News Recruits

Moka, Tsukune and the others stood outside the front gates of Yokai Academy as they began to hand out their current edition of the Yokai Times. "Special Edition: Monster Terrorists Hide Out In Abandoned School Dungeons" read the title causing lots of conversation to come from the students who would grab the paper. "A group of thieves invaded Yokai Academy!" Moka called out, "That same day the legendary Monster Killer: The Ghost Rider takes them down!" Many of the students were skeptical, of course, but most seemed convinced when they saw the pictures provided.

"No way, they have to be lying!" One student argued.

"No way man, these guys ran into the Rider last year while in the human world. It must have come back to take them out, but got sidetracked by those thieves."

Tsukune handed out papers with a smile as they seem to be flying off the shelves. But inside he was secretly trying to hold everything together. Okay, it's been two days. he rationalized, But I still can't stop thinking about that guy. I mean, he had taken all of Moka's power. If he did that any sooner we could have died! The skull face of the Ghost Rider quickly flashed in his mind and a shiver was sent all over his body, Ugh. I wish I could get that face out of my head. Why does a good guy have to look so scary? Tsukune looked around the table and noticed a distinct lack of American pride. "Where the hell is Ben?" he asked.

Ruby rubbed the back of her head, "He said he had some errands to run."

Kurumu overheard the two and cocked an eyebrow in interest, "Errands? How would you know that?"

"Well, I was running the student store last week and I happened to see him come in. He seemed very distraught as he looked for something. I can't say what. So he asked me if I could perhaps procure his special order from the human world." she explained, "So I told him that if he paid me triple what it costs I'd sneak it in for him." she smiled.

Kurumu and Tsukune looked at each other and laughed, "Ruby, that's like, extortion." Kurumu mentioned.

"Huh?"

"Yeah," Tsukune added, "You are asking for more money by threatening not to get him the item. Not only are you extorting him, you're running a black market business."

"What!?" Ruby began to sweat slightly now, "I didn't know what I was doing was illegal!"

Once the morning was over the Newspaper Club went back to their club room to celebrate their success on a great first paper. Drinks (non-alcoholic of course) were spread around the table as Tsukune, Moka, Kurumu, Yukari, Mizore and even Ruby raised their cans, "CHEERS!" they shouted out. "Great work everyone." Kurumu added, "Our first issue was extremely popular, I'm so happy!"

"It's nice to see the fruits of our labor really made it, huh?" Tsukune added, "Moka and Ben's great illustrations and Yukari's layout look fantastic." he complimented. Moka and Yukari blushed as they said their thanks.

Kurumu pouted and, not wanting to be left behind, clung to Tsukune's arm and begged for attention, "Tsukune, c'moooooon. Praise me too. Just look at my cool cooking corner column I did."

"Mm, my novel series too." Mizore mumbled.

At the corner of the room stood a very disheveled Kokoa who flipped through the pages over and over looking for any mention of her sister, "Isn't this weird though? I mean there isn't a single mention of big sis anywhere! She took out those thieves not that human in monster's clothing!" she sighed as she folded the paper, "And I wanted to see that heroic figure covering the front page."

Kurumu leaned over the table to Yukari, "Make a note to have Ben do a pin-up of 'Inner' Moka." she whispered. Yukari's eyes beamed and she gave a thumbs up as blood trickled down her nose. "Anyways," Kurumu started as she stood up suddenly, "That's alright isn't it? The purpose isn't to praise those who fought. Ben even made it explicitly clear that despite how good the deeds may be we shouldn't applaud the Rider for killing them." Kurumu frowned, "By the way, Kokoa...why are you here?"

Kokoa jolted slightly, "Uh...that's..."

"Kokoa, is it..." Yukari smiled smugly, "That you want to join the Newspaper club?" Kokoa couldn't say anything in response causing the rest of the members to gasp in surprise.

Suddenly Yukari and Kurumu cheered as they got up and in Kokoa's face, "Whaaaaat? Why didn't you say so earlier!? We haven't had any freshman to join yet!" Kurumu exclaimed.

