And I am back. As of now I have 202 follows and 165 favorites. Now that the mandatory number count has been taken care of, onto more pressing matters. But before that, HOLY CREPE, OVER TWO HUNDRED FOLLOWS!
Anyways, I have gotten a lot of good ideas for Bellicus and Serena's Sacred Gear from you guys and my friend Purp. I am no longer taking names or suggestions for what the gear should be or abilities. Thank you to everyone who recommended abilities to the Sacred Gear.
Now, you guys may be wondering what took me so long to write this chapter, so I'll be honest with ya: laziness. And school. Always school.
I am sharing my account with my friend Purp now. He wanted a fresh start on this website and so I offered to share this account with him. Read our profile page to see one of our usual interactions.
Questions and Reviews
RyuuundyingSoul: It could be Vilgax. Or Attea, Milleous, Dagon, Addwaita, the High Override, etc…. Also, no Cthulhu. When I mentioned Cthulhu, I was jokingly referring to Vilgax.
kyuubiko: I will consider that.
Guest-Questioner: No, Ben never really tried talking to them about the universe as a whole or the Forge of Creation. He was more interested in Earth affairs. As for Nekoshou and Nekomata, it says on the Highschool DxD wiki that Nekoshou are a variant of Nekomata, not seperate species.
Only the abilities that Lucifire uses while in the transformation that day "gain a level" as you so put. The abilities of Lucifire are like a muscle: the more Ben uses them, the stronger they become. That "muscle strength" is then saved by the Omnitrix. By the 72nd time using an ability, Lucifire would be able to use that house's ability to the same amount of strength and expertise that the average Devil born into that house would be able to. The 72nd transformation isn't the maximum "level", since that is just the average Devil who has that ability. It would take a few years of Ben transforming into Lucifire and using the Power of Destruction every day to reach the same level as Sirzechs.
TheBeatles211: Haha, yeah, I thought that Ben's slowly dawning realization would be kinda funny but also realistic. As for Sacred Gear naming, I understand.
Drago: Yeah, but DxD Dragons seem to be pretty much immune to aging (outside of growing from hatchling to adult) since Tiamat is old enough that she knew Ddraig when he still had his original body. Clockwork is also relatively slow, has little stamina, is stunned by having the key on his head hit with relatively little force and has relatively low durability as shown by Captain Nemesis' glove laser.
Akit Akhammed: Ha. I thought that was funny. About Omni-Ben absorbing energy and DNA, Ben doesn't do that. I remember hearing from somewhere that absorbing energy causes Osmosians to go mad while absorbing DNA can kill the being they're absorbing it from. As for Alien X's power, I didn't know that. I don't know what you were trying to accomplish by explaining that, but an interesting bit of trivia nonetheless.
Regarding your second review, Osmosians grow horns as they mature. At this point of time, Omni-Ben wouldn't have horns. It has also been confirmed that absorbing energy and DNA causes Osmosians, full or halfling, to become mentally unstable. Regarding weapons for Sporthunter, I have an explanation for why he has them at the bottom of Chapter 6 now.
ARSLOTHES: Correction: he's telling every supernatural being what it does. His line of thought is that if he tells supernatural beings (and beats up enough of them), then they'll spread the word that Ben is too powerful to beat and won't cause trouble for him in the future.
AblazedNightmare: My bad. That mistake actually came from Purp. I asked him what Rias' power was called because I couldn't remember it off the top of my head and he said the Flames of Destruction. In his defense, the Power of Destruction and the Flames of Destruction have only a one word difference and the latter sounds like a more appropriate name for Rias' ability. Anyways, I have gone back and fixed that error.
Bruce USSR: Ben is twelve and no, Ben will not meet his Omniverse counterpart.
WTH: I fixed that mistake, I just didn't remember the exact name of the ability at the time. As for Lucifire's name, I thought it fitted perfectly: the form is a Devil and the first power Ben is aware of in that form is the ability to use the Power of Destruction. Also, Lucifer is interpreted as a Devil in most religious beliefs and pop culture I see him in. When most people hear the word Lucifer, they think of a Devil. Not a Fallen Angel. And to clarify for you, in the DxD universe, Lucifer is a title. On a side note, I fail to see how the name Lucifire breaks the fourth wall, nor do I see how Ben being from a different universe is supposed to be of any importance to knowing about the name Lucifer. Regarding the Sacred Gear, it is definitely not going to be the Proto-Tool.
deathcornfive: No. She is too old for Ben. I could maybe do something with her and Issei, but not Ben.
Gem Warrior: The reactions will be….interesting. The Fallen Angels will be surviving. But not without a beatdown first. Oh, and an appearance from Unseen Transformation #3.
AnimeGoji91: Ben has a harem, but Kuroka isn't in it. She is too old for Ben. The closest she would ever come to that would be her teasing Ben and Koneko about their relationship.
Fortitude501: I see what you're getting at, but a commenter requested that I make the list and, seeing as how I already have it posted, I'm not going to take it down. Sorry.
Prime Arachnius: I have already addressed everything you have brought up via PM, so I will not repeat it here.
SetaianFlame: While Lucifire's DNA donor is a Gremory, it doesn't mean that Lucifire will get red hair. That's like saying Kickin Hawk should look more like a farm chicken because his DNA donor is Liam. And Ben has the abilities of all 72 clans, not just the Gremorys.
renokana: Duly noted. However, I am not changing the name. I personally like it and it took me quite a bit of time to come up with it.
ILikeHotDogs: Koneko is going to be in the harem. Also, Ben 10: Dragon God of Life has Ben and Koneko as a pairing. That Ben is more like UAF Ben, but it's still Ben.
littleboyblack17: Yeah, I may have made Ben too trusting. He's not going to remain that trusting after he hears what Raynare plans on doing to Asia though, so that'll be fixed soon enough.
