Hello everyone! I'm Man of Cartoons and this is a fanfiction that just won't get out of my mind (not that I'm complaining…much).

Now you may be wondering that this is just another crossover of Ben 10 and Akame Ga Kill and so it won't be much different than the others ones. Well guess what? You're be wrong. If you've read the summary (which you all have I'm sure) then you get the idea that this story will be focused on Ben and a certain psychotic girl in the first episode. I got the idea from a crossover of One Punch Man and Akame Ga Kill, and while it didn't follow that direction I thought of it made me wonder how great it would be if Ben took the role in an extended way.

So without further delay, here's the first chapter of "Corruption, murder and…redemption?"

Oh and just for the heck of it here's the disclaimer I'm likely going to forget in the future.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Ben 10 Franchise and Akame Ga Kill. Why I actually have to do this like I could be arrested is beyoooond me.

Chapter 1: Laughter, the Capital and...Night Raid?

The beauty that is nature could be seen anyway as it gave a sense of peace. The sun was somewhat bright, while much didn't seemed to go on for travelers who wished to pass through a highways leading to various places both far and near. Unfortunately, this sense of peace didn't last well for two merchants and their cart.

"Earth…Earth Dragon!" shouted one of the men in panic.

For a while, both he and his companion had been traveling through a path as it was part of their journey. But when a giant monster shot out of the ground above them, they knew they were in big trouble.

"I didn't know they came out in highways like these." shouted the other merchant.

However, it didn't matter to the monster. It caused their cart to fall to the side and made the men to run for their lives while chasing them from behind.

Meanwhile, a boy with brown hair, wearing a white jacket over a sweater vest, a pair of black pants and combat boots and a sword saw the incident and smirked. He didn't mean to express this way for the men's trouble, but for the fact that it was his chance to save more people and show off. As such, he pulled out his sword and made a dash for the monster.

"Saving people and getting myself known." He stated determinedly. "Seems like I'll be able to do both."

Unfortunately, his opportunity didn't last for long. He just was about to intercept the creature's path, when suddenly a bunch of large diamond shards shot out of the ground underneath the monster, striking into it and out , killing it instantly.

"Aw come on!" The boy shouted angrily. He could see the now dead, Earth dragon, oozing out blood just to show how dead it was. But from the looks of it, he knew who was responsible as he turned to his right. "Seriously, Ben, why do you have to do that?!" He shouted.

The one he spoke about chuckled a bit and made strange footsteps as he emerged from his hiding spot. "What can I say, Tatsumi? The early bird gets the worm…" He replied with a grin. "or in this chase…" and revealed a part of him to be crystal covered. "a weird scorpion thing."

"Not it's not!" Tatsumi objected.

Ben just chuckled in response as he got closer to him. He knew he should be sorry for stealing Tatsumi's glory, but for some reason he found that he couldn't. That reason was Tatsumi's funny fuming face. As for him, his appearance became more revealed now that he didn't stand in the shades of the trees or anything. Hence, when the merchants that were saved saw him they were very much shocked.

The person called Ben wasn't human, but really a creature never before seen. His body was composed of durable pale green crystals as he sports four shards on his back and a sharp head. Along with this, he wore a uniform consisted of a top that was a green stripe at the middle and black at both sides, as well as black pants and a belt which had a strange black and green hexagon symbol on its chest.

"Whatever, dude." Ben said to Tatsumi. He understood why the teen would feel that way, but couldn't be bothered anymore. Hence, he turned his attention at the merchants and asked. "Hey, you guys okay?"

"U-uh yeah." answered one of them.

"Yeah, please don't hurt us." added the other.

"Hurt you?" Ben asked, confused.

"They're talking about what you are right now, Ben." Tatsumi stated.

"Uh, I knew that." Ben muttered sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head.

"Right." Tatsumi replied sarcastically.

The situation at the moment was a bit weird, so it was understandable. Ben used his hand to touch the hexagon symbol on his chest, which resulted in a flash of green light to engulf him, before revealing his true form to be a sixteen year old teen wearing a black shirt which has a green stripe in the middle with a white colored number 10 and green stripes on the sides of his shirt, brown cargo pants and green and white shoes, while wearing a strange watch on his left wrist.

