Author's Note: This chapter's been re-edited, with a lot of help from Masamune X23. Thanks, dude.

Ben 10 Alien+Vampire

Chapter 13: Strengths to the Test; The Rath of Ben

Ben's Dorm Room

Moka was over in his room, helping him out making a special Japanese lunch for the American student. While they were working on it, Ben noticed Moka, wearing an apron. She was wearing a loose black shirt that exposed her cleavage, as well as the rosary seal, and a black miniskirt, but it all paled in comparison with the apron look. In truth, he may have seen his mom wear one when she was working on a meal, but with Moka… she made it look good.

Moka caught him looking at her, and looked away, as she blushed a little, and giggled, "C'mon, Ben. Stop looking at me like that. It's embarrassing."

Ben shook his head, as he gulped, "Sorry about that. Got a bit distracted." The two just had an awkward laugh to one another, as they prepared to finish the meal.

Afterwards, they sat down, along with Ship eating a bowl full of batteries, and ate together. As they ate, Ben just had to wonder, eating together like this, just the two of them, with no one else around. 'Isnt this like how a couple usually spend their time together,' he thought to himself, but shook his head, as he sighed, 'Keep dreaming, Ben. face the facts: the only way she's intimate with you is when she sucks your blood. Either one.'

But his thoughts turned towards the Inner Moka… the supposed real Moka. On their supposed mock-date, they had actually spent an entire day together, without the other killing the former. It was really odd though, the Inner Moka didn't really like to socialize with anyone. Maybe she thought of it as a sign of weakness; that the more time she spent out, the more… normal she'd be. like she and the Outer Moka started merging together as one. As he ate the rice, he kind of had to wonder, the whole time at Youkai with the silver-haired Moka, with the heart and kindness of the Outer Moka. Would that be so bad? He shook his head just trying to shake it out; the last thing he needed to do was mull over that the rest of his high school life.

"Ben?" Moka asked, snapping him out of his train of thought, as she asked, "Is something wrong?"

He shook his head, "Oh no, it's nothing. Just clueless boy thoughts." He then took another bite, but then cocked an eyebrow as he looked to the rice, "Um… Moka? The rice. Is it supposed to taste like herbs?"

Moka blushed in embarrassment, as she giggled nervously, "Sorry about that. Don't forget, regular water drains me, so I added a few herbs and spices to the water. It made it easier for me to handle, and made the rice taste better."

Ben smirked at that, "You got that right."

As they ate, Moka seemed a bit worried, as she asked, "Ben?" His attention was to her, as she asked, "The other me, the Real Moka… I think she might be mistaken when she thinks you're weak."

Ben sighed, as he decided to clarify, "Moka, I already explained it ot her, even though she believes different…"

"I think you have a very strong will when it comes to your aliens," Moka finished, almost blushing right at him. "I mean, from what you told the Inner Me, if you stay in Alien form for more than ten minutes, you'll begin to get possessed by that alien's personality." But then she looked at him, amazed, "But you said once you gained control on that. Even if it was only for a few extra minutes."

Ben bashfully shrugged, "Well, um… I had help from my cousin."

Then Moka reached out, holding his hand with hers, and smiled, "You have friends who can help with that. Even when your family's not around."

The two just smiled to one another, and continued to eat together.

The Next Day

Youkai Academy

Shoe Lockers

The day started out as it always did, with the students getting ready for another fun-filled school day. However, there was gossip going around, about how much livelier it was this year. As well as recent battles on campus, with one person in particular, aside from Moka Akashiya. The person who was the most topic, was Benjamin Tennyson. A conversation that was going into great detail with a few of the girls.

"Did you hear? Tennyson took down Kotsubo," one guy said, talking to the others around him.

"No way," another boy rumored out, "Yeesh! He's pretty tough; I even heard he took down Yukari's Class Rep and his goons."

"That's not all I heard," a female student, "He even faced against Mad Dog Gin a while back, competing for Moka's heart."

Even more rumors began, "Moka? As in Moka Akashiya? I thought he was going out with Kurumu Kurono. She's always boob-pressing his face."

"Nah, he's going out with the Ice Princess, Mizore Shirayuki." And more and more rumors spread about Ben being the toughest fighter of Youkai Academy. As well as the luckiest guy to hang around the hottest girls, or have them hang around him with no strings attached.

In fact, one guy in the shadows, weighing in dumbbells was getting pretty interested, or rather, heated up to take this guy down. "Tennyson…" the figure growled, "I don't care how tough you are, I'm takin' you down a peg. And be called the strongest."

Newspaper Club

"PLEASE, BEN," Gin was on his knees in front of a sitting Tennyson, "YOU GOTTA LET ME GET AN EXCLUSIVE!"

"Gin, I told you already, no," Ben shot up from his seat, standing on the desk to avoid the wolf boy's advances to him. "I just don't want that attention."

"But I do!" Kurumu suddenly appeared glomping his face into her boobs, as always. "Please, Ben. if you won't do it for the paper, do it for me. Please?" She pouted a little, "I mean, it's only fair considering you took Moka out on that mock-date, and she's always going into your room for studying. So fair's fair, Ben."

Gin suddenly shot up, PO'ed as he scolded Ben, "MOKA'S BEEN IN YOUR ROOM? UNACCEPTABLLLLE!"

KLONK! DONK! SLAM!

