nicholascaldwell959: Thanks for voting. It will be counted below.

ChronoDx: Thanks for voting. They'll be counted below.

When you said the Prison Arc, do you mean the Shibuya incident arc? If not, please let me know. But if so,all I can tell you right now is that if I can do it well, it's going to be pretty exciting.

Maximum Rhapsody: Anytime, and of course. Having a co-writer with whom I can pitch ideas for possible stories would be great. You had already voted for Miwa though,so it has already been counted. Yes, Satoru will train Ben. The other questions, you'll just have to wait and see.

The Princess of the Red Moon: Glad you enjoyed it. I agree that she's a great character. Her winning though will depend on who the readers that haven't voted yet vote for. The rematch between Ben and Sukuna won't be happening anytime soon unfortunately, and you'll see why later on in this Chapter. I'm grateful that you trust my judgement in that regard. Hope this chapter meets up to your expectations.

Jetjaguar98: Glad you like it, and completely agree. With the way things are right now, ensuring one's safety and overall well being should take top priority.I hope I solve them too.

I completely agree with you on Bountyodst being deserving of respect for putting his story out here on Fanfiction. It can't be overstated enough that it's not as easy as it may seem, especially when you're basically opening your work to thousands of people.

I also completely agree on Ben being one of a kind even without the Omnitrix. I would go even further to say that it's because Ben is who he is as a character that I hold the Ben 10 franchise dearly to my heart.

Also sorry it's coming late. I actually fell sick just a few days after publishing the last chapter. And though I haven't fully recovered yet, I'm a lot better now,to which I'm immensely grateful for.

Normally I'd drop a Link to my Discord account, but Discord itself is having some issues,so for the time being,we can communicate through Pm's.

My stance on the retcons that came with the introduction of Servantis: I like/ don't mind everything except the change of Kevin's origins. That irks me quite a bit, but even that can be fixed with head canon that not every detail Servantis said about Osmomsians was true. Overall, the Rooters Arc is pretty good,I think most of the fanbase just felt sour over the retcon of Kevin's origins more than anything,to which I completely understand.

I'm glad you like the more casual moments between Ben and the JJK cast. I intend to do more of them down the line whenever it may be significant. Yes,I will give Ben more clothes, but not much.

On you wanting to do a Ben 10 crossover story of your own, you have my support. If you ever feel like you need advice on how to go about things, I'm here for you. Though I'll be honest,I haven't watched HunterxHunter yet. So if it's a Ben 10 and HunterxHunter crossover story you want to do primarily,I can offer my best help in the Ben 10 aspects of things.

Take care of yourself as well. Your support is greatly appreciated.

Thanh Hau Trah Doh: Yes,he does.

Bountyodst: Glad you liked the chapter, and that you were able to come to an understanding with Jetjaguar98.

I was hoping nobody would catch onto that, but I'll still give you props for doing so. Yes,Rath Vs Todo will happen.

Gwen didn't hate the fact that her magic powers were due to her anodite heritage. She was bummed out by it initially, but she eventually came to terms with it. As to why Ben never did try to do it,he can't. At least, not without putting in a lot of effort to do so. We can see from the existence of Ultimate Ben that Ben can in fact make mana shields at the very least. Though that was due to being around Gwen for 20 years.

Izayoi De Cisne: Thanks for voting,it will be counted below.

JeffreyDemonio, IzayoiFenix: Thanks for voting for Kugisaki guys. Your votes will be counted below.

The current results of the polls are as follows:

1) Nobara Kugisaki : 7 Votes.

2) Maki Zenin: 6 Votes.

3) Kasumi Miwa: 4 Votes.

4) Mai Zenin: 3 Votes.

5) Momo Nishimiya.

Disclaimer: I do not own Ben 10 or Jujutsu Kaisen in any way. They were both created by Man of Action and Gege Akutami respectively and are owned by Cartoon Network and Shonen Jump respectively.

Enjoy!

