Insert Random Scream of Pain Here (part 4 of 5)

Lights began to flash across the Fandom Stabilizer as it activated. A loud hum filled the air as Asasca and the assembled Protection Society and Sues stared at the device in awe.

The hum grew louder and louder until it was beyond deafening. Ben clapped his hands over his ears as the noise reached an unbearable volume.

Asasca turned to his allies, arms spread wide dramatically.

"And now," he somehow shouted over the din. "The dawn of a new world!"

Unfortunately for him, it was at that exact second that a harsh grinding noise sounded, and with a clatter the Fandom Stabilizer shut down. Several warning lights began to pulse red as sparks flew from a handful of access points.

Asasca stood stock still for a second, then turned slowly to glare at Neb, Raven and the rest.

"All right!" He roared, his face red with rage. "Which one of you idiots forgot to hook the flux capacitor back into the coaxilizing rationalization convertor?"

There was a silent chorus of feet shuffling and eye shifting from the Protection Society Agents.

"Never mind," Asasca hissed, rolling up his sleeves and stalking towards the massive device. "I'll just have to fix this myself."

"How long with that take?" Raven asked, moving to help him.

"A few hours, give or take."

"I knew it wouldn't work," Relyt muttered. "Remind me again why the higher-ups let him go ahead with this?"

"Quit complaining," Neb growled.

Cassandra pulled out a communicator of some sort and held it up to her ear for a second before turning away, swearing.

"Everything OK?" Ekard asked.

"I can't geet my seester." Cassandra huffed. "I've been trying for 'ours now."

Ben pulled Bella aside as the Protection Society agents bickered.

"Are you OK?" he asked. "Did they do anything to you?"

Bella shook her head. "I'm fine."

Ben let out a sigh of relief. "Good. I was so worried."

"I'm all right," Bella reassured him. " But what happened? What are you doing here? And where's Shirley?"

Ben grimaced and related the events of the past couple of days.

"Repiv panicked and ran," Ben concluded. "I followed him here and we fought. Shirley managed to kill Repiv, but she got hurt in the fight, so she stayed behind to rest."

He sighed.

"To make things short, the Elimination Society thinks I'm a traitor, so I don't think we'll be able to count on any reinforcements coming. We're on our own here."

Silence reigned between them for a long moment, then Bella asked a question.

"Ben, I know Asasca is your greatest creation, but who is he really?"

Ben turned to look at his erstwhile character who was busy working on the Fandom Stabilizer.

"Him? He's the man behind the curtain, the Chessmaster, the man behind the man."

Ben turned back to look at Bella. "Back before I discovered fanfiction, my stories were always somewhat of a cross between fantasy and super-hero comic-bookery. Asasca was...it's hard to define him."

Ben's brow creased as he thought. "It's like this," He said at last. "My earliest generations of stories centered around an evil entity I named Sluthen. Sluthen was your average run-of-the-mill-destroy-the-universe-refuses-to-stay-dead baddy. But for some reason or another I never got around to explaining, Asasca and Sluthen hated each other with a passion, so Asasca would go from world to world one step ahead of Sluthen, and grant a team of teenagers the power to fight him."

"So, that's all he did?" Bella asked. "He gave people super-powers and disappeared? Sounds like a walking deus ex machina if you ask me."

Ben shrugged. "That's pretty much what he was. But later on, my stories and Asasca's role both changed. He tended to head small, highly powerful strike forces of teens he had bestowed power to. In return for their servitude, Asasca promised them that they'd find the answer or solution to some personal problem or struggle they were dealing with. He also evolved the Chessmaster personality, playing people off against each other and even using his own servants as pawns. I tried hard to make him morally ambiguous. Sure, he helps people, but there's always something in it for him. He's not above betraying his own servants if it served his own ends."

"You said his primary ability was to bestow power on others." Bella said, looking towards Asasca. "Just how powerful is he?"

Ben sighed and scratched his head. "See, that's the thing. Since Asasca was always the master planner type, he virtually never fought himself. He always let his subordinates do any dirty work for him. So to answer your question, even I have no clue. He could be strong enough to take on the entire Elimination Society with both hands tied behind his back, or he could be so weak a Care Bear could mop the floor with him. There's really no way of telling, short of engaging him head on."

"So what are we going to do?" Asked Bella.

Ben sighed. "I'm not sure what we CAN do. We're out numbered three to one, and I have absolutely no clue where we are or how to get out of here. And to top things off, the Society thinks I'm a turn-coat, so there's no hope of back-up."

He looked back towards Asasca and the rest. "We're on our own here."

There was another long silence.

"I'm sorry," Bella said softly. "This is all my fault."

Ben turned back to look at her.

Bella was sitting on a rock with her arms wrapped around her knees, drawing them up to her chest.

"All this time I've done nothing but cause trouble for you," Bella continued. "If it weren't for me-"

"Don't think like that!" Ben cut her off. "You didn't ask for any of this! If anything, all of this is my fault for creating Asasca in the first place."

"But what are we going to do?" Bella insisted.

"I don't know," Ben admitted. "But I'm going to get both of us home alive."

He looked Bella straight in the eye.

"I promise."

"If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were being serious."

Ben turned at Neb's snicker, glaring at his counterpart who was flanked by Ekard and Relyt.

"What do you want?" he growled, dropping one hand to Bahamut.

"I got bored," Neb shrugged. "So I figured I'd come over here and have a little fun. You're not busy, are you?" he leered.

"Too busy to waste time on someone like you!" Bella shot back.

Neb raised an eyebrow. "Watch your mouth," He rasped. "Asasca said I couldn't kill you, he didn't say anything about not beating you bloody."

"You lay so much as a hand on her and I swear to god I'll-"

"You'll what?" Neb challenged, cutting Ben off. "You know, I think you need a lesson in respect more than your girlfriend does! Grab him!"

Before Ben could react Ekard and Relyt grabbed him by the arms, restraining him.

"Now," Neb said, cracking his nuckles. "School is in session."

"Let him go."

Bella's voice was dangerously calm.

"Or what?" Neb sneered, turning to face her. "You'll zap me with your little energy beams?"

Bella met his gaze evenly, the green energy in her fists pulsing gently.

"That's the general idea, yeah."

"Why don't you try it?" Neb scoffed. "See what-"

"Hey, Neb!" Ben interrupted.

Neb turned back to face the Agent.

Ekard and Relyt still had a hold of Ben's outstretched arms, holding them out to the side. Ben's hands were spread as well and his fingers were splayed in every direction.

He smirked. "Don't mess with Nukes."

"No!" Neb looked around wildly, but it was too late. A curtain of warheads was descending all around them.
Ekard and Relyt had let go of Ben in shock. He grabbed Bella by the hand and pulled her out of the way as the bombs exploded, the entire cavern shook violently.

One of the nukes collided with the Fandom Stabilizer, the explosion blowing the top half of the device clean off. It smashed into the ground, barely missing Asasca and Raven who dove for cover, shielding their heads from the falling debris.

Stalactites broke from the shaking ceiling, plummeting to the ground point-first like spears where they shattered into stone shards.

Suddenly, before even half of the nukes had gone off, the cave ceiling exploded inward and Adrian, Aster in fae form, Cristoph, Drake and Shirley came flying in.

"Aster!" Adrian called as they fell. "Give us an air cushion!"

"You got it!" the fae chirped and instantly the group's descent slowed. There was a flash as Adrian summoned Hoshikuzu and angled towards Asasca, sword raised to strike.

Asasca reached over his shoulder and drew his own sword, just in time to bock a swing from the still airborne Adrian.

Their swords locked and eyes met as Adrian remained perched in mid-air.

Asasca raised an eyebrow. "Hmm..."

He gave his sword a swing, breaking the lock. Adrian hit the ground and slid backwards several feet.

"So you're the Librarian." Asasca said, twirling his sword idly. "This should be interesting..."

In response, Adrian raised Hoshikuzu and charged.

Meanwhile, Christoph had engaged Relyt in a flurry of strikes, blocks and parries, neither giving, nor moving an inch.

Drake and Aster were double-teaming Raven, the black-haired Stu taking both on without breaking a sweat. Aster flitted around Raven, loosing various spells at him, while Drake took a more direct approach armed with his spear.

Raven deflected a blast of magic and a spear thrust with one flick of his sword, then released a wave of energy from his palm. Aster was forced to make some very undignified aerial maneuvers to avoid it while Drake was unceremoniously bowled over, the spell denting his armor.

"Is that really the best you two have?" Raven asked, leaning on his sword as Aster and Drake recovered. "I get more of a challenge from stretching when I get up in the morning! At least make this worth my time, won't you?" he cried, grabbing his sword and going on the offensive. Aster and Drake fell back, struggling to keep their limbs intact as Raven advanced, his sword a blur.

Ekard looked around, trying to decide who he should help, when someone tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around. It was Shirley.

"Hi," she grinned evilly. "Remember me?"

Ekard paled. "OH, NOT HER AGAIN!" he shouted as Shirley started chasing him.

Neb looked around desperately. This was bad. The Fandom Stabilizer had been destroyed, and if the Librarian were here, chances were they had already lost, Asasca or no Asasca. He had no interest in risking his life in an uncertain battle. With one last glance around the battlefield, he turned and ran.

Ben and Bella slowly picked themselves up from off the ground. They had narrowly missed getting caught in an explosion from a nearby nuke and barely avoided an ensuing barrage of falling rocks.

Bella looked around at the warring agents. "How'd they find us here?" she asked, open-mouthed.

"Who knows?" Ben asked grimly. "I'm more worried about-" Then he noticed the fleeing Neb. "Hey! He's getting away!" He shouted.

"Who?"

"Neb! Hey! Christoph! Adrian! Someone! Hey!" Nobody could hear him over the sound of the raging battle.

"Dammit!" Ben swore. "I'm going after him!"

"Who? Neb?"

"Yes!" Ben said sharply, turning back to the Sue. "I want you to hide somewhere and wait for me. Don't budge until I come for you. If I'm not back in an hour, run."

With that, Ben took off after Neb.

"Ben! Wait!" Bella cried. She started after him but an invisible force knocked her off her feet and sent her flying backwards several feet.

"Just 'ere do yoo think 'URE going?" Cassandra asked, striding into view.

