Chapter 11: Slow and Steady +... a Turtle?
(AN: Theme Song.)
Walks to school were never normal and quiet, but today was more of a ruckus than usual. The morning argument(s) over Ben just started as soon as everyone was present, but they didn't get a chance to tell each other off or physically fight because something caught Ben's attention. Two students walking to the east side of the school spoke about some kind of race that was taking place in a minute. Since they couldn't unlock the clubroom door until Gin showed up (since he's the club leader, he's most likely being a perv again) and because Miss Nekonome took a trip to the human world, they couldn't hand out newspapers yet. Nosfer-Ben volunteered to just break the door down since Tenmei has repairmen almost every week... his plan was shot down, much to his disappointment.
So checking out the supposed race, the group went to the track. Sure enough, there were a few students positioned in race-like fashions. Kotsubo began the race by firing a gun... the sound was real, but just a flag with the word 'iku' popped out of the barrel. The race began, but the person in the back didn't do anything, as if he was deliberately letting them get a headstart... that or as Nosfer put it, Helen Keller's long-lost son.
"Keller's Son" didn't move until the 2nd lap... he caught up to the rest of the racers pretty damn quick, and they ate his dust without a drink to wash it down. He finished the remaining 2 laps and just before crossing the finish line, he zipped away and returned a minute later to down a Gatorade, before casually stepping on the line. The crowd cheered for the guy, Ben's group was speechless. The rest of that day was uneventful... until the final bell rang. Ben and Moka [along with Yukari, Kurumu and Mizore who butted in] were returning to their dorms when they heard sounds of a struggle. Turning a corner, they noticed the boy that won the race earlier was beating on someone... he was a strong kicker too.
The kicked student hunched over while holding his abdomen, obviously in pain. "C'mon Mash Potato, just one race!" Ordered the kicker, having a European accent. "I-Its... Mashu..." the kicked student said, only to be kicked again. "Hurry up! Tell me you'll race with me!" Said the kicker again. "Can you stop kicking me, Maku? We..." said the monster student we now know to be named Mashu, but he got kicked a third time. Ben had seen enough and stopped Maku, the kicker, from attacking the downed Mashu by grabbing his torso.
"Knock it off, speed racer" Ben commented, but Maku elbowed Ben in the gut, making him let go. Nosfer-Ben wasn't gonna let his former host get beaten up, so he held Maku on a wall. "Calm down, Gonzales... or that Pizzaria will go out-of-business VERRRRRRY shortly" the vampire threatened, coating a fist with Yoki to emphasize his point. Nosfer-Ben was relying on fear to shake up this guy (he normally would have just thrown him out the window), but Maku wasn't fazed in the slightest. "Ugh... Nosfer, put him down" Ben asked, recovering. "Ha! THAT'S your name? You Americans' are dumb as doornails" Maku taunted, laughing.
Nosfer-Ben... "Heheh, pretty funny..."
KA-SLAM!
Maku was "tossed" an E-ZPass to go to a "wall mart", which sold a bunch of vegetables. "We're as sharp as them too" he said, stretching his fingers. "Wasn't that a little extreme?" Asked Ben to his vampiric counterpart. "Would you rather had me toss him in there?" Asked Nosfer-Ben, pointing to a shop next to the veggie one... it sold glass items. Ben just groaned, at least Nosfer didn't hurt the bully... too badly. Maku got up, with a mouth full of beets, which he had no choice but to swallow. "Mmmm, sugar beets. My favori... I mean, this isn't over! Mash-Up and I WILL race! IT'S DESTINY!" He said, taking his leave.
"Ugh, thank you. Thought he'd never leave me alone" said Mashu, getting to his feet and expressing his gratitude. Getting a better look at him, he wore the standard uniform, except with a tight collar... his back also appeared to be a bit bigger (or at least wider) than the rest of his body. He was going to take off as well when Nosfer-Ben grabbed his collar. "Not so fast, turtleneck."
-TIME BREAK-
The friends learned that the boy they saved was Mashu Rusu, the fastest thing in the sea, a Leatherback Sea Turtle/Luth-like monster. The other one was Maku Buraun, a Lepus/Hare-like monster. When Maku somehow learned what race of monster Mashu was, he challenged Mashu to a race-off, they had to be in their monster forms of course. Mashu declined, wanting to obey the #1 rule, but Maku didn't care and kept begging for the last week in a half. The Hare must've figured he had to prove himself, so he joined the schools track team and... that's what lead to this morning contest.
