NOTE: Welcome back to another chapter, hope you've all been doing well so far in 2023. Good news, we're almost finished with Season 3! I wanted to take this time to show you guys the current Road Map for Priestess 10.
Road Map:
Season 3 - Original Story Arc - Dancing All Night - Season 4 - Secrets of the Omnitrix
I'm still working out where to fit Persona Q and Protector of the Earth. Both aren't really canon (PQ has its own reasons) to the main story, but I'm gonna write them anyway.
Enjoy and Review
Chapter 47: Persona Wraps
Purple lightning struck the night sky, illuminating the farm fields. The sign in front of the road said: Welcome to Dairyville could be seen. Five children and a piglet propped up the barbed wires that surrounded the field. The bigger kids crawled underneath into the cow's pen and turned to their companions. "What are you waiting for?" The string bean asked.
"M-maybe we shouldn't be here…" Todd Maplewood stuttered. He wore dark blue overalls and boots, a piglet held in his arms. Both he and the pig were covered in mud, not that it would seem uncommon for a farm boy. Behind them were two identical little twin girls with bleach white hair, wearing matching red tops and light blue skirts with brown boots.
"Tch. I knew we shouldn't have brought him, he's nothing but a big baby. The two little girls are braver than you!" The string bean mocked him.
"C'mon, Todd! Don't wimp out now, it's just a little fun! You push over the cow and it can't get back up!" The chubby kid explained.
"The tipping over of someone else's property is illegal and could end with you getting in trouble." One of the girls warned.
The bullies glared at her. "If you're such a goody two shoes then why are you here?" Chubby asked.
"To ensure Todd doesn't get punished for your idiotic behavior." The other twin answered.
Todd turned to the girls. "Bella, Alice, it'll be fine. I can do this." He said before marching off towards the cows, his pig following him.
"This will end horribly." Bella said.
"I agree, sister." Alice nodded her head.
The four watched as Todd approached the cow. He tried to push it over, but his thin body didn't have the strength to do so. The little piglet tried to assist his owner, but the two ended up slipping over on the mud and humiliating themselves. The bullies laughed at them as Bella and Alice just stared at the obvious outcome.
The cow or bull in question glared at the humans who dared to disrupt it, when the bullies realized the bull's attention was on them they quickly ran away in fear. The piglet ran away as well, jumping into Alice's awaiting arms. She stroked the pig to comfort him as if he were her baby. Both girls were unafraid of the bull and were waiting for Todd to realize that he was in danger.
"H-hey!? Where are they going!?" Todd asked.
"Turn around." Bella answered.
Todd got up, turning around to see the bull was preparing to run him through with its horns. Instead of fearing the animal, the boy glared back at it. "Back off, cow chip!"
"I'll go help him-" Bella was about to move when something sent a chill down her and Alice's spines. The girls turned around to see what appeared to be a glowing purple mummy approaching them. On pure instinct, the girls' jumped back several feet in the air to avoid the monster.
The bull had also noticed the mummy and ran away, much to Todd's confusion. Todd assumed that the cow was afraid of him. "That's right! Nobody messes with Todd Maplewood-gah!" Todd yelped as he was grabbed by the suspenders of his overalls, he looked to see who had grabbed him and realized it was Bella. "Bella, what are you-"
"We need to run!" She cut him off as she and her sister sprinted out of the cow pen.
"Why!? What's-" He turned around to see the mummy roaring into the night sky as the purple lightning struck the earth. "What the heck is that!?" And just as soon as he asked that question, the monster disappeared in the light, leaving a smoking trail. Alice and Bella didn't answer him and kept running until they were safely far away from the site.
OP: Ancient Romantic by P-Maru Sama
Ancient Romantic!
(U! Ha! U! Ha!)
(U! Ha! U! Ha!)
A rotating shot of the Omnitrix comes into view before latching onto Ben's wrist. He's seen standing with Yukiko, Gwen, and Max in front of the Rustbucket.
For a split second the landscape around them glitches out as purple lighting cracks the sky above.
The miracle of humankind that I met at once was a loss if neither Edison nor Watson knew (Loss!)
Ben stands on top of a broken spaceship, staring out at the clear blue sky above him.
Below him was Yukiko, who stood in the shadows of the ship. Her eyes transfixed on her tarot card.
Mr. N was surprised at such a situation since the earth was created (Unexpected!)
Gwen walked past the two, her eyes focused on her spell book. She shut the book instantly, her eyes glowing with blue mana.
Max stood in the back and in his hands was a broken picture frame.
The ancient civilization and the school playground that I ran yesterday are all connected.
The scenery changed to Inaba. Yukiko is seen running through the town with the rest of the Investigation Team.
SHATTER!
Yukiko was now running around with the Tennysons. Ben, happily leading the charge with the Omnitrix ready.
SHATTER!
Yukiko was smiling brightly, her arms draped around Ben's chest as he proudly stood in front of her. His face is full of confidence and aspirations.
SHATTER!
Older versions of Ben, Yukiko, Gwen, Max, and Yu appeared. The Tennysons were standing around the married couple as Yukiko held a small blue bundle of blankets in her hands. She smiled warmly at her newborn baby.
The invitation to unravel the true nature of this romance is an initiation from ancient times.
Ben sat inside of a blue limousine. In front of him were both Igor and Maragret, the attendant holding a large blue book in her hands.
Sitting next to Ben was Yu, whose tarot card expanded into a blinding flash of light.
All members! Go in! Aye-aye!
Ben charged into battle first, slapping down the dial and transforming into Four Arms. Gwen came in next, hands glowing bright with mana. Yukiko summoned Sumeo-Okami, unleashing waves of fire. Max joined his grandkids, his own personal blaster ready to battle.
Let's dance in such an era! Dancing all right!
Yu appeared next with his sword drawn. Izanagi jumped out from behind him, his blade sparking with white electricity.
Naoto Shirogane dropped down in front of him with her gun pointed at the screen. Her Persona: Yamato-Takeru appeared next to her in a flash of light.
Rise Kujikawa descended downwards gracefully, with her eyes closed shut. Her Persona: Kanzeon had appeared behind Rise. Placing a red-colored headset over her user's eyes.
Rehabilitation! Introspection! I'll do it one after another! The past and the future are all mixed together!
Yukiko had her arms wrapped around Four Arms' neck as the two glided through a massive tornado. Four Arms loudly strummed his guitar.
Kenny and Lucky Girl stood back to back, facing off against an army of robots. The elder brother held a baseball bat in his hands, while Lucky Girl's hands vibrated with mana.