Bella struggled to her feet. "Looks like it's time for the obligatory catfight." she growled as her eyes vegan to glow green.

Neb hadn't realized just how large the cavern was. He'd been running for several seconds now, but he'd hardly made any progress.

"Neb!"

Neb groaned, he recognized that voice. He turned to see Ben hot on his heels, his face a grim mask. Neb growled and picked up the pace only to come skidding to a stop on the edge of a precipice. The yawning abyss stretched out in front of him, so wide he couldn't see the other side.

Turning back to face the approaching Ben, he raised a palm and rasped, "My coffeemakers rule the world."
Ben slid to a stop and pulled Bahamut around as the tidal wave of coffee came barreling towards him. He quickly began to crash out a rapid-fire stream of power chords, creating a wall of sound, pushing the flood away from him and creating an island in a sea of coffee.

Ben let out a sigh of relief as the last of the java streamed away, but it was cut short as Neb decked him, spinning him around and knocking him to the ground.

Neb took several steps back from the stunned Agent and pointing at him. "Mess with nukes."

Ben shook his head to clear the stars from his vision. The cave was still spinning slightly but he had other things on his mind, namely the approaching nuke. There was no time to think and only just enough time to pray.

Ben flipped onto his back, pulled his Plothole Generator from his holster, held it up and fired, creating a plothole in mid-air. The nuke fell through the portal and vanished into an unknown fandom.

Ben was starting to his feet when Neb plucked his Plothole Generator out of his hand and crushed it. Then he grabbed Ben, raised him over his head, turned around and slammed the agent back onto the cave floor with all his might. Ben gasped in pain as the air was driven from his lungs.

"Let's try this again," Neb said calmly, stepping back and pointing at Ben again. "Mess with nukes."

Ben's eyes widened and he gasped for air desperately as he tried to struggle to his feet, but it was too late. The warhead struck Ben head-on, creating a small mushroom cloud and kicking up a dense cloud of dust and smoke.

"Gotcha," Neb growled, watching the billowing cloud. He had only summoned a minor, localized nuke, but even a small one was more than enough to deal with someone like Ben. Then he heard something. A wheezing noise.

The smoke slowly cleared, revealing Ben who was nearly bent double. Bahamut was slung across his back in shambles. Apparently Ben had used the weapon-instrument to block the force of the blow from Neb's nuke. Ben had one hand on Bahamut's neck, the only part of the guitar that had escaped any significant damage. Bahamut's body was broken open in several different places and severed wires and sparks were poking out.

Ben made the half-wheezing, half-gasping noise again, and Neb realized with a jolt that Ben was laughing.
"Y-you just lost, Neb," he chuckled.

Neb snorted. "Yeah, sure, because I'm the one on the ground sobbing like a little girl."

Ben ignored him. As he took Bahamut off of his back, chips and flakes from the guitar's ruined body fluttered to the ground.

"Tell me," Ben said, straightened up. "Do you know how I defeated Bella the last time we fought?"

"No," Neb sighed. "But I get the feeling you're about to tell me."

"I smashed Bahamut on the ground." Ben said, not paying the least bit of attention to his adversary. "When I did, all the energy stored in Bahamut to power its combat functions was released in a massive explosion. Of course, Bahamut was ruined, so when I got back to the Library Camille almost had to rebuild it from scratch."

"Who's Camille?"

"While she was working on it though, she noticed something interesting..."

Neb groaned. "Oh, don't tell me you're about to have a flashback..."

-

"DANGIT!"

Camille blinked. "Who was that?"

Ben shook his head. "Ignore it, this is a flashback. So what new features were you talking about?"

Camille walked around the table and over to a bank of computers and began to input several commands.

"I noticed something when I was working on Bahamut." She said. "The energy source I used to power it was a brand-new one I had just invented and had never before tested. It didn't even have a name and frankly, to be honest, I wasn't even sure if it would even work or not."

Ben gulped at the idea of fighting Bella with a short-circuting Bahamut. It did not make a pretty picture.

Camille finally found whaat she was looking for and stepped back to allow Ben to see the computer monitor. Long strings of numbers and various blueprints for Bahamut flashed across the screen.

"When I hooked Bahamut up to these computers to run diagnostics, something didn't add up. The energy expended by Bahamut during its destruction was nearly fifty times what I had charged it with originally."

Ben scowled. "What? How is that possible?"

"I had no clue myself until I conducted a few experiments." Camille turned back to Ben. "Apparently, the energy source Bahamut uses has a very interesting property. Whenever the energy is compressed, the amount of power contained within it is increased exponentially. So the tighter you pack it and the longer you pack it, the stronger it becomes!"

Ben looked down at the silver guitar in his hands with a newfound respect.

"As soon as I discovered this," Camille continued. "I set to work on developing a new function for Bahamut. Now, when Bahamut has sustained a sufficent amount of damage, you can activate what I call the Achilles Device, which releases all the stored power contained within Bahamut. But rather then externalizing the energy and wasting all of it in a single oversized blast-"

-

"-The Achilles Device internalizes the multiplied power, giving Bahamut a whole new form..."

Neb blinked. "Did you just segue the dialogue from a character in a flashback into your own line?"

"Yeah."

Neb nodded appreciatively. "Smooth."

Ben shrugged modestly. "I thought so."

Then his eyes hardened. "Get ready to face the face of war, Neb!"

Behind his sunglasses, Neb's eyes widened. What the-? Is his voice changing?

Ben held Bahamut up, his voice distorting.

"Strike with the fury of a wounded god... Bahamut!"

There was a flash of light and an explosion of darkness. Shadows and smoke billowed around Ben, hiding him from view.

Even from a distance away, Neb could feel the raw force emanating from the cloud. It was like being faced with an unbearably loud noise. You put your hands over your ears, but you still have to turn or back away.

"Ben," Neb ground out, trying to keep his voice steady. "What is that?"

"This?" Ben's voice asked from inside the cloud. "This is my Bankai, my Limit Break, my Final Form."

There was a wail of a guitar and the shadows were blown away, revealing Ben once again.

"This," said Ben, "is Death Metal Bahamut."

Bahamut had transformed. It's original polished silver color had changed to a jet black. It had changed shape too, from the gentle waves and curves of the SG variety, to the jagged edges and spikes of a Warlock configuration. The black swoosh on the top and bottom of the front of the body had inverted as well, from a black to a silver which shone brightly in the darkness.
Ben kept one hand on the fretboard which had extended by another two feet, letting his other arm hang at his side.

Neb struggled to remain calm, he could feel the raw power from the weapon.

"Is that it?" He sneered, trying to sound confident. "Is that all your Achilles Device can do? Give your electric twanger a makeover? Pathetic! My coffeemakers-"

Ben intruppted him, plucking a single string on Death Metal Bahamut. A concussive blast slammed out from the transformed guitar, knocking Neb back several yards and slamming him into a stalagmite.

Neb shook the stars from his vision, staggering upright. "You-won't beat me that easy!" He grated, lifting a finger. "Mess with-"

It was at that instant he noticed Ben's fingers strumming a second note on the black guitar. Neb dodged, but he didn't move quickly enough. The shockwave caught him in the side, spinning him around and slamming him into the ground, the blast shattering one of the lenses in his sunglasses.

The Protection Society Agent heard a second, less prominent thump as he hit the ground. As he slowly got to his feet, dazed, he noticed something on the ground. Someones severed arm lay several feet away, slowly oozing blood. It was a bizarre, almost comical sight, a severed arm just lying there on the ground. Then Neb felt a dull ache in his right shoulder, and when he looked over, his own arm was missing, blood spurting from a ragged stump.

Neb gasped in shock and pain, then whirled on Ben, shaking, blood still spraying from his shoulder.

"What are you?" He half-screamed at Ben, the one eye visible through his broken sunglasses wide with fear and rage.

"I told you Neb!" Ben shouted, hauling back on Bahamut. "I'm your death!"

He fired one last blast, the shockwave picking Neb up off his feet and tossing him over the edge of the abyss like a rag doll. Neb hardly had enough time for one final scream before it, and he, vanished forever.

-

Asasca and Adrian moved steadily across the cave floor, swords flashing and ringing in the darkness.

"Not half bad..." Asasca murmured as he blocked a twisting blow from Hoshikuzu.

"Don't patronize me!" Adrian barked. "Boot to the head!"

SCHWOOSH-FWUMP!

Asasca staggered back, a bootprint plastered across his face. He rubbed his face vigirously for a moment, before looking up and roaring with laughter.

"Excellent!" he shouted. "Do it again!"

"Your wish is my command!" growled Adrian. "Boot to the head!"

SCHWOOSH-CLANG!

Asasca caught Adrian's boot on his sword's flat and with a flick, sent Adrian staggering back.

"Now then," Asasca said raising his sword as Adrian tried to regain his balance. "Where were we?" he asked with a smirk.

-

Cassandra winced as she tried her hardest to sustain her force fields. Bella kept up her assault grimly, a continuous stream of twin energy beams wearing against Cassandra's shields. Blue sparks shot from the underside of Cassandra's force fields, burning her slightly, but she forced herself to ignore the pain.

Cassandra growled in frustration. This Sue was stronger than she had expected, Cassandra wasn't sure just how much longer her shields could hold.

Suddenly, Bella stopped the energy streams. Cassandra raised an eyebrow in confusion, then grunted in surprise as Bella renewed her assault, slamming individual charged bursts against Cassandra's shields.

Despite Cassandra's best efforts, she was forced back and her force fields finally buckled, a blast of emerald energy struck her in the abdomen, knocking her backwards and driving the wind out of her.

Cassandra heard a scream as she picked herself and turned just in time to see Neb being kncoked over the edge of the cliff.

Cassandra's eyes widened in shock. "Raveen!" She cried, whirling.

The Stu swatted Aster out of the air with the flat of his blade and turned to Cassandra. "What?" He asked, bored.

"They got Neb!" she shouted. "'Ee's dead!"

Raven growled as he spun back around to face the rest of the warring agents. "Retreat!" He shouted over the din of the battle. "Return to headquarters!"

He turned back to Drake who was leaning on his spear, trying to remain upright.

"This isn't over," he warned as he opened a Plothole and vanished. The rest of the Protection Society and Cassandra followed suit and in seconds, they were gone.

