Felipe1402XZA: I'm glad you liked it, and extremely moved that you can see it playing out in an anime format like I intended. You'll get your answer on what happens to Yuji's hand in this chapter.
Ninjutsu: Thanks for voting. It will be counted below.
Jss2141: Yes,it is. Though I don't want to spoil what happens in this chapter,I can already tell that it's going to surprise you, and hopefully, it's a pleasant one.
mohdameerfiqriabdullah: Thanks for voting. It will be counted below.
Maximum Rhapsody: Yeah,it was. You're right on me having some spare time on my hands as well. I'll say this,if things go to plan, this week may be my largest update haul yet. Even if it doesn't come to that fully, expect at least one or two stories to be updated.
I'm glad you enjoyed their team up, and I hope you like what I have in store for you all further down the line.
The Princess of the Red Moon: Glad you liked it. Yes,they did. Things haven't gone all bad for Sukuna just yet, you'll see why later on in this chapter. Yes,Ben will meet Toudou pretty soon.
No,they will not. It's going to cause quite a stir between themselves and Gojo, and you're going to see how Gojo addresses this with the coming chapters. Hope this one meets up to your expectations.
Jetjaguar98: Glad you liked them, and it's great to be feeling better again. Thanks for the well wishes, greatly appreciate it.
I can understand your reasoning behind Gwen not immediately accepting her anodite heritage, since she believed that since she was 10,she was able to use magic due to her hard work, not out of being born with those powers. I can even get behind it fully,as it's a very relatable struggle.
The possibility of Ultimate Ben actually having started learning how to use mana during his early to mid twenties is interesting, and I would like to hear more about your theory on it.
I'm glad you liked Yuji and Megumi backing up Ben. It felt pretty fitting to do.
I'm also glad that you liked how Ben's disagreement with Megumi went. I purposefully made him not give Megumi a definitive answer because i see Ben as someone who ideally, wants to do the right thing to the book. Which includes things like not killing beings he can see similarities to humans in.
However, realistically,Ben has also been shown to openly considering crossing that line, and just like you stated,has done so during fits of great rage. One example in Ultimate Alien was after Aggregor absorbed all the Andromeda aliens. Ben as Humongousaur fought very ruthlessly, and would have continued had Gwen not stopped him.
He's very aware of this himself. In terms of Ben's alignment, I'd probably say Chaotic Good.
I'm glad you enjoyed the fight, and the inclusion of the Iron Shoulder. I want to incorporate martial arts moves in fights where they would feel fitting, and I felt that this was one of them.
I'll definitely add more moves further down the line, and will to do so with different marital arts styles so as to further diversify them.
Glad you caught on to Ben's freestyle combat. It's something I really liked whenever it was incorporated into the show, and I always want to do it justice whenever I choose to use it myself. Agreed, whenever Ben uses more physical transformations, I'll definitely try and do more exciting stuff.
I love the suggestion of using moves inspired by Hajime no Ippo whenever Ben's incorporating boxing attacks, and will definitely implement it.
Most of the JJK cast, especially the two boys from the main cast (Yuji and Megumi),know some form of martial arts. Yuji more so than all of them. So that's something I'll always strive to keep in mind whenever they're in a fight.
I'll do my best to incorporate more abilities for Chromastone whenever he appears next, and whenever it may be significant.
Swampfire and Sukuna himself are all good suggestions for healing Yuji's arm. You'll see which one I pick during this chapter.
I'm amused by the fact that I was also able to maintain the fact that Chromastone is mostly used in dark places, as I didn't even really think of that.
I completely agree though that it would have been nice to see Chromastone use more abilities since with the existence of Sugalite, Chromastone is more powerful than what we've seen Ben do with him. Heck, Ben didn't even know Chromastone could fly until he met Sugalite.
I'm actually fully recovered right now. Thanks again for the well wishes, and take care of yourself as well.
badiullahmeri10: Thanks for indicating that you were the guest from the review prior. Glad you enjoyed the chapter, and hope this one meets up to your expectations.
I don't want to spoil my plans for later scenes in the story, but I will say this. I want Ben to make significant changes to the JJK canon that I believe most of us can see him making, and that includes saving characters that die in canon.
AllenNV: Thank you for voting. It will be counted below.
AdamRB21: Thank you for voting. It will be counted below.
After more than a month since this poll was held,I am happy to announce to you all that we have a winner.
1)Nobara Kugisaki : 10 Votes.
2) Maki Zenin: 7 Votes.
3) Kasumi Miwa: 4 Votes.