The Faithful Servant: Ben will start making the Ultimate function after his fight with Riser. I won't reveal when it'll first be used. Gotta keep some secrets. I will not give every alien an Ultimate form (even though they do exist) because then I would have to create dozens and dozens of original Ultimates. As of right now, I have made up four original Ultimate forms, but I won't say anything more. As for a familiar with the Nemetrix, I'm afraid that can't happen. Malware would have needed to fight Ben in order to get the design of the Omnitrix. So no, Ben's familiar having the Nemetrix ain't happening. As for your grammar, it's fine. I've seen far worse (looking at you Nivek Beldo).
hi: First off, that would require I rewrite my entire story. Second off, I wanted to do something that no other author who writes Ben 10/Highschool DxD stories has done by making this Ben twelve years old and just escaped from the Null Void.
AnimeA55Kicker: I changed my mind. Koneko will be with Ben. But not Kuroka. I'm not going to make Kuroka a shotacon. She's gonna be with with Issei. Nothing will make me change that.
AJStyles: Yes.
renokana: Alien is a relative term. But if you mean transformations, then he gets a lot more.
Guest: Worry not Guest! There shall be no Ben and Rias pairing in this story, nor will there be any Ben joining the peerage! Ben is way too much of a free spirit to let himself be commanded by others, even if he is lazy.
guest: Rias is only able to shoot the Power of Destruction from her hands at this point in time and her hands were tied to her sides by the bola. Also, how would you burn energy?
Following Sportshunter's apology to Rias, Ben had transformed back into a human before healing the Devil King and her peerage of their injuries via Clockwork's time rays (which came as a massive surprise to the redhead, seeing a kid transform into a robot that could reverse time) and restoring the surroundings that had been their battleground through a combination of Swampfire and Clockwork. Upon finishing repairing the surroundings, Ben had promptly collapsed to the ground in exhaustion and asked Rias if she happened to have anything he could eat.
Luckily for him, Rias was willing to give Ben a second chance at a first impression and had allowed Ben access to the pantry after she brought her injured peerage members inside and placed them alongside the still-unconscious Kiba. She came to regret the decision almost immediately however as Ben started inhaling food like he was a starved Gourmand.
Like Bellicus' reaction to seeing Ben eat a cheeseburger, Rias was similarly horrified as she watched large amounts of food rapidly disappear that maw of his without any ill effects on it's consumer.
'Seriously, where does all of that food go to?' Rias wondered in astonishment as she sat across from Ben at her desk, curious as to where all of her chocolate covered pretzels were vanishing to. 'Does this kid have a black hole for a stomach or something?!'
"Once again, sorry about starting a fight," Ben mumbled in apology for the umpteenth time, shoving several new chocolate covered pretzels into his mouth and chewing them loudly. "After hearing you guys were Devils and Kiba tried to force me to go with him, I just kind of assumed that you guys were trying to steal my soul or sacrifice me for some Devil blood ritual or something like that."
"No, no, it's fine," Rias said hurriedly, waving her hands in dismissal to show there was no ill will. "I shouldn't be angry at you for assuming the worst. It's the stereotypes created by the Old Satan Faction and the human past fear towards our race that are to blame, not you. Although I do find it annoying that everyone always assumes that our kind is evil the first time they find out we exist."
Ben didn't reply to that since he was eating the last mouthful of pretzels. Rias sat there watching the ravenous brunette consume the snacks before she caught sight of the Omnitrix on Ben's wrist. She squinted her eyes and started to scrutinize the device intensly in curiosity.
'It has the same hourglass symbol as those creatures he transformed into earlier' Rias observed with rapidly growing interest. 'They probably have some sort of connection with each other. Some type of Sacred Gear perhaps? I've heard of Sacred Gears taking on forms and shapes to match the will of their wielders, but I've never heard of one taking the form of a modern device like a watch. Intriguing….'
Ben noticed her gaze and swallowed his food before coughing into his fist, successfully catching the attention of Rias. He cleared his throat before speaking. "So, you're probably wondering how I was able to transform into all of those different forms earlier."
"Yes, you're correct," Rias said, looking at Ben now while clasping her hands together on the desk. "I've never heard of anything that can change someone into monsters while keeping their sanity intact before."
"Aliens," Ben corrected immediately, causing Rias to raise an eyebrow. "Although they prefer being called by the terms 'extraterrestrials' and 'offworlders' over that one."
"Aliens don't exist."
"Right, because they're so much less likely to exist than magical mythological beings with bat wings," Ben retorted in a dry sarcastic voice with a deadpan look. "Yeah, that makes sense."
"I….that….okay, fair point," the Gremory admitted with a shrug and an eye-roll, seeing his point. "So you transform into aliens with the watch on your wrist, right?"
Ben was actually surprised that Rias was able to figure out that it was the Omnitrix that allowed him to transform so quickly. He didn't visibly show it though apart from his eyes slightly widening, which Rias saw and quickly deduced the cause of. "Yeah. How'd you know?"
"The watch has the same hourglass symbol on it that all of your transformations have," Rias pointed out, eyes gleaming in amusement and smiling in humor at Ben's minor slip-up. "It's pretty obvious if someone observes you closely."
"Oh….I guess that makes sense…."
"So, I have a few questions about your watch. Would you mind answering them?"
Ben sighed in resignation, his eyebrows twitching in annoyance as he steeled himself for having to give a full explanation about the Omnitrix and how he got it for the third time since escaping the Null Void.
