Disclaimer: I don't own Ben 10 and/or Ben 10: Alien Force and/or Ben 10: Ultimate Alien and/or any and/or all concepts and/or characters. They are copyrighted to Man of Action and Cartoon Network Studios.

I don't own…I don't know…Disney…silver mines…a boat?

"I do, however, reserve the right to claim Klank and Orbus as my robot minions considering that I hired them after Zeo and Ohranger ended. But I don't own the shows they appear in.

I also own my OC, Jacques D. Schniezel, Even though his nickname is Snively. He is mine and if you want him to appear in your story, ask me, or if I want him to appear in yours, I'll ask you.

Just wanted to make that perfectly clear! Enjoy!

Oh! And remember: CHICKS DIG ORBUS!"

-Count Kulalu-

Now what exactly is a kitsune?

It is a type of youkai, or spiritual being usually recognized in Japanese folklore. The meaning of their name has been defined as 'fox-spirit'. They may be more famously known by the fact that they can take the form of a beautiful woman. It is a belief of feudal Japan that any woman traveling alone, especially at night, is actually a fox in disguise. So in conclusion, avoid any pretty woman traveling alone, because they could be a kitsune.

Unless, of course, you are traveling in the snow during a blizzard, but you should still avoid them there too. Those women are Yuki-onna, which are another matter entirely.

Chapter 2- Coming down with something awful while something awful this way comes…? (Or Why I wish I was home in bed.)

It was late into the night. The moon was rising above the clouds, illuminating what the dull street lamps could not. Even this peaceful neighborhood looked foreboding at this hour. The shadows from the trees, the lack of passing cars, or even people walking by only added to the dark ambiance of the area. Only someone not in their right mind would be out and about.

"Everything's almost ready. Soon, vengeance shall be mine!"

Only someone NOT in their right mind would be out and about.

"All I need is this one piece place right here…and perfect." Jacques D. Schniezel-commonly known as Snively-was busy at work with another trap to finally conquer his nemesis. Some time ago, a mysterious dog of some sort came through his window and ate his video games, but that wasn't the worst part. The worst part was that the dog kept coming back to torture the self-called scientist even more. He didn't know what it was, but that dog seemed to want to eat anything electronic that HE owned. He even tested the theory by borrowing a few phones from some people he knew-alright, he stole them, but he gave them back before they knew they were missing-and set them up in a trap. Not only did the dog not take the bait, but it had sneaked up behind him to eat the phone in his back pocket. This only further infuriated the young scientist and equally spurred him on to bring out his arsenal to deal with this enemy. So far, all his attempts to catch the mutt were unsuccessful.

"I like to see you get out of this one, doggie." He climbed up a tree and pulled out a remote control from his pocket. "All I have to do is press this button here and the electromagnetic net should fall right over you. I know you'll show up because you can't resist the bait."

The 'bait' was a game console, an electronic toy gun, and a lava lamp. It was all lying there on the sidewalk next to the tree Snively was hidden in.

"Now, where are you?" A sound of rustling in the bushes alerted the young teen. He got ready by placing his goggles over his eyes. The moment he head the beep, he would drop the net. And so he waited…and waited…and waited…

-Bleep!-

"Gotcha!"

"Ship! Ship!"

"Oh, you can 'yip! yip!' all you want, but this time you're mine!" He held the net in front of him, to finally get a good look at his elusive nemesis. "Well, you really aren't a dog after all. Course, all this really means is that I can't send you to the pound."

Figuring that he had finally accomplished one of his life's goals, Snively decided to pack it up and bring this…whatever it was and show it to his parents. They would probably have some sort of idea as to what he had finally caught considering their connections. So Snively pocketed the toy gun, and picked up the game console, but he felt the least he could do for his captured nemesis was to allow it to eat the lava lamp. He was just about to start the walk back home when he saw something moving at the end of the block. It looked like somebody was walking in the middle of the street. Luckily there were no cars at this hour, but the motions of the figure suggested that they wouldn't care by the jerky movements they were making. Perhaps it was someone who had too much to drink?

"Who's there?" Snively asked the figure. But they didn't say.

The figure then fell on the floor. The young man was about to drop everything to help this person, but the dim lighting of the street suddenly gave him a better look.

It looked like it was a feminine person, then it started to shake and contort while making sounds like it was in pain. Before Snively could do anything to help the possible woman, she seemed to melt in the shadows then reform into something else; something more beastly!