4) Mai Zenin: 3 Votes.
5) Momo Nishimiya.
BenxNobara is the official pairing of this story. I thank each and every one you for participating in the voting process. I want to assure the people who's picks didn't win that they can still play significant roles in the story later on (E.g Mai).
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 9: Aftershock
The two teens would continue to look at the remains of the special grade being reduced to ashes by the purple flames that engulfed it. Whereas Yuji bore a look of amazement and pride over their triumph, Chromastone bore a look of curiosity as he was quite uncertain about the details that led to their victory.
'I know Chromastone can dish out energy blasts far stronger than when it was absorbed, but part of me still thought that all it would do was weaken it. Either Chromastone is my new ace against curses,or there's a lot I don't yet understand about them.' Thought Chromastone as he looked at what was once the cursed spirit, now reduced to a small flame ember which eventually died out.
However, what Chromastone saw in the place of the extinguished flame caused his single eye to widen in surprise,as it was none other than a finger of Sukuna, placed gently on the floor.
"Would you look at that? A souvenir." Said Chromastone jokingly as Yuji also looked at the finger with surprise..
"The finger was inside that thing? How?" Asked a bewildered Yuji.
"Don't know." Began Chromastone as he picked it off the ground with his left hand.
"Though my guees is that it was probably as tough as it was to beat since it ate it." Yuji blinked in confusion.
"Uh y-yeah, that could have been it." Said a slightly reluctant Yuji.
"Well whatever it was,we need to take it back to Jujutsu Tech." Said Chromastone.
"Right." Said Yuji, causing Chromastone to nod in approval. He then offered the finger to Yuji.
"Huh?" Asked a confused Yuji.
"You hold it for now. I don't exactly have any pockets as Chromastone." Said Chromastone.
"O-Ok." Said Yuji slightly stammering before accepting the finger with his left hand and putting it inside his left pocket.
"Now, how about we get out of here?" Asked Chromastone,to which Yuji nodded in response. Chromastone then wrapped his right hand around Yuji's waist before levitating off the ground, and proceeding fly several feet into the air before flying through the hole in the wall they made from above.
As both boys had now returned to the room where they first encountered the curse, Chromastone gently dropped Yuji to the ground before landing on the ground gently as well.
"Alright, we're back where we started. Now, there's just one more order of business." Said Chromastone as he looked around the room.
"Finding the remaining potential hostages?" Asked Yuji.
"No." Said Chromastone.
"Huh?" Asked a confused Yuji.
"There are no hostages, Itadori. They're probably all dead." Said Chromastone gravely, causing Yuji's eyes to widen in shock.
"And if I'm not mistaken..." Chromastone then pointed towards the corpse of Tadashi and the skeleton beside him.
"... Those are the only ones who's bodies weren't rendered to dust." Said Chromastone.
"How can you be so sure?" Asked Yuji.
"Right behind you..." Began Chromastone as he pointed to the back of Yuji. Once both boys turned to look at what Chromastone was pointing at, Yuji's eyes widened in shock. There was a very shallow pool of blood that had dried up due to a rather scorch mark on the ground it was on.
"Those scorch marks probably mean that the last person was burned to death, without a single trace." Yuji then grit his teeth and clenched his left fist in frustration.
"So was this mission...all for nothing?" Asked Yuji as his voice began to break.
"Did we come here just to fail?!" Yuji shouted as he turned to face Chromastone directly. The Crystalsapien had no expression on it's face as it simply glared at Yuji.
"No...we didn't." Began Chromastone in a tone of mild uncertainty,as if he was struggling to convince himself as well.
"Itadori... when it comes to saving people,we can't always save everyone. And that's one of the hardest things to accept about the job." Yuji's grip on his left fist tightened even further,as it seemed that he was struggling to accept Chromastone's words.
"But that's exactly why we have to find the strength to make sure that they didn't die in vain... Said Chromastone boldly, causing Yuji to look at him with the corner of his right eye.
"...To make sure that no one else has to go through what they did." Yuji's eyes fell to the floor as his expression became downcast. Silence was all that stood between the two boys, as neither said a word to the other or made a sound.
"What now?" Said Yuji with sorrow as he looked back at Chromastone fully.
"We take them back. Make sure they get to their loved ones..." Said Chromastone as he turned to point at the corpses.
"...Give them closure..." Yuji's somber expression immediately turned into a determined one.
"Alright." Said Yuji.
"But before we do that, there's something more important we have to deal with." Said Chromastone before walking past Yuji.
"What is it?" Asked Yuji.
