Ch.5: The Mute Girl
It was night time in the Imperial Capital and Ben was jumping from one roof to another as Blitzwolfer.
"How did I get myself into this," Blitzwolfer thought to himself as he remembered what happened earlier at the hideout.
(Flashback)
Everyone from Night Raid were gathered in the meeting room.
"Our next target is a man, named Konto. He runs a popular curio shop and even donates his money," explained Najenda.
"Another guy with a hidden face," asked Bulat.
"He arrived in the Capital around a year ago and his business is doing well, but his startup fund came from robberies across the country," explained Najenda while smoking one of her cigarettes.
"So, another creep with a dark past," commented Ben as he clenched his fists. "Sounds like an easy target, but I don't think we should underestimate him.
"Correct. He's got people all over the capital and has captured the attention of the Prime Minister," said Najenda as she looked at Ben. "Ben, I know that you can take care of yourself quite well from what the others told me. So, tonight I want you to go and patrol around the capital for any sigh of Konto and his men, got it?"
"Okay, but who's gonna make sure that Cleo goes to bed on time," asked Ben.
"You sure care for the little kid, don't ya," asked Leone.
"Well, when everything is over, I'm thinking of taking her with me. Mom and dad have always wanted to have a daughter, so they'll be more than happy to adopt her," said Ben. "Heck, I don't think they even know that they have 14 Necrofriggian grandchildren."
"And what do you mean by that," asked Bulat.
"Well, a few years ago, one of my aliens, Big Chill, went through its reproductive cycle and gave birth to 14 babies," said Ben, shocking everyone. "Don't give me that look. Both genders of Necrofriggians lay eggs once every 80 years."
"You just keep surprising us, don't you," asked Lubbock, earning a shrug from the teen hero.
"Okay, that's enough," said Najenda. "Ben, time for patrol."
"Sure thing," said Ben with a nod.
(End of Flashback)
"I've been patrolling for hours and still nothing! Just where is that guy," muttered Blitzwolfer with a sigh. However, just then his ears picked up the sound of thrashing, causing him to grin. "And here I thought tonight was gonna be boring." Blitzwolfer went to the direction the thrashing was coming from and stopped at the edge of a building as he looked down, and saw three men cornering a little girl. This infuriated the Loboan as he let out a small growl. "Not on my watch." Blitzwolfer jumped down and landed between the girl and the three men. "Back off, losers!"
The girl and the men could stare at the alien werewolf in shock.
"What the hell are you," asked one of the men.
"I'm Blitzwolfer and I'm the last thing that you'll ever see," said Blitzwolfer before unleashing his sonic howl, sending the men flying into the wall behind them. He then quickly slashed their chest with rapid succession with his claws, killing them. "And you better stay down." He then turned towards the girl, who was watching in shock. "Hey, are you okay?"
The girl could only nod as Blitzwolfer approached her as she fell on her butt and tried to scream, but no sound came out of her mouth, surprising the Loboan.
"Wait, you can't talk? That's unexpected," said Blitzwolfer as he looked at the girl. "Look, I don't have anything on me that I can give you to write, so do you wanna come with me, where you'll be safe? At least I hope so?"
The girl nodded and took Blitzwolfer's clawed hands in her own small and gentle ones.
"Najenda is gonna kill me for this," Blitzwolfer thought to himself as the Omnitrix then timed out, turning him back to Ben, much to the girl's shock. "I should've expected that." He then looked down at the little girl, who was still in shock. "I'll explain when we go somewhere safe, okay? Trust me."
The girl saw the look Ben was giving her and nodded.
"Great! Let's go," said Ben as he led the girl back to the hideout.
(Night Raid hideout)
"WHAT DID YOU DO," screeched Najenda after Ben returned with the girl.
The other members of Night Raid were standing behind Ben and weren't happy as well.
"Look, I know that bringing her here wasn't the best idea, but what other options did I have? Three guys were cornering her and I couldn't just stand there and watch," said Ben as he was sweating a little.
"Did you at least eliminate the men," asked Najenda with a sigh.
"A sonic howl and a few slashes later, and they were gone," said Ben. "I promise, they didn't stand a chance against Blitzwolfer."
"And what about the girl? Do you know her name and where she lives," asked Najenda as she gestured at the girl, who was hiding behind Ben.
