Ben 10 Alien+Vampire
Chapter 12: The Girl of Snow; Loneliness Lifted by an Angel
Boys Dorm
Ben's Room
Ben would never admit that he'd been scared before in his life. But there were those times when he'd been absolutely terrified. Like, when he faced Zombozo for instance; if there was one thing that scared him, it was Clowns. That had been scary. But, like any other hero, he faced his fears and saved the day. But, he was a little scared whenever he was late for school, which was why he was in so much of a hurry to get ready for school.
"My tie! Where's my tie!?" Ben panicked as he slipped on his jacket while looking around frantically. His hair was a mess and his shirt was not tucked in and wrinkly. "Oh, found it!" said Ben in relief. He then stared at the clock. "Crap, I'm late!" Ms. Nekonome is SO gonna kill me! Or worse: use me as a scratching post! I hope it's not the latter, and that she just kills me."
It had been awhile since Ben had come to attend Youkai Academy on a special exchange program. Finding out it was a school of monsters didn't surprise him. He himself had faced various monsters, like Vilgax or Kevin 11 as well as a myriad of villains, both from Earth and beyond Earth. He still came up on top…with a little help from Gwen and Max.
They must miss having him around…
Ben didn't have time to reminisce when he realized he only had 5 minutes before the bell rang. So, after setting the Omnitrix to the alien he wanted to become, he slammed down his hand and in a flash of green light he'd changed. "XLR8!" he called before he ran out of his dorm room in a blur. He then came back. "Almost forgot!" He picked up his bag. "Now I'm set!" He then rushed right towards school and made it to the gate with only a minute to spare. He reverted back to normal and with a sigh walked towards the main building.
Ben suddenly shivered and sneezed. "A draft?" he asked himself as he rubbed his nose. He shrugged and then headed to the school, hoping to meet his friends. Nobody at home would believe his luck with girls here. Gwen wouldn't have believed it with her own eyes. And if those bullies J.T. and Cash saw him, they'd be envy with greed, much like the other guys on the Academy campus.
Speaking of 'luck with girls', a shadowed cute girl in a sweater and purple striped stockings with long purple hair peered at Ben from behind a tree and uttered, "Ben…" she whispered, as she smiled wistfully before retreating.
Afterwards that Day
Ben scratched his head as he walked out of the school building. He was actually relieved when he finally remembered that he'd purposely put his alarm clock 10 minutes early, so he was actually early and not late. It had taken some time, effort, and one sleepless night, but the newest edition of the Youkai Academy school newspaper was ready to be distributed tomorrow. The actual handouts would be during the next day. Ben was just glad that the work was over and he could take a break from it for a moment.
The Newspaper club had been sending out editions since Gin managed to stay behaved. Having his butt handed to him by Ben and several VERY pissed off girls finishing the job helped changed his attitude. With everyone on board, the Newspaper Club managed to start actually making newspapers, much to Ms. Nekonome's delight.
"Well, hopefully we'll do as well as we did before," Ben sighed to himself. Truthfully, he knew why they sold so many papers. Most of their customers were boys who wanted to talk to Moka or Kurumu. Chief among them were the three fanboys of doom.
Snapping out of his thought, Ben felt a chill run down his spine. Looking around, he didn't see anything out of the ordinary. Deciding to ignore it, Ben rubbed his arms to try and get some warmth on them.
As Ben continued walking, he didn't notice someone stepping out from behind a tree.
This person was a girl of Asian inheritance with a slim and slender figure, with long violet hair who was wearing a black sweater, along with the skirt for the Youkai Academy's girls uniform, with a belt wrapped and dangling around her left thigh. Her white sleeves were long enough to partially conceal her hands. Her eyes were a pale blue, her skin was snow white; which it was positively glowing. And a lollipop was sticking out of her mouth.
"Hmmmm…" she sighed softly as she watched Ben walk. A fond smile came over her face.
"Ben! Wait up!" Moka called as she ran up to Ben and hugged his arm. "Let's walk home together!"
"OK, Moka," said Ben with a smile.
"Hey, I wanna walk home with him too! You walk home with him all the time; it's my turn to spend some quality time with him," snapped Kurumu as she suddenly appeared and grabbed Ben's other arm. It soon turned into a tug-o-war with him in the middle. Finally, Yukari leapt onto Ben's back.
"Ben, can you change into Stinkfly and fly me back to the dorm?" asked Yukari.
Ben groaned, 'Why me?'
The Next Day
before school started, the Newspaper Club was out in front selling the latest issue of the Yokai Academy Newspaper. With Kurumu and Moka helping to sell the papers, the boys fought over to buy copies while the girls were also fighting over to buy papers from Ben. Ben was becoming quite popular with the girls because of his ability to become a variety of strange and powerful monsters, while being envied by the boys for having the friendship of the hottest girls in campus. The bubblegum pink haired vampire and blue haired succubus were his closest friends here because they knew his secret. It was the same with Yukari.
Though, he noticed that she somehow felt a little bothered with him being in human form. He didn't really know how she would react to him if she found out he really was a human. That, however, didn't deter him as the little witch tried to flirt with him, but Ben was no pedophile. Maybe if he was younger, like maybe eleven, he could see himself with a girl like Yukari, but not at this age. He was 15 and if he was ever looking for a girlfriend…
"Wow, we sold out!" exclaimed Moka in amazement.
Ben wiped the sweat off his brow. It was hard work but still worth it. Oddly enough, but actually expected, was Gin's absence whenever any REAL work was involved.
With no more papers to sell, the Newspaper Club began to pack up. They had to get the stuff for the club put away before they could head into class. Yukari set to work with boxes while Kurumu and Moka went through the paperwork that they brought with them to keep track of numbers. Ben was delegated to the task of folding up the table that they had brought out to help them.
But as they did, Moka suggested, "You know this was our first big sell in a while now. We could celebrate with a big party on it."
"SHIIIP," Ship hopped around in agreement.
"Well, Ship seems okay with the idea," Yukari cheered out, "Drinks for everyone!"
"Okay, but no alcohol," Ben advised.
"You people are all buddy-buddy, aren't you?"
Suddenly, Ben felt another chill run down his spine. Looking up to who had spoken out, they all saw someone approaching. From first glance, the person approaching was an attractive girl with long purple hair. She wasn't wearing the standard uniform and she was eating a lollipop. The girl stopped there, as she looked at all of them, "You're all friends, eh? Truthfully, I don't really understand that."
Kurumu shot at a dirty look at her, "What'd you say?"
"Newspaper," the girl spoke softly, stepping up to Ben. "Is there anymore papers left?"