"Fixing you up." Said Chromastone as he picked up the broken remains of Slaughter Demon before walking towards Yuji's severed hand.
"Huh?" Said Yuji in confusion as Chromastone picked up the severed hand and began walking towards Yuji.
"Wait, Tennyson I'm not sure a surgery's gonna ..." Began Yuji.
"I'm not talking about a surgery." Interrupted Chromastone, surprising Yuji.
"I have an alien that can heal your hand, and another that can fix your sword." Explained Chromastone, leaving Yuji speechless.
"Once you're patched up,we can leave." Chromastone then offered the remains of Slaughter Demon to Yuji,to which the latter looked at the shattered blade with reluctance.
"Ok." Said Yuji with a sigh before accepting it and putting it back into the sheathe around his waist.
"But I wonder though..." Said Yuji as he brought out Sukuna's finger from his left pocket.
"...If eating the finger I have with me could help me heal." Theorized Yuji as he brought the finger towards the severed hand.
"I don't know much about that to give a real opinion about it, but I can say you should be careful." Advised Chromastone.
"Yeah, you're probably..." Suddenly,a mass of flesh began to form around Yuji's hand before it took the shape of a hand, thus restoring his right hand. It wouldn't stop there however,as a mouth would form within his palm and consume the finger.
"Gahh!" Shouted Yuji in surprise before clenching his stomach he bent forward slightly. The familiar black markings appeared on Yuji's face.
"What the?" Shouted Chromastone would shock as he took a step back. His once widened single eye narrowed as the moment the black markings disappeared, the familiar red eye and mouth appeared in it's place below the right side of Yuji's right eye.
"Hmm,how curious." Began Sukuna.
"I will admit, perhaps I was too quick to dismiss you earlier. You've definitely piqued my interest now." Chromastone grit his teeth in apprehension as a response.
"Wouldn't be the first mistake you've made." Said Chromastone with hostility.
"Oh, and you've got bark too. Impressive,brat." Said Sukuna with a chuckle.
"No... not brat. Tennyson Ben." Chromastone's and Yuji's eyes widened in surprise.
"You held yourself fairly well against that cursed spirit, even managing to defeat it alongside this brat." Yuji didn't respond to Sukuna's jab at him,as he was far too surprised.
"And with what I've gathered just recently, that's not even a fraction of your true power." Chromastone didn't respond either, causing Sukuna to grin.
"Heh heh. Seems I'm correct." Said Sukuna excitedly.
"Keep getting stronger, Tennyson. As will I,as I look forward to our eventual rematch. Though I'm certain that I could beat you once I'm closer to my full strength,I don't doubt for a moment that it would be quite the battle." Chromastone clenched his fists in response.
"You can challenge me whenever you want. Anytime, anywhere. I'd never back down from the chance to kick your butt for the second time." Chromastone fired back.
"I bet." Said Sukuna as he broke into a maniacal laugh.
"Stay alive until we meet again...Ben Tennyson." And with that, the eye and mouth formed by Sukuna on Yuji's body disappeared.
"Did you just..." Began Yuji in astonishment.
"Get moved up the pecking order to more than just a nuisance by Sukuna? Yeah,I did " Said Chromastone sarcastically.
"And I already know that's an even worse spot to be in." Yuji's expression then changed to one of guilt.
"Sorry about that." Said a downcast Yuji.
"You don't have to apologize. It's not your fault." Said Chromastone as he placed his right hand on Yuji's left shoulder.
"Plus it's not all bad. You've got your arm back." Yuji then raised the restored appendage, and looked at it with awe, causing Chromastone to drop his hand from his shoulder.
"Y-yeah. I do." Said Yuji, slightly stammering as he was still processing being healed by wriggling his right hand lightly.
"Feel any different?" Asked Chromastone as he put his hands on his waist.
"No,it feels normal." Replied Yuji as he put his hand down.
"That's good considering who healed it." Said Chromastone with a smirk.
"Now that that's taken care of, let's say we blow this joint." Said Chromastone, causing Yuji to nod. Chromastone then raised his left hand up before slamming it's palm on the Ultimatrix symbol on his chest. This caused the familiar flash of green to engulf his body, and once it died down, what stood in his place caused Yuji's eyes to widen in surprise.
Standing in the place of Chromastone was a feline-like alien with a black suit-like color scheme, and his hands, legs, chest, and part of his head were colored blue. He had a black mask-like fins around his green eyes, a triangle-shaped nose, a thunderbolt-like design down his chest, and a triangle one down his back. He also had spike-like blades on his arms and legs.