"See. No harm done." Ben stated to the men.

The merchants were dumbfounded.

So after getting the merchants out of their trance, the teens were able to hitch a ride with them. But prior to that, when Tatsumi had expressed his desire to go to the Capital, both merchants were quick to warn them about the Capital. They expressed how the capital was filled with humans with hearts of monsters, and in a way tried to deter Tatsumi from going. But sadly for them the teen was determined to go there in order to save his village, the same for Ben but for a different reason he never mentioned.

So with nothing else to say, the merchants took the brave (or somewhat stupid, to them) boys to the Capital's entrance before going off to their own direction.

"Wooow! So this is the Capital!" Tatsumi shouted in awe.

"Eh, I've seen better." Ben stated.

Tatsumi shot an annoyed glare at him. "I never said that to you."

"Huh?" Ben was taken aback. He had been facing the Capital's entrance when the teen spoke, before turning to him and seeing walking away. "Come on, dude. Is this about that Danger Beast thing?"

"No, it's not!" Tatsumi shouted back while continuing working.

"Liar." Ben muttered and sighed. He paused for a moment to rub his forehead before looking up to the skies with a plain face. "Well here I am, Paradox. Let's see what this place got ready for him." He muttered.

Sometime passed since Ben was able to catch up to Tatsumi before the teen was able to forgive him. Truth be told, he didn't hold a grudge against Ben partly because they've arrived at the Capital where he aimed to become a soldier. As for the other reason, he just didn't seem to feel that way anymore. So as they walk around, both teens looked around to see people attending to daily lives like normal citizens should.

"Wow. The Capital looks so normal." Tatsumi stated in a bit of awe.

'Yeah, I actually agree." Ben agreed and continued to look around. He could see the people dressed in normal wear for their livelihood and in addition bringing a peaceful feeling in the air, which he felt was off. 'But if this place is as bad as those merchants and Paradox said to be then why is it this way?' He thought to himself.

However, he didn't go too much into thought on it. He could've, but for no reason he chose not to as he listened to Tatsumi speak again.

"If I get successful here, I could even buy the whole village."

"Uh, yeah. Sure." Ben murmured in response. He had a feeling it won't be as easy as the other teen believed.

But there was no stopping the duo now. They passed through many other places, unaware of a blond woman sipping a tea and noticing their presence from a table, before arriving at the barracks for Tatsumi. However, before they got through the door, Ben came to a stop and pointed his finger over his shoulder.

"You go ahead. We'll meet over there." He said.

"What? Why?" Tatsumi asked.

"I got to check out this place for a bit. You don't mind, do you?"

"No, of course not." Tatsumi answered and shook his head. "Just get here before nightfall. I'll be a high ranking officer by the time you get here."

"Uh, sure you will." Ben replied. He gave him a thumbs up in his presence before then walking away to a different direction. "I sure hope he gets something at least." He murmured. "He's a nice kid, but he seems a bit too oblivious even when I met him and those friends of his. That reminds me…where could they be?"

The teen wondered about it in indeed. It wasn't like he was that close to them like Tatsumi was or anything close to them. He was just very concerned. After all, what those merchants told him and the other teen before arriving at the Capital made him worry a bit for the two. And while they were skillful, he didn't want anything bad to happen to them.

'Yeah, they have to be fine. I'm sure of it.' Ben thought and continued walking. ' As for this place…it seems normal by the looks of it. Maybe those merchants and Paradox were over exaggerating…"

However, for some reason, the teen found that latter thought hard to believe. He didn't know the merchants very well, but to believe that his friend, Paradox, was over exaggerating was something he found very hard to believe. Maybe some of the bad things he heard weren't happening today. That had to be it.

Hence, as time went on, Ben continued to look around the place more. He tried not to go far out of fear of getting lost especially when he said he would get back at an appropriate time. So when the sun began to set, he turned back when he was sure everything was normal before making his way to the place he mentioned to rendezvous.

But there was a problem; Tatsumi wasn't there.

"Damn that, guy!" Ben shouted. "He better not have been stood me up or something!"

