Disclaimer: I don't own The Fantastic Four, The Thing and all related characters are owned by Marvel Entertainment. Sekirei is owned by Sakurako Gokurakuin.
Chapter 4 - First Contact
Shinto Teito: Lower West Side
Ben Grimm, and his four Sekirei companions are making their way towards the only Hospital in Shinto Teito that can treat injured Sekirei. So far, they haven't seen any kind of resistance from the local authorities, or even the Japanese military. The streets, and sidewalks are completely clear of civilians, with the city falling into a eery silence. Hikari, and Hibiki are walking alongside on Ben's right, and they are trying to keep their reactions to his close proximity under control.
"H-How much longer can we hold out, Hibiki-chan? Being close to him like this, and not being winged has my heart pounding like a jackhammer!" Hikari whispers to her twin sister, while holding a slender gloved hand to her buxom chest. Hibiki nods with her cheeks blushing a rosy red, and she walked on unsteady legs next to Hikari. "I-I know, Hikari-chan...but we have to...hold on until..." Hibiki states, before her legs give out and she is kneeling on the sidewalk with Hikari joining her sister, and breathing heavily.
Ben, and Akitsu with Katsuragi still in a fireman's carry on her shoulder stop walking when they turn, and see the Lightning Twins collapsing down onto the concrete. Akitsu stares down at them with an unreadable expression on her face, while the Thing quickly moves toward them with concern, and reaches out to them with his rock-like hands.
"Hey, are you two okay? Wait a sec...didn't somthin' like this happen to one'a you before?" Ben receives weak nods from both Hikari, and Hibiki. "Hrrrmm. It's a good thing our first stop is a hospital so a doc can find out what's going on with you two." Ben said, while rubbing his chin with his rocky right hand. The Thing then walks behind the twins, and crouches down to their level on the sidewalk. Hikari, and Hibiki turn their heads to stare into Ben's blue eyes, while he gives them a comforting smile. "Ya got nothin' to worry about, ol' blue-eyed Benjy's got you covered! Just put yer arms around my neck, and hang on tight!" Both Hikari, and Hibiki yelp cutely in surprise when Ben lifts them up effortlessly until they are sitting on his rocky forearms on either side of his large upper body.
"Just relax, and leave the drivin' ta yours truly!" The twins smile happily at Ben, and wrap their slender gloved arms around the Thing's neck. Akitsu frowns at the sight of the Lightning twins being carried by Ben, with a noticeable twitch in her right eye. Everyone hears a loud cry of pain, and then turn their heads to look over at Katsuragi, who is wincing from Akitsu's grip increasing on her already injured leg. Akitsu blinks, and then releases her left hand from Katsuragi's leg. "Ah...sorry." Akitsu said flatly, and lightly patted Katsuragi's uninjured leg earning a low groan from the fighting-type Sekirei. "It's okay, Akitsu-kun. Let's just keep going." Akitsu nods her head, and continues walking with the others towards the Sekirei Hospital, with Ben giving side-long looks over at Akitsu in worry.
"I can tell somethin's bugging Akitsu...ever since we ran into the twins, she's been down in the dumps. When alla this mess gets cleared up, n' we get to that place Hibiki mentioned, I'll sit down and talk to her 'bout it." The Thing takes in more of their surrounding as they are walking, and can see the frightened looks of people staring out at them from the windows of businesses located nearby. "Back ta square one...bein' seen as a circus freak-show! Terrific. Hhrrrm, gotta remind myself not ta put this place on the list for the FF's next vacation spot." Ben's train of thought stops, when he sees that Akitsu has stopped walking and is pointing over at a large building a block ahead of them.
"We're almost there, Ben-sama." Akitsu declares, and they all hear Katsuragi breathing a sigh of relief at her words. Ben gives a hearty chuckle, as he tries to ignore the scared people cowering over the 'monster' in their mist. "Sounds good ta me, Akitsu. Tha sooner we get this done, the better." Ben quickens his pace to catch up with Akitsu, while Hikari and Hibiki are staring at one another having an unspoken conversation with heavy blushes on their faces. The Lightning Twins both nod at each other at the exact same time with determined looks in their eyes.