"Actually, I don't and there's a good reason for that," said Ben.
"And that reason is," asked Akame.
"She's mute and can't talk," said Ben, surprising everyone.
"Well, that slightly changes things. If she can't talk, she can't reveal the location of our hideout to anyone," said Najenda.
"So, what shall we do with her," asked Lubbock.
"I may have an idea," said Ben. "But I'm gonna need a pen and a piece of paper. She may not be able to talk, but that doesn't mean she can't write, right?"
"You have a point there," said Najenda as she pulled out a pen and a piece of paper before handing them to the girl. "Alright, start writing!"
"I wouldn't use that tone," said Ben as he kneeled down and looked at the girl in the eyes and spoke in a gentle tone. "How about you start with telling us your name?" The girl nodded and wrote down here name before showing it to Ben. "Okay, so her name is Bea."
"At least we know her name, but what was she doing in the middle of night in the streets," wondered Mine and Bea wrote on the paper before handing it to Ben.
"Her mother was killed by some criminals a few days ago so she came here to look for her father. He owns a curio shop, but she doesn't know where it is," said Ben.
"Very well. She can stay here for the night and tomorrow, Lubbock will look for her father," informed Najenda before looking at the girl. "Now we have to figure out where you're gonna sleep."
"She can stay in my room," said a female voice as Cleo walked in. "It'll be nice to have someone around my age as company."
"It's settled then," said Najenda with a nod before looking at the rest of Night Raid. "Alright, everyone can go to bed now."
Everyone nodded and went to their respective rooms with Bea following Cleo to her room.
(The Next Day)
Everyone was asleep at sunrise until a loud boom was heard from outside and everyone got out of their respective beds, and went outside to see Cleo looking at the sky.
"Cleo, what's going on," asked Bulat.
"Oh, morning everyone. Ben was just taking Bea on a flight," said Cleo as she pointed up at the sky. Everyone looked up and saw a red blur flying around.
When the blur landed on the ground, everyone saw a red, humanoid manta ray-like alien with green eyes, black outlines on his face, yellow horns extending from his nose, gills underneath his arms, yellow patagia, and two black lightning bolt-like stripes coming down from his shoulders to the Omnitrix on his chest with the area being green and he also had black and green fingerless gloves. This was Ben's Aerophibian form he called Jetray.
"That was a good way to start the day," said Jetray as he looked at Night Raid. "Morning, guys."
"Ben, what are you doing," asked Leone.
"Bea was wondering which was my fastest alien so I took her for a flight up to the mountain," explained Jetray as he gestured at Bea, who was a little dizzy from the speed. "Now that I think about it, maybe I shouldn't have broken the sound barrier."
"There's no way you're that fast," said Lubbock in disbelief.
"What else can you do except flying fast," asked Akame.
"I can shoot neuroshock lasers from my eyes and my tail," explained Jetray as the Omnitrix timed out, turning him back to Ben.
"So Stinkfly and Whampire aren't your only aliens for aerial battles," asked Leone.
"Yeah. There's also Big Chill, AmpFibian, Heatblast, Whampire and a few others," said Ben. "But Jetray is my best flying alien."
"Fastest or not, you shouldn't have flown! What if someone saw you," scolded Mine.
"Don't worry, we went to the nearby mountain and back," Ben reassured the genius sniper.
"If you say so," said Mine with a huff.
"Ben, can you help Bea and I bathe at the nearby lake," asked Cleo.
"Sure, but let's eat some breakfast before that. All that flying made me hungry," said Ben with a nod before he entered the hideout, followed by Cleo, Bea and the rest of Night Raid.
(Later)
After breakfast, Ben, Cleo and Bea got to the nearby lake for a swim. However, Ben wasn't in his human form, but had transformed into Ripjaws before he got in the water and was teaching Bea how to swim.
"You're doing great, Bea," said Ripjaws as he held Bea's hands while she was propelling herself with kicks under the water.
Meanwhile, Cleo was floating on her back, enjoying herself as she looked at Ripjaws and Bea.
"Ben is so amazing. He's taking care of both Bea and I like we're his little sisters," Cleo thought to herself.
However, their time was ruined by Lubbock and Leone, who had come with some news.
"Hey, Ben, Cleo, Bea, come here," Leone called the trio out.