Prior to leaving, the place the teen had pointed was simple. It was a food cart which was some meters away from the barracks. It was just some walks away as it stood out from other places in the area due to its fruits and the old man standing there. But now that it was closed and Tatsumi was nowhere to be seen, the brown haired boy resulted to walking and calling the other teen's name. Eventually, he did find him by a pillar, resting his back at it with his head down.

"There you are!" Ben shouted.

Tatsumi didn't respond back. He still had his head down until Ben marched over to him and knocked on his head.

"Ow! What the heck?!" He yelped. "I heard you, okay?!"

"Then why didn't you look at me?!" Ben shouted back.

"Beca –" Tatsumi stopped and looked away silently, slightly embarrassed to continue.

However, Ben didn't seem to take it likely. He could see by the sudden pause and awkward look on the other teen's face that there was something he wasn't telling him. As a result, it made him sigh and sit down next to him with an apologetic look.

"Sorry about that." Ben apologized calmly. "I was just a bit worried you left me off. You know I'm alone here."

"Yeah, I know." Tatsumi murmured and bow his head. "I didn't get accepted."

"Yeah, I kind of expected that." Ben stated freely.

'He says it so calmly.' Tatsumi thought and glared at the teen. It was one thing that his luck went bad and another to have the only friend around reveal that he didn't have faith in him.

"But that's beside the point." Ben continued. He failed to notice the glare the other teen was giving as something like that wasn't in his view. But when a growl from his stomach was heard, he stood up and stretched a bit before facing Tatsumi. "Okay, I'm getting hungry." He said. "Let's get something to eat and a place to sleep. Maybe you'll get better luck tomorrow."

"…I can't." Tatsumi muttered. He felt embarrassed for what he knew Ben would eventually find out and so bow his head on his wrists to cover his face.

As for the other teen, he didn't seem to get on what that was about.

"Come on, Tatsumi. Just because you got shot down once doesn't mean you should be depressed." He stated encouragingly.

"I know." Tatsumi muttered. "But sleeping here isn't so bad."

"Yes, it is." Ben objected. "It's getting cold out here and…wait…Tatsumi…where's the money?"

It was at this moment that Tatsumi was sure he fucked up.

Ten minutes later

"Dude?! You actually fell for that?!" Ben yelled angrily.

It had only been a few seconds since Tatsumi explained everything to Ben from the moment he had left him. Apparently, while the teen hero was away, Tatsumi had not only been kicked out of the barracks but he met a 'woman with big boobs' who promised to get him into the army, only to then find out ten hours later that he had been conned. And now they were stuck in a tough predicament.

However, before Ben could continue yelling at the other teen, they heard horses neigh as what they were pulling came to a stop.

"Does those two not have a place to say?" asked a young female voice. "How unfortunate."

"Again, my lady?" asked a bodyguard.

At this point, both teens were confused with what was going on. They could see where the source of the voice was coming from, as the one who spoke the most turned out to be a young girl that appeared to be either fifteen or sixteen. She had short chest length blond hair with a fluffy blue hair accessory, wore a long white sleeve shirt with a blue bow tied at the collar under a blue dress with a black midsection, and wore white boots. She also had big blue eyes.

"Uh…who's the cute girl?' Ben whispered.

"How the heck would I know?!" Tatsumi whispered back at him harshly.

However, the time they had wasn't for bickering amongst each other. They had heard the girl say some things before watching her stop before them with a kind look on her face.

"Did you two come from the country?" She asked.

"Huh…yeah." Tatsumi answered.

"Well if you don't have a place to stay. Do you two want to come to my house?"

Tatsumi paused as he gave her a distrusted look. "I don't have any money - OW!"

"We would love to." Ben stated with a wide smile. He made sure to not face the other teen who he had kicked just to keep from talking further.

"Then it's settled." The girl stated and beamed a smile.

There was no denying it from the girl's look that she was happy to hear Ben's response. Sure, it had come without any consideration from Tatsumi, who was rubbing his butt and glaring at Ben, but nonetheless it was all good. Hence, while they followed her, Ben turned to Tatsumi and whispered.

"Sorry I did that, Tatsumi." He apologized. "I had to speed things up so we could get out of the cold."

"Fine." Tatsumi replied. "But I hope this isn't because you think she's cute."

"Uh…of course it wasn't."

"Liar."

"Is anything the matter?" The girl suddenly asked.