'Of course I have to explain everything again' Ben thought to himself, ignoring another amused smile that came across Rias' face when she noticed his annoyance. 'Note to self: find a way to stop having to explain myself to everyone who asks for my origin story later.'
Releasing a sigh, Ben slumped in his seat. "Sure. But before we start, do you have anything I can drink?"
One milk break and retelling of our protagonist's story later….
"So let me get this straight," Rias began skeptically, her fingers interlaced and underneath her chin as she sat across from Ben. "The Omnitrix fell from an alien escape pod that landed in a forest which you just so happened to be in. After getting the Omnitrix, you fought crime across the United States until you ended up having to fight Vilgax and Kevin at Niagara Falls. After fighting them there before being forced to enter this Null Void place, you ended up getting stuck and surviving in the Null Void for two years. Over the course of those two years, you built a portal machine that would allow you to get back to Earth before a corrupt intergalactic police officer tried to kill you for the portal. After the fight, he shot the machine, which caused it to malfunction and send you two over Kyoto. There, you met a group of Kits….I mean, fox people before crow people chased you off. You got lost in the mountains for a few days before you eventually ended up in Kuoh Town and met us. Did I get everything correct?"
"More or less," Ben said, shrugging. Rias just stared at him hard for a moment in silence before she broke the silence.
"You're lying."
"Am not."
"Are too. You transformed into a Devil while you were fighting me earlier. Devils aren't aliens."
Ben sighed in annoyance. "This device was made by an alien. Keep in mind that to the aliens we're aliens. So I could debate with you right now that humans and Devils are technically aliens."
"We are not debating that."
"Fair enough. Oh hey, I think Kiba's coming around."
Rias turned around and looked at her blonde knight on the couch, who was currently covered in a blanket. True to Ben's word, Kiba was starting to stir in his sleep. His eyes would occasionally flutter and his fingers were now slightly twitching. To his left was Koneko and on his right was Akeno, both of them still unconscious and showing no signs of that changing soon.
"I'll let you handle him Rias," Ben said as he got up from his seat and started to scroll through his transformations. "I would say sorry to them in person, but I'm pretty sure that they'd end up attacking me as soon as they saw me. I'm also not in the mood to repeat my story a fourth time."
Rias snorted in humor at Ben's last excuse.
"Anyways, tell Kiba that I said sorry, the white-haired girl-"
"Koneko," Rias corrected.
"Koneko that I'll give her new snacks as an apology the next time I see her and Lightning Lady-"
"Akeno."
"Akeno that I'm sorry for redirecting the lighting back on her." Ben found the silhouette of XLR8 and positioned his hand over it to transform before he thought of one more thing. "Oh, and ask Akeno if she would like to meet my Fallen Angel friends the next time I see her. Bye Rias! I'll come by the next time I'm bored."
"Wait, what?" Rias asked, wondering if she had misheard what Ben had just said about his Fallen Angels friends. Before she could question Ben about that, a green flash encapsulated the room, signifying that Ben had transformed and blinding Rias. When the light died down, XLR8 stood in Ben's place.
Rias momentarily examined at the Kineceleran, wondering what it could do, before Ben sped through the door and exited the room in less time than it took for someone to blink. That caused the redhead to stumble backwards in shock and gawk; she had seen the god-like speed of her brother's Knight, Souji Okita, and the alien that Ben had transformed into at the very least matched him in speed, if not surpassing him. She couldn't tell for sure though because of the enclosed space.
'That boy' Rias thought to herself once she stopped gapping and crouched down next to Kiba as he came to. 'The next time I see Ben, I need to ask him if he would like to join my peerage. If I had him as a member of my peerage….'
Rias could practically imagine it: she would be practically undefeatable in the Rating Games. The monstrous strength of most opponent Rooks would be no match for the power of Four Arms. Enemy Knights could be run down by XLR8 and that same transformation could possibly take down every other piece before they knew what hit them. The magic power of Bishops would stand no chance against the various elemental powers Ben could yield and Queens….Rias didn't know if Ben could one-shot Queens, but it was a safe assumption with how he had easily defeated Akeno. And if she taught him how to properly use the Power of Destruction while he was in his Devil form….Rias was just salivating at all of the possibilities.
And it wouldn't just be success in the Rating Games that Ben's power could guarantee; her victories (as in Ben's if she was his King) in combat, in the Rating Games or out, would greatly increase her social status. Ben would quickly become a celebrity in Devil society, possibly making him untouchable politically. Making her untouchable politically.
Which meant that she couldn't be forced to marry Riser Phenex.
And if Ben was telling the truth about the strength of some of his aliens, then he may even have the strength to go toe-to-toe with the likes of the Five Dragon Kings, gods and Longinus wielders. If so, then she would never again have to worry about being forced into a….
"Wait a moment," Rias said to herself with a blink as she recalled what Ben had said about his Fallen Angels friends. "Ben knows where the loose Fallen Angels are?!"
...
"Well," Ben said to himself, having turned into back into a human after XLR8-ing (haha, puns) off of the school campus and into an alley where nobody would see him turn back into a human. "I guess I should start walking back to my hotel room."
And so Ben did just that. For the next twenty minutes he walked back to the hotel he was staying at, hands folded behind his head as the sunset drew closer and closer. However, upon coming to a concrete bridge going over a busy road, Ben saw a familiar face walking to his own home.
"Damn salamander-looking bastard!" Issei moaned to himself in rage as he dragged his limping form across the bridge. "First I get stabbed in the ass by some monster, then I get it handed to me for peeping through a tithole I didn't even peep through because of my A-hole friends! And the worst part of it is that I didn't even get to see any nip! Curse you Matsuda & Motohama! I hate you almost as much as Chamalien now!"
