A/N: Hey strangers! It's me again!

It's been quite a while since my last update (nearly an entire year!) and I can only apologise to you guys for it. So much happened since you guys last heard from me; from helping a family member in hospital to hearing back from uni about my degree and getting my first proper, legit job.

For those of you who might be interested to know (all three of you!) about how I did in university then I'm ecstatic to let you know that I finally finished university with a genuine law degree! Yay me, right! Unfortunately, with the world going through a few things (don't know if you noticed) I still haven't been able to get all dressed up for my photo op. It's a bummer, but in the grand scheme, not much of one. I've still got a degree, so there!

As for my job, that is perhaps the biggest reason I took so long to release this chapter. It's a unique job and one that involves a lot of work. I'm still learning things about it, but I'm enjoying the work and I enjoy working with my new colleagues.

Moving on now to what you're really here for. For my gradual return to writing, I thought I'd give you what I know a lot of you wanted to read. This chapter and the next one will be short stories and fillers before I get back to the main story. These stories will be based on the two side stories from Ben 10 that you asked for…with a little combination of DxD and my own ideas. To give you some background though, the chapters stories will be told while Ben and the others are on the train heading home after their stay in the Underworld.

I had originally planned to release both stories in one extra-long chapter but, as I finished writing the second one, I just couldn't justify being lazy and putting them in one single chapter so, instead, I'll release them separately. Also, I'm not going to answer any review questions until I go back to the main story. My reason for this is that I want to concentrate on bringing my story back to you guys quickly and without interruption.

I've nearly finished the second story (just a bit of editing and proofreading to go) and will release that ASAP.

After that, I'll get back to work on where the previous chapter ended.

Until then, hope you enjoy!

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

"So, how did you find your first 'official' visit to the Underworld?" Rias asked her three newest Peerage members as they settled down in the luxurious train car for their journey back to the human world.

Asia was the first to give her answer.

"It was amazing!" she exclaimed, a bright smile covering her face. "It's such a shame we had to leave so soon. There were still so many incredible sights to see!"

Rias smiled sweetly at her youngest bishop's answer as Xenovia, who was leaning against the car window and watched the passing landscape pass by, gave her own answer.

"I must admit I was greatly surprised by what I saw," she admitted, taking in the last sights of the Underworld before they entered the tunnel. "Before coming here, I only had the church's teachings to give me an impression of what to expect of how the world of Devils and Demons would look like."

"And I bet they were extremely objective in describing it, weren't they?" Rias asked sarcastically while Akeno giggled behind her hand.

The corner of Xenovia's mouth turned upwards. "Not exactly. It was a lot less 'fire and brimstone' than I had been led to believe. Perhaps that was to be expected from an enemy you've been fighting for millennia."

"You've got a point, I suppose you've got a point there," the Gremory heiress conceded with a slight nod before glancing over at Ben who was glancing over the demon book Rias' mother had gifted him. "And what about you, Ben? How did you find your stay?"

Closing the book and putting it aside, Ben looked towards Rias as he answered. "It was incredible. I can't believe how many different, fascinating sights there were to see…and that was just in your family's land! I'm looking forward to coming back and seeing even more next time."

"Hopefully 'next time' won't be as…exciting as the last few days of our stay was," Kiba called out with a slight chuckle from his seat on the other end of the car. He was joined by Rias, Akeno and Xenovia who chuckled at their own memories of the last few days.

Ben also joined in. "I agree. You would've thought that, after dealing with Loki and having that Rating Game against Sona, we'd be able to spend the last days of our stay relaxing and truly experiencing what the Underworld has to offer…but no, that would be asking too much, wouldn't it?"

"I'm starting to think maybe you've got a point," Xenovia agreed with a nod of her head. "Which little adventure are you going to remember the most?" she asked, directing her question to everyone present.

"For me, it's got to be the trouble Ben got into with Big Chill," Gasper muttered from his seat.

"Oh yeah, that was certainly an interesting adventure, wasn't it?" Kiba chuckled as he remembered it.

"That's easy for you to say. I wasn't there for most of what happened," Ben grumbled in response. "You guys had to fill me in once it was all over."

. . . . . . . . . .

The chilly path to parenthood

As they only had a few more days before they had to return to the human world, Rias' father suggested that she show them some of the Gremory estates; a suggestion they all heartily accepted.

It wasn't long into their journey around the estate with Rias taking the lead that they were rewarded with the multitude of different, unique things to see in the Underworld, particularly the places they visited in the countryside, free from the presence of people and civilisation, where docile demons could live in peace and, thanks to the protection the Gremory family offers them, graze without the fear of poachers and demons who love killing them simply for the thrill it gives them.

Currently, Ben found himself standing with everyone on a rocky outcrop which stood at the edge of a large forest and overlooked a vast expanse of grassland with a mountain range on the horizon. Thanks to his superior devil vision, Ben could even make out the faint shapes of the nearby town in the far distance.

"Wow, you can see so much from here!" Ben marvelled, taking in the beautiful landscape before him.

"It certainly is," Rias agreed, coming to stand at Ben's side. "It's only a tiny part of my family's land but this was still one of my favourite places to come when I was younger.

Ben smiled and held Rias' hand, joining her in admiring the view. As he did so, it slowly dawned just how truly large the territory the Gremory's controlled was…or rather, just how tiny their territory actually was compared to the size of the Underworld itself.

As they looked out at the vast expanse, Akeno walked up behind them. "We'd best be on our way. There's still a lot to see before we have to return."