A trio barrage of wash pans slammed hard on Kurumu's and Gin's head, knocking them both out to their senses. As they were recovering, Yukari popped up, with her wand in hand after the save, "Hey, back off him, you Milk Cow! You too, Enemy of all Women! You're gonna suffocate him again! Do you want him to die?"

"Thanks, Yukari," Ben sighed in relief, but was tackled in a hug by the little witch.

It seemed like she wanted to know more about his past as she begged him, "Well, as a reward, how about telling us all about your past. Aside from Moka, we don't know a whole lot about you. Really."

"I wouldn't mind knowing more about you, Ben," Mizore suddenly spoke out… from under the desk.

Everyone was startled by this sudden appearance, as Ben gulped, "Mizore! Did you have to spook us like that."

"Sorry about that," Mizore apologized, but then blushed a little, "But seeing that our relationship's gotten much better, I think you can call me your little Snow Bunny."

Ben sweat dropped, as he asked, "Snow Bunny?"

Mizore cooed as she blushed, cupping her cheeks to hide it, "Aaah that sounds amazing, Ben."

But despite all the comedy going around, the rest of the girls, including Gin, wanted to know more. So they tried and tried to break him, he kept trying dodge the questions. Until they cornered him, literally, and begged him constantly to tell him more about himself. He was on the verge of dodging out of it, until Moka joined in, and pleaded, "Come on, Ben. please? There were some things you never told me, like where you lived, or aobut your parents."

"Good question," Mizore pointed out, "I'd like to know more about my future in laws."

"No, they're gonna be my future in laws! You snowy stalker skank!" Kurumu shouted.

"COME ON, BEN. PLEASE?" Everyone pleaded, including Gin, whose puppy dog pout was getting the better of Ben. it even added the effect to most of the girls' teary eyes as well.

Finally, after much deliberation, Ben finally sighed in defeat, "Okay, where do I begin."

Ben and everyone sat down, as he gave them basic information, while leaving out some of the more, paranormal events and details. His hometown was Bellwood, Illinois, and most of all of his family lived there. His parents were Carl and Sandra Tennyson, Carl having a brother named Frank, who was the father of his cousin, Gwen Tennyson. The two were born on the same day, so they both shared birthdays, which was kind of annoying for the Tennyson boy and girl. He then said that his Grandpa was named Maxwell Tennyson, though he never knew who his grandmother was. Although her past remained a mystery, his grandfather's wasn't. When he was at the age of his late teens, he was drafted as a jet pilot for the Army Rangers. But soon later on it was revealed that Ben told them that his Grandpa Max had been an astronaut and would have been the first man on the moon, but left the program before the Apollo Moon mission in NASA. That in turn, caused everyone to stop in their tracks, and looked to Ben in complete amazement, and shock.

Now the real questions would soon begin on that.

Yukari nearly ran into Ben's face, as she went all starry-eyed, asking, "Your grandfather was part of the Apollo Program? He would have been the first man on the moon?"

"Yahoohoo!" Kurumu ran up, glomping him from behind, as she smooshed her boobs on his back, as she embraced him like crazy. "I didn't think your family had a famous celebrity! I can't even believe that your grandfather was to become the first man on the moon!"

Mizore smiled as she rested her head on the desk, looking at Ben, "Who knew you'd be related to a celeb, Ben."

"Yeah, I bet," Gin grumbled, who couldn't believe this American foreigner had a famous man in the family to one of the greatest feats in astronomical history. But then one tidbit of info that Ben mentioned made him curious, "Wait. You said your grandfather was nominated to be on the Apollo Project… but then left to let Armstrong take his place." He cocked an eyebrow as he asked, "Why would he just go up and leave a huge opportunity like that?"

The girls were all silent, waiting for an answer, as was Gin, to hear Ben's response. But Moka remained the only one not quizzical, considering Ben had told her of his grandfather's former profession before he retired. Ben just stood up, and sighed, "He… had priorities to take place on. Other callings than being famous." And walked away, leaving the others standing there, confused.

Outside

Lunch

The lunch bell had rang, meaning everyone was having lunch at that time. The newspaper club were all outside, eating together, considering it was such a nice, sunny, yet cool afternoon. The perfect place to eat outdoors. Though while together, they didn't take the need to press on for Ben for an answer as to his grandfather's personal choice. They just left it at that, and awaited for a time for him to tell them on his own. Gin, however, had other priorities… like taking pictures of the girls from the swim team… in the showers. However, the girls were all preparing for something big: box lunches.

The first time they had done this, they had nearly swarmed Ben, and he had to turn into that cute little creature, Upchuck. Howver, this time it would be different. Hopefully, he would pick at least one of them. Even Mizore seemed to have a box lunch all made up, even while she hid behind a bush.

Moka's was even made up, as she looked at it, and smiled, 'This time, I'm sure he'll eat it. While not as Upchuck.' She turned to face Ben, whose back was turned to everyone, and walked over. "Ben," she smiled to him, oblivious as to what he was doing, "I made you a lunch today. I was hoping we could eat it together." But she didn't get a response, as she looked to him, hard on concentration fiddling with the Omnitrix dial, "Ben? What are you doing?"

"I've been trying to unlock some new forms, just by going on combination dialing," he explained, as he looked to her, "I sort of did it by accident the first two times, unlocking both Cannonbolt and Wildvine. But when it came to Upchuck and Way Big, they were unlocked by a combination of the dial at different turns. Kind of like the combination of a locker lock."

Interested in this, Moka asked, "Have you found any new ones yet?"