It took Ben all that he had to not started laughing out loud as the pervert walked past him. Issei never realized that his earlier tormentor was standing just a few feet away from him. Ben was starting to regret not recording the event on video or something. Not that Ben had any means of recording it anyways, so wishing would do no goo….oh wait, he had stolen an iPhone 8 the other night as Big Chill. Never mind.
'Holy shit, I cannot wait to tell the others about that' Ben thought to himself, smirking at the memory as he watched the older brunette limp away. 'Note to self: do a follow-up on him and those other guys sometime in the near future. Oh, I know! I can turn into Swampfire or Gutrot, use short-term knockout gas on them and hide them inside of a girl's locker! Then, when they wake up and a group of girls are in the room, I can turn into Chamalien, open the locker and watch them get beaten up while trying to escape! Oh, this is gonna be good!'
Ben started smiling evilly to himself at that thought with a smile that would unnerve even Vilgax….okay, not really, but it was still pretty disturbing. It was the type of malevolent smile that said that the Shapeshifter of Kuoh had found his new favorite trio of punching bags.
God have mercy on their poor souls.
As Ben was planning his next prank on the Perverted Trio, Issei was still silently cursing the name of Chamalien, stabber of butts and revealer of peeping spots. It was unsettling that a monster from Hell had come to collect the souls of he and his friends. But bugged him even more was that he hadn't even had a chance to look through the peephole without before the girls had discovered them. It sucked!
With a depressed sigh, Issei rested his arms on the metal railing and used on of them to hold his head up, ignoring the throbbing that was still coming from his rear. The pervert's face quickly adopted a depressed look. His back was turned away from the setting sun and a smirking Ben (who Issei had yet to register the presence of) that was thinking about what Issei's very close future would hold.
'To do something or not to do something' Ben thought to himself with a mischievous smile, debating whether or not to mess with Issei one more time before he went home. 'That is the question.'
Blissfully unaware of Ben's current inner musings, Issei watched the traffic passing underfoot. "Man, my teenage school life has been the worst," he bemoaned in reflection, closing his eyes. "At this rate jerking off to porn is the closest I'll ever get to doing it before I go off to college, which means I'll be a virgin forever and die alone! My time at the academy would have been completely wasted without me having ever squeezed a single pair of tits!"
The shapeshifter behind the cleavage connoisseur clamped his hands over his mouth to keep himself from laughing out loud. Although he wouldn't admit it out loud, Ben admired Issei's resilience. It seemed that, even though Issei had gotten the scare of a lifetime by Chamalien and beaten up by an entire kendo team, he was still obsessed with breasts.
Just as Ben managed to pull himself together and decided leaving the older brunette alone and returning his Fallen Angel friends nd returning to his hotel room, a series of footsteps walking towards them stopped him from walking away. Turning his head, Ben saw a teenage girl around Issei's age walking towards said pervert. Judging from her gaze never landing upon him, she didn't notice him either.
The girl had a slender body with fair skin, violet eyes and long black hair that trailed past her shoulders. She wore a school uniform consisting of a dark red jacket with a golden P embroidered just over where her heart would be, a white undershirt, a red bow and a green skirt with a thin, white horizontal stripe around the lower end of it. Adorning her feet were plain dress shoes and long, white socks that almost came up to her knees and had small horizontal red lines near the top.
'I swear, I've seen this person somewhere before' Ben thought to himself. 'Maybe I passed by her at the school? Wait, no. She's wearing a different uniform than the girls from that school. Huh….maybe I've seen her while scouting out places to steal from?'
As Ben tried to think about where she had seen this girl, Issei hadn't even bothered looking up from his spot on the railing to see who was approaching. He just continued to mope about his lack of girlfriend and muttering about how unfair life was.
The girl stopped just a few feet short of Issei, who still hadn't noticed her. "U-um…." she stuttered nervously to Issei, who looked up from his spot when he realized that he was being addressed. "You're Issei Hyoudou-kun from Kuoh Academy, right? Or am I wrong?"
"Yeah, I'm Issei," the brunette responded. "Why you asking?"
'I don't recognize that uniform she's wearing' Issei thought to himself as he observed the newcomer. 'I wonder what school she is from. You know what, who cares? She's hot!'
"Hi, my name is Amano Yuuma. I, uh…." the girl stopped speaking with slight nervousness and looked at her feet, fidgeting with them in hesitation. "I….uh…."
'Oh god' Ben thought to himself as he mentally blanched while continuing to watch the scene. He noticed how the setting sun seemed to set a romantic mood over the area. 'Please don't let this be a love confession or something like that. It's bad enough that I got lost in a school today; I don't need a generic love story trope making my day even worse.'
Oblivious to the younger boy's thoughts, Issei got up from his spot on the railing and turned to face the girl completely. He blushed slightly at being addressed to in a friendly manner in contrast to the usual violent or scornful treatment he got from the girls at school. "C-can I help you with anything?"
'Please don't be a love confession. Please don't be a love confession. Please don't be a love confession.' Ben thought.
"Well, sort of Hyoudou-kun," Yuuma said, getting her confidence together. "It's just a quick question."
'Please don't be a love confession. Please don't be a love confession. Please don't be a love confession.'
"Well….you see…."
"Please don't be a love confession. Please don't be a love confession. Please don't be a love confession."
"I was wondering if you're seeing someone right now."
'God fucking damnit!'
"R-right now?" Issei stuttered nervously as he started to see where this was going. "N-no. Not really."
"Really?" Yuuma asked, her facing lighting up in happiness. "That's wonderful! I'm glad to hear that!"
"Huh? It is?"