"Uh…" Ben blinked, but quickly came to his senses. Checking all his pockets, he managed to produce a copy of the newspaper. He had bought it earlier for articles he wrote, so he could send it back to his grandpa and Gwen. Still, this girl had asked for one. "Just one. Here you go. It might be a little wrinkly though. Miss, eh…?"
"Mizore," she simply replied. "My name… it's Mizore." Indeed the paper was a little wrinkled from being in Ben's pocket, but that only served to make the girl's eyes light up. With a gentle smile, she took the paper and held it close. But she stepped close to Ben, slightly startling him, and made the other girls rather nervous. "Thank you," the girl nodded. "You're very kind, Ben Tennyson."
"Huh, you know who I am?" Ben blinked.
"Oh, everyone knows who you are. You're the famous Ben Tennyson," said Mizore with a mysterious yet cute smile. "Though I have to admit, you're even cuter than the rumors said you were." She then glided away without another word, "See you later."
As Ben stared at Mizore's retreating form, Moka asked, as she looped her arms around Ben's, "Ben, who was that girl? Do you know her?"
"No," Ben shook his head.
"Well, whoever that girl is, we probably won't see her again," said Kurumu hopefully. She had enough rivals for Ben's heart already and didn't want any more competition.
"Yeah, tell me about it," Yukari added, as she held onto Ship.
"OK, but we better hurry or we'll be late for class," said Ben.
Ms. Nekonome's Home Room
As Ms. Nekonome was about to begin the day's lesson, the door slid open and the girl from earlier walked into class, causing Kurumu, Ben and Moka to stare.
"Huh? She's in our class?" Ben commented with a questioning gaze.
"Sorry," the girl apologized, "I'm late."
"Ah, Miss Shirayuki," said Ms. Nekonome. "I'm glad you finally came. Please, take your seat." The girl bowed and went to her seat, which was at the front of the last row that Ben sat in.
Ms. Nekonome then explained, "Class, this is Mizore Shirayuki. From circumstances before, she was ill so she couldn't come to school. I'm glad she's feeling better now."
"I am," Mizore nodded before looking over her shoulder at Ben. The boy blinked. She gave him a small smile and wave, which Ben nervously returned to her.
"Now, as I was saying…" spoke Ms. Nekonome as she started the lesson.
Later On
The classes ended for the day and the students were milling about, minding their own business. At the moment, Moka, Kurumu, and Ben were meeting up. To celebrate being completely sold out, the Newspaper Club was going to be hosting a party in their club room. Yukari was already collecting party favors and the three remaining members were talking details.
"So we'll meet up in the club room after we finish buying everything," Moka smiled. "Is that okay?"
"Hey, Ben," Kurumu purred. "I'll bake my special cookies for you. You'd like that wouldn't you?" Kurumu's statement was punctuated by her pressing herself against Ben, making sure her breasts were pressed tightly against him.
"Kurumu! You're doing it again!" Moka huffed before she grabbed the amorous succubus by the shoulder and began dragging her away.
"Hey! Wait! Hold on, I wasn't done!" Kurumu cried as she was dragged away.
Ben heaved a sigh. He was probably not going to get used to Kurumu's ways of showing her affection. Most guys he came from would welcome such attention, but that just proved they were hormonal perverts. Rubbing the back of his neck, Ben suddenly got the feeling that he was being watched. Turing around, he looked for some sign that someone was there. He found it when he spotted someone's shoulder sticking out from behind a pillar.
"Hey, is someone there?" asked Ben.
Things were silent for a moment. After a breath, the familiar form of Mizore Shirayuki poked her head out from the side with a friendly smile on her face. "Hi," she greeted.
"Ah, Mizore," Ben smiled. "How are you?"
"I'm well," Mizore nodded as she walked closer to Ben. Reaching into her pocket, she withdrew the copy of the paper that Ben had given her. "I read your article. As always, it was very good from the rest of the paper."
"Oh, thanks," Ben smiled. He had been slightly worried that no one liked his articles. He was mainly writing about some of his adventures since coming to Youkai Academy. He wasn't very experienced in journalism so he only wrote what he knew about. He also did current events which kept the interest of the student body. "You always read my articles?"
"Yes," Mizore smiled. Reaching into her sweater, she pulled out a blue book with an ornate silver heart on the back and a white rabbit on the front. "Here."
"A scrapbook?" Ben identified.
"Even when I was away, I asked Ms. Nekonome to send me copies of the School Newspaper," Mizore explained as Ben opened the book. "I found your articles interesting, so I kept them in this scrapbook."
"Oh, thanks," Ben smiled. "I'm glad somebody likes them."
Opening the book to see what articles Mizore had kept, Ben was surprised to see that the odd young woman had been writing comments next to the articles. There were so many of them Ben had some trouble reading them all. Some were pretty tiny so he wasn't sure what they were saying.
However, when he did read them, he paled a little as he read them: What a caring and creative guy. We're two halves of the same soul. Mrs. Mizore Tennyson, Mrs. Ben Tennyson. He's a hero and a poet. We were made for each other. He wants a girl who's different from the rest.
"I made some comments of my own too," Mizore added.
Ben gulped at this, keeping quiet about the comments. However, his mind was screaming in bloody murder at this point, 'WHAT THE…? THIS ISN'T A SCRAPBOOK… IT'S MORE LIKE A CRACK-UP BOOK!' he then looked to Mizore carefully as he thought, 'I'd better be careful with what I say around this girl…'
She began to smile gently as she drew a circle on the floor with her right foot. "It's just that, well, you're always write your articles from an outsider's point of view, from the weak and helpless. I can really relate to that."
To Ben's surprise, Mizore almost seemed to glide over to him before she wrapped her arms snugly around one of his own and contentedly rested her head on his shoulder. Ben blushed at the contact. Mizore seemed to be a little cold, which Ben reasoned was why she was wearing a sweater over her uniform.
"I can't help but feel that our personalities and the way we think are the same," Mizore sighed contentedly, and looked to his eyes longingly. "You must be pretty lonely too. Trust me, I know exactly how that feels."
Ben frowned a little at the declaration. However, this snow white beauty did have a valid point about him. He did feel pretty lonely sometimes. Moka, Kurumu, Yukari, Ship, and even Gin were all good friends, but it still felt lonely a little when he couldn't hang out with them. He was also the only human and American in the entire academy. He tried not to think about it and instead he focused on the good things he had since coming to the hidden school. He had made a lot of great friends and was having lots of fun too. But still... he felt like the odd ball around; guess he figured why Cooper felt like he was on another planet.