When Maku approached Mashu with his challenge again, the Luth once again shot him down. Snapping, the crazy rabbit used physical force to try to get what he wanted, and that's also when Ben and friends walked in on them. "Hmmm... why does this whole situation seem familiar?" Asked Nosfer-Ben, outloud. "Sounds like the rabbit woke up in the wrong end of the hole" said Kurumu. Nosfer-Ben snorted then burst out laughing; Ben and Inner Moka facepalmed; Yukari giggled; Moka and Mashu went red in the face.
"So he's not bulling, just deranged" said Mizore, expressionless to the 'rabbit hole' bit. "I've tried to ignore him, but he won't leave me alone. I can't even do my business in peace, ya gotta help me! PLEASE! I just want it to stop!" Cried Mashu, not hearing the girls say 'eww' because of his 'business'. He also suddenly threw himself upon Ben, grabbing the humans wrists and hugging him. Nosfer-Ben, not laughing anymore, got the emotional turtle off of Ben. "Watch it, Franklin... I don't need my host body getting salmonella" the vampire said, getting a little over-defensive.
"HEY! I've gotten vaccinated f... host body?" Asked Mashu, defending his position but not understanding Nosfer-Ben's slip of the tongue. "Uh, not important. Put him down please" said Ben, thinking quickly and telling Nosfer to cool his jets by giving him a look. Nosfer dropped the Luth, not exactly gently, but not bodily harmful either. "Fine. But if he snaps just once at you, I'm using him to wax Kevin's car" he answered, taking a seat and pulling out his manga. Sighing, Ben said: "I'll see what can do."
Saying 'thank you' 4 times in a row, Mashu lunged at Ben and squeezed him. For a turtle, he was pretty strong. "Alright, alright, I said I'd do it!" Ben exclaimed, getting the overly-happy Sea Turtle off of him. Geez, and he thought Kurumu was bad...
-TIME BREAK-
Maku was eating a salad sandwich near a vending machine, kinda messy since crumbs were going all over the place. Judging by his attitude earlier, Ben had better just play it cool and avoid pressing any buttons. "Hey, um... Maku Buraun?" He asked. "Veah? Vho's vasking? *swallows and looks in Ben's direction*... oh, it's you. Ya know, your twin really messed up my back!" Said Maku, though he looked perfectly fine to Ben. "Yeah, I..." Ben attempted, but Maku cut him off. "Apology accepted. Don't worry, the Great Maku Buraun has a heart full of gold" he said, having a VERY high opinion of himself. If Nosfer was still in the watch, Ben knew he would have said: "Sure its not his brain filled with mold?" or something along those lines.
"Sigh... look, Maku. Mashu doesn't want to race you b..."
"Because he knows he CAN'T! I wiped the track with those slowpokes this morning, and he's afraid!"
"Um, no. Mashu just wanted me to..."
"YOU?! He's tagging YOU in?!"
"What? No, NOOO! Listen, he wants it all to end!"
"... I see."
"Thank you."
"This is the final test, beating Ben Tennyson is a perfect warm-up!"
"Yeah, he wants you too lea... huh? No, no! NOOO! That's not...!"
The energinic bunny shook both of his hands with one of Ben's, sealing 'the deal'. "Done and done. We'll meet at the track after school tomorrow, 30 minutes after the final bell, sounds good?" Asked Maku, but Ben didn't even get a chance to respond because in Maku's twisted reality, the arrangement was made and walked off. "Well, that went well... Ben, how do you get yourself into these messes, pal?" Ben asked himself out loud, but he couldn't come up with a good answer.
-TIME BREAK-
That night, Ben was sleeping peacefully, the ONLY time he gets peace in this place. Someone tapped his shoulder, calling his name. He responded in a half-asleep voice before closing his eyes: "*Yawn* Uh, its ok, Yukari. I'm fine."
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"GAAAAAAAH! YUKARI?! What are you doing here?" Ben asked, waking up to Yukari, standing in his room in her PJ's. The poor teen almost jumped off his bed in shock, he was no longer in Lalaland and probably won't be going back to visit for the rest of the night. "I... uh..." she stuttered, getting a red blush. "If your gonna go nookie, keep it down. We don't need noise complaints on our record" said Nosfer-Ben, who was laying on the couch. Ben's room, either by luck or unforeseen circumstances, was several square feet larger than the average dorms most students have. "Go to sleep, I'm handling this" said Ben, not in the mood for Nosfer's comments. "Kinda hard to do that with..." Nosfer-Ben began, but Ben picked up his cell phone with Gwen's contact information in th screen... the next thing the vampire did was turn around and release a bunch of [fake] Z's.