Collapse! Situation! Hurry up!
A familiar looking creature appeared dressed in shadows, its purple eye glistening with malicious fury.
The feelings of hundreds of millions of years are romantic over!
Three new aliens appeared on the screen. A Frankenstien's monster, a werewolf, and a mummy all stood in front of a large satellite. Above them the sun transformed into a massive purple eyeball.
March! Send! Do in! Do in Love! There is one love in any era!
The Rustbucket was speeding towards the satellite with its boosters activated. The Tennysons inside were determined to stop whatever was about to happen.
A, B, C, D, E, F, G, you can see!
Chie, Yosuke, Kanji, Teddie, Nanako, Rise, and Naoto held each letter as they flashed across the screen.
H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, you caught!
For the last remaining letters were each held by Ben's aliens as they flashed across the screen.
Ancient Romantic!
Yukiko fell through the air, unable to stop herself. Ben reached for her as fast as he could, his hand only inches from her's.
(U! Ha! U! Ha!)
(U! Ha! U! Ha!)
On a nice sunny day, resting by a serene lake was the Rustbucket. Inside of the motorhome, Yukiko was happily washing the dishes, humming a soft tune to herself. Her cousins were all at the table busying themselves; Gwen was reading through her spellbook, Kenny was on his phone, and Ben was playing his video games. "Gotta love summer vacation. Nothing to do all day long, sit around and-AH!" Ben flinched when Max's big hand grabbed his shoulder. "Hey!?"
Max, who had just gotten out of the shower, glared at his grandson. The boy in question didn't know what he had done wrong recently to warrant a scowl from the old man. "Grandpa, what gives?"
"What gives is that I ran out of water in the shower! Again!" Max explained. "It's your job to get the tank full, Ben!" Gwen smiled smugly at Ben getting told off.
Yukiko turned around. "Oh, don't worry, Grandpa. I was just gonna get to that later."
"What do you mean?" Max asked.
"I mean, that I was going to refill the water tank after I finished folding the laundry, fixing the beds, taking out the trash, and cleaning the bathroom." Yukiko happily explained.
Max was even more confused as to why Yukiko was handling all of those chores. "Yukiko, you're not supposed to be washing the dishes, that's Gwen's responsibility." His glare turned to the sorceress, who had lost her smug look. "Then taking out the trash and cleaning the bathroom is Kenny's." Max pointed, eyeing his eldest grandson. Kenny laughed nervously at being called out.
Yukiko nodded her head. "I know that, Grandpa, but I have already finished all of my chores. So, I offered to do all of theirs and they agreed. It makes me happy to be a help to everyone." Yukiko's innocent smile hit the three cousins with a wave of shame that hit even harder than her scolding.
"Really now?" Max's tone sent a shiver down their spines. "And you three think it's okay to push your chores off on Yukiko?"
Gwen sputtered. "B-but it's summer vacation, Grandpa!"
"Yeah! Who wants to waste time doing chores on summer vacation? Besides, Yukiko does chores for an actual living, so it doesn't matter." Ben rolled his eyes.
"Cut us some slack, Gramps!" Kenny said.
Max looked disappointed in the three, but before he could say something a very convenient broadcast came from the radio. "Y'all ready for a little fresh air? Want a chance to commune with the animals? You know someone who needs to learn to value some good old fashioned hard work? Sign your whole clan up for a whole week at Dairyville's Family Fun Farm Camp! And experience life on a real working farm!" All four grandkids turned to Max, who was smiling evilly at three of them.
"I… do not like that look in his eyes." Ben spoke for Gwen and Kenny.
"What look?" Yukiko was confused about what was going on.
The next thing the kids knew, the Rustbucket was driving down the road towards Dairyville. "Trust me! You kids are gonna love it! When I was a kid, I spent every summer on my uncle Jebadiah's farm; learning the value of a little hard work is just what you kids need." Max lectured. The Rustbucket pulled up to the Maplewood camp where Todd and his mother were waiting for them.
"Welcome! I'm Joan Maplewood, this is my son Todd, and you must be the Tennysons." Joan said.
"Yes, call me Max." Max introduced himself. "And these tenderfoots are my grandkids. Ben, Gwen, Yukiko, and Kenny." The unwilling looks on the childrens' faces was expected, except Yukiko, who didn't look bothered at all.
"Hi!" Todd smiled at them, happy to see some more helpers.
"Hey…" Ben and Gwen lazily responded. Yukiko pushed the two lightly, lightly glaring at them both.
"Don't be rude. Give a proper greeting." She insisted.
Joan waved it off. "It's fine, that's enough chit-chat anyway. You're all here to work and you boys can start by unloading that truck full of feed over there." Joan pointed at the truck.
"Righty-O!" Max was enthusiastic about the farm work, while Ben and Kenny groaned loudly.
"What about us?" Yukiko pointed at herself and Gwen.
"You two can start by helping me prepare supper? Then, afterwards you can come out and help the boys." Joan explained, turning to the Maplewood house. Yukiko followed behind her with a pep in her step, excited about being able to cook.
Gwen was even more apprehensive than before. "Uh… I'm really starting to think this was a bad idea…" She muttered as she followed Yukiko and Joan.
Max lifted a sack of feed and handed it to Ben, then another to Kenny. "Oh man… there's gotta be a thousand of these things." Ben complained, then got a smart idea. "Looks like a job for-" Before he could even reach for the watch, Max grabbed his arm.
"Ben-I'm too lazy to fill a water tank-Tennyson and only him." Max got really close to Ben's face to make his point. "And only him if you know what I mean." Ben got the message loud and clear, so much that all he could do was nod his head.
Kenny moved his sack carefully to make it easier to carry. "Ya know, dad always did say that what girls like in a man is about how hard he works."
"And why should I care about that?" Ben asked.
"Just some advice for the future, little bro." Kenny shrugged.
Back in the Maplewood household, Joan showed the girls the kitchen. It wasn't like one the two had ever seen before, but if there was one thing that Yukiko noticed it was how welcoming it felt. She looked over at the rows of pictures that lined the top of the fireplace. They were photos of her, Todd, and another man.
"That's my husband." Joan answered, spooking Yukiko.
"O-Oh, sorry! I didn't mean to intrude!" Yukiko apologized quickly.
Joan waved her hand. "It's fine, I don't mind. You'll be staying here for the week anyway, you would've been walking around the place."
Gwen looked at the photos. "So, where is he?"
"He died a few years ago."
"O-oh…" The girls felt even more bad now.