"I do feel lonely sometimes," Ben admitted. "I miss my family, my cousin and grandpa the most, but I don't feel it as often. I do remember how it feels, though."
"Then we do understand each other," ," Mizore smiled, as she nuzzled next to Ben. "That makes me so happy. "Do you want to hang out? I know a nice place."
"Well…actually…" Ben hesitated. He still had to head to the party with Moka and the others. Still, he did have some spare time and he could use it to get to know Mizore better. She looked like she really wanted to be friends. "I guess…we could hang out for little while."
"Great," Mizore smiled. She began tugging Ben's arm so he could follow her. "This way. I'll show you where I like to spend my time."
Not far from the two, Moka was walking down a hallway that intersected with theirs. However, that was short lived as they heard footsteps coming down the hallway. Instinctively, Moka ran over to the side of the wall, putting Ship on her shoulder, and hiding behind one of the support beam pillars. The two kept hidden, until they saw who it was that was coming down the hall. But much to Moka's surprised shock, it was Ben, and he was being led out of the building by that girl, Mizore. And the worst part… her arm was linked with his.
Moka clutched on to the pillar, her hand was shaking lightly. But it was pretty evident that she was upset about this scene, 'What the… what's going on?' suddenly, she saw Mizore look to her direction, and quickly hid. She hid there until she heard the doors close, and then stepped out of her hiding place.
Moka looked to the door, a slight twinge struck her heart as she whispered, "Mizore… what is she to Ben?"
Not Far from the Club
Not too far from the classroom, Kurumu and Yukari had just finished an errand they had finished and had now stepped into the Main hall. Yukari was carrying plastic grocery bags, while Kurumu had with her a backpack, and a small tray of cookies. As they started to head for their kitchen area, they were going through a heated argument. Well, heated on one side, which was Kurumu's side, as Yukari was the calm one.
"And I saw him and the new girl. Together," the little witch explained as they walked to where their club was at.
Fuming on this info, Kurumu shot out, "Yukari! I. don't. want. To hear about it." For a moment, she calmed down a bit, as she huffed, "It's beyond me to understand why boys go after the stalking type."
"Speaking of which," Yukari stated as she placed the bags on the cutting table. "I heard a while ago when this year started, a stalker girl was going after one of the teachers. A sort of crush deal, I think. They said that he rebuffed her feelings, and all of a sudden… he was flash-frozen in a block of ice the next day."
After hearing that, the succubus teen shivered as she gulped, "Man, stalkers are creepy." but then she lit up again as she held out her tray with a wink. "But… these babies are certain to snare Ben's heart. These cookies are laced with Love Potion 9 ½ ; when he eats them, he'll love me like crazy. Yahoohoo!"
Yukari just sighed as she shook her head slowly, crossing her arms as she turned away and whispered, "Sheesh. She's a lot scarier and more ruthless than any stalker."
Not noticed by the two, a shadowed figure walked in through the lobby, and headed up the stairs. And as that figure walked up, a small trail of puddles was left behind with every step the figure made as they made their trail to the next level of the building.
Youkai Lake Crystal
Unlike its sister woods , Lake Crystal was a sight of beauty well preserved in its state. The trees and grass were well alive and green with life, teeming uncontrollably and growing all over. The river sparkled like mad as its untouched and non-polluted waters rippled with fish and life. It was the perfect place for kids to go fishing and have a summer party, or a spring swimming party. But for now, it was being used by two familiar teens for stone skipping, as Mizore skipped one stone that went nine times until it finally sunk into the water after the final skip.
"Hey! Did you see that, Ben?" Mizore pointed after skipping a stone across the lake. "It skipped 9 times." Ben applauded, returning the smile she was giving him. She then placed a pebble into his hand. "Now, you try," she said.
Gripping the pebble, Ben looked across the lake and tossed it, only for it to sink into the water. He sighed. He wasn't good at it, it seemed.
"Sorry, guess I'm not much of a pitcher," apologized Ben. He felt Mizore standing behind him, holding his wrists.
"It's all in the wrist, Ben," Mizore said as she pressed against him. "You just get it in a good throwing position, and then flick it in the wrist. Doesn't hurt to sway your hips."
He started to shiver a bit but he did was Mizore said when he threw it. It skipped about three times, which caused Mizore to cheer on him, as he smirked, "Alright." But then he remembered something. "Hey, Mizore, I'm really sorry to cut this short but I really gotta go." She let go of his wrists and then he turned to see her frowning. "Mizore?"
"You want to go to that Buddy-Buddy club of yours? " questioned Mizore. "Or rather… you want to see that girl, don't you?"
"That girl?" Ben blinked. "Are you talking about Moka?"
She smiled placing a hand against his cheek, "But don't worry, I've taken care of her and soon you won't have to think about her ever again…"
Newspaper Club
Moka was in the club room, snacks and drinks on the table, sitting in a chair as she waited for Ben. "He's late," she mumbled. "Where could he be?" But she remembered when he was hanging around Mizore, and sighed, "Maybe he likes girls like that." She looked to Ship, petting the sleeping Mechamorph, "Oh, Ship. What do I do? Ben's my friend, and it's his decision whoever he wants to date. So why do I feel like this?" She then heard the door slide open. Smiling, she looked up to see if it was her friends. "Ben?" Her smile fell when she saw that it was that girl in class. Mizore Shirayuki. "Shirayuki? But where's…"
"You can wait for him all day if you want to, he won't come, Moka Akashiya," said Mizore as she stalked towards Moka. "You are an eyesore."
Moka backed away in fear as she felt the temperature drop. "Shirayuki-san, what's going on? What are you doing here?"
"I think it's better for Ben and I if you just…" She lunged forward and grabbed Moka's throat, squeezing tightly. Moka struggled to remove Mizore's cold grip from her throat. "Disappear." Ship had woken up, and spotted Moka in trouble. He growled and charged inot action, only to get flash-frozen on the spot.
"Wha?" Moka mumbled, as she struggled to break free of her grip. "What are you…?"
"You're an eyesore," Mizore answered darkly as her grip slowly tightened, and stared at her with much intention to finish the job. "If you weren't around, Ben would be mine," her attitude then darkened as her voice dripped with envy at Moka, "Even when I'm around, all he ever thinks about is you. I won't forgive you… I will never forgive you…"
'Wh-What's going on?' Moka thought as she began to feel her whole neck area go cold. Little did she know, but a small surface of ice began to freeze around her neck, and slowly crawl up her cheeks, 'What's with this girl? She's as cold as ice.' However, she wasn't about to let this girl just strangle her like that. She balled up her left fist, and shouted, "St-STOP IT!" and smashed her fist across her face.
