Chapter 3: First Days Are Always the Worst

I reread the last chapter, and I noticed that I may have accidentally given the impression that this was a Bevin story. IT'S NOT, and I apologize if I made it seem that way. I was actually aiming for some light comedy. It's more of a BenxOC type of thing. As for Kevin, well, I might not make him totally fall for Gwen just yet. I want to experiment and see if Kevin would be better suited for someone else.

Insert disclaimer here.

"Magister Labrid's dead?" Sam asked upon hearing the news. She, along with Carter and Evan, were in the Valentine study. They had just come back from the training facility and were still wearing the dojo uniform: black bandages encircling the arms and legs, red Capri pants that were jagged and ripped up at the end, and a short sleeved shirt similar to the shirt of a karate gi, but red with a black dragon graphic on the back. All three students had black belts tied around their lithe waists. All three were barefoot.

"Yes. He died from a Forever Knight attack in one of their castles. The three of them then continued to find the High Breed ship and destroy it before the High Breeds destroyed a hospital and everything within a five mile radius. The three of them also decided to become a permanent team," Isaac added, basically summing up what happened in the last few hours. Cordelia was standing next to the desk, hiding away the screen where they saw the Magister die into the floor.

"What do you want us to do?" Evan asked his mentor. Isaac was calmly sitting on the desk chair, gauging the reactions of the three students in front of him. He had trained well; they didn't show any emotion concerning the report.

"The same as before: allow Ben Tennyson to show you around school, find some common ground, and then befriend him," Cordelia said for her husband, no longer concerned about the video screen.

"What do we do if aliens attack?" Carter asked. The question had popped up in her mind during training.

"Try to let Ben and his team handle it. If it continues to be a problem, reveal your powers and help, but say nothing about the original goal. Just say that you were sent here because of a possible alien threat, or something along those lines," Isaac continued. He reached for a pen to write with before asking, "Have you thought of a way to let Ben know about the origin of the Slayers without talking out loud?"

"Actually, yes," Carter said almost proudly. "I bring a history book about the Slayers to school and try to lend it to him. If he reads it, not only will it answer whatever questions he might have at this point, but it'll save a lot of time for explanations."

"How do you know he'll read the book?" Cordelia smirked. It was always fun embarrassing her granddaughter like this. Unfortunately, she had been prepared for such a comment.

"A pretty girl gave it to him. Of course he'll read it to make sure that we have a common interest," Carter shot back. Evan and Sam smiled deviously; they often did that in situations like this.

"Good girl," Cordelia said happily. She often tested her family with questions like this, to remind them how easy it could be to trick humans. All humans liked beautiful things; they would never suspect that someone as beautiful as a Valentine could do so much harm.

"Any questions?" Isaac asked, wanting to conclude the meeting so he could continue to write. The three teens shook their heads.

"Then go back to the training facility."

The three teens walked through the dark hallways of the Valentine's Victorian style house, making sure to not touch any of the priceless artifacts along the walls: ancient swords, famous paintings, museum style pieces that cost a large fortune. Carter led the way, even though her two friends new the household as well as she did.

They neared the front doors, which were made of solid oak, giving the house a haunted feeling. Leading from the entrance was a large painting of Cordelia and Isaac, with Cordelia sitting in a wooden chair, her hair straight and loose, her renaissance corset dress a blood red. Isaac was standing, both hands behind his back, with his usual black three piece suit impeccable. Both were smiling, but Cordelia's smile looked somewhat vicious.

Behind this portrait was a door, which led into a tunnel to the underground. There the three teens walked the steel floors to the underground training facility of the Slayers, a labyrinth of death and pain. Thousands of rooms to cater for every need, from a weapons field, to an alchemy lab, to even a library on magic. From the way Evan, Sam, and Carter were dressed, they were going to train again in the dojo, where Sam's family had instructed new Slayers for years.

They walked down seemingly endless hallways to the dojo, which looked pretty ordinary, save for how empty it was. Mats littered the floor, and the walls were whitewashed. When the three of them entered, the lights went on immediately. Sam and Evan immediately went to the center, while Carter stood around to observe the match.

Without a second's warning, they attacked each other, Sam aiming high, Evan aiming low. Sam nearly hit Evan in the head, but he caught her by the foot. Not to be deterred, Sam kicked him in the shoulder, forcing him to let go. He quickly rolled to the side, and swept his legs underneath Sam. She jumped up, and landed on Evan's chest, feet near his throat.

