End of Summer, Beginning of Fall
After their "success" of a Summer Camp in the human world, the Newspaper Club returned back to Yokai with only one mission left: To see if the fruits of their labor allowed Tsukune to progress. That was the main reason they went there in the first place. Of course they may have run into more issues than they were expecting due to the Yakuza, Taskmaster, and the unfortunate appearance of Fairy Tail, but that too may have been a blessing in disguise. With new found confidence and sense of responsibility, Tsukune was quick to ask Moka for a rematch. Because of that the teens, including Ruby all met within the Monster's Paradise to see if Tsukune can make new progress with his ability. Even Ben showed up to watch, but he arrived with something interesting: a large metal briefcase.
"What's with the case?" Kokoa asked, "What, are you planning on staying here for a while?" she snickered. Ben could only smirk in response.
Kurumu, Mizore and Yukari all stood with baited breath as they saw Tsukune and Moka, now in her 'Inner' form, get ready to square off once again. "Oh, I hope Tsukune got out of the funk he was in." Yukari said with a worried tone, "Otherwise we may end up seeing a bloodbath."
"Oh don't worry," Ben said with a chuckle as he sat on his briefcase, "I have a feeling Tsukune will be perfectly fine. Hahahaha" Ben laughed almost ominously.
Tsukune and the 'Inner' Moka faced each other, both adorning a serious expression. Moka stood and stretched out her arms and rolled her shoulders a few times before popping her neck. Then she reached down and grabbed her foot and brought it up towards her hip, then proceeded to do the same for the other leg. "This is your fault you know, because you decided to man up and fight I had to sit on the sidelines and get all cramped." Moka said with a slight smirk, "Now...let's see if you brought that drive back with you to Yokai. Show me that killing intent!"
"No." Tsukune said bluntly causing Moka to frown, "I don't need killing intent to fight you. I just need to beat your ass." Moka cocked an eyebrow in confusion at the weird change of Tsukune's character. She turned to Ben who was trying to hold himself back from bursting into a laughing fit. "I don't need to learn from just you. I can learn from others too. So I'll take the knowledge I've gained and show you what I'm made of!"
Moka groaned and bit her lip slightly, "So that moron told you a few things." she said with a roll of her eyes, "You shouldn't pay too much attention to what he says you know. You'll never win with--UUAGH!" Moka was cut off by Tsukune sending a ferocious punch directly to her mouth causing her to bleed a little bit. She spit out a bloodied mess onto the ground.
"HOLY SHIT, HE ACTUALLY DID IT! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" Ben laughed, falling off his briefcase in hysterics.
Tsukune stood with his fist out for some time, a serious expression plastered on his face before finally retracting. "'Don't wait for your opponent. Be on the offensive.' That's what you told me. 'Fuck killing intent, if she says that again punch her in the fucking teeth.' That's what he told me." Tsukune smirked, "I figured the best thing to do was take advice from the both of you."
"Holy shit, if Tsukune keeps acting this cool I may end up joining the harem with you girls." Ben joked.
Moka glanced over to Ben and grimaced, "Look, I don't know what the idiot told you. But believe me, it won't be as helpful as you think against me."
Tsukune nodded, "Yeah, uh...he knew you'd say something like that so he wanted me to remind you that he has much more combat experience than you do."
Again, Moka turned to Ben, an angered expression on her face. Ben pointed at her, laughed, stuck out his tongue and flipped her off. Moka's face turned red as she faced Tsukune again, "Okay. We will finish this quickly, then I'm going to kick his ass." Moka got into her stance and so did Tsukune and in a matter of seconds the two dashed forward and begun their confrontation.
Music Queue: Blood Brothers--Papa Roach
(Quick A/N: Fucking laughing at this music choice because I know I will get flak for using fuckin' PAPA ROACH, lmao)
Tsukune was first to send a jab forward, only for it to miss its mark and strike nothing but air. Moka got ready to cock back her foot and Tsukune, never losing eye contact with Moka, sent a very risky off balance leg kick that collided with Moka's leg as she began to kick causing the two of them to trip and fall to the ground. Moka growled and quickly got to her feet and went to send a flying knee to Tsukune but he rolled away. Then, as Moka turned to face her opponent, she was blinded by a handful of dirt being thrown into her eyes. Dammit. Moka thought, This isn't what I've been training him to do! These are obviously tactics Ben would use. When the hell did he train with him? Behind my back? No, that'd be impossible. Tsukune has been virtually within my sights the entire time. So how... Her thoughts were cut off as Tsukune came flying in with another heavy punch. Moka's eyes widened slightly and she grabbed his fist before countering into a judo throw.