"You're welcome to join right away!" Yukari cheered, "Finally, I get an underclassman." very quickly the members pulled a sign from out of nowhere that said 'Welcome to the Club!' They also were able to pull out confetti poppers at the blink of an eye.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Kokoa shouted with a light blush on her face, "W-Why the hell would I want to join this stupid club? I am a proud vampire, I have no reason for trivial things." she folded her arms and frowned, "T-The real reason I'm here is because that American told me 'Anytime, Anywhere' when it came to a challenge." Moka could hear her Inner self groaning in frustration. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door and the group saw a messy looking Ben with a large handprint on his face, and headphones blasting My Own Worst Enemy. Looking up more the group saw that Ben had re-dyed his hair blond.

"Oh he's back!" Tsukune shouted as he was the first to greet Ben with a very loud high five, "Throwbacks have started and it isn't even Thursday!"

"Hell yeah, I'm bringing the 90's back baby!" Ben shouted with a quick flex.

"Where the hell have you been?" Kurumu asked, "And what's with the hand print on your face? You hit on someone."

"I caught a girl who tripped, but she mistook it as me trying to cop a feel I guess." Ben explained with a shrug.

"Obviously they've never met you." Mizore mentioned as she dug through her bag for something.

Kokoa scoffed, "It's probably because of your degenerate hair."

Ben looked over to the young vampire and smiled, "Are you joining the club?" Ben asked causing Kokoa to be speechless once again. Ben bent forward slightly and patted Kokoa's head, "That's really awesome, you know the Newspaper Club is full of badasses. We are arguably the strongest club around." he laughed, "So, what's the reason for joining? Is it Moka? Tsukune? Do you just want to do as little work as possible? Or perhaps..." Ben pointed at himself with a large smile, "You just wanted to see me again."

Kurumu burst out laughing, "As if, Ben! You're chick repellent!"

"Well duh!" Ben retorted, "Have you seen my face. I'm not nearly average looking enough to have a harem. Hell, because I'm a foreigner that makes me too unique and I'll never get bodacious babes that way."

"'Bodacious Babes?'" Ruby repeated with a chuckle.

"I watched Bill and Ted recently." he explained.

"Here it is." Mizore said suddenly, popping up in front of Ben and Kokoa, "I'll be joining the club." she said as she handed Tsukune her application, "I wasn't an official member last year so I thought this would fix things."

Ben tilted his head in thought, "Wait...you weren't a member last year? But you were always chilling (heh heh) around the classroom when we were setting up our paper."

"Yeah, that's what UNOFFICIAL means. She was a member in...uh...in spirit." Moka laughed. Why even give him a response? He seems to want to prove himself first. Let him PROVE how smart he is. After all, that's WHAT HE THINKS IS BEST. The venom from Moka's Inner self was so volatile that if she was out of her seal she likely would be tearing Ben a new one.

"Kinda uncool to bring that up in front of everyone." Ben mumbled.

"OH!" Ruby quickly sat up from the table and rushed to Tsukune with an application in hand, "I too would like to join the club!"

"YOU'RE NOT EVEN A STUDENT, THOUGH!" both Tsukune and Ben yelled out.

Ruby waved her hand back and forth with a sweet smile on her face, "It's okay, it's okay. I have permission from the headmaster. As thanks for helping the Ghost Rider he allowed me to become the 'Assistant Advisor!'" she exclaimed.

"You didn't do anything!" Kokoa complained, "She didn't do anything. Tell her human!" she said while shaking Ben, "Tell her it was all big sis!" Ben grabbed Kokoa's arms and made her let go of him.

"We don't do it for the glory." Ben said, echoing what Kurumu mentioned earlier. Ben then leaned over to Kokoa and whispered in her ear, "She only wants to join because she's trying to get in Tsukune's pants."

"This is amazing!" Tsukune cheered, "Ruby, Mizore and Kokoa too?"

"I told you, I'm not joining!" Kokoa complained again. She suddenly jumped into Ben's arms when Ms. Nekonome appeared out of nowhere carrying a bottle that looked to be sparkling cider and was wearing a cheerleader's outfit.

"Welcome to the cluuuuub!" Nekonome cheered. Her out fit exposed a lot of midriff making all the members to give a surprised expression.

"Ms. Nekonome, what the hell are you wearing?" Tsukune asked.

"Isn't it cuuute," Nekonome smiled, "Uh...I mean, it's, like, super fab."

"You're a gal?" Kurumu asked.

"Best of all, the outfit makes me feel thirty years younger!" Nekonome cheered as she held her hands up like a cat and lightly scratched her ear.

