"What's wrong?" Nui asked. She wore a pink sweater with a heart sewn into the chest, white shorts and pink bunny slippers. Ben sent her a message when he was at the door and when she opened it she found him soaked with rainwater. A flash of lightning illuminated his body in white and blue. Thunder rumbled from the storm clouds.
"It's nothing," Ben said. "Can I come in?"
He was already wearing her race's abilities when he walked under the rain. He knew intrinsically that he wouldn't catch a cold or a fever due to the apparent immortality of Nui's kind which improved his body's resistance to sickness and diseases. In fact he was sure he was immune altogether.
"Of course!" Nui looked angry he would even assume she wouldn't let him in. He hesitated. She grabbed his wrist and pulled him inside her house, soaking the floor with his wet shoes. She closed the door. "Take a bath. I'll make some hot chocolate."
"You really don't have to," Ben said.
"Hush." Nui walked up the stairs. "I'll meet you in the second floor living room. Come on."
He sighed.
Five minutes later Ben and Nui sat on a white couch. She held a mug over her thighs while he finished sipping his and left it on the coffee table.
"Here, you can have this too," Nui said. Ben shook his head. He wore a yellow jersey shirt and black shorts, courtesy of his clothes he brought with him, to Nui's confusion.
"Why were you walking in the rain?" Nui asked.
"Just a little tired," Ben said.
"You wet yourself when you're tired?" She made a cheeky grin and covered her lips with the mug as she drank hot chocolate.
He wanted to tell her he was disturbed by the fact terrorist groups were targeting his friends but decided to hold his tongue. Nui was just a normal resident of the island. Rich, sure, but uninvolved in the strange occurrences Ben was always drawn to.
"Do you want me to leave?" he asked.
"Don't ask something stupid," Nui said, her tone hinting to drop the subject. "If you're going to make me answer your question I'll have to hit you." She put the empty mug on the table beside his and stretched her arms.
The house was dark. The only illumination came from the light from the kitchen door, an inch open, and from the television which was on mute.
Spending a rainy night with his friend over hot chocolate made for a cozy experience.
"You're not going to tell me where you've been?" Nui asked. Ben cringed. He wasn't one to keep secrets, but for some reason he wanted her to be away from all this. Moments with her were like a fantasy away from the violent world he lived in.
"I-"
She leaned her head to his chest. "Ben, if you're going to lie to me just keep quiet instead, okay?"
He nodded.
"You're like me," Nui said. "That's what I like about you. I'm pretty shallow, aren't I?"
"You're not shallow," he said.
"I only invited you here because I thought it'd be fun." She chuckled. "But then I learned you could turn into something like me, and I was so happy."
She didn't add anything more. She pressed her ear to his chest and listened to his heartbeat. Lightning flashed, coating the room in white and blue, followed by thunder rumbling in the sky. They must've fallen asleep. When he awoke a few hours later, his back was to the seat cushion and she rested by his side. His arm wrapped around her in a hug and she wore a goofy smile as she nuzzled his chest. He looked at the ceiling and wondered about his future.
Bit by bit he was changing from the Ben who would one day be recognized as the savior of the world.
An alternate world.
'I wonder how Gwen's doing.'
And he also wondered if he would ever come back.
After their sleep, he checked the time and learned it was 2 AM. Nui awoke to the light of his phone and sat up. There wasn't any drowsiness. They didn't need to sleep, just as they didn't need to eat or drink. Nui was an immortal creature and Ben mimicked her features. He went back to the kitchen, grabbed a box of cereals and a milk carton from the fridge, two bowls and spoons and returned to the living room. He put the cereals in the bowls and poured them with milk.
"You put the milk first, silly," Nui chided him.
"Nah. I'm pretty sure it's the cereals first," Ben insisted with a wide grin which made her giggle.
"Are you going to school later?" The sound of the rain pelting the rooftop, windows and walls receded.
"Yeah. I'll grab some uniform from my house."
"You know, if you really wanted to stay here I wouldn't mind."
"That'd make me some sort of leech, wouldn't it?" He handed her a bowl and a spoon and took the other one for himself. The crunching sounds filled the silence.
"I wouldn't mind," Nui said, holding a spoon under her chin. "I've got a guest room just for the occasion. I'll even make you pay rent if you're more comfortable with that."
Ben didn't answer, focusing on finishing his cereal and when that was done, drinking the milk. "That was good," Ben said. He looked at the name of the cereal box. "Revocs Cereals? Are you for real?"
She beamed. "You betcha. The best in the world."
Unable to help himself, he patted her head and pulled her into another hug. God help him he wanted to protect her from the evils in this world.
The next morning Ben walked to school. He wore a green jacket over his uniform and slung a messenger bag over his shoulder. He learned a lot from the Nudist Beach operative he followed into their hideout, including the identity of other members.
In fact, one of them was operating in the school.
Ben was going to confront them and inquire as to why they had ties to a terrorist organization.
The sky was covered with dark clouds. A strong gust of wind bristled the grass. A plastic bag flew past him. The concrete sidewalk was wet from heavy rain the night before. The cold air was enough for him to see his own breath whenever he exhaled.