-

Ben collapsed to his knees in exhaustion, leaning on Death Metal Bahamut for support.

With a flicker the black guitar reverted back to its standard form, using the last of its energy to repair itself. Ben smiled down at the guitar. It was finally over. For now, Bahamut would be powerless, but it was a simple enough matter to recharge it. He looked out across the chasm, wondering idly just how long it would take Neb to reach the bottom of the canyon.

He turned as he heard a clapping sound. Asasca sat on a nearby stalagmite, applauding slowly.

"Bravo!" He chuckled, taking a sip from what appeared to be a tea cup. "That was better than Pay-Per-View!"

"Asasca," Ben said, getting to his feet "What are you-"

"Ben!"

Ben turned to find Bella sprinting towards him. She threw her arms around him, and he returned the gesture, hugging the Mary-Sue tightly.

"Are you OK?" Bella asked worriedly, pulling back so she could get a better look at Ben. "You're not hurt are you?"

"Nothing serious," Ben assured her. "I'll be fine. What about everyone else?"

"I wouldn't worry about that if I were you."

Ben turned to find Adrian, flanked by the rest of the Society, standing behind them.

"You've got more important things to worry about. We found Shirley and she told is what happened."

Ben gave Shirley a look. The Cliche Stick bit her lip and refused to meet Ben's gaze.

Adrian folded his arms. "You've got a lot of explaining to do. You too." He said to Asasca. Asasca put on his best innocent face.

Ben started to speak, but Adrian raised a hand, cutting him off.

"This isn't the place," He said. "We'll talk back at the Library."

"We'll have to get her Prohibited." Drake said, pulling a Prohibitor bracelet out of his pocket and starting towards Bella.

"No." Ben said, moving in front of the Sue. Drake stopped dead in his tracks.

"We HAVE to Prohibit her, Lord Ben!" Christoph insisted. "We can't let a Mary-Sue just walk into the Library Arcanium!"

"I don't care," Ben said flatly. "You're not laying a hand on her!"

Aster bit her lip. "Ben-kun..."

Then the cave started to shake violently.

"What's going on?" Ben shouted as everyone struggled to keep their footing.

"Well, let's see," Asasca said sarcastically, sliding off the stalagmite he was sitting on. "For one thing, you dropped ten different nukes in here and for another you destroyed the Fandom Stabilizer which was the only thing keeping the ceiling up!"

"What?" Ben shouted. "Why would the Fandom Stabilizer be the only thing keeping the ceiling up?"

Asasca shrugged. "I thought it would be more entertaining that way. Plus the author generally finds it amusing when the device you just destroyed ends up making you run away like little muskrats."

"Enough!" Adrian shouted as rocks began to tumble from the ceiling. "Get back to the Library!" He fired his Plothole Generator and vanished through the created rift.

Christoph and Drake shot Ben a look before jumping through the Plothole themselves, folowed by Aster.

"Come on, Ben!" Shirley shouted urgently, ducking as a stone smashed to the ground next to her.

"I'll be right there!" Ben yelled back. "Bella, you go first!"

The green haired Sue started for the portal, only to be knocked back by an invisible force accompanied by a rude sound.

"What's wrong?" Shirley demanded as larger and larger rocks began to fall around them.

"I forgot!" Ben shouted, smacking himself. "The Library's safeguarded against any outsiders! Bella can't get in through that Plothole unless she's Prohibited!"

He started forward to help Bella up, when Shirley shouted a warning, too late.

Ben looked up just in time to see a massive piece of stone break from the ceiling and come plummeting towards them.

There was no time to move; there was no time to think. Ben wrapped his arms around Bella and closed his eyes as a shadow fell over them.

Insert Random Scream of Pain Here (part 2 of 5)

Ben groaned and cracked open one eyelid. He slammed it shut again almost immediately. The light hurt almost as much as any given mauling by Shirley.

He lay there for a moment longer, trying to ignore the pain. Suddenly, his eyes snapped open and he shot up.

"Bella!" He shouted desperately.

He was still lying on the ground in the hall where Ekard had ambushed them.

Ben looked around wildly, but it was far to late. Neb and Ekard had already vanished, taking Bella with them.

Ben hauled himself to his feet, groaning. His stomach and head still ached from where Ekard had hit him. He moaned and leaned up against one of the rows of lockers. What was he going to do? Knowing Neb he wouldn't hesitate to kill Bella given the slightest provocation. And just how exactly had Neb found this world? Ben hadn't told anybody about it, and had Bella used her powers, the Society would have found the place long before Neb. Questions: Many. Answers: Zip.

Ben slammed a fist against the lockers in frustration, the metallic sound crashing through the abandoned hallway. Why couldn't he have been faster? Or smarter? Maybe if he went for a physical attack rather than one of his powers he might've been able to catch Ekard off guard. Maybe with both Bella and himself, the could've held Drake's twin off and gotten away...and maybe Shirley would become a nun.

Ben sighed. Sitting here feeling sorry for himself wouldn't help Bella at all. He pulled his generator from it's holster and opened a plothole.

Neb had said that a spy from the Pro-Cliche Society would be entering the Anti-Cliche Society soon and Ben was to obey them. But if Mr. Leather-Fetish honestly thought he was going to roll over and play slave to this guy, he was sorely mistaken. He was going to have a long chat with this person when they showed up...

-

Bella jerked awake. She looked around disoriented for a second, before realizing she was blindfolded. Her head was still throbbing painfully. She tried to move, to pull the blindfold off but her arms and legs were bound. She'd been gagged too and her mouth was dry. She was sitting flat on something, tied to something else rough, that was all she could tell. She hoped Ben was alright, had he been captured too?

"...can't believe it took you so long to catch one Mary-Sue and an unarmed Agent."

People were talking.

"Hey, why don't you shut it before I shove a nuke up you-"

"Gentlemen, gentlemen, please. There's no need to be unpleasant."

"Whatever."

"You sure this thing'll work? Ben might be a little thick, but what if the Librarian figures out what's going on?"

It seemed Ben was safe then, Bella sighed with relief. But just what was going on here? What did these people want with them?

"Don't worry my friends, so long as we have his lady, Ben will be absolutely no trouble at all, I can guarantee that."

So that was it. Bella was being used as a bargaining chip to ensure Ben's cooperation.

Don't worry about me, Ben! Bella thought, trying to shift to a more comfortable position. Just do what you have to and stop these guys!

"Ah, speak of the devil, it appears our guest is waking up!"

There was the sound of footsteps and the blindfold was removed.

Bella blinked, trying to refocus her eyes.

"Water?" The vague form in front of her offered.

Bella blinked a few more times waiting for her eyes to fix themselves. They were somewhere dark, that much she could tell.

They suddenly adjusted.

Bella's eyes widened.

-

Ben exited the plothole still deep in thought. Neb hadn't said exactly when this double-agent was supposed to enter the Society, so chances were he had a little time. The first thing he needed to do was-

"Oh my god, Ben! What happened to you?"

"Huh?" Ben turned at Tash's gasp to see the blonde leader hurrying towards him, a horrified expression on her face.

"Your nose!" Tash exclaimed.

Ben swore mentally. He was so concerned over Bella's plight, he'd forgotten about the nosebleed Ekard had given him.

Internally cursing the Protection Society Agent, Ben grinned weakly.

"Oh, it's not that bad," He said, trying to sound casual. "I... uh, just ran into a wall is all."

"Not that bad, my foot!" Tash exclaimed, grabbing Ben's head, holding it still so she could get a better look. "You should see yourself! You look horrible, you're all pale!"

"I'm fine!" Ben insisted, trying to pull his head free. Tash let him go, but she still looked concerned.

"I at least want you to go see Valerie about that." She said firmly.

Ben groaned internally. The last thing he needed was contact with the empath right now. Maybe after he'd calmed down a bit it'd be all right, but at the moment he was too wound-up.

He started to protest, but Tash cut him off. "That's an order." She said, letting a small edge creep into her voice.

Ben sighed. "All right..."

-

Valerie looked up from her reading as Ben walked into the Hospital Wing.

"Oh, hi, Ben! What can do for you?" Then she spotted the trail of blood oozing from his nose "Never mind," She said as she marked her place in her book and got up. "Have a seat on that bed there."

Ben sat down as the healer wet a cloth with warm water and walked over.

"What did you do to yourself?" Valerie asked as she dabbed at the blood. "Did you set off one of Adrian's traps?"

"No, I ran into a wall." Ben muttered, not meeting her eye.

"Hmmm..." Valerie finished mopping up the blood around Ben's nose. "Is your nose broken?" She asked, prodding it gently.

"I don't think so-OW!"

"Mmmm... Not broken." Valerie murmured. "Just tender."

She frowned. Ben claimed he'd run head-first into a wall, but the shape of the bruises around his nose looked more like he'd been kicked by someone wearing boots.

She closed her eyes and placed two fingers on the bridge of Ben's nose. Slowly, the ache faded away until it vanished.

Ben rubbed his now-healed nose gingerly. "Thanks."

Valerie looked at Ben as he stood. She could sense a whirlwind of emotions from guitarist. Anger, fear, frustration and worry all competed for dominance in his heart.

"Is every thing OK?" She asked.

"Fine." Ben said shortly.

"Don't lie to me." Valerie said gently. "I'm an empath, remember? I can sense your emotions. C'mon, talk to me, there must be something I can help you with?"

Ben shook his head as he headed for the door. "No. There's nothing anybody can do. Nobody besides me."

-

The day after Bella's kidnapping Ben lay sprawled across a couch, earbuds firmly in his ears, volume cranked up at maximum. A thousand and one plans for Bella's rescue whirled through his brain, each rejected more quickly than the last.

He sat up, rubbing his eyes. He had had trouble getting to sleep last night. Only the exhaustion from being up all night before had forced him to succumb.

No matter how he looked at it, there was only one answer. He had to wait until this double-agent Neb spoke of joined the Society. That was his only clue to Bella. Until then, all he could do was wait.

"Ah, there you are!"

Ben looked up. "Oh, hey, Tash." He said sullenly.

"Feeling better?"

"Yeah," Ben admitted. "Valerie fixed me right up."

"That's good." Tash said, looking around. "Where's Shirley? I haven't heard you screaming or running for a while."

Even Ben was forced to crack a small smile at that. "She's still back at the mansion, working on the repairs. After what happened in Mega Man, I doubt she's taking any more chances."