Chapter 7: First Mission: Part 1

The sky was completely cloudy as it began to rain. Ben, Yuji, Megumi and Nobara all stood outside a wide two story building that was grey in color. In front of them was a man with black hair, curved black eyebrows, sunken cheeks, and glasses. The man also wore a black long sleeved suit over a button down shirt and a black tie, black pants, and black shoes. This was Kiyotaka Ijichi, their current instructor.

"Our window verified the curse womb three hours ago." Began Kiyotaka with his hands behind his back and his body arched to the side as he stood in front of the teens. All five of them looked towards the building.

"Once 90 percent were successfully evacuated,they made the call to seal off the center." Behind the five was two ambulance vans with some of it's officials outside as they also looked towards the building.

"Citizens within a 500 meter radius have also been evacuated,as well."

"Ijichi, question." Began Yuji as he raised up his left hand.

"What's a 'window' here?"

"A window is a member of Jujutsu Tech who can see curses. They aren't sorcerers, though." Explained Kiyotaka.

"Oh,ok." Said Yuji.

"Let's continue." Began Kiyotaka.

"Detainee Block 2. At present, five detainees remain there with the curse womb. If this curse womb is the type that metamorphoses,we predict it will become a special-grade cursed spirit."

'Special-grade...' Thought Nobara. Yuji then stood in front of Ben who stood beside Nobara and Megumi.

"Hey, so...I still don't really understand what 'special grade' means." Asked Yuji, which caused Nobara and Megumi to sigh,the former of disbelief and the other of disappointment.

"Hey, don't be like that, guys. I don't know much about this stuff either." Said Ben in Yuji's defense.

"Then allow me to explain it so even idiots can understand." Said Kiyotaka, causing Ben to frown.

"First there's Grade 4: A wooden bat is enough for them. Grade 3:If you have a handgun, you can rest easy. Grade 2: It'll be a close call with a shotgun. Grade 1: Even a tank may be insufficient. Then there's special grade. Let's say you might be on even footing if you carpet bomb it with cluster bombs."

"That's real bad!" Said a distressed Yuji. Megumi and Nobara looked worried while Ben looked serious.

"Normally a jujutsu sorcerer on par with the cursed spirit would take on the mission. On a day like today, that would be Gojo-sensei." Explained Megumi.

"I-I see." Said Yuji before turning back.

"So where is Gojo-sensei?" Asked Yuji.

"Away on business." Replied Megumi.

"Huh?" Said a confused Yuji.

"He's not someone who should be loafing around at school in the first place." Explained Megumi.

Flashback

Satoru was seen leaving through the entrance of the school. With his back turned to Megumi,he waved at him.

"Don't expect any souvenirs." Said Satoru with a smile.

Flashback End

"Unfortunately, we're constantly short-handed in this business." Explained Kiyotaka as he turned to face the four of them directly.

"You'll often have to undertake missions beyond your power." He then shifted the bridge of his glasses before looking at them directly.

'The current case, however,is an abnormal one, and most urgent. Do not fight under any circumstances." Warned Kiyotaka.

"If you encounter a special-grade, your options are to either run or die." The teens were taken aback by this.

"Sorry but that doesn't apply to me." Began Ben in a stern tone.

"I get that these things are very dangerous and that you're just looking out for us, but I've fought worse,so I can hold my own against them." Ben then turned to face the trio.

" If it comes down to it, I'll fight it by myself and make sure you guys and the hostages get out safely."

"Did you hit your head or something? How could you possibly hope to fight a special-grade and not die?" Said an annoyed Nobara.

"He's done it before." Said Megumi coolly.

"Huh? Stop spouting nonsense too, Fushiguro..."

"He's right,I have." Said Ben, interrupting Nobara.

"When Itadori ate Sukuna's finger for the first time,I had to fight Sukuna, and won. Pretty convincingly too." The confidence in which Ben said this caused Nobara's and Kiyotaka's eyes to widen in surprise.

"I-I see. How is it that I wasn't informed of this?" Said a surprised Kiyotaka.

"Gojo-sensei must have left that out purposefully." Replied Megumi.

"Why would he..."

"With all due respect, that's not important right now." Said Ben, interrupting Kiyotaka.