Ben, with a slight blush (he has a cat girl fetish) looked at Nekonome with wide eyes, "You're 47?" Looking damn good. Ben thought. He quickly held his hand up to his face to catch the cork Nekonome launched at him from the sparkling cider. She had an extremely upset, "You dropped this." Ben smiled.

Nekonome sighed, "Anyways. As a club we can't grow without any newcomers. So without a new generation our club will die out." she gave a slight frown, "Which meeeeans...our club isn't quite safe yet. So we should go out there and start scouting!"

"But we're celebrating!" Tsukune complained.

"Ohhh...I don't think this is a good idea." Ben said with a nervous smile. The other members gave him a weird look, "I'm not exactly on good terms with the..." Ben quickly pulled out a notepad and went through all the clubs he had beef with, "Art club, Video Game club, Wrestling club, Make Up club...uh...Women's Rights club, Sci-Fi club, Baseball club, Swimming club, Weight Training club and the 'Inner Moka Appreciation club, formerly known as the Moka, Kurumu, and Yukari fan club' club. That's uh...that's it's whole name." the girls cringed at the last name because they knew exactly who he was talking about.

"Wait...how do you have beef with all those clubs? I mean, you didn't even fight the Swimming club like Moka and Tsukune did." Kurumu mentioned.

"Ah, guilty by association. Art club is mad at me and Moka because we left them without an advisor and they were shut down until the start of this year. I beat the President of the Video Game club using a dirty tactic in Street Fighter 2 and she wasn't happy. I beat the shit out of Chopper Rikishi last year and the Wrestling club hasn't forgiven me. I apparently made fun of the vice president of the Make Up club, some gyaru chick. I corrected some dude in the Sci-Fi club and he wasn't having it. I broke the Homerun Record in Baseball club. And the Weight Training club doesn't like me because...I don't know."

Yukari was counting on her fingers but still had a confused look on her face, "Wait...what about that Women'd Rights club?"

"Oh...remember how I said I tried to help some girl from falling? Turns out she was the president."

Someone's good at making friends.

"I don't want to hear that from you, Ms. Anti-social." Ben retorted.

"AHEM!" Nekonome coughed to gain her students' attention, "Chop, chop team. We're burning daylight!"

The Newspaper club quickly went down to the main corridors of the school where they could see practically every nook and cranny is full of students. As Ben looked around he tried to avoid eye contact with the different clubs he was feuding with. Damn, this place is more packed than the New York subway. Ben turned and nearly ran Keito, "Oh, Jesus!"

"Oh, hello Reilly." Keito greeted.

"Hey, what's up? Um...why are you here?" he asked, "You gonna tie up anyone that gets out of line?"

"Actually I'm here specifically because of you." Keito said with a glare that could cut dimensions. Keito pulled out a large folder from her bag and flips through the pages, "Let's see, we've had several complaints about you just today."

"Oh come on, I was trying to catch that girl. It's not my fault I accidentally grabbed her chest. How the hell would I know where I was grabbing anyways? She's damn near concave." Keito had to restrain herself from almost laughing at the description.

"Well, I don't want to hear about it again. We get any more sexual harrassment reports like this you'll have to deal with the Enforcers."

Keito began to walk away and Ben was left dumbfounded, "Sexual harass--? What the fuck!?"

"When the hell did this school get so crowded!?" Tsukune asked as he struggled to get through the crowd. He yelped in surprise when he felt someone touch his butt, thinking it was one of the girls he turned around to complain but saw it was Ben, "Oh geez...no wonder you have so many complaints."

"Fuck you dude, I was pushed." Ben retaliated. Ben then snickered as he poked Tsukune's sides causing him to laugh and bat Ben's hand away.

"Stop, fucking weirdo." Tsukune laughed.

"Remember everyone," Nekonome called out as she marched ahead of the club, "like everybody else we are supposed to be scouting for new members today. So let's do our best!" the girls all cheered with Nekonome, except for Kokoa who was forced to put on a cheerleader's outfit and try to get members, despite her not being one herself.

"W-What is this?" Kokoa whined as she trembled with embarrassment, tears starting to well up in her eyes as she, a mighty vampire, is reduced to dress up. "C'mon, how come I, a non-member, have to wear this costume? Why do I have to wear such embarrassing attire?" Kokoa flailed her arms as she complained, "I'd rather wear that American's stupid suit!"