Outside, Kurumu and Yukari were about to enter the room. That was when they heard the smashing sound from upstairs. Both girls looked up there in surprise as Kurumu asked, "Did someone smash through a window?"
Back in the classroom, both Moka, and a still frozen Ship, gasped and were in shock at what they were seeing at. The spot where Moka had slugged her, shattered and was as ice. Her hair, even though was light violet, had suddenly turned as hard as ice and just as clear, even with the shattered end of her head. Clearly, this girl wasn't human at all, as Moka squeaked out weakly, "Wha… what are you…?"
"Sorry, but I'm not the real Mizore," 'Mizore' apologized soullessly. "Though you've got to admit, it's a pretty good likeness for an Ice doll."
Moka's gasp and wide eyes got even worse now as Mizore let her right hand loose. "Now, Moka Akashiya," her hand suddenly shape-shifted into an ice blade, big enough to plunge deep into her chest, as she aimed for where her heart was, "…die quietly and just disappear from my sight. This way I can deliver my feelings to Ben Tennyson quickly."
Moka paled even more, until finally, with much winded effort, she screamed out, "Somebody… BEN, HEEEELP!"
Back at the Lake
"What do you mean?" questioned Ben as he backed away from Mizore. "What did you do to Moka?"
"Nothing…yet," said Mizore dangerously. "But she's not going to be a problem anymore."
Suddenly, Ben was thrown onto the now iced up lake with much force and effort. He slid across the icy surface, spinning around on his side. He tried to claw himself to stop on the ice, but it was no good. He only stopped on the ice as he slammed into a tree trunk that was floating on the ice, but now frozen in place. He groggily got up, but slipped a few times, until he was finally able to get on his knee as he looked up, "What do you mean? what did you do with Moka?!"
"I told you, nothing… yet," Mizore calmly said dangerously, and slowly made her way onto the ice, walking on it with the grace of an angel, "But she won't be a problem for us any longer."
"She's my best friend!" Ben shot out dangerously to her.
"I'm sorry, Ben, but you can't leave," Mizore said softly, "I can never let you leave me."
She walked along the white sheet of ice that was the lake, as suddenly, she began to transform. Large ice claws covered her hands while her hair seemed to turn to ice as well. An icy wind aura was all around her as she started to walk towards Justin, adding a slight mysterious side to her as she made her way to him.
"It won't due you any good to escape here," Mizore told him as he struggled back to his feet, "I'm guessing this is the first time you've seen a Snow Girl before. I can create and control ice of my own free will." Finally, Ben was able to get back up on his own two feet, as he was about to activate the Omnitrix on ready. When suddenly, ice shot around him, encompassing his feet holding him in place. Then suddenly, some of the ice around him, turned into copies of Mizore's upper torso, as the copies spoke to him, "I can even make copies of myself through the ice."
Suddenly, the ice began to slowly creep up him, slowly encompassing his legs. As this happened, Ben nearly started to lose feeling in his feet and legs, "This is not good!"
"Don't worry," Mizore smiled gently as she walked towards him, "It'll only hurt for a moment, then we can be together." as she strode to him, ice stalagmites began to from behind her with every step of the way. She then stood right in front of him; her gentle smile still present on her face, "Ben, we were destined to meet. Because we're both loners, we were destined to be together; that's how we met." the Ice began to form around his chest, as Ben continued to struggle even more, as Mizore brought up one of her ice claws, and lightly traced his cheek, "We'll be able to understand one another; we'll warm each other's frozen hearts."
"Damn it," Ben muttered to himself, as he tried to activate the Omnitrix. But he couldn't, as his hands were frozen in ice at the moment.
"You sure are persistent," Mizore smiled as she traced her claw gently and caressingly on his cheek, "But as long as your body's frozen, you can't go anywhere." She then looked into his eyes, as the ice slowly began to cover his face now, and a look of longing was shown on her face. "You're the only one for me… so that's why… please be mine."
"BEN!"
That shout of a familiar vampire girl got both teens' attention, as they looked from behind Mizore to see where it came from. There, flying at them at top speed, or at least the best way that she could, was Kurumu, transformed into her Succubus form, carrying with her Yukari, and a still alive Moka. In truth, Ben couldn't have been any happier, as she shouted out to him, "Ben, hang on! We're all coming!"
"Moka!" Ben shouted out to her, happy as ever.
However, that happiness wasn't shared as Mizore seemed confused by this, "But how? My clone…"
"Was pretty much shattered," Kurumu shouted back, sounding pretty proud of her work. "We heard some sort of shattering sound, and then Moka's scream. Luckily we got there in time to shatter your clone," but then she turned to the side, as she grumbled with frustration, "Unfortunately, I had to use the cookie plate. Now all my love-laced cookies were destroyed. All that hard work for nothing."
"And I wouldn't worry about Ship," Yukari proclaimed, "He's thawing out at the moment."
Mizore's eyes squinted with silent rage and determination as she declared, "I won't let you separate us. Don't you dare hinder us!" she then stretched out her arms outward to the sides, and shouted, "DISAPPEAR!"
And suddenly, two walls of ice stalagmites shot out and stretched out to them, nearly piercing them in the process. But the girls were faster, as Kurumu was able to dodge the spikes with ease. Until she ran into one of them, well Yukari slammed into one of them, causing the trio of girls to come falling down on them. Luckily, they crashed into Ben, freeing him as he was sent sliding down the other end of the ice.
The girls were a bit strewn a bit, as Moka tried to get up. Then suddenly, Mizore crouched down and grabbed Moka by her hair forcefully, as she grabbed her hand, attempting to break the Ice girl's grip on her. However, Mizore's icy glare prevented her from breaking free, as she hissed at the vampire girl, "Why should I give my Ben to an eyesore like you," she then lifted her free hand, allowing the ice claws to grow and sharpen to dangerous blades as she flexed them, "I'll kill you, here and now. So please, die this time, okay?" Moka paled at this, unable to summon her power at this point as the Snow Girl lifted her claws, getting ready for the blow, "Now die!"
"Wait, don't!" Ben shouted out to her, stopping Mizore in her spot, as he slowly got back onto his feet, "Don't hurt her!"
"But I have to. Why are you defending her?" Mizore asked, unhinged but seemingly innocent in her decision, "If it's you, then you should understand how it feels to be lonely, just like me."
"But that's just it, I'm not lonely," Ben finally answered.
"But, Ben…" Mizore whispered, feeling pain in her heart as she was close to tears, "I thought… I thought that you of all people, would've understood me." She then looked at him, with a tear going down her cheek, and suddenly freeze up, "Don't tell me… you're rejecting me? You don't care about my feelings?" she shivered a bit, unable to cope with the feeling of rejection, until finally, she shouted out to the sky, "BEN, WHYYYYYY?!" And allowed her claws to come slamming down towards Moka.