And finally,on it's chest was the Ultimatrix symbol.
"Fasttrack!" Shouted the Citrakayah
"Fasttrack? I thought his name was Xlr8?" Asked a confused Yuji.
"Same powers, different aliens." Explained Fasttrack before dashing towards the corpses and returning in front of Yuji in less than a second with both corpses in both hands.
"Now, hold onto while I hold onto this and you..." Began Fasttrack as he handed the corpse of Tadashi to a surprised Yuji while he hold the skeleton of the other corpse in his right hand. He then wrapped his left hand around Yuji's shoulder, holding both him and the skeleton tightly.
"And get us out of here." With that, Fasttrack sped out of the room in an instant, leaving behind a temporary blue blur from where he once stood.
The sky had been filled with clouds completely as it began to rain. It was heavy rainfall, but it was enough to get one's clothes drenched quite quickly. A fate that Megumi had unfortunately been subjected.
The first year Jujutsu sorcerer stood far away from the detention building,at it's very entrance, but still remained within the confines of the compound as he stood in front of the gate and looked back at the building.
Megumi was the only one from Jujutsu Tech aside from Ben and Yuji still within the compound. This was because Kiyotaka had driven Nobara to the hospital. She had suffered injuries to the forehead after being ambushed by curses, which rendered her unconscious.
By his own insistence, Megumi had chosen to stay behind to be able to discern the wellbeing of his other teammates and relay it back to Kiyotaka,who he had directed to return with a grade 1 sorcerer or higher if he didn't return back with Yuji and Ben after a given period of time. 30 minutes to be exact.
Suddenly, Megumi's eyes widened in surprise as he felt a sudden sensation around his body. He had stepped forward slightly as he looked at the building fully.
'The Innate Domain's closed off! The special-grade is dead!' Thought Megumi.
'Now we just need Tennyson and Itadori to return safely...' As if to answer his prayers, Megumi saw a blue blur heading towards him. Just as he gasped in surprise, Standing in front of him was Fasttrack and Yuji,both holding their respective curses. Though he was initially alarmed by seeing Fasttrack, his nerves had calmed down significantly as he saw the Ultimatrix symbol on Fasttrack's chest.
"Tennyson... Itadori..." Said Megumi with surprise. As Fasttrack gently let go of Yuji and the skeleton he held, he then used his right hand to slam the Ultimatrix symbol on his chest. This caused the familiar green flash to wash over him, and once it died down, standing in his place was Ben, reverted back to human form and wearing his Jujutsu uniform.
"In the flesh." Said Ben with a smile.
"How are you doing, Fushiguro?" Megumi didn't respond,as he still seemed to be coming to terms with the fact that Ben and Yuji were in front of him seemingly unscathed. However,once his eyes fell on the corpses that both boys brought, his demeanor changed to a rather apprehensive one.
"I see that you persisted in bringing it him along." Megumi said, referring to Tadashi.
"Yeah,we did. Couldn't just leave him in there to rot. His mom's worried enough as it." Argued Ben. Megumi's halted response indicated that perhaps he was contemplating dropping the argument.
"Where they the only two corpses you could come across?" Megumi asked.
"Yeah. The other one was burned to a crisp. Nothing left." Said Yuji sadly. Megumi's expression dropped as he briefly held a look of sadness as well.
"But you were still able to exorcise the special grade successfully?" Megumi asked Ben.
"Yeah, but I can't take all the credit." Said Ben with a weak smile before wrapping his left hand around Yuji's shoulders.
"Itadori helped me out." Megumi's eyes widened slightly in surprise over this revelation.
"Was that wise? If I recall correctly,he was fatally wounded." Said Megumi.
"You'd be surprised how well Itadori can hold his own, even with one hand. I wouldn't have been able to beat it nearly as fast if it wasn't for him." Praised Ben, causing Yuji to form a small smile.
"Speaking of hands, we've got a surprise for you." Ben then proceeded to remove Yuji's right hand from his pocket, and show it to Megumi,who gasped in shock.
"Good as new." Said Ben before letting go of Yuji's hand,to which the latter dropped it to his right side.
"H-how is this possible?" Asked Megumi in disbelief.
"You can thank Sukuna for that. Which brings us to our next piece of info." Began Ben.
"That special grade had one of Sukuna's fingers." Megumi's eyes widened even more upon hearing that.
"Really?" Asked Megumi.
"Yeah it did. Sukuna healed my right hand just to eat it though." Said Yuji with a pout.
