the end title song from Hasbro's "My Little Pony Equestria Girls: Friendship Games."
Love Is Right In Front Of You
Tying her red hair into a ponytail to keep it out of her hazel eyes, Rose moved quietly through the alleys of Staybrook, California, the small town she had arrived at a couple days ago, making sure it was clear before she began walking down the street, hoping to find a hotel to sneak into and maybe take a shower. Having lived on the streets for a long time, six years to be exact, she had learned to fend for herself and use the cybernetics in her arms and legs to get herself out of tight situations. Her body also had metal in it, which helped when it came to fights, which thankfully didn't happen often because word got out among the others on the streets, including the gangs, that she could take a punch and whoever decided to punch her would get a broken hand.
But now that she was eighteen, she was an expert on living on the streets and decided that she could live off the land if she could find a forest or jungle.
To her good fortune, a forest was on the outskirts of town and the part of her brain that was cybernetic measured it to be a huge forest. "Perfect," she said to herself and went into it. The sun was setting, but there was still a couple hours of light before it got too dark.
Just then, she heard shots and saw a young woman land on the ground and fire at some bushes. Tendrils came out of nowhere and formed into a mummy beside her. "They're getting closer than I'd like," said the mummy.
"I know," said the girl. "We could really use an element of surprise, like Gutrot's sleeping gas or Whampire's mind control."
Rose didn't know what they were talking about until the two suddenly saw another young woman come out. "There's more coming!" said the new girl. "They're headed for the Mansion!"
"We can't let them get there!" said the older woman. "They'll kill our family!"
When Rose heard that, she didn't hesitate to leap in and begin attacking, much to the three's shock. "Who is that?" asked the mummy.
"Don't know," said the younger woman as they saw the new girl take down the Knights headed toward the Mansion rapidly. "But from her actions, she's an ally."
The older woman stood up. "And our element of surprise," she said. "Come on. We'll handle these ones here and work our way up to her."
The other two nodded as they jumped back into the battle. The two women kept firing their Proto-tools and dropping small explosives to knock the Forever Knights back as their Proto-suits protected them from some of the shots that were being fired at them. They then saw the new girl kicking the Knights back hard enough to make them retreat and they fired more warning shots at the criminals and one Knight fired a shot at Rose and it knocked the wind out of her and she fell. "Snare-Oh! Get her out of the crossfire!" said the older girl.
The mummy quickly did so, just before Gutrot came up and caught Spidermonkey, who had been thrown back by another Knight. Placing the Arachnochimp on his back, the gas-mixing alien quickly released a mixture of gases that would wipe the Knight's memories of the day before auto-programing the truck to drive back to the Knights headquarters and disabling the tracking signal. "Done," he said as he joined his friends, seeing the new girl in Snare-Oh's arms. "Another experiment from the Knights?"
Rachel looked more closely. "Doesn't look like it," she said. "But Frankenstrike could tell us more after taking x-rays."
"Plus, one of those creeps shot at her," said Snare-Oh. "And she was fighting them."
"If she was fighting them, then there's no way she was with them," said Sasha.
"She's right," said Rachel. "Plus, look at her. There's no trademark the Knights usually leave on their victims."
The others nodded and got her to the Mansion. Frankenstrike took x-rays and found the cybernetics in the girl's body and the metal surrounding her organs. He showed them to Rachel. "She's a cyborg," he said. "Her organs are normal human organs as is half her brain. The metal surrounding her organs protects her from any front, back, and side attacks. Even her arms and legs are cybernetic."
"Any suspicion this is the Knights' work?" she asked.
The alien scientist shook his head. "They don't know how to put metal inside a human body, only on the outside," he said. "She's not with them, nor was she a victim."
He then held up a printout of a police report and Rachel read it. "A twelve-year-old girl went missing after her family was killed," she said aloud. "Presumed dead."
She looked at the picture and then at the girl they had brought to the Mansion. "It's her, isn't it?" she asked. "Only she's not dead."
"No doubt she's lived on the streets the past six years," said Frankenstrike.
"And being a cyborg, she had the advantage if someone attacked her," said Rachel.
"She had some money on her," said the scientist. "Probably from odd jobs she did here and there."
"Jobs that didn't require her to give an address, which made it easier to stay under the radar and travel without attracting attention from the authorities," said the owner of the Grant Mansion as they then heard the girl groan a bit. "The blast she took. Did it cause damage?"
"The shot hit her shoulder and the scrambling frequency of the shot made her arm go a bit haywire," he said.
"Scrambling frequency?" Rachel asked. "The Knights have upgraded their lasers?"
"Looks like it," he said. "Thankfully, there was enough residual energy from the shot for me to put it in the system defenses and upgrade them. I've even asked the Plumbers to send us the strongest upgrade shields they have."
"So, in case the Knights come back, their weapons won't work?"
"That's what we're hoping for. Even Upgrade and Grey Matter are working on it."
The new girl then woke up and sat up, seeing the two coming up to her and she gasped at seeing Frankenstrike and went to move, but her ankles were cuffed to the table. "Easy," said Frankenstrike as his large hands rested on her shoulders, practically engulfing them. "We won't hurt you, Rose."
She looked at him. "How do you know my name?" she asked. "Are you guys with the police?"
"No," said the older woman. "Some friends returning a favor."
Rose looked at her. "You were fighting those knights," she said.
The older girl nodded. "Rachel Jocklin, owner of the Grant Mansion," she said. "Welcome."
The younger girl looked at her. "You said the knights would kill your family. Why?" she asked.
