Disclaimer: Ben 10 and Bleach do not belong to me.
Bonding
Tia Harribel had been surprised when Loly and Menoly arrived at her door, informing her that Lord Aizen requested her presence. Although curious, Harribel maintained an externally cool demeanor as she followed them into the throne room.
"Welcome, Harribel," Aizen said with a smile from atop his throne and pillar, which Loly and Menoly stood on eithet side of upon entering, as his third most powerful Espada approached him.
Harribel got down on one knee and bowed respectfully. "What do you wish of me, Lord Aizen?"
"I have a task for you and your Fraccione. I would like for them to train with Ben," Aizen told her. "Whenever possible, of course."
Harribel raised her head, staring at Aizen in surprise and confusion. "Sir?"
"Out of all the Numeros, your Fraccione have the best teamwork despite their constant arguments with each other," Aizen said.
While uncertain as to what point Aizen was trying to make, Harribel could not help the pride she felt at his praise. Fighting as a group had always been an integral part of her and Fraccione's survival back in the old days.
"However, they still have plenty of potential in terms of individual ability," Aizen went on. "The Thirteen Court Guard Squads are formidable opponents, so I would like our own forces to be at their best. And I believe training with Ben would be an excellent opportunity for that."
Harribel took in Aizen's words. Training would be beneficial for her Fraccione and she welcomed the chance for them to become stronger. She was confused as to why Aizen wanted them and their human guest to specifically train together though.
"Rest assured, I will tell the other Espada to train their Fraccione as well," Aizen said. "As for why I want yours and Ben to train with each other; it seems the most practical choice. He's someone new that they can test their skills against, and it provides all four of you a chance to get better acquainted with him. Besides, I don't think it would be wise to have Ben train with the other Fraccione. Grimmjow's would probably try to finish what he started, and I think Nnoitra would encourage Tesla to do the same. I doubt Szayel's would be suitable and Baraggan's…"Aizen chuckled. "I believe that goes without saying."
"I understand, Lord Aizen," Harribel said respectfully. Despite her own uncertainties, if Lord Aizen was confident in this, then she would do as he wished. "But what about his training with Tōsen?"
"I'm sure Tōsen wouldn't mind if Ben trained with anyone else," Aizen reassured her. "Considering it will only benefit us, there's no reason he'd object. I'll allow the two of you to work out the best course of action between yourselves."
Harribel bowed her head again. "As you wish, Lord Aizen."
"Thank you, Harribel," Aizen said. "That will be all."
And with that, Harribel got up and left.
…
When Harribel returned to her chambers, she found her Fraccione immediately at attention the moment she came in.
"Hello, ladies," she greeted them casually.
"What did Lord Aizen want, Lady Harribel?" Sung-Sun asked; a curious but concerned look on her face that she shared with Apacci and Mila Rose.
"He would like for you to train with Tennyson," Harribel answered, getting straight to the point.
Their reaction was exactly how she pictured it would; they were staring at her, frozen in place.
If it had been anyone else, Apacci would have demanded that they were joking. But she knew her leader wasn't the type. "Why does he want us to do that?" she asked instead.
"He wants you to become stronger before we face Soul Society," Harribel explained.
Her Fraccione all looked at each other uneasily, assuming the worst. "Why us specifically?" Mila Rose asked. They were no doubt worried Lord Aizen thought they were weaker than the others if they were singled out for training.
"Lord Aizen wishes to have every Fraccion train," Harribel reassured her, having expected their reactions. "He praised your teamwork, but said you could still improve fighting individually."
"Why do we need to train with that human to do it?" Apacci asked, less than thrilled about the idea already.
"Lord Aizen believes having someone new to fight against will be helpful," Harribel told her. "He also sees it as another opportunity to know Tennyson better and no doubt learn more of his abilities."
Mila Rose's brows furrowed as she contemplated her leader's words. "I suppose that makes sense."
"There is still so much about Ben Tennyson that we don't know," Sung-Sun added. "And it's still too early to say if he is our ally indefinitely."
"This is true," Harribel acknowledged. "Perhaps in time you might even see Tennyson as a comrade."
Her Fraccione were completely floored by her statement.
"Forgive us, Lady Harribel," Sung-Sun said hastily. "Ben Tennyson's abilities make him an ideal addition to our forces, but I doubt we could ever be friends with a human."
"Why not?" Harribel asked, causing her Fraccione to gape at her.
"L-lady Harribel?" Apacci stuttered, not expecting her leader to say such a thing.
"Ben Tennyson has proven himself to be a far more decent and honorable person than a decent amount of our comrades," Harribel stated. "Not to mention brave, noble, and understanding of sacrifice."
Her Fraccione stared at her in stunned silence. Never had they heard their leader speak about someone with such high regard apart from Aizen himself.
"For the time being, Ben Tennyson has earned my respect," Harribel added. "We shall see if he's able to keep it."