"Oh dang!" It didn't take much brain power for Snively to realize he had to be like a tree and get the hell out of there! And what better place to go then up a tree! With strength and agility that the young man didn't realize he had, he was already up the tree with the bagged 'ship-whatever' and looking down at this creature. The creature seemed to be made of some sort of black inky substance, but had no defining features. He didn't see any sort of mouth on it, but it had the shape of a slender humanoid wolf or fox judging by its tail. It looked like he was safe for now.

"Looks like you can't get me. Now what are you gonna do about-"

Claws sprouted out of the thing's paws and it took a big swipe at the tree's base.

"Oh shi-"

In one swipe, it had somehow sliced through the tree and then timber! Snively tried to hold onto the branch, but decided to jump off at the last minute to avoid getting crushed.

"Man, that was close!" He then turned to see that the creature was right there in front of him. He tried holding up the game console to use as a shield, but the creature sliced it in half. As a reflex, he threw the pieces at its face, but that only made it madder. "Oh, crud! Oh, crud! Oh, crud!"

Snively tried the crawl backwards until he hit the fallen trunk of the tree. The creature leapt to claw at him, but he was able to duck at the last minute. He avoided the blow to his face, but it looked like in a few seconds it wouldn't matter. As the creature was readying another blow, he spoke what could be his last words.

"My dad was right! Plumbers weren't going to be the things that kill us!"

"Ship! Ship!"

"Oh what now, mutt?"

The 'mutt' leapt onto Snively and morphed into an alien looking bazooka. The guy was in shock, but decided to question this deus ex machina later. Making sure that his goggles were placed over his eyes, he readied himself for what could be his final attack. "Hope this thing blows it to hell!"

He pulled the trigger. –Bllllaaaaam!-

"Whaaaaaaa!" The recoil of the weapon was enough to send Snively flying back to the end of the block. He was knocked out for a few minutes due to hitting the pavement with such a great force. Ship turned back into his regular form and nudged the young man to try to wake him up.

"Oh, my head!" he said as he got back up. "I don't think I'll be doing that again."

"Ship! Ship!" Ship barked. He seemed to be happy that Snively was okay.

"Thanks, little guy." Snively said as he petted the 'dog'. "I guess this makes us even."

Ship barked back happily and scurried away. Snively figured that he should just let him leave as there were more pressing matters to be concerned about.

Snively looked around but could not find the beast that attacked him. All he could see was the scene leftover. Ship was walking towards the broken pile of 'bait' that was destroyed in the scuffle. The little technovore was now going for the broken remains of the game console.

A sudden noise drew the attention of the two individuals. There were police sirens blazing down the street. "Seems like the ruckus attracted the cops. Be pretty suspicious if they saw me out and about. Better get out of here!"

With that said, he ran home for three reasons: One because he had school tomorrow, two because the cops were coming, but mostly because three, he didn't want to find out if that creature was still alive.

XXXXX

"Oh…" Julie moaned as she got up. She felt as though she got hit in the head with her own Tennis racket.

She dreamt…something happened, but what it was she couldn't remember. Before she could dwell on it, her mother's shouts called out to her.

"Julie! Are you up? You don't want to be late."

"Coming!" Julie said as she hurried to get herself ready. She looked at the time and saw that she overslept a bit. She had time to get ready, but she had to rush because Ben was going to walk her to school today. After she got dressed and ready for the day, she rushed to the door.

"Oh Julie, make sure to call me if you need a ride after school."

"Okay, Mom, but I'll probably be tutoring Ben after school if Tennis practice isn't canceled." Julie told her as she opened the door. She could see Ben walking up to the curb. "That's him now, see you later."

"Well, hope you have a good day." Her mother called back from the kitchen as she ran out the door.

XXXXX

"So, how did you sleep?" Ben asked to try to start some conversation. It wasn't too long of a walk, but they had some time to talk.

"I woke up as though something decided to smash my head into a wall." She said with some hesitation. She felt better, but didn't want to worry Ben. It was only a few days since the fight with Dr. Animo and Ben finally eased down on making sure she was alright. Granted, he wasn't hovering over her, but he did keep a good eye on her for a while despite his assurance that Dr. Animo's stuff happened instantly.

"Are you okay?" Ben tried to hide his concern, but Julie still caught it.

"I'm not sprouting wings, Ben. I just woke up with a headache." She huffed. "I'm fine."

"Well, if you're sure-"

"I'm sure." Julie huffed, not wanting to start an argument with her boyfriend. Luckily Ben caught the idea to not make his girlfriend mad, so he decided to change the subject.

"So, I see you didn't bring Ship with you." He noted the regular backpack she was bringing. "Is he okay?"