Damn. Tsukune thought, I thought I had her there. As he got up he was immediately met with a high kick which he did his best to block, but he was too late to get his hands up and he took a shot to the side of the head. The force of the blow was so powerful it sent him flying against a couple of rock spires before crashing into the side of a plateau. "Oh, that sucked." Tsukune thought as he pushed himself out of the small crater and dropped ten meters to the ground and landed on one knee with a hard thud. "Oh, kept you waiting, huh?" he chuckled to himself before gaining a serious expression again, "Focus. She's close." Tsukune closed his eyes and tried to remember what Moka had told him before about monster detection. She explained to him that it sort of worked like a bat's echo location. If he focused enough he should be able to detect a sort of hue of their aura. Tsukune focused, he began to see a white dot, it started fuzzy, but got smaller and more precise. "SHIT!" Tsukune dived out of the way as Moka's kick just went right over his head and hit the plateau. Note to self, learn aura detection better.
"C'mon Tsukune, focus!" Moka scolded, "You are just proving to me that you learned nothing in the human world." Tsukune grimaced, C'mon. What would Ben do? Acting out of instinct Tsukune charged Moka and instead of going for an attack like she expected him to do he wrapped his arm around her body to get in close. Tsukune kept the grapple going and continued to either knee Moka or punch her lungs. Moka was finally able to break free, but Tsukune stomped her foot, causing her to lose balance and fall back. Tsukune then advanced to get in a superman punch, but Moka was able to catch herself with a back handspring and kick Tsukune in the chin on the dismount. Moka then took the opportunity to get close and land a couple of smaller kicks. She then sent a round house, but Tsukune was able to block by sending out a heavy jab. The force of the collison caused a massive shockwave that shook trees, disturbed animals and almost made the teens fall over from the force.
Using the force of the kick to allow push off, Tsukune performed a lariat, but Moka caught him mid-spin and threw him to the ground like she was spiking a ball. "Are you done?" Moka huffed out as she stood over Tsukune's downed form.
"No." Tsukune grunted out as he quickly grabbed one of Moka's ankles and pulled it forward causing her to fall to a knee. Tsukune then threw a left hook causing Moka to go on the defensive, but he purposefully missed and used his momentum to spin his body around and kick Moka across the face. Moka went flying and ended sliding along the ground for thirty or forty meters before coming to a stop. "Little punkass tricked me." Moka said as she spit out more blood, "He definitely learned a trick like that from Ben."
HOLY SHIT, THAT WORKED? Tsukune thought. Ben was right, watching battle anime for fighting moves is a genius idea. The truth behind some of Tsukune's fighting style today would make Moka both furious, and embarrassed. Okay...what else would Ben do? "Haha." Tsukune let out a slight laugh, "Hahahahah-AHAHAHAHAHA!!"
"What's so funny?" Moka asked with a slightly annoyed tone.
Tsukune waved his hand back and forth, "Oh, it's nothing." he chuckled, "I mean, you wouldn't get it. Comedy isn't your thing." Moka's eyes squinted and she growled in frustration.
"Oh, the massive diss." Ben chuckled.
Moka charged forward and once again both her and Tsukune clashed. The two went back and forth with punches and kicks, and the more the two stayed in this battle clash the more Moka realized something peculiar. He's...he's hitting harder? she questioned. What the hell happened? He hasn't been hitting with this much strength before unless backed into a corner. Has he...has he learned? She let out a slight smirk as the fight continued. "It seems I was wrong, you truly have found that killing intent." Tsukune frowned, he sent several punches to the gut area before trying for a jab to the mouth, only for Moka to grab his wrist and twist, "Yeah, I'm not falling for that twice. Tsukune groaned in pain as Moka twisted his hand, thinking quickly he spit in her eyes and sent a headbutt to her nose causing Moka to back off. Tsukune then rushed forward and picked up Moka and body slammed her as hard as he could before curb stomping her in the teeth.
"YEAH!" Ben shouted as he stood up quickly in excitement, "WOOOOO! Did you see that!? God-DAMN that kicked ass!" Ben sat down again a smiled, "I think I definitely see what you girls see in him. I'm definitely aroused right now."