"Yo!" Ben looked at Kokoa with an upset expression, "Don't dis the threads."

"And what about my sister!?" Kokoa complained, "Have you no shame!" Yukari and Kokoa looked over to Moka who smiled as she tried to get new members.

Yukari laughed, "You know, maybe you should drop your pride act every now and then and just have fun. Just look at Moka." Yukari laughed.

"What the hell do you know about me? And how the hell will sex appeal attract new members?" As Kokoa said that the club members were bombarded with a large group of boys, many were freshman but there were also some older students who considered switching clubs just for the girls. As they got closer all Kokoa could hear was them praising the girls over and over and then they started to praise her by calling her cute. The Praise was unwarranted, and Kokoa's heart began beating faster and faster, I-I hate this. she thought, I didn't ask to do this I just...I... she quickly looked over to her sister and then to Ben. Ben locked eyes with her and Kokoa turned away in embarrassment, he definitely saw the tears falling down her face. "No! There isn't a chance in hell I'm joining this damn club!" Kokoa cried as she jumped in the air and sped away.

"Huh? Kokoa!" Yukari called out. Ben grabbed her shoulder and smiled.

"I've got her." Ben assured. With that he pointed his arm in the air and fired a web line so he could swing after Kokoa.

Kokoa escaped the hustle and bustle of club rush by going to the rooftop of the academy where, thankfully, nobody was. She stood atop one of the spires and sighed as she looked over the school, "Who cares about stupid clubs." she mumbled with a frown, "I don't have time for stuff like that. Right Kou? Ypu understand don't you?" Kou, her familiar hovered over her before resting on her shoulder with an equally upset expression. I guess...they were pretty cool that time in the dungeon. And...that American has some moves.

"Hey!" Kokoa turned around to see Ben scaling the spire towards her, "Kokoa, I'm glad I caught up with you." Kokoa frowned at the site of the American, I take it back. He's annoying. "Hey, why'd you take off like that? Is everything alright?"

"Who cares. This isn't about you. Just...just leave me alone." Kokoa turned to walk away but jumped in surprise when Ben was in front if her, "What the?" she looked behind her and then back to Ben, "How did you do that?"

Ben looked around the area to make sure no one was listening and then leaned to Kokoa's ear, "Ancient spider secret." he whispered. Kokoa groaned and shoved past Ben, but he grabbed her arm to stop her from leaving, "Hey, c'mon. Tell me what's up."

"Let go!" Kokoa yelled and immediately Ben loosened his grip, "God, you're annoying. Take a hint. I can't get anywhere following you losers. I'll never catch up to my sister that way."

"Ahhhhh," Ben hummed as he walked side by side with the younger vampire, "An inferiority complex." she went to protest but Ben stopped her, "No, I get it. Seriously, I do. I always feel inferior to my deceased brother because I have no basis on how good I'm doing my job. My other brother pretty much treats me like crap more often than not. And, yeah, I feel that way about your sister too." Kokoa cocked an eyebrow, "No seriously! Last year your sister and I beat the ever living shit out of anybody who dared oppose our club, and/or tried to kill us...sometimes both!" he laughed, "Since then I've just wanted to be as strong as her. But she doesn't see me as a worthy opponent. I can tell by the way she holds back against me." Ben looked at her and he could see in her eyes the same determination he has, "But I can't give up! I have to keep getting stronger, to prove that I can roll with the strongest of monsters."

"Yeah, good luck with that." Kokoa mumbled, "You're a human. And humans can't beat vampires. That's just a matter of fact."

Ben nodded his head, "Hm, interesting. What's our score right now? 0-3 me?"

"Shut the fuck up, human!" she yelled with a blush, "You just got lucky is all."

"Kid, if I could get lucky with the same woman three times in a row I'd marry her." Kokoa shrugged her shoulders with a confused expression, "I'm talking about sex."

"Oh god. That sounds desperate."

"Yeah, well, I'm gonna die at like 40 so...might as well live a full life."

"Why the hell are you telling me these things?" Kokoa asked, "Why tell me your life story? Who cares?"

Ben stepped in front of her so she was facing him, "Because you and I are the same. We have the same eyes."

"Hm, nice try, by my eyes are emerald and yours are blue."

Ben flicked her head and chuckled, "That's not what I meant, smartass. You and I have the eyes of someone who's determined. We both wish to be better than our siblings, because we have something to prove to them...right?"