"I'll bet. Oh, I almost forgot!" Tash snapped her fingers. "We've just had a new recruit join the Society."

Ben's head snapped up and his eyes narrowed. "Really?" He asked slowly. The traitor?

"You can come in now!" Tash called over her shoulder and a new figure walked in.

He was mid-sized and wiry with dirty blonde hair. His narrow eyes glittered with interest as he observed Ben. There was a smile on his face, but there was a trace of ice in his eyes.

"This is Repiv. Repiv, Ben." Tash introduced the two. "Since he's new here, I was hoping you wouldn't mind showing him around the Library a little, Ben."

Ben returned the predatory grin. "Oh, believe me," He said slowly. "It would be my pleasure."

Repiv didn't bat an eye.

-

Ben grabbed a fistful of Repiv's shirt and slammed him up against a bookshelf. Ben had led him back into the reference book section where nobody was likely to encounter them.

"Talk." Ben snarled. "Where's Bella? What've you done with her?"

Repiv snorted. "And what makes you think I'd tell you that?"

"This does." Ben snarled, pulling back a fist to punch Repiv in the face. Suddenly, there was a blur of motion and Ben found himself looking into the hissing face of a red-eyed albino snake wrapped around his arm.

"I'd let go of me if I were you." Repiv smirked. "Carl doesn't take too kindly to people threatening me."

Ben gave the traitor another shove for good measure before letting go. Carl slithered off his arm and around Repiv's neck where he settled, tongue flicking in and out.

"Fine. What do you want?" Ben growled.

"Oh, I'll let you know when the time comes." Repiv said, stroking Carl's head idly. "Until then, be a good little boy and stay out of my way."

"I'll kill you." Ben threatened.

"I don't think so." Repiv brushed him off. "Firstly, I doubt our dear Tash and your other friends would take too kindly to that. Secondly, if you do, you sever any chance of seeing Bella again."

Ben growled.

"Ah, ah, ah..." Repiv waved a finger. "I'm not finished talking yet. Thirdly, if I don't report in when I'm supposed to, our pals in the other Society will know something's happened to me and will end up bumping Bella off anyway."

Ben's hands curled into fists and took a step forward.

"What's going on here?" Ben and Repiv turned to see Shirley trotting down the row towards them.

Ben scowled. "When'd you get back?"

The Cliche Stick put her hands on her hips. "Nice to see you too, jerk."

"So you're Shirley." Repiv said. "I've heard a good deal about you!"

"Back off." Ben snarled.

Repiv raised his palms in a conciliatory gesture. "Hey, all I'm doing is saying hello!"

Shirley scowled at Ben. "What's wrong with you?" She demanded.

"Nothing." Ben said. And with that, he spun on his heel and stalked away. Shirley gave one last backwards glance at Repiv before following.

Repiv may not have realized it, but he had given away a very vital clue. He was still in contact with his Pro-Cliche superiors. And if he had some way to contact them, there was some way to trace them.

-

Repiv chuckled to himself quietly as Ben stormed off. Far too easy. Now that Ben was out of the way, he could get back to his mission.

He slipped through the Library quietly, slipping into the shadows when anyone passed.

Finally, he found the set of stairs he was looking for. With one last furtive glance to make sure nobody was around, he slipped down the stairs. The staircase was rather long and by the time he got to the bottom Repiv was panting slightly. He squinted in the dim light.

There in the shadows was his target. The Room of Things Man Was Not Meant to Know.

Repiv stepped off the last stair and started towards the door, studying it closely. He briefly wondered if it was possible to blow it open when a voice spoke behind him.

"Who are you?"

Repiv jumped, turning to find a tall boy with white hair standing behind him, a bare sword in his hand.

"Geez." He said as Carl hissed at the newcomer, putting a hand over his rapidly beating heart. "You startled me. I'm Repiv, this is Carl." He gestured to the snake around his neck. "I just joined up today. And you are...?"

"I'm Adrian. What are you doing down here? This area is off limits."

Repiv narrowed his eyes. So this was the infamous Librarian... "Oh, sorry, I didn't know." He said sheepishly. "I was just looking around and I found myself down here."

Adrian frowned. "Shouldn't someone have been assigned to show you around?"

Repiv bit his lip. "Yeah, but Ben kinda... wandered off..."

Adrian nodded, sheathing his sword. "I see. After you." He said, standing aside and gesturing at the stairs.

Repiv cursed himself as he walked back up the staircase. He could feel the Librarian's suspicious gaze burning a hole into his back. He shouldn't have been so careless. Now it was going to be harder than ever to get into the Room. Oh well, he had time. And with Ben's help he doubted anyone would ever know...

-

Tash sat at the kitchen table, finishing the last few pages of a stack of paperwork and sipping a cup of hot tea.

"How's business, Tash?" Valerie greeted as she walked in.

Tash looked up. "Not too bad. Tea?" She offered.

Valerie nodded and sat down as Tash stood and poured hot water into a mug.

"What's this for?" Valerie asked as she picked up a half-finished sheet of paperwork.

Tash looked over her shoulder as she made the tea. "Oh, that? A new member just joined the Society."

"Really?" Valerie glanced back at the paper. "His name's Repiv, huh?"

Tash nodded. "I assigned Ben to show him around and take him on his training mission in a few days."

Valerie nodded her thanks as Tash came back with the cup and handed it to her. She took a sip, frowning. "Have you talked to Ben lately?" She asked.

Tash shrugged. "Well, I introduced Repiv to him earlier and I sent him to you when he showed up yesterday with that awful nosebleed."

"Did he seem... strange?"

Tash thought for a moment. "Well, he did seem a little distracted earlier and he didn't really want to see you about the nosebleed until I ordered him to, why?"

"He was very upset when I spoke with him." Valerie confided. "He wouldn't even look at me."

"Really?"

Valerie nodded. "I haven't seen him this troubled since he killed Bella."

Tash rested her chin on her fist. "I wonder if there's anything we can do to help?"

Valerie shook her head. "He wouldn't tell me what was going on, even when I straight-out asked him."

"I see. I guess we've just got to let him deal with whatever it is he's dealing with." Tash sighed. "But I'll keep an eye on him anyway."

"Good idea."

-

It was a few days later. Ben paced back and forth, wearing a groove in the floor in the Science Fiction section. His brain was working overtime. So Repiv was still in contact with his superiors, that was both good and bad. On the one hand it meant that the slightest transgression on Ben's part would be instantly reported back to Neb and that would be the end of Bella. But conversely, it meant that there were clues to be found. If Ben could just figure out where they were keeping Bella, he'd fall upon them with the fury of an ocean.

"Hey, Ben!"

Ben looked up from his musings to see Adrian walking up.

"Have you seen Repiv around?" The Librarian asked.

Ben shook his head. "Not lately."

Adrian frowned and folded his arms. "He's been vanishing a lot lately."

Ben nodded. "Yeah, I noticed."

Adrian raised an eyebrow. "You did? Then why didn't you ask him where he was going? You're supposed to be in charge of him, until he completes his training mission, remember?"

Because he's a traitor and if I don't submit to his demands Neb's gonna kill the girl I care for who just so happens to be one of our enemies who I was ordered to capture but instead I helped to escape. That's why.

Outwardly Ben shrugged. "I mean to, but it kept on slipping my mind."

Adrian shot Ben a piercing look. "Hmm... well, when he get's back tell him to stop slipping off. Keep a closer eye on him too. I found him at the Room of Things Man Was not Meant to Know the other day, and there's a reason we named it that."

Ben's eyes narrowed. The Room, huh? "I will." He assured the Librarian.

"And report to Tash once you find him," Adrian added, turning to leave. "We've got his training mission lined up."

Ben nodded and headed off in search of Repiv.

He found both him and Shirley at the kitchen table, laughing like old friends, Carl curled up on the tabletop.
"There you are!" Ben hissed, stalking towards the two. "Where've you been?"

Repiv looked up. "Shirley was just telling me some stories about you." He chuckled, wiping a tear from his eye. "Were you really almost sold to a Chinese sweatshop once?"

Ben blushed and looked away. "Shirley..." He growled. "I thought I told you never to mention that!"

"Oh, come on, Ben!" Shirley smirked. "If it weren't for me, you'd be making Panasonic DVD players for 15 cents an hour!"

Ben blushed even deeper. "Whatever." He gritted out, turning back to Repiv. "Adrian's been looking everywhere for you, you know. They've found someone for your training mission."

"Oh, why didn't you say so?" Repiv demanded, Carl sliding back up his arm to his usual position around his neck as he stood. "Let's go!"

"You need to stop slipping off like that or you'll get both of us in trouble!" Ben muttered as he fell instep beside the traitor, Shirley following behind.

"Oh, don't worry about it, Ben." Repiv smirked. "I was just checking in with some old friends."

Ben shot Repiv a look. "Oh, really?" He asked, trying to sound casual. With Shirley around he couldn't exactly ask Repiv straight out.

"Oh, by the way, your girlfriend said to tell you hello." Repiv snickered.

Ben's eyes widened.

"Old girlfriend?" Shirley asked darkly. "Ben, have you been sneaking around behind my back?"

Ben chuckled weakly. "Umm... no?"

Shirley didn't reply, but she gave Ben a hard look.

"So... you went to visit them?" Ben asked.

"Yeah, I told you I would be." Repiv said off-handedly.

Yeah, but I didn't think you'd be doing it in person! That's the worst possible way!

Up until then, Ben had been assuming Repiv communicated with his superiors via communicator or something, if that was the case, Ben could just eavesdrop on their conversations and pick up some clues on where Neb and the rest were hiding. But since Repiv went in person it would be next to impossible to trace, not to mention it was risky on Repiv's part, his absences were too easily noticed.

Ben grimaced. If he really was going to track Neb and Bella down, he'd have to-

"Everything alright?"

"Huh?"

Tash looked at Ben exasperatedly. "I just finished telling you what you need to do. You remember everything?"

Ben cursed himself. He'd been so deep in thought he'd daydreamed clear through the entire mission breifing.

"O-Oh, yeah, I got it." He stuttered.

"You sure you're OK, Ben?" Repiv asked, a false look of concern on his face. "If I'm gonna get through this in one piece, I'm gonna need your help!"

