Disclaimer: Ben 10 and Bleach do not belong to me.
I know I said I was going to wait until the Winter War Arc was complete before posting any new chapters, but I've been falling behind again. So I figured I might as well go ahead and post some.
Bleach: Ultimate Alien
Aftermath
Ben's mind had been in turmoil ever since the trip to Karakura Town. So many surprises and so many revelations. The moment he returned, his body went on autopilot as he made his way to Starrk's chambers. Starrk, Lilynette, Harribel, and her Fraccion were all waiting. The moment he entered, they all turned their heads to the door. Lilynette, Apacci, and Mila Rose's faces all lit up at seeing him. Sung-Sun and Harribel were more reserved but the relief was evident in their eyes.
Starrk ran a hand through his hair. "See? What did I tell all of you?"
Lilynette flung herself at Ben, who was too dazed to resist. He and Lilynette sprawled on the floor as the little Arrancar seemed to try squeezing the life out of him.
"Ben! You're back!"
"I bet those Soul Reapers didn't stand a chance," Apacci said smugly. "How did it go, Ben?"
Harribel, however, noticed how put out Ben looked. "Ben?" She stood at his side. "Are you alright?"
Her words finally caused the others to spot what she had. Immediately they gathered around him.
"Ben, what happened?" Sung-Sun asked.
"Did the Soul Reapers hurt you?" Apacci added, her face a mixture of concern and anger.
"No, no, I'm fine," Ben said gently. Physically, sure. Mentally on the other hand…
"Did...did you ever find out the identity of that masked guy?" Mila Rose inquired.
"I had never met him before in my life." And that much was true. But he had learned who the masked man was; that and more. "I'm sorry, everyone. That battle took more out of me than I thought. I need to lie down."
That only made them more concerned.
"Ben, something's bothering you," Mila Rose said firmly. "You know you can talk to us about it, right?"
Ben just gave her a smile. "Thanks, Mila Rose but really, I just need some rest."
Lilynette, Mila Rose, Apacci, and Sung-Sun were not convinced. Apacci crossed her arms and opened her mouth. "But…"
"We should respect Ben's wishes," Harribel said, the girls flinching despite the soft tone in the Third Espada's voice. "Come, girls." As she made her way to the door, Harribel placed her hand on Ben's shoulder, giving a gentle squeeze. "I hope you feel better after some rest, Ben."
She headed towards the door; her Fraccione glanced at Ben one more time before relenting.
"Get some rest, Ben," Mila Rose said, patting Ben's shoulder.
"We also hope you feel better," Sung-Sun said with a nod.
Apacci softly jabbed him in the side "That offer still stands about talking to us. We're your friends, Ben."
Despite everything, Ben couldn't help smiling. "I appreciate it, girls. I'll let you know after I'm done resting."
"You better." With that, Harribel's Fraccione walked out the door.
Lilynette looked like she was about to say something, only for Starrk to clear his throat. "Go with them, Lilynette. Ben's tired and you should give him some peace too."
Lilynette looked ready to argue but paused at the serious look in Starrk's eye. She sighed, rubbing her helmet. "Alright, alright, geez." She looked over her shoulder. "See ya later, Ben!" She ran out after Harribel's group.
"Thanks, Starrk," Ben said as he climbed into bed.
Starrk nodded before he fell back onto his pile of pillows. As Ben laid down his head on his own pillow and pulled up the covers, he replayed the events of Karakura Town in his mind:
His son from an alternate timeline and universe, superheroes called the Justice League, Ben groaned as he felt his head spinning once again. Yet those revelations were nothing compared to the bombshells his son, Ken, had given him. Ben's suspicions had been confirmed: Aizen was evil and had also been playing him for a sap. The thought made Ben clench the covers tightly. Sure he could think of various reasons why he fell for the charismatic Soul Reaper's words but at the end of the day, he allowed Aizen to make a sucker out of him.
"I didn't just fall for it," Ben muttered quietly. "I helped him with that oasis, plus I showed him a bunch of my aliens. How could I have been so stupid?"
Aizen had to be stopped, that was obvious. But how? Even if Ben somehow caught the Soul Reaper himself by surprise, there was a chance that all the Arrancar in Las Noches, particularly the Espada, might try and gang up on him. He didn't know what even half of them were capable of. Speaking of which, Ben shuddered when he remembered the warning about Aizen's Zanpakuto: Kyoka Suigetsu. Illusions through perfect hypnosis of the five senses? Ben wondered how many Soul Reapers and Arrancar had been affected by it.