Hikari begins to press her upper body into Ben's, with Hibiki following her lead. Ben stops suddenly when he feels their breasts being pressed against his rocky chest, and their warm breath on both sides of his face. "Uhhh...H-hey, there! Gettin' a little too close for comfort over here!" Ben said with a nervous stutter, as the twin's faces move closer to Ben's. Hikari, and Hibiki both have sweet smiles as they stare into Ben's wide eyes, and talk to him back in unison.
"Please become our Ashikabi, Ben-kun." With those words said, Hikari and Hibiki both kiss Ben to his utter shock as their Sekirei crests glow, and beautiful light blue glowing wings that sparkle with electricity sprout from their backs. Hikari, and Hibiki are openly moaning in bliss at the feeling of being winged by Ben, while poor Ben's brain is trying to reboot from this event that has just unfolded. Akitsu stares with sad grey eyes at the scene, and reaches out from a distance towards Ben with a shaking hand. A lone tear drops from her right eye at seeing the twins' Sekirei wings, and brings her arm back to quickly wipe the tear away with the sleeve of her white lab coat. Akitsu has a look of acceptance on her face, and she walks with purpose over to the newly winged twins, and the still recovering Thing.
Hikari, and Hibiki lower themselves from Ben's arms and give each other a high-five in excitement. "Yes~! We're winged, and we've got the best Ashikabi ever! Score one for the home team!" Hikari pumped her fist in the air, and then gave Ben a playful punch in the shoulder. "You've got two beautiful women kissing you, and you stand there like a cold fish, Big Guy? Yoo-hoo?! Anyone home?" Hikari waves her gloved hand in front of Ben's face, and she gets no response. Hikari looks over to her sister Hibiki, who is leaning her head against Ben's other shoulder and giving his arm a gentle squeeze. "I think we broke him, Hibiki-chan." Hibiki gives her sister a bland look, and shakes her head. "You shouldn't tease him like that, Hikari-chan. We surprised Ben-kun with this, and we should explain why we kissed him." Suddenly, Hibiki feels Ben's arm start to move, and Ben pulled it away and stepped back from the Twin as if they burned him.
"What in the Sam Hill was that?! What was with the light show?! What'd you do to me!" The Thing staggers backwards waving a shaking rocky hand in front of him, as Hikari and Hibiki come closer to him in concern for their Ashikabi. "Stay back!" The Thing warns the Twins, and they back away slowly with sadness in their eyes. Akitsu's eye go wide, and she lowers a puzzled Katsuragi down to a seated position. "Ben-Sama needs me." Akitsu utters before approaching Ben, and the now distraught Lightning Twins.
"W-what's wrong? D-don't you want to be with us?" Hibiki asks Ben in desperation, with Hikari hugging her sister to stop herself from shaking. Akitsu walks over to them, and places a comforting hand on Hikari's shoulder, and looks her and Hibiki in the eyes. "Leave this to me." Hikari glares lightly at Akitsu, but nods her head with Hibiki reaching out to Akitsu and holds her other hand. Hibiki squeezes Akitsu's hand, and Akitsu nods her head in response getting a small smile from a teary eyed Hibiki. Akitsu released Hibiki's hand, and walks slowly toward the terrified form of Ben Grimm.
"No-no-no! Stay away from me! I-I don't wanna hurt nobody! Not again! Never again!" The Thing covers his face with both of his rocky hands, and keeps shaking his head. Akitsu stops approaching him, and speaks softly with her grey eyes showing her emotions to Ben. "Ben-Sama...it is Akitsu, do you remember me?" Ben lowers one of his large hands from his face to peer over at her. "A-Akitsu? What'd they do to me?! I can't let it happen again!" Akitsu holds out her left hand, and opens her palm out to Ben. "Can't let what happen, Ben-Sama? Do not be afraid. Please tell me." Akitsu's voice had the desired effect, and all of the Sekirei can see the Thing's mighty shoulders slump from their tensed state and they all breathed a internal sigh of relief.
Ben turns around to look at Akitsu, and the others with a guilty expression on his face. "Heh. Some hero I turned out ta be, huh? Get a buncha scared mugs lookin' at me, and the twins there kissin' me, and I go all ta pieces...cause the memories all came back in that one moment." Ben could see that Akitsu, and the other Sekirei were listening closely, so he continued his explaination. "I usta think that nothin' could ever hurt me, and I could take whatever they dished out n' come back for more. That was 'till the day I got used by this Inhuman named Medusa...Oh, she got me good thinkin' that she waz inta me, and then I found out too late she worked for a villain named Wizard, who jumped me and put this doo-hickey on my noggin to control me. I-I attacked n' hurt my best friends before I finally came to my senses." Ben is gritting his teeth in anger, and looks down at his right hand, and clenches it into a fist.
