Chapter 6: Late Night Visit
Ben and the guys played games together for a few hours, bonding more with one another and just having a good time. When it got to be around midnight, the boys shut off the game and went to bed.
Ben fell asleep pretty easily in his new room and slept peacefully for a few hours when he suddenly heard someone calling out to him.
"Wake up, Doofus," Ben heard a very familiar voice calling him by the old nickname she had given him.
Ben sat up and looked to see a young woman standing in his bedroom. She had long, red hair that was tied into a long ponytail. She wore a blue and black spandex suit with black combat boots and several charms on the sleeve of her right arm. The woman also had a hooded cloak that was pulled back. Lastly had a belt with a cat on it design for the buckle.
"A grown woman breaking into the room of two teenage boys. How low you have fallen, Gwen," Ben teased the woman. This was his cousin and the expert mage of the family. Even though they were cousins, the pair were as close as brother and sister.
"Good thing I'm not actually here," Gwen walked over to his bed and took a seat
"Astral projection and silence spell to not disturb him?" Ben asked while pointing toward Brian
"Wrong, yet again. I thought I taught you enough about magic to know something as simple as this," Gwen shook her head and pointed at Ben. He turned around and saw himself laying in bed, still sleeping. That was also when he noticed that his blankets had not been disturbed when he sat up.
"Dream walking," Ben concluded
"Ding, ding, ding. Guess you were paying attention to my lessons," Gwen gave him a mock applause when he correctly guessed what spell she was using. "Just woke up over here but figured I'd check to see how you were doing. Grandpa Max told me that your parents had shipped you off."
Gwen was currently in London and was a student at the Imperial College London which was one of the top schools in the world. It also happened to be the city with the largest number of cultists and rogue sorcerers, mages, and warlocks. Because of that, Gwen was able to go to college while also fighting magical crime on the side.
"Yeah. But it's not bad here. Think I'm gonna enjoy it," Ben told her, before repeating what his first day was like. Gwen listened to all the details with interest. And when he got to the parts about the different girls, she was surprised.
"Wow. You've really come into your popular phase. Not that lame kid like before," Gwen praised him for being able to attract 3 pretty girls after a single meeting. "This schools sounds like it is a little lax when it comes to inner security. Don't make me an aunt too soon."
"Who cares about you? Grandpa Max would kill me if I got a girl pregnant," Ben was far more worried about his grandfather than anyone else. His grandfather had been the disciplinarian for when his parents were too soft on him so even though he respected and loved his grandfather, Ben also feared him the most out of anyone in the family.
"Haha well as long as you know," Gwen laughed as she remembered the first time she brought a boy home and Grandpa Max put the fear of God into him. The guy didn't even try to hold her hand until their third date. "Anyway, I just wanted to see how you were doing. If you're alright, I'll let you get back to bed."
Gwen was about to end the spell but Ben stopped her as he shouted "Wait!"
"How have you been doing? You need help with anything?" Ben asked, worried about his cousin. Even though she was the smarter one, her intelligence also made her a bit arrogant. She would take some risks thinking that she could handle anything.
Gwen knew what Ben was worried about. She reached over and ruffled his hair while reprimanding him.
"Who's the big sister and who's the little brother? Don't worry. I have been working with Charmcaster. We watch each other's backs," Gwen tried to reassure him but when she said who she was working with, that only caused Ben to be even more worried.
"Didn't she try to kill you before?" Ben asked her, wondering if his cousin had gone insane
"Yes," Gwen agreed, averting the judging gaze of her cousin. "But that was a misunderstanding. We both thought the other was working for the cult we were hunting. But now that the situation has been cleared up, we have started working together. She's a good girl, trust me."
"Fine," Ben agreed. Gwen was a pretty good judge of character. If she trusted someone, Ben would believe in them too. "Still let me know if you need any help. I can be there in literally 10 seconds."
"I will. Love you, Doofus."
"Love you too, Dweeb." And with a flash of purple light, Ben was out cold while Gwen was gone. Ben slept for a few more hours until his alarm went off. Ben hurried to get up and turn it off. He looked over to see that Brian was still asleep.
'Phew. Better turn that off for now,' Ben thought as he put on some running clothes and went outside. After he made it out the front door, Ben began to run down the path around the school.
Although he was not a big exercise guy, Ben made sure to at least run every day in order to keep himself in shape and ensure discipline. It took Ben about 30 minutes to complete a single lap and by the time he was done, he was struggling to walk.
"Ok, Ben," he said between breaths. "Maybe we should start using our other forms a little more."