And it was true. While his protecting of her Fraccion was the biggest factor, she couldn't help being impressed after hearing about Ben's history. When presented with such great power, he chose to help others instead of conquer like his nemesis Vilgax, and he was perfectly willing to sacrifice that same power if it also meant saving others. He was also understanding and empathetic if Lilynett's words about him being friends with someone who tried to kill him were true.
The other three looked at each other, having realized that training with Ben was inevitable. They weren't thrilled about it but if Harribel thought it was for the best, they would grit their teeth and bear it.
"We understand, Lady Harribel," Sung-Sun spoke their mutual decision.
Harribel closed her eyes, which her Fraccione took as a sign of acknowledgement. "Do the best you can," she told them. "But do not show all of your techniques." Her Fraccione blinked, caught off guard by the unexpected request. "As you said, Sung-Sun, it is still too early to say whether or not Ben Tennyson's truly our ally. He has gained my respect, but not yet my trust. As such, I do not wish for him to know all of our abilities."
Her Fraccione knew she had a good point, plus they suspected that they still didn't know all of Ben's abilities. So it was only fair they held back some things from him.
"Understood, Lady Harribel," Apacci said firmly. "We won't let you down."
…
In Starrk's room, Lilynette was in stitches while Ben was telling his latest story.
"Are you serious?!" she asked a smirking Ben in between laughter.
"Yep," Ben replied, crossing his arms.
"There's no way!" Lilynette insisted.
"I couldn't make this up if I tried," Ben told her.
"You honestly expect me to believe you fought a giant space tick?"
Ben had been telling her of the very first time he had unlocked Cannonbolt. If she hadn't been amused by his initial attempts to figure out the alien's powers (which she had) then learning that the very first thing he fought as Cannonbolt was a gigantic space tick sold her.
"It's the truth," Ben said. "It had some followers that called it the Great One and it came to Earth to feed on our planet's energy."
"Was it a tough fight?" Lilynette asked.
"Err, more of an annoyance really," Ben admitted. "The tick just had its followers fight us while it was feeding off the Earth, but its body was super tough. I had thrown everything I had at it and I couldn't even make a dent."
Lilynette stared. "Wow."
"Course back then my idea of a strategy was just keep hitting something till it breaks," Ben said sheepishly. "I probably could've beaten that big bug with one of my other guys if I had used them right. But in the end, I used Cannonbolt to save the day. And to think, I first thought he was lame."
Lilynette grinned, remembering the power Cannonbolt had displayed when she first saw it. "Guess he proved you wrong, huh?"
"Big time," Ben said with a grin. "Also, I learned from the Great One's worshipers that one of the planets it already destroyed was that of Cannonbolt's species."
Lilynette gasped in shock. "It had?"
Ben nodded. "Makes it kind of ironic, huh? After I beat the Great One, its worshipers started worshiping me. Apparently those guys need something to serve and praise." He grinned. "Not that I was complaining at the time."
Lilynette rolled her eyes. "I'll bet. So what happened next?"
"I turned back into a human and they didn't want to worship me anymore," Ben stated bluntly.
Lilynette burst into laughter. "That's priceless!"
"Well how would you feel if you found out something you worshipped was actually a little kid?" Starrk spoke for the first time since they got back.
Ben chuckled at that. "Yeah, I guess you're right."
Lilynette looked back at Starrk with surprise. "I had no idea you were still up," she grinned. "Actually staying awake for something? I'm impressed."
Starrk grumbled in annoyance, already wishing he hadn't said anything. Lilynette gave him a smug look of satisfaction. Ben just smiled at them, the interaction way better than whenever Lilynette started hitting Starrk.
Once she felt satisfied, Lilynette turned to Ben again. "What was another adventure you had that summer?" She was really interesting in learning more about the time Ben first got the Omnitrix, probably still trying to wrap it around her head that Ben had been a simple kid during all of it.
Ben ran through all the crazy times he had that fateful summer in his mind. "Well there was this one time…"
His story was cut short by the sound of someone knocking at the door.
Lilynette glared at the door, annoyed with the interruption and the fact that people seemed to drop by their place quite a lot recently. "What? Again?"
"I wonder who it is this time," Ben commented as he went to answer the door. When he did, he was greeted to the sight of Harribel and her Fraccione once more.
"You?" Lilynette asked once she saw who had knocked. "Is this going to be a regular thing with you four now?"
"Lilynette," Mila Rose scowled at the smaller Arrancar's sass. Then she remembered when Lilynette kicked her, making her scowl deepen.
Mila Rose," Harribel softly warned her Fraccion before facing Ben and Lilynette again. "I see you've been given a change of clothes," she said as she looked over Ben's new outfit. "I think it suits you."
"Oh," Ben looked down at his clothes before rubbing the back of his head at the compliment. "Thanks."