Ben set his jaw, ignoring Repiv's taunts. "I'm fine." He gritted, firing his plothole generator.

Tash watched the two jump into the portal, Shirley in tow. She turned away as it closed. Time to take care of some business...

-

Tash knocked on the door to Camille's tech lab, prompting a symphony of shouts, crashes, a few minor explosions and what sounded a cat yowling.

Camille opened the door, hair smoking. "Yeah?" She panted.

Tash stared, wide-eyed. "Um... you ok?" She asked."

"Oh, yeah." Camille turned to look over her shoulder. "Hey, Doyle! Watch out for that glycerin on the edge of the table!"

Tash gulped as the tech turned back. "What can I do for you?" She asked.

Tash blinked once before remembering the purpose of her visit. "Are you still working on Bahamut?"

"Yeah, I'm almost finished, why?"

"I need a favor from you..."

-

Ben staggered out of the plothole. He bent over, gasping for breath as sweat poured off his brow.

"What the hell were you thinking?" He demanded.

"I'm sorry." Repiv said mildly as he emerged from the rift, an innocent expression on his face. "It's my first mission..."

"Don't give me that!" Ben panted. "I told you to hang back! We could've ambushed that Stu and captured him before he knew what hit him. But no! You had to charge in screaming like a maniac and give us away! If I hadn't nuked those boulders when I did we'd be pancakes right now! Do you have any clue how hard it is to nuke a moving target?" Ben barked, grabbing Repiv's shirt. "If not for you, we might've captured the guy!"

"Geez, Ben, go easy on him!" Shirley said, emerging from the plothole as it closed. "You made some pretty bone-headed moves when you were first starting out too!"

"Shut up."

"What did you say?"

"I said shut up!" Ben roared, grabbing Shirley and yanking her up to his eye level. "I've had it with you nit-picking at every single thing I do! I can't get a single moments peace without you constantly harping on this or that! Now shut up and leave me alone before I nuke you!"

Shirley stared into Ben's eyes, too shocked to be angry. Ben had never spoken to her, or anyone for that matter, like that before.

Ben noticed movement out of the corner of his eye and looked around. It was only then that he realized he'd blown up right in the middle of the common area.

Tyler was frozen in mid-step, staring at him wide eyed. Drake was leaning back in his chair as if he'd been physically pushed back by Ben's rage. Aster was reading yet another manga, totally oblivious to anything else.

Ben put Shirley down, spun on his heel and stalked off.

"Watch it!" He barked as Pete bumped into him in the doorway.

"Sorry." Pete muttered, shooting the retreating Ben a glance.

"Sorry you guys had to see that." Repiv mumbled, eyes downcast.

"Don't worry about it." Drake said. "Ben's been acting pretty weird lately."

"I wonder what's eating him?" Tyler asked.

"Beat's me."

Aster looked up from her book. "Kyaa~? Did I miss something?" Everyone ignored her.

Shirley stared blankly after Ben, stunned.

"Don't worry about it." Tyler said to Repiv, bracingly. "There's not many people who catch their target first mission out. C'mon, know a way past one of Adrian's traps. Feel like some Oreos?"

Repiv shook his head, the very picture of dejection. "Thanks guys, but I think I'd just like to be alone for a while." He mumbled, but he was smiling as he turned away.

Now's my chance to get another crack at those doors...
-

Ben flopped onto his bed, staring at the ceiling. He felt bad for yelling at Shirley, it wasn't her fault. He'd just been so wound up lately over Bella. He'd have to apologize to his muse later.

Ben sighed. What was he going to do? Bella could very well already be dead for all he knew. Neb and Repiv could very well be stringing him along for all he knew. Just what were they up to anyway? Repiv hadn't done anything so far other than bungle missions and mock Ben constantly.

What if worst came to worst and the rest of the Society found out? They'd probably think he'd betrayed them, which, he had. What if he ended up having to fight his friends? He was reasonably certain he could hold his own against Tyler and maybe Drake. Marcus would be a problem with his ability to split himself in half, but for the fact he disliked violence. Doug and Christoph would be a handful, what with them being fully trained warriors. Aster would definitely be too much for him in her fae form. He'd probably lose to Tash too, not to mention Michael.

One thing was for sure, though, he didn't want to go up against Adrian. The Librarian would totally destroy him, then use his mangled carcass to mop up his own blood. And what about Shirley? Whose side would his muse be on? He doubted she'd believe anything he said, especially after how he treated her earlier, not to mention everything he'd kept from her.

Maybe it didn't have to end in violence. What if he just told the leaders of the Society what was going on? Ben rubbed his eyes. That wouldn't work. Oh, sure they might capture or kill Repiv, but the end result would be the same. They would either leave Bella to die at Neb's hands, or they'd mount an assault, capture her and throw her in jail. And as Ben had already decided, either was unacceptable.

A knock at the door snapped Ben out of his thoughts.

"Go away." He moaned, he wasn't in the mood to deal with people right now.

"It's me." It was Doyle. "Camille has news for you."

Ben sat up.

"She's fixed Bahamut."

-

Camille was glaring at a clipboard when Ben walked in. "Everything OK?" He asked.

Camille looked up. "Huh? Oh, yeah, we've just had a couple of Plothole Generators go missing is all."

She set the clipboard down on a workbench and led Ben over to a table.

Bahamut lay gleaming on the tabletop, good as new. Better in fact, since Camille had given it a fresh polish.
"She looks good." Ben said admiringly, picking his weapon-instrument up and stroking it fondly.

"Take better care of it this time. I don't want to have to go through this again." Camille growled. "It took me forever to piece it back together, and it nearly blew up in my face twice when I was working on it."

Ben chuckled weakly.

"But with some of the new features I've included, that shouldn't be an issue."

Ben slung Bahamut over his shoulder, neck pointing down and to the right as always. "What new features?" He frowned.

"I'm getting to that." Camille took a deep breath and started to explain.

By the time she'd finished Ben was grinning. Maybe he would be able to take Adrian on after all...

-

Repiv was leaning against the wall when Ben came out of the tech lab.

"I see you've got your little toy twanger back." He sneered.

Ben turned, the smile vanishing instantly.

"Quiet you." He growled. "I know you bungled that mission on purpose."

Repiv shrugged, Carl winding and re-winding himself around his neck. "What did you expect? I'm from the Mary-Sue Protection Society, remember?"

Ben narrowed his eyes, one hand dropping down to grasp Bahamut's fretboard. "I could kill you, remember?"

Repiv rolled his eyes. "We've been over this already." He sighed. "You kill me, they kill Bella."

He pushed himself off from the wall. "C'mon," He said, "There's something I need your help with." He turned and walked off.

Ben gave a long look at Repiv's departing back, before starting after the traitor. If nothing else, his cooperation would buy both him and Bella a little more time.

Repiv lead him down into to the Room and pointed at the reinforced door. "Nuke it." He said.

Ben frowned. "Why?"

Repiv rolled his eyes. "Because I think it would look lovely mounted over my fireplace mantle."

Ben glared at him.

"I want in, why else?" Repiv returned the glare. "It really isn't really that difficult to figure out."

Ben ignored that last comment and turned back to the Vault door. "Won't someone hear the explosion and investigate?"

Repiv rolled his eyes. "With the amount of nuking you do, I doubt anyone will pay attention. Besides, I know you can contain the size of your blasts. All I need is a localized explosion, now get a move on!"

Ben slowly raised a hand. There was no going back after this. Forgive me, everyone...

He took a deep breath. "Don't mess with-"

"What're you doing?" Ben and Repiv whirled. There was a young girl with light brown hair on the stairs, peering at them curiously.

"E-Emily! What're you doing down here?" Ben sputtered.

"I saw the door open and wondered if someone was down here." She frowned. "What were you doing?"

"Oh, nothing." Ben was getting alarmed. Repiv just rolled his eyes and sighed. Things were going south fast.

"Yes, you were." Emily said, accusingly. "You were trying to break into the Vault, weren't you!"

"N-no!"

"I'm telling!" Emily turned and started to run back up the stairs, but Repiv was faster. In a flash, he unwound Carl from around his neck and hurled the snake at the fleeing girl. The snake wove itself in between her legs and she fell.

Repiv was over her before she could move. Emily started to scream as Repiv yanked her to her feet, but he quickly clapped a hand over her mouth, stifling her cries.

"Forget the nukes, someone will have heard that." He growled, dragging a struggling Emily back down the stairs.

Carl slithered up her leg and around her neck, pressing his fangs onto her artery.

"Make another sound," Repiv murmured into Emily's ear, "And Carl presses down just a little harder and you'll be dead before you can take another breath."

Emily didn't move, just stood there, petrified with fear.

Repiv jerked a head towards the stairs. "Get up there." He growled.

"What?" Ben asked blankly. All he could think was that it was all over. Neb would undoubtedly kill Bella, and if the rest of the Society didn't kill him, he'd be thrown in the jail with the Sues!

"I said, get up those stairs and warn everyone!" Repiv snarled. "Play the good guy and cover me if you have to! Now move!"

Ben turned and dashed up the stairs two at a time, nearly barreling straight into Charis at the top.

"Woah!" Charis staggered back. "What's going on?"

"Where's Tash? Or Adrian?" Ben gasped.

Charis blinked. "I saw them that way." She pointed behind her. "Is everything OK?"

"C'mon!" Ben growled, sprinting off again.

"Wait up!" Charis called, following.

Ben burst into one of the common areas to find Tash reading a book. A purring Adrian had his head in her lap and she was stroking his ears absentmindedly.

"Tash!" Ben gasped, bent double for breath.

Tash's head snapped up. "What's going on?" She asked, her hand ceasing it's ministrations of Adrian's kitty ears, causing the Librarian to meow in protest.

"Repiv... me and Emily... found him trying... to break into the Room... Things Man was not Meant... to Know..." Ben sputtered out, still straining for breath.

"Where's Emily?" Adrian asked, having snapped out his stupor instantly upon hearing the news.

"Repiv's... got her."

The two leaders shot to their feet and raced off, Ben and Charis close behind.

"Charis!" Tash ordered. "Find everyone else and fill them in on what's going on!"

Charis nodded and veered off.

"Kyaa~? What's going on?" Aster asked as they rounded a bend.

"Hostage situation!" Tash called over her shoulder.