Normally the cold weather would be enough to discourage him from going outdoors and make him stay in his bedroom and sleep.
He exhaled once more. This time fire escaped his mouth and licked the air before it disappeared.
If someone were to touch his forehead, they would assume he was burning with a high fever over 40 degrees celsius. It was actually much, much higher.
He was coating himself in the power of Heatblast, a fire manipulating alien. The abnormally warm temperature of his body repelled the cold.
The peaceful walk, unfortunately, didn't last.
He sensed the temperature of something closing in on him fast. Ben coated his soles with fire and slid on the surface of the sidewalk twenty meters away from his original position just as it was bombarded with projectiles and was destroyed, leaving a smoking hole in its wake.
"Aw. I missed." The cutesy voice came twenty feet above. Nonon Jakuzure wore a pink flight suit that left her head bare, six red buttons went down her chest, her arms and legs were encased in white armor resembling ocarinas and woofers extended from the lower thrusters of her wings. A pinkish white major's hat with the skull of a monkey covered her head.
"Did you just attack me?" Ben smiled. "Don't think just because you're cute means I'll hold back on you."
"You think I'm cute?" Nonon's cheeks resembled her hair. Bright pink. She shook it off and smirked. "Of course I'm cute."
"I don't know why Satsuki thought sending you would make a difference in the outcome of a fight," Ben said. "But I'll give you a chance to walk away. I'm in a good mood, you see. Spent the night with my friend."
"Your girlfriend?" Nonon scoffed. "TMI, Ben Tennyson. Too much information. I don't care what you do under the sheets and I'd prefer you refrain from mentioning that in the future."
He felt his cheeks warm, and not from his powers.
"S-shut up you idiot!" he said.
She laughed. "Hey, you're pretty cute yourself. If you prostrate and beg for my forgiveness I'll let you off the hook and fly away with my Symphony Regalia Mark II."
"Nah." Ben waved his hands and coated them in fire. "I'm too much of a battle maniac to back down from a fight."
Nonon responded by firing white musical notes from her woofers. Ben's eyes widened in surprise. He threw his arms back and swung them forward, creating a wave of fire to meet the attack. He clapped his hands and punched a fist into the air, releasing a pulse that threatened to envelop Nonon in flames. She flew away. He leapt, coating his soles in flames and flew after her. Her body was pushed back as two heart-shaped beams of sound exploded from her woofers. "Symphony Regalia: Grave Assault!" Ben threw his left arm in an arc. A spear of fire followed and curled in the air. He dodged one beam but was unable to avoid the other, falling ten meters away when it struck his chest. Nonon tried to fly from his attack but was struck in her right shoulder which was set aflame.
She clapped the fire away and sighed in relief when it was gone. She scowled at Ben. "You almost burned me!"
He rubbed his chest. "You seem fine though?" If she was anything like Ryuko then fire wouldn't leave a mark on her skin. "Guess I'll just have to up the ante." Tornadoes of fire burst from his palms and covered the space around them in a spheric wall of fire, coloring them in an orange glow.
"Ha! If this is the best you can do then you're easy picking!" The twin woofers on her back split into four sections glowing with pink and purple light from within. The light continued growing brighter until she was bathed in shades of pink in contrast to the orange tint Ben's. "Symphony Regalia: Moderato Assault!"
From the woofers came shockwaves followed by eight heart-shaped beams spiraling through the air. Ben took in a deep breath and exhaled a stream of fire forming a wall in front of his body. Each beam whittled the literal firewall, but by the time it broke through the flames Ben was already gone. He created a smokescreen made of fire blanketing the area and flew from one spot to the next as he threw balls of fire from his hands in an effort to distract her further. She glanced worryingly at the spheric wall of fire enclosing them in limited space. She flew away from his approaching body, paused when he got too close, aimed with her lower thrusters and released a swarm of missiles just as he blanketed her with flames. Both combatants were coated in fiery explosions but when the dust settled it revealed neither of them were seriously hurt.
"How long are we going to keep this up!?" Nonon's skin glistened with sweat. "If you think you can-" She paused to inhale. "Outlast me, you've got another thing coming!"
She released another torrent of heart-shaped beams which Ben flew away from. As the fight went on he came to realize his flames weren't doing a thing. Directly, at least. He didn't bother dodging the next stream of missiles and let his body be flung around by the attack. Nonon began laughing maniacally and pointed at his scathed form. "Looks like I'll be winning this match, Benjamin," she said with a sneer. Her breathing was more labored. It was only a matter of time. It didn't even take half a minute when his plan came into effect.
With her final breath Nonon lost consciousness and sunk into the floor of fire. He dispelled the flames and flew after her, catching her body before it hit the ground.
One of the advantages of his fire manipulating abilities was removing the need to breathe. Despite her unique abilities Nonon's powers came from her clothes. Her biology at its core was left unchanged. She was still human. She still needed to eat, to drink, to sleep, to breathe. She needed oxygen, and she didn't realize Ben could keep his fire going even after the oxygen in the immediate area was gone.
"Well, that was a waste of time," he said.