Finally sick and tired of all of Tsukune's shit, Moka stood up a blood red aura surrounding her body. Tsukune went for another attack but this time Moka countered into a right hook. She then grabbed the back of his head and brought his face into a high knee. She finished with a roundhouse kick that caused Tsukune to fly back until he landed near the other teens. Moka walked towards Tsukune, absolutely seething with anger, and just before she could do anymore to Tsukune, Ben cut her off. "HEY!" Ben shouted out, a smile on his face, "Holy hell, talk about a match, huh? I mean, I can't believe you let him, HIM of all people get under your skin." Ben chuckled, "Talk about a new low. But look, I don't think there's any reason to keep mauling on the poor guy. TSUKUNE! How do you feel?"
"Like...shit." Tsukune groaned as he struggled to get up.
"Ah, hell of a fight my guy. You definitely gave her a run for her money. Hey, crazy idea. How about a tag-out?"
"You want to fight?" Tsukune asked, completely dumbfounded, "Your funeral." Ben and Taukune smacked hands together and the other teens stood completely dumbfounded as Ben smirked.
"What are you doing?" Moka asked, now a little more calmed down.
Ben laughed, "Isn't it obvious? I'm gonna kick your ass!" Moka groaned and began getting into fighting stance before Ben stopped her, "Drink some blood first though. I don't want to hear about you bitching over 'Oh I wAs WeAk' when I win." Moka frowned until Ben showed the nape of his neck. It...has been a while. Moka thought as she approached Ben, he then stopped her just before she sunk her teeth in, "Remember--"
"'I'm terrified of needles' I know, I know." Moka smirked as she sunk her teeth unto Ben's neck and began drinking his blood. A taste she didn't realize she missed. Kokoa gagged at the sight of her sister drinking Ben's blood. How Moka could actually like the taste of Ben's blood, Kokoa could never understand.
"I'm sorry." Ben said quietly in English so that only Moka could hear. Moka's eyes widened slightly, but then she realized she had no idea what he was apologizing for. "I've been an ass towards you. And I don't mean avoiding you when you guys were training, I don't mean telling Tsukune to punch your teeth in, even if that was funny. I'm sorry about earlier this year when I went off on you...you know THAT time. It wasn't right. But this time I want things to be right. So no holding back this time. You hear me?"
He...he's felt guilty about that this whole time? Moka thought, Dammit. Why did he apologize. It...it should have been me. Moka unlatched from Ben's neck and nodded. "Fine, but don't come crying to me when I leave you in a bloody mess."
"Weeeeeell..." Ben rubbed the back of his head and laughed nervously, "If I'm being honest, I'm kinda using you as a guinea pig." he chuckled, "BUT FOR A GOOD REASON!" Ben laughed giddily as he started to open his mysterious suit case.
"What is that?" Moka asked.
"Yeah, Ben, spill the beans already." Kurumu added with a slight frown.
Ben chuckled he opened the case all the way, "Oh, this? This...is doom." Ben took off his web shooters causing Moka to cock an eyebrow in confusion. Kokoa looked over Ben's shoulder to see what was in the briefcase and her eyes nearly popped out of her head in surprise. "Oh, here." Ben said as he handed Kokoa his web shooters, "Uh...go ahead and keep those, actually." Ben took a deep breath and began removing his clothes revealing some sort black suit. It was strange, it wasn't like his Spider-Man suit, it looked like a sneaking suit. The material fabric looked thick and, Moka noticed, there seemed to be some metallic padding in the rib cage area. The arms had a red pinstripe that separated the inner arm and outer arm. The fabric on the outer side of the arms looked thicker, and was also a very diluted and pale blue. Perhaps more padding? she thought. Ben's hands had knuckle guards that were painted red. So is that protection for his hand, or meant for extra damage? At the neck area the collar was widened out like it was a throat protector. Finally, after the obvious was noted, Moka noticed a bunch of different notches on the suit. It was as if something was supposed to attach to them.
"Kokoa, you wanna...led me a bit of a hand? I haven't put this on before." Ben asked with a sheepish smile. Kokoa rolled her eyes but nodded all the same. Ben and Kokoa began pulling out pieces of metal. One piece went over Ben's head and connected to his collarbone area, it also had a collar that popped up around the collar from his black suit. Kokoa picked up another piece and tried to put it on Ben's chest, "No, no, that's the back." Ben said as he picked up a different piece, "This is the front. Go ahead and put that on me though, that's the hard part." Moka looked at the pieces that Kokoa and Ben attached and saw a giant black spider that spread down to his naval area and the legs connected to the back piece. It was then Moka realized what this was. It was an armored suit.