Suddenly, in a flash of black and blue, Moka disappeared, when Mizore slammed her claws into the ground to where Moka was supposed to be at. But then, to her surprise, she was gone, as she only slain the after image. When Moziore realized this, she noticed the tracks that had been left to where the blurs originated from. She followed them, to see only a figure, holding Moka in his arms.
It was none other than XLR8,, holding Moka in his arms, looking rather heroic. The Kineceleran smirked at her as he winked, "So who's your hero, eh?"
"Ben," Moka smiled.
Suddenly, they were bombarded by a huge ice storm, that nearly caused the happy moment to go bye bye. The storm was coming from Mizore, as her left hand was held up in the air. Circling around her palm were icy winds and snow, blazing into a whirlwind of a snow blizzard. As the winds blew, creating immense and intense cold and snow, Mizore pointed out, speaking clearly through the winds, "You made a big mistake in getting in the way of my romance. For that… you can all just die in a block of ice!"
"Then allow me to bring on the Big Heat for you," XLR8 pointed out as he let Moka down, and tapped the Omnitrix symbol.
In a green flash, Ben's entire body was covered in red stone. The creases in between glowed brightly with heat. His face was turned to red stone with yellow flames rising from it. His hands swelled to a bigger size, meant for battle. In the centre of his chest was the symbol of the Omnitrix.
"Heatblast!" the fiery alien roared as he thawed out of the ice that tried to cover him.
Omnitrix Encyclopedia
Heatblast A.K.A. Pyronite
These people hail from the star Pyros, which isn't a planet but more of a still-living sun. They are a magma-based life form that is capable of manipulating fire and temperatures to do whatever they want. They can even fly using thermal energy to propel them along. However, they are riddled with weaknesses. They are extremely vulnerable to water and other such fire extinguishing materials. They are also unable to lower their body temperature which makes it impossible to touch almost everything outside of their home planet.
However, they have an amazing transformative advantage. If a Pyronite catches a cold, their symptoms and body temperature drop down to subzero degrees, and the flames on their bodies become electric blue. And instead of fire, they will shoot out ice and cold blasts.
And on a fan-based note, Heatblast was the first alien form Ben turned into once he obtained the Omnitrix.
"Too hot," Mizore mumbled as she shielded her face from the heat radiating off her target. Yuki onna were very sensitive to high temperatures. In other words, beings like Heatblast were something out of a nightmare for her.
"And it's about to get a whole lot hotter!" Heatblast growled as he flared, making his fire even larger. The high temperatures were causing the ice to crack all over the lake.
"Nnn!" Mizore gasped, backing away from the heat. "Stop it."
Waving her hand, Mizore sent waves of ice at the flaming Pyronite, hoping to extinguish his fire. Heatblast wasn't having any of that. Pointing his hands, he fired two continuous streams of fire. The two opposing elemental forces hit each other, creating a huge cloud of steam.
"Too hot, too hot," Mizore trembled as she recoiled from the steam. She knew that Ben could choose his form, but she never expected him to be able to take such a terrifying form such as the fire monster in front of her.
"Ben, please stop!" Moka cried out, "She can't handle the heat!"
"The heat? Seems a little on the cool side to me," Heatblast commented as he walked through the cloud of steam. Mizore trembled and tried to shield herself from the heat radiating from the alien in front of her. "Oh, sorry." Heatblast stated, realizing that not only was he beating her, but hurting her as well, "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean…"
"Just leave me alone," Mizore whispered out, until she finally looked up, with tears streaming down her cheeks as she shouted, "ALL OF YOU JUST LEAVE ME ALOOOONE!"
And with that, a huge whirlwind of snowy wind encircled Mizore, and in an instant, she disappeared without a trace. The teens were a little confused by this scene, until they all heard a cracking sound from beneath them all. And then suddenly, the ice under their feet gave way, and they all took a dip in the ice water.
Later On
The Next Day
"A Snow Girl?" Ben asked in complete confusion.
It was yet another day at high school, with the whole Newspaper Club, minus Gin, sitting together. After the incident involving Mizore, they had all gathered together in case she tried to Ice Ben all over again.
Yukari nodded as she explained everything she knew about them, "Yep. Snow Women, or Yuki Onna, as they're called, hail from Japan mythology. They're known to always be women that appear in extreme snow blizzards, freezing wandering travelers and taking boys or men that catch their fancy. They're masters at controlling ice and snow, creating snow storms and blizzards at will. Although they do these things, they're not considered to be evil, they're more likely just extremely lonely."
"That girl that attacked us? Lonely?" Kurumu huffed at this as she crossed her arms, "I think crazy stalker psycho skank's the best description for her."
However, the look on Ben's face, was no longer one of fear, or worry of this girl attacking them. But in retrospect, it was one of understanding, for if anyone knew what it was like to feel completely alone… it was both him and Moka.
Faculty Room
"Where Mizore lives?" Ms. Nekonome asked curiously.
It was after class the following day and Ben was visiting the faculty room where most of the teachers got their paperwork done. It had been pretty easy to find where Ms. Nekonome's desk was. She was the only one who had cat ears sticking out from her head.
"Yeah" Ben nodded. "I'm worried about Mizore."
"Oh, how nice of you!" Ms. Nekonome smiled. "I know exactly where she stays so I can give you the room number. It's so nice that she's making friends now; I was pretty worried for her, considering no one's befriended her yet."
Ben dryly looked away, mumbling, "I guess there are reasons why."
"You sure you wanna do that?" asked a rough voice asked from behind.
Ms. Nekonome and Ben looked up to see who had been talking. They found themselves looking at a man somewhere between his twenties and early thirties, who was wearing track suit pants and a sleeveless shirt. His skin was tanned and he had red hair, but a dead giveaway of his appearance, were the dark circles under his eyes, almost as if the guy had trouble sleeping at night. He appeared to be someone who thought they were slick. There was also something in his eyes that Ben didn't like. For him, the look in his eyes just read: Scumbag.
"She's dangerous, you know," the man continued. "A really unstable girl."
"Kotsubo-sensei?" Ms. Nekonome blinked.
"I'm just saying she's trouble," Kotsubo shrugged. "You know why she was gone so long, kid?"
"She was sick, wasn't she?" asked Ben.
"That's the cover story," Kotsubo chuckled. "You see, she attacked a teacher, apparently for no reason. She just snapped all of a sudden."