"Yeah, we have some major news," said Lubbock.
"We'll be right there," said Ripjaws as he grabbed the two girls and swam to his friends before jumping out of the water and landed in front of Leone and Lubbock. "So, what is it?"
"I managed to locate Bea's father from my shop," said Lubbock, surprising the trio as the Omnitrix timed out, turning Ripjaws back to Ben.
"You found her father," asked Ben with wide eyes.
"Yeah, we can reunite her with him whenever she's ready," said Leone as she looked at Bea. "So, little one. When are you gonna be ready to reunite with your father?"
Bea looked at Leone with wide eyes before she grabbed the notebook that Ben had given her and her pencil as wrote in it before showing it to Ben.
"This afternoon," said Ben as he read what Bea had written before looking at her. "Are you sure you're ready to reunite with your old man that soon?"
"Ben, she belongs with her father. You know that," said Lubbock.
"I know, I know. But I just have a bad feeling about it," said Ben.
"Why is that," asked Leone.
"Call it a hero's intuition," said Ben as he rubbed the back of his head before sighing. "Okay, if Bea wants to reunite with her father this afternoon, then I better accompany her at least to the exit of the forest. I'm the one, who found her after all."
"Sounds fair enough," said Leone.
(Later that day)
Ben was entering the kitchen where the rest of Night Raid and Cleo were after reuniting Bea with her father.
"I'm back. Bea and her father are together again," said Ben as he sat between Mine and Akame.
"I know it must be hard for you, but it was the right thing to do," said Najenda before she pulled out a photo. "Now, let's get down to business. We got a picture of Konto so we know how he looks like."
Ben and the others looked at photo that Najenda put on the table and the teen hero paled when he saw the man on the paper, which was noticed by Mine.
"What's with you," Mine asked the teen hero.
"This can't be right. Tell me this is a joke," said Ben as he looked at Najenda.
"It's not, but why are you acting like this," asked Najenda with confusion.
"Because this guy is Bea's father," said Ben before pausing in realization. "Bea's father is Konto and I just gave an innocent girl to a criminal!"
"Great and how are you gonna fix it," asked Leone.
"Simple. I'm gonna make him wish he was never born," said Ben in a determined tone while he was more concerned about Bea's safety.
"Do you think you can take Konto and his men down alone," asked Najenda with a smirk.
"I don't think. I know. I've seen them when I gave Bea to him and I won't even need to use a heavy–hitter," said Ben with determination.
"Very well, then go and kill him," instructed Najenda.
Without a word, Ben rushed out of the hideout, and activated the Omnitrix before cycling through his aliens and slammed the core down when he got to the one he wanted, engulfing him in green light. When the light faded, in Ben's place stood an alien that resembled a mix between a grasshopper and a praying mantis with significantly large three-jointed hind limbs. He had a green film connected to the tibia and tarsus of his legs. He had green skin, which has a hue, a large segmented horn on top of his head, and two smaller horns on the sides of his head where the eyes were placed. Each horn had three tiny spikes behind them. There were also three spikes on each forearm and the back of both tarsi on his legs. He had two sharp fingers, a thumb on each hand, and two light-colored claw-like toes on his feet along with one on the back. His chin was quite small with two lines, he has gill-like structures under his armpits, and his segmented neck extended from a green collar that is fused with the torso. He also wore a suit that represented green overalls with three black stripes and a green tip. The green stripe on his stomach had a large green hexagonal patch where the Omnitrix symbol was located and a smaller white stripe. This was Ben's Orthopterran form he called Crashhopper.
"Crashhopper," exclaimed the Orthopterran before using his large legs to bounce away towards the capital to safe Bea.
It didn't take Crashhopper to reach the capital as he landed on the edge of a rooftop and looked down through a window at one of the buildings, and saw Bea and her father having dinner.
"Hmm, everything is normal," muttered Crashhopper. "For now."
He kept watching until Bea's father jumped at her and started choking her. This caused Crashhopper to grit his teeth and slammed the Omnitrix symbol, switching to another alien.
(With Bea and her father)
Bea couldn't believe what was happening as her father was glaring down at her while choking her.
"Tell me where have you been, you little brat! Don't pretend that you can't talk," shouted her father, Konto. "I know you've been hiding somewhere, so tell me where and I won't send you to the prime minister!"
