Ben 10 Alien+Vampire
Chapter 15: The Enemy of My Enemy; Old Grudges Settled With
Later That Day
The Newspaper Club decided to have an impromptu welcoming party for Gwen. The girls took this chance to get to know Gwen better in order to score points with Ben. It was great since Kurumu made cookies that everyone shared. Originally, she had intended for just Ben to have them but she still loved to see him appreciate them even if she had to share them with the others. However, at this moment, Gwen was able to talk with Moka alone, just in order to ensure the secret between them and Ben was kept secret.
"So, Ben," Gwen began. "Have you told her about all your adventures?"
"Y…yeah," Ben answered nervously.
The reluctant and unsure answer only served to make Gwen smirk. She could tell that he hadn't. Some of their past adventures during that fateful summer five years ago had been quite embarrassing. Well, as his cousin, she had the responsibility of making sure Ben didn't have a big head from retelling his successful adventures.
"Oh, so you won't mind if I told Moka about the time we found the Fountain of Youth," Gwen spoke. Ben paled.
"The Fountain of Youth!?" Moka gasped. "It's real!?"
"Sure is…or was," said Gwen. "You see, Ben got soaked and he turned into a cute little five year old!"
Ben blushed.
"So, was he cute?" asked Moka.
"Yup, and the temper tantrum he threw as Heatblast was explosive!" Gwen laughed.
Ben wished he could go and hide right now.
"Then there was the time you thought you broke my laptop so to pay for it you entered a wrestling competition as Fourarms!" Gwen continued, "In the end he found out I was using a finger print scanner to make sure Ben here didn't get his grubby hands on it!"
"Hey, I was doing it for the right reasons…even if I was being dumb," said Ben.
"Oh, and remember that time you turned into Grey Matter to find a rare Sumo Slammer card!" Gwen added, "And then the time you were stuck as Grey Matter and nearly got yourself dissected!"
"You nearly got dissected!?" Moka exclaimed, looking rather frightened at that explanation.
"He was trying to get into this slide at the water park and messed with his watch so he would be tall enough to get on, but instead of growing tall he grew small," Gwen explained.
"Like you haven't done anything embarrassing, huh, 'Lucky Girl'?" Ben smirked, turning the tables on Gwen.
"I was young," Gwen made an excuse.
"Oh, if you had the opportunity you'd dress up and play hero again," Ben chuckled.
"Hey, not all of us can shape shift, Ben Tennyson," Gwen glared.
"At least your powers are on all the time. As for mine I gotta wait till they recharge!"
"Well, that's what happens when you work with magic. Always with a trick up my sleeve," said Gwen. "Like…" Pink/purple energy wrapped around her hand and then it extended to grab a nearby cup and pull it into her hand. "Like so."
"Show off," snorted Ben.
"This from the kid who used to yell 'who's your hero'?" Gwen retorted sharply.
After the party, the gang went their separate ways. Ben and Gwen were taking the scenic route back to the dorms so they could catch up just between the two of them. Since they both lived in the same town and not too far from one another, they tended to be rather close even when they sometimes didn't want to be. "So, how do you like Youkai Academy so far?" asked Ben.
"It's just my first day, but I love it already," grinned Gwen. She meant it too. No one cared if she had actual powers or not. Everyone in the school did when you got right down to it. She was just one person out of many rather than a nail just waiting to be hammered down. "I can show off what I can do and not get branded as a freak. It's very liberating."
"Just don't let anyone know you're human," Ben warned.
"Noted."
"Yukari's been looking forward to meeting you," Ben said. The tiny witch had been terribly excited to meet Gwen at long last. Because of the rule about revealing your true form at the school, there was no way to tell if there were any witches or similar people at the school. Add that with the stigma of being one of the so-called border races and pretty much no one would admit to being one.
"No wonder she was staring at me all starry-eyed," Gwen recalled. It had been rather cute to see how the younger girl was looking up to her already.
"So, you still have Charmcaster's old magic book?" Ben asked.