"He's fine, but I didn't find him this morning." Julie remembered that while she was in a hurry to get ready, Ship wasn't there when she woke up.

"I'm sure he'll turn up." Ben assured as they turned the corner. "It's not like he could get into too much trouble."

"I suppose your right." She noted the time as they finally arrived at the school. "Now come on, or we'll be late."

XXXXX

So it was a normal day at Bellwood High. Both Ben and Julie went through their normal routine of going from class to class, eating lunch together, and staying out of trouble. Normally this routine included making sure Ship wasn't on the loose eating something like a computer, some kid's cell phone, or some new device that was important to Snively, but his absence today made it much easier.

The only thing that seemed to stick out was a slight cough that Julie was having, but she pretty much thought nothing of it.

Though, there was an interesting tidbit that Julie learned when she went to her locker after the final period today.

XXXXX

"Hey, Julie." Jacques greeted with a smile. "How are you?"

"I'm fine." Julie replied, but noticed the bag he was trying to unjam from his locker. Normaly, she would try to just make some small talk to the guy and be on her way, but his locker's door was blocking entry to her own. She was also curious as to what mad doodad he had this time. "What's that you got there?"

"Oh, this? Well, it's my latest invention!" Jacques let go of the bag for a moment to put his trademark goggles over his eyes. He held up the bag and stroked it like a kitten. "Soon, that mangy dog will regret ever eating my video games, for I will be victorious! Then we'll see who's crazy now!" Jacques D. 'Snively' laughed manically while imitating his favorite internet host, Doctor Insano. Normally, this would cause people to run away in fear, but it made Julie laugh especially since she knew the 'mangy dog' personally. Their laughter was interrupted however as Julie started coughing again.

"Whoa, I didn't think my Insano impression would be that funny. Are you okay?"

Julie tried to wave him off. "I'm –cough- fine. Just need –cough- a drink." But she was worried. Her coughs were sounding much louder and made her throat much sorer.

Jacques didn't look too convinced, but he decided to just let it go. Besides, he figured that it would be best that he get hi stuff so Julie could get on her way.

"Alright, then. Well, I was thinking that I should call this whole feud with the dog off. To tell you the truth, I actually caught the thing last night and it didn't even look like a dog."

Julie's eyes widened when she heard that, but she broke into another fit of coughs before she could properly say anything.

"Are you sure you're alright?"

"I'm –cough- fine." Julie tried to sound convincing, but she could barely hide the worry in her voice. Luckily, Jacques didn't notice. "Maybe –cough- we could continue –cough- this another –cough- time."

"Okay, then." The weird guy started to turn around but remembered something. "Oh! Remember to tell Ben I'm still waiting for him to return my-"

But Julie wasn't there in the hallway. Jacques looked around, but saw no sign of her.

"Did she disappear? Or was she never there to begin with?" His eyes widened at the thought as shivers traveled down his spine. "Maybe that's why people say I'm a loner. Though, does this mean Ben, Gwen, and Kevin are also…?"

A hand touched his shoulder. "Hey, Snively. Have you seen-"

"GHOSTS!" Jacques shouted as he made a run for it. Ben just stood there with a weirded out look on his face. "O-k-a-y, I'll take that as a no."

XXXXX

Ben found Julie and then she told him what she heard Snively said about catching Ship last night. Though he was surprised at first, he wasn't too worried. He was more concerned about Julie's cough if anything.

"You should really get that cough checked out." Ben said.

"I'm sure it's nothing –cough- to worry about." Julie assured Ben as he walked her home. "Now what are we -cough- gonna do about Jacques?"

"Well, it didn't sound like he still had Ship." Ben reasoned. "If he did, I'm pretty sure he would have said something along the lines of 'At last! I've caught that mangy mutt. Now vengeance shall be mine! Hee-hee-hee-hee!'"

Julie couldn't help but laugh at Ben's impression of Snively. The cost of said laughter was that her coughs caused her more pain. "Please –COUGH- -COUGH- Ben, no -COUGH- more."

"You're really hurting." Ben looked around and made sure no one was there to see them. Making sure that the cost was clear, he activated the Ultimatrix and set it to Jetray. He slammed it down and in a flash of green light he transformed into:

"Bigchill!" the icy moth-like alien folded his wings into their cloak after he took one look at himself and sighed. "Again with this glitch? You think Albedo would have at least fixed this when he was busy trying to copy the Omnitrix."

"Oh." Julie said as she felt a little light headed. Bigchill caught her before she could fall. He put one hand to her forehead and felt that she was warmer than she should be.