Joan rolled her eyes at them. "I said it was fine, didn't I? It was hard at first, but Todd and I managed just fine. He's been trying to fill that role his father left. It makes me smile seeing him put so much effort in around the farm."
"Is that why you started up this summer camp? Because there isn't a lot of help?" Gwen asked.
"That's part of it." Joan replied.
"What's the other part?" Yukiko asked this time.
"I felt it would be a good way for him to make some friends. A lot of the kids around here make fun of him a lot, so I hoped that some other kids his age would be nicer." Joan explained.
Yukiko felt bad for Todd, it was never nice to be bullied for things out of your control. She wondered if he and Ben would be good friends. Gwen looked confused a bit after hearing the story.
"So, there's nobody around he gets along with?" Gwen asked.
"Well… I wouldn't say that." Joan said, making them raise a brow. "You guys aren't our only helpers here, but they're quite young and aren't exactly his age."
"Where are they?" Yukiko asked, having not seen anyone else around.
"No idea."
"Eh?"
"I'm sure they'll appear for supper time, which means we should get started on that." She left for the kitchen.
"Right!" Yukiko huffed through her nose. "Time to put my cooking skills out there!"
Gwen sighed. "I wonder if animals can digest Mystery Food X…"
Max placed the last sack onto the pile in the barn, releasing a heavy breath. "Welp, that's the last of them. Whew! Nothing like working up a good sweat, right, kids?" Max looked at his grandsons, seeing them laying flat on their backs.
Ben gave Max a look. "I think… After that I've done enough exercising… in my life."
"My arms are killing me…" Kenny said.
Ben moved to sit up, but before he could a small white and red blur slammed into him. Sending the boy spiraling into the side of the barn. Ben gasped in pain from the impact with the ground, and too tired from all the physical work to do anything. He stared wide-eyed at the familiar little girl who had her hands wrapped around his neck. "You…!" She hissed.
"Wait… you're…!"
"Ben!" Kenny tried to run to him, but he was knocked over by another blur as it went straight for Max. The ex-Plumber was able to dodge it in time, barely getting scrapped by it. When the blur landed on the ground, Max was able to make out who it was. "Wait a minute… you're…!"
"Those girls from Halloween Town!" Ben and Max exclaimed.
"Halloween… what!?" Kenny was out of the loop.
Bella kept her glare on Ben as she pinned him down. "Why are you here!?"
"Why are we here!? Why are you here!? Shouldn't you two be in jail or some kind of animal pound!?" Ben shot back, which annoyed his attacker more.
Max raised his hands. "Look! This doesn't have to devolve into a fight! Let's all calm down and talk." He looked at Alice, who slowly detracted her claws. He saw that Bella had removed her hands from Ben's neck, but still kept him pinned. "The reason we're here is because we signed up for the camp."
Bella looked at him carefully. "So… you're not here to hurt us?"
"Not unless you give us a reason to-"
"I have a reason to!" Ben exclaimed.
SCRATCH!
"Shut up." Bella scratched his face like a cat.
"GAH!" Ben cried out.
"Uh… Grandpa?" Kenny looked at him confused.
"I'll explain it all later, Kenny. Right now, I'm more concerned about why you two are here and about your father?" Max asked. Before the girls could answer that question a loud chime sounded throughout the farm.
"Supper Time!" Joan's voice called out.
"Well, I guess we can discuss it after dinner." Max said.
Bella got off of Ben, allowing him to stand on his feet. She glared at him one last time before following Max and her sister. Kenny walked over to Ben, checking up on his cousin. "You good?"
"Yeah, it would've been a different story if I knew they were here." Ben huffed.
"Why does it look like they both hate your guts? More than people already do." Kenny asked.
"Because I kicked their butts, duh!"
When Yukiko expected the males of her family to return for dinner, she didn't expect to see the two little girls from Halloween Town walking right next to her grandfather. She and Gwen both almost attacked, but Max got to them first. "Don't. It seems like they don't mean any harm, but even then let's not cause a ruckus during dinner." The girls nodded their heads and sat on the opposite sides of Bella and Alice.
Gwen looked at Ben, who was glaring at Bella. "Why is your face all scratched up?"
"Take a guess…" He grumbled.
Max took a bite out of the food to avoid any awkwardness. "Mmm! Good grub, Joan."
"Thanks, your granddaughters were a big help." Joan said.
Kenny and Ben turned to Gwen with hope in their eyes, luckily for them Gwen gave them the signal that the food was edible. Yukiko was pouting sadly at the food as she ate it. "I wish you'd let me add my ideas into it."
"Everything you wanted to add was unnecessary." Gwen mumbled.
Ben sighed. "So, no tv, no video games, and no malls. What do you guys do for excitement around here?" He asked Todd.
"Well you see, you won't believe what I saw last night-"
"None of that, Todd." His mother interrupted him. "No one is interested in your tall tales."
"But it's true! Bella and Alice saw it too!" Todd argued. He turned to them, expecting them to have his back on this, but unfortunately for him the girls just continued to eat their dinner.
Joan shook her head at her son. "Now hurry up and finish, so that you can wash up and hit the hay."
"Hit the hay? Why would I hit hay?" Yukiko asked, confused.
"It means going to bed." Alice answered.
"O-oh…" Yukiko didn't expect the girl to answer her. "T-thanks…?"
Ben looked outside, the sun was still setting. "But it's still light out!"
"Trust me, you'll be glad you got the sleep come morning." Max said. He was also motioning at the two monster girls with his eyes, signaling his kids that there are important matters to attend to. Thankfully, all four got his message.
Todd led the Tennysons to their resting quarters with the monster girls following behind them. Ben ran up to Todd, his topic from dinner still on his mind. "Spill it! What did you see last night?"
"Nah, nothing. You wouldn't believe me anyway." Todd frowned.
"Trust me, we've seen some pretty bizarre stuff this summer." Gwen said. Todd shrugged and stopped walking as he began his tale.
"W-well… we were down at old man Johnson's Pasture when right in front of us, bigger than life was…" He held everyone in suspense. "...A mummy! A genuine Egyptian walking dead mummy!"
"Really?"
"A mommy?" Yukiko questioned.
"No, a mummy. An undead guy wrapped in bandages." Kenny explained.
"Oh! That's what he said!"
"This is the girl who beat our father?" Bella turned to her sister.
"I'm just as confused as you are, sister." Alice responded.
"Here you go! Home sweet home for the next week!" Todd brought them to the attic they'd be sleeping in. The Tennyson kids held their noses as a rotten smell was all over the place.