Rias sighed and turned to face her oldest friend. "Yeah, you're right, Akeno. We'd better get a move on then."

The group went to follow Rias and Akeno to their next destination when they heard animalistic cries coming from the grassland below. They rushed to the edge to see a herd of green turtle-like creatures with eight holes in its shell, large flipper-like and short stumpy legs running from the edge of the forest where, until very recently, they had been resting peacefully.

Ben quickly recognised them as a herd of Geochelone Aerio, or as he dubbed them: Terraspins.

"What's got them so worked up?" he wondered before he had his question answered in the form of a small group of fifteen or so Tetramands emerging from the thick undergrowth. They each wore pieces of armour and were armed with various types of weaponry, from thick swords and fierce war hammers to intimidating four-handed battle-axes. The one in front, wielding a heavy-looking thick-headed hammer, and appearing to lead the others was taller and leaner than the others which told Ben from his studies of demons that it was a female Tetramand which posed a problem for them. Female Tetramands are a lot stronger and faster than their male counterparts.

'This could be a problem,' he thought as Rias scowled at the new arrivals.

"What are Tetramands doing here?!" she demanded, glaring at them. "My family has forbidden them from entering our land! You'd think they'd learn by now that hunting on Gremory land is forbidden."

"Looks like they need to be reminded," Koneko remarked, cracking her knuckles in anticipation.

Without saying anything, Rias unfurled her wings and took flight in the direction of the Tetramands. Ben and the others quickly followed after her, catching up with her as she dropped down in front of the hunting party, causing them to stop in their tracks.

The Tetramands came to an abrupt halt and raised their weapons aggressively at their sudden arrival. From what little he knew of them, he expected them to immediately attack them as soon as they dropped down, but that didn't happen. Instead, the female Tetramand held her arm up, fist closed, and they remained where they were stood, though still tensed up, ready for combat. The female then approached their group, stopping several feet before them.

Now that she was right in front of him, Ben could see that, as well as being leaner than the males behind her, she also possessed other physical qualities that showed off her feminine physique, namely her large, voluptuous breasts, shapely waist, and hips, all of which were evident even underneath her armour.

"Who are you?" she demanded, planting the end of her weapon into the ground as she did so.

"I should be asking you that question," Rias retorted, casting a quick glance at a tattoo that was etched into their upper right shoulder. "What is the Red Wind clan doing in Gremory territory?"

"What makes you think I'll tell you anything, little devil?" the female Tetramand replied, keeping her grip tight on her weapon. She was about to say something else to them when she suddenly seemed to notice Rias…or rather her crimson hair.

"Well, well, how about that? What are the chances that we'd come across a Gremory all the way out here? From your youthful appearance, you must be Rias Gremory…." Her eyes widened as they scanned over their group again before finally landing on Ben. "…then that must mean that you're the Red Dragon Emperor!"

"It's actually the Dragon Allfather," Ben responded, feeling slightly unnerved at her intense stare.

'You didn't have to correct her so quickly," Ddraig muttered in Ben's head. "I did have a life before becoming a Sacred Gear, remember, and I did have a fearsome reputation of my own. Azmuth wasn't the only dragon around."

Despite the standoff, Ben had to contain a chuckle from escaping at Ddraig's grumbling and that Azmuth was still silent, as if refusing to get involved in such a petty thing.

"What does it matter who we are," Rias continued. "I'll ask one last time; what are you doing in my family's territory?"

The female Tetramand hadn't taken her gaze off Ben, only doing so at Rias' question. "We were here to hunt a powerful beast that dwells in your land as part of our people's ancient tradition but there's been a change of plan."

"I hope the change is realising your folly and heading back to your tribe."

"Not quite. Slaying an alpha Vaxasaurian would've earned us great honour within our tribe…but if I, Looma Red Wind, slay the Red Dragon Emperor then I would become legendary throughout all of Khoros and the Tetramand people. None would dare challenge the Red Wind tribe's authority."

"Looks like that's the end of the discussion," Ben stated as he summoned Azmuth's Gear.

"Try not to kill them if you can," Rias muttered to her peerage who prepared for battle. "I'd prefer this to not lead to a diplomatic incident if we can help it."

"We can do that," Ben replied as he quickly chose a form and slammed his hand down on the dial.

[Transform: Diamondhead!]

As soon as the emerald light disappeared, the first thing Ben saw was the female Tetramand suddenly in front of him and the butt of her fearsome hammer in his face. It struck him with a loud 'CLANG' as it connected with his crystalline face and send him flying back a few hundred feet before hitting the ground and sliding across it a few more dozen feet, leaving a deep grove in the dirt as he did so.

Groaning, Ben quickly picked himself off the floor and looked back to see Rias and the others had not hesitated at the sudden attack and joined the Tetramand group in combat, several different fights splitting off as they each singled out an opponent to fight.

"It's unwise to ignore your opponent in a fight," a voice called out before he was struck in the middle of his back, sending him down to the ground again as another loud 'CLANG' rang out across the valley.

As he hit the ground, Ben arced his body around so that he dug his feet and hand into the dirt to stop his momentum and face his aggressor. She twirled her hammer skilfully in her hands before lunging forward, charging right at him, leaping high into the air and rearing her hammer over her head as she headed down towards him. Ben was ready for her this time though and morphed his right arm into a flat crystalline shield and raising it above his head, just as her hammer made impact, striking the shield with yet another deafening 'CLANG' which also caused Ben to sink into the dirt an inch or two from the force of the impact.