Harribel's Fraccione then realized that Ben was wearing an Arrancar outfit and looked it over too. It wasn't a bad ensemble all things considered. He could almost pass as one of them. Almost.
"So what brings you back here, Harribel?" Starrk asked as he sat up.
"Lord Aizen has requested that my Fraccione train with Ben Tennyson," Harribel told her fellow Espada.
Ben did a double take when she said that. More training? And with Harribel's Fraccione?
Lilynette made a face as she slumped. "Not more training. Is Lord Aizen trying to work Ben to death?"
"Why does Aizen want me to train with them?" Ben interjected. He had seen the look Mila Rose had given Lilynette so he decided to prevent things from escalating.
"Aside from helping them become stronger for the upcoming war," Harribel said. "It's another way for us to get better acquainted."
"Oh," was the only response Ben could think of. Despite Lilynette's objections, he didn't mind the training too much. It helped pass the time, gave him a better idea of what he was up against, plus he actually wanted to learn more about his allies. Especially Aizen. He even considered asking Starrk and Lilynette if they could tell a little bit about themselves. "Is Tōsen gonna be okay with this? Are we going to train right now?"
"Lord Aizen is certain that Tōsen won't mind," Harribel replied. "And no, we aren't training right away. I simply wanted to let you know in advance. What are you three doing?"
"Ben's been telling us about some of his adventures," Lilynette informed her.
"Oh?" Harribel asked.
"Yeah," Lilynette smiled. "You won't believe some of the stuff he's done." She started giggling. "You missed the part where he fought a vampire clown or when he found the Fountain of Youth…and turned it into a crater when he threw a temper tantrum!" She clutched her stomach as she went into full-blown laughter. "Then he told me about how he looked like a total idiot when he first turned into Cannonbolt before using him to kill a giant space tick that was gonna suck the Earth dry!
Harribel's Fraccion stared at Lilynette, before turning their heads towards Ben. A vampire clown? The Fountain of Youth? A giant space tick?
Mila Rose quickly recovered, putting a hand on her hip. "I'd ask if you were lying but considering the things I've seen and heard from you so far, I'm strangely inclined to believe you."
Ben just shrugged at them with a playful smile on his face.
Harribel crossed her arms. "Would it be alright if I heard some of your stories?"
Everyone else was taken aback by her sudden request. While Ben was willing to learn more about the Arrancar, he honestly didn't expect any of them, with the exception of Lilynette, to want to know about him personally. And it was something she chose to do on her own, if the surprised looks from her Fraccione were anything to go by.
"Um, well I don't mind," Ben told her before looking over at Starrk. "Is it alright with you?"
Starrk grimaced once he realized all eyes were on him. "Do as you like," he mumbled before lying back down.
Harribel turned to her still baffled Fraccione. "You can go back if you wish. I won't make you stay if you don't want to."
The three shifted uncomfortably, unsure of what to do. They still didn't really like being around Ben but Harribel thought it was possible for them to become friends, plus she was willing to stay. If their leader would, then so would they.
"We're fine, Lady Harribel," Mila Rose reassured their leader. "We'll stay." Harribel nodded to her, pleased to see that her girls were making an effort.
Ben smiled. He could see that things were still tense between them but at least they seemed to be making progress.
And so Harribel entered Starrk's chambers, leaning her back against the wall. Her Fraccion followed suit, preferring to simply stand however.
Once she was certain that everyone was (relatively) comfortable, Lilynette brought her attention back to Ben. "Alright. We're ready."
Ben tapped his chin, trying to decide which adventure he should tell next. Then a light bulb went off in his head as he thought of the perfect one. "How about I tell you about the time I got sick?"
Lilynette, Apacci, Mila Rose, and Sung-Su made faces composed of both disgust and bewilderment.
"Why would you want to talk about when you were sick?" Mila Rose asked.
Harribel suspected that Ben had chosen those select words to draw them in. "There must be quite the story behind it, isn't there?"
Ben grinned at how quickly Harribel had caught on. "That's right."
The rest weren't as amused though. "Well?" Apacci practically demanded. "What happened?"
"Apacci," said Arrancar flinched, looking sheepishly at her mistress, whose eyes were silently telling her to control herself. As Apacci's own eyes drifted to the floor, Harribel focused on Ben. "What did happen?" Something in her tone hinted that she too wanted Ben to get to the actual story.
Seeing that his audience was getting a little impatient, Ben decided to get the story. But first he couldn't resist overdramatically clearing his throat before doing so. This earned him annoyed looks from everyone else in the room, including Starrk. Ben held his hands out in surrender, albeit with another big grin on his face, and proceeded to tell the story.
"It all started after I caught a thief trying to make a speedy getaway in a fancy looking car," Ben began. "After stopping the guy and leaving him for the police, I spotted a nearby ice cream truck. And since I had just stopped a criminal, I thought I was entitled to a little reward. So I went into the truck and decided to help myself to some ice cream."