"Hey, it's a trophy from my own arch-enemy, Mr. Hero. Of course I've kept it, but I've already memorized all the spells. Maybe…I need to pass it down."
"Yukari would be a good person to pass it down to," Ben suggested. "She'd kinda immature, but weren't we all?"
"And speaking of which, I can't believe what a lady killer you've become.," Gwen replied, both amazed and teasing. "A vampire, a snow woman, a succubus and a little witch. How come you weren't as smooth back home in Bellwood?"
"Well, back then I had to hide what I can do, but here…well, like you said. I don't have to worry about being treated like a freak."
"So," Gwen smirked, as she decided to ask the big question. "Which girl is your fave? Is it Moka? Or is it Kurumu because of her large…"
"Assets," he interrupted, "And no way am I gonna brag about my love life to you."
"Ooh, love life! Didn't know it was that serious!" Gwen laughed, teasing her cousin as the best to her abilities would go. But then she did get serious on the matter, pointing out so many possibilities for the boy. "I wonder which one. Hmm. Moka seems to be a good girl for a good relationship. And I can tell, she really does like you, and not just because she gives you a love kiss every now and then. Then again, Kurumu seems perfect for your personality in some ways Brash, forward, completely unapologetic sometimes. And she's completely devoted to you every waking moment, if she has time to make cookies for you. Of course, Mizore seems to have her head on straight, looking for that future family and all. Her snow white skin practically glows, and like you, she's a loner. Say, you aren't into younger girls like Yukari are you? I mean, if we found any vials containing the waters from the Fountain of Youth, we could always make you ten again…"
"Enough already!" Ben sighed. He should have known better. With so much ammunition ready to use, Gwen was probably going to tease him for a long time to come. Add in the antics some of the girls got into when they tried to get his attention and Gwen would have infinite ammo. Seeing the dorms up ahead, Ben almost sighed in relief. He would be free from the teasing soon enough. "Here are the dorms."
"It looks…desolate," spoke Gwen as she saw the place. It looked like a slum.
"Monsters have different aesthetic tastes," Ben excused. "So, hope you enjoy your stay. I have to go."
"See you tomorrow, cousin," Gwen said.
The Next Day
Bus Stop
"So, you're a new student, huh?" the bus driver asked as he drove the bus through the tunnel. There was only one passenger. He was a young man with a muscular build and bad boy personality with black hair. He was dressed in the Yokai Academy uniform but without the tie and had replaced the green jacket with a black leather jacket.
The passenger snorted, "Not by choice."
"Well, either way, you better be careful. You may get eaten," the bus driver warned.
The passenger smirked, "I'd like to see them try."
The bus driver snickered as he blew some smoke from his nostril. So, this one was a tough guy eh? He'd seen a fair few during his time at the school. Usually they either were chewed and spat out, faded into obscurity, or for the rare few, made names for themselves. Not many tough guys lasted very long before the real tough guys got a hold of them. It would be interesting to see how this newest tough guy would do, considering the reputation he had. As it stood, he already had a history with a few of the students at the academy already.
The bus stopped near the scarecrow and the driver said, "Here's where you get off, kid."
The passenger got out of his seat and walked out the bus. He looked around, taking in the sights. Dark, gloomy, and no vegetation. Animals all seemed scrawny, dangerous, or poisonous. Tombstones littered the area and the school itself looked like a haunted house. All in all, the perfect place for monsters to hang out. Whoever designed the place knew what he was doing.
The student cast a glance out to the sea before shrugging. "Meh, I've seen worse."
Hefting a travel bag over his shoulder, he set out towards the school.
Later On That Day
Newspaper Club
Gwen officially joined the newspaper club the following day and working on the horoscope column. "This looks like a good day for Librans," Gwen stated as she typed up her column. Gwen had actually picked up astrology as a hobby before she got into martial arts. Since she had an actual magic spell book complete with diagrams and such, she had a good grasp on how to tell the future. At least in a generic sense.
"Nice work, Gwen!" grinned Gin as he put a hand on Gwen's shoulder, only for Ben to pry his hand off painfully.