Kokoa's lower lip began to tremble before the waterworks began to flow out, "This isn't fair!" she sobbed, "I'm no good...and...and my sister will just leave me behind like they always dooooo!"

Ben patted Kokoa's shoulder, "Then let's get you stronger."

Kokoa and Ben walked along the school grounds looking for a club Kokoa could join that'd help her combat prowess. "Now," Ben smacked his lips as he ate Takoyaki that was being sold by the Cooking club to attract members, "as I've said before, you have no hand-to-hand skills. Therefore you should join one of these martial arts clubs." Ben licked his fingers and continued, "You've got all sorts of choices and I'll be here to back you up so...have at it." Kokoa and Ben looked on at the Karate club stand where the members took turns breaking through tombstones.

"WOW HE BROKE TEN TOMBSTONES!" one of the freshman shouted out in surprise.

"As expected of the Yokai High Karate club." another chimed in.

"Is that a lot?" Kokoa asked. She looked at Ben in disgust as he shoved more food in his mouth.

"I don't know. I usually don't make my opponent some dead guy's grave." Ben joked. "Go ahead, take your pick. These guys are generally the real deal. Hell, I guess Kurumu and Mizore trained with a few of them during our break." Kokoa blinked in surprise, "Look. You're a vampire. You're stronger than pretty much everyone out there regardless how much you train. But you can be stronger and you can be more precise, so...have at it."

Kokoa cocked her eyebrow, "So...you DON'T want me to join the Newspaper club?"

"I'm not gonna force you to do anything. I'm not your father. Just...you'll see." Kokoa looked down and then back to Ben before nodding. Kokoa made her way through the large crowd of, maybe not so surprisingly, all male potential applicants. Eventually she made it to a counter to sign up for one of the clubs.

"Sorry, no can do." the man running the counter said. He was a skinny student, looked to be a second year. He had a basic bowl cut and wore the same expression that made him look like the mask seller from Majora's Mask. The only other defining feature was the purple lines that were painted below his pupils. Kokoa had a shocked expression, but Ben nodded as if he knew this would happen. "Our club has is very strict. We just won't let in a cute girl." Kokoa stomped her foot in frustration. Doesn't look like you'll let in any women. Ben thought as he looked around the clubs. "More than that," the attendant continued, "You're just too small." a crack was heard from the Karate club member breaking another ten stack of tombstones, causing Kokoa to jump. "Why don't you come back when you can break one tombstone girly."

"Done, she can do it. I know first hand." Ben spoke up.

Kokoa, thanks to the confidence boost, began to get pumped up, "Hell yeah! I'll show you what I'm made of!"

"Great. One try is one thousand yen." the man smiled. Kokoa's eyes widened as she pulled out her wallet only to find she had no cash. Extortion, nice. Ben thought as he rolled his eyes. "Best part," the man walked up to the club member who kept breaking all the tombstones, "If you manage to break more than this behemoth here you'll win 50,000 yen." Oh, gambling too? Talk about a real piece of work.

Kokoa grumbled and began grinding her teeth in frustration, "Fine...I'll just try out a different club. C'mon, American!"

Kokoa began to leave but Ben lingered behind and stared at the man running the Karate club stall, "You guys are real pieces of shit, ain't ya?" he mentioned before following Kokoa.

Ben and Kokoa then went to other martial arts and fighting clubs and as they did Kokoa would be thrown out of each one of them for the same reasons the Karate club turned her away. "Dammit!" Kokoa whined, "Every club keeps throwing me out because I look like a kid!"

"Except Wrestling club. Pretty sure they threw you out because you were hanging around me. My bad." Ben apologized. He looked over to Kokoa who had tears well up in her eyes. Ben looked around and saw all the people that were around them. Thinking quickly he grabbed Kokoa and ran off away from the crowds. The two made it back to the rooftop of the school and rested on the railing.

"Why the hell did you grab me like that! I didn't give you permission to touch me." Kokoa shouted as she kept pounding Ben in the back.

"I didn't think you'd want people to see your pride so crushed." Ben explained. Kokoa stopped and a light blush was on her face, "I could see that some emotions were on the verge of coming out and...well, if it was me I know I wouldn't want to show someone unless I was really close to them." Ben looked at Kokoa who's expression that he saw earlier hadn't changed, "Come here, why don't you tell me what's up."