"My apologies, you are correct. Although you are to strictly ensure the verification and rescue of any potential survivors, with this new piece of information I've received,I hereby permit only Tennyson to engage the special-grade in combat, and only if it can't be avoided." Said Kiyotaka.

"I'm pretty sure this is just as important as saving the people still in there. So that no one else gets hurt." Said Ben adamantly.

"Very well then." Said Kiyotaka with a sigh.

"Excuse me!" Shouted the voice of an elderly woman behind the teens. Once they turned back,they saw up to four men in suits blocking a woman of average height who seemed to be in her mid to late 40's. She had a brown ponytail styled hair, black eyes and mild wrinkles on her cheeks. She wore a cream sweater underneath a brown jacket opened in the middle. Blue jeans and black shoes, along with a blue shopping bag around her left hand.

"Excuse me, where's Tadashi?!" Asked the woman with evident distress.

"Stop! Stay back!" Shouted one of the men.

"Please stay back!" Shouted another.

"Is Tadashi...is my son Tadashi all right?!" Her voice cracked as she asked this question. Yuji's lips were pursed together, giving him an appearance of someone about to break down crying. Though Ben's expression was more subdued, evident sadness could be seen on his face. Before either teens could react further, Kiyotaka stepped in front of them.

"Please calm down!"

"Hey,stop it!"

"Let go of me!"

"Please stay back! It's dangerous!"

"Let me through!"

"She's a guardian who was here for a visit." Explained Kiyotaka while still facing forward.

"Please step away. There's a possibility that someone has spread poisonous gas throughout the center." Said Kiyotaka.

"We cannot share any more details at this time." The woman looked absolutely devastated, as if her entire world had just been destroyed.

"No." She said before closing her eyes with both hands and falling to her knees.

"Why?" Her voice cracked even further,as she was at the verge of crying.

"Why is this happening?!" Fresh tears began to stream down from her eyes to below the inside of her hands. With heavy hearts,Yuji and Ben looked at the woman with great sadness and sympathy. As they clenched their fists however,a wave of determination washed over them,as their expressions became serious.

"Tennyson, Fushiguro, Kugisaki." Began Yuji as he cracked his knuckles before turning to face his teammates.

"We're gonna save them!" Ben nodded in response.

"Of course we are." Said Nobara with similar conviction. Though Megumi didn't say anything, his mind was already made up as well.


The teens, alongside Kiyotaka were at a hallway section atop the building. They began to walk towards the entrance while Kiyotaka stayed behind.

"Be careful." He advised before bringing his left index and middle finger to his mouth.

"I'll put up my Veil. Emerge from darkness, blacker than darkness. Purify that which is impure." Chanted Kiyotaka in a low tone. As he said this,dark clouds in the form of a dome began to enclose itself around the compound. This caused Yuji and Ben to stop walking as they looked on in surprise.

"It's becoming night!" Shouted Yuji in excitement.

"It's Veil. There's a residential area nearby,so this barrier conceals us from the outside world." Explained Megumi dryly.

"Neat." Said Ben with a sly smile.

"More than that. It's incredible!" Said Yuji with a beaming smile.

"Ignorant." Said Nobara in a dismissive manner.

"Demon Dogs!" Said Megumi as he clasped the four fingers of his right hand on top of his outstretched left hand. Suddenly,a black mist began to form around Megumi's shadow, before eventually materializing into the white Demon Dog. The now summoned Shikigami then let out a howl, causing Yuji to look at it with awe.

"He'll let us know if the curse gets close." Said Megumi.

"Oh,I see!" Said Yuji before walking towards the dog and kneeling in front of it.

"Good boy,good boy! We're counting on you,okay?" Said Yuji with a smile as he rubbed the fur around it's neck with both hands.

Megumi and Yuji stood in front as they opened the door, while Nobara and Ben stood behind them. The Demon Dog stood in the middle of the four. As the door was opened, the dog walked inside.

"Let's go." Said Megumi,to which the three teens would comply. They ran nside a hallway that emitted a bright orange light, with it's walls similar to that from a factory.