This took his audience by surprise. Ben had admitted to all of them that he had made mistakes but they honestly hadn't expected him to do something quite like treating himself to a self-entitled reward. He chuckled at their reactions.
"Unfortunately for me, karma decided to come pretty early that day. Staying in that freezing ice cream truck is what caused me to get sick. I felt so weak, my nose was runny, I was sneezing all the time, and Grandpa said I had a temperature of a hundred and one. In short: a summer cold."
Lilynette threw her head back as she laughed. "Maybe that'll teach you not to eat ice cream inside of an ice cream truck."
"Gwen said something similar," Ben said, then laughed to himself as he remembered getting back at her by using her new blouse as a tissue.
Harribel remained impassive but her Fraccion were definitely amused, imagining Ben in such a state.
"Karma really did catch up with you," Mila Rose said in agreement. "So what happened next?"
"Grandpa figured I just need some of his San Ju Yen Pien remedy, so we went to Chinatown to pick up some ingredients." Ben shivered; the smell of his Grandpa's concoction still fresh in his mind after all these years.
Harribel noticed this. "I take it this San Ju Yen Pien wasn't very appetizing?"
"I'll get to that later," Ben replied quickly. "Anyway, while we were getting the ingredients, this councilwoman named Liang was making a speech about a downtown movement plan she was working on, when all of a sudden the place got attacked by a swarm of wasps! And that was when we met Clancy; a whack job with the power to control bugs."
Lilynette titled her head, a quizzical look on her face, while Harribel's Fraccion looked more disappointed that anything.
"Controlling bugs?" Apacci asked skeptically. "That's it?"
"That doesn't sound so impressive," Sung-Sun said dismissively.
Ben shrugged. "I'll admit that it doesn't sound cool at first, but Clancy and his bugs were no joke. He kidnapped the councilwoman with his wasps and bailed. When I tried going after him I learned something: my cold affected my aliens."
That certainly got everyone's attention.
"Really?" Lilynette asked, staring at him.
Ben nodded. "I turned into my best tracker, Wildmutt, but the cold clogged up his senses. I was running around blind, almost caused a firework explosion with Gwen at ground zero. Luckily Grandpa Max was able to save her…though she wound up smelling like chicken dumplings afterwards."
He knew that he taking a bit of a risk by letting the Arrancar know something like his aliens being affected by whatever condition his human body was in, but he guessed they would brush it off since they already knew he had regenerating aliens like Swampfire.
"Thanks to Gwen and her laptop, we were able to find Clancy's apartment, where we figured he took the councilwoman," Ben continued. "We found her there alright, literally up to her neck in black widows."
Lilynette and Harribel's Fraccion stared at Ben, repressing a desire to shiver, and Starrk winced at the thought. Even to them, being covered in bugs was unpleasant to think about.
"You see?" Harribel said to them. "Any ability can be useful if you know how to properly apply it."
The other girls nodded grimly, regretting their previous disregard for Clancy's power.
"Were you able to save the councilwoman?" Lilynette asked, wanting to move on and get the thought of being buried in bugs out of her mind.
Ben cringed as he thought about what happened next. "I was…at the cost of covering her in snot."
Lilynette, Apacci, Mila Rose, and Sung-Sun all shot him looks of disgust. Harribel herself furrowed her eyebrows in displeasure, and Starrk was shooting Ben an incredulous look.
"You saved her…by sneezing on her?" Sung-Sun inquired, her face scrunching up behind her sleeve.
"Do we even want to know how you managed to pull that off?" Mila Rose asked dryly.
"I was Four Arms at the time," Ben explained before shuddering. "By the way, sick Four Arms? Don't want to go through that again. Not only did I have mega snot, I was weaker, and I had these huge hives under my arms."
"Bleh" Lilynette exclaimed, sticking her tongue out. "Are you trying to make us sick?"
"Hey, I was the one experiencing it so how do you think I felt?" Ben retorted.
That earned a collective wince from his audience, each of them stuck with the image of suffering that sort of ailment.
"C-can we get back to the story?" Apacci mumbled, looking slightly green herself.
"Sure thing," Ben replied sympathetically. "Well Clancy wasn't happy so he sicced a bunch of red ants on us. They even formed a giant fist and sent me flying!"
Lilynette gawked. Having seen Four Arms' power firsthand, the idea of him getting knocked around by literal ants, no matter how many, was hard to take in.
"Is it was because of your cold wasn't it?" she figured. "You did say it made you weaker."
"Hey now, don't underestimate ants," Ben said. "One ant is said to lift ten times its own weight. Get a hundred of those guys together and that means a thousand times their weight."
Lilynette blinked rapidly. "Well…I guess when you put it like that…"
"Course I don't know if there actually was a hundred ants or not," Ben confessed. "But when I was trying to get my second wind, they started swarming me," Ben continued. "They were all over my legs and everything."