But Evan wasn't down yet. With a quick jab, he hit her behind the knees, forcing her to bend. Taking the moment of weakness, Evan threw Sam off of him, and then punched her in the gut. Despite the pain, Sam grabbed his arm and locked him in place, with one arm behind his back. She then threw him downward head first, and slammed his face into the mats, nearly suffocating the boy.

"Winner: Sam!" Carter called out, ending the near death match. Sam released her hold on Evan, and he came up, gasping for air. He cleared the way for the next match.

Carter didn't give Sam a chance to get ready. She leapt at her, aiming for the throat. Sam intercepted and grabbed her arms, throwing Carter to the ground. Carter quickly kicked Sam's legs roughly, tripping her. She then held her neck in a choke hold, but Sam elbowed Carter's stomach roughly, sending her reeling.

Sam then lifted Carter in the air, and threw her head first to the ground. But before she could finish the attack, Carter slithered out of her grip and landed toes first on the floor. She once again aimed for the throat, but Sam jabbed a finger at Carter's arms, hitting the nerve tendons. Arms useless, she tried to use her feet, but Sam pushed her to the ground, savagely holding Carter's throat, nearly choking her.

"Winner and undisputed champion: Sam!" Evan announced before Sam could accidentally kill her best friend. Sam released her grip and helped Carter to her feet. Sam hadn't hit her arms that hard; already there was feeling, though it was mostly pain.

"I think we're done here," Evan thought, desperately wanting a nap.

"Agreed," the girls said. They went out of the dojo to change clothes, and as they walked to the changing rooms, they joked around like regular teenagers, like the fact that two of them had nearly died never happened.

It was now Sunday morning, and Ben should be asleep. He had snuck into his room last night without alerting his parents and had attempted to sleep. But he had been plagued of nightmares about Grandpa Max and what he must be going through, not to mention that he was worried about the voice in his head. Ventus had only spoken to Ben twice, once after Kevin had attacked him, and once to comfort him after Magister Labrid died. It wasn't your fault that he died, Benjamin, he had said soothingly. But if it makes you feel any better, then complete the mission, for his sake.

And so Ben did; he found and stopped the High Breeds and the so-called DNAliens from attacking a hospital and destroying everything within a five mile radius. But he still didn't find Grandpa. What was he supposed to do without him?

You're Ben Tennyson. You can do anything. Those were Magister Labrid's final words to him when Ben had voiced his doubts. And he was right. Ben Tennyson could do anything. But for now, he had to deal with his parents. He quickly dressed and went downstairs to face their anger.

Sandra was downstairs waiting for him; Carl was probably still asleep. "Where were you?" she immediately asked him before he got into the kitchen.

"Grandpa's missing," Ben said without thinking. Well, it wasn't a lie. Still, he should warn Gwen about what he'd done.

The anger almost completely went out of Sandra. "What?" she asked, bewildered.

"Yesterday, after the game, I went to his RV to show him the medal," Ben explained. "When I got there, it was totally trashed. I looked inside, but couldn't find him. So I called up Gwen and we went around town looking for him. We were so worried about him that we forgot to call."

Sandra sat back down, trying to take in the news. She had always liked Max, despite how strange he was, and she knew the kids loved him dearly. But she also knew that Carl hadn't really talked to his father in years and wouldn't be happy that his son went out looking for him without calling anyone.

"I know how much you love your Grandpa, but you have to remember to call so we don't worry about you, okay? I'll talk to your father about what we should do. In the meantime, you should eat something." His mother kissed her son's forehead and quickly went upstairs. Ben heaved a sigh of relief and went to get some cereal. He hated not telling his parents the truth, but he didn't have a choice.

After about the first bowl of cereal, Carl came down. Ben couldn't tell if his father was angry or not. "Is it true? Is dad…missing?" he said quietly. Ben just nodded and poured himself another bowl of Lucky Charms (because it's good, dammit!)

Carl heaved himself into a chair, his head down. After a bit, he looked up again and said, "I'm going to check out the RV later, see if there's anything that can lead to his whereabouts. Then I'm going to call the police and have them search for him. But knowing him he's just hiding out in some highway restaurant." Carl shook his head. "Just wasting our time, as usual."

"Don't talk about him like that!" Ben slammed his spoon down, glaring at his father. Carl started, not used to this type of behavior. "Just because you can't stand him doesn't mean I do!"

"You think I hate my own father?" Carl accused.