"Hrrrmmm. This stuff happened ta me a buncha times more...more often then I care ta think about. The most recent time waz with this Asgardian Goddess named Amora The Enchantress. Boy...did she live up to that name! Before I knew it she kissed me, n' placed me under her spell. She had me attack my good buddy Thor, and his main squeeze, Sif." The Sekirei watched Ben give a pain filled expression as he looked at his fist. "I-I didn't just hit her...I nearly beat her senseless...if she didn't have a healing ability...I woulda killed her right there, and then!" Ben put his left hand over his face to try to hide his shame from the others. "After Thor beat some sense inta me, and the spell waz broken...I thought long and hard about what I did ta Sif. With one kiss that witch turned me inta what people usta call me...a monster!" The Thing starts chuckling mirthlessly, and then stops to continue talking to the Sekirei. "That ain't the worst part. The worst part waz they all forgave me for beating the ever lovin' crap outta 'em! They said stuff like: 'Ben, it's okay...we know you waz controlled. You couldn't help what they made ya do.' I waz ready for them to punch, kick, yell...anything! No...they forgave me...but I ain't never forgiven myself for what I done." Ben then felt a gentle touch on his left hand, and looked up to see that it is Akitsu smiling up at him.
Akitsu lifts her other hand, and starts stroking Ben's right cheek lovingly. "I have seen monsters, Ben-sama. You are no monster." Ben's blue eyes soften when he looks down at Akitsu. "You are kind, gentle, and compassionate." Akitsu is now holding both sides of Ben's face, and forces him down gently to his knees to look her directly into her eyes. "I will hear no more talk of monsters. Akitsu's Ben-sama is not, and will never be a monster in my eyes." Akitsu gives a stern look to Ben, and he starts to chuckle, until it turns into full blown laughter. Akitsu blinks in slight surprise, until she is suddenly scooped up into the Thing's rocky arms wearing the happiest smile on his face he can muster.
Ben then sets Akitsu down gently, and brings her in to hug her close. "Why do ya always gotta be so good ta me...even when I'm bein' a rock-head? I don't deserve ya, you know?" Before Ben can say anymore, Akitsu placed the index finger on her right hand over Ben's mouth to stop him from talking. "My loyalty to you is without question, Ben-sama. Never doubt that for a moment." Ben looks sheepish, and nods his head to Akitsu. "Now, Ben-sama I will explain the Sekirei bonding which happened between you, and the perverted twins..."
"That's not our name! We're the Lightning Twins...L-I-G-H-T-N-I-N-G!" Hikari shouts over to Akitsu, while her sister holds her in place to keep her from storming over to them in anger. Akitsu ignores Hikari's tirade, and continues her conversation with Ben. "A Sekirei seeks out their Ashikabi, also called a 'destined one'. Once a suitable Ashikabi is found, a Sekirei will begin to react to him, or her." Ben has a look of realization, and hit the bottom of his right fist into his left open palm. "So that's what waz happenin' to tha twins in that alley before, and when they both collapsed a while ago." Akitsu smiles at Ben, and nods in approval. "Correct, Ben-Sama. The reaction becomes more intense the closer in contact the Sekirei is with their future Ashikabi. The bonding process is complete when the Sekirei kisses their Ashikabi...and their crests activate with wings appearing. The bond is that of the heart, there is no mind control involved." Akitsu stopped for a time to look over at Hikari, and Hibiki before returning her attention back to the Thing.
"The Twins are now bonded to you for life. It is something that runs deeper than the human term called 'marriage'. You should go and apologize for your earlier actions, Ben-Sama."
"That's right, you should! Tell him, Snowflake-chan..." Hikari shouts over again, until her sister covers her mouth from embarrassing them further. Akitsu sends Hikari a frosty glare for the interruption, and the unwanted nickname. She sighs deeply before continuing. "Your Sekirei were deeply hurt, thinking you were rejecting them." Akitsu looks to Ben for a response, but gets none for several minutes. The Thing has a wide-eyed look like he's facing down a room full of angry Hulks.