"Wait for me!" Aster called, joining the chase.

When the reached the stairs to the Vault, there was already a small group gathering.

"Wait here!" Tash commanded, "You all," She pointed at Shirley, Ben, Drake, Aster and Tyler, "Come on!" And with that, they barreled down the stairs.

"Listen, Shirley," Ben panted as they descended the staircase. "About earlier-?"

"Save it." Shirley snapped. "We'll talk later."

There may not be a later! Ben shouted mentally, but he nodded nonetheless.

Repiv didn't appear to have moved at all, one arm still wrapped around Emily's head, trapping her in a headlock.

"That's far enough!" He said in a harshly. "Take another step and she get's it!"

Everyone froze.

"Let her go!" Tash ordered.

"I don't think so." Repiv scoffed.

"Why are you doing this?" Adrian asked quietly.

"You fools never got it, did you?" Repiv sneered. "All this time, and you never realized who I was! You really are idiots!"

"What are you talking about?" Ben demanded, keeping up the part of an innocent bystander.

Repiv rolled his eyes. "Think about it. What's my name?"

"Repiv." Tash said, confused. "Why?"

Repiv raised an eyebrow.

"Repiv, Rep...iv..." Tash repeated, then trailed off.

"Viper." Drake breathed.

"Exactly." Repiv hissed. "Need another clue?" With his free hand, he fished a card out of his pocket and held it up.

"Is that a Space Hammer card?" Shirley demanded. "You're with the Pro-Cliche and Mary-Sue Protection Society!"

"Duh." Repiv rolled his eyes as the card shifted into a knife, which he pressed into Emily's throat.

"You won't get away with this!" Drake threatened. Ben noticed his and Adrian's hands both subtly reaching for weapons.

"Oh, I think I will." Repiv cackled. "After all, we have people everywhere. Isn't that right...Ben?" He asked eyes glittering.

"Ben? What?" Shirley frowned. Everyone turned.

Ben stood to the side, staring at the floor, a single finger pointed straight at the rest.

"What are you doing, Ben?" Tash asked, her voice wavering, obviously caught off guard by this latest development.

"Come over here, Ben." Repiv commanded.

"Ben, wait!" Tyler called.

This couldn't be real, could it?

Ben walked over to stand beside the traitor slowly, keeping one finger on the group the entire time.

"How long has this been going on?" Adrian asked Ben in an icy voice.

"Oh, since before I joined up." Repiv said off handedly, which was technically true.

"But-you?" Tyler could only stare, his mouth hanging open.

Shirley didn't say anything. She just stared at her partner blankly, seemingly unable to take everything in at once.

"I'm sorry." Ben said sullenly.

Why?" Aster demanded. "Think about it! Be..." She gulped and caught over her words. "She wouldn't want you to do this!"

"You don't understand!" Ben shouted. "I'm doing this for her! If I don't-"

"Ben!" Repiv barked warningly. "Just one more word..."

Ben closed his mouth, staring at the ground sullenly.

"What do you want?" Adrian asked calmly.

"Open it." Repiv commanded, nodding towards the Room door. "And no funny business!"

Adrian nodded and with slow deliberate movements, made his way over to the doors.

"Take her." Repiv commanded, tentatively releasing his hold on Emily's neck, Carl slithering back up his arm to his own neck.

Ben wrapped his own arm around Emily's throat as Repiv moved over to oversee Adrian's actions, remaining just out of reach.

"I'm really sorry about this." Ben whispered in Emily's ear as he kept one finger on the assembled agents.

Aster was staring off into nowhere. She seemed halfway between understanding and not - as if she was searching an encyclopedia of confusing symbols in her head. "How could you? She wouldn't want this..."

Ben met the fae's gaze levelly. "I don't care." He replied. "It doesn't matter."

"What's taking you so long?" Repiv snapped at Adrian. "You should've had it open by now!"

"Sorry," The Librarian muttered. "I haven't opened it for a while, the door's being pretty stubborn."

"Like hell it is." Repiv muttered, leaning over to get a better look.

That was when Christoph dropped out of the shadows onto his back.

Everything happened at once.

Repiv shouted in surprise and staggered from the weight, trying to toss the ninja off, but Christoph held on grimly.

He raised a sai, the blade gleaming in the dim light. But as he prepared to bring it down, Carl flew at his face, preparing to sink his fangs into his neck. Only Christoph's ninja reflexes saved him. With a cry he threw himself backwards, tossing both himself and Repiv to the ground as Carl flew past.

Repiv lashed out wildly as he fell, his foot catching Christoph in the face, snapping his head back and stunning him. Repiv ripped open a plothole as he scrambled to his feet and threw himself in as Adrian made a futile grab for the fleeing traitor. Carl followed after his owner an instant later.

Ben whirled, keeping one arm around Emily, nearly twisting her head off by accident, but Repiv had already gone and the plothole was already closing. Ben was frozen for a second. What should he do? Repiv was his only link to Bella!

Then Emily bit down on Ben's arm. Hard.

He roared in pain as blood began to well around the wound. "Go!" He hissed in the girl's ear as he shoved her forward into the group of agents. Tash moved to catch her, Emily's momentum pushing the two of them back into the rest of the group, dissolving them into chaos.

Christoph and Adrian charged at Ben from behind, but Ben snapped into the first few movements of the Fast-Step and the two overshot their target.

Ben leveled a palm at the group, along with a finger. "My coffeemakers are not controlled by Hoover Dam computers! Don't mess with nukes!"

Ben leapt backwards over the rising floodgates and vanished into the plothole a split-second before it closed.
Adrian whirled, just in time to catch a blast of coffee full in the face, as the floodgates emptied into the crowded room.

Tash wavered, but the crush of people in the room kept her upright. "Quick!" She shouted as the flood ebbed. "We've gotta get out of the-"

That was when the warhead detonated.

Insert Randomly-Numbered Kakugane Here

Shirley trotted through the library hunting for Ben. It had been a couple of weeks since his disastrous battle with Neb and once he got back he had been confined to bed until he was fully recovered. However, after the first few days, Ben had become restless and attempted escape more than once, only to find that his diminished energy levels made it much harder to flee from his muse-slash-caretaker.

When Shirley had returned to the hospital wing after being gone for who-knows-what-reason she had found Ben's bed empty, prompting a search for her wayward charge.

She couldn't be too angry at the heavy metal nerd though. Beating up on him while he was bed-ridden and immobile had it's perks, but it lacked the thrill of a life-or-severe-maiming chase through the library's endless rows of bookshelves.

As she turned a corner, she spotted Marcus approaching in the opposite direction.

"Hey!" She called out. "Have you seen Ben anywhere around here?"

Marcus jerked his head behind him. "Last I heard he's in one of the training rooms. I don't know why, all he's doing is blasting that metal crap of his."

Shirley considered giving him a few crippling injuries for his comment on her beloved metal, but decided to let it go, she could always lacerate his scalp later.

As she drew near the training rooms, Shirley could indeed hear a very loud amount of metal pulsing and wailing from behind one of the closed doors. She waited for the final power chord to fade away before banging on the door.

"Come in!" Ben called from the other side.

Shirley opened the door and walked in. "I was looking for you. I-what the heck happened here?"

The room was in shambles. Deep gouges and scorch marks scoured the walls and floor. A series of targets and punching bags had been snapped off their ceiling hooks and lay scattered and demolished about the room.

Despite his heavily bandaged leg, Ben stood tall with a triumphant smirk on his face.

"Shirley," He said. "I'd like you to meet my new weapon, Bahamut."

The weapon that Ben cradled in his hands was an SG-shaped electric guitar made of a silvery metal. Except for two black swooshes on the top and bottom of the instrument's main body, it was completely undecorated.

"So what happened in here?" Shirley asked again.

"This would be the intro to Dio's "Holy Diver", the solo from Grip Inc's "Built to Resist", and the outro of DragonForce's "Through the Fire and Flames" Ben explained.

Shirley chuckled. "So that's it. You're using your music as a weapon. David Draiman would be proud."

Ben nodded, running his fingers across the steel strings. "I got Camille and that one kid Sue to help me make this. That kid is actually pretty good with gadets and stuff. What was her name again?"

"Emily?" Shirley supplied.

"Right, right." Ben nodded. "I realized after my little run-in with Neb that I can't just rely on my powers anymore."

He turned the silver guitar to catch the light. "I don't ever want to be caught off guard like that again." He said softly.

Shirley nodded. "I can understand that. Oh, by the way, I've got news on Bella."

Ben raised an eyebrow. "Oh, really?"

"I've located her in the Buso Renkin fandom."

"What's she doing now? Pairing herself up with Kazuki? Or is it Captain Bravo this time?"

"No, actually, she's not doing anything."

"Huh?"

"She's just standing around on the roof of Gensei Academy. She hasn't used her Sue powers or warped the fandom in any way, so the Society hasn't detected her yet."

"Then how come you know where she is?"

"Because you mentioned it in your ending Authors Note about 6 stories ago."

Instantly the Library began to shake, sending several of the demolished targets sliding around the training room.

"ASTER!" Adrian bellowed from somewhere deep in the Library.

"Kyaa~"

Ben picked himself up from where he had dove to avoid half a sawhorse. "You really are evil, you know that right?"

Shirley snickered.

"So nobody knows she's there except for you and me?" Ben asked.

"And her."

"Well, duh." Ben pulled his Plothole Generator from a holster at his side. After his encounter with Neb, Ben was loath to leave his Generator anywhere out of reach, so he had created a holster for it out of a handful of leather straps.

"You coming?" He asked Shirley.

The Cliche Stick shook her head. "I've got a hot date tonight."

Ben laughed, swinging his guitar over his back so that the neck of the weapon-instrument pointing down and to his right.

"A hot date? Who's the lucky branch?"

"A lady does not kiss and tell." Shirley said demurely.

"It's that one Ent from the Lord of the Rings Fandom, isn't it?" Ben folded his arms.

"Maybe..."

"Shirley, that guy's like four thousand years old!"

"So?"

"So, you're way too old for him!"

"That's not what he said the other night." Shirley snickered.

Ben rolled his eyes. "Cougar..." He muttered.

Shirley shrugged. "Well, have fun with Bella." She slipped out the door.

