Ben 10 Alien to Vampire

Chapter 16:Settling Old Scores; An Uneasy Alliance

Unknown Location

Possibly Security Committee HQ

Kuyou eyed the photos of the newest student now in the campus, Kevin E. Levin. He studied the pictures for a while, including those of him fighting students who challenged him. It seemed that this Levin had the ability to absorb matter and forge it into his body, making an outer protective shell of armor of sorts. It made him pretty strong and durable; a valuable power to use for the Security force. Though the American seemed a bit resilient to join up with them, as he was more focused on something else.

Or someone else.

At that moment, a girl of possible sixteen walked in. She was Asian, pale skin, with a voluptuous body, with long violet hair, and evil-squinted eyes. She wore a skin-tight Security committee female uniform; a pencil skirt, short-sleeved jacket, and a white and gold band of the Security Committee's symbol. Her name was Keito, one of Kuyou's leading officers, and a sadist at heart when it came to fighting others. "You wanted to see me, sir," she asked, tipping her hip, and smirking excitedly, but rather calm on the outside.

Kuyou smirked in the shadows, and put the picture of Kevin down… next to a picture of Ben, with an envelope. He picked the envelope up and replied, "I did, Keito." He turned around, and presented the envelope to her, as he ordered, "I need you to stir some things up with the Newspaper Club's resident defender, as well as the new hoodlum gaijin attending our school."

Later that Day

Main Hallway

It had been nearly a week since Kevin transferred in and Ben was getting jumpy. The infirmary had receiving several beaten students a day courtesy of Kevin, but they were all thugs who wanted to prove they were tough and thus challenged the American punk. It definitely proved Kevin had gotten stronger since their younger days. Ben had wanted to fight Kevin out of sheer instinct, but since he technically wasn't doing anything wrong, he couldn't do anything about him.

As Gwen was headed to the library, she heard someone call. "Yo, Red!"

Gwen sighed. "Great…"

"So you're supposed to be a witch from what I heard," Kevin said. Gwen turned to face him.

"Yes," Gwen retorted. "Though I prefer the term sorceress."

"I don't believe it," Kevin said. "I believe the little girl who's obsessed with Tennyson is a witch since she dresses the part but not you." Suddenly, he found himself trapped by a pink beam created from Gwen's right hand.

"Does this change your mind?" she asked, as she released him from the bubble.

"Neat trick," he murmured. "Sorry, but if you rode on a broom then I might believe you."

"What do you want, Kevin?" Gwen said as she rolled her eyes and let him go.

"Nothing, I just want to talk. I mean, sure you're related to Ben, but at least you're smarter than him," Kevin told her.

"Oi!" Both Americans turned to see a bunch of tough looking punks. One of them asked, "Are you Kevin Levin?"

"What if I am?" Kevin said.

"Rumor has it you want to prove you're the toughest guy here. Well, let's just say we want to see it ourselves."

"Really, alright but not in the hallway. Too narrow. Let's take this outside," Kevin said

"Fine!"

"Later, Red," Kevin said to Gwen.

Gwen frowned as she watched him go, muttering, "He's up to something, I swear."

"Gwen!" someone called out, as she turned to see who it was. Running towards her was none other than Kurumu, who seemed quite frantic to find her. Once she stopped in front of her, she pleaded, "Gwen, Yukari and I need your help. Right away."

Blinking in startlement, the Tennyson girl asked in conceding with her, "Um, okay. What's the problem?"

Lunch Time

Cafeteria

"Come one, come all," Kurumu called out with a smile, as she waved the latest Youkai Gazette for all to see. "Get the latest issue of the Youkai Gazette from yours truly, the Newspaper Club." She even made a seductive smile spread across her face as she winked to the boys, "And me."

In truth, the boys in the cafeteria were already drooling over her at this moment. At the moment, Kurumu, Yukari, and even Gwen were all passing out papers at the moment. But getting all the boys' attention by dressing up in sexy maid outfits. Kurumu was wearing a black dress that exposed her amazing cleavage, with a loose skirt ending at her mid thighs, white arm-length stockings, black heel shoes, white frilly apron with a bow at the end, as well as the right type of underwear. Yukari wore the same thing as well, only much more reserved for an eleven year old girl. And yes, much to her embarrassment, Gwen also wore the same kind of maid outfit, and didn't look all too happy with it either.

