guestsurprise, who owns Salwa, Madison, Vamps, and Zambanza, asked for this one. Here you go, Amiga! Enjoy! :)
Ben 10 belongs to Cartoon Network and Man of Action. I only own Vampiro and Rachel.
Nothing Can Stop A Determined Vladat
"Zambanza, I won't let you go after the Forever Knights," Salwa said firmly.
"Salwa, I have to," the young clown girl said. "They hurt Madison and she's one of my best friends."
"Let Aunt Rachel and Uncle Rook handle it," the winged girl said. "Uncle Ben's with them too."
"But I can help them and banish the Knights for good!" Zambanza said.
Vampiro was passing by when he heard the two argue and he walked in, seeing the two were upset about something. "Now what are you girls arguing about?" He asked gently.
Zambanza glared at him. "Why should we tell you?" She asked snippily.
"Zambanza, don't talk to my father that way!" Salwa said, getting a bit angry.
Vampiro gently placed a hand on his daughter's shoulder. "It's alright, my little eaglet," he said soothingly. "Take a deep breath."
She obeyed while he turned to Zambanza, who looked at him with narrowed eyes, but he didn't let it bother him as he knew she acted tough on the outside. "Still a bit defiant of me, aren't you, little one?" He asked, smiling a little.
"Because you've stopped me from getting Zombozo before!" She said to him. "I can handle myself against that freak clown!"
"Perhaps, but I know Rachel, along with your parents and myself, would hate to see you get hurt," he said, still smiling before looking at both the young clown and his daughter. "Now come, you two are cousins. Surely a silly argument isn't going to come between you two and make you both stay upset at each other, will it?"
Salwa shook her head, not wanting that and realizing her father was right and she looked at her cousin. "Sorry, Zambanza," she said softly.
Even though she still didn't trust Vampiro, Zambanza's face softened as she looked at Salwa and nodded. "I'm sorry too," she said, her voice also soft. Salwa then held her arms open, but let her cousin decide if she wanted a hug.
Seeing this, the young clown actually smiled in gratitude and hugged her cousin, appreciating that Salwa was respecting that she was still getting used to being shown affection. She didn't mind little bits of affection, but if it got to be too much, she would run.
Seeing this, Vampiro nodded, smiling as he decided he would later speak with her and try to get her to let her guard down as she was his great-niece. He had heard so much about her from his sons, Whampire and Vamps, and he wanted her to trust him as she did his sons.
Later on, he happened to hear Rachel and Rook talking about Zambanza. "At least she told me where she's spending time at," Rachel said. "It's at the old abandoned hotel nearby."
"I do worry about her, my love," Rook said. "Zambanza has been on her own for so long and though we've shown her that we care about her and want her to be safe...she's still unsure about it and doesn't react well to a lot of affection."
"Possibly because she wasn't shown a lot of affection until a bit before and when she was adopted," the twenty-five-year-old woman said. "But if she's shown affection in small doses, she seems alright."
"But we have to hold her in order to show her more than small doses of affection," the Revonnahgander pointed out.
"True," Rachel agreed, recalling when she had used the trees to capture Zambanza sometime back. "She does at least trust some of us to show her more affection, but I hope she'll soon trust the rest of the family, because I know they would love to show her the same affection they show to their loved ones, especially the children."
"I hope so too," Rook agreed. "She's been through more than she should have been through at such a young age."
Vampiro nodded silently in agreement and smiled as he checked his Plumber map and found the old hotel the two had mentioned. Looking outside, he saw that it was a cloudy day, which was perfect and he headed out, flying for the hotel and landing inside, using his infrared to see if Zambanza was there and he smiled when he found her heat signature. "There you are, little one," he said as he moved closer to where she was.
Zambanza was thinking of a way to try and find out what Zombozo was doing when she heard a noise and turned sharply, her wand out and ready to attack, but a clawed hand gently grabbed her wrist, stopping her from attacking. She looked up to see it was Vampiro and he smiled at her.
Sighing, she relaxed her stance and gently tugged free of him. "You should be more careful," she said. "I could have blasted you."
"Something tells me that you wouldn't have," he countered gently.
She shook her head, but then turned away. "What did you need, Your Highness?" She asked, calling him by his title.
"First off, you can call me Vampiro. Second, I wanted to talk to you and get you to let your guard down around me. We are family, after all," he said.
She shrugged. "I don't let my guard down easy," she said, a slight note of emotion in her voice which would have been missed if the Vladat's hearing hadn't been sharp. Smiling, he came up behind her and wrapped his arms gently around her, making her freeze a little.
"And I'm determined to get you to let your guard down around me, little one," he said with a chuckle, playfully nuzzling his nose into her neck.
Zambanza grew a bit panicked and though she giggled at the playful tickling, she managed to break free of the Vladat King and ran, unable to handle the emotions and family love that her great-uncle had shown her.
But Vampiro only smiled. "Run all you want, little one, but you won't escape me," he said teasingly as he began chasing after her.
The young magician ran as fast as she could, but looked back to see Vampiro was right behind her and she ducked to avoid him as he went to grab her. He spun around, hovering in mid-air. "You're quick, little one," he said, smiling. "But no one can outrun a Vladat."
"Just watch me!" She said, pointing her wand at him and speaking the words of a spell. Mummy bandages came around Vampiro and wrapped around him snuggly. Zambanza smirked at this. "Can't chase me if you're tied up," she said smugly.
To her surprise, Vampiro only grinned. "You sure about that, little magician?" He asked, still hovering in mid-air before he flew around the room in demonstration. "All you've done is made me more determined to catch you."