"Reverse Cursed Techniques." Said Megumi, more to himself.
"Huh?" Said Yuji in confusion.
"What's that?" Asked Ben.
"It basically takes cursed energy and reverts it into positive energy." Explained Megumi.
"It's how Sukuna managed to restore your hand." Yuji looked at the regenerated limb in astonishment.
"And the special grade having one of Sukuna's fingers in it's grasp..." Said Ben.
"... Increased it's power considerably." Answered Megumi.
"Figures." Said Ben with a sigh.
"Looks like we've got ourselves into quite a pinch today. It's a good thing that we're all here..." Ben's eyes widened as he immediately came to a realization.
"Where's Ijichi and Kugisaki?" Asked Ben. Yuji's eyes widened as he too just came to that realization.
"Kugisaki was badly wounded,as she was ambushed by cursed spirits. Ijichi had to rush her to the hospital." Ben's and Yuji's eyes widened in unison over this revelation.
"Oh man." Said Ben.
"Is she going to be alright?" Asked Yuji with worry.
"Her wounds weren't fatal, but she was rendered unconscious due to fatigue. Though it may take her a while to fully recover, she'll be fine." Both boys seemed to calm down considerably, with Yuji even letting out a sigh of relief.
"Glad she's going to be alright." Said Yuji with a small smile.
"And Ijichi? Is he going to come back?" Asked Ben.
"I asked him to return with grade 1 sorcerers or higher if he didn't hear from us within 30 minutes. Now that I know that you are both safe,he won't have any reason to." Said Megumi.
"Probably for the best." Said Ben,to which Megumi nodded in approval.
"We should head back to Jujutsu Tech. Inform the higher ups that the mission was carried out successfully." Suggested Megumi.
"Alright, but let's hand over these bodies to the authorities. Make sure they're identified and given to their loved ones." Suggested Ben.
"They deserve that much." All three boys had a downcast look on their faces.
"Very well. We'll do that first, and then we leave." Said Megumi. Both Ben and Yuji nodded in agreement.
"Alright then. Let's g..." Ben was cut off by a sudden beeping sound that distracted him. Both Yuji and Megumi also looked confused,as they didn't know where the sound was coming from. Ben then held up his left hand and looked at it.
Upon doing so, his eyes widened as he saw repeated flashes underneath his sleeve, indicating that it was the Ultimatrix that was the cause of the current distraction.
"Huh? Why would..." Ben then cut himself off before shifting back his left sleeve, revealing the Ultimatrix. It's dial was constantly flashing green.
Both boys looked as Ben lightly cupped his right index finger and thumb around the dial. Upon doing so, the device lit up as a hologram appeared. The hologram itself however caused the three teens to gasp in surprise.
"Gojo?" Said Ben in surprise. Indeed, the hologram that was on display was that of a smirking Satoru who stood with both hands in his pocket.
"Yo, Tennyson." Said Satoru as he waved with his left hand.
"Gojo-sensei?!" Yuji and Megumi shouted in unison.
"Yo, Megumi,Yuji." Said Satoru as he waved at them as well.
"How are you doing this?" Asked an astonished Ben.
"Huh? You don't recognize an instant transmission?" Asked Satoru as he leaned forward slightly in a teasing manner.
"What? No,of course I do." Said Ben, slightly flustered.
"What I mean is,how are you able to call me?" This caused Satoru to grin.
"Easy, I've got a Plumber's Badge too." Said Satoru as if it was common knowledge.
"How did..." Ben cut himself once more as he came to another realization.
"Paradox." Said Ben as he finally understood.
"Bingo." Said Satoru with a pleased smile.
"I'm guessing you have something important to tell me if you chose to call me through the Ultimatrix and not my phone." Mused Ben.
"Hmph, right again." Said Satoru smirking.
"I need you and Yuji to meet me at these coordinates within the next hour or so." As Satoru said this, his hologram disappeared, making way for a makeshift map. On the uppermost section of the map to the right was a red dot.
"What's so important that you need us to go halfway across the city just to get to you?" Asked a perplexed Ben.
"That's not exactly something I can tell over the phone, Tennyson." Said a smiling Satoru, causing Ben to frown.
"Fine. We'll be there soon." Said Ben with a sigh.
"Great, I'll expecting you both. Until then,see you later." Said Satoru with a smile as he gave the trio a two finger salute with his right hand. Upon doing so, the hologram disappeared,thus indicating the end of the transmission. Both Megumi and Yuji looked at Ben with curiosity.
"How was Gojo-sensei able to contact you through your Ultimatrix?" Asked Megumi.