"Wait!" Shouted Megumi as he came to a stop and held his right hand so that his teammates and Shikigami would do the same. Once the three stopped,they looked towards where Megumi was facing, and what they saw caused them to gasp in surprise.

They were looking at the ceiling of the hallway, but all that they saw was darkness.

"What is this?" Asked a puzzled Nobara.

"Wh-What's going on in here?" This is a two-story dorm, isn't it?" Asked a equally puzzled Yuji.

"C-C-Calm down! It's a maisonette." Said Nobara, facing Yuji in an attempt to reassure him. Though it was evident from the sweatdrop on her cheek that she too was nervous. But none looked more unsettled than Megumi, who's eyes were still glued on the non existent ceiling.

'No, it's not.' Thought Megumi through teeth gritted due to fear. He too, also had a sweatdrop on his cheek.

'It's the deployment of an Innate Domain due to cursed energy. It's my first time seeing one this big' His eyes immediately widened as he came to a sudden realization.

"Where's the door?!" Asked Megumi as he looked towards the three teens. They then looked behind each in response.

"Huh?" Said a confused Yuji,as to his surprise, the door was no longer there.

"It's gone!" Exclaimed Ben,now slightly worried.

"How?! We just came in through here, didn't we?!" Asked Nobara,now panicking as she pointed towards the direction where the door once was while facing Ben.

"What do we do? Ah,what do we do do about this?" Chanted Nobara and Yuji began to walk in a circle opposite of each other while swaying their hands side to side.

"It'll be fine." Said Megumi, causing the three teens to look at him. Standing beside him was the white dog.

"The dog remembers the scent of the entrance." Explained Megumi.

"Oh,my!" Said Nobara and in unison with a soft voice. Both teens cupped their hands together and placed it below their chins as blushes appeared on their faces.

"Good boy! Have some jerky! Have all the jerky you want!" Shouted Nobara with enthusiasm as she stood at the left side of the dog with her neck arched backwards and her arms outstreched. Yuji sat down at the right side of the dog began to ruffle it's fur playfully, much to it's delight.

"Take this seriously guys!" Said an annoyed Ben.

"You're both way too calm!" Said an annoyed Megumi with similar annoyance.

"You really are dependable, Fushiguro." Said Yuji with a warm smile, catching both Megumi and Ben off guard.

"Thanks to you, we'll be able to rescue people and save ourselves,too." His smile had now turned into a grin with his eyes closed as he pointed his right index finger towards the dog.

"He's right you know. Way to go, Fushiguro."Said Ben,as he had now regained his composure with a warm smile on his face. Megumi looked away from the trio, before closing his eyes in indignation, and opening them again.

"Let's keep moving." Said Megumi as he began to walk away from them. Though they were surprised by this reaction, the teens didn't question it, and followed suit with Megumi's request.

By now,all four were walking across another section of the hallway. With Megumi and Yuji still in front, Nobara and Ben behind them, and the dog in the middle. They would come to a stop behind a wall that led to another hallway, with the dog coming forward before Megumi would eventually follow suit.

Once both of them made sure that they was nothing or no one nearby,they continued walking, and so did their comrades.

The teens had entered into a different section of the room. It's walls and floors were grey with a mixture of ash, and it lacked any light source to illuminate it. Upon taking in his new surroundings, Yuji's eyes immediately fell on a point of interest to his left, causing him to run towards it. Yuji came to a stop once he directly in front of it, and what he saw caused his eyes to widen and his mouth to let out a gasp of shock.

Laid out on a wall in front of him was a man who had dark colored buzz cut hair and long thin eyebrows. He wore a light blue jumpsuit with a pocket on the left breast and a name tag above the pocket, over a white colored shirt.

His eyes, though open, were completely lifeless, and within good reason. A trail of blood could be seen from below his slightly opened mouth. His lower half was completely gone, leaving a shallow pool of blood on the spot where his legs once were. To his right was a greyish yellow skull along with a curled spinal cord around it of the same color.

"Atrocious." Said Nobara with her hands clasped together as she and the other teens were also greatly disturbed by the corpses.