"Ew! What is that smell?" Gwen asked.
"Oh, this is also the chicken coop. See ya in the morning!" Todd turned to leave. "You two coming?"
"Give us a moment." Alice said.
"Sure." Todd shrugged and continued out of the attic. With him gone, the Tennysons turned to the sisters, who simply stared at them. The girls didn't make a move and Kenny found it unnerving how they could just stare still like that for so long.
"So… uh? Anyone want to explain what the tension is here?" Kenny broke the ice.
"Right, you weren't here for that." Yukiko realized.
"Yeah, so could someone explain what this Halloween Town is?"
"Literal hell." Bella answered, her voice filled with poison. "It would be a dream come true to see that place burned to the ground."
"Ha! So, you're still bad guys after all!" Ben exclaimed.
"No, it's just the source of our trauma, moron." Bella corrected.
"What was that!?" Ben stepped forward, but Yukiko's arm held him back. "What gives!?"
"Stop, Ben. I don't think they're necessarily bad anymore." Yukiko said.
"Why?"
"Because if they were still the same as they were back then, would the Maplewoods be alive right now?" Ben clicked his tongue, realizing that Yukiko was correct about that.
Gwen picked up that someone was missing. "So, where's Chris?"
"In prison." Alice answered.
"And you're not in a cell either, because…?" Gwen pressed forward.
"Because, there was no genuine proof that we were accomplices with him and father denied all questions that would've pointed at us having helped him. So, only he went to jail and because we're minors we were sent off to Foster Care." Alice replied.
"But that doesn't explain how the two of you ended up here of all places." Max said.
"Isn't it obvious?" Bella rolled her eyes. "Joan adopted us temporarily after she dropped by the orphanage one day, and said that she always wanted daughters. Now here we are, Bella and Alice Maplewood."
Yukiko stepped forward, crouching down in front of the girls. "I see, but this doesn't mean that we trust you two. But something I want to affirm is that you're not going to go back to doing anything evil."
Alice shook her head. "We're not. Our father's last words to us before we were separated was to live long lives. We were given a second chance to live without the fear of people hurting us just because we're different. We're not gonna waste it."
"Okay. Then don't, because if you two do anything bad during this week here, then I will ensure that you regret not being locked away." Yukiko's threat slightly shook the twins. But they understood her clearly. With everything said, the girls left the coop for the night, leaving the Tennyson family to get some sleep.
Gwen sighed. "Well, finding them here was definitely a shock."
"Yeah, well, as long as they stay away from me, then I couldn't care less." Ben hopped on his bunk. Only to yelp when a chicken popped out from the pillow. "The heck!?"
"Pfft! Hahahahahaha!" Yukiko laughed at him.
"You think everything will be fine, Grandpa?" Gwen asked.
Max nodded his head. "I don't think we'll have to worry about them. When they appeared in front of us at the barn, they seemed more scared than angry at us. That's quite different from the rest of our old enemies this summer." He yawned, stretching his arms. "Anyway, you four better get some sleep. We got a lot of work in the morning and you'll need the rest."
"UGH!" Ben, Gwen, and Kenny groaned at the reminder. Yukiko happily retreated to the bathroom to get herself ready for the night.
Ben snuck out of the chicken coop in the middle of the night. He giggled to himself at his clean getaway, that was, until Gwen's arm grabbed him by his collar. "Going somewhere?"
Ben, for once, wasn't annoyed by her; instead, he smirked. "Same place you are." She released him and the two Tennyson kids stood side by side, facing the corn field. "Mummy hunt!" Ben and Gwen raced off into the field to search for the mummy.
Unknown to the two, both Alice and Bella were perched on top of the roof. The girls nodded at each other before following after the Tennysons.
Eventually Ben and Gwen arrived at Johnson's pasture, sneaking under the barbed wire. There, they found a large crater left in the middle of the field with purple footprints leading away from it.
"You think that's where his tomb was?" Ben asked.
"An Egyptian tomb in the middle of South Carolina?" Gwen called out how dumb it sounded. They looked down at the footprints, trying to figure out what kind of residue could've left it. However, before they could discuss it, two mutated cows appeared over the hill. The animals were dark purple and beastly-like, almost something out of a horror movie.
"Uh… I know I'm a city kid, but cows aren't supposed to look like that, right?" Ben asked his cousin.
The mutated animals charged at them with the intention of ripping them to pieces. "Split up!" Ben yelled. They broke apart, but both cows ended up chasing after Gwen.
"Oh, come on!" She growled at the sky. Gwen turned around, her hands bursting with mana, and blasting a bolt at the mutant monstrosities. She managed to hit the cow, pushing it back, but the bull had dodged. It was too close for her to consider launching another spell at it, but luckily a black and blue blur grabbed her in time.
"Thanks." Gwen said as XLR8 put her down. She gasped as the beasts were quickly approaching their spot. Before either Tennyson could do anything, two blurs shot out of the crops, and bashed the cows away from Tennysons. Turns out it was Alice and Bella.
"What the…?" XLR8 said.
"What are you two doing here?" Gwen asked.
Alice looked back. "It seemed like you could use some assistance."
"Tch! As if I need your help!" XLR8 huffed. He sped off past the twins to fight the bulls, using his speed to his advantage to overpower them. "Toro Toro ole!" He shouted as if he were a Matador. The speed alien pulled on the cow's tail to mock it.
"Ben, behind you!"
"What-"
BAM!
"GAH!" XLR8 went flying into the tree. The girls just gave him deadpan stares and simultaneously agreed that he was an idiot.
"And this is why you need the help!" Bella exclaimed. She jumped towards the bull, landing on its back, and started slashing her claws against its back. The bull screamed in pain, thrashing around to knock her off. The werewolf girl was forced to hold onto its horns to keep herself from flying off. XLR8 came in with a lightning-fast kick to its face, knocking it out, though the force of his kick was strong enough to knock her off, and send her flying into a tree.
"Oops!" XLR8 laughed at her misfortune until the girl jumped him in an effort to scratch his face off.
Gwen and Alice rolled out of the way of the cow's charge. Alice dug her claws into the ground before propelling herself towards the cow and flipped herself over it. Using her monstrous strength, she pushed her arms against it, dragging her feet through the ground. "Do something!" She yelled at Gwen.
Gwen thought of which spell to use before coming to a conclusion. "Contego!" She generated a blue shield behind Alice. "Let go and get out of the way!" Alice did as told, falling to the side as the cow charged forward; unable to stop its momentum. The mutant crashed right into the shield as if it were a brick wall, stunning it. "Now, hit it!"