'Sweet mother of Starbeard, this is cringy' Ben thought as he winced in pain that, while not physical, hurt just as much if not worse. 'I should just go XLR8 and get out of here but yet I can't. I'm too interested in seeing how this'll turn out. I guess I missed this sort of drama while I was in the Null Void. Curse you Null Void for your lack of entertainment outside of death battles!'
"Yes! You see, I, uh…." Yuuma's confidence disappeared once more. "U-um, in that case, since you're single, do you think you'd like to go out with me?"
'Wait a moment….this seems a little bit ungenuine. Who goes up to their crush and just asks for a date without sending love letters or secret chocolates first? Unless….maybe those romance movies weren't entirely accurate. Note to self: investigate the accuracy of the movies later. Maybe experiment with Mittel….shoot, I thought about it again. DAMMIT DOHNASEEK!'
Issei flinched back slightly in shock at the question, having not expected it. Yuuma stared at him with a shy smile while Ben rolled his eyes before averting his gaze from the scene in favor of watching the traffic pass underfoot. He still listened however.
"What?" Issei asked nervously, his voice almost matching Yuuma's levels of insecurity now. After all, a girl had just admitted to having feelings for him, one of the Perverted Trio! "Go out with you? Um….I-I…."
Issei briefly wondered if he was dreaming before he briefly pinched himself. The pain confirmed that this was indeed not a dream. Butterflies came into existence within his stomach and seemed to be fluttering about wildly. Was this what it was like to be in love? She was cute and had just asked him out, so he was sure that was it!
….well, until he heard the kid behind him mutter to himself "Maybe she lost a bet? It's the only reason I can think of…."
'Curse you brown-haired kid sitting a short distance behind me!' Issei thought internally while now looking around for any place that Yuuma's friends could be hiding. 'Now I'm going to be wondering if this is some kind of a cruel joke or prank on me!'
"I've been watching you," Yuuma said, catching Issei's attention before looking down to avoid meeting Issei's gaze.
"No, not creepy at all," Ben muttered under his breath sarcastically. Thankfully for Issei, the older brunette didn't hear it.
"Y-you p-pass by here a l-l-lot and seem so….I-I don't know, gent-tle….and v-very h-h-h-andsome and I-I….," Yuuma continued, stuttering every now and then as she kept on working up the nerve to keep talking. She had started breaking into a nervous sweat. "I-I kept watching and f-figured th-that you w-were m-my…."
'This cannot be happening to me right now!' Issei thought excitedly as his eyes continued to dart around, searching for any possibly hiding friends of the girl. Once he confirmed that there was nobody hiding nearby, his excitement went off the rails.
This may as well have been bliss, having this happen to a guy like him! He was getting a confession from a girl! Him! Being a pervert, Issei had been starting to think that he was a guy born to be unpopular with girls. This was pretty much a dream come true….scratch that, it was a dream come true!
"S-see….the th-thing is….I-I'd like for y-you to be my boyfriend!" Yuuma exclaimed, finally working up enough courage to finish her statement. "S-so please, p-please go out with me! B-because I'm in love with you!"
"Uh….I…." Issei started stuttering like a moron as he tried to form an intelligent statement. From an outside perspective (like Ben's), it looked like Issei had turned into an idiot who had forgotten how to properly speak. On the inside though….
'WHAT?! IS THIS FOR REAL?! OH MY GOSH, THIS CANNOT BE HAPPENING TO ME!'
If the author was being honest, it was kind of pathetic how excited he was (Purp yells in the background "Not like you've ever been asked out!"). SHUT UP PURP!
Anyways, continuing on.
To Issei, it felt like he had reached nirvana. Gone were his crushed hopes and dreams of never getting a girlfriend. He now felt rejuvenated, like he had been reborn and was in the prime of his youth!
Just ignore the fact that he was currently in the prime of his youth right now.
And the best part of it all was that it was real! No more would he have to watch porn or play bishoujo games in order to enjoy the feeling of having a girl that would like him. He actually had a girl….wait! He hadn't responded to her yet!
Issei momentarily panicked at having kept the girl waiting for what felt like hours (but in reality was about five seconds). Was he taking to long to respond?! Or would responding right now make him seem desperate? What if he told her to ask him later? But wait, that would probably come off as him not being interested! Should he just wait for the awkward atmosphere to dissipate? No, that would only make the atmosphere even more awkward!
'Come on Issei, just say something to her' the lucky pervert thought to himself. 'Something, anything!'
"Anything."
….
….
….
'Just kill me now' Issei thought to himself, mentally kicking himself for having embarrassed himself like that. 'I don't care who does it and how they do, just kill me now.'
"What?" Yuuma asked, confused by the answer and tilting her head in said confusion. "I'm sorry could you say that again?"
While all of this was going on, Ben was snickering to himself at Issei's answer and enjoying all of the drama. The younger brunette was now glad that he had decided to stay behind. This 'Issei' person was making himself look like an idiot. And the best part was he didn't even have to do anything!
'Man, if I was Emipulate right now, I would practically be salviating because of all this drama' Ben thought to himself, briefly wondering if he should transform into his Pugnavore form very quick to grab a quick meal. He decided against it though; it would be hard to explain to two people why a levitating green man with antenna was watching them.
"I-I mean yes!" Issei said quickly to rectify his mistake, waving his hands. "I'd be happy to be your boyfriend!"
"Really?" Yuuma asked, her face lighting up in happiness. Issei nodded enthusiastically, to which Yuuma released a little cheer. "Yes! Thank you so much Hyoudou-kun! I'm so happy!"
"Heh, me too!" Issei said, a smile of his own splitting his face. "So, should we go out on a date sometime then?"
Yuuma eagerly nodded her head up and down, almost causing Issei to laugh. Ben just rolled his eyes, thinking that she was too eager to go on a date with the pervert. This was starting to feel like one of those trashy romance stories that Gwen had kept hidden in her suitcase while he still drove around the country with her and Grandpa Max in the Rust Bucket.