Lilynette snickered as she imagined Four Arms scratching himself like crazy as countless ants crawled up his pants. Apacci started snickering alongside her, Mila Rose chuckled softly, and Sung-Sun quietly laughed into her hand. A bemused Ben shook his head; having suspected this would be their reaction.
"Unfortunately I was so caught up in getting those ants off I wasn't paying attention to where I was going. I accidentally smashed a lot of the place's support beams and wound up bringing the whole building down."
Lilynette threw back her head as she laughed. "You knocked down a whole building?!"
Apacci sneered at him. "Nice one."
"Talk about a bull in a china shop," Mila Rose commented with a smirk.
"Hey, the whole place looked like it was on the brink of falling down anyway," Ben defended himself. "I just…moved things along."
"That's one way to put it," Sung-Sun said snidely behind her hand.
"No doubt Clancy was furious you destroyed the very thing he had been fighting to protect," Harribel asked and she certainly didn't sound amused like the others. Ben even flinched at her tone. "However, it was an accident and as you said, the building was due to collapse," Harribel reasoned. "All the same, I'm sure Clancy was angry at you."
"Oh he was," Ben agreed. "Didn't help that he used some of his bugs to shield him from the building and they wound up squashed for their trouble."
"Now that was his fault," Sung-Sun stated. "If he was going to use them as a shield, he should've known that risked killing them."
"I don't think the guy realized what happens when he uses his friends to fight," Ben admitted. "All I do know is that since his home got wrecked and some of his bugs were dead, he decided to destroy the whole city with a nuclear blast from the city's nuclear power plant. We tracked him there just in time for the reactor's core to almost reach critical level. Grandpa had to manually shut it down so we went to the core so he could activate the emergency override system."
"How did your Grandpa know to do that?" Sung-Sun inquired.
Ben grinned at her. "That's a story for another time." Sung-Sun gave him a deadpan look in response but Ben just chuckled and went on with his story. "When we got there, Clancy was waiting for us with a bunch of cockroaches."
Apacci made a face. "Cockroaches? Why cockroaches? Why not something deadly like scorpions or something?"
"Clancy was gonna use the cockroaches as an armor to survive the blast with," Ben explained.
"Impressive," Harribel said, noting all the different ways Clancy used his bugs in battle.
"I was too busy trying to save a city to be impressed," Ben said. "Gwen told me the best way to get rid of Clancy's bugs was a good barbeque, so I decided to go Heatblast."
Lilynette gasped at the name. "The guy you used on the Fountain of Youth!"
"I decided to keep Bug-Brain busy while Grandpa tried to shut down the reactor," Ben told them. "But for some reason my powers weren't working. Clancy started wailing on me with his cockroach armor until I learned something cool. Turns out when Heatblast has a cold, he gets ice powers!"
"Wait, what?" Mila Rose she shook her head. "How does that work?"
"I don't know," Ben confessed. "But it was my best shot to take Clancy down, plus there was only one minute before the reactor blew up. So I stopped both of them cold."
Lilynette, Apacci, and Mila Rose groaned at the lame joke. Even Starrk looked disappointed at Ben's poor humor. Harribel was the only one who remained impassive.
"Everyone's a critic," Ben muttered before continuing. "With the day saved, the bad guy defeated, and my cold finally gone, it was time for us to leave. Unfortunately we didn't get far because Clancy and his cockroaches somehow managed to escape and caught up with us. To make things worse my Omnitrix was timed out so I couldn't go hero. Gwen suggested a candy bar could attract the bugs and that gave me an idea. Earlier when Grandpa had made that San Ju Yen Pien, I hid it away because I really didn't want to try that stuff. It smelled horrible and I bet it tasted worse. But those cockroaches found it irresistible and when I threw it into the nearby river, they all went after it…"
Lilynette grinned as she figured out what came next. "Leaving Clancy totally defenseless."
Ben grinned back at her. "You got it. One punch from Grandpa and he was out!"
"Bet you were finally glad to be done with him," Sung-Sun said.
"Yeah, he was really starting to bug me," Ben said back, laughing at how annoyed the others looked. "Oh come on, that was perfect."
"If by perfect you mean perfectly stupid," Appacci scoffed. "Then yeah, it was."
Ben rubbed the back of his head neck by the smile remained. "Tough crowd."
"Well that was quite the story," Sung-Sun said. "It's interesting how your well-being affects that of your aliens. Does it work the other way around?"
"It…depends," Ben figured was the best answer. And it was the truth. Sometimes injuries on his aliens were carried over to him, and other times they wouldn't. He had gotten a cut on his knee when he scraped it as Humungousaur. Then there was the time Tetrax shattered him to pieces as Diamondhead, but he was perfectly fine when he turned human again.
"Does the Ultimatrix heal your aliens?" Lilynette asked.
"Heal them?" Ben repeated, looking down at the Ultimatrix.
"Yeah, I mean, does Four Arms only have three arms now or does the Ultimatrix fix his fourth one?" Lilynette wondered.