As he recovered from the impact, he knocked her hammer to the side with his shield while, at the same time, bringing his free arm up and punching the Tetramand in the head, knocking her to the ground. She struck the ground hard but quickly recovered and landed on a knee, her weapon at her side. Without missing a beat, she sprang forward and charged at hm yet again. Imitating her, he also charged forward. They met in the middle with great force and engaged in a flurry of action as they exchanged blow after blow against each other. Thanks to his training and experience, Ben was able to block the vast majority of her blows against him while his blows connected with her most of the time. However, due to her Tetramand durability, his blows did little to slow her down.

Their stalemate endured for a few more heavy strikes and blows until she suddenly leaped above him to deliver another powerful downward strike on him. Instead of dodging the strike, Ben reared his fist back and put as much power into his fist as he could.

[BOOST! BOOST!]

In the split second he had, he released his fist, connecting squarely with the head of her hammer, the force of which caused the weapon to shatter as it accompanied the small shockwave which rang out. Not wanting to waste his advantage, he charged towards her, intending to finish the fight as quickly as possible. She saw him running at her, cast a quick glance at her ruined weapon before chucking it away, and pulled all four of her arms back behind her.

Recognising what she was about to do, he slammed his foot down hard into the ground when he was only a few feet away from her and a wall of crystal erupted out of the ground shielding him from her at the same time as she brought her hands together in a sonic clap which sent a powerful shockwave towards him. Due to their close proximity and how near to the crystal wall she was, the shockwave rebounded off the wall, shattering it in the process, and was blasted back at her, taking her by surprise and knocking her onto her back. From behind the now shattered wall he had quickly erected, Ben leapt forward, landing on top of her with his left arm which he had morphed into a short blade that he pressed against her crimson throat.

"Do it," she muttered in defeat, staring straight up at the sky.

"I'd prefer it if you'd yield," he replied, his blade still pressed against her though he didn't apply pressure to it.

"Never! In defeat, the best outcome for a Tetramand is death. Better to die than live with dishonour."

"There is no dishonour in defeat. If you need more to save face with your people, consider this: you fought the Red Dragon Emperor and lived to tell your tale. How many in your stories can say the same?"

She didn't say anything in response to his statement but did turn to meet his gaze.

"So, will you yield?" he asked again after a short silence.

"I will…yield," she relented with a reluctant sigh and glancing over at their allies who were still fighting in the far distance. "I'll get my men to stand down."

"Let's get you over there then, the quicker the better," Ben said as he rose back to his feet.

[Transform: Big Chill!]

. . . . . . . . . .

"I forgot how tough Tetramands actually are!" Kiba shouted out as he deflected a blow from his opponent only to quickly block and deflect the other three sword strikes that followed after in quick succession. His quick reflexes saved him when he dodged the blow from his second opponent who tried attacking him from behind.

"They're annoying," Koneko deadpanned as she avoided her own opponent's blows and delivering her own straight into its gut, knocking it to the ground though it quickly picked itself back up and returned to the fight, much to her chagrin.

From her spot slightly away from the fighting, Rias stood with Asia and Gasper and watched the battle unfold, debating with herself whether she needed to get personally involved with her magic. It would end the fight quickly and help her beloved peerage, but it would likely lead to most, if not all, of the Tetramands being killed and giving their tribe's warlord an excuse to openly attack her family's territory. For the moment she was holding back as her servants were handling themselves well thanks to their rigorous training. Ben had been knocked away by the party's leader, but she wasn't worried about him (ok, she was a little worried!). He could take care of himself.

As for the rest of her peerage, the Tetramands weren't proving too much of a challenge for them; they could keep up with them and hold them back, but their durability combined with her 'non-lethal' request meant that they would keep getting back up.

As she continued to debate in her head, several bright blue beams suddenly shot over her head and struck the feet of every one of the Tetramands, surprising everyone, not just them and momentarily stopping the fighting as they all looked towards the source of the blue beams. Rias looked over her shoulder to Ben flying towards them, the female Tetramand dangling beneath him as he held her by his feet. He flew down towards Rias and released his catch when they were a few feet from the ground. She landed heavily on one knee and slowly rose up to face everyone while Ben's Necrofriggian form hovered in the air above them, his body encased by his large wings like a cloak.

When they saw their leader's beaten form, the Tetramand warriors broke through the ice restraining them and raised their weapons angrily in Ben's direction.

"Enough!" she declared, raising her arm which they obeyed instantly, lowering their weapons though still growling aggressively at the state of their leader. Rias was joined by Akeno and the rest of her group as they faced down the Tetramand warriors who had regrouped before them.

"We have been beaten this day…but there is no dishonour in this defeat," she stated, walking towards her group, adding the last part at the forlorn look on their faces. "We faced the Red Dragon Emperor and his allies, and we still live to tell our story! Who else can claim that honour?!"

The others thought about her words and, by the sagging of their shoulders, they would go along with her reasoning; whether they believed it themselves or not was impossible to say, but Rias was glad they would still follow her lead.

"Let us return home so we may tell the story of how Looma Red Wind and her brave warriors fought the Red Dragon and survived!" the female Tetramand, now revealed to be called Looma, exclaimed as she walked through her team members and started to head back into the forest they had emerged from. The others hesitated for a second before throwing their weapons to the ground and following after their leader.

Once they had fully disappeared into the forest, Rias released the breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding in, an action which was copied by Kiba and Xenovia.

"Well, I'm glad that's over," Kiba sighed as he re-sheathed his sword.

"As am I," Xenovia agreed as she returned Durandal back into its storage space. She frowned as she saw the weapons they left behind as they left. "Why did they leave their weapons?"