"Huh?" Ben blinked. That didn't sound right. Sure, Mizore seemed to resort to violence, but only when there was a real reason. And from the way she acted around him, she was just lonely, and desperate to be accepted. She didn't attack for no reason. "Are you sure about that? Maybe it was a mistake?"
"Heck yeah I'm sure," Kotsubo chuckled. "You see, I was the teacher she attacked. Put me down for a while too."
Ben observed that he didn't look too badly hurt for someone trying to play off being injured by Mizore. He also seemed to be enjoying telling the story about how Mizore had attacked him. He was also leaving out a lot of detail from his story. Like where he was attacked and what he was doing there in the first place.
"She's escalating too," Kotsubo continued. "Two students were attacked last night. They got frozen in ice and looked cut up pretty badly. They might have died if we didn't find 'em."
"Huh?" Ben gaped. "But…!"
"No mistake, kid," Kotsubo snickered. "The ice was pretty unmistakable. There's talk of Mizore Shirayuki getting expelled since she's so dangerous."
"But…but, how are we sure it's her?" asked Ben.
"The ice," Kotsubo answered. "Who else could it be?"
"She can't be the only one here who uses ice," Ben tried to argue. "There must be…hundreds of monsters here. Mizore can't be the only one who uses ice." He knew this to be a possibility. With so many students here, Mizore couldn't be the only one to have ice powers.
"Ohhhh! That's a good point!" Ms. Nekonome gasped. "It could be someone else who uses ice. She's just the only one who we know who can!"
"And all this starts up the night of the day she gets back here?" asked Kotsubo with a frown. "Sorry, but I know a troublemaker when I see one."
"Well…it could just be a coincidence," Ben attempted to retort. "Weird stuff happens here all the time."
"You know…" another teacher, Ririko Kagome, spoke up. She had been overhearing the conversation. Ririko was a sexy teacher who wore short skirts and let her cleavage show. She was also incredibly beautiful with full red lips and always with a sway in her hips as she walked. "He has a point. Plenty of odd things happen out here with so many different monsters grouped together."
Kotsubo started to become agitated, "Hey, are you forgetting that she attacked me? Can we really let that go? The fact she hasn't said anything speaks for her guilt!"
"She won't talk to you," Ben answered. "Maybe she's afraid to for some reason. I might be able to get her side of the story."
"Oooh! You're right!" Ms. Nekonome smiled brightly. She quickly scribbled on a piece of paper and handed it over to the young American. "Here you go! I wish you success."
"Thanks," Ben smiled. He eyed Kotsubo for a second before he headed for the exit of the room. He was starting to feel that something was up and if he didn't do something soon, Mizore was going to get seriously hurt. As he was leaving though, Kotsubo was staring at his back with a frown.
"He's going to be trouble," he frowned.
Girls Dorm
Mizore's Floor Level
When he was young, Ben would often jump to conclusions and it was up to either Gwen or Grandpa Max to set him straight. He wanted to believe he was right and didn't listen to anybody else. After growing up he managed to learn how to listen to the perspective of others so he wouldn't be making such mistakes again. Now, as far as he could tell, Mizore wasn't a bad person. She was just lonely and misunderstood. He knew what that was like too so he could understand her.
He hadn't told the other girls that he was going to see Mizore. They would freak if he had so he decided to go at it alone. It was probably best that way. Mizore may not want to see so many people at once since yesterday.
Ben stood at Mizore's door. It had the name plaque 'Shirayuki' hanging at the front. "OK, Mizore, it's time we talked," he said to himself. His hand went to the knob but then he recoiled from the sudden child. "It's cold." Well, she was a yuki onna so it was probably normal for her door knob to be cold.
He tried again and it turned easily. "It's unlocked," Ben observed. He pushed the door open and an arctic breeze greeted him. The entire place was covered in ice. "Mizore?" He went inside and wished he'd brought a winter coat along. "Are you in here?" He explored the place and ended up in her living room. He heard a crack as he stepped onto something and looked down to see a framed photograph. He picked it up and despite the layer of ice covering it, he could see it was a picture of him.
"Guess she's been crushing on me for awhile," muttered Ben. "I gotta try and find her." He spun around… only to be greeted by Mizore with her ice claws pointed at him. "Mizore!" he nearly yelped out, but calmed himself down, as he sighed, smiling to her, "Oh man, am I glad to see you."
"Why are you here?" she asked bluntly, but dropped her claws, but kept them on, just to make sure he didn't flame her like last time.
Ben sighed, and took a deep breath, as he explained, "I heard about what happened the night after… well, you know." He didn't go through with that event, considering he knew she didn't like rejection that well. "About the two students that got frozen. One of the teachers said that you did it. I came here to get your side of the story." He sighed, as he looked to her, explaining the situation, "They're talking about expelling you."
"Expelling?" Mizore asked, not showing it, but deeply fazed by this.
"Listen, if we go to the faculty, and give them your explanation…" Ben explained, hoping to reason with her.
"I did freeze them," Mizore answered, her face lowered. If she had looked at Ben's face, it was total shock of the truth. But she sighed deeply, as she started to shiver, "But I wasn't careless about it; I was pissed off at first, but I realized what I did. I unfroze them and stayed to keep an eye on them, making sure they were alright." But then, she sniffled lightly, her ice claws disappearing, as she hugged herself.
Ben saw this action, and figured she was crying, "Mizore, what…?" he walked towards her, hoping to at least comfort her.
"JUST STAY AWAY!" she shouted, and looked up to him, with tears streaming down her face, "I honestly thought that you were the one, Ben. my soul mate: the one who could truly understand me. The other half of my soul." She then closed her eyes, in an attempt to make the tears stop, "But I was wrong. Nobody will ever understand me or accept me." She shook her head, until she cried out, "Nobody. Nobody will. NO OOOOOOOONNNNE!"
And when she cried out, a huge snow blizzard engulfed the room, blinding Ben to seeing her. Once it died down, he saw that she had disappeared from sight. He sighed, "This isn't gonna be easy." He then thought to himself, "Okay, where else did Ms. Nekonome said she likes to go." He thought about it, and then it clicked as he snapped his fingers, "I got it!"
Curve Cliff
Mizore was just standing at the edge of a cliff that was overlooking the large ocean-sized lake. It would appear that she was alone once again. Ben didn't want to see her anymore. Heck, she doubted anybody would want to see her ever again. She'd done some thinking. Maybe she shouldn't have attacked Moka and maybe she shouldn't have tried to freeze Ben. But, she was just so lonely and well he seemed the same way too. Too bad she was wrong; in the end, nobody would ever understand her. She hugged herself, allowing a single tear to drop from both of her eyes, realizing she would be alone forever.