Ben went back inside and saw that there was more activity in the house from people moving around and starting their day. Before it got too busy, Ben grabbed some clothes and went toward the boys' showers. After taking a quick shower, Ben went back to his room to get ready for the day.
When Ben got back, he saw that Brian was still sleeping. With little to do so early, Ben got on his phone and began to play a few games to kill time. Brian woke up about an hour later and started to get ready for classes then. It only took him 15 minutes to get ready before he was out of bed and ready for class.
"All ready?" Brian asked
"Born ready," Ben replied confidently, ready to take on his first day of classes. The duo walked out the room and Brian escorted Ben down to his first class of the day before heading off to his next class. Since they were in different years, Brian couldn't stay with him the whole time.
Luckily for Ben, the Cuckoos and New Mutant girls he had dinner with were all in the same class and sat close to each other. Ben walked over to the seat between them and greeted them all with a smile.
"Morning, ladies. So radiant today," Ben said as he sat down with his laptop
"Weird way to talk about the weather," Illyana shot back with a light smile
"I was talking about all of you," Ben replied without missing a beat, taking this as an opportunity to flirt with the girls. Gwen had given him a little bit of advice in regards with handling girls who were interested in him so he decided to follow it.
"Tsk. Playboy," the triplets said at the same time while the New Mutant girls nodded in agreement but everyone had smiles on their faces. And so his first class of Algebra started off on a good note.
Ben was able to get through the class pretty easily before moving onto biology with the same group. The class was also pretty good but Ben was forced to choose between his new friends and teammates with which group he would join for the class.
"I'll go with the Cuckoos. I have an extra class with each of you after all," Ben told them. This was part of the reason why he partnered with the Cuckoos but also because he wanted to get closer with them. They were going to be teammates for the next 4 years so he wanted to take Biology as a chance to improve their relationship.
When Ben sat with them, none of the Cuckoos said anything but to Ben, he felt that they were happy. The 4 sat together for the entire class but there was not much to the lesson. Just going over the most important parts of the cell. For example, plant cells had a cell wall that animal cells lacked. (you guys thought I was gonna say that ancient joke, didn't you?)
Also, the mitochondria was the powerhouse of the cell. (Sue me!)
When Biology was over, Rahne grabbed Ben's arm and dragged him out the class toward the practice field outside.
"Any hint on what you're gonna transform into?" Rahne asked as they walked toward the field
"What? Can't wait 5 more minutes to find out?" Ben teased
"Fine! Don't tell me," Rahne pouted when she noticed that she wouldn't get the answer out of him. The duo made their way to the field where 20 other students were gathering. Most of them were wearing their training uniform but some were in casual clothes like Rahne and Ben. The teacher for the class was a man that went by Logan. He was one of the two who disagreed with Ben joining since he didn't take kindly to prankster types.
When Logan noticed Ben walking over when Rahne wrapped around him, he raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything about it.
"Tennyson. You gonna go dino on us?" Logan asked, having already seen Ben's other form during the training simulation the previous day.
"Nah," Ben denied. "He doesn't really have any improved senses. Just big and tough. This is the guy that I wanna practice with."
Ben began dialing on his watch while everyone else looked at him, curious about what he would transform into. When Ben found the form he wanted to transform into, he pressed down on the dial and his body was covered in a bright green light. When the light faded, everyone was stunned by his transformation.
"Blitzwolfer!" the creature shouted out
The creature resembled a werewolf. It had gray fur, three dark gray, furry tendrils that acted as a mane, and a large bushy tail with three sharp claws on each hand and foot. When he opened his mouth, the inside of his mouth was green. He had spiked elbows and shoulders and wore a white jumpsuit with black stripes and the Omnitrix symbol on his lower stomach.
"This is the form that I want to train with," Ben told Logan before turning to Rahne and giving her a 'smile'. "How's my wolf compared to yours?"
"A little smaller but I'm jealous that it comes with clothes when you transform. You look very handsome though," Rahne gave her honest opinion on the form. She felt a strong connection with it, having something primal in her want to get closer to Ben. This was exactly what she felt when she met Ben the day prior but it was much stronger, to the point that Rahne was barely able to hold herself back from pouncing on Ben.
Feral mutants had strong instincts that they usually described as an animal within them because of how foreign the feelings felt compared to their normal thoughts. These ranged from simple impulses and bonds to sexual or even violent desires. Some mutants naturally gave into these while others resisted with all their might. Most, however, tried to find a balance between the two, using their instincts to help them in combat or with life.
Luckily and unluckily for Ben, the instincts of Blitzwolfer were suppressed while he was in his normal form but it also meant that he had less practice controlling those instincts compared to other Feral mutants.