"Ok... now Yukari, what are you doing in my room?" Asked Ben, as it wasn't like Yukari to get up in the middle of the night. "I..." she tried again, but the words refused to leave her lips. She was also shaking, and still had a red blush, so Ben got out of his bed and kneed down to the young witches eye level, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Yukari, is something bothering you?" Asked Ben. When Yukari didn't answer him right away, he hugged her, which is slowly returned. "Whatever it is, I'll do everything in my power to help you, ok?" Ben continued.
"... Anything?" Yukari asked. For some reason, Ben got a sudden chill up his spine when she answered him with that single word... nope, Mizore's not behind him this time. Chalking it up to nothing, Ben reaffirmed his statement.
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"Can I spend the night?"
"NO. F*****G. WAY."
Ben was surprised to hear Yukari wanting to spend the night with him, he wasn't sure how to respond to her. Even more surprising, Nosfer appeared to not want a girl inappropriately staying in a boys-only dorm room. "Yeah, I don't think that's a good idea, even he thinks is a bad one" Ben said on instinct. Regardless whether Yukari was a half-monster or not, sleeping with a kid is where Ben drew the line. "Yeah! How can I get away with it, if I'm not inside Ben's body?"
Never mind.
"Says the guy who throws his smart mouth like a boomerang" said Ben. "That's the point! Sure I make jokes, I imply things, hell I even use physical contact! But I'm NOT, a f******g pedophile! There's nothing worse than THAT going on your record!" Defended Nosfer-Ben. "Last week, you strapped 2 boys to a railroad, thinking it was funny" Yukari pointed out. "HAHAHAHA! Shit, I almost forgot, that was classic!" Laughed Nosfer-Ben. "They needed to go for mental evaluations for 2 months!" Ben piped in. "The railroad was abandoned" said Nosfer. "That's not the point!" Said Ben. "And another time, you almost maimed someone for checking out the other Moka" said Yukari. "Can ya blame me?" Nosfer 'asked'. "Now you, of all people, who is worried about his 'record', have a problem with me staying here?" Yukari continued. "I could care less! Stay if you want, but no hanky panky" said Nosfer.
"Your just jealous cause I asked Ben and not you" Yukari finished with a smirk. Nosfer opened his mouth... but nothing came out. "Goodnight" he said rudely, turning over. He muttered 'Megumin' or something, Ben couldn't hear... but Yukari definitely did. She took out her wand and whispered something, making magical sparkles leave Yukari's wand and float to Nosfer-Ben, then they appear to enter his head/brain. "*Cough, cough! Cough, cough!* What's with the pixie dust? Y..." the vampire was then knocked out cold, Yukari must've used Somus... Gwen's a good teacher.
"Please tell me you were..." Ben started to ask, but Yukari approached him with puppy eyes. "The truth is Ben... ugh, this is embarrassing, I... I had a bad dream, ok?" Yukari whispered. Well, Ben didn't expect to hear that from one of his admirers. Asking about what happened, Yukari told the story of her bad dream. This let Ben see a side of her she's never shown before, which gave him an epiphany. While Yukari is more intelligent than most... ok, ALL girls her age... she was still just a kid. He mentally slapped himself, he jumped to conclusions just like when Mizore asked to sleep with him. All Mizore wanted was company, and it seemed right now Yukari needed it too.
Bringing down his barrier of right-and-wrong, he also had to remember that she was a monster and was raised as one, his human upbringing needed a slight adjustment. He also recalled reading that girls in Japan are taught (or at least, made aware off) sexualty early... he 12 at the time, so he closed the book in disgust and thought nothing of it. Now here he was, in such a situation. He went on to apologize for being rude, also explaining that in his country, a boy with the age difference that he and Yukari have, is considered wrong... VERY wrong. Yukari nodded in understanding, she didn't know that piece of information.
She was going to leave, when a light flashed under the dorm room door. Security guard. Ben saw it too, and with a heavy sigh, he lifted up his bedsheets. "But, I thought you said..." Yukari started, surprised what Ben was doing. "Well, I'm not letting you sleep on the floor. Besides, you can't go out now. Unless you wanna bunk with him" Ben said, pointing to the sleeping vampire with his thumb. Yukari zipped over, her answer obvious. (AN: Boarding Schools like Yokai Academy, Japanese or not, have the rule of curfew. Not-so fun consequences are given to the rule breaker... speaking from experience here)
-TIME BREAK-
Ben was able to get Yukari back in her room 2 hours before the main bell, so no one was none the wiser. The day was uneventful, aside from Nosfer's cranker-than-usual attitude. When asked why he was, he stated he had no clue, just that he had the strangest dream about Ben and Yukari, but couldn't recall any details. Ben and Yukari were also asked if they knew why, but they just looked at each other and gave a simultaneous "no" as their answer. It was finally time for Ben to race Maku, who had put up posters ALL OVER THE FREAKING SCHOOL! Either he didn't want Ben to forget, or the school to miss his glory.