"That's... three people, right?" Megumi asked to no one in particular as Yuji walked further towards the dismembered corpse before kneeling beside it. Yuji then tugged the right shoulder of the corpse's shirt as his eyes fell on the name tag. The name written on it was 'Okazai Tadashi'. This caused Yuji to gasp through gritted teeth in shock as he remembered their encounter with the mother from outside.

"Let's take this body back." Said Yuji nonchalantly.

"Huh?" Said a confused Nobara.

"It's that woman's son." Said Yuji as he let go of the corpse's shirt.

"But..." Began Nobara softly as she held her left hand across her chest.

"His face isn't too badly mangled. His mother won't accept if we tell her he's dead, but we don't have a body." Interrupted Yuji, his eyes still glued on the corpse.

"You're right. Let's carry him along while we find the others. Once we do that, you three get out of here, while I take out the special-grade." Said Ben with a solemn look.

"No." Said Megumi.

"No?" Said Ben in surprise as he looked at Megumi. Yuji did so as well.

"I have no intention of risking my own life to save someone I had no intention of saving in the first place!" Said Megumi, now agitated.

"What do you mean by that?" Said Ben as he walked towards Megumi until he stood in front of him with a stern look in his eye.

"This is a juvenile detention center. Jujutsu sorcerers are granted access to all information about the scene beforehand." Explained Megumi.

"This Okazaki Tadashi hit a little girl on her way home from school while driving without a license. It was his second offense of driving without a license." Ben and Yuji's eyes widened in shock upon hearing this revelation.

"I know you're some of sort of superhero, and you're stuck on saving people no matter what. But what are you going to do when someone you saved kills someone else in the future?" Ben had initially turned back to look at Tadashi's body, albeit with a reluctant look. But upon hearing Megumi's words, his expression hardened, and he turned back to face the teen once more.

"I'll answer for my actions when the time comes, but I don't leave people behind,no matter what." Said Ben boldly, causing Megumi to grit his teeth in frustration.

"Cut it out! Christ, what are you guys doing?!" Shouted an annoyed Nobara in a bid to stop a potential confrontation between the two. Their eyes however, still remained glued on one another.

"The three of you are idiots! Think about the time and place if you-" A black hole similar to that of a shadowy mist would appear below Nobara, causing her to fall inside it before she could finish her sentence.

"Kugisaki?!" Said Ben with worry as he and the other two boys were perplexed by her sudden disappearance.

'No way! Demon Dogs should have sensed the curse!' Thought Megumi with his mouth wide open with worry. Upon looking to his left side, he saw his dog shikigami impaled through the wall, with it's eyes sunken into it's skull, and blood on it's mouth. This caused Megumi to visibly tense up even further.

"Itadori! Tennyson!" Shouted Megumi, causing the two boys to look at him with shock.

"We're running! We'll search for Kugisaki la-" The eyes of the three teens widened at the same time,as suddenly, standing in front of them was a tall but fairly muscular humanoid cursed spirit.

It was primarily white in color, and had a ponytail parted in four different directions across it's face. Two of them which were at the center of it's face had it's eyes attached to them, which were four in number, and rather large compared to that of a human, with black pupils.

It's teeth were completely exposed, giving it the appearance of constantly grinning. And because of how much wider it's teeth was compared to that of a human,it made it's overall countenance even more unsettling. It's chest had a smaller but noticeable silver on it. It's fingers were long and rather crooked, giving it an appearance of reddish, decayed flesh. It's lower half consisted of a dark cloth wrapped around it's waist and below in the form of a drill which was floating off the ground.

'There's no mistake. It's a special grade. I can't move.' Thought Megumi as his teeth were gritted together and his eyes were widened.

'Move.' Began Yuji in his thoughts with a similar expression to Megumi.

'Move! Move! Move! Move!' The memory of his now deceased grandfather laying to Yuji his final words came to his mind. Yuji with shaking hands, unsheathed Slaughter Demon with his right hand before letting out a battle cry as he swung the blade with the back of his hand towards the neck of the curse.

Upon making contact,a loud spurting sound similar to that of water gushing out could be heard, but why that was caught the three teens by surprise. Yuji's right hand flew behind the trio before implanting itself on the ground with Slaughter Demon still being held by it. Upon doing so, the blade broke, causing the severed limb to fall on the ground, staining it with blood in the process.

