An idea that hit me and I just had to do it. :)

Ben 10 belongs to Cartoon Network and Man of Action. Balan Wonderworld belongs to Square Enix. I only own Rachel and Sasha.


Some New Friends To Boost Your Confidence

Yuri ran from the school in tears as her project she had worked so hard on for the science fair was ruined. She had everything set up all nice and ready to present when the bullies had come and smashed everything and tore up all her hard work, calling her names. By the time the teacher came by, the young girl had run off, upset as she just kept running, not sure where she was headed, but she soon found herself at the theater. But before she could say anything, a portal opened up at her feet and she fell through it, letting out a scream of terror, which caught Balan's attention and he realized what had happened.

"Yuri!" He called out, but by the time he had reached the rapidly-closing portal, it was too late. Though he was wondering how a portal opened up like that, he began trying to find out where Yuri had gone, searching the whole theater and even Lance's domain. When the inhabitants and costumes heard about what happened, they joined in the search too. Even Lance joined in after assuring Balan that Yuri was not in his domain.

"Where could she have gone?" Sickle Slinger asked.

"Hopefully somewhere safe," Sana said.

Meanwhile, Yuri landed on something soft and looked to see she was on a plush couch in a room that looked like a rec room. She sat up and looked around, tears still escaping her eyes as she tried to catch her breath.

"Hey, you okay?" A voice she didn't recognize asked her and she jumped, turning to find a being that looked like a grasshopper walking on two legs. Yuri's eyes went wide at that and the grasshopper looked worried, holding up his hands in a 'calm down' gesture. "Easy. I'm not going to hurt you," he said gently.

"What happened that got you so upset?" Asked another voice and she turned to see a yellow bug that looked similar to a beetle. An acrid smell filled the air and she coughed a little.

"Whoops, sorry," came another voice as a large bug with four eyes landed. "I know. My scent is kind of off-putting."

Yuri's mouth dropped open in shock at seeing these human-sized bugs and while she was a bit startled, the bug lover in her was amazed. "Hmm, she's not reacting with fear," came a soft, whispering voice and she turned her head to see two beings that looked like giant moths, one being colored blue and black and the other being red, black, and yellow.

"Whoa," the child breathed out in awe. "What...What kind of bugs are you guys?"

Not taking offense as they knew not everyone knew about aliens, but also surprised that the girl wasn't showing fear, they looked at each other before someone else lowered themselves from the ceiling. "She came through a portal," he said as Yuri looked up at him to see he was a plant-like being that looked like a futuristic Venus flytrap plant.

"But she doesn't seem to be afraid, despite the fact that she's been crying," said one of the moth creatures.

"Maybe she got bullied?" The beetle one asked before jumping up on the couch to get closer to Yuri, who held still as he came closer. "I don't see any bruises on her to indicate a fight."

Yuri shook her head. "No, they didn't hurt me like that," she said. "They...They destroyed my science fair project that I worked really hard on."

"What was your project about?" The grasshopper asked, sitting down beside her and the beetle.

"It was about bugs in the rainforest and how they benefit the ecosystem there," she said. "I ever got to talk to an expert and wrote a report on it, but the bullies tore up everything and smashed everything too."

The girl then looked away as fresh tears came to her eyes. "The science fair is tomorrow and I don't have anything for it," she said as she sniffled and the tears fell.

"Aww, don't cry," the beetle said, gently nudging her hand.

"Did your teacher see what had happened?" The plant-like being asked.

She nodded. "But I didn't stick around to see what she said," she said. "Guess I was too upset over my project being ruined." She sighed. "But what am I going to do? I really wanted to tell everyone about what I had researched."

"Well, maybe we can help," the flying bug said.

Yuri looked at him. "How?" She asked curiously.

"Well, first off, we're going to help you feel better," one of the moths said.

"Before we do that, what's your name, kiddo?" The plant-like being asked.

"Yuri," the girl said.

"That's a cute name," the grasshopper said. "I'm Crashhopper."

"Wildvine," the plant-like being said.

"I'm Big Chill and this is my brother, Ultimate Big Chill," the blue moth introduced.

"Stinkfly," the flying bug said.

"And I'm Ball Weevil," the beetle one said.

Yuri blinked at their names curiously. "Um...I don't think I've seen bugs or plants like you guys before," she said.

"You probably haven't, considering the fact that we're aliens," Ultimate Big Chill said gently.

The child looked surprised. "For real?" She asked before looking confused. "But...I thought aliens were green with big black eyes."

The aliens chuckled at her description, not taking offense. "Nope, we come in all shapes, sizes, and colors, kiddo," Crashhopper said.