His blood ran cold at the thought that Aizen might have hypnotized him too, but he couldn't recall ever having seen Aizen use his sword beside slicing off his shriveled arms as Swampfire. Not to mention that Ken would've said something if the sword could affect memories.
"Probably figured I was too easy to waste using his Zanpakuto on," Ben whispered to himself with a scowl before shaking his head. "Feeling sorry for myself isn't going to stop Aizen. I need a plan."
As risky as it was, now that he knew Aizen was his enemy, the Soul Reaper couldn't possibly know Ben was onto him now. Once he was well rested, Ben could think of an actual plan. On that final thought, he allowed sleep to claim him.
The next thing Ben knew, there was a knocking at the door. Starrk, who had also been awoken by the knocking, sat up. His brow furrowed as he eyed the door. "Come in."
Loly and Menoly were standing in the doorway, stoic as ever. Loly's eye roamed around the room before landing on Ben as he too sat up.
"Lord Aizen wishes to see you," Loly said bluntly.
Ben kept a straight face, fearing the worst. Giving Starrk a quick wave, he followed Loly and Menoly down the hall.
Ben blinked in surprise when he entered the throne room. Aizen was sitting upon his throne, with Ulquiorra, Grimmjow, Yammy, and Luppi gathered. What surprised him, however, was the girl standing in the middle of the room. She had long orange hair with a pin that resembled a flower. She was wearing a yellow sweater with a red bow and tan skirt. Her own brown eyes widened when she saw Ben.
"Ben," Aizen said from atop his throne. "Meet Orihime Inoue. She was the one Ulquiorra was sent to retrieve. Orihime, meet our dear ally, Ben Tennyson."
Ben became slack jawed, not even registering the 'dear ally' comment. She wasn't wearing the black uniform those Soul Reapers back in Karakura Town had. Was she a human? What was...how did...?
"I see you are confused, Ben," Aizen said with a sliver of amusement. "You are not the only one. There are some among you who aren't happy Orihime was brought here. Isn't that right, Luppi?"
Ben looked over at the Sixth Espada. Sure enough Luppi, his clothes slightly singed and his skin lightly bruised, had annoyance billboarded on his face.
"Our entire fight was just a distraction to lure this one girl out," Luppi grumbled. "Why would anyone be happy with that?"
"My apologies," Aizen said without any remorse on his face. "I heard that the fruits from the Oasis had given all of you quite the boost in power. I didn't mean to pull you away from your fun."
Luppi scowled and looked away.
"Now then," Aizen turned towards Orihime, "As for why I wanted Orihime brought here, I believe a demonstration is in order. Is that alright, Orihime?"
The girl trembled, sounding short of breath. "Y-yes sir," she said quietly.
Ben clenched his jaw. She had been forced to come here, he concluded.
"In order to fully demonstrate your power," Aizen continued, "Please heal Grimmjow's arm?"
Ben, Orihime, and Grimmjow's eyes widened. Luppi let out a scoff.
"Ridiculous!" he declared. "That's impossible, Lord Aizen. Tosen reduced his arm to ashes, you can't heal something that's been erased. She is not a god."
Ben frowned. Aizen knew something about this girl, otherwise he wouldn't have asked her to do this task. Orihime herself walked towards Grimmjow. "Soten Kishun. I reject."
Suddenly an orange light formed around Grimmjow's right side, reminding Ben of whenever Gwen used her mana spells. Did she have some kind of magical power too?
Luppi was still taunting her. "Hey? Are you listening to me, girl? If this is some kind of show to cover your ass, you better quit! If you can't do it, I'll kill you!"
Ben's hand drifted to the Ultimatrix, his eyes on the unaware Espada.
"If that power of yours turns out to be fake," Luppi sneered. "Then there will be no reason to… keep… you…"
Curious at the stunned look on Luppi's face, Ben turned back toward Orihime and Grimmjow. His hands fell at his side when he saw Grimmjow's right arm, now fully restored. Grimmjow himself stared as he held up the returned appendage.
Luppi staggered back. "H-how?! She… I've never heard of anyone with that kind of healing power! How did you do it, woman?!"
"You still don't understand?" Aizen asked and Ben flinched at the playfulness in his tone. "Ulquiorra, you saw her power as 'temporal regression' or 'spatial regression', did you not?"
"I did," Ulquiorra said plainly, still stoic even as Luppi faced him.
"That's impossible," the Sixth Espada said shakily. "No human could possess such an ability…"
Ben smirked despite himself, imagining how Luppi would react to some of the more powerful beings in his universe.
"You're correct, Luppi," Aizen said. "For Orihime's power is neither of those. It is 'Rejection of Events.'"
Ben and Luppi both looked up at Aizen. "What?"