After putting on knee guards, boots, thigh protectors, tricep and shoulder guards and a pelvic guard, Ben finished the suit by putting on gauntlets that took the place of his web shooters. Looking at the suit, Moka could assume it was either a prototype or not finished. The paint job was unfinished only covering the gauntlets, knee guards and the large spider on his chest. The armor itself didn't look like it was completely cleaned, but that could be due to Ben's inexperience with metal work? Moka was unsure. "So...what is it?" Moka asked again.
"I told you," Ben chuckled before wheezing in laughter, "It's doom!" Ben stretched slightly and popped his neck. He then began jumping up and down excitedly causing Moka to actually let out a chuckle, "Okay, OKAY! Listen," Ben started making exaggerated hand movements as he talked, "remember back in Yuki-Onna when we were attacked by your big titty, dark-skinned onee-san?"
"Didn't have to describe her like that." Moka and Kokoa said in unison.
"Yes I did. Anyways, I realized that, like an idiot, I only based the power scaling off YOU, Moka. Because of that I forgot the wise words of Master Qui-Gon Jinn: 'There's always a bigger fish.' THEREFORE!" Ben stuck his finger in the air, a crazy smile spread across his face, "I have come up with not one, not three, but TWO countermeasures to almost any monster. I call them Operation: Superman and Operation: Undecided." he said the last name with a very monotone voice.
"That's Undecided?" Moka asked.
"Yeah."
"So, what? It's just armor?" Moka asked with a shrug.
"Oh, Moka. The Spider Armor Mk. III is much more than 'just armor.' But giving away all it's details would be cheating." he laughed, "Now come on! LLLLLET'S GET READY TO RUMBLLLLLLLLLLLE!!!" with that the other teens backed off and waited for the battle to begin with baited breath. Moka slid her feet into a fighting stance and Ben jumped up and down a couple of times before reloading his arms. The two stood still, neither moving just waiting to see what the other will do. "Hehehehe." Ben chuckled, "C'mon, Moka. Take the first shot." The other teens stared at Ben in disbelief, like he had gone crazy or something, "Or are you scared at what might happen?" Ben laughed. Moka squinted her eyes and the two of them moved slowly towards each other. Once Moka was at the distance she felt was right, she sent a side kick with her back foot. Ben smirked as he turned his body and held up his right forearm for defense. While his forearm blocked most of the blow, Moka's foot still pushed forward and collided dead center the massive spider on Ben's chest.
A loud popping sound was heard and the teens cringed thinking that Ben had broken his arm. "AAAAAGH!!" Moka recoild her leg back and gripped her foot in pain, much to the surprise of the teens. Moka took off her shoe and sock to show her big toe was crooked and pointing in a weird direction. "What the hell?" she asked herself as she snapped her toe back in place. Ben was nice enough to web her big toe and the toe next to it together to avoid too much movement. "Okay, I'll bite. What was that?"
Ben, still chuckling, gained a wide grin. "The most difficult material to obtain for this suit. This spider is the pinnacle of the suit, it ties everything together perfectly. It's the most protective piece, bullet proof, damn near indestructible and probably the strongest material on Earth."
Yukari frowned slightly at the description, "Wait...that sounds an awful lot like--"
"That's right, young Yukari!" Ben interrupted as he tapped the spider a few times, "This is adamantium."
Moka's eyes widened slightly in surprise, "The whole suit?"
"What? No. Just the spider." Ben replied. Moka gave a questioning glance that seemed like she was judging him, "WHAT?? Do you have any idea what I had to do to get just THIS much of adamantium?" Ben defended, "It was so difficult to get I literally finished it and attached it to the armor THIS MORNING! Like, it was 3 A.M. when I got this done."
"Okay...but that doesn't explain how you tanked my leg with your forearm like that." Moka mentioned, "Even holding back some, that much force should have done something to you. So what is the rest of your armor made of?"
"Oh, you know, a hodgepodge of different materials: titanium, polyethylen, silver, steel, holy water, etcetera, etcetera." Ben smirked as he saw Moka's bewildered expression.