"He and I have a mutual friend, who's one of the only few people who can call me through the watch." Explained Ben.
"The fact that Gojo can do so too does make me slightly uncomfortable, but I'm sure he wouldn't call me if it wasn't for something important." Reasoned Ben.
"So we really have to go halfway across the city just to meet him? And in the space of an hour?" Asked Yuji.
"Afraid so." Said Ben with a defeated sigh.
"Well,at least we can get there on time with Xlr8 or Fasttrack." Suggested Yuji with a small smile.
"Yeah,we could." Said Ben as he then cupped his right hand underneath his chin.
"But I'm not sure if the Ultimatrix has much power left. Plus,we can get there faster without them." Said Ben as he dropped his right hand before turning to face Yuji.
"How do we do that?" Asked a confused Yuji.
"We fly there." Said Ben with a smirk.
"You can fly?" Said Yuji in astonishment.
"Amongst other things,yeah." Said Ben confidently as he crossed his arms.
"Cool!" Said Yuji with excitement.
"I know. But I hope you're not airsick though?" Asked Ben.
"No...at least I don't think I am." Said Yuji, slightly unsure.
"Good enough for me." Said Ben before turning to face Megumi.
"Looks like we have to take a little detour and meet up with Gojo first." Began Ben.
"Think you can take these bodies to the authorities for us?" Megumi then looked at the afformentioned corpses, before looking back at Ben.
"Ok." Said Megumi.
"Thanks." Said Ben with a sincere smile. He then raised his left hand up before pushing back the left sleeve, revealing the Ultimatrix.
"We'll meet up later at school. Until then, maybe you can send our regards to Kugisaki." Said Ben as he activated the Ultimatrix.
"Yeah. Hope she gets better soon." Said Yuji with sincerity.
"I'll make sure she hears." Said Megumi, causing both boys to nod in approval.
"Alright Itadori, get ready." Said Ben as he stopped at the hologram of a manta-ray like creature. With a smirk, he slammed the dial down, causing the familiar green light to engulf him.
Once it died down, standing in his place was an alien who's appearance was red and humanoid in nature, alongside that of a manta ray-like alien with green eyes, black outlines on his face, yellow horns extending from his nose, gills underneath his arms, yellow patagia, and two black lightning bolt-like stripes coming down from his shoulders to the symbol of the boys watch on his chest.
"Jetray!" Shouted the Aerophibian, causing both boys to gasp in surprise.
"Woah." Said Yuji in astonishment. With a smirk, Jetray flew above Yuji before clamping his feet on his shoulders.
"And we're off." Said Jetray right before taking to the skies with an unprepared Yuji who initially began to scream. Though once they were several hundred feet off the ground, he began to shout in excitement,all the while Megumi simply looked on as they departed.
The two teens stood inside a rather small room where the walls were brown in color, and completely concrete in texture. This indicated that they were most likely in a basement. They seemed to have been here for quite some time, evident by Ben,who was back in human form, sitting on a chair with a wooden table in front of him, leaving him to repeatedly tap his right index finger on the table.
Meanwhile,to his far right was Yuji who lied down on a green couch with his hands behind his head. Both boys looked extremely bored.
"How long have we been waiting?" Asked Ben.
"Ten minutes. Give or take." Deadpanned Yuji, causing Ben to sigh.
"Calls us halfway across the city,asks us to show up in an hour or so, and isn't even here yet." Muttered Ben in annoyance.
"Well,to be fair,we did get here in less than half an hour." Reasoned Yuji.
"Yeah but, he asked us to come here. Isn't he supposed to make sure he's around no matter when it is we arrive?" Argued Ben.
"You may have a point, but then again,we got here pretty fast." Persisted Yuji. Initially, it seemed like Ben was going to counter Yuji's argument, but words seemed to have failed him, as he didn't utter a word in rebuttal.
"You're probably right." Said Ben with a defeated sigh.
"Which reminds me,Jetray's pretty fast." Said Yuji.
"Yeah he is. He's probably my fastest alien too." Said Ben with a smile.
"That's pretty cool, how you have like nearly every superpower." Said Yuji as he sat upright to look at Ben.
"Nearly?" Asked Ben with a smirk.
"Yeah, how you seem to have an alien for nearly every situation. That's pretty cool, but I imagine that you don't have one for every single..." Yuji immediately cut himself off as he saw Ben's smirk. He didn't initially know what to make of it, and seemed like he was about to ask Ben why he was smirking.