"Ita...dori?" Said a surprised Megumi. Ben looked at Yuji with his mouth wide open in disbelief.

"Huh?" Said a confused Yuji as he looked at his now severed right hand as it spewed out blood.


Megumi could be see free falling from a great height with his hands outstretched. His surroundings were dark brown with narrow walls filled with pipelines on all corners.

"Nue!" Shouted Megumi as he crossed his hands into an 'X'shape. In a manner similar to how the white dog appeared, another Shikigami materialized above Megumi. It bore the appearance of an owl-like bird with large orange-feathered wings with white trim, as well as a white mask on its head. It then proceeded to latch it claws on Megumi's shoulders, slowing his descent as it began to fly downwards.

Upon reaching ground level,it dropped Megumi on the ground gently,who in turn used the momentum from the drop to slide forward with his right hand placed forward on the ground, before running forward.

'Don't die on me, Itadori, Tennyson and Kugisaki!' Thought Megumi.

Flashback

The three teens looked at the curse apprehensively. Their bodies tensed as they anticipated another attack.

"There's no other way out of this but to fight." Said Ben before turning to face Yuji and Megumi.

"Fushiguro, Itadori. Go and find Kugisaki. You should be able to track her with your Demon Dogs." Yuji maintained eye contact with Ben as he sheathed the broken remains of Slaughter Demon back into his scarb.

"I'll take care of this on my own." Both boys eyes widened in surprise upon hearing Ben's words.

"Even if you beat it,you still can't exorcise curses." Said Megumi.

"I'll figure something out. Get out of he-" Ben's eyes widened as he saw the curse take in a deep breath, with a faint yellow and black aura tainting the air around it. It then spat a small but condensed energy blast that was of the same color towards Yuji and Megumi.

This caused Ben to immediately position himself directly in front of them before activating the Ultimatrix and slamming down the dial, causing the familiar green light to cover him as the blast flew towards him. Upon making contact with Ben however,it dispersed,as what stood in the place of Ben caused both the boys and the curse to gasp in shock.

Standing in the place of Ben was a silicon-based alien made of extremely durable crystal. His body is overall indigo, with several dark lines and spots. His hands and face are magenta, and he also sports six magenta shards on his back, two on his chest, and one on the top of his head that resembles a horn. His face consists of a mouth and one large green eye at the center. On his chest was the Ultimatrix symbol.

"Chromastone!" Shouted the Crystalsapien as he took a powering up stance while his body glowed a bright rainbow color, indicating that he absorbed the attack.

"Go now!" Ordered Chromastone.

Present Time

"Itadori,why are you still here?" Asked Chromastone as he looked at the bewildered curse.

"I want to help. You can't exorcise curses, but I can." Said an exasperated Yuji.

"You're already hurt! I'm not letting you fight!" Said Chromastone indignantly.

"Hey, Sukuna!" Shouted Yuji as he cut off the bandage wrapped around the handle of Slaughter Demon and wrapped it around his right hand.

"If I die, you die too, right?!" This caused Chromastone to turn back to face Yuji,thus letting his guard down.

"What are you-" Chromastone would immediately be grabbed by the face with the right hand of the curse, and tackled to the ground at a corner of a room. While laid out on his back, Chromastone's single eye would widen in surprise as he saw that the cursed spirit was now standing on two legs which were also white in color, and well defined in muscle tone. In it's hands were long strands of black cloth,most likely the remains of it's drill appendage from earlier.

With a light chuckle but sadistic chuckle, the curse took a top mount position on Chromastone's chest, and began to punch him with both hands across the face. Yuji's mouth was initially wide open in disbelief, but he managed to regain his composure, albeit slightly, and gritted his teeth instead.

"If you don't want that,then help me out!" Shouted Yuji, almost panicking. Suddenly,a red eye and a mouth appeared below the right side of Yuji's right eye.

"Nope!" Began Sukuna.