"It's part of their warrior code," Akeno explained. "They believe that, if they fail to win a fight, they failed because their weapon wasn't strong enough, so they discard it and make a new, stronger weapon to replace it."

"Their warriors take great pride in boasting how many battles their weapon has been through," Rias added, following Xenovia's gaze towards the discarded weapons.

Turning away from them, Rias turned back to her peerage and sighed. "I'm sorry everyone. As much as I hate to cut our day short, I have to return home and inform my father about what happened here. We'd better take the weapons back too to show him."

Murmuring their agreement, Kiba, Koneko and Xenovia spread out to collect the scattered weapons. as they walked away, Asia glanced up to see Ben was still in his Necrofriggian form and hadn't moved an inch from where he had dropped Looma.

"Ben? Are you okay?" she asked, worried that he wasn't responding to her.

Rias, Gasper and Akeno joined her in looking up at Ben, noting the strange, far-off expression on his face. Rias unfurled her wings and was about to fly up and see what was wrong when Kiba reached the closest weapon. As he reached down to pick it up, Ben's pale green eyes suddenly narrowed in on Kiba. His large wings opened up abruptly and he dove down at great speed towards Kiba.

"Ben?" Rias called out his name in confusion as he shot towards Kiba.

Kiba spotted Ben out the corner of his eye and jumped back as Ben landed where he had just been standing, crouched down low and picked up the weapon before consuming it to the shock of everyone.

"Ben? What's going on?" Rias asked with concern as she and the others ran over to him.

As they ran over to him, he stood back up, the wooden remains of the axe falling from his mouth. He had eaten every scrap of metal on the weapon.

"Must. Have. More!" he hissed as he lunged forward towards the rest of the scattered weapons, devouring every bit of metal in sight.

"What's happened to him?" Asia asked fearfully.

"Has he lost control again?" Xenovia wondered as she watched him slowly eat his way through the weaponry.

"I don't know," Rias replied with worry in her voice. "Ben? Can you hear me?"

Ben made no indication he had heard her as he continued to eat.

"If he has lost control then we have to hold him and force him to transform back," Kiba stated, noting the look of apprehension on the faces of each of the young women. "It's what he made us promise to do if he ever lost control again, remember?"

"I do…," Rias admitted, trailing off as she recalled the conversation of how he wanted them to take him down if he ever lost control again. They had resisted at first to his request but eventually gave in and agreed to do what they needed to bring him back. The plan they had worked up involved them all working together to stop whatever Ben had become in its tracks while Rias activates the unique failsafe Ben had asked Azmuth to add to the Sacred Gear for such an occasion.

When asked about the failsafe, Azmuth explained to them that he has it so that if any of the members of Rias' peerage pressed down on the dial wherever it appears on Ben's body then it would cancel the transformation and force Ben back to his normal state. He added a warning though that forcing the magical connection between Ben and the demon to bring him back would hurt…a lot.

Rias looked over at Ben who was busy finishing off the last bits of metal "Are certain he's lost control?"

She stepped forward and called out to Ben. "Ben! If it's still you then speak to me!"

Ben finished off the last bit of metal on the battle-axe in his mouth, dropping the wooden shaft to the ground. At hearing Rias' plea, Ben glanced over at her and hissed as he unfurled his wings fully and prepared to take off.

"Quick! Stop him!" Rias ordered everyone who, except for Asia and Gasper, leapt into action instantly at her command.

"Right!" they cried out in unison as they charged towards Ben who paid them no notice. When they reached him, they quickly worked to subdue him to the ground. Kiba and Xenovia dove forward and took hold of each of his legs, knocking them out from under him and holding them down while Koneko and Akeno took hold of each of his arms and held them tight to their chests to restrain his movement further. Ben thrashed wildly at their sudden attack, his wings flapping frantically all over the place though they held their appendages firmly, unwilling to let him hurt himself.

Rias ran close behind her peerage as they subdued Ben. She, like Ben and everyone else, had always hoped they'd never have been put in this situation…but now that they had, she steeled herself for what they had to do next. She knelt down in front of his head as Koneko and Akeno pulled his arms back to force his torso up to reveal Azmuth's Seal on Ben's pale blue chest.

"Come back to us, Ben!" she exclaimed as she reached for the dial.

"NO!" 'Ben' cried out as his entire body suddenly turned intangible, freeing himself from their grasp and standing up as Akeno, Koneko, Kiba and Xenovia lost their hold on his limbs and fell through his body. Free from his captors, his wings spread out wide and he shot up into the air.

"Shit!" Rias muttered dejectedly, having completely forgotten about the Necrofriggian's ability to turn intangible.

"Crap," Koneko grumbled as she picked herself off the floor.

"That's unfortunate," Kiba sighed as he looked up at Ben.

"Shit! I forgot he could do that!" Xenovia cursed.

"We all did," Akeno stated as she also quickly returned to her feet.

As Ben turned away from them and took off at great speed, Rias spun around towards Gasper and Asia.

"Gasper, quick! Freeze him! We can't let him get away from us!" she exclaimed.

Gasper was surprised by Rias' sudden command but quickly recovered and did as she asked. He gazed up at Ben's fleeing form, his eyes glowing brightly as he activated his Sacred Gear to stop Ben in his tracks.

However, rather than Ben freezing in stop from the effects of Gasper's Forbidden Balor View as they expected, nothing happened. Ben continued to fly away and quickly disappeared from sight.