Now realizing her plan didn't work as she had hoped, Zambanza quickly took off, but Vampiro easily broke the bandages holding him and flew after her. She looked behind her and let out a squeal of surprise that he was right behind her and she ducked, but to her shock, Vampiro changed directions quickly and almost grabbed her, but she dodged at the last moment, getting up and running down another hallway, going into a room and hiding behind the door, pausing a moment to catch her breath. She looked at her wand, but couldn't think of a magic trick that would either stop or slow down the Vladat. "Zambanza?" She heard him call out and she just barely held in a gasp. "You can't hide from me forever, little one. I know where you are."
Thinking fast, she used her disappearing trick and vanished from her hiding place, reappearing a few floors up. She then ran down the hallway, looking for another hiding place, but stopped with a surprised shriek when she almost ran into Vampiro, who smirked and reached for her, but she turned and ran again, now frantically trying to think of a way out. Just then, she tripped and the floor beneath her gave way suddenly. "Zambanza!" She heard Vampiro call out before a greenish glow surrounded her, stopping her fall.
She panted to catch her breath and felt herself rise up slowly, courtesy of Vampiro, who's right hand was glowing green with his telekinesis. She was soon in his arms and he held her in a hug. "Are you alright, little one?" He asked in concern. "Are you hurt?"
Checking her arms, she saw she wasn't injured and she shook her head, but before she could try to squirm free, the greenish glow enveloped her again and Vampiro smirked. "See? No one can escape a Vladat," he said as he took her into one of the rooms, placing the young girl on the bed after checking to see it was sturdy and the floorboards wouldn't give way anytime soon. He then stood over Zambanza, who tried to squirm, but she only had a little wiggle room, thanks to the Vladat's telekinesis. "Now then, I believe you are in need of a tickle torture, little one."
The young magician struggled harder, but was reduced to giggles as gentle clawed fingers tickled her stomach gently before Vampiro lifted up the young girl's shirt to the bottom of her ribcage and blew a big raspberry into her stomach.
"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Zambanza laughed, arching her back to try and get away, but couldn't. Vampiro chuckled as he now tickled the young girl's belly button with a gentle claw.
"Cootchie, cootchie, coo!" He cooed teasingly. "Who's my ticklish little great-niece?"
The young girl was laughing too hard to answer, squealing when the Vladat began playfully munching on her stomach. Chuckling, he kept it up while tickling her sides with his hands. "That cute, little tummy is just so yummy!" He said teasingly.
"EEEK! HEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEE!" Zambanza giggled, squirming as hard as she could. "STOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOP!"
"Oh, I don't think so," he said, blowing a raspberry into her neck, which made her squeal again. "Tickle, tickle, tickle! Cootchie, cootchie, cootchie, coo!"
Another squeal left the young magician as a gentle claw began tickling her belly button once again and more laughter followed as Vampiro blew more raspberries into her stomach before turning in attention to her feet and tickling her feet with his hands.
"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" She laughed, trying to pull her feet away from his hands, but couldn't. She then started to feel out of breath and tried to speak, but another squeal left her as Vampiro gently squeezed her knees.
"W-WAIT!" She managed to giggle out.
Hearing that, Vampiro stopped the tickle torture, smirking at her. "Yes, little one?" He said.
She panted to catch her breath before coughing a little. Hearing that, the Vladat released her from his telekinesis and gently pulled her closer to him, holding her in a side hug and rubbing her back gently.
The gentle actions helped Zambanza catch her breath and she looked up at him, seeing him smile at her. "So, are you going to let your guard down around me, or do I have to tickle you again?" He asked teasingly, wiggling his fingers at her.
Giggling, she jumped back a little, but he caught her again and lifted her up over his head as if they were playing 'airplane'. The young magician giggled again before calming down and Vampiro held her like a father would hold his child, letting the young one rest.
Seeing how Vampiro was like his sons, determined to make her laugh and not be afraid to mess around with her family, Zambanza rested her head on the Vladat King's shoulder, making him smile again as he kissed her forehead affectionately. "See? That wasn't so difficult, was it?" He asked.
She shook her head before sighing a little. "Why?" She asked.
He understood what she meant. "Because you're my great-niece," he said. "And you need to not be so serious all the time. You're a kid still, Zambanza, and every child needs a reason to laugh and be happy."
His words struck a chord in her and she sighed again. "It's been a long time since...someone really cared about me. Before I met all of you," she admitted.
"We gathered that from how you were unsure about being shown affection," he said gently. "But know this, no matter what your past, none of us will judge you by it and we want you to trust us more and not be so afraid of family affection."
She nodded understandingly. "It's just...gonna be a bit tough getting used to," she admitted softly.
"Don't worry. We'll help you," Vampiro promised, gently pinching her cheek, which made her give a small smile. "Now come along. Let's get back to the Mansion."
When they arrived, they found it was almost time for movie night. "Ah, I wonder what movie is for tonight," he said. "Let's find some good seats."
Zambanza looked at him. "Vampiro," she said.
"Yes, little one?" He replied with a smile.
She looked a bit shy. "Um...can I sit...with you?" She asked hesitantly.
He chuckled and kissed her forehead affectionately. "Of course you can, sweetheart," he said, pleased that she was trusting him a bit more.
He found a good spot on the couch and Zambanza settled down in his lap, resting her head against his shoulder as he began stroking her head gently. She let him. "Love you, Uncle Vampiro," she said softly.
He heard her and smiled. "I love you too, Zambanza," he said softly so that only she heard him.
Smiling, she turned to focus on the movie, happy to have the Vladat for a great uncle.
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GoldGuardian2418