"Well, well, well," she heard a voice. "Alone again, huh, Shirayuki? You always come to this spot when you're lonely." Mizore spun around and saw the gym teacher, Kotsubo.
"Kotsubo…sensei?" Mizore backed away from the grinning teacher.
"You know, it's funny what kind of card life deals you," he said as he approached her, grinning lecherously, "You said you liked me and then you attacked me."
"You were taking advantage of me; you were going to rape me," she defended. "I didn't like it."
"Well, nobody was going to believe you anyway," he said. "I mean it's a teacher's word against a student's." He finished, "That's why you were hiding yourself and now you're doing the same thing." He then lunged at her and pinned her to the ground. She struggled against him.
"Let me go!" she demanded.
"Oh, don't be like that," he licked his lips. "You did say that you liked… no, loved me, right?" For a moment, it seemed like strange bump growths were forming from his back, as Mizore looked terrified at him. "So whatever I would do to you, it wouldn't matter, right?" He asked her darkly, as a sharp tooth grin appeared on his face, as well as dark rings appearing on his already demonic growing face, "So let me have my fun, and nothing bad will happen… I'll make sure no one gives you any hassle ever again."
Mizore looked in shock at this teacher, as it processed in her mind, 'I see. So he's the one who spread those rumors.' The fury gone, she knew that no matter what, it was his word against her. 'I was such an idiot to ever have a crush on him, not knowing what he was like. That's why I can't trust anyone…' as the truth came into being, another tear to start her crying formed, 'I will always be… alone…'
Mizore's eyes closed shut, allowing another tear or two to shed, expecting the worse, and hoping it would be quick. When all of a sudden a large rock smashed into the back of Kotsubo's head. Mizore blinked and then looked up to see Ben.
"Stay away from her, creep!" Bens shouted.
"Ben?" Mizore blinked in confusion. He'd come for her?
"Mizore, get away!" shouted Ben. "I'll take care of this scumbag!"
Mizore nodded and was ready to run when all of a sudden a purple octopus' tentacle wrapped around her ankle and tripped her.
"Not so fast!" said Kotsubo as he sneered. His entire formed change and now he was in his true form of a Kraken. He looked to have an octopus attached to the back of his body with the octopus' head acting as cowl over his head and the tentacles swinging about. His own arms had turned into tentacles with suction cups, and he looked really pissed off. Especially at Ben.
"Mizore!" Ben shouted as he ran over, but then a tentacle smashed into him and sent him to the ground. Not giving up, Ben got up and ran to Mizore. He grabbed the tentacle holding her and pulled it off. "Get out of here!"
"You little bastard!" roared Kotsubo. His tentacles lashed out and wrapped around Ben's body. "I'll break your scrawny little neck for interfering with a Student/Teacher Conference!"
"Ben, no!" Mizore shouted.
Ben was slowly being crushed to death as Kotsubo's tentacles were squeezing the life out of him. The red haired Kraken who happened to be the school's teacher was trying to kill him. "I guess the rumors weren't as true as I heard about you, Ben Tennyson; you Gaijin monsters are so weak," Kotsubo sneered. "What's the matter, Tennyson, lost your breath? Let's see you transform into something that can get your way out of this one!"
"Screw…you!" Ben managed to utter.
Kotsubo's face curled into a mask of fury as he continued to crush Ben. "That's it! I'll just crush you ntil all your bones break, and all your organs squish out of every open orifice," he shouted, the tentacles of his body snapping around violently.
He would teach this damn gaijin how to respect his teachers. His plan was cut short when he howled out in pain, as a sudden chill froze his tentacles solid. They became brittle and with some effort Ben was able to break them and escape. The boy fell to his knees, as he attempted to catch his breath from being nearly crushed to death.
"Ben!" cried out Mizore, as she ran and knelt to his side. "Are you okay?"
"Sure," he gasped. "Never better. Now, Mizore, get out of here while I take care of calamari-face here."
Mizore looked regretful. Ben was trying to help her even after what she tried to do before. Now, it was her turn to help him. "No, Ben. I'm not leaving you," she defied his order. "He nearly killed you, so I'm staying to help." Her hand was pressed up on the Omnitrix and suddenly the watch-like device beeped to life. For a moment, the lens scanned Mizore's hand, glowing yellow for a moment, until it went green again. The two teens stared at it curiously and Mizore asked, "What's happening?" as she removed her hand.
The holographic display now depicted a figure wearing a cloak of some kind and resembling a phantom-like being. Ben had never seen such an alien before, but as Kotsubo was recovering and regenerating his tentacles, now was a good time as any to use it.
"Mizore, cover your eyes!" instructed Ben and she did as told as he slammed down his hand onto the Omnitrix. And like always, a big green flash appeared, and in Ben's place, a new form was in play.
"Big Chill!"
This new alien seemed to be hidden under a large dark blue cloak. All that could be seen of its body was a blue face with large green eyes and a mouth that looked like clenched teeth. Blue claws and feet were also seen coming out of the sides and bottom of the robe. He exhaled and gave off mist, indicating a chilly breath.
"Ha! You don't look so tough!" Kotsubo crowed.
"You're probably right," Big Chill spoke. "But I've learned all too much that looks can be extremely deceiving. And that even the simplest or lamest of beings can sometimes be the strongest."
That was when he unfurled his wings.
The cloak was in fact a large pair of blue moth-like wings. Big Chill appeared to be a humanoid, moth-like alien, whose wings and antenna could fold up into a hooded robe, giving him the appearance of a phantom. Big Chill's body was black with blue and white spots on his arms and legs that resembled ice chunks, a light blue torso and large green eyes, as well as a three grilled tooth mouth in the shape of a frown. He had three fingers and a thumb on each hand, and two toes on each foot, and a third toe-like extension on his ankles.
Big Chill wore the Omnitrix symbol on his chest.
"A snow angel," Mizore gasped, entranced by Big Chill's appearance.
Omnitrix Encyclopedia
Big Chill A.K.A. Necrofriggian
These insect-like people hail from the planet Kylmyys. They are capable of folding up their wings, gaining a phantom-like appearance. They can fly at considerable speeds as well as breathe freezing vapors and turn intangible. Despite their frail appearance, they possess superhuman strength. It is not wise to cross one of these people for they have the means of making you regret it for quite some time…if you live that long.
Flapping his giant wings, Big Chill took to the skies. Kotsubo attempted to strike him with his tentacles, but to no avail. When he was high enough, Big Chill swooped down and started his attack on Kotsubo who lashed out with his tentacles. However, like a ghost, Big Chill just phased through them and once he did they were all covered in ice.