"Why, I barely know you." Kokoa scoffed.

"Yeah but...I'm willing to listen." Kokoa squinted and slowly made her way to Ben before taking a seat on the railing. "Good. So, what's up? What's on your mind that is strong as to nearly destroy your pride"

Kokoa brought her knees close to her chest. She stayed quiet for some time before she gained the courage to speak, "Ever since I was little, my sisters would always give me a hard time. They all treated me like a child, not even acknowledging me as a peer." she sobbed, "But not just my sisters...but my mother and father. Nobody bothered to pay any attention to me. But Moka...Moka always treated me like a peer, like an equal. Even though she was always stronger than me she always believed in us being on the same plane." she wiped the tears from her face, "That's why I have to get stronger, so that I can face my sister and show we truly are equals, not just as siblings, but as opponents too. Then...maybe then the rest of my family will accept me too."

Ben nodded and he smiled, "Good. Sounds like you have resolve. C'mon!" he patted Kokoa on her shoulder, "Let's go back to the Karate club so you can show them what's up."

"Wait, but what about what they said?"

"Fuck them!" Ben yelled out catching Kokoa off guard, "You're a fucking vampire, the strongest most hardcore number 1 badass of all monsters! It doesn't matter what you look like because you will wipe the floor with them! And if they give you a hard time...then I'll take care of it." Ben held out his hand, "Think of this as a manager-client relationship. I get you the job, you perform. Deal?" Kokoa squinted her eyes before she reached out and grabbed Ben's hand and shook. "Let's rock, baby."

Ben and Kokoa arrived back at the Karate club booth where they watched contestant after contestant fail and breaking even one tombstone. "Tell me, Kokoa. What do you notice?"

"Uh...these guys are weak?" she responded with a shrug.

"Look past the losers. What do you notice about the club members' tombstones and the contestants' tombstones?" Ben asked as he pointed to the slabs of rock.

"Um..." Kokoa thought until she saw a club member get on stage and the stones they gave him were lighter than the one's the contestants used, "Hey, his tombstones are lighter right? Does that mean his rocks are weaker?" she looked to Ben and he only smiled. "What rock would they use?"

"I bet they are using concrete for theirs but are giving people concrete mixed with a harder stone like granite." Ben mentioned. "C'mon, let's show 'em what you're made of." Ben and Kokoa walked up to the stage and the man from before tried to stop them.

"Hey, we told you we don't take kids. Just take your little sister her and--AGH!" he was cut off when Ben grabbed his collar and pulled him forward.

"Now listen here," Ben started with a menacing tone, "I know what you're doing. You're extorting naive freshman for money and you are doing it unfairly. You're cheating by using stronger stones on the contestants."

"Heh," the man chuckled, "You have no proof of this."

Ben nodded, "Hm. You're right. However, I do have proof that you guys are technically gambling. Which, if I may remind you, is illegal if you are underage. All it takes is for me to make one call to The Enforcers and your club will be shut down faster than a Crane Kick."

"What, you're gonna narc?" the man scoffed.

"Of course not. I'll just out you in the papers." Ben smiled before holding his hand, "Ben Reilly, Newspaper club."

The man slumped his shoulders in disappointment, "Ahhh, shit." Almost immediately the crowd was cheering in astonishment as Kokoa had punched through thirteen tombstones. "T-T-That's impossible. She should have-"

"Should have what? Suna Moru?" the man's eyes widened in surprise when Ben used his name.

"Ugh...Nothing." he averted his gaze as Kokoa jumped up and down cheering.

Kokoa turned to Moru with a cheeky smile, "And with that I'll be taking the 50,000." she said with a wink. She collected the money from the disgruntled club members and left with Ben and a pep in her step.

One of the Karate club members looked on at Kokoa and Ben as the walked away, "Uh...Boss? What's the plan?"

Moru growled in annoyance as he grinded his teeth, "Damn Newspaper club." he mumbled, "We break 'em! Get the Prez."

"That was great!" Kokoa shouted in excitement, "I didn't think I could actually do it, but..." she laughed and couldn't finish her sentence.

"I knew you could. So what did you learn?" Ben asked.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Kokoa asked a confused expression adorned on her face, "I broke some rocks. I didn't learn anything." Ben sighed at her response, Guess she didn't get the point.

