A Certain Powerful Omnitrix 3: The Hate That Dwells In Shadows

The Monster That Will Not Die

Sky Scorcher's heart nearly stopped. Capture Ben Tennyson? She could handle that.......But killing his friends? If there was something Sky Scorcher never did despite her battle hungry nature, it was kill. After Impulser killed her father, Sky Scorcher vowed that the only one who would ever experience death by her hand would be that monster. There was also the big issue that capturing Ben Tennyson would probably be the hardest task out of all the rest, especially considering that Ben Tennyson had beaten her in every encounter they ever had. The most spectacular of these encounters was when Ben used Ultimate Echo Echo to obliterate her Flaming Skyscraper move.

"Don't get me wrong." said Sky Scorcher. "I'll battle someone tough like Tennyson any day for fun. But killing is strictly off my resume. Got it?!"

"There is no need for worry in those regards." said Vilgax. "You can leave the killing to my friend here....Though I hope that you wouldn't attempt to kill him until our objective is completed........"

Sky Scorcher's eyes widened in hate and despair. Out of the shadows strode a familiar looking thin 16 year old boy with red messy hair and silver red eyes. His left arm was gone and replaced with a prosthetic made of titanium.

Impulser looked at Rikuo Karin with a psychotic blood thirsty grin. "Heloooooo Riky Riky, long time no see........"

Ben Tennyson lay on a long metal chair in the lab of the Resolute while Tetrax used a holographic analyzer to create holographic models of the different parts of the Omnitrix. Moving the holograms around the room, Tetrax searched for any issues regarding the Omnitrix's apparent malfunctioning.

"Well it seems to be working normally now." said Tetrax. "Or at least you won't be randomly transforming for a while yet. But there's still a chance it will start reverting."

"How do you know?" Ben asked.

"Umm....It's a little complicated, I'll tell you later." said Tetrax looking to the left.

Mikoto, who was standing just outside the lab couldn't help but feel extremely guilty. Maybe she should tell Ben the truth. That he was slowly turning into a living nightmare like an irreversable disease....... But she didn't want to cause him any pain.

Wait! thought Mikoto, what if the thing mentioned on Anur Phaetos doesn't work? What if Ben turns into GhostFreak forever? This could be the last time I'm able to tell him how I really feel. But does he feel the same way?

If anyone could see what Mikoto was thinking right now they probably would have started rolling their eyes and saying that it was pretty obvious that Ben had feelings for her. But Mikoto wasn't one of those people who found it easy to confess their feelings for another person, she actually wasn't even very sure how to tell if someone liked her back. She actually used to have a thing for Kamijou Touma, but everytime she tried to tell him so, she would go extremely red and not be able to speak, and Touma being the dense guy he was, wouldn't be able to see the signs and hints that came from Mikoto's red face and stuttering speech. Ben obviously wasn't as dense as Touma, though he might act pretty goofy a lot of times, the years he spent fighting aliens and battling the criminal underworld had given him a sort of sharp and perceptive side which he tended to keep hidden.

To be honest, months ago during the Daihaseisai, Mikoto was pretty sure that Ben had actually tried to ask him on a date. Kuroko had interupted of course, before anything could be clarified. But since the conversation had turned sort of hypothetical before then, Mikoto had since thought that Ben must have been having one of his usual friendly jokes with her. In any case, it was because of the fact that Ben was less dense then Touma that Mikoto kept her feelings buried down even deeper. She didn't want to risk alienating her best friend with anything awkward.

Mikoto gave a start. She had been so wrapped up in her thoughts that she hadn't seen Ben standing right next to her.

"Hey Sparks." Said Ben grinning. "You seem like you've got something eating you."

Sparks was a nickname Ben had developed after Mikoto had started calling him Omniboy as part of a joke they had. Mikoto didn't remember what the joke had been, but it had been hilarious.

"Eh...it's nothing." said Mikoto as pink patches appeared on her cheeks. "Girl stuff."

"You should write a book." said Ben. "Seriously, I mean there are hundreds of guys out there who would pay a million bucks for a book that tells them about how girls think. It would be pure gold."

"Yeah." said Mikoto laughing. "And maybe you would have actually asked Julie out before she transferred schools last month."

"Er..yeah." said Ben scratching his head and blushing. "To be honest, I don't think it would have worked out anyways between her and me."

"She definitely had a thing for you though."

Ben raised an eyebrow. "You think? I always felt she thought I was a little goofy."

Mikoto started laughing even more. "Are you kidding?! Of course she thought you were goofy!! But that's your most attractive trait you know!!"

"You think my goofiness is attractive?"

Mikoto realized what she just said and went as red as a ripe strawberry. "W-wait!! I-I mean th-thats just what I hear the girls say......." Mikoto went silent and looked down cursing herself for being an idiot. 

Ben was looking at Mikoto with a strange look in his eyes. "Say Mikoto.....have you ever asked anyone out?"

"I tried once." said Mikoto sighing. "But to be honest, it's not easy being myself around other guys. Because I'm the Ace of Tokwadai or Electric Princess or whatever people expect me to be some sort of proper perfect lady."

"Yeeaaahhh..." said Ben smirking. "Whoever thinks that doesn't really know you well."

"I always thought that if any guy knew I was some sort of beserk bug zapper who liked to beat up thugs in alleyways then they would tend to avoid me." said Mikoto muttering bitterly.

"Don't be ridiculous." said Ben. "You're brave, adventurous, kind, beautifull. What guy wouldn't want someone like you? I mean seriously, so many of those 'proper girls' at Tokwadai act like total snobs. And I've met some of the other level 5s too. This one girl who called herself Mental Out challenged me to a fight and acted so arrogant about it. But you're nothing like that, you always manage to be yourself. Heck, I say your whole can do attitude is pretty attractive."

"You think my personality is attractive?"

It was Ben's turn to go red. "Er.....yeah......or so I've heard....."

Mikoto and Ben stood there for a moment awkwardly twiddling their thumbs.

"W-well, I should probably make sure Argit hasn't escaped or anything." said Mikoto (They had Argit locked up in the lower levels of the ship.)

"Er....right, yeah."

Mikoto made to leave, but suddenly tripped  and fell right into Ben's arms. Mikoto looked up to find her face only inches away from Ben's. The two's lips suddenly got closer.......and closer.........closer...

"ROOOO ROOOO ROOOO!!!" The security alarm of the ship suddenly rang out and Tetrax ran over to them. MIkoto and Ben frantically seperated themselves and tried to look normal.

"T-Tetrax!" Stuttered Ben in an attempt to seem casual. "What's going on?"

"Intruder." Said Tetrax. "Looks like the ship has a stowaway."