Not that he had read them or anything….okay, so maybe he had. But it was only because he was bored! Not because he enjoyed them or anything! Those romance books he had stolen a few days ago were only to reacquaint himself with reading! Absolutely not because he enjoyed the genre now.
Whatever you say Ben. Whatever you say.
"Does this coming Sunday sound good to you or is that a bad time?" Yuuma asked Issei enthusiastically, breaking Ben from his self-assurance that he absolutely did not like romance novels at all.
"N-not at all, Sunday is fine!" Issei said happily, a smile still on his face. "Great in fact! I can do it any time you want!"
"Great!" Yuuma said, leaning forwards before she started going back across the bridge. "It's a date then! Good night. I'll see you tomorrow!"
"Alright!" Issei called out to her. "See you tomorrow!"
Once she was about halfway across the bridge, Yuuma turned around with a smile on her face. "I really am happy that you're my boyfriend!" she called to Issei before continuing to run back to wherever she hailed from.
"Yeah, me too," Issei said softly, waving goodbye with a smile and soft blush adorning his face. Issei felt much more animated now than he had a mere five minutes ago. Amazing how fast somebody's mood can change because of a single thing. "Bye-bye."
Ben watched the disappearing figure of Yuuma with a frown. For whatever reason, Ben felt as though he knew that girl. He couldn't put it in words, but he had a tugging feeling that 'Yuuma' was someone else in a disguise, which could mean two things: that Yuuma was some sort of shapeshifting alien or supernatural being or whoever Yuuma was was a really good crossdresser.
Ben hoped it was the former; he had been subjected to many horrors in the Null Void, but amongst the most disgusting and vile of them was the crossdressing bartender from the Null Void settlement that he would occasionally visit.
A shudder went down Ben's spine at the memory. For your sakes, the author won't be describing the bartender, nor his tendencies. However….let's just say that he was a creature that Ben feared almost as much as Zs'Skayr.
After looking down at the road to make sure no cars were nearby and making sure Issei wasn't paying any attention to him, Ben jumped over the bridge railing. About halfway down, a green flash encapsulated Ben, transforming him once more.
Taking Ben's place was a blue and black moth-like humanoid with four wings, the top two wings being far larger and pointing upwards while the lower wings were smaller and pointed downwards. Atop the being's head were two large antennae and cyan patches that resembled chunks of ice covered it's black body. Exoskeletal plates covered the chest and stomach of the insect-like creature. At the bottom of it's thin legs were three toes, two at the front and one behind the ankle. Four fingers adorned the being's hand. The alien's face had two green compound eyes with a blue Y-shaped marking between them and a perpetually frowning mouth that always showed it's teeth. The Omnitrix dial was displayed on the being's chest.
"Big Chill!" the Necrofriggian said in an eerie whisper of a voice before flapping his wings and taking off in the direction Yuuma had taken off, turning intangible to decrease the chances of someone seeing him.
Just before Big Chill got out of earshot of Issei, he heard Issei yelling in happiness and joy. "A DATE! A DATE! THIS IS BADASS! I'M SO GONNA SEE LADY PARTS! I AM THE MAN!"
It took all Ben had not to burst out laughing at the pervert's joyous shouts.
...
'Holy shit, how far can this girl run?' Big Chill thought to himself while still intangible. He had been following Yuuma for about half an hour now and she was still running. She had almost reached the edge of Kuoh Town and showed no signs of stopping.
"Screw this," Big Chill muttered to himself, getting a little annoyed at this girl's stamina. "I'm ending this now."
Swooping silently down, Ben snuck up behind Yuuma and shadowed her for a few seconds. Looking closely at her face, he could see that she no longer had a joyous smile but now a victorious one, like she had won some sort of victory. It slightly disconcerted Ben but he quickly shook it off.
'Here goes nothing' Big Chill thought to himself after looking around to make sure nobody was around. Wasting no time, he flew through Yuuma, startling her with both the sudden chill from his breath going up her spine and seeing a intangible moth being fly through her. Before she could do anything, Big Chill became tangible once more and used his ice breath to freeze her feet to the road.
Yuuma took on a surprised expression which quickly became fearful as Big Chill hovered silently over her, scrutinizing her closely. She said nothing and made no attempts to saying anything. She just froze (ha, an unintentional pun!) in fear.
Well, up until she caught sight of the Omnitrix dial on Big Chill's chest. Then she became relieved and wore a smile.
"Hey Ben," Yuuma said in a friendly voice. "I didn't know you could into a ghost-moth. Pretty cool."
"So you do know me," Big Chill said with a suspicious glare, leaning towards Yuuma (who he stood a foot over). Yuuma shrank back a bit at that. "You know me but I don't know you. So, who are you?"
"Ben, it's me!" Yuuma said, trying to alleviate the suspicions of her shapeshifter jailer. "Raynare. You know, the only fun Fallen Angel you know?"
"Dohnaseek and Mittelt are fun," Big Chill said, causing Yuuma to deflate a bit at not being recognized as the fun Fallen Angel. "And Raynare doesn't look like you. She's taller and you seem to be missing a few feathers."
"That's just my magic," Yuuma said, waving it off both figuratively and literally. "Here, I'll show you."
A purple flash of light similar to the ones that emanated from the Omnitrix whenever Ben transformed came off of Yuuma and broke the ice covering her feet, startling Big Chill. Unlike the Omnitrix's flashes though, the light didn't blind those nearby, so Ben was able to see Yuuma transform.