"Hands off the cousin," Ben warned.
"Ben, as much as I appreciate you looking out for me, but I can take care of myself," Gwen sighed. This was turning out like that time a boy had left a letter in her locker, asking for a date. Ben had tried to go Wildmutt so to track the guy down by scent and dissuade him. The sad thing was that the sender had written his name at the bottom of the letter and Ben had completely missed it when he had snuck the letter away as Grey Matter.
"I know, but you gotta be careful in this school," Ben warned, recalling his numerous fights with students and even teachers who didn't look too threatening but turned out to be rather dangerous.
"He's right," Moka agreed. "You don't know who you can trust, Gwen."
"Yeah, true, but Ben has no problems trusting you. He does let you suck his blood," Gwen pointed out.
Moka had to blush at that little secret between her and Ben. It just seemed kind of embarrassing to talk about that amongst Ben's cousin like this. "Yes, and I can't have enough! His blood is exquisite! I'm even craving for it now!" Moka giggled, pretty much losing her train of thought as she put her hands on her cheeks, in an attempt to hide her blushing. Ben's blood was a unique delicacy which she could never get bored with. She looked over to Ben, her eyes sparkling, as she asked, "Um, speaking of which. Ben…?"
"Hey! I need my blood right now!" said Ben, edging away with his hand to his neck. Moka had already gotten him that morning, much to Gwen's amusement. Of course, she then called out on Ben's desire to hang out with a vampire when he was younger and asked why he seemed so stressed. It served to make Ben's face turn red despite having lost blood to a happily sighing Moka. "Sorry, Moka, but I don't think I'd want to be bitten right now."
Moka frowned, pressing her index fingers together. "I understand…"
He looked to the frowning vampire, and sympathetically smirked, "But… later on, if nothing goes crazy again, the bar's back open."
She went starry-eyed on that, as she smiled to him, "Oh, thank you, Ben!"
"Ben!" Kurumu suddenly appeared, and glomped Ben from behind. "How about until then, you let me suck on you…"
Thunk!
Kurumu went down from an ice kunai to her forehead. "Don't be lewd," warned Mizore as she wrapped her arms around Ben from behind. "Ben…" she cooed.
Gwen giggled. "You've got a lot of colorful characters attracted to you, and I don't mean their hair color."
"Thanks for the help," he muttered sarcastically.
However
Homeroom
Class started up and everyone was talking as usual as Ms. Nekonome got her papers in order. Ben was rubbing his neck, having been tagged by Moka yet again. Kurumu was staring holes in Ben's back as she had another fantasy of the pair of them together while Mizore kept sending glances back at the American boy, sending an icy kiss when she caught his eye. Gwen was calmly looking over her notes from her previous day, making sure she was caught up. As the catty teacher got the last of them ready, the class grew quiet, knowing that disobedience made her a bit…testy. Seeing that all of the students were silent and waiting, Ms. Nekonome broke out into a wide smile and began to talk to her class.
"Students, we have a new transfer student coming to join us," said Ms. Nekonome cheerfully. "I hope you make him feel welcomed. The door slid open and the new student entered. A few girls swooned at his appearance, but most of the boys gulped at his tough guy appearance. "I'd like you all to meet Kevin Ethan Levin!"
Ben and Gwen's eyes widened in shock. "KEVIN!?" the Tennyson cousins shouted.
"So, the Tennysons are here too, huh?" Kevin smirked roguishly, instantly recognizing the pair despite not having seen them for some time. "It's a small world. Ain't it?"
"Rowr? You all know each other?" asked Ms. Nekonome. She blinked again before she broke out in a wide smile. "Oh this is so good! Then Benjamin and Gwendolyn can both help guide you around the school and help you find your way. Mr. Levin!"
"What?" Ben groaned.
Gwen just sighed and rubbed her temples. And the day had been looking so good that morning. Meanwhile, the girls of Ben's unofficial harem just blinked in confusion. But the one most equally confused was Moka, considering she was the only one knowledgeable of Ben's past exploits.