"Her ability is to limit, reject, and negate any kind of event that has happened to her target. It is an ability that can return a target back to a previous state no matter what has happened to them. It is far superior to temporal or spatial regression, for it is a power that trespasses into God's domain."
Ben felt a bead of sweat run down his brow. Her power was on par with Anodites like Grandma Verdona, possibly Paradox, or even Celestialsapiens.
"Hey, girl!" Grimmjow called, causing Orihime to lightly jump at being addressed. He turned around, showing a burned spot on the left side of his lower back. "Fix one more spot."
Luppi's head snapped toward Grimmjow as Orihime began healing the burned spot. Slowly the burns disappeared, revealing the number 6.
Luppi narrowed his eyes. "What do you think you're doing, Grimmjow?"
A turn of his head and a shark-like smirk was the only warning Grimmjow gave. An instant later he was right in front of Luppi, his restored arm piercing right through the other Arrancar's chest and out the other side. Luppi hacked blood as he weakly glared at his assailant.
"G-grimmjow… you son of a…"
Grimmjow just sneered. "That's the way it is… former Number Six."
Ben's hand flew to the Ultimatrix. He had an idea what Grimmjow was going to do and despite being enemies, he couldn't let that happen.
But just then a pressure poured into the room, stopping everyone in their tracks.
"Now, now, Grimmjow," Aizen said soothingly. He was still smirking but Ben noticed something in his eyes. Something very, very dangerous. "You have regained your arm and therefore your full power. As such you are reinstated into the Espada. There is no need for further conflict, is there?"
Grimmjow said nothing but Ben could see that he was struggling not to react. Finally the reinstated Sixth Espada pulled his hand out of Luppi's body, his former replacement falling to his knees.
"Orihime," Aizen called softly. "Please heal Luppi."
Orihime was at Luppi's side in a few quick steps, the wound from Grimmjow alongside his previous wounds all beginning to vanish as she focused.
"You have a very special power, Orihime," Aizen said as Orihime finished up healing Luppi. "And you are my guest here. I will do everything in my power to make you feel welcome, as will my Espada. We won't allow anything to happen to you."
His eyes drifted toward Ben, who caught his glance. At first the young hero was confused by Aizen's words but when Aizen's smirk grew about a centimeter, the truth hit him like a punch to the gut.
Aizen knew, or at the very least suspected. Apart from whatever need Aizen had of her powers, she was also insurance.
"Ulquiorra," Aizen said at last, closing his eyes. "Please show Orihime to her room."
Ulquiorra bowed before addressing Orihime. "Follow me, girl."
Nervously, Orihime followed after the Fourth Espada, giving one last glance at Ben before she and Ulquiorra left the throne room.
"That will be all," Aizen said. "You may all leave."
Flexing his fingers, Grimmjow strolled out. Luppi followed at a good distance, glaring daggers at his usurper. Yammy just shrugged and went about his way. Ben went immediately after, not wanting to be alone with Aizen. He thought the Soul Reaper might have a final word before he left but no. Aizen said no more, though Ben could practically feel his eyes on him when he left.
Once he was in the hall, Ben wanted nothing more than to punch the wall in frustration. Whatever Aizen was planning, he had to stop it. But first he needed to get Orihime out of here.
"And where exactly do I take her?" Ben asked himself quietly. "Even if we got out of Las Noches, we're still stuck in Hueco Mundo. Unless Orihime's powers somehow allow her to go back to the Living World, we're trapped. We'll either be caught by the Arrancar here or the Hollows out there." Ben paused. "The Hollows...that's it!"
But then what? Team up with the Soul Reapers? Would they be willing to hear him out? What about the Soul Reapers that actually were as corrupt as Tosen warned? Unless he was in on it too. Of that, Ben wasn't sure.
Then there was the Oasis which could give the Arrancars an edge in the upcoming war. And speaking of Arrancars, what about those like Starrk and Harribel? Ben rubbed his head, realizing just how deep a situation he had gotten himself into.
"One thing at a time," he told himself. "First thing's first: I gotta get Orihime out of here."
No doubt Aizen would be keeping a closer eye on him now. Going in guns blazing would just put Orihime at risk. For now Ben would try to lie low and wait for the right opportunity.
Little did he know, that opportunity was going to come very soon.
To Be Continued
So yeah, the masked man is Ken Tennyson, protagonist of the Justice League/Ben 10 crossover Unlimited Justice. Son of Ben Tennyson and Supergirl from the Justice League universe who, through the events of that story, wound up in the Bleach universe and told my Ben "Yeah, Aizen's evil." So now Ben's gotta find a way to stop Aizen while being stuck in enemy territory.