Alice pounced over the cow and brought her heel down for a devastating axe-kick to its skull, knocking it out. Both mutant animals were unconscious and defeated.
Gwen sighed in relief. "Now to tie them up. Ben-" She stopped herself when she saw that Ben and Bella were tussling on the ground. The monster girl was attempting to scratch through XLR8's mask. Gwen and Alice just sighed at both of them. "BEN!"
"What?" He and Bella stopped fighting.
"You mind?" She pointed at the downed animals.
"Oh, right." He pushed Bella off and zoomed around the field, grabbing barbed wire to tie up the mutants. Once that was taken care of, the four of them faced the corrupted animals.
"First a mummy and now mutant cows? What's happening on this freaky farm?" Gwen asked.
Alice shrugged. "I'm not sure. Nothing strange started to happen until last night."
XLR8 looked at the glow trail that was found near the crater. "Well only one way to find out! Follow the glow trail!"
"Benjamin Tennyson! Maybe we should-" She didn't get to finish as the hero blasted off further into the farm lands to follow the trail.
"He is very hard to deal with, isn't he?" Alice asked.
"Yes… yes he is." Gwen sighed.
"I understand the feeling." Alice said as she turned to Bella. Only to blink when her sister was nowhere to be found. "Great."
XLR8 arrived in another clearing and was surprised to see the mummy. With a closer look he noticed the bandaged zombie was digging a hole into the ground, a bright purple glow beneath it. "Wow! It looks like Todd was right! But why would a mummy be trying to get back into the ground?"
"Because it's not trying to get back into the ground, idiot. It's searching for something."
XLR8 blinked for a few moments at the annoying female voice that entered his ears. Turning around, he found Bella holding onto his tail. "What the!? When did you-"
"The moment before you took off, now pay attention!" She grabbed his head and forced him to look back at the mummy. Especially when the monster was looking right at them! It screeched loudly into the air and attacked with its bandages. XLR8 grabbed Bella and dodged out of the way of the attack.
"Okay! Definitely not friendly!" XLR8 said.
"What was your first clue?" Bella said sarcastically.
The mummy whipped another bandage at them, missing and destroying the shed behind them. "I've got an idea!" XLR8 said.
"What?" Bella looked at him. She was confused until he raised her above his head and got into a throwing position. What he was planning to do clicked in her head. "Oh, you better NoOOOOOT!" She screamed as XLR8 chucked her lightning fast at the mummy. The bandaged undead opened its body, evading the bullet-fast girl completely. Bella crashed face first into an old chicken coop. The mummy was confused until XLR8 came flying in.
BAM!
A flying kick knocked the mummy over as XLR8 skidded over to the chicken coop. He grinned at the disheveled Bella. "You know, you make a pretty good distraction."
"I'm…going to kill you…" She groaned.
"You can go ahead and try but-huh?" XLR8 looked down to see bandages wrapping around his body. He was then pulled towards the mummy and slugged into the old silo. He got up quickly to avoid getting skewed by the mummy, running up to the top of the silo. XLR8 scanned the ground for the mummy, but was confused when he couldn't find it anywhere.
"Behind you, you idiot!"
XLR8 turned around too late.
POW!
XLR8 crashed into the ground and the mummy climbed down soon after. The hero tried to get up, but unfortunately his time was up.
FLASH!
Ben turned back to normal. "I hate it when that happens." He was defenseless against the mummy as it attacked him, though the bandages didn't go for him at all. Instead they pulled on the legs of the silo, breaking them, and bringing the old structure down on Ben. Fortune once again shined down on him as Bella grabbed him in time before he could get crushed.
Ben was surprised that she saved him. "Uh…thanks."
SCRATCH!
"GAH!" Ben cried as she scratched his face.
"That was for throwing me." She sighed and blushed. "And you're welcome." She looked around the ruined farm. "Where did that thing go?"
"I don't know, but he was digging for something at the bottom of the crater. But it's gone now." Ben and Bella peered down the hole.
Ben and Gwen snuck back into the attic of the chicken coop, completely spent after their nightly adventure. "Oh man, I'm beat. I could sleep for a week." Ben yawned and drifted off to sleep.
CLICK!
"RISE AND SHINE!"
"AAAHHH!" Ben screamed, falling off his bunk. Joan raised a brow at him, confused on why he reacted like that.
"You have got to be kidding me, it's 5 A.M." Gwen pointed out, just as upset as Ben.
"And those cows aren't gonna milk themselves." Joan responded.
Unlike those two, the rest of their family got a good night's sleep. Max got up from his bed, refreshed from his sleep. "Now, aren't you glad you went to bed early?"
Kenny yawned lightly, still waking up. "I guess, but I could definitely go without the smell though."
Yukiko was quickly gathering her daily necessities. "I've never thought about going to bed early like that before. Maybe I should try that more often, could definitely help whenever a busy schedule appears at the Inn." She said before rushing for the bathroom.
Ben and Gwen just stared at them with pure animosity, slightly regretting not getting enough sleep last night.
The Tennysons were now in the barn, watching as Todd demonstrated how to milk a cow. "Just squeeze and pull." He repeated. Yukiko was copying the gestures to memorize the exact way Todd was doing it.
"Ugh, don't they have machines for this?" Ben asked.
"Mom doesn't believe in them, says they spook the cows." Todd answered.
"Isn't there something else we can do?" Ben asked again.
"Well, the manure needs to be shoveled." Not a single Tennyson kid wanted to get anywhere near cow poop.
"Milking!" Ben, Gwen, and Kenny exclaimed. With that settled, Max and Todd left to handle the manure. "Ugh! This is gonna take forever!" Ben cried.
"There's four of us, Ben. I'm sure by working together we'll get this done quickly." Yukiko tried to look at the brightside for them.
"Or…we can try and speed things up." Ben activated the watch.
"Pretty sure Grandpa warned you about using the watch to do this." Gwen frowned.
"He did, but I second this decision. No way am I touching a cow's private parts." Kenny said.
"I'm totally against this decision. There's nothing wrong with a little hard work, Ben." Yukiko warned him.
"Yeah." Gwen took her side.
Ben rolled his eyes, looking at Gwen. "Gwen, do you really want to sit here and spend all this time milking cows?" Ben knew that Gwen hated this just as much as he did, so convincing her wasn't going to take much.
Gwen tried to hold it in, but the idea of milking cows for hours didn't sit well with her. "Fine! Hurry it up!"