Gwen had no idea how she got herself into this. While she was all for showing those stuck up girls who were better as journalists she has no desire to do it using these kinds of methods to attract attention. Honestly she didn't mind when guys flirted that much with her since she could handle herself despite Ben's new show of being protective of her. She actually found it kind of sweet despite how extreme he seemed to be when it came to her and boys.

Ben never showed that caring behavior when they first started their summer vacation back when he was 10 and didn't have the Omnitrix. Even after he got it they were still at each other's throats only agreeing on a few rare occasions. However, all that changed when Ben saved her from Zombozo the clown. It was when he came close to losing her that he finally showed how he did care for her. After that they started to get along more, although they still had their conflicts, but despite that Ben showed more concern for her whenever she got hurt or her live was in danger. Their friendship grew better until they just seemed to put the past behind them and finally made peace with each other.

"News Paper Club! Yahoohoo!" Kurumu shouted in an excited tone, as she showed of her maid outfit to all the guys who were watching which got their immediate attention.

Now however Gwen was wishing Ben would burst through the door as Wildmutt, Rath, Diamondhead, Heatblast or Humongasaur and scare all the guys away because she was not enjoying this one bit; having to show off a maid outfit to all these guys. She didn't even know how she was talked into wearing the damn thing. She blamed Kurumu for it since the girl was as stubborn as Ben, and she somehow made her cave in.

However, unknown to Gwen and everyone else, was that Ben was secretly in the room as Ghostfreak. Keeping his eye on his cousin for any guy that would so much as touch her while she was in that outfit.

"I can't believe Kurumu convinced her to wear that outfit," Ghostfreak snickered to himself. "Gwen must be losing her touch if she caves in like that. Then again I can't stop myself from caving into Kurumu sometimes as well," Ghostfreak said to himself.

"Please read our latest, content-filled issues, everyone!" Kurumu said in a slightly seductive tone.

Yukari was blushing from embarrassment, while Gwen was trying to stay composed. "Ku-Kurumu, this outfit is so embarrassing!" Yukari said in a flustered tone.

"I would say more on the lines of demeaning for me," Gwen said letting her opinion be known to the succubus. She didn't mind when they dressed like this, but when they get her to dress like this in public, as well when she feels like she's demeaning herself like this.

Kurumu winked, "Don't worry about it, you two. This is only for today; we're trying to get more droolers… I mean, more readers for the paper."

Gwen sighed, while Yukari still looked flustered. "I know, but..." Yukari trailed off only to be interrupted by Kurumu.

As the drooling boys crowded the trio, Kurumu added in with a small bag of cookies, "Plus, with any subscription to the Youkai Gazette, you'll receive a bag of homemade cookies from yours truly…" And then pointed to Gwen, "As well as a private fortune reading from our newest recruit, Gwen Tennyson."

Gwen nearly went bug-eyed by that, as she scolded, "I never agreed to that…!" But then stopped as she got the girls' attention, "Uh, Kurumu? I hate to say it, but I think we need a new approach."

The girls looked confused by her, as she pointed to the crowd. They all suddenly ignored the girls, and were now drawn to a different trio of girls. Their leader was an Asian beauty with long black hair cut Japanese bowl hair-style, with brown eyes, pale skin, and a slender figure. She also wore a blue tie on bikini. Another girl had a slender body as well; a redhead with shoulder length hair, and green eyes, and wore a blue tie on bikini as well. And their third companion was a short haired blonde with her bangs curled and wavy, wearing glasses to shield her blue eyes. She looked like a shy nerd of sorts, but didn't seem shy, as she wore nothing but a revealing green bikini like her friends.

"Here at Youkai Square newspaper, with every subscription," the Raven-haired girl smirked, flashing pictures of her and her friends, in the bikinis, doing sexy poses, as she winked, "You get a collection of me and my girls in the most sexy and intimately revealing scenes and poses. Just don't use them for any funny business, okay?"

The crowds roared all around them, shouting out, "YEAH! YOUKAI SQUARE IS THE BEST!"

As the new newspaper club was gaining much praise, the Youkai Gazette just stood there, sweat dropping in defeat. Kurumu, Yukari and Gwen were all just staring in disbelieve at what they were seeing right in front of them. "Hey...is that legitimate?" Kurumu asked no one in particular.

"Forget 'legitimate' they're actually doing it!" Yukari answered in disbelief as well.

Gwen looked to Kurumu, and asked, "Youkai Square? You ever heard of them?"