"Hello? You've barely talked to him for six years! Of course I would think that!" Ben said, exasperated.

"That's because he put you in a dangerous situation!"

"One that I can't even remember!"

Carl blinked. "You don't?"

"No! What happened to me back there?" Ben asked, the anger leaving his voice. He slowly sat back down and looked at his dad pitifully.

Carl sighed. "I don't really know what happened. But when Max carried you home, you were covered in blood and you wouldn't wake up. I… I was scared, Ben, and I blamed your grandfather for everything." Carl put his head in his hands. "I know your grandfather would never purposefully put you in danger, but seeing you like that, well, that was the last straw. And now he's missing."

Ben sat back in his chair and tried to absorb everything. He stood up and walked over to Carl. "I know you want to apologize to Grandpa, but right now we need to strong to find him." Ben felt weird, having to comfort his dad like this, but it seemed to do wonders for him. And then he saw the watch.

"What's this?" Carl demanded, eyeing his son suspiciously.

"Gwen gave it to me yesterday," Ben lied quickly. Another thing he had to break to his cousin later. "She knows how much fun I had with the old one, so she made me this one." Carl didn't look convinced. "She also thinks that she doesn't have to give me any Christmas or birthday presents for the next five years." Carl gave an involuntary snort at that. Those two were the same as ever. He wasn't entirely convinced that Ben was telling the truth, but why would he lie?

Ben dumped his bowl into the sink and started for the door. "Where are you going?" Carl asked him.

"I'm going to Gwen's place for a bit. I'll be home soon," Ben said as he went out the door.

"You really told him that?" Gwen asked her cousin. They were in her room at her house. Ben had flown in one of his new aliens; he called that one Jetray. Ben had told her about the talk he and his dad had a few minutes ago.

"Yeah. Also, if he asks, you gave me this Omnitrix as a present." Ben pointed to the watch. Gwen raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything.

"So, what so we do now?" she asked, sitting on the bed.

Ben sighed and leaned against the wall, his arms crossed. "I have no idea," he said finally. "I guess if we find any clues about Grandpa, we look into it. Hopefully he'll send another message so we can know he's okay."

Gwen smiled. "I'm sure he's okay." She suddenly stopped smiling. "But about what happened to you back when we were ten… I'm starting to think the Slayers had something to do with it after all."

"What makes you say that?"

"Magister Labrid said that the Slayers are notorious for their terrible actions against supposed criminals. Maybe you got caught up in something and…" Gwen trailed off, unsure of where her train of thought was actually going.

"And what, Gwen?"

"I'm not sure, but maybe whatever happened to you was so traumatic that you literally blocked it from your mind."

"So, if I want to remember, then I have to go see a hypnotist or something?" Ben raised an eyebrow.

"Probably." Gwen suddenly got up and opened her window. "But I think we had enough excitement for a while. Try to rest for the next couple of days. Something tells me we're both going to need it."

Ben started for the window, then looked back, confused. "Did we just go an entire ten minutes without getting into an argument?"

"You just ruined it, you idiot."

"Shut up, freak."

"So says the guy who can turn into ten different aliens."

"Yes, I do say it." And then Ben stuck out his tongue, changed into Jetray, and then flew out the window before Gwen could retaliate.

Monday, which unfortunately means school.

Ben was walking to his locker when he remembered his promise to Carter. With everything that had been going on, he had completely forgotten! Where was she? Ben searched around the busy hallway, but there were too many people. It was kind of weird that he couldn't find her, seeing as she had the strange bang and all.

And then Ben mentally kicked himself for not asking for her number, or at least her last name. Now how was he supposed to find her? Ben quickly got to his locker and roughly opened it, constantly cursing himself for his stupidity. He was so angry that he didn't notice that Carter was just a few lockers down from him.

The high school assigned lockers in alphabetical order, so it was no wonder Carter Valentine's locker would be close to Ben Tennyson's. Carter, along with Sam and Evan, had already gotten her textbooks, classes, and locker numbers earlier and she was now waiting for a good chance to come up and talk to Ben. Seeing as he was too busy to look her way, Carter decided to take the initiative again and come up to him.

"Does the offer to guide me around school still stand?" she asked.

Ben started, nearly dropping his books in the process. He looked at her and a huge grin spread all over his face. "Yes! I mean, yeah," he said, trying hopelessly to act nonchalant. "How did you find me anyway?"

"My locker is by yours." Carter pointed with her thumb in the general direction of her locker.