The little girl's eyes widened. She has heard about the ruthlessness of the prime minister and how evil he was from Ben and the rest of Night Raid. And right now, she wished she had stayed with them if this is what her father was like. When she left her life fading away, the lights of the apartment went out, which caught Konto's attention.
"What the hell," asked Konto in confusion.
"Hurting your own daughter? That's the kind of people I hate the most," said a mysterious voice.
"Who's there? Show yourself," demanded Konto.
"I'm up here, freak," said the voice.
Konto looked up before a large creature tackled him and bit him in the neck, causing him to let go of Bea, before getting thrown through a wooden chair.
Bea looked at her savior and saw a humanoid vampire–like standing between her and her father, but then noticed a familiar symbol on the vampire's stomach and smiled, knowing that Ben had come to her rescue.
"Who the hell are you," asked Konto as he got back to his feet.
"The name's Whampire and I'm gonna make you pay for attempting to murder your daughter," said Whampire as he stood protectively in front of Bea.
"How did you know she's my daughter," asked Konto, confused, before coming to a realization. "Hold on, you're that boy, who returned Bea to me, aren't you?"
"Well at least you're not stupid," said Whampire with narrowed eyes.
"So you have Imperial Arms that can transform you into a monster, huh? The Prime Minister will want to talk to you," said Konto with a sinister look.
"Sorry, but my schedule is full. And the Omnitrix is alien technology, not an Imperial Arms. However, I am an assassin," sneered Whampire.
"Wait, so you're part of Night Raid," asked Konto in shock.
"Yeah unfortunately for you," said Whampire before pressing the Omnitrix symbol, changing into a different alien in a green light.
When the light faded, in Whampire's place was a blue jellyfish-like alien with white swipes on his body resembling lightning streaks, a main body with three-segmented skirt-like parts for his head, chest and abdomen, and six long pointy tentacles. His green were large with prominent black outlining. The Omnitrix symbol was on his mouth. This was Ben's Amperi form he called AmpFibian.
"AmpFibian," exclaimed the Amperi as his tentacles sparkled.
"So you can turn into more than one monster," asked Konto in shock.
"Yeah, and now I'm gonna give you a bigger shock to your system," said AmpFibian as he fired a thunderbolt at Konto, which caused him to scream in pain.
Bea could only watch as AmpFibian electrocuted her father, but she didn't stop him as her father tried to kill her less than 3 minutes ago.
AmpFibian stopped his thunderbolt before flying at Konto and electrocuted him by phasing through him.
"Face it, jerk. There's nothing you can do against AmpFibian, so why don't I just stay down," asked AmpFibian as he glared at Konto
"I won't be defeated. I'll take you and my pathetic daughter to the Prime Minister, and then I'll find the rest of your Night Raid," said Konto as he barely got back to his feet.
"Dude, if anyone is pathetic, it's you," said AmpFibian before wrapping his tentacles around Konto and electrocuted him with a bigger discharge.
Konto scream in pain as he was being electrocuted by AmpFibian before he felt his life leaving him. He slightly opened his left eye to look at the Amperi one final time before his body went limp.
AmpFibian noticed Konto's life fading away and ended the electrocution, letting the man's body to hit the floor.
"That's what you get when you mess with Night Raid and abuse your daughter," said AmpFibian as he went up to Bea, who was watching with wide eyes. "He didn't hurt you too much, did he, Bea?"
The little girl looked at AmpFibian and shook her head before glancing at her dead father, who was about kill her and narrowed her eyes, not feeling sad at all. As far she knew, Ben showed her more love and care for one day than her father had for a few hours.
"Good to know. Now, let's get out of here," said AmpFibian before he pressed the Omnitrix symbol on his mouth, changing into a different alien in a bright green light.
When the light faded, in AmpFibian's place was an alien that resembled a cross between a Pterodactyl and a glider. He had a large yellow beak-like mouth, green eyes, red skin, black and green clothing on his shoulders and waist, green braces around his wrists and ankles, and small, yellow wings that resembled a glider in appearance which were connected to a 'jetpack'-like structure on his back. The Omnitrix was on his left shoulder. This was one of Ben's new aliens, which he called Astrodactyl.
"Astrodactyl," exclaimed Astrodactyl before looking at Bea. "You ready to fly?"