Ben shook his head, "Nothing ye… wait a minute!" He stopped at a new face on the dial. It appeared to a buff humanoid tiger, with one claw shooting out of its knuckles on both hands. Ben cocked an eyebrow at this, as he shrugged, "It looks like a cross between Wolverine and Tigger, but both on serious steroid addiction."

Moka had to nervously chuckle at Ben's choice of words on that, "Uh, yeah. I guess so." She then held her lunchbox out, as she got Ben's undivided attention, "Hey, Ben… um, seeing as how you don't really have a lunch on you." She seemed to blush a little, as she and Ben went eye to eye to one another, "Well, I made too much for my lunch, and well, I… would you like to share mine with me?"

Ben was a bit surprised, but smiled at the gesture, "Well, I did kind of forget to buy lunch. Sure, why not."

"No, Ben!" Kurumu bumped in, as she held her lunch out. "Eat with me. I'll personally feed you myself." She stuck a cookie in her mouth, and nearly gave it to him, mouth to mouth, "C'mon, Ben. please?"

SLAM!

Another dishpan slammed onto her head, knocking her out cold. Yukari popped up, holding her lunchbox, "Now, Ben. you need your strength, so I whipped up a newer and healthier lunch to give you the pep you need."

WHOOSH!

In a frozen breeze, both Moka and Yukari were frozen together, as Mizore shyly hid behind them. A startled Ben, finally calmed down a bit, as she held up a snow cone, and innocently blushed at him, but it didn't overcome her snow white skin glow. "Ben, I made us a snow cone. Cherry and apple flavored." As Kurumu, Moka, and even Yukari got up in time, as Mizore made her move, "If you want, we could eat it together. With the same spoon."

Ben looked confused as he asked, "Together? The same spoon?"

She nodded, her blush looking to melt her as she looked away, and side-glanced to him, "It'd be just like… indirect kissing."

"NOOOO!" all three girls shouted, as they tried to pounce at the snow girl's attempt to steal a kiss from the boy of most of their affections. But by most, it was Kurumu and Yukari, and a still-indecisive Moka, who wasn't sure if he and she were still friends, or becoming more than that.

"TENNYSOOON!"

The five stopped doing what they were doing, and saw a whole bunch of guys dressed up in karate outfits. Their leader, looking to be a sniveling weasel guy with a helmet hairstyle, and some kind of clown face paint under his eyes. He even laughed like a sniveling weasel, as he looked to Ben with a pair of squinty eyes, and declared, "Tennyson! We of the Youkai Karate Club… challenge you to the title of Strongest Student in School!"

The girls all jumped back, as did Ben, from that declaration, as he gulped, "What? Why?"

"It's because of your stinkin' reputation," Mole boy shot back. "It's unfair for some Gaijin wannabe nobody to just pop up and be as strong as you. Let alone to have so many powerful forms!" he clenched his fists, as he sneered, "However, if we beat you, then the title Strongest will be all ours! And the Karate Club will truly be undefeated!"

Ben just huffed, "Look, I'm not gonna fight you guys for something as pointless as that."

He turned away, but stopped as Kurumu shouted, "Yeah, because you're not even worth his time! He'll wipe the floor with you schmucks anytime, anywhere, in any shape or size! Ben's too busy to be bothering with the likes of you!"

The Mole boy just smirked, as he looked to Ben, and taunted, "Oh, really? Or is it that he's just a lilly-livered excuse for a coward? A real man would stand his ground and fight, not turn away with his tail between his legs. I bet he doesn't even stick up for his friends." And then grinned evilly as he hit the nail in the camels' back, "Whom we're so gonna pounce over and do this and that, considering he can't do a thing about it and just run away crying for mommy."

The girls, including a fuming Moka, were gonna go ape-crazy on these, guys, as Kurumu's claws shot out, "Why you…?"

But a blur past them, as Ben ran towards the Karate Club who charged at him. Ben activated the Omnitrix, as he scrolled to his newest discovery, and sneered, "Good, I needed an excuse to test this guy out. GOING HERO!" And slammed on the lens, activating the transformation, as a green flash erupted.

"RATH!" The alien shouted out, as the green light dimmed down, revealing the new form Ben turned into.

The alien was about nine feet tall and resembled an orange and white bipedal tiger with one massive black claw coming out of each wrist and no tail. He wore a white wrestling ensemble that would be seen in any high school wrestling team, without the shoulder straps, and white armbands around the forearms, all with black trimming. He was also very muscular and has green eyes. He bore the Omnitrix symbol on his chest where the wrestling outfit lies on.

Omnitrix Encyclopedia

Appoplexian AKA Rath

Appoplexians are a species from the planet Appoplexia. Appoplexians value emotional openness: if an Appoplexian has a feeling, they express it. Generally, the feeling is a blind rage. Appoplexians take great pride in their fighting skills. Appoplexians love to fight and have great appreciation for the best fighter. Instead of shaking hands when they meet, they engage in a wrestling match until one is established as dominant. Appoplexians believe any problem can be solved by hitting it. An Appoplexian's addiction to violence leads them to be quite dim, forgetting things and being easily distracted. Appoplexians are prone to referring to people by their full title, as well as beginning a conversation with "Let me tell ya somethin'!" Appoplexians have animistic tendencies, such as growling, roaring and relentlessly seeking food when hungry. Appoplexians are prone to mixing up metaphors. Appoplexians can always remember things relating to fights or battle techniques learned.Appoplexians have immense strength, as well as being durable enough to withstand a powerful laser or missile at point-blank range without a single scratch. Lasers don't scratch. They burn. The claws on their wrists can extend and by stabbing the ground, they can create a powerful shock wave.