"Gwendolyn!" Yukiko exclaimed.
Kenny pushed Yukiko away over to a group of cows. "Look, Yukiko, since you want to do it all so badly then feel free to do your half on your own. Ben will just handle the rest of ours."
FLASH!
Yukiko frowned as she watched Four Arms hurdle the cows, so that he could milk them. Gwen and Kenny were relaxing on piles of hay as Ben did all the work. The heiress shook her head at them. "Fine. If they want to cheapen their work and risk getting caught by Grandpa, then it's on them. I will just handle everything myself." Yukiko smiled proudly to herself. At least until a cow smacked her in the face with its tail. "Oh… stupid cow."
KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!
"How's it going in there?" Joan's voice alerted them. Yukiko did nothing as she watched her cousins scramble to hide Four Arms in the hay. When Joan opened the door, it was just her, Kenny, and Gwen milking the cows.
"Oh, just milking away." Gwen laughed nervously.
"Where's the short cousin?" Joan asked, not seeing Ben.
"He…uh, went to the bathroom! He has a weak bladder!" Kenny lied.
Joan bought it. "Huh, well when you're done here, find Todd and he'll show you your other chores for the day." She said before leaving them to their business. Four Arms poked his head out of the hay.
"Heh, didn't suspect a thing-"
SMACK!
"OW!" Four Arms cried after Yukiko smacked him. "What was that for!?"
She looked a little perplexed. "I don't know. I just felt like I haven't hit you all episode."
The next chore was feeding the pigs; and there were a lot of pigs. When Todd left, Ben turned into Wildvine and sprayed pig's food all over their pens. Unfortunately for the heiress, Wildvine also sprayed her down by accident; getting the slop all in her hair. Wildvine ran in fear as Yukiko unleashed hellish fire on him. Gwen put a silencing spell on Wildvine to mute his cries for help.
Following that was helping the twins with gathering the chicken eggs. Yukiko was with the twins in another coop, doing the gathering the normal way, while the rest of the Tennyson kids were cutting corners with XLR8 gathering the eggs in a split second. He then ran over to their coop and buried Bella in a pile of chickens. The monster girl chased after him in a bloody rage.
The third chore was plowing the fields, and Wildmutt took care of that without any difficulty. Thankfully with no accidents this time, since Ben seemed to have learned self-preservation.
The final chore with Ben uses Diamondhead to put wooden stakes into the earth, grinning like a little gremlin the entire time.
It was now sunset and Todd was leading the Tennyson kids and twins back to the farm house. "So, do you have to work like this everyday?" Ben asked.
"Nah, during planting and harvest season, we don't have it so easy. But to tell you the truth, at least it keeps you busy, since it's usually pretty boring around here. It's not like everyday a mummy appears in a flash of purple lightning." Todd laughed lightly. He walked away not seeing the shocked expressions of the Tennysons.
"Purple lightning!?"
The twins stared at them, confused about their reaction. "What's so shocking about lightning?" Bella asked. Her sister could only shrug, it seemed like they were out of the loop on this one.
The kids found Max, who was still shoveling the manure. "Purple lightning? Are you kids sure that's what he said?" Max asked.
Yukiko nodded her head. "Yes, that's what Todd said! It's just like what Naoto-kun and Kenji-san were talking about!"
"That purple lightning was also at the Navajo village when we encountered that alien werewolf." Ben added.
"And it's not just a coincidence either. A mummy and a werewolf just so happen to be searching around for something with purple lightning flashing about is fishy." Gwen said.
"Whatever it is, we need to check it out, Grandpa." Kenny said.
Max stuck his shovel into the ground. "I agree, you kids can fill me in on the rest while I grab some gear."
"Can we come with you?" Alice asked. She and Bella had been listening into the conversation, confused but concerned at the same time.
"And why should we?" Ben folded his arms.
"Because, if some freaky mummy thing is running around by the farm, then we want to help. It would suck if the Maplewoods got hurt, because of this thing." Bella answered.
Before any of his kids could say anything, Max did. "That's fine, just stay close to us, alright." The girls nodded their heads as Max left for the Rustbucket.
"You really want to protect the Maplewoods?" Yukiko asked them.
"Yes." Alice answered. "They took us in and treated us as family, so the least we can do is return the kindness by protecting this farm." Yukiko still wasn't sure if she was completely trusting of them, but it seemed like these two have matured a bit since being on this farm. It made her a bit happy to see that.
The Tennysons and the twins stood in front of the mutant cows, Max using his scanner to analyze the cows. "Well this would explain your mutant cows, but we've got an even bigger problem." Max said.
"Bigger than a rampaging mummy and mutant cows?" Gwen was skeptical.
"I'm picking up traced readings of Corrodium. It's a high-energy mineral not naturally found on Earth." Max explained. "My guess is a meteor must've crashed around here a few thousand years back, scattering debris all over the area."
"The mummy is a rock collector?" Ben asked.
"I'm afraid not, Ben. It's a powerful energy source that's very unpredictable, that's what mutated those cattle." Max responded.
"If that mummy gets his hands on more Corrodium…" Yukiko gulped.
"He could turn every living thing on the Eastern Seaboard into the same kind of monsters." Max's response made everyone uneasy.
"Everyone would be a monster…?" Bella frowned.
"It wouldn't be like us, Bella. They'd be wild beasts like these cows." Alice rubbed her sister's back.
"But that's what people assumed we were."
"You're not wild beasts." Ben said, shocking the twins. "You can think, right? Then you're still people who deserve as much freedom as everyone else." His words stunned the twins into silence, not expecting Ben to say something nice to them.
Yukiko gave him a head pat, proud of him. "That was pretty profound, Ben."
"Yeah, where did my dumb cousin go?" Gwen asked.
"I ain't dumb! I can say smart things too!"
"Sure, like that time you assumed the mailman was gonna mail you to Hawaii." Kenny's counter had everyone laughing at him. Ben crossed his arms, pouting like a child. He missed the small blush that littered Bella's face.
The Rustbucket pulled up to the Digby Dairy factory. "The scanner indicates that the Corrodium readings are the highest right over there." Max said.
"Digby Dairy? They make my favorite ice cream!" Ben exclaimed.
"Oh! We can have ice cream for lunch tomorrow!" Yukiko suggested.
"Try getting that past Joan." Gwen sighed. The Tennysons and twins got out of the Rustbucket and snuck past the sleeping security guard. Once inside the factory, Max led the group to the bottom floor where the reading was at its strongest. "I say there's a big chunk of Corrodium buried right here, beneath the concrete." Max said.