"Now, I think it's time to cheer you up," said Wildvine as his leg vines came closer, one gently tying around Yuri's wrists and lifting them up over her head. She tugged a little, but the vine held firm, yet wasn't hurting her.

"I wonder how ticklish she is," Ball Weevil said before crawling up to Yuri's shoulder and he began nuzzling her neck playfully. The child squeaked before giggling.

"Looks like we've got a very ticklish little one," Stinkfly said as he gently grabbed one of Yuri's ankles and pulled off her shoe and sock, his fingers wiggling against her foot, making her start laughing.

"Let me help you out, Stinkfly," Crashhopper said, grabbing Yuri's other foot and removing her other shoe and sock, tickling her toes, which made a squeal leave the child's throat as her laughter continued.

"Come on, brother," Big Chill said, tickling Yuri's knees.

"What a cute little one," Ultimate Big Chill said, tickling Yuri's underarms. "Tickle, tickle, tickle!"

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Yuri laughed out, squirming to get free, but the vine that held her wrists didn't let go and she felt feathers against her feet, which made her squeal again.

"My, my, she's very ticklish," Wildvine said. "And I see a cute little stomach just begging for some tickles."

The child laughed as Wildvine moved her shirt up just enough to expose her stomach and belly button and his thin fingers wiggled all over her ticklish stomach, one finger even wiggling in her belly button, which made her laughter hit the highest octave she could. "Cootchie, cootchie, coo!" The plant-like alien cooed.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! STOHOHOHOHOHOP!" Yuri pleaded with them through her laughter.

"Just one more thing," Big Chill said with a grin and the others caught on.

"Raspberries," Ball Weevil said.

Yuri was in stitches as each of them took turns blowing raspberries into her stomach, some of them giving her raspberries right onto her belly button, which made her squeal before her voice started to give out. Noticing this, Wildvine gave her one last big raspberry over her belly button and Yuri let out a final squeal before going limp. The aliens stopped the tickle torture and Wildvine unwound the vine from the girl's wrists.

Yuri, feeling them free her, took some deep breaths as they all gathered around. "You okay, kiddo?" Crashhopper asked, gently ruffling her hair.

She gave out a few tired giggles before nodding. "Yes," she said before she felt her head being to nod, feeling sleepy.

"Aww, someone's all tuckered out," Ultimate Big Chill said with a chuckle, scooping up the child into his arms.

"Take a rest, kiddo," Wildvine said.

"We'll keep watch over you," Stinkfly promised.

Wildvine created hammocks from his vines and they all settled down in a hammock, Ultimate Big Chill setting Yuri down on one too and the young girl felt Crashhopper gently remove her glasses while Ball Weevil tugged a blanket over the girl. Moments later, Yuri was sleeping soundly and the others also fell asleep too.


Downstairs, Rachel was mending some clothes with Sasha's help. "Guess the guys and whoever their tickle victim was fell asleep," the younger sister said.

"Probably," the older sister said.

Just then, Balan appeared in front of them, making them both jump in surprise before they smiled, but their smiles dropped at seeing how worried their uncle was. "Girls, I'm so sorry to drop in on you both like this, but have either of you seen Yuri? She's a young girl with purple hair and wears red-framed glasses," he said.

They shook their heads. "Sorry, Uncle Balan. We haven't seen her," Sasha said.

Rachel had a sudden thought. "Do you sense her here, Uncle Balan?" She asked.

Balan closed his eyes and opened them a moment later. "Yes, she's here," he said in surprise.

Rachel stood up. "Follow me," she said.

They headed to the rec room and paused at seeing the cute site of some of the aliens sleeping. Wildvine had formed hammocks for them all and the five bug-like aliens were sleeping in the hammocks that formed a circle around another hammock.

And little Yuri was sound asleep in the hammock in the middle. "So that's what we heard earlier," Sasha said with a smile, keeping her voice down. "Yuri must have come here and the guys tickled her to cheer her up."

"And now they're protecting her as they're napping," Rachel said, also keeping her voice down.

Balan sighed in relief. "Thank goodness she's okay," he said. "Eis came to the theater and told us that some bullies had destroyed Yuri's science fair project that she had worked so hard on."

"That's awful," Sasha said as the three of them headed down the hall to let the others nap in peace.

"But how did Yuri get here?" Rachel asked.

"A portal opened up beneath her and I couldn't catch her in time," Balan admitted.

The sisters looked curious, but decided to let the matter drop as they invited their uncle to stay and have snacks with them.


A couple hours later...