The Appoplexian's brains are hardwired for aggression and as such, Rath's only known weakness is his lack of intelligence and highly aggressive temperament. This causes Rath to become easily distracted and difficult to stop once he starts fighting.

Rath charged at the Karate Club, only to get stopped in his tracks. He looked down, and saw with his eyes, the Mole boy, literally digging out from the ground, with mole claws. The boy snickred as he taunted, waving his tongue out like a pervert, "You fell for our trap! You charged forward like an idiot and now you'll die. Good job, you stupid ugly Gaijin! HAHAHAHAAAA!"

Rath cocked an eyebrow, as the Karate Club pounced at him, "ME, UGLY? THAT'S IT!"

The club pounced on him, beating the living daylights out of him… or at least that's what the girls thought. Moka looked in shock, as she shouted, "Ben, no!" She attempted to run towards his direciotn, until Mizore stepped in front, blocking her, as she shot back, almost feeling betrayed, "Mizore! What are you doing? We have to help him!"

"I don't think Ben needs our help," Mizore replied, as she pointed to the pummeling karate club pile. "Take a look."

The karate club continued to kick and punch, all cluttered together like a phalanx. Until, suddenly a loud roar was belched out, as they were all tossed aside, with a steaming hot headed Rath. He looked down at the Mole Boy, who disappeared into the ground, wetting his pants. The club members charged against him, but the Appoplexian was ready this time.

He grabbed one of the tables, and knocked three of the karate club members out, as he shouted, "LET ME TELL YA SOMETHIN', YOUKAI ACADEMY KARATE CLUB!" he then smashed another two members with his left hand, first by grabbing one guy by the face, then smashing him face-to-face with the second guy, and then head-butting the first guy, knocking them both out, "YOU DON'T CALL SOME HANDSOME STUD LIKE MYSELF UGLY JUST BECAUSE HE'S FROM ANOTEHR COUNTRY!" two others tried to get him from behind, but he back flipped over them, grabbing them by the necks, as he shouted, "BACKWARDS, FACE-DRIVER!" And threw them over his head, smashing their faces into the gorund, knocking them out could. "AND YOU CERTAINLY DON'T THREATEN MY FRIENDS LIKE THAT EITHER, GOOFY MOLE BOY CLOWN FACE!"

"Goofy?!" the boy shouted as he shot out of the earth, and attempted to take the human turned Appoplexian down. He landed on the ground, on all fours, as his red demonic eyes flared up, and his mole claws flexed into the earth, "I may be a Mole Monster, but your puny lone claws aren't a match against my own!"

"YEAH, RIGHT!" Rath shouted, unsheathing his claws out further, pointing at the Mole Boy, "YOU MAY HAVE MORE THAN ONE CLAW, BUT YOU KNOW WHAT THEY SAY: THE BIGGER THEY ARE, THE HARDER…" But he got smacked away by the Moleman, as he was sent flying at the girls.

And in freakish turns of events, or just dumb luck, Rath knocked off the Rosario, unleashing the Inner Vampire within Moka. But he didn't seem to notice the red aura flashing alive, as he got up, and stared down a seemingly scared Mole Boy, as he groaned, "Ugh, Rath doesn't remember how the rest of that went." But he shook his head, clearing it, as he shouted, "THE BIGGER THEY ARE, THE HARDER THEY FALL! THAT'S WHAT RATH WAS GONNA SAY! AND THAT'S THE BOTTOM LINE, CAUSE RATH SAID SO…"

But his threat went unheard, as Moka-sama past him in a flash, skidded to a halt nearly six inches from the mole, and snarled, "Know your place!" and uppercut kicked him up to the sky, and was sent pummeling to the retreating Karate Club. She relaxed, as she huffed, "I was awakened for this. Benjamin, what did I tell you…" she turned, fuming as she was on the verge of scolding. Until she took notice of a sneering Rath, and for the first time in her life, looked in a bit of startled confusion, as she asked, "Benjamin?"

"You…" Rath began, his eye twitching angrily, "You took my fight from me."

Moka-sama, not liking where this was going, tried her best to calm the subject down, "Ben, calm down. It was just a fight." But Rath continued to growl under his breath, as he sneered, while she sneered back, "If you don't calm down right now, I ma…."

Suddenly, Rath tackled her to the ground, pinning her down with one hand to her throat. As she struggled to break free, Rath leaned in and yelled out, "LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING, INNER/REAL MOKA AKASHIYA! YOU MAY BE TOUGH, YOU MAY BE SCARY, YOU MAY EVEN KILL ME, which may be the case when this is over… BUT NO ONE! AND I MEAN, NO ONE… TAKES MY FIGHTS AWAY FROM ME!"

Seething with anger, a red aura flared around Moka-sama, as she drill kicked him off her. She shot back up, as Rath regained his footing, and she unleashed a deadly barrage of kicks upon him, as she seethed out, "You were on top! AGAIN! KNOW YOUR PLACE!" Until finally, she unleashed a deadly kick to his jaw, nearly appearing to dislocate his jaw and his neck. However, shock returned to the vampire girl, as she saw him recovering, glaring at her, "H-How? That move should have disabled you…"

He suddenly, grabbed her by the ankle, in an attempt to toss her… until Gin showed up, transformed into his Werewolf form, snarling, "That's enough, Ben! Control yourself!"