The little girl nodded before Astrodactyl picked her up and flew out of the window towards the hideout.
However, they were spotted by a teen boy with brown hair and green eyes.
"What the hell is that thing? Is it a Danger Beast," wondered the boy as he watched Astrodactyl flying away. "I sure hope Sayo and Ieyasu are okay wherever they are."
(Night Raid's hideout)
Astrodactyl landed in front of the hideout and went inside as the Omnitrix timed out, turning him back to Ben. The teen hero and Bea went to the meeting room, where only Najenda, Akame and Mine were present.
"I'm back, guys," said Ben, getting their attention. "It's done. Konto is dead."
"Excellent work, Benjamin," said Najenda with a proud smile before looking at Bea, who was clinging onto Ben's leg. "I see you got Bea out of there as well."
"Yeah, I couldn't just leave her there," said Ben. "With both of her parents gone, there's nobody else to take care of her."
"I wouldn't be so sure," said a voice as a blue portal opened from which Professor Paradox came out from.
"Professor Paradox? What are you doing back here so soon," asked Ben in confusion.
"Just because I'm not here doesn't mean that I'm not keeping an eye on you, Ben," said Paradox before looking at Bea. "Anyway, this time I'm here for this young girl."
"Why would you be here for her," asked Akame.
"She doesn't belong here. She's too innocent to remain in this dimension. That's why I have the solution," explained Paradox.
"And that solution is," asked Najenda with a raised eyebrow.
"I'll take her to Ben's world. She'll be safe there, plus Azmuth could come up with something to fix her speaking problem," said Paradox.
"Okay, but where will she stay? The Plumbers' HQ," asked Ben.
"That was my first thought, but I think she'll be safer if she stays with your parents," said Paradox, surprising Ben. "You said it yourself that your parents have always wanted a daughter and now they'll have one."
"Let me ask her," said Ben as he kneeled down and looked at Bea. "Bea, would you like to go with Professor Paradox? He'll take you to my home dimension. You'll be staying with my parents. They're really nice and I'm sure they'll love you as their own daughter."
Bea looked thoughtful for a moment before nodding with a smile, hoping that Ben's parents were as nice as he was.
"I'll take that as a yes," said Ben before looking at Paradox. "She'll come with you.
"Excellent," said Paradox with a smile as Bea went up to him and he opened a portal before looking back at Ben. "She'll be waiting for you when the war is over. She's gonna be your little sister after all."
"Yeah, I know," said Ben with a smile before Bea ran up to him and gave him a tight hug, which he returned. "I'll see you soon, little sister."
Bea pulled away from the hug before kissing him on the cheek and went up to Professor Paradox.
"She's in good hands, Ben. Don't worry about a thing. And I almost forgot, your guest is about to wake up," said Paradox before he and Bea disappeared through the portal.
"Who was he talking about," asked Mine.
"I have no idea," said Ben when a doctor came into the room.
"Excuse me, but miss Sayo is awake," said the doctor.
"Of course! Sayo! With everything that's been going on recently, I almost forgot about her," said Ben.
"Well, let's not keep her waiting," said Najenda. "She needs to know everything that's happened."
"Okay, but what are we gonna tell her? I mean, one of her friends is dead and the other is who–knows–where," said Ben.
"We'll tell her the truth and see how she reacts," said Najenda.
"Okay, but who's gonna tell her," asked Ben.
"You're the one, who brought her here, so I think it should be you," said Mine much to Ben's annoyance.
"And what did you want me to do? Let her die," asked Ben.
"That's enough both of you," said Akame in a stern tone as she held Murasame between Ben and Mine. "We're all going to tell her."
"Akame is right. Now, let's move," said Najenda as she went to the medical bay, followed by Ben, Mine and Akame. "I swear, sometimes Ben and Mine are acting like a married old couple."
To be continued…
Hey, everyone. Here's the 5th chapter of the story. Now, this chapter is a filler one. Bea and Konto are my OCs. However, Tatsumi made a cameo appearance in this chapter and Sayo is also awake. In the next chapter, Tatsumi will reunite with Sayo and meet the rest of Night Raid, and Seryu will make her first appearance. Also, the fight against Seryu is after that, but will be a lot different than the manga and anime thanks to Ben joining in, so stay tuned for that.
R&R