"I'm sorry, Rias!" Gasper wailed as they all regrouped, falling to his knees as he fought to keep back tears for his complete failure. "I tried to stop him! I really did!"

"It's alright, Gasper," Rias soothed, kneeling down and hugging the blond dhampir tightly. "You tried your best."

"I-I used my Sacred Gear b-but it wouldn't work!" Gasper wailed. "I c-c-could see him…b-but it was like there wasn't anything there to s-stop!"

"It must be because he was intangible," Akeno deduced with a thought. "When he's like that, he must be temporarily detached from reality in some way."

"It doesn't matter about how he got away, just that he did," Rias declared as she released Gasper who still struggled to hold back his tears.

"We need to find him and help him!" Asia gasped fearfully.

"We need to find him before his demon form hurts someone. He wouldn't forgive himself if he did so. Which way did he go?"

Kiba, Xenovia and Koneko pointed towards Ben had gone.

"That's the direction of my family's home. Let's go find him!"

With a flutter of wings, they all took to the air and quickly headed off in pursuit.

. . . . . . . . . .

Gremory Manor

"Oh, hello there, Rias. To what do we owe the pleasure?"

Venelana and Zeoticus were sat outside in the huge Gremory garden, having tea and admiring the magnificent view of the sunset from the large, milk-white gazebo when they were abruptly joined by their daughter and her peerage who dropped down out of the sky and landed before them. It was hard for them not to notice the anxious look on Rias' face.

"Mother. Father. Has anyone here seen Ben recently?" Rias asked her parents, hiding just how anxious she really was.

"I can't say we have, dear," Venelana replied, returning her cup back to its saucer.

"Should we have?" Zeoticus added, copying his wife's action with his own cup and paying full attention to his daughter. "What's happened?"

"Something's gone wrong with one of Ben's transformations. He transformed into his Necrofriggian form but lost control for some reason and fled in this direction," Rias explained to her parents. "We followed him here and thought that someone here would have seen something."

"I'm sorry, dear, but we haven't seen any-…," Venelana began when a maid emerged from behind a topiary in the shape of a huge dragon and headed towards them. it was clear that she needed to tell them something important but her professionalism and dedication to her job forbade her from losing her decorum, so could only manage a brisk walk.

"I apologise for intruding, Lord and Lady Gremory," the maid said while bowing respectfully to the assembled group.

"It's fine, Syndra," Zeoticus told her, waving off her apology. "What did you need to tell us? It looked like it was urgent."

The maid, Syndra, bowed her head again before relaying her message. "We received word from the guards patrolling the east perimeter that they encountered a Necrofriggian attacking the wall. It ate a considerable amount of the metal before the guards arrived and even more so after the guards proved unable to stop it due to its powers of intangibility."

"Was there anything unusual about?!" Rias blurted out, anxious for any news that could lead her to Ben. "Did the guards see anything different about this Necrofriggian?"

If Syndra was taken aback by Rias' outburst, she hid it very well – a testament to Grayfia's maidly management – and directed her attention towards the young Gremory heiress.

"There was something that caught the guard's attention about this particular one," she revealed. "They reported that there was something seemingly embedded in the creature's chest; something circular in design and green in colour.

Rias and her peerage's eyes lit up at this piece of news.

"That's it!" Rias exclaimed joyfully, turning back to her parents. "That's the mark of Azmuth's Gear! That had to have been him!"

Zeoticus nodded at her and looked over at Syndra. "What direction did the guards report the Necrofriggian went in when it fled?"

"The guards stated that, once it had eaten its fill of metal, it flew away towards the Northern Mountain," Syndra answered.

"The Northern Mountain?" Rias muttered in confusion. Why would Ben be heading towards the tallest mountain in her family's territory? "Why would he go there?"

"And why is he eating so much metal?" Akeno added, just as confused as her red-haired friend.

"I think we're all interested in the answers to your questions, Rias, and I believe you may find those answers at the Northern Mountain," Zeoticus stated, casting his gaze over his shoulder towards the direction of the mountain in question, visible in the distance. "Once you return with my future son-in-law, I'd be most interested in the answers."

Normally, Rias would've blushed at her father's son-in-law comment, but she was too worried about Ben to fully register everything that he said.

"Come on, everyone! Let's find Ben and bring him back!" Rias declared as she turned away from her parents and headed off towards the mountain with the rest of her peerage running closely behind her.

"Don't forget to wrap up warm, Rias," Venelana's voice called to them as they left. "It's quite cold up there."

. . . . . . . . . .

A few hours later, near the summit of the Northern Mountain

"Lady Gremory wasn't kidding about the cold!" Kiba exclaimed as they flew through the snowstorm in their journey towards the summit where they sensed Ben's presence.

Almost as soon as they arrived at the base of the mountain, they could detect Ben's magical presence because, for whatever reason, he wasn't hiding himself anymore and they wanted to reach him quickly in case it disappeared again.

Taking up Venelana's advice, they were all now wearing magically enhanced winter clothing for their journey. Devils may be extremely durable supernatural beings, but even they suffered from the effects of the extreme cold…just not to the same degree as a human.

"How much further is it?" Asia asked, unable to pinpoint where Ben's magical presence was originating from.

"Not much further," Akeno answered, pointing to the ledge just in front of them. "I think it's just over this ledge."

"Hold on, Ben! We're coming for you," Rias muttered to herself.

The small group crested the ledge and came to an abrupt halt at what they were met with.

Necrofriggians.