After Class
Class ended for lunch and Ben quickly got to business. He and Gwen, both acting as a unit front, grabbed Kevin by the arms and dragged him out of the room. The delinquent didn't protest as he went along. He figured something like this would happen so he might as well get it out of the way so he could continue with his parole. Dragged outside, Ben and Gwen brought him to the Monster Tree, one of the few places the school had for privacy before finally letting him go. But not before Ben transformed into Fourarms, and pinned his old enemy to the tree, balling up two extra fists while the third held him in place.
"Okay Kevin," Fourarms frowned. "Just what the heck are you doing here?"
"And it had better not be because you're looking for a score either," Gwen added. "We all know where that leads."
"A quick beating… with you as the loser. As always," Fourarms sneered.
"Relax, I'm not here to cause trouble," Kevin replied. "Your grandpa and his Plumber buddies busted me and some clients back in Bellwood. Since I'm still a minor, your grandpa offered me a choice of punishment. Either I get an express trip back to the Null Void for a length of time or I pack my bags and head off to school. Since I did the Null Void thing once already, I figured why not give regular school a try. I just didn't figure it'd be a school for aliens."
"Monsters," Ben corrected. "Not every non-human species is from outer space."
"Probably, but almost all of them are," Kevin shrugged. "Anyway, you guys don't cause me any trouble and I won't cause you any trouble. Deal?"
"But what if you cause trouble for someone else?" asked Ben with a suspicious frown.
"Violates my parole here," Kevin answered. "But if they come after me on their own, then I have full right to defend myself. Your gramps said so himself."
Fourarms huffed, as he reverted back to Ben, and let his old nemesis go, "Then I guess that's a pretty convenient loophole for you."
Snickering, Kevin adjusted his jacket and walked off, leaving the two Tennysons behind. Ben frowned and clenched his fists. He didn't expect to see Kevin here of all places. He had definitely changed since he got out of the Null Void too. Back in his human form and who knows what kind of abilities he possessed now. Ben silently promised himself to keep an eye on his old enemy and make sure he upheld his end of the parole.
"Ben!" a voice cried out, signally the vampire girl running towards him.
"You want to explain or should I?" asked Gwen.
"Might as well make a team effort out of it," Ben sighed.
Later On
School Roof
Ben and Gwen were going to bring the their confidante up to speed on Kevin. It was going to be a long story.
"So, Ben, how do you know the new kid?" asked Moka.
Ben rubbed the back of his neck. "Where do I start?"
"The beginning," suggested Gwen.
"Oh, right. Well, it was during the summer when I found the Omnitrix. We were making a stop in New York and that was when I met Kevin…" began Ben.
"After going off on your own when Grandpa Max told you no," added Gwen.
Ben frowned but continued, "Kevin, when I met him, I thought he was pretty cool. He could absorb energy and use it for himself. He showed me the first time by absorbing electricity and shooting it out of his hands. I then realized that he was a crook who didn't care about anyone but himself. When we fought, he absorbed some energy from the Omnitrix and turned into hybrid versions of the aliens. After I beat him, we thought we saw the last of him, but we were wrong. When we saw him again he could turn into any of the original ten aliens from the Omnitrix and was using those forms to frame me. I nearly got myself killed because of him. Then, he mutated again and became an amalgam of all ten of my alien forms. He even blamed me for what happened. Each time we met, we fought and I won. The last time I saw him was in the Null Void." After finishing his story, he looked to Moka for a reaction.
"So he's an actual criminal?" asked Moka with a tilted head.
"More or less," Ben shrugged. "He says Grandpa busted him and instead of sending him back to the Null Void, he got sent here. Knowing Grandpa, he's probably thought we could use the backup or something. Though, why he sent Kevin of all people I'll never know."