Tsukune looked around and saw the other teens surprised faces, "What? What is it? Is it strong?"
Yukari shook her head in disbelief, "It's more than just strong. And it's more than just being used for protection. Ben didn't build that armor to defend himself...he built that armor to inflict damage. He's essentially created a weapon that is most effective against monsters!" she shouted.
"DING DING!" Ben said as he clapped his hands happily, "That's right. What you are seeing is an armor that has the holy water imbedded in the material. Thanks to using holy water to cool the material, I've essentially made a limiter that activates as soon as I'm attacked. It also does more damage to different species! And let's not forget about the silver laced knuckle guards, elbows and knees." Ben chuckled, "The reason this baby is untitled is because I haven't figured which name I like more. It's a coin flip between 'The Moka Buster' and 'The Monster Hunter'. Either way, it kicks ass...theoretically." Ben took a deep breath and smiled at the surprised looks the others gave him, "Ah, don't look at me like that. After all, that'd be giving me too much credit. It was the Headmaster who helped me turn this into a holy weapon."
"So this was the plan he made for Ben?" Ruby said to herself upon hearing the news.
"Come on, Moka! Help me break this in, and let's test the limits!" Moka put her shoe back on, stood up and got into a fighter's stance once more, a huge smirk plastered across her face. "ALRIGHT!"
Music Queue: A Warrior's Call--Volbeat
Both Ben and Moka charged forward, Ben sending a left straight and Moka sending a roundhouse. The two attacks collided and the two smirked to each other. Moka tried to pull her foot back to get ready for another attack, but was stuck, "Adhesive body, remember?" Ben taunted as he used his grab Moka's thigh and lifted her off the ground, performing a 360 turn before slamming Moka into the ground. Moka quickly rolled back and got back on her feet just in time to block a web zipped superman punch. Moka then grabbed Ben's arm and twisted it. Ben was then able to show his flexibility by twisting his body with his arm which allowed him to gain a reversal and pulled Moka forward so he could land a knee to her gut. The silver in Ben's armor shook through Moka's body like jackhammer. Shit, I have to watch out for attacks like that. she noted.
Moka bending over from pain, Ben was able to reach around her body and lift her up as he got set for a power bomb. Once he slammed her to the ground, Moka wrapped her legs around Ben's head and rolled back, which caused him to slam to the ground with her sitting on his chest. "Ha! I always knew you were a bottom." she quipped.
"Oh, you're a comedian now?" Ben laughed as he palmed Moka in the chest and launched her off him, "Little bit of roll reversal is fine and all, but I don't think I could play the cold and shy type."
"Oh sure, I'm the shy one." Moka scoffed, "Mr. 'Waits Until The Last Minute To Confess'."
Ben slumped his shoulders, "Yeah well...you liked it!"
"Awe, they're flirting." Yukari laughed.
Kokoa gagged, "I knew Ben liked my sister, but this is honestly just gross."
Kurumu laughed, "God, I can FEEL the sexual tension between those two."
"Did nobody else notice that Kokoa called him Ben? And not 'Reilly' or 'American'?" Tsukune pointed out.
"Hm, she's right though. Ben doesn't have any game." Mizore said with a nod.
After the two finished their little squabble they went back to the fisticuffs. Ben charged forward and acted as if he was going for a heavy punch, Moka got ready to defend but the punch never came. Instead Ben shot two web lines behind Moka and slid between her legs before popping back up and performing a spin kick to the side of Moka's head. "God dammit, I can't believe I fell for that stupid tactic twice." Moka grumbled to herself. Moka turned and avoided a roundhouse from Ben. The two began to send kicks at each other, whatever Moka sent Ben would counter with the same attack and vice versa. From afar it almost looked like swordsmen parrying strikes from their opponent.
The two switched from kicks to punches, each of their attacks, again, being parried by each other. Going for a grapple the two reached their hands out and locked at their fingers. Now it became a battle of who had more strength. Clearly Moka had the advantage, despite the limiter she was still just as, if not stronger than Ben. She pushed forward and Ben began leaning back, but he wasn't giving up. Ben snickered, "What?" Moka asked.
"Holding my hands, you're such a perv." Ben snickered.
"WHAT!?" Moka cried out with a red face. Moka lost some ground as Ben was able to push back. "Yeah well, you're holding them too. So now who's the pervert?"