Yuri yawned as she stretched, feeling better as she opened her eyes and found her new friends were waking up too, smiling at her. "Hey, kiddo," Big Chill said in greeting.

"Hi," she said, smiling.

"Ah, there's a cute smile," Ultimate Big Chill said, gently wiggling his fingers into Yuri's neck and making her giggle.

"And an even cuter giggle," Wildvine said as they all got up.

Crashhopper looked at the girl. "Hey, Yuri, maybe we can help you," he said. "We actually know someone who can fix things that have been broken and make them look like new."

"Even if they're in a lot of pieces?" Yuri asked.

"Even then," Ball Weevil said.

"Let's go ask Rachel if she knows where Alien X is," Stinkfly said.

"Alien X?" Yuri asked curiously.

"A very powerful alien that can do a lot of things," Wildvine said as Crashhopper set Yuri on his back and began hopping away, making her giggle.

Hearing the commotion, Rachel got up to see what was going on when Crashhopper landed with a loud 'THUD' in front of her. "AAAAAAAHHHHHH!" The blonde-haired girl yelled, startled as she jumped back, tripping over her feet. Balan quickly caught her before she hit the floor and Crashhopper laughed before looking contrite.

"Sorry, Rach," he said.

She took a deep breath to calm down and looked at him with mock anger. "You trying to give me a heart attack, you crazy jumper?" She asked, the smile on her face proving she wasn't mad.

"Nah, just cheering up Yuri here," he said, indicating to the girl on his back.

Yuri saw the two girls and gasped in happiness at seeing Balan. "Uncle Balan!" She said, climbing down from Crashhopper's back and running up to the maestro, who scooped her up into a warm hug.

"I'm glad to see you're alright and feeling better, Yuri," he said. "Eis told us what happened at school."

"Speaking of which, do you know where Alien X is, Rach?" Wildvine asked.

"Sorry, I don't," she said before looking at her sister. "Sasha?"

"Sorry, I don't know either," the brown-haired girl said.

"Oh, he went to take care of the bullies that bothered Yuri and destroyed her project," came a voice and they looked around to see who had spoken before Yuri blinked at seeing a small bug flying in front of her. "Hi, Yuri."

"Wow," she said. "Are you an alien too?"

"Sure am," he said. "The name's Nanomech. Alien X and I were on patrol when he saw the bullies ruin your project, so he asked me to have you sent here while he took care of the bullies. He just called me to tell me that the bullies are in detention and your project is all fixed up and ready for tomorrow."

"Really?" She asked in surprise.

"You bet," came a new voice as a alien with a body like the night sky appeared. "One thing I will not tolerate is bullies, especially when they destroy someone's hard work."

He smiled at Yuri. "By the way, I read over your report and looked over your project and I must say, I'm impressed," he said.

Balan smiled. "Our little Yuri is one smart cookie," he said, making the child blush in shyness at the compliment before she perked up.

"Actually, it's not quite finished yet," she said before looking at her new friends. "You guys helped me realize something."

"What's that, kiddo?" Stinkfly asked.

"The ending on my report wasn't flowing right and you guys have given me an idea to make it better," she said. "The fair isn't until tomorrow, so I've got a little time to make it right."

"Then let's get you to the theater so you can tweak that report," Balan said.

Sasha looked at Rachel. "Hey, Rach, do we have any plans for tomorrow?" She asked.

"Nope, our schedule's clear," she said before looking at their family, who smiled.

"We've all got the day off tomorrow," Big Chill said.

Alien X smiled. "Yuri, would it be alright if we came to see your project at the science fair tomorrow?" He asked.

She lit up. "I'd love that," she said.

The next day, the fair was in full swing and everyone was enjoying themselves and Yuri was ready to give her presentation when she noticed a group of people walk up to her. She was at first confused until one of them handed her a flower. "Ready to give your presentation, kiddo?" He asked.

His voice sounded familiar and she gasped in realization, seeing him wink at her and the flower in her hands changed to a beautiful purple color. "A mood flower," the man said. "I grow them myself."

"It's so pretty," she said as he gently took the flower and placed it in her hair.

"And don't worry about the bullies," another man said, making her realize it was Alien X speaking. "They're still in detention."

"Now go show everyone just how amazing the rainforest and the bugs in it are," Rachel said with a smile.

"Good luck, Yuri," Balan said, also in his human disguise.

Seeing they had all come as promised, she nodded, their friendship giving her to boost of confidence she needed as she stepped up to present her project with pride.


This one really took off on me. :)

Please leave a review, but no flames! :)

GoldGuardian2418