That's when reality got back to the two boys. They realized that they had stopped a few feet to the carriage, before then shaking their head simultaneously and saying. "Nothing at all."

The girl was fine to hear this. She watched as both boys were over whatever they were talking about, with Tatsumi sitting first while Ben had his hand open at the girl.

"I noticed we didn't introduce each other. I'm Ben Tennyson." Ben said politely.

The teen's action there came a bit surprising as it made the girl pause for a bit. It wasn't known why she did this though, as she just looked at his hand and then his face before accepting it and shaking it.

"Aria." She said.

"Nice name." Ben complimented.

"Thank you." She said back.

And so, with nothing else to say, Ben went into the carriage and sat next to Tatsumi.

"So smooth, Ben." Tatsumi whispered and snickered.

"Oh shut up." Ben whispered back.

"WHOOAA!"

After making it safely to Arai's home, Tatsumi was awestruck. The outside of the mansion was huge, while was so clean and expensive looking even as he, Ben, Aria and the bodyguards walked in.

"This place is amazing, Ben." Tatsumi stated with a wide smile on his face.

"You said it, dude." Ben agreed. He wasn't so awestruck like his friend, but was able to show his admiration of the place by his face and words. "I've seen a lot of awestruck places, but this mansion isn't so bad."

Unknown to Ben though, this comment earned a bit of a scowl from Aria. It wasn't because Ben was seemingly ungrateful, but for a reason that connected to something else unknown to him and Tatsumi. But rather than bringing that up, she smiled brightly and took Ben by his right arm's wrist before taking him to a room at the right.

"Come. I would like you both to meet my parents." She said.

So with that, she dragged Ben with some force to the room. It was a bit of a funny moment for Tatsumi, as not only was Ben caught off guard but Tatsumi decided to tease him by giving him a thumbs up which then led to Ben shooting a scowl at him and the boy laughing about it.

But none of their tomfooling mattered for what happened next. Ben was still dragged by Arai while Tatsumi followed with the guards behind him until they came to a stop when they entered a room. It was big in the eyes of Tatsumi, as it had some expensive looking furniture and a fire place, where not too far was where a man and woman sat by.

The father wore a pricey suit while possessing a calm and respected face. He also seemed overweight as he wore a brown pricey suit with a red tie while his woman by his left side was a blond with pink silky dress. So when they saw their daughter coming in with two boys, they faced them with gleaming smiles

"Ahh, Aria brought someone in again." The father said. "Once again, they're two."

"What a habit." The mother said. "I wonder how many times it has been."

'Huh, so we're not the first then.' Ben thought a bit skeptic. 'But now that I think about it, didn't the girl say before she couldn't help it while I was arguing with Tatsumi? 'Huh, I wonder what Tatsumi thinks of this.'

However, the teen didn't need to know what it was upon seeing the delightful and daydreaming expression on Tatsumi's face. It was nice and all, but Ben decided to cut him off from it since they were in the presence of the kind daughter who brought them in and their parents. Hence, he nudged Tatsumi lightly before walking forward with a small smile on his face.

"Thank you so much for having us here. We really appreciate it." Ben said with a honest voice.

"Yes! Thank you!" Tatsumi added and did a bow at Aria.

Unlike the other brown haired teen, Tatsumi was more grateful for their staying. It was why he acted out that way before Aria while Ben watched, wondering if the teen was overdoing. Fortunately, Aria didn't seem to take it in any wrong way.

"It's okay. It's okay." The girl assured him happily. "Make your stay at home."

"Yes!" Tatsumi nodded.

Just then, Aria's mother interjected as she mainly faced Aria and the teens. "If we help people out, the happiness will eventually come to us, right?"

"Mum!" Aria shouted. "That's not the reason I'm doing this."

"Joking. Joking." The mother giggled.

'Huh the mum's not so bad too.' Ben thought. He crossed his arms as he looked at both Aria and the mother before extending his smile a bit more when another thought came to mind. 'I can see where she gets her kindness from.'

But then, now that he looked over to Tatsumi, he noticed the boy was yet to stand up straight. The reason for this was at first unknown until he interjected calmly as he was facing the family entirely.

"Excuse me, there's also something I'd like to ask." He stated with sincerity..