"Not in the least," Kurumu dumbfounded replied, but burned with rage and determination, as she fist-pumped, "But it doesn't matter! If they can get that many boys by just wearing skimpy swimsuits, then we'll do the same! And if that doesn't work, we'll wear nothing but bed sheets for all those perv… I mean, readers!"

Gwen pinched the bridge of her nose as she felt a headache coming. She turned around and started walking away.

"Hey, Gwen! Where are you going?" Kurumu asked only to receive what Ben called 'the look' from Gwen that stopped her tracks.

"I'm going back to my dorm room, and changing out of this outfit, and know that you still owe me one Kurumu," Gwen said seriously, as she continued walking away until she left the room.

"I think she wants to get even with you for making her wear the maid outfit," Yukari said with certainty.

"I think you may be right," Kurumu replied before they turned back to see the girls continuing to attract more guys.

"Everyone, who's the most interesting newspaper?" the girls asked.

"YOKAI SQUARE!" All the guys cheered with arms raised.

"Dammit! We can't lose here, Yukari! Let's go with a more embarrassing, even sexier outfit... or none at all!" Kurumu started, and turned to face the young witch… but stopped to see some ugly nerd gazing at the young witch.

"You're so cute! I think your flat chest is so much better than the swimsuits..." the creepy nerd said as he started getting closer and closer to Yukari, until she couldn't take it anymore.

"NO!" the young witch said as she started running away but the nerd went after her telling her to wait up.

Ben had seen this and started to follow after his youngest friend with the intent to stop her creepy follower.

In the Hallway

Yukari was running with the intent to loss her chaser. She saw a turn up ahead and took it while managing to pass by a student she almost bumped into. The nerd however wasn't as lucky, as he crashed into the student and fell flat on his fat butt.

"Hey watch where you're going," the nerd shot back to the student who knocked him down. However, his anger dissipated, and was replaced with fear, as he looked up and paled, as he was now face to face with an annoyed Kevin Eleven.

"I...I...I'm sorry" the nerd instantly apologized not wanting to earn the wrath of Kevin as he had heard all about his growing reputation as a badass fighter.

"I saw a little girl running away in tears," he explained, glaring at the fat nerd. "You wouldn't happen to be the reason for that would you?" Kevin said innocently as he started cracking his knuckles in preparation for delivering a beat down.

The nerd saw this and tried to explain his innocence to no avail, as Kevin touched the wall, and in an instant, from had to elbow, its molecular makeup appeared to be an outer change. His arm was encased in an exterior exo-shell, possibly like a shield. And then he punched him in the face instantly knocking the guy out.

"If I catch you at this again then you and I are going to have a LONG chat… in my garage," Kevin said to the unconscious nerd, as he turned and left.

Meanwhile Ben had seen Kevin dealing with the nerd in Yukari's behave much to his surprise since from how he remembered Kevin he had always only looked out for himself while only using people for his benefit.

"We'll maybe he's actually changing for the better," Ghostfreak said before he saw his Omnitrix symbol starting to beep red alerting him he was about to run out of time in his form.

"Uh Oh, I better land quick," Ghostfreak said as he wasted no time and landed on a nearby alley, as a green glow appeared and he returned to being Ben Tennyson.

"I better go check on Gwen. Gotta make sure no guy approaches her while she's still in that maid outfit," And with that thought, Ben left to find his cousin.

Later On

Newspaper Club Classroom

Yukari, who was unaware of Kevin's act of standing up for her, was weeping from the creepy advancement from the pervert. Kurumu was patting her on the shoulder, in her way to comfort the little witchling. "He was just so creepy," Yukari managed to whimper out loud.

Kurumu patted her on the shoulder, "Don't worry, Yukari." The little witch seemed relieved by that, but paled as Kurumu stood up and pointed out, "Because we're gonna wear even skimpier outfits… or nothing at all for that matter!"

"As much as I'd love to see that, I'm gonna have to decline on that idea."

The two girls looked to the door, and saw it was Gin that had said that. And with him were Ben, Gwen, Moka, and even Miss Nekomomi. The cat-woman teacher nodded, "I'm afraid Gin's right, girls. The last thing we need to do is cause a war with this Youkai Square showing up."

Kurumu huffed, causing Miss Nekonomi to chringe in fear, as she galred at Gin, "Gin, you rat! Why'd you…?"

"Gin had nothing to do with telling the teach the situation," Ben replied, as he confessed, "I did." All the girls looked in shock, as Ben explained, "I mean, aside from being our team's Peeping Tom, he's still the Editor in Chief, and Club Captain."