Ben activated the Omnitrix. "I'm on it!"
FLASH!
Diamondhead jumped off the upper floor in a haste. "Ben, wait!" Max called out to his grandson, but the boy didn't listen. He dug through the ground and found the Corrodium. "Found it."
"Nice work, genius!" Gwen yelled at him as the group walked down the steps. "You just did the mummy's work for him!"
"Oh…yeah." Diamondhead realized. He and the others flinched when the lights started flickering, setting a very ominous atmosphere inside of the factory. With each flicker, the mummy got closer and closer to them.
"We've got company!" Kenny cried as the mummy was right on top of them.
"I don't think he's here for the chocolate zoomies!" Gwen cried. Diamondhead charged at the mummy, impaling it with a crystal blade, but it was unaffected by it. The mummy wrapped bandages around the Petrosapien and smashed him into the wall. It then grabbed the Corrodium, adding it to the two other pieces it already had.
"It's got the Corrodium!" Max yelled.
"Agi-"
"Yukiko, wait!" Max stopped his granddaughter. "There are gas pipes down here, your fire could set off a chain reaction and blow us all up!"
"Then what do I do?" Yukiko asked.
"If you want to use your flames, then use them in small doses and be careful with your aim. Mainly stick to your fan." Max said.
"Guys, it's coming!" Kenny yelled.
[Sonic Generations OST - Vs. Shadow the Hedgehog]
The mummy sent deadly sharp bandages at the group with the intention of impaling them. Gwen quickly conjured a shield, deflecting the wrappings. She then pushed it out as a weapon to bash the mummy. The bandaged zombie swerved out of the way of the projectile, but was caught by Diamondhead, who slammed it into the wall.
The mummy wrapped up Diamondhead before he could react, bringing him in, and then bashing him deeper into the factory. Two smaller figures attacked next, bringing their claws down on the mummy, tearing some of its fabric. The creature hissed at the two, whipping the twins with its bandages and sending them flying. It reached out for Bella, grabbing her by the ankle before slamming her into the concrete.
"Kya!" She cried as the mummy dragged her across the ground before flinging her down the hallway. Bella twirled in the air before she was caught in the arms of Diamondhead, the monster girl was groggy for a few moments.
"You alright?" Diamondhead asked.
When she realized she was in his arms, she blushed. "Y-yeah! Put me down, idiot!" She tried scratching his face but his diamond head wasn't affected.
"Jeez! All you had to do was ask, overbite!"
"Overbite!?"
"Ben, watch out!"
"Woah!" Diamondhead jumped to avoid a strike from the mummy. The creature was using the pipes to quicken its pace. "Let's see how you like this!" He shot shards at the mummy, cutting it down from the ceiling. As it fell, the mummy shot another bandage at them, but Diamondhead dodged it. The crystalline hero grabbed it and pulled the mummy closer to them, then Bella jumped out of his arms and kicked the mummy straight into a wall. Before it could get back up, Diamondhead tackled it through the wall and into the next room, tossing the mummy into a power station.
The rest of the group caught up with Diamondhead and Bella, who was sitting on Diamondhead's shoulders, waiting to see what the mummy would do next. It stumbled out towards them, opening up its chest to reveal the Corrodium. "He's trying to expose us to the Corrodium!" Max yelled. The group backed away in fear of being mutated.
That was when the security guard from before walked in. "What in the blazes!?"
"No! Get back!" Max tried to warn him, but it was too late. The guard was grabbed by the mummy and exposed to the Corrodium, mutating him into a grotesque monster.
"Is that what's gonna happen to us!?" Kenny asked.
"Not if we wear these." Max pulled out several badges, he slapped them over Gwen's, Yukiko's, and Kenny's chests. The badges morphed into black and brown suits over their bodies. "Level 10 hazmat suits. Don't think your parents would appreciate me bringing you home all mutated."
"My mother would probably find it funny." Yukiko said.
"I'm starting to see where you get it from." Gwen sighed.
"Hey, what about us!?" Diamondhead pointed at himself and the twins.
"As long as you're in alien form, you should be safe from the mutations. In the twins' cases, their transformed states should also be the same." Max explained.
"Should!?" Bella and Diamondhead cried.
"Here it comes!" Alice got their attention as bandages wrapped around the three. The mummy slammed the transformed trio into the ground as the mutated guard went for the others.
"Girls!" Max shouted at his granddaughters.
Yukiko summoned her Persona. "Agi!" Her small fireball blasted the mutant back. She then sent out a few more to keep the guard down, but the mutant used his arms to slice the balls apart.
Gwen clapped her hands. "Emocha Objectia!" However, instead of the usual effect, her suit started inflating like a balloon. "W-what!? What's happening!? EEEEKKK!" Gwen started bouncing around like Cannonbolt and eventually slammed into the mutant by accident.
Yukiko couldn't keep it in. "Pfft! G-Gwen…you're just l-like Cannonbolt! Hahahahahahaha!" The heiress laughed, clutching her stomach.
"T-that was the funniest thing I've seen all day!" Kenny was laughing too.
Gwen glared at them as her suit returned to normal. "Shut up! Ugh! My magic can't work in these hazmat suits, but Yukiko's can!? That's unfair!"
Max saw that the mutant was coming back for them. "Complain about it later! Move!" He grabbed Gwen and dodged the attacker. The mutant tried to slash at them again, but Kenny drop kicked him away. His attack barely did anything to it.
"Okay, well, I'm out of ideas-Woah!" He dodged a swipe that would've taken his head off. Max tried to put the mutant in a full nelson, but the guard threw him off. With Max on the ground, it attempted to impale the old man through the chest, but a fireball blew him away.
"Away from my family, monster! Maragi!" Yukiko focused her aim, nailing the guard with a multitude of small but fast fireballs. He was blown back to the edge of the walkway, he hissed at them as Gwen charged at him.
"I may not be able to use magic, but I can still kick butt!" She landed a kick square in his face, sending herself and the guard back to the lower area. Gwen did a roll to cushion her fall while the mutant fell ungracefully and hit the concrete. With him down on the ground, Yukiko took that as a chance to capitalize.
"Everyone! All-Out-Attack!"
THUMP!
WHAM!
BAM!
SLAM!
CRASH!
The Tennyson family wailed on the mutant guard, beating him until he couldn't move anymore. Seeing that the guard was knocked out, Max grabbed the firehouse on the wall to tie him up.
BOOM!
The loud explosion told them that the fight against the mummy was still going on. They quickly hurried back to make sure that Ben and the twins were alright.