Rath let go of Moka-sama, and grabbed him, as he snarled, "You want to fight me, Gin Morioka?!" And then tossed him into a table, "THEN LET'S GO!"

Ship suddenly appeared, and slorped onto his head, tightening until he formed a bubble of sorts. Yukari ran up and shouted, "You need a time out, Ben!" And held her wand up in defense.

Just as the others showed up, at the ready should the worse come, Rath continued to get Ship off his head. But he shouted to everyone, all muffled, "TIME OUT?! IT'S TIME YOU ALL TO LEARN THAT NOBODY CAN BEAT RATH AT…!" He then suddenly relaxed a moment, and asked, "Did I just use up all my air?" He then hung his tongue out of his mouth, and fell unconscious, as Ship blorped away from him, looking at the downed Appoplexian, as the green flash appeared, and left Ben unconscious back in human form.

The girls, plus a recovering Gin and Moka-sama, looked to the unconscious Ben, wondering what the heck had happened.

After a While

Ben's Room

Ben lay covered in a blanket, fast asleep in his bed. He stirred lightly, finally awakening from an unknown exhaustion that plagued him. His eyes opened weakly, as he took notice of the only light source illuminating the outer rim to his dorm bedroom. The distant chirping of Ship next to his bedside atop his desk alerted him, as finally his eyes came into focus. He looked around, half-asleep as he saw that he was back in his dorm room. And not alone, as Ship and a much calm Moka-sama looked to him, as she sat on the side of his bed.

He shot up, looking rather freaked out, as he asked, "Ah! Moka? What's going on? Why am I…"

"Calm down, Ben," Moka-sama reassured him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You've been out for about three hours. Ship and I brought you back to your room after he had to knock you out."

"Knock me out," Ben asked, "Why? Didn't I beat the club?"

"You did, but you also attempted to attack the rest of us," Moka-sama explained, only furthering the boy's confusion. So she decided to explain it further. "When you activated the Omnitrix, you became something called an Appoplexian. When Ship and I brought you back to rest before the others could ask, we looked it up in the Alien life form Database. It said that Appoplexians are powerful, argumentative, and extremely aggressive. They believe all or any problem can be solved by hitting it. It also said they're not too bright."

Not liking where this little detailed explanation of his last transformation was going, Ben sighed, as he asked, "Is there anything else you'd like to point out."

"Yes," Moka-sama bluntly stated, as she continued, "When you were in that form, you barely could tell who was friend or who was foe, once you were pushed too far. He nearly throttled me, as well as break Gin in half when he intervened. That, and Yukari would have been seriously hurt, had Ship not managed to knock you out." She then took the rosary from Ben, who was starting to get the picture, "Unless you're so determined to put all our lives at risk, I refrain from using Rath ever again." And snapped the Rosario back on, as she fell towards Ben, who caught her as she reverted back to Outer Moka.

As he held her unconscious form, he had to wonder about what had happened.

Afterwards

Men's Restroom

Ben had left Moka to recover her strength in his room, while Ship kept an eye on her. As he washed his hands from what had to be the fourteenth time, he sighed deeply, 'And here I thought setting the Self-destruct off the Omnitrix was a dumb idea.' He frowned, looking at the running water, and then to the Omnitrix. However, as he was loathing in self-loathing, a huge shadow managed to creep up behind him, as he thought, 'Maybe I should refrain from using Rath, in case something like that ever happened again.'

"So you're the legendary Ben Tennyson, eh? Not much to look at."

Ben nearly jumped in surprise, as he whipped around, coming face-to-face… well, not as much, seeing as the fellow was nearly eight feet in height. The guy was dressed in blue sweatpants, the traditional uniform shoes, a white t-shirt that clung to his heavily muscled body, slicked back blonde hair, with a few strands dangling in front. But the odd thing was, even though he was probably buffed to the max a guy his size, he was lifting dinky dumbbells with a huge passion in doing it fast.

"You left yourself wide open for an attack, you pipsqueak," he huffed, as he glared at the boy, "I'm Chopper Rikishi of the Youkai Academy wrestling team. The next time you let your guard down, I'm gonna lock you in a cobra twist! Understand?"

Ben gulped, "Yeah. And um, your reasons for telling me that?"

"Because once we fight, I ain't gonna go easy on ya, small fry," Chopper shot out. He then poked on, "So the rumors true? About you bein' a tough fighter? The Strongest of Youkai Academy?"

"Uh, I don't know," Ben shrugged, "Maybe?"

"Maybe? MAYBE?!" Chopper shouted, but regained his composure, as he dropped one of his weights, letting it hit the ground. In the process, it left a huge crater, embedded into the floor. Ben gulped as he realized the exact weight in those dumbbells, meaning if this guy could lift that much, then Ben was in big trouble. "I've heard tons of rumors about your battles," Chopper explained, going through the list, "Saizou, the Class Rep of Sendo's class, Kotsubo, Ishigami, that lame Coalition Club, and all the other lame ass but strong schmucks: all beaten by you! Who's next, Kuyuo?!" His finger nearly went through Ben's face, as it was close enough to stab through, as Chopper's anxiety was getting the better of his calm, "The wrestling team of Youkai Academy prides itself on being the strongest. And you not being on the team, but being as strong as you are, it's an insult and threat to the Wrestling Code! You stealin' my opponents from me, taking the title 'Strongest', when clearly you're a scrawny soccer player… THAT AIN'T RIGHT!"