"Wh-a-a-a...you mean ta tell me, I'm married ta the two of 'em?! I'm one a them poly-somthin'er others?!" Ben has a deer-caught in the headlights look, when Akitsu nods her head, and holds up three fingers on her right hand. "Ah...three. You have three wives, Ben-Sama including myself. Also, the word you're looking for is polygamist." Akitsu said in a matter of fact tone of voice. Ben is picturing Sue, and Jennifer Walters' reactions to the news, and the Thing paled to a lighter shade of orange.
"I'm a dead man...what kinda role model is their Uncle Ben for little Franklin, and Valeria when he comes back to the Baxter Building with three wives! Suzie's gonna kill me, and this'll be the final nail in my coffin! Not to mention that Lima-bean colored Gamazon'll never let me live this down!"
"Excuse the intrusion, but before this 'Suzie' gets to kill you...can we have a turn?" Ben, Akitsu, and the Lightning Twins all turn around after hearing the stranger's voice, and see three women circling a frightened Katsuragi. The first woman is wearing a tight black leather top, a miniskirt and stockings, over the shoulders wearing a grey haori with the Sekirei Crest printed on it. She has long light gray hair tied in a ponytail and gray narrow eyes. She has a long nodachi unsheathed, and is lightly tapping the top of Katsuragi's head with the flat end of the blade. She is tilting her head to the right, and giving Ben a fake smile.
"He is a big one. I wonder if my claws can cut through that rock-like skin he has? Only one way to find out." The grey haired women with disheveled hair puts one of her hands that have metal gauntlets with long sharp claws under Katsuragi's throat, and laughs loudly, causing the pink haired third member of their group to cover her ears with her gloved hands. "Shut up, Haihane! You're so annoying with that laugh!" The now identified Haihane grumbles under her breath. "This is adult-time, little boy. Come back when your breasts grow a few centimeters, Washboard-kun." The pink haired girl gasped loudly, and covered her tiny breasts. She was about to shout at Haihane when a look from the woman with the nodachi stopped her in her tracks.
She returned her attention back to Ben, and the other Sekirei. "Oh, where are my manners? My name is Karasuba..." The now named Karasuba pointed over to the woman with metal claws on her hands. "The Sekirei with the claw at your friend's throat is Haihane..."Pinkie here is our resident flat-chest named Benitsubasa." Karasuba points lazily over to a fuming Benitsubasa. Karasuba ignores her two subordinates, and continues her speech. "Here's how things are going to work...you let us kill you, and in exchange we don't separate no. 86's head from her shoulders. That's a fair trade right, Monster-kun? The Thing bristles slightly at her nickname for him, which makes Karasuba smile wider until her eyes are slits like a foxes.
Akitsu, and the Lightning Twins move closer to Ben, and aren't taking their eyes off of their opponents. "Shit! We're up against the Disciplinary Squad...this isn't good!" Hikari whispers to Ben with a bead of sweat running down her forehead. Akitsu glares angrily over at Karasuba, who makes a tick-tick motion with her hand. "She has threatened Ben-Sama! Her life is now forfeit!" Karasuba hears Akitsu's challenge, and motions her to make a move. Ben places his rock-like right hand on Akitsu's shoulder, and shakes his head in the negative.
"I've seen my fair share o' people with eyes like that. She ain't lettin' none a' us go. She plans on killing us all no matter what we decide to do." Thing whispers to his Sekirei getting nods from all of them. Hibiki takes on a thinking pose, and snaps her fingers getting everyone's attention, including the Disciplinary Squad's. "You almost done with your little meeting, Monster-kun..little 86 only has two more minutes to live." She punctuated this, by replacing Haihane's claw with her own nodachi at Katsuragi's throat.
"Hikari-chan, we still have our Norito!" Hibiki whispers to her twin sister, whose eyes widen at the news and gains a victorious grin. "Ben-kun our Norito gives our lightning power a large boost, we can create a distraction..." Hikari whispers to Ben. "I will retrieve the girl before she is killed." Akitsu adds. "...and I'll handle the rest!" Things states with confidence in his voice.
"Sixty seconds!" Karasuba shouts, and watches the Lightning Twins moving to the front of the group, and holding hands. "We're the pledged thunderclap..." The twins start reciting. Akitsu gets into position, and runs at top speed towards the Disciplinary Squad.