"I kind of forgot what your last name was," Ben said coyly. He tried to hide his embarrassment by closing the locker door.

"That's because I didn't tell you," Carter said, smirking. "It's Valentine."

"Really." Ben hoisted his backpack onto his shoulder. "Didn't you say that there were some other new kids?" he asked.

"Yeah, and believe it or not, one of them really looks like you," Carter stated, looking at Ben curiously. "Seriously, the similarities are freaking incredible."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive. Anyway, we should probably look for them. I think their lockers are by the main entrance." Carter got out a map from her backpack and studied it.

"What makes you say that?" Ben asked, taking the map from her hands. Carter looked at him, slightly irritated. Ben started walking away, and she had no choice but to follow him.

"I think their last names start with 'f' and 'd', and since lockers here are assigned in alphabetical order, I assumed that their lockers would be at the front." Carter took back her map and shoved it back into her backpack.

"Do you know their first names?" Ben asked as they walked down the hallway. He was acutely aware of the stares he was getting, walking alongside Carter. A few kids whispered and even pointed, already asking those around them if the two of them had some sort of connection to each other. Carter either didn't notice them or she chose to ignore it.

"Yeah, the one that looks like your evil twin is Evan, and the other is a girl named Sam," Carter continued, trying to ignore the rude stares. Seriously, didn't these people have anything better to do than gossip about her? Sure, she was used to people staring, but gossip always got on her nerves. Nevertheless, she tried to focus on Ben.

"What does Sam look like?" Ben asked. He was getting desperate for a conversation topic, and this was all he had to go on.

"Sam's a redhead, and a very pretty one at that. She also really likes the color red. But there's one thing strange about her," Carter added.

"What's that?" Ben asked.

"Her hair looks like it's on fire."

"You're kidding."

"No, I'm not. You'll understand once you see it." The two of them were now close to the main entrance, and they were searching for these two oddities. And that was when Ben saw him: a guy with long brown hair tied in a ponytail, jeans, Converse sneakers, a black long sleeved shirt under a green tee shirt with a cool looking graphic of a black dragon. His skin had an olive tone, his green eyes darker, and a gigantic smile was taking up half of his face. He was talking to some girl in a red halter top, black mini skirt, and red boots. Her hair was layered and wavy, and it was cut in the middle of her back. It really did look like fire.

"You weren't kidding," Ben told Carter. He could literally see her hair from across the hall; it was just that noticeable.

"Come on, I'll introduce you." Carter tugged at his sleeve and led him to the mysterious twosome.

The boy noticed them first. His eyes widened, and the girl looked behind her to see what was taking away his attention. Her eyes widened as well, and they both stared at him as he got closer.

"Evan, Sam, meet Ben. He'll be our guide," Carter introduced. Ben couldn't stop staring at the guy in front of him. Seriously, it was like looking in a mirror, if the mirror showed you a slightly different version of yourself.

"Hi, I'm Evan," the boy said first, raising a hand to shake. His voice was deep.

"Ben." He returned the handshake. "You seriously weren't kidding when he said that he looked like me," Ben repeated to Carter, who had been watching the exchange curiously.

"No. No I wasn't," was all Carter said.

"I'm Sam," the flaming red head said suddenly, breaking the trance Ben was in. Ben looked at her and was instantly reminded of her cousin, because the frame of her face was similar to Gwen's. Weird, but not as weird as the fact that there was a doppelganger of Ben right in front of him. First the voice, and now this. Who knew what else could happen?

"What's your first class?" Ben asked, trying to find something normal to talk about. The three new kids got out their schedules, though unbeknownst to Ben, they had already memorized it.

"I have algebra first," Carter said, sticking out her tongue.

"Me too," Sam sighed.

"I take it you two don't like math," Ben stated the obvious. "What about you?" he asked Evan, who wouldn't meet his eye.

"I for one enjoy math, especially physics," he said.

"So does that mean that you can help me with my physics homework, because I seriously need the help," Ben pleaded. It didn't matter anymore what Evan looked like, his grade was about to plummet.

"Sure," Evan said, surprised. He had been expecting a different approach to befriending Ben, but this could work. Sam, on the other hand, was having a hard time reading Ben's reaction. Normally humans don't bounce back as quickly as he had when faced with a double. Then again, he had been fighting against aliens all his life. Something like this probably couldn't faze him for very long. Carter was still there, just watching the scene unfold with an amused expression.