"Huh," Ben said to himself as he pondered this. "Well to be honest, I don't really know." Unless the Tetramand DNA itself was damaged, Four Arms should be as good as new the next time Ben turned into him.
Hopefully.
"Do you have any other stories you feel like sharing?" Harribel asked Ben, deciding to change the subject.
"Any less…disgusting ones?" Apacci added.
"Oh I've got plenty," Ben replied. "But I was actually going to ask if I could hear some of your stories. I mean, since we're supposed to be learning more about each other and all."
His audience had not expected such a request. Lilynette and Harribel's Fraccione looked at each other, then at the Espada who looked at each other in turn. Ben wondered what was up with their hesitance. Were they trying to keep information from him? Or did something personal happen that they didn't want to share?
"I'll go," Starrk said, adjusting himself on his pillows. "Since I'm the one looking after him and all."
"Starrk…" Lilynette began and Ben was surprised by how quiet her voice was.
"Ben's been willing to share personal stuff with us," Starrk said with a shrug. "Only fair we share some too."
Lilynette brought her knees up to her chin and wrapped her arms around her legs. Ben was starting to regret ever saying anything.
"Look, if whatever you're about to tell me makes you feel uncomfortable, you don't have to…" Ben tried to reassure them.
"It's alright, not that big a deal," Starrk said nonchalantly but Ben had a feeling it was a bigger deal than he was playing it off as.
"Well, why don't you talk about something else?" Ben suggested, feeling like he had put the Arrancar on the spot somehow.
"It's the only thing interesting that's ever happened to us," Starrk said softly. "The time Lilynette and I first met Aizen."
Lilynette hugged herself a little tighter at this. Ben wondered why.
Starrk rubbed his head with a sigh before beginning his story. "You see, Ben, Lilynette and I are different from other Arrancar. You know how most have the nucleus of their powers sealed inside of a weapon? It's not like that with us. Lilynette and I…were once one and the same being."
Ben's eyebrows shot straight up at this revelation. He looked back and forth between Starrk and Lilynette, the former was looking down at the ground while the latter's eyes were off to the side.
"I'm not sure what we originally looked," Starrk said as he continued. "Probably didn't look like either of us. Back when we were one, we were strong. Too strong. All the weaker Hollows around us would die just by being near us."
If Ben's eyes weren't wide before, they were now. The combined form of Starrk and Lilynette was so strong others died just by their presence alone? Now it made perfect sense why Starrk was the top Espada. For a moment Ben wondered why he wasn't dead but quickly figured that Aizen must've taught Starrk how to control it.
"Because of that we were lonely. So lonely that our soul split in two just to escape the loneliness. I always envied the weak," Starrk said, drawing surprised looks from not just Ben but also from Harribel's group. Apparently Starrk had kept this unexpected envy to himself. "If you're weak, you can always find others to be around. I wanted to either become weak or find others who were as strong as me."
Harribel closed her eyes and her Fraccione looked at Starrk and Lilynette incredulously before softening to looks of empathy and understanding.
"One day, Lord Aizen found us amongst the remains of our latest victims," Starrk said. "Impressed with our power, he invited us to join him. He was strong, first person to talk to us without dying, we figured we might as well. Lord Aizen rescued us from the loneliness, so we owe him a lot."
Ben sat in silence as he took all of this in. He couldn't even imagine being so lonely. It sounded awful. At the same time it also said something about Starrk as a person; all that power and he would gladly trade it away to be with other people. Ben looked over at Lilynette now. When Starrk and Lilynette separated, did they both get an equal amount of their original power? Did Starrk get the majority of it since he was an Espada and she wasn't? How powerful was he now? And how powerful would he become if he rejoined with Lilynette?
"I had no idea," Apacci muttered.
"It's not like any of us actually talk about our lives before we met Lord Aizen," Lilynette snapped half-heartedly.
"Well life wasn't easy for us either, Lilynette!" Apacci retorted.
"Easier than us," Lilynette grumbled. "At least you four had each other."
Apacci clenched her fists and scowled at her, but she was unable to think of a decent response.
Sung-Sun sighed before facing her leader. "So…is it our turn, Lady Harribel?"
Ben looked over at the Third Espada, wondering what life must've been like for them before they met Aizen and why it was so bad.
"Yes," Harribel said. "Lord Aizen has told you that Hollows eat souls to fulfill the void within them, but there is more to it. When the void can no longer be sustained by human souls, a Hollow will start to eat his own kind."
Ben narrowed his eyes at this. Their hunger was so strong they'd start eating each other? Sounded a lot like Osmosians and their incredible hunger for energy. Despite his discomfort at how Hollows sustained themselves, Ben did feel sympathy for them. Hueco Mundo took survival of the fittest to a whole other level.