"Now that was really something!" Kokoa jumped in surprise at the sudden voice. Turning around both her and Ben saw Moru and the big Karate club member who was breaking stones earlier. "What a show of strength, how about you join the club after all, huh? Could be beneficial. The club has a lot of pull around here."

Kokoa went to say something but stopped as Ben stepped in front of her, "Why the hell would she join you?" Ben asked, "Why would she join a bunch of sleazy, rude, cheating weaklings like yourselves?" he laughed, "You did nothing but give her a hard time and make fun of her size, not even thinking about how you'd make her feel. I don't speak for her personally, but why the hell would she join a bunch of low lifes who have done nothing but belittle her and steal from others."

Kokoa looked at Ben and then back to the Karate club members. He's right. she thought, If I want people to take me seriously I can't let them run all over me! "Yeah, buzz off!"

Moru smirked, "Fine. Then I don't feel so bad about this." he whistled. As he did so the rest of the Karate club came out including their leader. The leader was a bigger man with medium short blond hair and serious looking eyes. The only thing that made him stand out from the rest of his club members was the special embroidery on his karategi. Kokoa looked at them and gulped slightly, the memory of the minotaur came flooding back and she just froze. There's so many of them. God, why is there so many of them.

The leader of group began cracking his knuckles, "So, you're the girly who made a mockery of our club?" he then looked at Ben and chuckled, "Newspaper trash, huh?Sorry kid, nothing personal. But we gotta make a point to the others. Can't have you Newspaper types showing us up." He cocked his hand back and launched forward at blinding speeds. Kokoa couldn't even keep track of him. He likely would have struck her down with a single punch if his fist wasn't stopped mere inches from her face.

Kokoa exhaled a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding. She turned to her left to see Ben caught the Karate captain's punch. He then twisted the captain's arm before shoving him away. "Kokoa, snap out of it." Ben commanded. "You didn't seem to get it before so I'll spell it out for you. You wanted to get stronger right? Well, you went up on stage and you showed the club that you're stronger than any of them." Kokoa's eyes widened, "Like I've been trying to tell you before. Strength for you is honing your skills in hand-to-hand. These guys can do that for you, sure but..." Ben looked to Kokoa and pointed to himself, "I'm a hell of a lot better than these pricks. So, I have a proposition. You train with me. I'll teach you to be faster, smarter, and more agile than any fighter out there. Then with those skills obtained you'll be able to take anybody on." he held up his hand for Kokoa to shake, "Do we have a deal?" Kokoa looked at Ben and then to the Karate club which was getting closer, "You'll get to fight me every day."

Very quickly Kokoa reached and shook Ben's hand, "Deal!" Ben smirked as he loosened his tie and got into a fighting stance. The other Karate club members began rushing the two teens. Immediately the club members were knocked back and were unprepared by the sheer force of the two.

Music Queue: Berzerk--Eminem

"Come on you ugly pieces of shit. I'm gonna go Cobra Kai on your ass!" Ben yelled with a laugh. The large member who was destroying stones early went for a large overhead chop, but Ben dodged it effortlessly. The man then went for high kick to which Ben rolled under followed by grabbing his plant leg and pulled him up, "SWEEP THE LEG!" While the man was airborne Ben sent a massive punch to the back of his skull. The large man landed against the ground and was unconscious immediately.

With Kokoa she had blocked several punches from the members. She redirected an attack and kneed the man in the gut. She then ducked under a punch by Moru and palmed him under his chin knocking him out instantly. Kokoa suddenly heard a crack and turned around to see the ground start to give way with a large figure jumping at her. It was Moru now in his transformed state, a mole like monster with large digging claws. She then was pulled backwards by a webline Ben attached to her. "Rule #1," he started, "Mind your surroundings!" he grabbed Kokoa and leaned back so that both dodged a roundhouse kick from one of the grunts, "Duck!" Ben shot a webline at the man who tried to kick them and spun him around before throwing him at another club member, "Bang." Ben then fired impact webbing and stuck the two to a tree. "Rule #2. Deal with the grunts but keep an eye on the boss."

"Why?" Kokoa asked as both dodged Moru again.