With only ten minutes left before classes started, Ben directed them to their first classes. That was when he found out that they had a bit in common: Evan loved playing his guitar, Sam was a drummer, and Carter had been taking singing lessons since she was young. And all where familiar with Sumo Slammers, even if only Evan played all the videogames.

Once again people were staring at them, only know they didn't hesitate to point at Evan and Ben. Some were looking at Sam like she was a slut, some said that Carter was a cutter, and Evan, well, he just looked like Ben. Already the outrageous rumors were circulating, and Sam was ready to kick a lot of ass. Carter quickly shot her a look that clearly told her to calm down and ignore the students around them.

Carter and Sam were the first ones to leave the group to get to math. With only Evan around, it was kind of awkward for Ben. But Evan quickly turned that around. "Dude, you want to hang out some time? None of us know this city as well as you do, and we would really appreciate if you'd show us around."

"Yeah, I'd love to," Ben asked happily. Hey, new friends were always appreciated.

"That, and I'm pretty sure you want to spend more time with Carter."

"And you don't?"

"Sure, though I don't want to date her. She just seems like someone I want to get to know. And anyone who likes Sumo Slammers can't be a totally bad person." Ben and Evan high-fived each other at that.

"You are totally awesome!" Ben declared happily.

"Just wait until you get to know me. Then I'll really be awesome," Evan said. "Well, here's my stop. See you at lunch." Evan opened the door for Spanish Two and walked inside, leaving Ben to his own devices. In other words, he had to go to class. And all the way, he was cheering inside his head, unbelievably happy that he might not only have a group of new friends, but even a possible wingman!

He was so happy that he didn't notice how they all happened to play instruments that could start a band, or how they all had something similar in common that no one else his age really had.

Evan, on the other hand, was not so happy. Without someone he knew around to talk to him, he was at the mercy of his classmates, who were looking at him like he was an alien (which wasn't that far from the truth). "Ben, dude, what are you doing here?" a blond boy in the school's soccer uniform asked. Probably one of Ben's teammates.

"I'm not Ben," Evan said curtly, standing his ground. The boy held up his hands in a joking manner.

"Okay, I got to admit, this is a pretty good joke. But seriously, you can stop playing around." The boy smiled nervously.

Evan roughly yanked his long hair numerous times to show that it wasn't fake. "Are you still convinced that I'm Ben?" he said, officially annoyed. The other boy widened his eyes in shock and looked around the room helplessly.

A girl with spiky black hair came to his rescue. "You're not seeing things, dude. People have seen two Bens walking around together." She turned to Evan. "What's your name?"

"My name is Evan," he said quietly. "Is there an open seat somewhere?" The spiky haired girl gestured towards the front. Evan made his way over, trying desperately to avoid the looks and whispers.

He was actually kind of thankful that he was in the front. Now everyone would have a chance to get used to Evan and Ben's similarities. Nevertheless, it was going to be a long day.

Sam was used to people staring. Mainly it was because of her hair, which definitely looked fake, even when it wasn't. That didn't stop the rumors from circulating, even though it was so early in the morning.

Sam and Carter were sitting next to each other in their Algebra class, waiting for the bell to ring. Normally it was Carter who got the stares, but that was only when Sam wasn't around. Seriously, didn't these people have better things to do?

"Sam! Calm down!" hissed Carter, who had her head down in her arms. She was trying to ignore the stares as well, but this solution wouldn't help Sam one bit.

"Why?" Sam hissed back.

"Because if you go on a murderous rampage, Cordelia will murder you and drink your blood from one of her best glasses!" Carter whispered fiercely. That put Sam in her place, but it did nothing to quell her anger.

Sam couldn't wait for the day to be over. She could understand why she would need to go to this school, since the fastest way to befriend Ben was to meet him at school. But Sam, Carter, and Evan already knew half of the curriculum since they had attended a special school created especially for young Slayers. The teachers not only taught them the Slayer history and how to fight, but it also taught them normal human studies. And because of the Slayers' natural ability to absorb information faster than the normal human, they really didn't need the extra school.

But Sam couldn't let Cordelia hear that, especially when the timing was so bad. Surely she could stick it out for a while.

Now if only she had some duct tape. Then that would make her day so much better.

I tried to write the stories in different viewpoints, give some of the new characters a voice. Hopefully that turned out well.

I plan on making Evan one of the more vivacious characters. He pairs well with a certain cousin of Carter's that's coming in later chapters. *Hint hint*

So, what do you guys think?