"So what? Are you saying you're giving up, Ben? What happened to the guy who stood up for what he believed in was right," Kurumu shot back, "I mean, they're not even a legitimate newspaper club! All those talentless twits do is flaunt around in skimpy bikinis."

"You were gonna do the exact same thing," Yukari mumbled, "So isn't that calling the Kettle Black?" But all that earned was a back hand to her butt, as Yukari whelped, "Owie, owie, owie…!"

After that little moment, everyone sat down, as Gin explained, "I think the Security Committee's behind this new paper popping up."

Gwen eye browed at this, as she interrogated, "But why the fake paper? I thought reporting the news was our job? So why target us?"

"My guess is that we've become a bit more popular, what with so many popular girls in the group," Gin pointed out to everyone, including Mizore who hid under the table. But Gin looked straight to Ben, "But more overall. It's probably due to Ben."

Everyone looked to the boy in question, who seemed offended as he asked, "So? What? You're saying all this is my fault?"

"Not entirely," Gin corrected, as he explained. "They probably feel threatened by you more or less. Considering you're doing a better job of protecting the school from ruffians than they ever did. It's only a matter of time before they push you too far that you'll go after them."

Ben grimaced as he stood up, defiant to this idea, "Well, push comes to shoving back." He then walked towards the door, as he was about to leave, but then turned to look at the others, "If I see any of those guys making htreats on us… I'm gonna go Rath on them." And left them all, leaving a shaking Gin in shivers, knowing full well that Ben would make do with that decision.

And almost feeling sorry for the Security Committee.

Later that Day

The school day ended as usual. When Ben opened his shoe locker, he found a letter. "What's the… ?"

"What's that, Ben?" Moka asked curiously.

"Looks like a challenge letter," concluded Mizore.

Ben frowned as he opened up the letter and read. "It's from Kevin. I should've known."

"So, what are you going to do?" Yukari asked.

"Well, he challenged me, and I know that in this school when you get challenged you have to accept. I'm going!"

One of Keito's spies, the sandy blonde with glasses, was watching the exchange. She then disappeared to report this development.

Afterwards

Not Far from the Dorms

Gwen and Ben walked back to the dorms together. The instructions to the letter stated that he had to come to the dorms, but it didn't meant that he had to come alone. So instead of involving one of the girls, he ran around to try and find Gin. Though knowing him, he'd been anywhere around the place, taking photos of girls undressing. So he looked for Gwen instead, and told her the situation. And now the two were strolling down towards the dorms, expecting Kevin, figuring it was he who sent the invitation for the duel; probably about settling old scores.

However, in the middle of their path was Keito.

"Hello again, Benjamin Tennyson," Keito greeted. "I see you got the invitation." With her were three other girls who were wearing the standard uniform and not the Student Police uniform like her.

"I'm sorry, Ben. But I have to ask…" Gwen whispered to her cousin warily, "Is she another one of your admirers?"

"No," Ben replied. "The uniform she's wearing makes her a member of the Security Committee." He then crossed his arms as he looked to the trio of girls, "I'm taking a wild guess in that you're the reason why the Newspaper Club's had a hard time."

Keito chuckled, "There's nothing wrong with a little competition."

"And competition that would put our club out of business," He snapped back, and then asked, "So what do you want? Did Kuyou send you?"

"Kuyou-sama asked me to extend an invitation to you to join the Student Police," said Keito, who had an opportunistic smile on her face.

Ben cocked an eyebrow, almost taken back by that claim, and then asked trying to make sense of all this. "OK, rewind a sec. The creepy guy who wanted to tear down our newspaper stand, now wants me to join him?"

Keito scowled at the way Ben spoke of Kuyou but calmly recomposed herself. She answered, "He finds your power to change in a variety of different forms would be most beneficial to guarding the sanctity of this school. Besides, he felt your talents were being wasted in that pathetic excuse of a club, as well as the company that surrounds it." She glared dangerously at the boy, and evilly smirked, "It's in your best interest to join us, and believe me: Kuyou-sama's offers are rarely declined."

"So, basically you're just forcing Ben to join your gang," Gwen stated. "And if he doesn't accept…"

"Not many live to refuse further," Keito finished for her, and smiled both evilly and dangerously… like a spider sizing up its prey. "As well as those who associate with them. Such as your friends."

"So, it's either join, die, or let the club or my friends die," Ben concluded, but crossed his arms and frowned at Keito. "Tempting, but I'd say…no."