"Though Hollows are content to eat whoever they happen upon, women are targeted the most," Harribel said. Here her Fraccion's looks of discomfort came back, all looking anywhere but at their audience. "Back when I was a Vasto Lorde, the highest evolution of Hollow apart from becoming an Arrancar, I gathered other females into a group so we could increase our chances of survival."
"Your Fraccione," Ben figured. He was interested in learning more about this Hollow evolution. If Harribel had been a fully evolved Hollow before becoming an Arrancar, small wonder she was one of the top Espada.
"Correct," Harribel answered with a nod. "Together we fought off any attackers. Sometimes we killed if we needed to, but for the most part we simply chased our foes away. We never ate any of them."
Ben was surprised by this. "How come?"
Harribel looked Ben straight in the eye, making him lean back from her piercing gaze. "I did not wish to become stronger by sacrificing others."
"Lady Harribel once told us that there is no world without sacrifices," Apacci spoke up, her tone even but surprisingly soft.
"But if we force casualties on others," Mila Rose added. "We would sustain casualties of our own."
"That's why Lady Harribel decided that she'd rather win as part of a group if she couldn't defeat someone on her own," Sung-Sun explained.
"We were doing well for ourselves for quite some time," Harribel continued. "But then one day, we were attacked by an Arrancar who had a grudge against us back when he was a Hollow. We fought him to the best of our abilities but he was too powerful. He was about to finish me when Lord Aizen arrived and struck the Arrancar down. After apologizing for giving that Arrancar his power, Lord Aizen then offered for me to join him." Harribel looked over at her Fraccione. "In exchange I would be granted power. Power I could use to protect my subordinates without a sacrifice. I accepted and Lord Aizen then turned all four of us into Arrancar. I was placed among the Espada, and the others became my Fraccione."
Apacci, Mila Rose, and Sung-Sun all smiled at Harribel and Ben couldn't resist a smile of his own. After hearing all that, he definitely saw why those three were so devoted to Harribel. It also strengthened hos own beliefs about how decent they were. Sadly, it didn't help him figure out Aizen any better.
Ben decided he would focus on that in time. Right now he saw everyone was still a little uncomfortable with sharing such personal information, so he decided to make them feel better.
"Thanks," he said kindly to both Starrk and Harribel. "For sharing your pasts with me. I know it must've been hard."
Starrk just sighed, rubbing the back of his head. Lilynette gave Ben a small smile and Harribel's Fraccion looked a little more relaxed. But Ben could see the atmosphere was still pretty tense so he needed to lighten things up somehow.
"How about I tell one more story then we can start training?" He suggested.
"That sounds fair," Harribel said. "Do you already have one in mind?"
Ben had a feeling they were going to get a kick out of this story, which of course was his intent. "How about I tell you the time Gwen and I wound up switching bodies during our road trip?"
That certainly lifted the mood up. Harribel's Fraccione all stared at him in disbelief while Lilynette blinked once before bursting into laughter again.
"H-how did you do that?!" She asked.
Ben grinned as he felt the mood lift. "It was thanks to Gwen's archenemy, Charmcaster."
Lilynette's eye widened. "I remember her. She and that Hex guy were in the story with the Fountain of Youth!"
"Your cousin has an archenemy too?" Sung-Sun asked, mildly surprised.
Ben shrugged with a smile. "I can't hog all the bad guys now, could I? Grandpa Max took us to a place called Salem, Massachusetts." He decided to mercifully skip over the part where Max had them wear Pilgrim outfits. "We hardly got started when Charmcaster attacked us, so I went alien to try and stop her. For some reason she had taken an interest in my Omnitrix and tried casting a spell that would make us switch bodies. Unfortunately for her, Gwen got in the way and they wound up switching instead."
"Wait," Apacci interrupted. "I thought you said you and your cousin switched bodies."
"I did," Ben replied. "But I never said Gwen hadn't switched with someone else first."
Apacci grumbled at the misdirection.
"Anyway, Charmcaster managed to trick everyone into thinking she was Gwen and Gwen was her. Gwen, in Charmcaster's body, got taken away to juvie, kind of like a jail for underage criminals, while Charmcaster in Gwen's body tried getting me to tell her more about the Omitrix."
"You seriously didn't realize something was wrong with your cousin?" Mila Rose asked incredulously.
"Not at first," Ben admitted. "Course me and Gwen fought a lot back then so when she started asking me, so I thought she was just tricking and we got into what I thought was a typical fight. I started thinking something was up when "Gwen" suddenly started acting nice and offering to cook something for us. While we shopping for the ingredients, we wound up foiling a robbery. "Gwen" brought the lobsters to life and sent them on the robbers. I wanted to help them but "Gwen" said they needed to suffer. Later that night, when "dinner" was ready, Charmcaster trapped me with some of these rock minions of hers. Gwen managed to escape juvie and caught up with us. She started saying some things that only she would know, proving that she and Charmcaster had switched bodies. Before we could do anything, Charmcaster was able to cast the body-switching spell against with the ingredients she bought for "dinner". But she only got her own body back…"
"While you and your cousin wound up in each other's," Sung-Sun finished.