There were dozens of the blue, flying demons all over the place, flying around mounds of various shapes and sizes yet every single one composed entirely of metal. They seemed to be very protective of the strange metallic mounds by the way they hissed at any other Necrofriggian which happened to fly too close to them.

Rias and the others did not know what to suspect when they came here, but none of them ever imagined they would be met by the scene before their eyes.

"Woah," Xenovia breathed as she took in the sight before her.

"There must be over a hundred Necrofriggians here," Kiba noted as he landed on the edge of the ledge with the others as they stood transfixed at the unexpected sight before them.

"What are they all doing here?" Asia wondered with curiosity.

"Never mind that, right now," Rias interjected as she landed, furling her wings behind her. "Which one of these is Ben? He must be somewhere amongst them."

"W-what should we d-do?" Gasper stuttered fearfully at the demonic creatures before him.

"I guess we'll just have to search through them all until we find him," Akeno shrugged and the others murmured in agreement, none of them having a better idea.

"Just be careful everyone," Rias warned as they slowly edged their way towards the cluster of flying ice demons. "We don't want to spook them and cause a panic."

"Right," they all muttered quietly in unison and entered the cluster of metallic mounds, splitting up as they searched for their lost friend and teammate.

As they searched for Ben, they made sure to keep a reasonable distance between the mounds and themselves after noting how the Necrofriggians became increasingly more hostile the closer to the mounds they got.

After a few minutes of searching, Rias and Kiba met up with each other near the middle of the cluster.

"Find anything yet?" Rias asked anxiously. Hoping perhaps Kiba's search had been more fruitful than her own.

Kiba shook his head sadly. "No, I haven't found him yet," he admitted with a sad sigh as he looked at the remaining ice demons he had yet to search through. The two of them were despondent at their failure so far but refused to give up and were about to continue their search when their Devil-enhanced hearing suddenly picked a series of strange sounds vibrating through the air which caused them to stop.

"What's that sound?" Kiba wondered, turning back to face the Gremory heiress who shared his look of confusion.

"I don't know," Rias replied as she activated her magic communication circle near her ear and spoke to her entire peerage. "Is anyone else hearing that sound?"

"I can. I don't know where they're coming from, though," Akeno replied as she looked around, unable to pinpoint its origin.

"Neither can I," Koneko admitted, frustrated that her cat ears which were twitching at the sounds were unable to tell her where anything useful. "I think it's coming from all around us."

"Arrrgghh! What is it!?" Gasper whined fearfully as he crouched down low and made himself as small as possible. Xenovia who had accompanied Gasper drew her sword and held it at the ready for a potential enemy.

As the vibrating sounds grew louder and louder, the others imitated Xenovia and took up their own defensive stances for whatever was coming. When nothing emerged out of the thick blizzard, Rias made to get everyone to regroup and decide what their next course of action should be, but was interrupted when the Necrofriggian's behind her began hissing violently as a large creature suddenly appeared above them and Rias cursed when she recognised what it was.

A Psycholeopterran.

even though this was the first time she had actually seen one, she still remembered being about it when she was younger, and it was just as her mother described it. A huge, armour-plated, 5 metres long, insectoid creature with a set of wings big enough to carry its bulk as well as two large fangs descending from its mouth, four large black pincers which hung below its thorax and two large antennae protruding just behind its eyes.

It was quickly joined by several others who, now, completely surrounded the icy, mountainous clearing.

They hovered above the cluster of metallic mounds upon which the ice demons were hissing their warning up at the demons before them, unwilling to abandon their mounds for whatever reason they had where, usually, they would have scrambled to flee from their natural predator. Their eyes scanned the sight before them, their antennae absorbing information in the air and, just as Rias and the others were wondering what their next move would be, their wings suddenly started beating in a distinct pattern which also started releasing an intense magical presence.

Recognising the creatures' intent, Rias quickly warned her peerage through her communication circle. "Don't look at them! Whatever you do, don't look directly at them!"

Her warning came just in time. As her peerage did as she ordered, the Psycholeopterrans' wings started glowing red as they released a wave of spiral patterns which spread out across the entire collection of Necrofriggian's. As the ice demons looked at the patterns, they were instantly held by the insectoid's hypnotic magical power, completely helpless and unable to move as the flying insectoid's descended upon them and released their long tongues from behind their fangs which reached out and wrapped around the 'frozen' ice demon they had targeted and retracted their tongue with great speed, biting down on their catch and quickly swallowing it before landing on top of the metallic mound, thrusting their fangs into the top of it, and ingesting whatever was hidden within.

In response to the attack, the few Necrofriggians which hadn't been caught by the hypnotic attack took flight and got as close to the insectoid demon as they could without leaving their mounds unguarded and unleashing a blast of ice from their mouth which struck the Psycholeopterran directly though it emerged completely unscathed, finished with its current meal and moving on to the next helpless one and repeating the process.

"What do we do now?!" Kiba shouted above the noise of everything going on around them. "Do we protect the 'Friggians' or do we keep searching for Ben?"

"Both!" Rias replied without hesitation and spoke through her communication to the others. "Asia and Gasper! You two concentrate on looking for Ben. I want everybody else to keep searching for Ben too, but to stop any of those predator demons they come across as well!

"Got it!" came the collective response as they hurried off to carry out Rias' order, heading back into the throng of ice demons, stepping up their search for Ben before he was killed in the slaughter which was taking place.

Rias and Kiba ran between the mounds, no longer worried about getting too close to the mounds as time was running out for them. They heard a loud noise on their left, quickly followed by a Psycholeopterran being knocked to the ground. They could see Koneko, her Nekomata ears and tail visible as she quickly dealt with the demon while Asia searched for Ben from among the numerous ice demons.