Keito sighed, as if she'd expected it. "How unfortunate. Your power would've been useful to our cause," But then her smile furthered, as her face shadowed a bit, as she snickred, "… but now you must die." Keito snapped her fingers. "Girls!" The three girls changed their form as butterfly wings sprouted from their backs and masks appeared over the upper half of their faces with pointed noses and insectoid eyes. Antennae sprouted from their foreheads as well.

Ben and Gwen got into battle stances, as the sorceress interrogated, "I take it these girls…"

"These girls were once members of clubs who opposed us," Keito smirked, as she licked her lips seductively, "But a little injection of my venom changed all that."

Keito also began to change. Her limbs shifted and changed while more erupted from her abdomen, giving her the appearance of a humanoid insect. A large abdomen swelled from her backside while her mouth erupted in slimy mandibles. A wicked grin was still visible on her face despite the alterations to it.

"EW!" Ben and Gwen grimaced in disgust.

"Wait a sec! I thought students weren't allowed to change into their true forms!" shouted Ben. Of course very few students obeyed that rule. However, as a member of the Student Police, Keito should follow the rules to set an example.

"The Student Police are exempt from that rule!" Keito laughed.

"How convenient," muttered Gwen.

"Girls, get them!" Keito ordered.

Gwen's eyes narrowed as her eyes glowed violet. "Ben, I'll take care of her Butterfly Brigade. The itsy bitsy spider is all yours."

"Alright by me!" nodded Ben. The cousins split up to engage their enemies. The three butterfly girls lunged at Gwen. She waited and erected a square barrier made of mana. They crashed into it the wall and fell in a heap.

Ben stared Keito down and activated the Omnitrix. "You wanna fight? Let's even up the playing field!" Keito watched as he twisted the face of the device, causing different holograms of creatures to appear standing on it, before stopping. He then slammed his palm onto his choice. There was a blinding flash of green light and when the light died down Ben's new form was revealed.

"Spidermonkey!" Ben's new form called out as he hopped around. He resembled a blue furred monkey with four arms and four eyes. And across his chest was a four-strap green harness, with the Omnitrix symbol in the center. Basically, he was a physical hybrid of a spider and a monkey, hence the name. He cackled and howled like a monkey as he taunted Keito.

Ben had discovered this new alien by accident when scrolling through the Omnitrix's selection of aliens.

Omnitrix Encyclopedia

Arachnichimp A.K.A. Spidermonkey

This blend of arachnid and simian hail from the world of Aranhascimmia. They spend a whole lot of time in the trees rather than on the planet's surface, due to their predator being the voracious Vine-Shark. They hold the capabilities of sticking to walls and creating webbing from their tails. They are also very agile and quick on their feet. These residents of the universe seem to be on the playful side rather than purposefully aggressive. That much is evident in the transformation, but the only weakness may be a mental one in which Ben seems to become more childish or easygoing about a situation he's in.

"Ack! Ack! Ack!" Spidermonkey cackled as he hopped around. Keito hissed and lunged at Spidermonkey. But the Arachnichimp hopped away and clung to the branch of a nearby tree. "Too slow!"

"Get down here!" Keito roared.

Gwen, while outnumbered, was not outmatched. The three butterfly girls were being beaten by her not just by her powers but by her karate skills. She kicked one in the stomach before punching another across the face while elbowing another in the chest. She then fired a beam of energy at them, entrapping them like cattle with a lasso, and whirled around, smashing them against a tree. She wiped the sweat off her brow. While Gwen would never get into a fight at school, this was different.

Keito and Spidermonkey were grappling with each other, trying to subdue the other. Spidermonkey used his superior strength and pushed her against a tree. Keito scrambled away to escape a tree shattering kick from Spidermonkey.

"Running away?" Spidermoneky cackled, "And you were talking so big before!" Keito spat a stream of venom at Spidermonkey who leapt away to avoid it. The acid burnt into the ground, causing the area to bubble and sizzle.

Spidermonkey lunged at Keito who spat webbing at him. He bounded out of the way and stuck to a tree. "Nice webbing! Try mine!" He aimed the tip of his tail and fired a string of webbing that hit Keito in the face. "Nice! Now I don't have to look at you ugly mug!"

Keito ripped the webbing off her face and hissed at Spidermonkey before chasing after him. They both jumped around the trees, with Keito giving chase with her claws out to rip him to pieces.

"DIE!" Keito swiped at Spidermonkey who ducked. He wrapped his tail around a branch and swung himself upwards, slamming both his feet into her chin. Her head snapped backwards. Spidermonkey then swung back down, slamming his heels into her head and smashing her to the ground.