"Exactly. Charmcaster captured us and took us onto a ship while she tried to make the spell again. We needed to get Gwen's arm-my arm-free so that she could use the Omnitrix. Gwen told me she had some hand lotion in her, or rather my, back pocket. To get it out, Gwen needed to kick it out." Ben chuckled. "Painful but the fact that Gwen was kicking her own butt made it worthwhile."
Lilynette rolled her eye but she was smiling. "You two really didn't get along."
"We were kids, fighting with each other is what we do," Ben said. "Anyway, Gwen was able to get the lotion out and use it to get her wrist free. She tried turning into Four Arms but got Cannonbolt instead. Still, that was enough to get us free and we started fighting Charmcaster and her rock monsters. She cast the spell again Gwen but I got in the way, putting me and Gwen back into our proper bodies. Charmcaster got knocked out by Gwen and then sent to juvie. And if from what Gwen told me about her time there in Charmcaster's body, she was going to be in for a tough welcome. Then we didn't have to put up with her until the Fountain Youth and the Negative 10."
"The Negative 10?" Harribel asked.
"Ten of Ben's enemies forming a team against him," Starrk explained.
"And all of this happened during one summer?" Sung-Sun asked.
"At least I was one of the kids who could say his summer vacation wasn't boring," Ben said.
"True," Mila Rose said. "And you haven't started on your adventures when you were older."
"The stories will have to wait," Harribel interjected. "First we will train, then we can hear some more stories."
"Sounds good to me," Ben said as he stood up before nearly falling over. His legs had fallen asleep but he been so caught up in sharing stories that he hadn't noticed. He quickly rubbed his legs to put some feeling back in them. "Just give me a moment."
Lilynette and Harribel's Fraccion all chuckled at Ben's predicament, as he made a face at them in return.
"You guys have fun," Starrk said before falling back onto his pillows. Lilynette frowned at Starrk before running up and giving him a kick, causing him to sit up with a yelp.
"What was that for?!" He demanded.
"Because I felt like it," Lilynette told him before turning to Harribel. "So we ready to go?"
Harribel looked over at Ben to see if he was ready. Ben raised a finger to request a moment before standing straight up.
"Okay, I'm good." he said. "Let's go."
…
And so Ben, Lilynette, Harribel, and her Fraccione were back in the courtyard. Harribel and Lilynette stood off to the side, the latter of whom waited in anticipation, while Ben faced Apacci, Mila Rose, and Sung-Sun.
"Get ready, Tennyson!" Apacci called out as she removed her cufflinks, which unfolded into bladed chakrams.
"We admit that you have impressive skills," Mila Rose said as she unsheathed her sword. "But don't underestimate us simply because we're not Espada."
"Lord Aizen himself has acknowledged our teamwork as the greatest among Arrancar," Sung-sun said as a sai emerged from her sleeve. "Taking us lightly would be your downfall."
Ben grinned as he activated the Ultimatrix. "Alright. Bring it on!" He slammed the dial down.
Lilynette grinned as Ben was consumed by the all-too-familiar flash of green light. "This is gonna be good!"
End of Chapter
Sorry there wasn't any action in this one but I felt that this chapter could take a break from fighting and focus a little more on Ben's interactions with the other characters. Hope you guys still enjoyed it. As always, special thanks to my friend Pyromania101 for proofreading my chapter. Thanks, man.
I was originally going to do another Bigby's Den segment but I couldn't really think of anything to write about. I might wait until this volume is over. Not much to talk about really. For those of you reading my Snow Queen and the Winter Knight stories, I have not abandoned it. I'm planning out a remake as we speak so don't worry. I don't know when the remake will be posted but it will come. Just need to regain my inspiration a bit.
Still having trouble coming up with a decent plot for a Ben 10/Fate Stay Night crossover. My buddy Diablo Ex Machina (Formerly known as Sallem Cortez 004) has given me some ideas for the Ben 10/Tenchi Muyo crossover though. Speaking of Diablo, would any of you happen to be good deviantartists or know someone who is? Diablo would like to know if there's someone who could make some fanart of his work.
One last thing before I go. Last month, on the eighteenth, my cat passed away. We had taken him to the vet and learned his lungs had collapsed. He was only able to use one-fourth of their full capacity and they told surgery wasn't a guaranteed success and could possibly kill him anyway. Rather than let my poor cat suffer, I let the vets put him to sleep. I stayed with him to the very end. I remember when I first got him, all the way back in 2001 when he was a little kitten I got for my 11th birthday. I called him Flex because cats are flexible. Even after all these years, up until the 18th of February, he was still as energetic and as playful as he was when I first got him. I miss him so much.
That's all I have for now. Hope you all enjoyed this chapter and I'll see you at the next one.