However, her stopped himself from doing so,as just as suddenly,a realization came to his mind that made his eyes widen.
"You totally do. You have every superpower." Said Yuji with awe.
"Yep, and counting." Said Ben with a devious grin.
"No way!" Said Yuji with disbelief, as his attention was directed towards Ben solely at this point.
"In order to have that, you'd have to have about a hundred aliens or more." Said Yuji, before realizing the implication of what he just said.
"Wait a second, you have that many?" Asked Yuji.
"Right now,I only have access to about 63. But when they're all unlocked, let's just say they're a lot." Said Ben with a casual tone, but with a less casual smirk and body language that oozed confidence.
"How many are there?" Asked Yuji.
"Guess." Said Ben.
"Five hundred?" Said Yuji.
"Higher." Said Ben.
"A thousand." Said Yuji.
"Much higher." Said Ben as he was struggling to hide the pride he felt.
"A hundred thousand." Said Yuji.
"Much much higher." Said Ben.
"A million?" By this point,Ben didn't even try to hide the confidence he felt from Yuji being in awe of him,as his body language showed that he was loving every minute of it.
"Woah!" Said Yuji with literal stars in his eyes.
"That's amazing! You totally have every superpower don't you?" Yuji's voice was clearly laced with unbridled excitement which even went further to his posture. As he seemed like he was about to fall out of the chair due to struggling to contain himself.
"I'm not one to brag, but yeah, more or less." Said Ben in a matter of fact tone.
"Awesome! That means you could do stuff like a Spirit Gun, Bankai, Rasengan , Dodon Ray,or even a Kamehameha." Said Yuji enthusiastically.
"Did you just namedrop moves from Yu Yu Hakusho, Dragon Ball, Bleach and Naruto all within the same sentence?" Said Ben, trying to stop himself from laughing.
"Did you just name all the shows those moves come from all within the same sentence?" Countered Yuji,as he tried to stop himself from laughing as well. Both boys would fail however,as they began to laugh rather heartily.
"Touche." Said Ben as he wiped a tear from his left eye with his left index finger.
"But jokes aside,I understand why you're so excited. For almost as long as I've had the original Omnitrix,I used to the think the powers that came with it was the coolest thing about it, and that nothing else came even close." Began Ben with a tone of excitement of his own.
"But after finding out why the Omnitrix was made in the first place, I've kinda had a change of heart." Yuji's eyes widened as he realized the implication of what Ben was saying.
"Are you going to tell me the secret about your powers?" Said Yuji as he gasped in disbelief.
"Ah,I don't see why not." Said Ben with a chuckle.
"Awesome!" Shouted Yuji triumphantly.
'That's the second time he's said that. He must be pretty excited.' Thought Ben with a warm smile.
"Alright then,strap yourself up tight, because it's going to be a long story. No better way to pass the time if I do say so myself." Said Ben with charisma.
"So. It started something like this..." Ben cut himself off as both he and Yuji heard footsteps at the entrance. Once they turned to look at where they came from, they saw Satoru with a beaming smile standing in front of the door. He had his hands in his pockets, and a white shopping bag around his right hand.
"Like you guys already got comfortable." Said Satoru as he began to walk further down the room. By this time, both boys got up to their feet with a neutral expression on their faces.
"No thanks to you. Do you have any idea how long we've been waiting?" Asked Ben with annoyance as he crossed his arms.
"Fifteen minutes." Said Satoru as he came to a stop directly in front of both of them.
"So you do know.". Said Ben through gritted teeth as he closed his eyes, his annoyance now slightly higher than before.
"Yeah. I knew you'd get here much earlier than when I asked,so I decided to get some souvenirs." Satoru then brought out several sweet shaped objects wrapped in a white wrapper.
"What's that?" Asked Yuji.
"Kikufuku from Kikusuian. It's Sendai's specialty, and it's super good. I recommend the Zunda and cream flavor." Said Satoru as he gave one to Yuji.
'He really went out to buy snacks while we were here waiting for him?' Thought Ben as he was in such disbelief that he almost didn't notice when Satoru placed one inside his right hand.
"It's not just any snack though." Said Satoru as he had seemingly read Ben's mind.
"The whipped cream inside is simply exquisite." Ben's gritted teeth made a low but slightly audible sound as his frustration had seemingly reached it's peak.
"Gojo, stop." Said Ben, causing both Satoru and Yuji to look at him with confusion.
"You called us here for something important right? That or to hold us as guests to entertain yourself?" Said Ben with disappointment.
"So serious all of a sudden, Tennyson." Said Satoru as he unwrapped his Kikufuku with a smile.