Elsewhere
Kevin munched down some snack he'd bought out of a vending machine, as he explored the school. Since he was on a parole and didn't want to get sent to the Null Void again, he had decided to make at least a minor effort and playing the responsible student. Having grown up a street rat, he didn't get much of an education when he met Ben and his relatives. Of course, since cruising the galaxy and escaping the Null Void, he picked up a lot of technical know-how. He couldn't tell you the history of his home country or name all of the presidents, but he could dismantle a Galvan space drive and put it all together again. He could negotiate like a pro and he was also well-versed in the economy, since he had to know these things for some of his deals when he wanted a fair price.
Speaking of aliens though, Kevin had to admit that this school was pretty unique. Everyone there was a non-human, but their disguises were top-notch. He didn't know what kind of tech they were using, but he wouldn't mind getting his hands on it to sell to some of his more...physically unique clients. He was positive that the students were all aliens, but he also knew that some non-human species were on Earth for so long it was hard to tell if they were aliens or not.
Walking past some of the tombstones, Kevin suddenly stopped when three punks emerged from the trees, each snickering with wide grins on their faces. Their teeth were triangular and sharp, probably meaning either their disguises sucked or they were getting ready for a fight.
"Hey, new kid," one of the thuggish students said, getting in Kevin's way. "Me and my buddies here heard that you were wandering around so we decided to help you out and teach you how things worked around here."
Kevin cocked an eyebrow. Punks always did attract punks, wanting to see who was top dog over all. Well, that was just fine with him. Better yet, they challenged him first so he could let loose without worries. "OK, teach me then." He then let his hand grip one of the tombstones. "But I should warn you that I'm not a very good student."
Back with Ben
He was currently walking along with Mizore, seeing as how she was stalking him earlier on. After Moka had rejoined the girls, she explained to them Ben and Gwen's warily behavior around the new guy. It turned out that, much to Moka's 'side of the story', Kevin was a former gang member that had a grudge on Ben, seeing as how he was the one who turned him in to the cops. At least that was hwat the cover story was that the trio had made up for the others. And that notion had Mizore tailing Ben at first to see if he'd be safe. But he had found her out, and now the two were currently walking down the hallway, discussing the matter at hand.
"And knowing Kevin, it won't be long before he does cause some kind of trouble," said Ben.
"I could spy on him if you want," Mizore volunteered, leaning her head against his shoulder. Ben shivered a bit.
"That's OK, Mizore. You don't have to."
"I don't mind," she said, smiling.
Outside
Five Minutes Later
The last of the thugs dropped to the ground with a groan, reverting back to their human forms. Kevin stood among them all; his entire body looking like it was made of stone. Oddly, it seemed to be the same kind of stone which had made up the tombstones that littered the area.
Kevin looked at the beaten thugs and heaved a sigh, the stone melting away to his regular skin and clothing. This wasn't even a challenge even when they took their true forms which looked like goblins or something. "Tennyson's tougher than you guys."
He heard the sound of applause and turned around to see a guy in a black coat with pale skin, long blonde hair, and dots for eyebrows.
"What do you want?" Kevin asked.
"To welcome you to Youkai Academy. I am Kuyou of the school's Public Safety Committee, but we're also known as the Student Police. I heard that you know Ben Tennyson pretty well."
"Oh, me and Tennyson go way back."
"Interesting. So, tell me, what do you know of Tennyson and his abilities?" asked Kuyou.
"It depends on how much you'll pay me," responded Kevin. Kuyou's brows furrowed but he kept calm. "But other than that, I know you shouldn't mess with him. Messin' around with Tennyson's my racket."
"Let's just say if you don't tell me what I need to know, your stay here can be quite…unpleasant," Kuyou stated, a threat hidden in his words.
"Been there, done that," Kevin said offhandedly, recalling the Null Void. "Sorry, but I kinda made a deal with someone to not squeal about Ben. It's kinda the reason why I'm here."
"Well, then we'll be seeing more of each other, Mr. Levin," said Kuyou before he turned and walked away. As that was done, there were now more questions buzzing in the Leader of the Security Committee's head. Who was sending these foreigners to this very school? Why all the secrets? Now something must be done about the Tennysons and this Levin, was what Kuyou was now thinking at this point.
Next Chapter: Settling Old Scores; An Uneasy Alliance