Ben smiled sheepishly, "If I'm being honest, I want hold a lot more than your hands."
Moka growled as her face became redder, "Awfully cocky today, aren't you?"
"I'm having a good day." Deciding to try and break out of the awkward hand holding fight, Ben cocked back his head for a headbutt and Moka did the same. Both snapped their heads forward and they collided with each other with a loud thud. Both Ben and Moka ended up backing away, holding their heads in pain. "Ooooh...next time we bump heads, let's let it be with our mouths." Ben groaned.
"I'm gonna pop you in the mouth if you don't shut up." Moka retorted.
"Oh please, you know I'm a chatterbox." Ben laughed, as did Moka as the two got into a fighting stance again.
"And you're all sure these two haven't slept together?" Ruby asked, receiving head shakes from the other teens.
Moka went for another side kick, but Ben performed a back handspring to dodge. When he landed Ben shot out several web balls to hold Moka's feet to the ground. Ben then rushed towards her before jumping past her, webbing her face in the process, before landing and yanking down. Almost like whiplash, Moka's knees buckled and she fell backward, slamming her head into the ground while her feet were still webbed.
Moka ripped the webbing from her face and "struggled" to get the webbing off her feet. When Ben was close enough, Moka kicked her leg up, dirt and all, and slammed it into Ben's side and set him flying across the battlefield. Ben was slow to get up as he held his side in pain, "Note to self, really watch out for rib shots." he took a deep breath but felt a sudden pain when he did so, a pain so bad it made him fall to a knee. "Ooooooh, shit." Ben tried to breath again, but it felt like he was gargling water. Feeling the choking sensation he choked and gagged spitting out tablespoons worth of blood. Everytime he tried cough he would breath, and when he breathed he felt the pain in his side, which then felt like he was gargling. Eventually Ben realized he couldn't get any airflow going to his lungs and he began to choke. Thinking as logically as he could he began to take off his armor and even ripped his black suit open, revealing his chest.
While this was happening, Moka and the others looked on with worried expressions. Ben was slow to get up, so naturally the teens thought that Moka got a really good hit in. After all, the sides were some of the less protected areas. When Ben began ripping off the armor that's when they began to rush over. By the time they got to Ben he was on his back and not moving. Moka being the first to act checked to see if he was breathing. Getting nothing, she optimized airflow for his body by tilting his head back slightly. She then began to perform CPR on him until he coughed up blood. Moka heard a gurgle as Ben unconsciously tried to breath, "He's drowning!" she said as she frantically tried to get the blood out of his lungs, however whatever she did Ben still couldn't breathe.
"Hold on." Kurumu extended one of her nails and jabbed it into Ben's lung area and quickly pulled it out allowing blood to escape out the wound she made. Ben coughed more blood and was breathing again, but just barely. "Alright. Let's get him to the hospital."
When the teens reached the hospital on the campus they were able to get Ben in quickly. The doctors seemed to be moving fast too. However, because of the doctors needing to make sure Ben was okay, the group hadn't recieved any information on his condition. It has been over two hours and the teens were still in the waiting room. "You know Kurumu," Moka started, "I was actually pretty impressed with how you handled that situation. I never would have thought about forcing the fluid out of his lung that way."
"Awe, thanks Moka." Kurumu said with a smile.
"Where did you learn to do that anyway?" Kokoa asked.
Kurumu tapped her fingers together, a nervous expression on her face, "Um...I didn't learn it. I just saw it on a movie once and thought it would work."
Moka and Kokoa stared at Kurumu with half lidded eyes in complete disbelief, "I'm gonna pretend you didn't just say you tried something because you 'saw it in a movie'." Moka groaned.
Tsukune sat in one of the chairs his leg bouncing up and down, nervous about the condition his friend was in. "Come on. Somebody tell us something." Tsukune thought back to the year before and everything that happened. It didn't know what god was listening, but he prayed that it wouldn't be the same. A doctor walked into the waiting room, he had to tell something to the receptionist, Tsukune saw this as his chance. "Excuse me." Tsukune called out, gaining the doctors attention. The doctor was a middle aged Indian man with graying hair. "Sir, can you please tell us what's going on with Ben?"
The doctor looked through his papers and then to the students who seemed to be gathering around him, "Friends of his?" he asked.
"He's practically my brother." Tsukune said with a very serious expression. The doctor sighed and looked at the students before nodding.