"You should ease up a bit. It's no fun when you get into the heat of things all tensed up." Satoru lightly tapped Ben's shoulder with his right hand, causing him to sigh.
"I appreciate the attempt at hospitality, but don't you think you should be taking this more seriously?" Asked Ben.
"I am taking this seriously." Said Satoru as he had his mouth full with the Kikufuku.
"As seriously as I can, that is." Said Satoru with his right index finger raised up as if he wanted to ask a question. This caused Ben to groan.
"Which is exactly why I have made it of utmost importance to ensure that you..." Said Satoru as he unwrapped Ben's Kikufuku, much to his surprise.
"And Yuji..." Said Satoru as he unwrapped Yuji's.
"Feel at home." Satoru then sat on the chair that Ben sat on previously.
"But since you want to get into the nitty-gritty of things so quickly,I suppose I could start to fill you in on what's going on." Said Satoru as he placed his legs on the table. Upon doing so, he reached into his right pocket and gave Ben a sealed white envelope.
"What's this?" Asked Ben as he looked at the envelope with confusion.
"A gift from our mutual friend." Said Satoru with a grin, causing Ben to briefly look at him suspiciously. Though he had his reservations initially,Ben proceeded to open the envelope, revealing a letter inside of it. Once he began to read it's contents, his eyes widened in disbelief.
" Contact Ben through his Ultimatrix as soon as you get this. Today's the day."
"It's how I knew to contact you at the time I did." Said Satoru as he leaned back further into the chair.
"You...You..." Began Ben as he struggled to form a coherent sentence.
"Knew about you encountering the special grade beforehand, and that you were going to exorcise it? Yes." Said Satoru with both hands clasped together as he leaned forward slightly. This caused both Ben and Yuji to gasp in disbelief.
"I also know that when you did it, you felt off. Felt different." Ben then looked at Satoru as if the latter had grown two heads.
"And though you didn't think much of it at the time, not long after the fight, you've been feeling something strange at the back of your mind." Ben's eyes widened in surprise as he realized that Satoru was aware of his predicament.
His mind traced back to when he used the stored up energy as Chromastone to exorcise the special grade, and the strange sensation that came with it.
"What does this mean?" Said Ben frantically.
"Tennyson,Yuji." Began Satoru as he looked towards both boys with his chin rested on his hands. His smile had faded,thus indicating that he was serious.
"You both have latent power inside you that you are yet to realize." Both boys gasped in disbelief.
"Power that if you make it your own, could turn the tides in your favor." Said Satoru before getting to his feet.
"I've called you here today to help you draw from that power, but only if you're willing." Their initially widened eyes of shock narrowed into a more somber one,as both boys looked away from Satoru.
"It could take you a long time to learn and even longer to master. I can't promise that you won't end up feeling frustrated at different points in time." Both Ben and Yuji clenched their fists tightly.
"However,if you are willing to put your faith in me,I promise that by the time you leave here you're going to be stronger than when you came." Both boys looked at Satoru with the corner of their eyes.
"Stronger than you can imagine." Their mouths slightly parted in surprise,as they were visibly struggling to fully comprehend what Satoru was saying.
"But at the end of the day, the choice is left up to you." Said Satoru with his tone sounding as casual as it normally did.
"So, what do you say?" Both boys looked at each other with uncertainty,as they had initially seen Satoru's words as a lot to take in. That uncertainty would eventually fade not long after,as a determined look would form on their faces.
As they looked at each other without loosing eye contact,as if to test the others resolve, both boys nodded in approval before turning back to face Satoru.
"We're in." Said Ben and Yuji in unison. Satoru's mouth initially parted, indicating slight surprise. That would immediately fade, and be replaced with a wide grin instead.
"Then let us begin."
That marks the end of chapter 9.
Since this chapter was the proper aftermath of the battle that occured in the previous chapter,I deemed it necessary to use this chapter to set up events that will play a great deal of importance in the future.
I didn't fully account for how much interactions I wanted there to be between Ben and Yuji, but I can say that it was longer than what I initially saw myself doing.
I wanted to make it somewhat wholesome, and I hope you liked my approach to doing so.
Constructive Criticism is welcome, but not flaming.
Don't have too much to say expect that you guys are amazing. Honestly, this story is only doing as well as it is because of the support you've shown me,to which I'm immensely grateful for.
Thank you for reading this far. Means a lot to me. Hope you enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I did writing it,or more.
Except chapter 10 soon, but until then, please have yourselves a good one.