Dawning a change of clothes into track racing attire, Olympic Games-style, Ben took a spot on the track. Looking toward the bleachers, he saw his club-mates at the front... Kurumu and Mizore were waving flags that said: "Go Ben" on them, he didn't know if he should be flattered or embarrassed. Kotsubo was going to fire his starting gun when, "Not yet, we can't have an epic race in cruddy human forms" said Maku, shifting his shape to his monster form.
Maku's started to hunch over, his ears growing long and pointy. His arms became 2 powerful legs and his eyes grew larger in diameter, also sporting 2 large pupils. His skin became a fur coat, with a brown and dark tan. Finally, a short tail burst out of his... eww, let's not go there. He wasn't just a Hare... he was a European Hare (that explains the accent), rabbits that can reach speeds of 50 mph! Given the fact he was a monster and human-sized, that top speed was most likely gonna be doubled.
Sighing, Ben turned on his watch. He figured he wouldn't need the new five minute limit, all he needed was a fast alien, which was a 10 out of 22... just about 50/50. Just before slamming it down, he stopped himself. "One thing, if I beat you, will you promise to leave Mashu alone?" Asked Ben. "Sure, sure; whatever. Now let's go, pick your form already!" Said the Hare monster, not wanting to wait anymore. His eyes got crazy-looking, racing must be a drug to him. Dialing the Omnitrix, Ben sighed again and said: "Let's get this over with."
SLAM!
Ben's Form: ... What the?! Where'd this guy come from?
Nosfer-Ben: (sarcastic) Oh great, he'll turtle Trix Rabbit into submission.
Nosfer-Ben was 100% right. This alien was sea turtle-like with eight holes in his shell, along with the emblem dead center of his chest; also having large, flipper-like arms and stumpy legs. Kevin couldn't help but laugh, though he stopped as he felt Gwen's eyes glaring at the side of his head. Everyone else in the bleachers also laughed, they couldn't help it either. "Ew, Ben's all old and crusty now" complained Kurumu. "He can be any form, his seed is still the same" said Mizore, with a dark tint on her face. "Did Ben scan another monster?" Asked Gwen. Moka was about to say no, but she then had a flashback of their meeting with Mashu. When he hugged Ben, he must've touched the Omnitrix by accident.
"Of all the times to give me a new guy..." Ben was telling his watch, tapping the emblem to get the alien he wanted, but it wasn't working for some reason. 'Guess Nosfer being out also means no switches in-between... perfect' he thought, making his best guess. "HAHAHAHA! Is this a joke? What do you call that, Turtle Vent?" Maku quipped. Ben was gonna answer back, when Mashu came to his rescue. "Oh there you are, Ben. You ready to try it out now?" He asked, pulling Ben by his flipper. "What are you talking abo...?" Mashu slapped Ben's trap shut before he could continue.
"The hell's this about, he promised a race since you were too chicken!" Said Maku. "Actually... this is embarrassing, I..." Mashu whispered the rest in the rabbit ear, the facial expression wasn't pretty. "And you need to practice on him?" Asked the rabbit. "You kidding? Look at the size of his shell! It'll only take a minute, I promise" said Mashu. Maku wasn't really sure what was going on, but he let them have their minute. Getting a good distance away, the newspaper club harem followed, worried about their lover. "Ok Mashu, what's the deal?" Asked Ben. Mashu only gave a small smile.
-TIME BREAK-
Ben was 20 seconds late, which Maku made a big deal about, wasting 20 more seconds. They took their positions, ready to settle this once and for all. "Don't worry, Tennyson. I'll make this quicker than a terrapin in hot water" said Maku. Ben just smiled and said: "This terrapins... gonna Terra-SPIN."
BANG!
Kotsubo fired his gun again, and Maku was gonna book it... but Terraspin withdrew into his shell, confusing the bunny. Three flippers popped out and spun at an incredible velocity, jumpscaring everyone... and he flew... he freaking FLEW across track. "The hell, did you eat a Green Hover Wisp?" Asked Maku, but Terraspin was already gone. Not wasting anymore time, the Lepus ran as fast as his 4 strong legs could carry him. He finally caught up to the hovering reptile, being careful not to get too close to his spinning flippers... those looked like that could hurt. "No fair, turtles can't fly!" Maku complained. "True, but you can" said Terraspin, floating behind and facing the Lepus, making a very strong current that pushed him forward uncontrollably.