She snarled as she got up, and shot a web right at Gwen, who wasn't expecting it. However, at the last second, Kevin shot out, and caught it. Keito snarled, "You! I thought you didn't want to involve yourself with the Security Committee?!"

Spidermonkey hung by a tree branch upside down, by his tail, and looked to Kevin, asking, "Ack! She tried to recruit you too?"

Kevin shook his head, "Nah, but some blonde butch with a chip off his shoulder tried to."

"Squinty eyes?" Spidermonkey inquired.

"Yep," Kevin nodded.

Spidermonkey frowned, "That sounds like Kuyou alright. The Big Butchy Boss of the Security Committee."

Having enough trash talk about Kuyou spewed around her, she snarled at htem all, "SILENCE! You American monsters think you're all hotshots with those abilities of yours. But compared to Kuyou's power… YOUR STRENGTHS ARE JUST JOKES!"

Kevin frowned at the spider girl, until finally, he knelt down, still holding onto the web, and asked, "And now?"

"And I'll show you just how weak you all are," she declared, as she would soon pull Kevin in.

But Levin smirked as he explained, "I'm guessin' aside from the Tennysons, you don't have a clue as to what I can do. Right?"

Keito snarled, "No, and frankly, I don't care!"

Kevin knelt down and touched the concrete ground underneath them, absorbing its properties as his entire body became covered in a concrete grey-colored layer. In this state his strength and durability was enhanced beyond human limitation. Kevin shrugged. "My body has the ability to absorb matter and copy it. The more dense and tough the material is, the stronger and tougher I get. Sweet deal huh?"

"Like how you used to absorb energy," Gwen added.

Kevin nodded, as he stood up, "Exactly. Only this time, I've got better control. Just gotta watch out when absorbing DNA like before. Drove me crazy last time."

"That explains a lot," Spidermonkey mumbled, and then noticed Keito struggling to pull Kevin to her. But true to Kevin's reply, his density was stronger, and it also helped that his feet sprouted out clawed toes from the exterior shell, and smirked, "So… who's weak now?"

"Let's find out," Kevin smirked, as he pulled at the web, pulling Keito forward.

However, she resisted, but was overpowered by Kevin, as he was pulling her towards them. As she struggled, she tried to convince them to let her go, "W-Wait! Let me go! I-If you do… I-I-I promise I won't tell Kuyou!" She finally struggled enough, as she nearly cried out, "What do you say?"

But then she paled, as she was five feet away from the three, as Kevin shot out, "Piss off."

Keito cried out in fear, but then ended up trapped in a purple ring of energy that pinned her arms and spider legs to her sides. The ring was connected to a beam connected to Gwen's hand. At the redhead's feet were the groaning bodies of Keito's underlings who had been easily swatted by the female Tennyson. Smirking, Gwen waved, before spinning around and around. Keito screamed as she was spun around by Gwen. With one final swing, Gwen sent Keito flying into the sky.

Ben returned to human form and inquired, "Nice distance. Where did you send her?"

Gwen shrugged, but then took notice of Kevin leaving, "Kevin? Where are you going?"

As Kevin returned to normal, he shrugged, "Me? I was just passing through." And continued to walk away, even as a familiar floggle of girls were running towards the Tennysons.

"Ben!" Kurumu screamed out, as she glomped a hug behind his back, "We were so worried, we came after you!"

"Though I guess you took care of the problem," Yukari frowned, as she saw Kevin walking away. Thinking he made the challenge, she shouted, waving her wand, "You better walk away, you delinquent!"

"It wasn't like that, Yukari," Gwen defended, "It was the Security Committee. If anything, Kevin stepped up to help."

The girls were a bit surprised by that, as Yukari looked in honest surprise, and to Kevin's retreating form, "He did?"

Mizore, who popped up underneath a bush or two, mumbled, "I guess he isn't such a rotten apple as you made him out to be."

Ben cocked an eyebrow at that, and nodded, "Maybe… just maybe…"

Elsewhere

Kuyou was in his office, reading, when all of a sudden something smashed right through his window, spilling glass all over his floor. He looked from his book to see Keito, an injured mess, lying on his floor.

"You failed," he said, simply before returning to his book.

Keito just groaned in pain, as she cursed, "Damn…those…Tennysons… and Levin…"

Next Chapter: Prepping for the Exams; Brainstorming and Cramming