"Holy shit, they're going to use a Norito!" Haihane shouted, with Benitsubasa racing to stop the twins before they finished reciting it.
"To Hell with this!" Karasuba cursed loudly, and brought the nodachi blade up for a clean slice of Katsuragi's neck. "No disaster will hit our Ashikabi! ~*Kaminari!*~" The Lightning Twins finished their Norito, and a huge lightning strike hit behind Karasuba distracting her long enough for Akitsu to launch her Ice Needle attack, and force Karasuba to leap out of the way to safety, while Akitsu grabbed Katsuragi, and rushed her off of the battlefield. "Ben-Sama, I have the girl!" Akitsu turned and ran towards the hospital, only to be cut off by an angry Karasuba.
"No one steals my prey, Scrap! You're dead!" Karasuba has a mad gleam in her eyes, and swings her nodachi down for an overhead strike. Karasuba stops when she finds that she can't move the nodachi, and sees a large shadow cast from behind her. Akitsu smiles when she looks up to see the Thing has the blade of Karasuba's nodachi caught between his thumb, and index finger. Ben winks over at Akitsu, and does a head motion over to the Hospital entrance. Akitsu nods, and runs the rest of the way to get Katsuragi inside of the hospital.
"Ya weren't really gonna use that little pig-sticker a' yours ta kill Akitsu were you?" Ben Grimm asked Karasuba with an edge to his voice. Karasuba looks over her shoulder, and smiles her fake smile at Ben. "Yes, I was Monster-kun." A shadow fell over Ben's features, and Karasuba could hear his teeth grinding together. "Wrong answer!" Thing bellows, and snaps the nodachi blade in two with his fingertips. Karasuba took advantage of the freed weapon, and went for a quick strike with the blunted blade to Ben's right eye. Karasuba's own eyes widen more than they ever have before, when the rest of the blade shatter into pieces from the impact.
"Nice try, Sunshine...but no dice! Did ya think that no one's ever tried that before? My eyes are as rock solid as the rest o' me!" Ben feels the wind start to shift behind him, and sees out of the corner of his blue eyes that Benitsubasa is trying to attack him. "Take this, Rocky! ~*Shredder!*~
A short-range burst of pink concentrated energy hits Ben Grimm in his rib area. "Ha! How'd you like that...what the?! What are you made of?!" Benitsubasa takes several steps back when the Thing lumbers toward her.
Ben grins down at the pink haired close range fighter, and cracks the knuckles on his right hand. "Snips n' snails, and puppy dog tails! Now c'mere, Tiny!" The Thing grabs Benitsubasa in a one handed grip that immobilizes the Red Sekirei. "Let me go you dumb orange ox!" Thing chuckles, and looks around for the missing Karasuba."Where'd you go, Sunshine? Really, you don't have ta get yourself dolled up for little old me!" Karasuba appears with speed that surprises Ben, and she has one of Haihane's steel claws on her left hand. "You need to die!" Karasuba rams the claw blades into Ben's open mouth, and scrapes them all inside with mad glee. "Die-die-die-die-die-DIE!" Ben stands there motionless with Benisubasa still held tightly in his hand. Karasuba is confused as to why he isn't bleeding, and is startled when Ben smiles, and chomps down on the claw blades, just missing Karasuba's fingertips within. Thing starts chewing, and has a look of concentration, before spitting something out. Karasuba's eyes widen, when it turns out to be a steel ball made from Haihane's claw blades.
"*Ptui!* Yuck city! When's the last time the lady in rags cleaned those things?! C'mere Sunshine! Time to join yer friend!" Ben takes advantage of her stunned reaction, and quickly grabs Karasuba before she can escape again. Ben Grimm holds them both with one of his large hands, and places his index finger next to Benitsubasa's head. "Time for you two ta have a meeting O' the minds!" "What are you..." Karasuba's inquiry was promptly cut off when Ben flicked Benitsubasa on the head, and her head hit Karasuba's in a domino effect rendering them both unconscious.
Author's Note: Sorry to all my readers that I haven't updated my stories in so long. There was a death in my family, and it left me not wanting to even use my computer for writing, but now I'm back! :) Thanks to everyone that's reviewed/favorites/and followed while I was gone.
Thanks for reading Chapter 4 of 'Things Change'! Let me know what you thought of the chapter in a review, and I hope to see you again in chapter 5! :D