As they continued their search, another one launched itself on its prey right in front of them, almost catching them off guard. Rias fired a bolt of crimson magic at it which stopped it in its tracks and threw it onto its back where Kiba thrust his blade into the ground.

"SWORD BIRTH!" he bellowed as the large demon was suddenly impaled by numerous swords from beneath it.

A dull noise alerted Rias to the other insectoid demon on her right as it prepared to launch another hypnotic attack.

"Kiba! Don't look right!" Rias shouted, quickly seeing Kiba clearly hear her warning and averted his gaze which she also did as the hypnotic wave cascaded over them.

Sure that the blast had passed them, Rias returned her gaze in the direction of the thing that launched the attack, seeing it was now closing in on its new prey, a hypnotised Necrofriggian a few feet in front of her which, she saw, had pale green eyes and a strange protrusion from its chest.

'Wait! That's not a protrusion!' Rias thought before it suddenly clicked.

BEN!

"I've found him! He's in the centre of the clearing!" she notified her peerage through the communication circle. She was met with several responses telling her they were heading over to her after they had dealt with their opponents.

"Ben!" she shouted, trying to get his attention though it was useless as he was fully under the effects of the hypnotic attack. As she ran over to him her eyes widened as the Psycholeopterran shot its long tongue out and wrapped it around Ben's immobile body.

"Get away from him!" she cried as she quickly fired a magical bolt at it. It avoided a direct hit as the bolt merely struck the side of its shell, disorientating it, but not enough to get to release Ben.

As Rias quickly prepared to fire another bolt, the large predator demon retracted it tongue, pulling Ben towards it waiting mouth. As she was about to release her attack, Kiba suddenly appeared from behind a metallic mound, launching himself at the demon, his sword reared back which he then brought down on its tongue when he was close enough.

The demon emitted a piercing screech as Kiba's sword easily cleaved through soft muscle but didn't have time to do much else as it was dealt a direct blow by a much stronger bolt of magic by Rias, causing it to let out a feeble death cry before it was destroyed.

Released from its binding but still suffering the effects of the hypnotic attack, Ben fell towards the ground but was prevented from striking the floor when Koneko lunged forward and caught him.

"I think that was the last one," Akeno noted as she stepped out from behind a mound and joined the group, followed shortly after by Asia and Koneko. When she spotted Ben lying on the floor, Asia rushed over and began using her magic on him heal any injuries he had.

As she did this, Rias looked towards Akeno. "What was the damage?"

"It's hard to tell at first glance, but I think over a quarter were killed and mounds destroyed," the Gremory queen stated, looking back at the destruction around them. "It would've been a lot worse if we weren't here."

"I agree, but still…," Rias muttered, her voice drifting off as she gazed up at the mound that Ben had created and been guarding when the attack started. "…we don't know why they were gathered here nor why these mounds were so important to them."

The red-haired Gremory heiress reached out and touched the side of the metallic mound. As her hand made contact with it, the top of the mound cracked open and several football-sized, pale blue, spherical objects were released from its confines, slowly floating up and hovering two feet above where they emerged. The same scene was repeated throughout the entire cluster as similar orbs emerged from the mounds at different intervals. The guardian Necrofriggians hovered beside the orbs and seemed to be waiting for something else to happen.

As they watched the scene happening all around them, Ben's pale green eyes opened and he quickly sat up and returned to his feet, returning everyone's attention back to him.

"Ben? Are you alright?" Rias asked hopefully, hoping he would finally come back to her. Ben didn't respond to her question and merely stood there, staring at her for a brief moment before he turned away from them to look up at the spherical orbs which were now slowly descending down towards him. When they reached him, they surrounded him and glowed slightly before they began to change shape, slowly morphing into tiny Necrofriggians which flew around him chirping excitedly, a few of them brushing up against him and one nuzzled against Ben's cheek which he reciprocated.

After this display of affection towards Ben, the baby Necrofriggian's turned away from Ben and returned to their nest and began to eat away at the metal it was made from.

Ben stepped away from the nest to stand where Rias and the others were and was briefly consumed blast of light which revealed him back in his original form when the light disappeared.

"Urgh, my head," he grunted, clutching the side of his head. Sensing someone behind him, he glanced back to see everyone staring at him with shock and surprise on their face.

"Uh, hey guys," was all he was able to say before he had the wind knocked out of him by Rias and Asia who suddenly embraced him and held him tightly.

"Ben!" she cried with joy as they held him.

"What are you guys doing here?" he asked them as he held Rias and Asia.

"We should be asking you that?" Kiba retorted with a sigh as he sheathed his blade. "What happened to you? Why did you lose control of your transformation?"

"Uh, that's a difficult question to answer," Ben replied before he was suddenly brought face to face with Rias who, after recovering from the joy of having her Ben returned to her, was now determined to get answers from him.

"That's not important right now! I want to know about those baby Necrofriggians," she stated with fiery determination, gripping Ben's collar and holding his face close to hers with the familiar sweet yet false smile on her face which sent a chill down his spine from the memories of the previous times he saw that smile.

"Uh, it's quite hard to explain," he replied weakly, doing his best not to look directly into her eyes.

"I'm all ears," Rias replied simply, not willing to drop the subject for anything.

"Did you get busy with another ice demon?" Koneko asked bluntly. "I didn't think you had it in you."

"Oh my," Akeno gasped behind her hand, imagining such an encounter in her mind.