Ben held his hands up in defense, as he did his best to calm the situation, "Whoa, wait! Time out! If you want the title…"

"DAMN RIGHT, I WANT IT," Chopper shouted, raising his left hand in a chopping positon, as his arm and hand grew five times its regular size, as he held it up ready to bring it down on Ben, "AND THE ONLY WAY I'LL GET IT, IS TO BEAT YOU IN COMBAT!"

"You sure you wanna do that, Chopper?" a familiar voice spoke up, getting their attention.

There, both boys saw Gin, leaning on the door, with his hands in his pockets and smirked. "Gin?" Ben looked in surprise.

Chopper just snarled, "This doesn't concern you, Morioka."

"No, but it concerns you, though," Gin smirked, as he stood next to Ben, and patted him on the back, "He may not look it, but this doppleganger's got a huge arsenal of forms just waiting to snap you like a twig. Fourarms, Humongosaur, Diamondhead, Chromastone… all of them heavyweight champs that could knock the block off of ya. And now he's got a berserker named Rath." He cocked a cocky eyebrow at the wrestler, as he taunted, "You really wanna mess with that? Even though you've got no chance against the two of us?"

Chopper snarled at that, not liking that these two were rubbing it in for him. But then he smirked, "Oh, if that's the case… then Tennsyon doesn't care. I mean, after all he's just a coward."

Gin went bug-eyed in surprise, as he looked to Ben, who snarled, "Okay, Chopper! You're on!"

However, this challenge didn't go unnoticed, as from outside, peeking through the cracks, on a stalk eyeball, Ship had seen and heard the whole thing. He knew that one of his two masters was going to be in trouble. So he slurped away back to Ben's room, in the attempt to go warn Moka of the idiotic danger that Ben would get himself in now.

School Roof

On the roof of the Dorms, Ben and Chopper stood ready to battle one another. Chopper had to smirk at the cockiness that he had forced out of the American, but he also sensed something else. Hesitation. However, Chopper chuckled, "Alright, need convincing? Here's a little incentive." His body then bulged and grew, nearly to twenty feet, as horns grew on his chin, and an even bigger one grew on his forehead, with his teeth growing out of his lower jaw. His skin grew grayish and his forearms became monstrous, as did his hands, while his back was hunched over. After it was over, Ben had witnessed that this guy was a Mountain Troll, a monster built for combat, which explained why this guy wanted to fight Ben so much.

Ben cocked an eyebrow, and asked, "So that's your real form? An Orc?"

"I'M A MOUNTAIN TROLL, IDIOT!" Chopper shouted out, obviously offended at being called an Orc. "Orcs are mutilated to become warriors! Trolls are born for this stuff!"

Ben scratched his chin as he asked, "So after the fight when I'm done beating you up, you gonna cower under the bridge?" He then smirked, as an even better comeback came out, "Or just run off to grab a billy goat sandwich?"

Chopper snarled as he shouted, "QUIT JOKING AROUND, TENNYSON, AND START FIGHTING! OR IN ALL DID THOSE FIGHTS, DID YOU TALK ALL THOSE OPPONENTS TO DEATH!?"

Ben shook his head and huffed, "Alright, fine. I'll go serious on you. Here's a guy with serious muscle! "He slammed down on the Omnitrix, and in a big green flash…

"FOURARMS!" The Tetramand roared is he flexed his four arms.

"Interesting from the rumors I heard, that's the form you used to beat up Saizo who was on my list of opponents so once I beat it I'll have proved my superiority over both of you" Chopper said as he pumped his fists together in excitement.

Chopper and Fourarms charged at each other as Fourarms used two of his arms to stop both Choppers from using a karate chop from the sides while using his remaining two arms to punch him in the chest and send him reeling back slightly.

Chooper rubbed his chest from the hit. "Not a bad punch Tennyson but if that's the best you can do then you're even weaker than I thought" he said as he charged again.

Fourarms charged again as they engaged in hand to hand combat. As they fought Fourarms saw that Chopper was a tougher fighter than Saizo as he was physically stronger and more experienced from knowing some fighting moves however he had just about the same as Saizo which helped him keep up with his fast pace of attacks.

Chopper launched a jab which Fourarms dodged to the side and grabbed with two of his arms as he reeled his other two for a double jab but before he could Chopper lifted his captured arm and Forearms with it as he then quickly brought his arm down slamming Fourarms into the ground. The move made Fourarms let go of the captured arm as Chopper grabbed his leg and started spinning around but before he could throw him Fourarms pulled his other leg back and kicked Chopper in the chin forcing him to let go as Fourarms landed on his feet.

Chopper ran forward and used an elbow strike on Fourarms chest sending him crashing into a wall painfully.

Fourarms struggled a bit to get up after the hit as that last hit hurt a bit.

"Man I'm getting nowhere with this guy. Next time I see Gwen I gotta ask her for some more Karate lessons" Ben though as he pondered how to keep fighting.

"Come on Tennyson surely you can do better than this" Chopper taunted as he was hoping for a better fight.

"How about trying your hand at this!" Fourarms shouted as he hit the Omnitrix symbol as he was enveloped in light again as he changed forms into…

"WILDVINE!" The Florauna cried out as he stood tall and ready.