"I better get you home." He replied as he placed her on his back. "You could be catching a 'cold'."

"Really –cough- Ben? That's…that's the best -cough- pun you could come up with?" She sounded woozy now. Bigchill made a note of that so he could ask Gwen and Kevin about it later.

"Just rest up for now, Julie. I'll get you home." He assured her. After making sure that her arms were wrapped tightly enough around his neck, he spread his wings and flew strait to Julie house to drop her off.

If he would have stayed a second longer, they would have encountered Ship running back home.

XXXXX

"What could have caused these scratch marks?" Gwen wondered as she studied the remains of the knocked down tree.

Kevin lifted up one of the branches. "Whatever it was, it was pretty strong to make this pile of scrap wood."

The two defenders of Earth were looking at a strange crime scene. They heard that a police report was given that mentioned some sort of animal noises. That wasn't the strangest part. The strangest part was the apparent sound of some sort of cannon and a flash of light that some people said to have witnessed.

"Hey, look at this." Gwen held up the broken pieces of what looked like a game console. It seemed to be covered in some sort of goo. It looked like some sort of black substance that thicker than ink. Gwen tried to run a mana check on it and was surprised at what she sensed.

It was a feeling like static, but the emotion she got from it was rage with some other emotion she couldn't describe underlining it.

"You're starting to spaz out, Gwen." Kevin said, pointing out her shaking hands. "You okay?"

"I'm fine. It's just a weird feeling I'm getting from it." She stopped her hands from shaking. She took out a plastic container to collect the weird goo to see if they could scan it with something Kevin had. Surprisingly, it all came off and did not leave any trace on the piece of the game console. "And that's about it. I can't get a trace on it. It's almost like it's there, but it's not there."

"What's not there?" asked a chillingly creepy sounding voice.

The two turned to see Bigchill, or rather Ben since he reverted back. He looked around and noted the damage. "Whoa. What happened here?"

"Apparently, some animal." Kevin answered. "It seems that it just had a habit of making trees into lumber."

"Any clues?" Ben asked. Gwen handed him the now clean piece she found. "Just this. There was some sort of goo covering it, but we'll get that analyzed."

She noticed him looking and the piece intensely. "You recognize it?"

"No, but I think I know the person this belonged to." He recalled what Julie told him Snively said. "Snively."

"You mean that techno nerd?" Kevin smirked.

"He's not a techno nerd." Gwen retorted. "He's just a…um…"

Trying to ignore the sly look from Kevin, she tried to get back on topic. "Anyway, why do you think it's him?"

"Because he told Julie today that he finally caught Ship." Ben looked at the piece in his hand. "Though I doubt he still has him since he's not throwing that big party he said he would."

"So do you think he saw what happened?"

"He might have a good idea."

"Well, then let's find him and ask him what he knows."

XXXXX

Unfortunately, the trio realized that they had no idea where Snively lived. Even with their usual ways of gathering this information (mostly through Kevin doing something that might be considered illegal), it would take to long for something which may have been a dead end. Besides, Ben figured that he would at least get to confront the guy the next time he saw him at school. So with that matter settled he went to the next thing on his list: Checking up on Julie.

He went up to the door and rang the doorbell. He hoped Julie wasn't too sick to answer. He could always find a way in with Bigchill or Nanomech, but that was only if there was no other choice. (Boy, if his parents knew how easy it is for him to get into his girlfriend's house…)

The door opened, but to Ben's dismay it was not Julie. It was an older woman, who looked to be in her late twenties, or early thirties. Ben had never seen her before, but right away he could guess who she was.

"Hello, is Julie home?" He asked the woman nervously. Realizing that he just bumped into his girlfriend's mother, he had every right to be nervous. He had never got the pleasure of meeting Julie's parents before, but from what she told him he knew that her dad was some sort of businessmen who would sometimes travel and her mom was…well he hoped she didn't ask any questions because just looking at her made him forget everything he heard.

She was an Asian looking woman. Her facial features as well as her hair color were very similar to her daughter's. Although, she was paler, and wore her hair up in the back which suggested that it was longer. Her eyes were brown as well, but there was a certain gleam to them that seemed to stand out. She was dressed in a black sweater with white pants and shoes.

"Ah! So you must be the Ben Tennyson my daughter keeps going on about." She gave a smile. "It's good to see that you had taken the time out of your busy day to visit my poor little Julie."

"Well yes-I mean no! I mean, uh…"

"Don't worry. I'm only kidding." Mrs. Yamato laughed. She then opened the door fully. "Please, come in."