Ben chuckled as he spun his Plothole Generator around his finger a few times. So nobody else in the Society knew about Bella yet. That should make things interesting. He fired the Generator, opening a rift into the Fandoms.

Let's finish this once and for all Bella...

-

Ben emerged from the Plothole onto the roof of Gensei Academy. The sun was low on the horizon and on the ground below, the cherry trees were just beginning to blossom.

Bella stood several feet away, her green hair and dress blowing gently in the wind.

"Hello, Ben." She said simply.

"Bella." Ben returned the greeting. "I'm surprised you haven't started work on this fandom yet, twisting it to your will and whatnot."

Bella shrugged. "If I did, you'd just come along and undo everything, so I figured 'why bother'"

Ben frowned. That didn't sound like the Bella he knew. He took a step forward to say something, but he put his injured leg down wrong and his face twisted into a mask of pain.

"Are you OK?" Bella asked.

"What do you care?" Ben gritted out. "As I recall, you were the one who sent Neb after me in the first place!"

"I'm... sorry about that." Bella said.

Ben looked up from where he knelt, rubbing his wounded limb. Was he going nuts or did Bella actually sound... sincere?

"I didn't know Neb was going to attack you." She continued. "I met him in a different fandom and I mentioned you when I was talking to him. Next thing I know, he's rushing off after you."

Ben just looked at Bella, who was staring at the ground, digging the tip of her foot into the floor.

"There's something I've been wondering." Ben said at last, standing.

Bella looked up. "What's that?"

"Why do you Sues insist on taking over fandoms? Why do you always have to interfere with the plot?"

"I told you before." Bella said. "We just want to make the universe perfect, we want to make people's lives perfect."

Ben folded his arms. "From what I've heard from some of the other Agents in the Society, not all of you are out to better people's lives."

Bella shrugged. "That may be true, but not for me. All I ever wanted to do was to spare the people of the fandoms all the pain and suffering they're inevitably bound for. Is that truly so wrong? You tell me why? Why do you keep on chasing me?"

Ben didn't reply for a long moment. "This is probably a very appropriate analogy considering the Fandom that we're in but... Have you ever seen a butterfly emerge from it's cocoon?"

Bella blinked. "What?"

"You heard me. Have you ever seen a butterfly emerge from it's cocoon?"

Bella shook her head.

"It's a struggle." Ben said. "An intense struggle, I remember when I was a kid, just watching it almost hurt. The thing has to fight and claw it's way out into the world. But if you would try and help it to open it's cocoon, then it's wings would come out all crumpled and ruined. The only way a butterfly can fully develop it's wings is by struggling. The same goes for the characters of a fandom, the only way they can achieve true perfection is through their struggles. All that pain and suffering you want to spare them, is the only way they can realize their own true beauty. And the more you try to help them, the more you end up ruining their wings."

Bella said nothing, just stared at the ground for several minutes.

"It doesn't have to be like this, you know." She said eventually.

"What?"

"We don't have to fight." Bella mumbled. "We could just, I don't know, take off together or something."

Ben raised an eyebrow. Was Bella actually suggesting what he thought she was?

He shook his head. "I couldn't do that. You may not be out to cause others harm, but many of your brothers and sisters are, so I've got to stick around to do whatever I can to stop them. And besides, I couldn't just betray my friends like that."

Bella nodded. She looked disappointed, but not entirely surprised.

"Why don't you come with me back to the Society?" Ben offered. "I mean, it's not like you're the first Sue we've taken in."

Bella frowned. "You mean Palm Tree?"

"We call her Emily now, but yeah. So why don't you join us? I'm sure a person with your abilities would be invaluable to our cause."

Bella shook her head. "I couldn't betray my kind either. And do you honestly believe your superiors would allow me to join you? And even if they did, I doubt the rest of your friends would accept me. A young Sue like Palm-Emily may be one thing, but a fully developed Sue like me is quite another."

Ben grimaced. "Point. So there's no other way then, is there?"

Bella shook her head.

Ben nodded and reached down with his right hand, pulling Bahamut around to his front.

Bella reached into a pocket and pulled out a hexagonal piece of metal about six inches across, a Kakugane.
In the world of Buso Renkin, warriors known as Alchemic Warriors used Kakugane to create one-of-a-kind weapons modeled on their fighting spirit, a Buso Renkin. The Buso Renkin were the only things capable of destroying alchemic monsters who fed on humans known as Homunculi. There were around 100 Kakugane in existence, all stamped with roman numerals from 1 to 100.

The one Bella held up however had no number on it, merely the mark for infinity.

"Buso Renkin!" She called out. The Kakugane glowed for a moment, then there was a flash.

"Buso Renkin of the Arsenal." Bella continued. "Legion!"

When the flash died down, Ben observed her new weapons.

Angel Gozen. Ben thought, eyeing the bow in her left arm. The Buso Renkin of Archery that fires arrows formed and shot by an automaton attached to the bow, allowing it to be wielded with one hand.

Ben's eye strayed to her right hand, now encompassed by a large glove. Peaky Gulliver, a Gauntlet Buso Renkin that can grow to mammoth porportions and deal devastating blows.

Next there were four three-foot long blades attached to mechanical arms on Bella's thighs. The Valkyrie Skirt, four blades that can move independently on robotic arms controlled by the users mind.

And then there were the black butterfly wings sprouting from Bella's back. Near-Death Happiness. A pair of wings made up entirely of black gunpowder than can be remotely directed and ignited at will.

Finally there was the silver dress Bella was now wearing. Last, but definitely not least, Silver Skin. The instant the surface senses an attack, it forms an impenetrable layer of metal over the target point to absorb the blow. The scales are then shed, rendering any attack next to useless.

"Five Buso Renkin in one." Ben said. "A battle style truly worthy of a Mary Sue." He smiled wryly.

"Thank you." Bella said. "Shall we?"

Ben nodded. "No running away. Don't hold anything back."

Bella returned the nod. "Likewise."

Ben didn't bother with any warm-up, instead choosing to launch directly into a spiraling, blazing series of notes. His fingers danced across the strings as bolts of bright green energy blasted from the body of the guitar streaking towards Bella.

Bella's eyes narrowed. The Valkyrie Skirt twitched.

The four blades were everywhere at once, swatting the energy bursts aside.

Bella brought her left hand up in retaliation and the small cupid automaton attached to the bow opened fire. A machine gun burst of arrows shot towards Ben.

Ben didn't bother with any with any fancy note progression this time, choosing instead to slam his fingers across the strings in a power chord. A shockwave of energy ripped out, catching the arrows in it's wake and knocking them out of the air.

Bella lept high into the air, the bottom tips of Near-Death Happiness catching fire and propelling her higher up.

Ben grimaced. I forgot, by burning a minuscule amount of the gunpowder in her wings, Bella can achieve thrust and fly!

Bella's next action jolted Ben out of his thoughts.

She had remotely laid a trail of gunpowder around him and with a snap of her fingers, set the powder ablaze. Ben swore as a column of flame rose around him, and crashed out another power chord, the shockwave blowing the flames away.

Bella meanwhile had taken to flying in a circle around Ben in an attempt to disorient him.

Ben fired another wailing note at her, then reached for the whammy bar and began to work it back and forth. A sparkling black stream of energy beamed out, writhing and twitching like electricity from a severed wire.
Bella moved to avoid the beam, but Ben turned, raking the sky with the energy stream.

The tip of the energy beam finally connected with one of the wings of Near-Death Happiness. The gunpowder comprising the wings caught fire instantly.

Bella somehow managed to swear and scream at the same time as she plummeted to the earth. She quickly discarded the blazing black butterfly wings and crashed to the ground, planting the four blades of the Valkyrie Skirt in the roof to support her landing and keep her upright. Meanwhile, the still blazing powder rained down gently around her like flaming snow.

Suddenly, Ben was right there, not a foot in front of her. Bella's eyes widened. Ben was too close to bring either Peaky Gulliver or Angel Gozen to bear. She quickly tried to pull the blades of Valkyrie Skirt out of the ground, but they refused to give, stuck deep into the roof from the impact of landing.

Ben brought up a finger and pointed directly at Bella. "Don't mess with Nukes." He said quietly.

Bella's eyes widened even further. Ben glanced up. Sure enough the warhead was right on schedule. He bent his legs and sprang back as far as he could.

The nuke connected directly with Bella, creating a small mushroom cloud and sending smoke everywhere. As far back as Ben was, he still wasn't far enough away to avoid the explosion.

He was knocked back several more feet and fell over. As he got up he noticed a red stain on his bandages.
Not good, looks like it's started bleeding again. I've got to stop jumping around like that!

Clouds of smoke still hung heavily around the roof.

There's no way Bella could be standing after a blow like that. If nothing else, I've got the advantage for now.

Suddenly Ben heard a noise. He strained his ears. It almost sounded like rain, but there wasn't a cloud in the sky.

Suddenly a hail of arrows shot from the smoke.

"What?" Ben segued into the first few steps of the Fast-Step just in time to avoid the barrage.

The arrows had blown the smoke away, revealing Bella, still standing tall, the last few protective metal scales formed by Silver Skin sliding off the dress to form a pile to the ground.

Ben growled. "Looks like I underestimated the Silver Skin."

Bella smirked. "Quite. I must say, I'm surprised at the potency of your weapon. What's it's name again?"

"Bahamut."

Bella smiled. "King of the Dragons. How appropriate,"

"I thought so. So, round Two?"

Bella nodded. "Let's go!"

Bella wasted no time, inflating Peaky Gulliver to gargantuan proportions. Instead of swinging it at Ben however, she punched the ground as hard as she could, the impact lifting her up into the air.

Ben staggered as the ground shook. If we keep this up, we're gonna demolish the whole school!

Before Ben could recover his footing, Bella caught him with a backhand from Peaky Gulliver.

Ben was sent flying across the roof. Only the metal railing around the edge kept him from flying off. Ben crashed into the railing, bending it badly. Unfourtnately for him, the railing had struck him right on the spine.

"Aaarghh..." Ben gargled in pain. He leaned backwards over the railing, eyes closed, Bahamut dangling from the black leather strap around his neck.

Bella walked towards Ben as he continued to moan.

Almost regretfully she raised the four blades of the Valkyrie Skirt. She didn't want to kill the Society Agent, she honestly liked him, but she was left with no choice.