Yuuma's schoolgirl outfit seemingly exploded into shreds as Yuuma increased slightly in height and bust. A black liquid materialized from….somewhere and covered her lower private parts before defying gravity by flowing upwards and covering her tits. The liquid then seemingly solidified into Raynare's usual skimpy leather attire. A pair of black wings sprouted from Yuuma's back and the more of the liquid appeared from seemingly nowhere to cover her feet and left shoulder. Those too solidified and became Raynare's usual boots and spiked shoulder guard.
Opening her eyes, Raynare smiled at the flabbergasted Necrofriggian, who just floated there, speechless. If Necrofriggian physiology allowed it, Big Chill's jaw would have dropped. He had not expected that.
"Mittelt's gonna get jealous if you keep staring at me like that," Raynare teased, snapping Ben out of his stupor. His quickly shook his head from side to side before descending to the ground underfoot and slamming the Omnitrix dial on his chest. One green flash later and where Big Chill had been stood one Benjamin Kirby Tennyson.
"Sorry about freezing your feet," Ben said, scratching the back of his head. "I felt like I had seen you somewhere before and decided to follow you."
"Oh, you're following me now Ben?" Raynare teased once more with a mischievous smile. "Man, Mittelt's going to be really jealous of me when I tell her that."
"Don't you dare!" Ben said, slightly blushing at the thought of Mittelt being jealous of Raynare because of him. Raynare snickered at that.
"Oh, did I strike a nerve?"
"Raynare…." Ben growled out in warning. The Fallen Angel ignored it in favor of continuing to tease Ben.
"You know, I'm going on a date this coming Saturday," she continued. "Perhaps I could make it a double date. My date and I could meet up with you and Mittelt and we could all go together as a group to…."
"AAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!" Ben suddenly screamed out while clutching his forehead in a comical manner, startling the older girl and making her recoil briefly in shock. "STOP TALKING!"
"Ah, it looks like you have a crush on her," Raynare cooed, not letting up with a teasing smile. "How adorable. I'll have to let her know as soon as we get back to the…."
"Fine then!" Ben interrupted abruptly in an annoyed voice. "I was going to tell you about the other supernatural creatures I met today but no, screw that! You don't need to know about them!"
"Wait, other supernatural creatures?" Raynare asked, a little interested and a little concerned now; she and the other Fallen Angels had been very thorough (or at least they thought they had been) in their earlier searches for supernatural entities during their patrols. "What other supernatural creatures?"
"Oh, wouldn't you like to know?" Ben said, turning away from her in a huff. "They were strong. The four of them managed to fight me for almost ten minutes before the misunderstanding on my part was cleared up and I healed them."
That part slightly concerned Raynare. She had only seen Ben fight once as Four Arms against Freed and he had almost insta-won. Raynare also knew that Ben was clever with his fighting styles based on his past stories of his time in the Null Void: if he saw that an alien wasn't working, he would change into a form that would fare better in the current circumstances. If these beings were able to fend Ben off for almost ten minutes, then they could potentially pose a threat to her plans.
"Ben," Raynare said, gripping his shoulders and leaning down to look him in the eye. "I need to know what those beings were. If what you're saying is true, then they could be dangerous and attack us."
"What?" Ben asked before he got out of Raynare's grip, shaking his head from side to side. "No, they're cool. The leader even gave me snacks after I apologized for attacking them."
"You attacked them?"
"Yeah. I thought that they were going to steal my soul or something, but they were actually pretty cool. Well, the leader was. Kiba was pretty cool as well, but I'm not sure about Lightning Lady and the white-haired girl."
Raynare's blood ran cold at Ben saying that he thought they were going to steal his soul. There were only two supernatural creatures that instantly came to mind when it came to the stereotype of soul-stealing: Grim Reapers and….
"Ben," Raynare said in a deathly serious and slightly scared tone of voice. "Were they Devils?"
"Shoot, you guessed right," Ben said deflating, not noticing Raynare's increasingly panicked expression. "But don't worry, they're nice. One time they even offered to buy me ice cream!"
"Ben, listen to me," Raynare said, grabbing his attention. "I need you to tell me where they are."
"Why?"
"I'm not sure if Mittelt told you or not, but, aside from regular Angels, Devils are the natural enemies of Fallen Angel," Raynare told Ben. Judging from the way his eyes widened, Raynare quickly deduced that Ben hadn't been told that specific bit of information. "That's why…."
"Wait, but that doesn't make any sense," Ben interrupted, cutting Raynare's statement off. "One of them has a Fallen Angel wing."
"What?!" Raynare asked, stunned by this piece of information. Ben nodded in confirmation of his claim.
"Yeah, Lightning Lady had a Devil wing and a Fallen Angel wing. If your kinds are at war with one another, then how was she born?"
Raynare opened her mouth to retort before closing it in thought. Was it possible that this was a group of Devils that didn't have a grudge with Fallen Angels? It certainly seemed that way if she was to assume that this 'Lightning Lady' was a hybrid born from the union between a Devil and a Fallen Angel. The only other way 'Lightning Lady' could have come about is that a Fallen Angel had willingly become a Devil or had been revived after death.
Either way, there would have to be no malice from the local Devils towards Fallen Angels for 'Lightning Lady' to exist. Satisfied that the Devils most likely wouldn't attack, she still offered a word of warning to the boy she was starting to see as a little brother figure.
"You should still be careful. Devils are crafty and have been known to cause trouble for humans by tricking them into bad situations."
"So they're just like Fallen Angels then?"
"I resent that."
"I don't care."
The two looked at each other for a moment before they started laughing together. For a good minute, the two just laughed before their lungs demanded that they stop and breathe. After regaining his breath, Ben restarted their conversation.
"So, why were you running away from the church you guys are staying at?"