Rachel looked solemn. "This mansion doesn't just house me and my sisters," she said. "It's also a refuge for aliens, children in need of a good home, and others who need help."
"Aliens?" Rose asked.
"You're in the lab of one, kid," said the alien scientist. "I'm Frankenstrike, resident scientist and doctor."
Rose smiled as he uncuffed her from the table and Rachel led the girl to one of the many bathrooms on one of the upper floors. "The water's hot," said the owner of the Grant Mansion. "Also found some clothes that you can wear. Hope you don't mind some hand-me-downs."
"That's fine," said Rose. "Clean clothes are clean clothes. I'm not going to complain."
Rachel smiled and left the eighteen-year-old to shower and change.
About an hour later, Rose entered the kitchen where the other girl she had seen out in the forest was cooking lunch. "Hi," she said. "Rose, right?"
Rose nodded. "Yes," she said.
"Sasha Jocklin," she introduced herself. "Rachel's younger sister."
"She mentioned having a lot of sisters," said Rose.
Sasha nodded. "We do," she said. "They were ones who came here needing help and they instantly became family, just like the aliens."
She then looked up at the ceiling. "Whampire," she said knowingly.
Said alien jumped down to stand beside her before pulling her into a hug and brief, loving kiss before turning to look at Rose. He smiled. "You must be the new girl Frankenstrike mentioned," he said in his deep voice. "Welcome."
"Thanks," she said, a bit unsure.
He smiled at her warmly. "Don't be afraid. I don't bite family members," he said.
Rose looked a bit skeptical, but then saw Sasha lean her head on the vampire's shoulder. "He looks frightening, but he's a good alien. And the love of my life," she said.
Whampire smiled at Sasha, just before another young girl came in and hugged them, calling the Vladat her uncle. From that and the way he greeted the child warmly, Rose saw that Sasha was right.
Just then, a small, white alien walked in. "Hello, Echo Echo," said Sasha.
"Hello, Sasha," he returned the greeting in his robotic voice. Rose, amazed, kneeled down to his height.
"Are you…a robot?" she asked curiously.
He smiled. "Yes," he said. "I am a Sonorosian in normal form."
She was instantly interested. "You have an advanced form?" she asked.
"Not me, but my brother," he answered her.
A blue hand rested on Rose's shoulder. "Which would be me," came a deeper, robotic voice and she turned to see a blue robot a bit taller than her. She gasped a bit and he chuckled. "I'm flattered, but I'm already taken."
Instead of blushing, she grabbed his hand and began forcing his arm away. He cocked an eyeridge at seeing her strength. "You are definitely strong," he said. "I'm impressed."
He suddenly moved his other arm and had her trapped with her back to his chest and held her there for a moment before letting her go. She looked at him and looked curious. "Were you just playing around with me?" she asked.
"Of course," he said. "Except for the 'already taken' part. I do have a fiancée."
Rachel then came in and chuckled. "Yes, this mansion is full of surprises," she said with a smile. "And don't worry. The aliens here are well mannered. They won't harm you."
"Never," said Whampire. "We do have morals, while others like the Knights have none."
It didn't take long for Rose to settle in and the aliens made her feel like she was one of them, along with the other women who lived at the mansion and the children too, who began calling her 'Aunt Rose'. That touched her that the children loved her like an aunt and that she could call them her nieces and nephews. And noticed that Echo Echo was constantly watching her.
She began to suspect he was falling for her when she found sheets of paper with short, but sweet, poems on them in her room and one day came out and walked into Echo Echo, only he was a bit taller than usual. "Whoa. Did you have a growth spurt?" she asked.
He chuckled. "No, just used a height increaser," he said. "Frankenstrike helped me with it."
"Why?" she asked. "I liked you at your height before."
Realizing what she just said, she blushed and felt him tilt her chin up with a gentle hand. "I know," he said. "But it wouldn't be fair to ask you to pick me up so I could kiss you."
With that, he kissed her soundly and she couldn't even think straight as she felt weak, but it was a good feeling. He gently broke the kiss. "I can shrink down to my normal size and back again," he said. "But like I said, I want to be the one to pick you up."
She gasped as he did just that and held her bridal style in his arms and she giggled. "Are you trying to ask me something?" she asked.
"Is it that obvious?" he asked.
She smiled. "The cute poems, you increasing your height, kissing me, and holding me," she said. "Those are some pretty obvious clues."
"Then I better do the obvious thing," he said and set her down gently before shrinking down to his normal size and kneeling down, pulling out something from his pocket. She gasped at seeing it was a beautiful ring with a heart-shaped diamond in the middle. "Rose, would you…would you be my wife?" he asked.
She smiled at him and nodded, convinced the love she saw the others had was right in front of her, as it had been all along. "Yes," she said and picked him up, kissing him. He was surprised, but smiled as he kissed her back.
Rachel, who had been quietly watching, cocked an eyebrow before she smiled and quietly walked downstairs. "That wedding list is getting bigger and bigger," she said to herself. "We'll have to make sure to take lots of pictures and buy a lot of photo albums."
She then had another thought and smiled. "And personalize each one," she said aloud.
"Personalize each what?" asked Rook, who had been in the living room, but had come to the stairs when he saw her coming down.
She smiled at him. "Photo albums," she said. "For every couple getting married."
He smiled. "That sounds like a great idea. Then again, I always like your ideas," he said, making her giggle before giving her a loving kiss.
Oblivious to what what going on downstairs, Rose and Echo Echo kissed for a long time as their hearts filled up with love.
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GoldGuardian2418