"Hmp! So you switched your form. This one had better provide a better challenge" Chopper said as he tightened his fists making his bones make a cracking sound. "Though, honestly… this one looks weaker than the last one."

"Not all strengths are muscle, meathead," he pointed out. Wildvine stretched forward as he used his arms to tie up Chopper's chest.

"What the hell Tennyson this is supposed to be a fight not a rodeo!" Chopper protested as he tried breaking out of his restraints.

"You fight your way and I'll fight my way" Wildvine said as he fired the seeds from his back as which exploded when they made contact with Chopper.

Chopper was getting angry at what he saw as a cowardly move as he shook of the pain he felt as he transformed into his true form growing larger in the process until a mountain troll was revealed. Using his new size he easily broke free of Wildvines restraints as he charged at him to attack while Wildvine was now on the defense using his agility and elastic abilities to dodge and stretch out of the way.

"Stand still and fight like a man!" Chopper shouted in anger from continuing to miss.

"I'm a plant now, so deal with it!" Wildwine argued back as he kept dodging until Chopper grabbed one of his vine legs and reeled him in where he hit him with a karate chop to his face as he was sent flying back but since his leg was still caught his body involuntarily stretched as he was then pulled back again and hit in the face again before being thrown to the ground.

"Urg" Wildvine grunted as he slowly stood up while feeling dizzy. He saw it had gotten dark all of a sudden and he looked up to see Chopper falling from the air as he crash landed on him delivering a full body slam.

Chopper got from the small cratter he made to see Wildvine looking partially flattened as he flashed green and Ben stood in it's place.

"That was not fun" Ben said out of some pain as he got up.

"You're a complete disappointment Tennyson I thought you were supposed to be tough with all what all those rumors said about you, but In the end you were just another chump" Chopper said angrily as he stomped over to finish him.

"BEN!" a feminine voice cried out.

Both fighters turned to see Moka running from the door she came into as ran towards Ben but before she could Chopper grabbed her with his enlarged hand. "MOKA!" Ben shouted. "Leave her out of this you creep this is between you and me!" he said with anger.

"So this is why your so weak. You're too busy playing with girls to train and fight me seriously isn't it?" Chopper growled out as he kept a firm grip on Moka. "Maybe if I get rid of her you'll be able to put up a better fight" he threatened.

"Don't you dare!" Ben shouted.

"Or else what, what're you going to do about it Tennyson!?" Chopper challenged.

Ben sneered at the troll's malice towards Moka, and huffed, "Alright, fine. I'll go serious on you. Here's one I've wanted to try out again. It's called Humongousaur!" He slammed down on the Omnitrix, and in a big green flash…

"HUMONGUSAU…! RATH?!" Rath looked to himself, realizing he had been transformed into the Appoplexian, one again, by the Omnitrix's design. He huffed, as he pointed to the Omnitrix symbol on his chest, "LET ME TELL YA SOMETHING OMNITRIX! RATH IS SICK OF YOU NOT WORKING RIGHT!" He sighed, as he groaned aloud, "It wasn't funny five years ago, and it's not even funny anymore..." He then shook it off as he looked to Chopper, and pointed out, "LEMME' TELL YOU SOMETHING, CHOPPER RIKISHI, BIG MOUNTAIN TROLL WHO WANTS TO PUMMEL ME! YOU MAY BE BIG BUT RATH… IS EVEN BIGGER!"

"Oh, really," Chopper cocked an eyebrow, as he stomped forward… showing he was now a twenty foot height compared to Rath.

Rath cocked an eyebrow, as he ranted yet again, "EXCEPT FOR THE PART WHERE YOU'RE TALLER AND HEAVIER THAN ME..." but shook it off, as he shouted, pointing his claw at Chopper, who was readying himself to attack the Appoplexian. "BUT THAT DOESN'T MATTER! 'CAUSE THE BIGGER THEY ARE, THE HARDER…" Chopper then suddenly, side-chopped Rath, sending him skidding on the ground.

"Ben!" Moka cried out, looking in fear of Ben, as she was still trapped by the mountain troll's grip. She struggled to break free, as she cried out, "Ben, please! Are you alright? Speak to me!"

Rath suddenly sat back up, and rubbed the back of his sore head, as he groaned, "Aww, I'm okay, Moka… but Rath doesn't remember how the rest of that saying goes." Once he was back on his feet, he then glared at Chopper again, as he shouted, THE BIGGER THEY ARE, THE HARDER THEY FALL! THAT'S WHAT RATH WAS GONNA SAY! BY THAT LOGIC, YOU, BEING BIGGER THAN RATH, IS A DISADVANTAGE! RRRRRAAAAAHHHHHH!" And charged forward for another attack.

Chopper tried to slash at Rather with his hand, but Rath dodged it easily. In fact, Chopper tried a dozen chop moves to get at the Appoplexian, but the orange blur didn't even get hit. Until finally, he skidded to a halt, and stopped one of Rath's block, holding it in place, as he snarled, "Let me tell you something, Chopper Rikishi, Wresting Mountain Troll-" But before Rath could finish, Chopper twisted his arm around, and pushed Rath away.

Chopper snarled, while still holding on to a struggling Moka, "Knock it off! And start taking me serious! Like you did with that Karate Club."

"Ooh! Karate! I'm gonna call you karate man! Can I call you karate man... karate man?" Rath started taunting Chopper, making the troll even madder than before, "Tell you what! I'll stand real still, like a stack of boulder boards, and you can meditate until you're ready to chop me in half!