Raynare wiped a tear from her eye and chased away the last of her giggles before responding. "I was just going for an evening jog to get my blood flowing. It's been awhile since I've assumed a human disguise. After I ran outside of the town's borders I would have reverted back to my normal form and flown back to the church."
Ben nodded at her explanation before smiling evilly; he would have his revenge for her teasing him about Mittelt. "So, I didn't know that you were the type to be into perverts. I'll have to let Freed know the next time I see him."
"What?!" Raynare said with a disgusted blanch at the thought of dating the vulgar exorcist. "You saw that?!"
"Yeah. I was right behind Issei when you came up and begged him to go on a date with you."
"Little stalker," Raynare mumbled under her breath, not really caring if Ben heard her or not (he did).
"Says the girl who literally said 'I've been watching you' to the guy they're trying to date," Ben countered with an amused smirk.
"Touche."
"So, what do you like about him?" Ben asked, genuinely curious about that. "Because from what I've seen of him from this school I was at earlier today, he appears to just be a spiky-haired pervert who begs for the Girls' Kendo Team to beat him and his friends up."
"Wait, seriously?" Raynare asked, confused. Had she just asked a masochist out?
"Seriously," Ben confirmed with a nod before quickly looking at the sun, which was mere minutes from disappearing over the west horizon now. "There's actually a funny story behind that involving some school with an entire forest on campus, a Tit Hole and me turning into Randall from Monsters Inc."
"Why am I not surprised?" Raynare asked with a snort, now walking towards the direction of the church on the other side of town. "Come on kiddo, let's go back home. You can stay at the church with us tonight."
Ben nodded before running off to her side. Smiling, Raynare brought her hand up and ruffled the younger boy's hair playfully before he pushed it away with a small grin. Raynare had always secretly wanted a younger sibling and, while Mittelt partially filled that role, Raynare just couldn't think of her like that completely since they weren't that alike. Ben, on the other hand, was a fellow mischievous spirit. If there was anyone in her little friend group that she could relate to the most, it was the Shapeshifter of Kuoh.
And on an unrelated note….
"I just now realized you're wearing shorts," Raynare said in an attempt to make conversation as they walked.
"Yeah," Ben said, not knowing where Raynare was going with this. "So?"
"I've never seen you wear shorts before. You've always worn pants until now."
"Well, I'm wearing them now. I don't see what the big deal is."
"I just sort of assumed that you didn't like shorts since you never wore them."
"I like shorts. They're comfy and easy to wear."
….
….
….
"Let's just walk back to the church," Raynare said in a tired tone of voice, approximately 110% done with this day. No more words were exchanged between the two that night.
Author's Notes
Before you guys bash on me for having XLR8 being faster than Sirzechs' Knight, allow me to explain my reasoning.
So real talk: a lot of the aliens in this story are going to be stronger, faster, etc….than their Devil counterparts, or at least equal to them (like Sairaorg and Four Arms, Riser and Swampfire/Heatblast, etc….). Why? Well, for the most part, they are individuals where their strengths are the exceptions amongst Devilkind. But for the aliens that Ben transforms into, those powers are pretty much the norm or even below average ability wise.
Now, I'm not saying that Four Arms will be able to beat Sairaorg. In fact, I already have an entire selection of aliens that Ben is going to use to fight Sairaorg, including multiple Ultimates. So yeah, the Sairaorg vs Ben fight is going to be pretty badass.
Also, I hinted at Ben being in the Riser vs Rias Rating Game (AKA confirmed). Damn, I'm hyped about that. It's always fun seeing how your favorite fantasy characters wipe the floor with Riser while he is still an asshole. But guess what: Ben is NOT going to fight Riser during the Rating Game! Yeah, the two will fight eventually, but not at the Rating Game.
I made Raynare in the Yuuma disguise stutter a lot. The English sub of the anime made her out to be this nervous girl, but we never see a lot of her nervousness. I decided to expand upon that by having her stutter a lot.
I mentioned one of the Unseen Transformations briefly, that transformation being Unseen Transformation #2, Emipulate. Emipulate is a Pugnavore and his name is a combination of the words emotion and manipulate. I plan on having him be a over the top form that occasionally breaks the fourth wall. Kinda like a talk show host. Thoughts?
So yeah, you know how Momo is like a sister to Ben in Emiyn's My Omnium Academia, Erza is the sister in The Null Fairy and Blake is the sister in The Huntsman From the Void? Well, I wanted something like that to happen between Ben and Raynare (and eventually Asia as well). I just thought it would be fun to depict Ben with an older sibling figure of sorts. Also, Emiyn hasn't made a story where Ben has more than one plainly defined sibling figure yet, so I figured I would be the first on the boat.
Anyways, look forwards to the Diabolos of the Old School Building story arc! Don't look forwards to it as much as Unseen Transformation #3, but still look forward to it. If you guys are wondering what Unseen Transformation #3 is, the only hints I will provide you is that it is stupidly powerful and blue. That is all.
And because I said that, you longtime original continuity Ben 10 fans are going to definitely guess it right away. Shyt.
On an unrelated note, I have noticed a few Ben 10 crossover sections that have been either lacking or nonexistent, like Gurren Lagann, To Love-Ru and Date A Live. I'm not going anywhere with this, I'm just surprised that nobody/very few people have made crossover stories with those franchises yet. They just seem like crossover stories that lots of people would read that nobody has capitalized on (except maybe Date A Live, but even then I feel like no good stories have been created).
Before I end the chapter, I need your opinions on something. Would you consider familiars in the Highschool Dxd universe to be sapient beings? I was just curious since we see that Rias' bat familiar is able to turn into a human and form intelligent sentences. Anyways, till the next time!