Diamondhead sliced through the oncoming bandages to avoid getting wrapped up. He uppercutted the mummy, knocking it back towards the twins. Bella and Alice capitalized on it and threw a kick each. However, the mummy unwrapped itself to dodge their attack. It wrapped the twins up, banging them together before tossing them back at Diamondhead. The hero caught the two in his arms.
"This thing is freaking tough!" Bella groaned.
"There has to be some weakness we can use." Alice said.
"Whatever it may be, we need to-"
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
FLASH!
Without Diamondhead to hold them up, the girls fell on top of Ben. The three quickly got back up and faced the mummy, who noticed that Ben was no longer transformed. The mummy made a reach for Ben, but the twins blocked his attempts.
"Run!" They yelled.
Ben didn't waste time in getting away from the mummy and bumped into Max, who slapped a suit onto Ben. "Well, it isn't exactly my style but-"
CRASH!
"Gah!" Alice collapsed on the floor after getting tossed in between the two. The mummy grabbed Max and tossed the old man to the side, its attention still focused on getting Ben. He ran through the factory to avoid getting grabbed.
"Agi!" A fireball blasted the mummy back away from Ben. He looked over to see his cousins making their way towards him. The mummy hissed at the trio, firing bandages at the three for interfering. Yukiko burned the bandages away with her fire, forcing the mummy to retreat back in fear of getting burned to death. The creature looked to the side and noticed a gas tank that was in between the others and Ben. It shot forward and shot a few bandages towards the tank, confusing the Tennysons until it was too late. The tank exploded, forcing Ben's cousins to keep themselves away.
"Guys!" Ben yelled before the mummy wrapped him up in bandages. "Grandpa! Guys!" Ben screamed for help.
"BEN!" Yukiko was about to fire until Gwen stopped her.
"There's literal gas in the air, do not fire!" She yelled at Yukiko.
The mummy began tearing the suit off of Ben as the Corrodium was open to mutate the boy. Ben tried to fight back, but that's when the mummy wrapped bandages around the Omnitrix. This contact turned the dial from red to yellow, a mummy icon appearing on the watch's dial.
"The Omnitrix is sampling its DNA!" Max yelled.
"Ben, transform!" Kenny yelled.
"Time to fight mummy with mummy!" Ben declared, slapping the dial.
FLASH!
"Upgrade!? Oh man!" Upgrade whined before getting slapped towards a freezing machine. He climbed to his feet as the mummy slowly approached.
"Careful, Ben! That stuff is liquid nitrogen. It could freeze you solid in seconds!" Max warned his grandson. His warning gave Upgrade an idea, so he fused with the machine to use it as a weapon.
"Time to get you all fired up! Or cool you way down… permanently!" Upgrade fired the liquid nitrogen at the mummy, freezing the mummy solid before its bandages could reach him. "Anyone ask for an extra-large serving of mummy-ripple?"
After grabbing the twins, Upgrade used the machines in the factory to dig a hole into the ground and carefully lowered the mummy into it. Afterwards, he filled the hole with cement and Max padded it down to ensure no one would notice it. "Nice job, Ben. By the time the day shift begins, the concrete will be hard, and nobody will know a mummy-cicle is buried under there."
FLASH!
"KYAAAA!" Gwen screamed, causing everyone to jump. "The Corrodium turned Ben into a hideous mutant!" It didn't, Ben was his regular self. "Oh wait, that's how you always look."
"Well, Ben does always look a little funny." Yukiko thought out loud.
"What is that supposed to mean!?" Ben cried.
"It means you look weird, you weirdo." Bella clarified.
"Hahaha. Funny." Ben rolled his eyes. "Speaking of which, what about the mutant cows and guard?"
"Don't worry about them. They weren't exposed long enough for it to be permanent." Max said.
The Tennysons and twins left the factory, walking back to the Rustbucket. "Guess, we better head back to the farm to drop off the twins and I'm sure Joan has more chores for us to do." Max said. His grandkids stopped after hearing that and sighed.
"About that, Grandpa…" Max turned to see Gwen and Ben grab his arms. "Don't make us go back to that farm! Please!"
"I think we've learned our lesson about doing our chores. Anything to not be stuck doing all of that farm work even more." Kenny said. He really hated the smell and just how much work had to be put into maintaining a farm.
Yukiko sighed. "Even though I'm not as insistent about it as them, even I was at my wits end with all of that. Taking care of a farm is a lot different from managing an Inn. The smell is also disgusting and made me want to burn down that chicken coop all throughout the night."
Max didn't say anything before sighing in relief. "Oh, thank goodness! I forgot how much I hated working on uncle Jebadiah's farm when I was a kid! Now let's hurry and drop these two off before I get stuck with manure duty again!" Max hurried off to the Rustbucket with his grandkids laughing behind him.
The twins didn't understand why the Tennysons didn't like the farm so much, the two found it just fine. But they didn't focus on that for long. "Hey, Ben!" Bella called his name.
Ben turned around to face them. "What?"
Bella danced on her heels a bit, but one soft nudge from her sister got her talking. "I-I just wanted to say thanks for what you said earlier. Nobody other than our father had said that stuff to us, so thanks."
Ben smirked, soaking it all up. "No problem, but I'm not too sure anymore..."
"Eh?"
"In your case though, Bella. Your sister is pretty lady-like, but you're definitely a raging animal!"
Alice simply sighed and walked away towards the Rustbucket. She knew her sister had a crush, but the boy she decided to give that attention to had a lot of maturing to do.
SCRATCH!
"GAAAAAAHHHH!"
And so did her sister.
Chapter End
NOTE: I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. Let's get to the post-chapter discussion!
1. Alice and Bella. I brought them back because they appeared in a Halloween chapter, and this is a very spooky season of Ben 10. The two behave differently here than they did in the Halloween chapter, because beforehand they were just following Chris' plan. Here they are able to really show their own personalities and aren't having to follow a script. Do keep in mind that Chris killed lots of people before the Tennysons stopped him, meaning that his sentence in jail is a lot longer than most Ben 10 villains end up getting.
2. Yukiko's entire future basically involves doing chores on a daily, she has no issue doing it all if it means that she can help out her family.
3. Bella has a crush on Ben, how will that play into his future? Who knows. Just wait and see.
Next chapter will be a filler chapter! It's an important one and leads into our two-part finale! Both "The Return" and "Be Afraid of the Dark" will be a double upload, meaning they'll be uploaded on the same day. Look forward to that!
Have a great day!