"Ya can't say I didn't, give you a boost" Terraspin joked, continuing on with the race. Regaining traction, Maku ran back after Terraspin. There was no way a Turtle was gonna beat him, despite that fairy tale saying otherwise! Running underneath, the Hare gave Terraspin a kick to the chest, making him flip out-of-control before landing on his back. "You need more, balance Tennyson! Ha, ha, ha, ha!" Maku laughed, leaving to turtle-like alien flat on his back... literally. Seesawing back and forth, Terraspin tried in vain to straighten himself out. His friends called out at the top of their lungs, hoping Ben/Terraspin could hear them:
Kurumu: Come on, Sweetie! Get up!
Yukari: Don't give up, Ben!
Moka: You can do it!
Nosfer-Ben: Yeah, blow past this guy!
Everyone else: ...
Nosfer-Ben: What? I can't pun like everyone else?
With those words of encouragement, Terraspin tried seesawing one last time and in a fit of frustration, he thrashed around saying "come on!" That's when he felt himself grip the track and... wait, how? Looking at his flipper, he noticed it grew claws. With no time to question it, he pulled himself as hard as he could so he was on his belly. Now rightside-up, Terraspin respun himself and was off! He caught up to Maku, they kept edging closer to the finish line (AN: Think of Brad Gamma and Max Goof from An Extremely Goofy Movie were edging in the final stretch of their college X-Game)...
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It was so agonizingly close, no one was able to tell who won. While Maku kept insisting that he won, Terraspin was more mature about it and stated "let's just call it a draw", which Maku refused to accept. Sadly no one set up a high-speed camera, so the world may never know... which is what Nosfer said while licking a Tootsie-Pop. Mizore was the only one who appreciated that joke, though some of them did find the timing was perfect and thus, a good joke.
-TIME BREAK-
"Thanks again for your help earlier, Mashu. I couldn't have done it without your knowhow" Ben praised the Luth. After all was done, they retreated back to the clubroom to rest. "Aww, it was nothing" Mashu blushed, rubbing the back of his neck. "That's the thing... how did you know what Ben's new powers were?" Asked Mizore, and it was a question that everyone wanted an answer too. "I... um... I usually don't talk about this, but you guys seem alright. My father, he was the legendary Gamera, Ben's new form reminded me of him" said Mashu.
The Japanese harem was rendered speechless. "YOUR SERIOUS?! YOUR RELATED TO THE LEGENDARY GAMERA?!" They all cried in unison, but Mashu shushed them. "Not so loud! It's true I'm basically a celebrity, but I just want a normal life. The paparazzi, media, newscasting... I never wanted that. So please, don't tell anyone. Ever since he died in that explosion, people have been asking if his legacy would continue with his family. He was a horrible father, never around when I needed him, and my mother was eaten by a Killer Whale..." Mashu began to cry at the dark memories, not wanting to revisit them further. The club understood and didn't push him.
The day was over, and everyone headed back to their dorms. Ben was even more interested in the connection between aliens and monsters now, but some things are better left alone... Nosfer didn't take the hint and kept pestering the poor guy, which got him a blast of plasma to the face when Mashu yelled: "Please just STOOOOOOOOOOOP!" Nosfer commented one final time before fainting: "I'm going... back to sleep... goodnight mommy."
(AN: Ending Theme.)
I didn't want to make up monsters' like some authors do, but this was the only way to include Terraspin with monster DNA. Plus, I think this was a nice little spin on the classic Tortoise and the Hare... Ben10/Rosario style! Can anyone find out the hidden meaning between those 2 new characters (NOT that they represent the classic I just mentioned)? Use Google Translate to translate their names to your language, along with a little outside-the-box thinking and research, for the answer. Trust me, it's a clever little easter egg I placed in there.
Have you all also noticed a certain pattern? The monster girls have been either making excuses, or have a legitimate reason to be by Ben's side at night. I'm having them each spend a night with Ben, makes misunderstandings even funnier down the road. With this chapter, the only girls left are Ruby and Kokoa... the redhead being the more difficult of the bunch, the reason is (or SHOULD be) obvious.
One thing, should I include some of the Ben10 reboot stuff? As unpopular as this sounds, I think its decent. Nowhere NEAR as good as the original of course, but I finally gave in after hearing how bad it was and went to forge my own opinion. Its corny, like most cartoons these days (which was expected), but its not nearly as terrible as the internet made me believe... again my opinion. So what are your thoughts, should I include choice things from the reboot, or stay strictly within the original community? Vote in a poll I'm holding about it.
Until then, see ya laterz! :)