"Even if the parts of me inside of you die, there are eighteen other fragments of my soul. Still, irritatingly enough,I don't have control of this body." Chromastone's attention was now directed Sukuna's words, thus making the only resistance he made to the cursed spirit's continuous assault being to cross his hands over his face.

"If you want to switch,go ahead and switch. But once you do, I'll kill those two brats before the cursed spirit can! Then I'll go for that woman. She's a lively one. I'll have fun with her." The sadistic tone in which Sukuna said this caused Yuji's eves to briefly widen.

"I'm not going to let you do that!" Declared Yuji.

"I bet." Taunted Sukuna.

"Your friend isn't doing too well out there. If you only focus on me, he's going to die." Just as Sukuna said this however, Chromastone's body began to glow once more. He then stretched his hands forward, causing an ultraviolet beam to hit the cursed spirit square in the chest, sending it flying backwards until it crashed into a wall.

"Not by a longshot!" Declared Chromastone as he got back to his feet. This initially surprised Yuji,who eventually regained his composure and ran towards Chromastone's side.

"Itadori, what were you thinking? You know how risky that is." Said Chromastone.

"I do. But it might have been our only way to beat that curse." Reasoned Yuji as the afformentioned curse put both it's hands at it's sides. It held the exposed pieces of the wall caused by the crater formed it crashing into it. Once it got back to it's feet,it looked at the two teens and began to shift it's gritted teeth side to support side.

"You didn't need to do that. Especially not when you have me." Argued Chromastone.

"I couldn't just leave you behind knowing that you can't exorcise curses. Even if you're pretty strong,i can't bear the thought of you getting hurt or worse if you were left on your own and something went wrong." Countered Yuji.

"That's not gonna..." Chromastone trailed off as he looked at Yuji. The conviction he emanated with his stance and his expression told Chromastone that he had already made up his mind on the matter, and that there was no deterring him.

How could he tell this? Because the ferocity in Yuji's eyes felt familiar. Like he had seen it in someone before. The truth was...he had..He had seen it...in himself.

"There's no convincing you otherwise,is there?" Said Chromastone with a sigh. Though Yuji didn't respond, Chromastone already knew the answer to that question. He then looked back to the cursed spirit, which still had it's eyes fixated on them.

"Why hasn't it attacked us yet?" Asked Yuji.

"It's probably waiting for us to make the first move. Probably doesn't want anymore surprises after I just absorbed that attack from earlier." Reasoned Chromastone. He then clenched his fists tightly,as he now knew what he had to do.

"Change of plans. We're fighting it together." Said Chromastone causing Yuji to look at him in surprise.

"Really?" Asked Yuji in disbelief.

"Yeah. I'll go first, but I'm going to need you to follow my lead. Think you can keep up?" Asked Chromastone cockily as he looked at Yuji. Yuji's surprised expression then turned into a smirk.

"You got it." Said Yuji in approval.

"Alright then." Began Chromastone.

"Let's do this!" This was the prompt the cursed spirit was waiting for,as it immediately began to run towards the duo,who in turn began to run towards it, only with a battle cry as well.

Once they were inches apart, the curse jumped into the air with it's right arm cocked back for a downard Superman punch. Chromastone and Yuji leaped into the air directly below the curse. Chromastone's left hand was reeled back for a punch, while Yuji's right leg was stretched forward for a kick.

TO BE CONTINUED!


That marks the end of Chapter 7. I apologize if you were hoping that this chapter would include the full fight between Ben and Yuji against the Finger Bearer. That was my plan originally, but it has been a considerable amount of time since I last updated this story,I believe more than two weeks,so I had to make that sacrifice.

As for the reason behind my absence, it's pretty simple. I fell sick some days after I published Chapter 6, and haven't fully recovered yet. I wanted to publish something substantial once I had regained most of my strength,so as to work back to being able to update consistently.

Despite this chapter excluding the fight as I originally intended,It was still pretty fun to write. I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did writing it,if not more.

Chapter 8 will come out either before this week ends or sometime next week, hopefully. But until then, thank you all once for reading this far, and for your continuous support of this story, it means a lot to me.

Until we meet again,please, have yourselves a good one.