"Look, it's a bit of a difficult situation. We have to perform surgery on him."
"What, why?" Kurumu asked.
The doctor tried to keep the students quiet, "Well, you see, Mr. Reilly's ribs are or rather, were, greatly broken. Some of his rib had snapped off and lodged itself into his lung. Over time, because nothing was done about it, be it because he never got it removed or he just didn't know, the lung inflamed and healed around the bone fracture causing it to become infected and remain inflamed. The reason why he nearly drowned in his own blood is because of the strenuous activity he would perform allowed the bone to tear and cut through the lung which caused blood to fill into the sacks as he inhaled, which would also fill the other lung." the doctor explained, "I'm quite shocked he didn't come in sooner, he should have been experiencing some serious chest pains, maybe harder breathing, even coughing up blood would have been an indicator. Did he tell you nothing? Did you see anything?" the teens shook their head.
"He never complained about anything like that before." Tsukune said with a frown, "But, considering what he does I wouldn't be surprised if he just thought it was another injury."
"Yes, we are quite aware of Mr. Reilly's...exploits, same with all of you really. We already have a shortcut in the system if we get a patient that decided to tussle with any of you kids." the doctor laughed trying to raise the teens' spirits but saw they weren't really in the mood, "Anyway. Thankfully, he didn't drown. However, we will need to perform the surgery to actually remove the fragment as well as keep him over for as long as necessary so he can heal. I hope you understand." the teens looked at each other and nodded, "Good. Now, why don't you all go back to your dorms and relax."
Several days pass. The surgery was a resounding success, so now Ben just had to rest up and heal, allow the inflammation to die down before doing any strenuous activity. Ben heard a knock at the door of the room he was staying in, "Come in." he called, groaning from the slight pain in his chest. The door opened and in walked the doctor with a folder un his hands. "Ah, doc. How are you?" Ben asked, "I'm assuming a lot better than me. Hehehe."
The doctor, same Indian man from earlier gave a slight smile, "Mr. Reilly, I believe it's time we talk about something...something important." the doctor said with a serious tone which caused Ben to sit up straight in his bed. The doctor locked the door behind him and pulled up his chair near Ben, before placing a picture on his lap. "Mr. Reilly, can you tell me what that is a picture of?"
Ben looked the picture over and shrugged his shoulders, "Um...a CT scan of my lungs? I guess."
"Well, you're...half right." the doctor nodded, "Those are the lungs of a healthy twenty year old." he then placed another picture on Ben's lap, "Those are your lungs." Ben couldn't believe what he was seeing. It was like night and day. His lungs looked like they were decaying or shriveling up, it looked like it was starting to turn a black color. "Mr. Reilly, you wouldn't happen to have been a smoker for thirty years, would you?" Ben, of course shook his head, "And that's not all." the doctor began laying out different picture of his organs, all looked like they were starting to turn black and were starting to shrivel. "I've never seen anything like this. I don't know what in this known world could have done this to your body, whether it's an infection, or a rare unknown disease. I'm at a loss. The only thing in your body that looks semi-healthy is your heart, and that still looks like it belongs to a middle aged man."
"What does this mean?" Ben asked.
"That's the question of the hour, isn't it. I don't know. I'm no biologist, so I couldn't tell you exact specifics. But it doesn't take a professional biologist to tell that you are very sick. I think I know of someone who could study your body and tell you what--"
"NO!" Ben interrupted, "Uh...I mean, I know a guy myself. I'd rather have someone I trust look at me, you know?"
The doctor nodded, "I understand. I'll get the photos together, as well as the sample of your lung tissue." with that the doctor left leaving Ben to sit and linger on everything he had just heard.
"Huh..." was all Ben could say as he tried to think about how he would handle things going forwards.
To Be Continued...
A/N: Yikes, bit of a sour note to end on, but that was the point. So, I bet you have some questions. What's going on? What happened to Ben? Why did this happen? Well I have answers.
1) You'll see.
2) He's sick, but that's all I can say right now.
3) I've literally have been hinting at this since they fought Kahlua.
Anyways. I just wanted to get another chapter out quick before I go and do a Face the Music chapter or two. Also, fun fact: We are probably about 1/3 of the way through the story. Crazy right? Welp, remember to follow, favorite and leave those reviews. Have some fun, tell me what you think is wrong with Ben. It'll be like a game until it gets revealed.
Laters guys, party on, dudes.