Ben tried to politely decline. "Well, I wouldn't want to impose."

"Oh, come on in. I don't bite. Though, be lucky that my husband is on a business trip. Now him, you should be frightened of." Before Ben could say no, he was grabbed by his arm and pulled inside.

XXXXX

"Man, what a drag." Snively sighed as he walked down the sidewalk that evening. He had spent a great deal of time searching, but found nothing. "Not one sign of that 'dog' anywhere."

Normally he would be looking for the 'dog' to get his revenge. Instead, he was looking for it to give it a thank you. "I still can't believe it was a Galvanic Mechamorph this entire time. I didn't know they could even become animals. He scratched the back of his head as he criticized himself for this mistake. "Man I have to update my databanks more often."

"Well, it doesn't matter…" He stopped himself for a moment. "Actually, it does matter! Who's been keeping a doggie Mechamorph and letting it loose?"

Snively tried to ponder this, but could not find an answer to this mystery. "Well, whoever it is, they better take care not to bring too much attention to themselves. It wouldn't be good to bring the wrong kind of beings into this matter."

Still, he wondered who could possibly hide a Galvanic Mechnomorph here in Bellwood of all places. It would have to be someone clever, smart, and not willing to give in to pressure.

XXXXX

"You told her what!" Gwen was just too surprised at what she heard.

"I just admitted that all those times Julie was out late were because she was with us. I didn't tell her anything else, but I almost did." Ben said with his head in his hands. They were at Mr. Smoothies again because Ben really needed something to calm his nerves. At first Gwen and Kevin were worried because Ben never looked this nervous, even with fighting Vilgax. But after hearing about Julie being sick, and Ben running into her mother,

"Couldn't handle the pressure?" Kevin joked.

"You have no idea." Ben recalled the conversation he had with Mrs. Yamato. "One moment, she's offering me tea, and saying some of the nice things Julie's said about me. The next, she wants to know what Julie's been doing out so late."

"And you just told her?" Gwen asked incredulously.

"I couldn't help it." Ben said. "She is very nice and polite, but when she gives you this smile it's like she's saying 'tell the truth or else'. I almost told her about the Ultimatrix and Ship right there. I don't even know how I'm going to talk to her next time."

Kevin took a sip of his smoothie. "Just do what I do. Speak politely, don't act stupid, and don't mention your time you spent in the Null Void."

Gwen just raised an annoyed eyebrow at her boyfriend. "I don't think it's that simple, Kevin."

Ben just sighed as he put his head down. "Nothing ever is."

XXXXX

Some distance away, more trouble was coming closer.

It was a beast of black substance. It was a big, black mass that had no distinguishing features, though it looked like it was becoming more canine with each step it took. Whatever it was, it was searching for something. And by the sudden turn of direction it took, it finally found it.

So it hastened its pace towards where the thing it was searching for lied. From where it was running, you could see that its target was at a place known as Mr. Smoothie.

-To be continued-

Next Time:

Julie's still feeling sick.

"I've been –cough- better." Julie weakly replied from her bed. Ben couldn't help but to notice how pale she looked.

Ben's still feeling clueless.

"So what kind of creature is this?"

"Whatever it is, hope you like its fur color, Gwen." Kevin morphed his hands into two long, sharp blades that shined in the light. "Cause I'm gonna get you a new coat!"

And the creature is still feeling hungry…?

"Why do you keep attacking it if it keeps eating them and growing stronger!" Ben shouted.

Can our heroes subdue this mysterious beast as they learn a very important lesson? :

Next Episode: Don't feed the Animals! (Or a Balanced Diet of Mana Leads to…?)

Author's Note

:

HEY, GUYS! This is Count Kulalu. Sorry it's been so long, but I am very busy. So busy in fact that I've been forced to put Fanfic writing to the bottom of my list. See?

(Pulls out a LONG list that rolls onto the floor.)

So I'm really sorry, but I'll keep posting when I get more free time.

So, hey, wanna know a secret?

My birthday is this month.

Wanna know what you could do for me?

:'( How about you give me some reviews! I don't mean to sound mad but it's been how long and I've only gotten past the 5 review mark for all my fics. I just want to know that somebody out there cares that I write these stories. : (

Well, maybe you could all do something else for me. Or rather for YOU. Whichever works. : )

I've posted a writing challenge for you fellow Ben 10 friends. Just look at my profile for more details. If you need more questions answered, just message me and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.

Well, hope you enjoyed the stuff so far. There is still more to come.; )