Just as she entered striking distance, however Ben's head snapped up and his eyes popped open.

"-Computers!" He spat.

The two floodgates, with nowhere to stand behind him, now appeared above Ben instead. Bella froze as she realized just what Ben had been mumbling.

The floodgates crashed open and the dark flood poured out. Fortunately for Ben, the flood passed over him so he was mostly protected from the onslaught.

He hauled himself off the wrecked railing, and gritting his teeth, fired off another blazing series of notes. The green energy blasts shot through the wall of coffee and continued on. Ben kept up his assault, trying desperately to keep Bella off guard as he wracked his brain for a solution to her Silver Skin.

Think, think, think! There has got to be someway to beat that thing! It's not like she's invincible! Nobody's invincible! Well, maybe except for Chuck Norris...but still! Well, at least she doesn't have Kazuki's lance Buso Renkin, then I'd be even more screwed. Wait, Kazuki! That's it!

By now the flood of coffee had abated. Bella was on the other side of the roof, trying to keep her balance on the wet tiled roof, her soaked with coffee.

When Kazkuki and Captain Bravo were in training for Kazuki to become an Alchemic Warrior, he hit Captain Bravo so hard that he actually blew the Silver Skin right off of him! All I've got to do is hit Bella with everything I've got, then, while the metal is still forming, hit her again. The armor should be dispelled for a just few seconds, but that should be just long enough for me to get a note in. Do that, and this battle is mine.

Bella finally recovered her balance. She jumped into the air towards Ben, pushing off the ground with the Valkyrie Skirt, Peaky Gulliver growing to a ridiculous size as she did so.

Ben narrowed his eyes and moved forward to meet Bella as fast as his injured back and leg allowed him. As Bella came down he gave one last leap of desperation and Bella overshot him, Peaky Gulliver smashing through the demolished railing and obliterating it.

As Ben landed, his bad leg gave out and he crumpled to one knee, his bad one. He ignored the shrieking pain of his leg's protest and the trickle of blood oozing from the bandages, instead he jammed out a power chord.

The shockwave caught Bella in the back, making her stumble and knocking her to her knees.

Ben still ddn't turn, instead he merely pointed behind himself and hissed "Don't mess with Nukes!"

Bella turned, just in time to catch a shot from Bahamut head on. The Silver Skin instantly formed a protective layer of small hexagonal metal plates to protect it's wearer.

Bella wondered for a split second just what Ben was up to, then the sparkling black ray from Bahamut's whammy bar struck her and she understood.

By ensuring that the Silver Skin was constantly generating more scales to protect her, the incoming explosive would pack more than enough of a punch to temporarily dispel her armor and leave her vulnerable.

She struggled to her feet, desperately trying to move out of the way, but she was too late.

The second warhead struck, sending up another dense cloud of smoke. Ben wasted no time, firing a barrage of blasts into the cloud.

Come on, come on! He gritted his teeth. At least one of these has got to hit.

Suddenly there was a bright flash of light and an oversized Peaky Gulliver came flying out of the cloud, palm first, fingers outstretched.

Ben barely had time for a shocked, "What?" Before he was slapped with awesome force into the ground.
Ben lay dazed in the palm-shaped crater. He shook the stars from his vision, and struggled to his feet just in time to see Bella emerge from the cloud.

As soon as he caught sight of her, Ben's breath caught in his chest. "No..." He whispered.

Bella's once perfect skin was now a glorious bronze, and her hair was a pale blue that glowed gently.
"You're-you're a-"

"A Victor." Bella completed for him. "Or a Victoria in my case."

Victors were a third species of being, somewhere between a human and a homunculus. In addition to the skin and hair changes, people who became Victors also possessed enhanced strength and speed, as well as regeneration, not to mention the ability to drain the life force out of anyone in the area around them.

Ben bent over, gasping for breath. He could feel the energy drain sucking his life out. If he didn't hurry, he was doomed.

"Give it up." Bella said softly. "I honestly didn't want to kill you, but I don't have a choice. There's no way you can win now."

She knelt down next to the gasping Ben and gently pulled his head up to face her.

"Wouldn't you rather die peacefully?" She whispered, tears forming in her eyes,

Ben let his head sag.

No... no, I couldn't do it! I gave it all I had but it still wasn't enough! We were fools, how could we ever hope to truly defeat perfect beings? Everyone, I'm sorry! Adrian, Tyler, Drake, Marcus, Tash, Aster, Willie... Shirley. No... no...

"NOOOO!"

Frustration lent strength to his limbs. Ben shot to his feet, his eyes smoldering with impotent fury. His fingers wrapped around Bahamut's neck and he raised the instrument high over his head.

Bella fell backwards, eyes wide with shock and fear. What was he doing? He shouldn't be able to move! The energy drain should've rendered him weak and immobile!

With a wordless scream Ben fell to his knees, slamming the guitar into the ground with everything he had. The guitar's body broke in two pieces from the blow. As it broke, all the energy contained within the weapon was released in a single colossal blast. It was the last straw.

The poor roof had been stabbed four times, been punched with a metal fist the size of a dump truck three times and been nuked twice. The force of the blast from Bahamut's destruction blasted a hole in the roof, spilling Ben and Bella of them into the darkened classroom the next story down.

Bella's breif scream of shock was cut short as her head slammed into the edge of one of the desks.

Ben was more fortunate, he was unceremoniously dumped onto an empty space on the tile floor.
The shock of the blow to her head had negated Bella's Victoria transformation and Ben could feel his energy (such as it was) returning.

Ben yanked his flask of Firebrand Whiskey from it's hiding place, downed the entire contents in a gulp and tossed the flask aside.

Bella was stirring and trying to get up from where she lay stunned on the floor. She did not look good. The Angel Gozen's bowstring was snapped and the cupid automation sparked weakly from where it had been smashed open. The fingers of Peaky Gulliver twitched weakly as Bella tried to summon the strength to move. Several of Valkyrie Skirt's blades had been snapped off and lay scattered around her and a few scales dotting the floor around her was all that was left of the Silver Skin.

Bella stried to sit up, but was stopped by a quiet "Don't." from Ben.

If anything, Ben looked just as bad as Bella. His curly hair was covered in a layer of dust and there were bits and pieces of the roof's tiling stuck in his curly hair. He was extremely pale and he was partially hunched over from where his back had collided with the railing. One his precious ear-buds were smashed and his glasses had been shattered when he was slapped by Peaky Gulliver. He was still gasping for breath and he favored his good leg as a steady trickle of blood flowed down the other.

What he did have that Bella didn't was a fire in his eyes that shone brightly in the dark room, and a steady finger pointed at her.

Bella half sighed, half groaned and tried to shift around to a more comfortable position.

Ben's eyes softened and he moved forward. "Let me." He said gently and carefully helped Bella up where she sat with a groan of relief against one of the desks.

"I guess that's it then." She said softly. "You beat me. No running away."

"Yeah." Ben said in the same tone of voice. "I honestly wish it didn't have to be this way."

Bella shrugged awkwardly. "There was no way we could've avoided it. The only true ends for us were either your death, or my capture."

Ben looked at Bella for a long moment. She stared at the ground, one strand of green hair falling in front of her face.

He'd never noticed it before now, but half the thrill of the chases and battles with Bella were simply being around her.

Ben wasn't entirely sure it wasn't her just Sue-ish effect on him, but one thing he did know, he couldn't bear the thought of Bella languishing in a dark prison cell.

He frowned as a thought occured to him.

"Maybe there's another way..." He said slowly.

-

Tash was furious. Not only had Ben left his bed when he was supposed to be resting, but he had gone out on a mission without confirmation or telling anybody where he went.

She was just about to give up the search when a plothole opened and an exhausted and thoroughly wasted Ben climbed through, the two pieces of Bahamut dangling across his back.

"There you are! What were you thinking rushing off on your own like that?" Tash demanded. "You could've gotten killed!"

"Not me this time." Ben muttered despondently.

Tash frowned. "What happened? Where'd you go?"

Ben looked surprised. "You guys didn't see anything?"

"How could we? We had no clue where you were! And you'd better have a damn good reason for having left like that or you're in trouble!"

Ben sighed. "I went to the Buso Renkin Fandom."

"Did you find Bella there?" Tash asked.

Ben nodded mutely.

"Did you catch her?"

"No."

"Oh, she got away again then."

Ben looked away. "No... she didn't."

Tash scowled. "Wha-?" Then the implications of what Ben said hit her. "Oh..." Was all she could say.

"I'm gonna go lie down for a while." Ben muttered.

"OK, fine." Tash said softly.

Adrian walked up as Ben walked off.

"What's wrong with him?" He asked.

"He killed Bella." Tash said softly.

"Oh." Adrain said, looking at Ben's retreating back.

"I wish there was something I could do to help..." Tash said.

Adrian shrugged. "It's been awhile since we've had to kill any Sues. It's bound to come as a shock. Just leave him be for a while. He'll get over it."

Tash nodded and the two went their separate ways.

-

Shirley was waiting outside Ben's door, fuming.

"There you are!" She said as he approached. "My date stood me up! Next time I see him, I'll turn him into fire kindling! How'd you do with Bella? Any-?"

"Not now, Shirley." Ben said quietly as he walked past her and closed the door, locking it.

Abrasive and violent as she may have been, even Shirley realized that there was something up, and all she could do for now was let Ben be.

Inside his room, Ben clicked on his desk lamp, and pulled a pen and several sheets of blank paper from his desk.

He leaned Bahamut up against the desk, eyeing the damage. The only thing connecting the fretboard and main body of the guitar were the strings. It was a miracle the blast released by it's destruction hadn't damaged it more. Ben sighed. He hoped he'd be able to repair it.

He turned back to the paper and putting his pen down, got to work.

Nobody at the high school knew where she came from, only that she was very beautiful. As time went on, she became one of them. She lived and laughed, and failed and cried. She her her own struggles and triumphs and her own failures and defeats. Together she grew with the friends she made at the school, growing with them and helping them, hurting them and being hurt by them. She was not perfect, but she was as close to it as any would dare.

Her name was Bella.

Several hours later, Ben took the filled sheets of paper and inserted them into a manila envelope. He then taped the envelope to the bottom of his desk.

"Enjoy your new world, Bella," he said, clicking out the light.