"Oh, Ben! How could you?" Asia whimpered dejectedly.

"What?!" Ben replied, shocked at the suggestion and gulping at the dangerous look which crept into Rias' eyes. "Of course not!"

"Then. What. Is. It?" Rias asked again, punctuating every single word which sent other, individual chills down his spine.

[Perhaps I could provide an explanation,] Azmuth's voice suddenly spoke out from Ben's right arm.

Ben silently thanked the emerald dragon for his timely interruption while, simultaneously, cursing Ddraig for chuckling at his discomfort.

"I'm all ears, Azmuth," Rias declared, not releasing her hold on Ben as she waited to hear what Azmuth would say.

[It's something about the nature of Necrofriggians which I never thought possible, never even considered happening to Ben through my Sacred Gear,] Azmuth began to explain as everyone, Ben included listened in intently.

[Necrofriggian's are a genderless demonic race and thus, reproduce asexually. From what I understand about them, its an event that happens once every eighty years, but the first time can happen at any point. The individual Necrofriggian enters into almost a trance where they don't, or can't, think about anything aside from preparing to lay their eggs.]

"But creatures that reproduce asexually don't have any attachment to the one who created them, do they?" Xenovia asked, eager to know the answer. Despite not reacting to the bombshell of Ben being a 'parent', she was still eager to understand everything about it.

[That's a good question. One I don't fully understand myself,] Azmuth admitted, though this time it was with genuine interest rather being annoyed at not knowing something as was his usual response. [Normally, as soon as the chicks are born, they immediately eat the nest and fly away to find a place in the Underworld to call home. It could be because of my Sacred Gear, the fact that Ben isn't actually a Necrofriggian, or it could be because of his own genes that makes his descendants more attached to him than a normal human or devil.]

[Azmuth's got a point. Ben might just be that good with children,] Ddraig spoke up, finally joining in on the conversation. [Hmm, it's a pity we can't really test that theory though.]

"We can," Xenovia piped up, stepping forward. "I'm more than willing to bear his child and test the theory!"

"I'm open to the idea myself," Akeno chuckled. "It'd take a lot of times trying but I'm sure if we persevere."

"I-I-I wouldn't mind testing it either," Asia mumbled quietly, covering her cheeks as she tried to hide the blush spreading across her face.

"That's enough, everyone!" Rias announced fiercely, holding Ben's head against her impressive chest. "If there's anyone who he's going to have children with first, then it's going to be me!" she added firmly.

Before they could continue with their bickering, several chirps coming from above attracted their attention. The baby Necrofriggians had managed to get through nearly all of the metallic meal Ben had made for them and now returned to say their final farewells. Most of them circled around Ben, recognising him as their 'mother' even in his normal form, and the others circled around the others, chirping playfully and seeking affection from them.

This was something that the girls were all too happy to do. They tickled, cuddled, and nuzzled their heads against them, giving the chicks the affection they wanted. Even Rias couldn't stay mad when one brushed their cheek against hers.

"They're sooooo cute!" she whined, her final walls crumbling as she fawned over the baby ice demon now in her arms.

"Can't they come home with us?" Asia cooed as she tickled the one in her arms.

[Unfortunately not, Necrofriggians are solitary demons, preferring to live on their own and, like all demons, they are creatures of magic and require it in abundance to survive. They need to stay in the Underworld to survive and thrive,] Azmuth replied simply, not knowing if Asia was being serious or not.

As he said this, the chicks, almost in unison, detached from the group, having said their goodbyes, and flew up into the air, something which was imitated by the other chicks who had finished their meal. The, now clear, sky was suddenly filled with the small swarm of tiny ice demons which took to the air, flying away in all directions. Now that they looked at them compared with the other chicks flying with them. They could all see that the ones which Ben had brought into the world were bigger than the other. It wasn't by much, but it was noticeable when comparing them. One more thing they noted was the eye colour of Ben's brood. While the other chicks had pale blue eyes, Ben's chicks shared his transformation's pale green eyes.

They slowly made their way out of the clearing, now almost completely devoid of mounds, and stopped at the edge of the cliff edge, watching the chicks fly off into the distance, to find their place in their brand-new world.

Rias stood at Ben's side and, hearing a soft sound, glanced over at her eternal partner and saw a single tear slowly slide its way down his cheek. Deciding not to say anything about it, she placed a tender kiss on his cheek and leaned her head against his shoulder.

"You'll be a wonderful father someday. I just know it," she whispered into his ear. Ben smiled at her words and rested his own head on hers and their fingers intertwined as they watched the last Necrofriggian chicks fly out of sight, into the distance, and into the brand-new world waiting for them.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

A/N: And there you have it, the first of the two short stories.

Just for those who are perhaps wondering, the Psycholeopterran is a genuine alien from the cartoon and characterised as the natural predator of Necrofriggians. When I learned about this, I simply had to include them in a story revolving around Big Chill. I had a lot of fun writing this chapter, especially the scene where the girls react to Ben technically being a parent without them.

And for you eagle-eyed readers: Yes, that was indeed Looma Red Wind. This is her first appearance in my story and may appear again in the main one if I can figure out a plausible way to do so. She won't be in the harem but I'm not saying that there won't be anything between Ben and her in future. After all, DxD is a very different world than Ben 10!

Anyway, that's it for the first short story. I will be releasing the second one very soon (hopefully in two-three weeks if not less)

Before I go. As I said at the start of the chapter, while I won't respond to your reviews until I return to the main story I will still read them and answer them then.

Until the next chapter, stay safe and I'll see you later.