"One grunt is weak. A group of grunts is a nightmare. It's fine to take care of the boss but don't get your ass kicked by the underlings. It's embarrassing." Ben's Spider Sense went off and he quickly shot a web ball at Moru, blinding him. "Kokoa, topside!" Kokoa looked at Moru struggling and figured out what Ben meant immediately. She dashed over to the mole monster and perform an attack similar to Guile's Flash Kick and sent the mole airborne.

"NO!" Moru shouted, "I don't like flying. I like the ground, THE GROUND!" suddenly Ben jumped up next to him and smirked.

"Okay, let's get you to the ground." Ben then webbed up Moru before placing the mole's head between his legs and performing a corkscrew piledriver. When the two landed Moru's head and shoulder's were stuck in the ground and his body went limp. Ben got up and clapped the dirt off his hands and saw Kokoa staring at him, "What?"

Kokoa blushed slightly before pumping her arms, "That...That was kinda rad!" she exclaimed with stars in her eyes. Ben rubbed the back of his head and chuckled. The two looked to see the Karate club captain clapping his hands slowly.

"Well done, well done. Seriously, congratulations." he laughed, "Um...well, you passed the test. So...why don't you put 'er there?" he held his hand out in surrender. Kokoa looked at him up and down with a smile. The captain returned the smile before getting decked in the face by Kokoa, knocking out several teeth and knocking him out.

Ben looked at Kokoa and sighed, "He was surrendering you know?"

Kokoa huffed in annoyance as she kicked the man while he was down, "Sorry but...he was just a prick! Look at him!"

Ben chuckled and patted her on the shoulder, "Rule #3. It's okay to hit the guy surrendering if they are being a massive prick." he then kicked the captain too, "Come on. Let's get something sweet, my treat."

"Really?" Kokoa's eyes beamed.

"Yeah, you like ice cream?"

Kokoa scoffed at the question, "Who doesn't?" Ben nodded approvingly and the two walked off to get their treat.

The next day word spread like wildfire that the Newspaper club beat the ever living shit out of the Karate club. Specifically Ben Reilly and their new member who was still unnamed. All the new students who initially had an interest in signing up for the club no longer felt that way in fear of the American of the school beating them up. "BEN WHAT THE FUCK!?" Kurumu yelled at Ben as he had already began typing up his segment for the next paper, "We lost EVERY SINGLE applicant because of that stunt you just pulled." Ben wasn't really listening to her, he was just mouthing along as she complained.

"Um...not...not EVERY applicant." the club turned around to see Kokoa in the doorway with a light blush, "If you don't mind that is."

The group all gasped in surprise, "Kokoa!?"

"Wow, I'm so glad you decided to join!" Moka said as she clasped her hands together.

Yukari chuckled, "If you wanted to join the club why didn't you just say so earlier?"

Kokoa folded her arms and looked away, "I-I'm not really here because I want to join. I'm here because Ben is my trainer and I just wanted to be closer to him." she blushed. Ben's head shot up in surprise, Hm...phrasing, kind of?

Yukari smiled, "Kokoa, when you say it like that...it almost sounds like a confession." Kokoa's blush got redder and redder while Moka hugged her.

"Oh, Kokoa's growing up!" Moka said as she rubbed her cheek against her sister's.

Kokoa got too embarrassed and broke free of Moka's grasp, "I hate all of you!" she shouted before storming out the door...just to quickly poke her head back through the door, "Hey, when are we training today?"

"After club work." Ben replied, and with that Kokoa left, but this time with a slight smile.

To be continued...

A/N: Yeah, so I did another chapter. I didn't realize how much literal filler the two chapters this one is based off are. Like the whole spell that makes Kokoa big then a child as a side effect. It's just all weird...you get to see all the girls as lolis so...checking off fetishes I guess? But yeah, so I decided to scrap the plot of those chapters but keep the skeleton of it if that makes sense. The most irritating thing of this chapter is that nobody is given a name and it's annoying.

Anyways I hope you guys like the direction I'm taking this. Things only get more intense from here. Unlike earlier when I started this story I wasn't sure where it was heading. Towards the end of season 2, obviously but like...what would happen when I get there? The other stories I've done I've always had an idea for how it would end. I would get an idea for the begining then the end and all I'd have to do is write the middle. NOW I know where I'm going with the ending and I'm fucking EXCITED! I can't wait to do more chapters and with classes over and COVID fucking with life I'll actually have time.

Okay, favorite, follow, and make some juicy reviews. I'll see you guys next time.