Chopper growled, as he hollered out, preparing to slice Rath in half, "YOU ASKED FOR IT! I'M GONNA KILL YOU, AND THEN I'M GONNA KILL THIS BROAD!"

Rath's eyes widened in shock, as he asked, "You're gonna kill her! I thought you were just gonna hold her as a hostage!"

"Maybe before…" Chopper taunted, and then smirked with bloodlust in his eyes, "But women just make you weak! So I'll just do ya a favor and kill her… before I kill you."

Rath's eyes narrowed as he growled, "Killing. Moka. In front of me. Is. NOT. COOL!" He pointed right at him, and shouted, LEMME TELL YA SOMETHIN', CHOPPER RIKISHI! YOU WANNA PIECE OF RATH?! YOU GOT A PIECE! BUT YOU JUST BIT OFF AN EYE BIGGER THAN YOU STOMACH CAN CHEW!"

A small wind blew in from that awkward metaphor, as Moka and Chopper both looked a stupor on that. Chopper just cocked and eyebrow, and grumbled, "That made no sense."

Rath roared out, angrily, "I KNOOOOW!"

Chopper slashed at Rath with his cop, but then Rath caught it, as the ground beneath him slightly caved in, but kept his ground. Chopper nearly paled at this smaller creature's strength, as he shouted, "I LIED! YOU KNOW WHAT THE DIFFERENCE IS BETWEEN ME AND A STACK OF BOARDS?" He twisted Chopper's wrist, causing him to holler out in pain, and let Moka go, while Rath declared, "BOARDS DON'T FIGHT BACK!"

And then he threw Chopper over his head… and straight into the iron fence on the roof, as the force, cause it to break as he fell to the ground painfully.

"OH YEAH NOW THAT'S WHAT RATH'S TALKING ABOUT." Rath said before he turned to Moka "STAY HERE". And hopped off after him to finish the fight.

Moka just nodded immediately not wanting to get on Rath's nerves, as she remembered what happened last time her Inner Half did so.

Down Below

Chopper was getting up after taking the large fall. He felt a bit bruised but fine nonetheless. He was so going to get even with Ben.

"INCOMING!" A voice from above said and Chopper cringed and quickly looked up just in time to Rath come crashing down on top on him causing a huge crater to be made as he was pummeled to the ground once again.

Rath stood up from Choppers chest as he pointed a claw at him "HOW DO YOU LIKE A TASTE OF YOUR OWN BODY SLAM CHOPPER, CAUSE LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING NO ONE GIVES BETTER BODY SLAMS THAN RATH! YOU HEAR ME? NOBODY!" Rath shouted to the downed opponent.

Chopper meanwhile was now in pain as he felt like his ribs were bruised as Rath stood on his chest. He attempted to use his karate chop on Rath's legs but he jumped over it and then punched him in the face before grabbing his leg and throwing him out of the crater. Rath ran after his prey as he saw him get up and throw a jab which he caught in his palm before he kneed him in the chest causing more damage to him as Chopper coughed up a bit of blood as he clutched his chest.

Not stopping Rath gave him a giant uppercut to the chin that sent him airborne before he crashed landed and was unconscious.

"ALRIGHT CHOPPER LET'S KEEP GOING!" Rath said only to see Chopper not getting up as he went over and stood in front of him as ne kneeled down and grabbed him by the collar as he shook him.

"HEY I SAID GET UP WE'RE NOT DONE YET I WAS JUST WARMING UP SO GET UP AND FIGHT" Rath said as he got no answer.

"I SAID GET UP, COME ON I'M PRACTICALLY ASKING NICELY HERE" Rath said as he started to try and slap him awake.

"WAKE UP!"

Slap

"WAKE UP!"

Slap

"WAKE UP!"

SLAP

"WAAAKE UP!"

DOUBLE SLAP

"BEN THAT'S ENOUGH" Moka shouted out.

Rath stopped in his tracks, as he huffed out all the air from his lungs, and saw the knocked out Chopper still knocked out. He huffed, as he spat at the ground next to the troll, "Ah, you're not worth it anymore. Hope that got all the fight out of ya, ya loser." He then slapped the Omnitrix symbol, and in a green flash, Ben appeared once again.

He huffed, almost out of breath, as he nearly held his head, almost like he was suffering a headache of sorts. Moka ran over to his side, and caught him, as she asked, "Ben? Are you alright?"

Ben shook his head, groggily, "Yeah, I um… I'll be okay."

Moka smiled, "That's good. During the fight, you seemed more in control than before."

Ben thought about it for a moment, and nodded, "Yeah, I guess all I needed was to be as Rath for a little longer than usual."

"Knew that would work, Ben," Gin suddenly appeared, leaning confidently against a tree with his arms crossed, "Just like werewolves when we first transform: all that aggression, we gotta work it all out."

Both Moka and Ben frowned at this, as Moka nearly hissed, "You caused that fight on purpose?"

Gin shrugged, his smirk not fading away, "It helped in the end though, right?"

Ben frowned at this, as he brought the Omnitrix up, dialing in, as he hissed at Gin, "Gin… Rath would like a moment with you."

FLASH!

"LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING, GIN MORIOKA!" Rath shouted.

But the only thing that was heard, was a squeak… from Gin, "Please don't."

Next Chapter: Attack of the Cousins; Security Committee's A'Snoopin'