"Gack!" Kotsubo cried as he felt his tentacles becoming covered in ice.
"Too chilly, for you?" joked Big Chill.
"Ben!" Big Chill heard and turned around to see Moka, Kurumu and Yukari running into the scene. They didn't recognize Big Chill at first but they finally did when they saw the Omnitrix symbol on his chest.
Taking advantage of this distraction, Kotsubo lashed out with one of his tentacles. Big Chill was sent flying when it smashed into him. The girls gasped. He crashed and tumbled along the ground. His hand snagged onto Moka's rosario right before he landed on his back. As he rubbed his head, he raised his other hand to see the silver cross that hung from his fingers.
"Uh oh," Big Chill blinked. "Not again. She's not gonna like this fight." Like clockwork, Moka's vampiric aura began to flood the area.
"It's been so long since I've been out," said Moka-sama with a smile. Mizore was floored and Kotsubo was shaking. "An octopus? You brought me out to deal with an octopus?"
"Not my idea," replied Big Chill. "But now that you're here, maybe we can show this guy his place."
Moka-sama smirked. "Good, I like how you think."
"RARGH!" Kotsubo shouted as he lashed out with his tentacles.
"Move!" shouted Big Chill to Yukari and Kurumu. They obeyed but then started their attack. Yukari summoned a wash basin and slammed it on Kotsubo's head while Kurumu cleverly maneuvered around the lashing tentacles and cut them up with her claws. Moka-sama, however, had her arms crossed and side stepping each tentacle lash with ease. She alone didn't need help but Kotsubo just wasn't worth her time.
"Mizore!" Big Chill called and the snow girl stared up at the alien. "I need your help!"
She nodded and got ready. Kotsubo was distracted by both Yukari and Kurumu and leaving himself opened.
"Now!" Big Chill ordered.
And with that, he exhaled ice cold vapors from his mouth. But added to it, he threw out his hands, and shooting from them, beams of intense freezing cold shot out as well. Mizore fired a beam of ice energy from her hands too. Both attacks collided with Kotsubo and started to encase him in ice. Finally, he was trapped in a block of ice with only his head sticking out. He struggled but then looked horrified as Moka-sama strode towards him.
"Normally, I wouldn't deal with pests like you myself, but since I haven't had my fun, I think it would be good for me to stretch my legs a little." She shouted out, "Know your place!" before throwing a kick into Kotsubo's frozen form which sent him flying across the water before he dropped inside. Moka-sama scoffed and turned around. Big Chill had reverted to Ben and he was holding out the rosario to her.
"While I appreciate the exercise, I would prefer not to have to deal with a lowly octopus," Moka-sama sighed before taking back her rosario. "Although, I dare say you're doing almost too good of a job of protecting my other side. I barely get any fun these days."
"I'll try to include you in our next life or death brawl," Ben chuckled.
"Be sure you do," Moka-sama smirked. She then placed the rosario on the chain, returning her to regular Moka before passing out in Ben's arms.
Gin, meanwhile, was in the bushes with a camera in hand.
A Few Days Later
In the days after the fight, what Kotsubo did to Mizore was exposed, turning his reputation to mud. Under normal circumstances, he might have been fired, but after the thorough beating he had received, his sentence was lightened. Of course, he had lost respect with most of his fellow teachers. Those in the Newspaper Club were celebrating their victory and good deed.
"CHEERS!" they all cheered as they gave cheers.
"To a major scoop!" Gin smiled. He hadn't had such an incredible story since he first joined the Newspaper Club in his first year.
"And we have Ben to thank for it!" Kurumu smiled as she leaned against said American's shoulder. "Without him, we never would have found out about it!"
"But how did you know where to go in the first place Ben?" wondered Moka.
"Well, there was something about that Kotsubo guy that rubbed me the wrong way," Ben explained. "He seemed to almost be amused with telling how Mizore attacked him. He was also leaving a lot of details out of the story. Not to mention he was getting mad when I started defending her. So I called Gin and asked him to help me find Mizore."
"If there's one thing I'm great at, it's finding cute girls," Gin snickered. "When I got on the trail of Mizore-chan, I called up Ben and let him know. Of course, when we got there Kotsubo-sensei was already attacking. So Ben went to do the hero stuff and I decided to collect evidence."
"How noble," said Kurumu. But she raised an eyebrow, "But how did you know where to find…"
Suddenly, Ship was tagging at Gin's coat, causing photos to fall out of his pocket. Photos of girls either getting dressed, undressed, or completely nude. Gin sweat dropped at this turn of events, and then looked to Kurumu, Yukari, and even Ship, as they all glared at the werewolf boy. Suddenly, they all attacked him, making a small dustcloud of a battle between all four of them. Both Ben and Moka sweat dropped at this scene.
Ben smiled and suddenly sneezed as he felt a chill. "I think someone should close the window. There's a draft," he said
"That wasn't coming from the window," Moka said and she pointed at the door. Ben and the others turned to see Mizore at the door.
Ben blinked. "Mizore?"
Kurumu, Ship and Yukari stopped their attack on the battered Gin, and all backed away from the Snow Girl who entered. She now sported a shorter hairstyle. Standing up, Ben went to greet her, "Mizore, what brings you here?"
"Do you like my hair?" she asked.
He smiled, "Yeah, it makes you look cuter." She returned the smile.
"I'm glad to hear that," Mizore said as she hugged him. "I'd like to thank you again for before, for sticking up for me, my beautiful snow angel." He shivered at the contact.
"Hey, get off him!" shouted Kurumu but suddenly she was frozen in a block of ice.
"Mizore!" gasped Ben.
"Sorry, but old habits die hard," said Mizore. She then turned her attention over to a slightly recovering Gin, who was still on the floor, but she didn't release her grip on Ben. "Also, I wanted to join the club."
"You do?" Ben blinked. He and everyone else were surprised at Mizore's sudden desire to join a club.
"It's very lively and…I don't want to be alone."
"Well, welcome to the club!" Gin grinned, but winced from the beating he got. "We welcome anybody!"
Moka frowned, not liking how Mizore was hanging off Ben, but she knew what Ben was like so she allowed it. He was just too nice sometimes. Ben, however, was shivering as his teeth chattered due to Mizore hugging him. He would become a popsicle if this went on. But that didn't stop her from pouncing on him, startling both Ben and Mizore.
She then opened her mouth, exposing her fangs, and, "CHU!"
"Ack!" Ben groaned, "Getting frozen and having blood drained. Not my idea to end this day!"
Next Chapter: Strengths Put to the Test; the Rath of Ben