Now this got everyone's attention.

So after getting a seat with Ben by his side, Tatsumi explained what he meant. Aria sat lonely on the left couch while the father was sitting directly in front of Tatsumi and Ben like before with the wife sitting lonely at the couch by the right. They heard what Tatsumi had to say while Ben listened in on it before the father spoke up.

"I see." He first said. "You want to become successful in the army to save your village."

"Yes." Tatsumi answered.

"What a wonderful dream…" The father added. "But you know, it may be peaceful inside the Imperial Capital…but this country is surrounded on three sides by different races. You could be brought over the borders to fight against them."

"I'm prepared for that." Tatsumi assured honestly.

"I see, that's a commendable spirit." The father remarked. "That's how the young should be."

"Did you come here alone with Ben then, Tatsumi?" Aria asked.

"No, he didn't." Ben interjected. "We came with two other people actually."

FLASHBACK

Somewhere in the snowy mountains, the village Tatsumi was born and raised in was located there. It had endured a lot of hardship, mostly financially, as taxes were being increased on the villagers despite being unable to afford it. Hence, when the day came for four certain ambitious teens were ready to depart in order to raise the money required to save the village, Tatsumi, Ben and his friends were all set to go.

"All right. We'll be on our way, chief." Tatsumi stated with a wave of his hand.

"Yes…" The chief nodded. He was currently standing before them with his arms behind his back as he continued. "You've been improving each other since you were young. Seize the chance to be successful with those skills."

'Wait, aren't they still young?' Ben thought.

The teen hero was presently standing at Tatsumi's back left with a girl next to him. She was someone he had gotten to know along with Tatsumi and the other boy who was presently at Tatsumi's back right during the past week he had been in their village. She had long black hair, black eyes and wore a white flower hair accessory while wearing plain cream-colored robes.

"Leave it to us." The girl said with an assuring smile. "We'll make the village wealthy, especially with Ben at our sides. Isn't that, right Ben? Those crazy monsters of yours will help us from starving to death."

"Sure, I guess." Ben said, a bit nervous.

Just then, the other boy spoke. He had short, somewhat unruly, dark-brown hair and brown eyes with a white martial arts headband while wearing a robe of his own. He also had a smug look on his face as he pointed at himself proudly with nothing holding him back. "Well it'll take about ten years for this Ieyasu-sama right here to get well-known." He said.

"Ieyasu'll probably break the rules and get the guillotine." The girl interjected.

"Sayo, why you!?" Ieyasu shouted angrily at the girl.

"I kind of agree with her." Ben said and smug about it.

"You too, Ben?!" The teen yelled. "Stop saying stuff might actually happen!"

Ben just laughed in response. He had a thing for teasing the other teen just to see how he would react angrily. It was hilarious to him. Hence, before Sayo could speak, he spoke again. "What? It would likely happen." He held back a snicker. "First, you oversleep like so often and have a bad sense of direction. Heck, if you went alone I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't get eaten or something."

"Hey!" The teen yelled offended.

Sayo just covered her lips with her hands as she giggled.

This scene before the chief wasn't anything new. He had known Tatsumi, Ieyasu and Sayo ever since there were little and Ben for the duration of the time the teen stayed in the village. So as he saw both boys somewhat arguing (though one sided from the looks of it), he just smiled a bit and said. "You seem to have plenty of energy, at least…"

But then came on another thing that came to the chief's mind. It made him pull out something before displaying it to Tatsumi, who he then spoke to. "Well then, Tatsumi…it's my last parting gift." He said. "Take this with you. When the time comes…"

"Sell it, right?" Tatsumi asked.

"NO!" The chief yelled.

Ben face palmed in response. "Maybe Sayo and I should hold the money or something precious." He said. 'Why do I get the feeling Tatsumi may screw us.' He thought.

"No, this is for him." The chief refused. He understood why Ben would feel Tatsumi wasn't up to the task, but at the same time knew this was right. As such, he turned Tatsumi, who had shot a scowling glare at Ben, before saying. "Keep this with you at all times. God will surely save you."

"Yeah." Tatsumi replied. He took the item in his hand and said. "Thanks, Chief."

FLASHBACK END

"So well…" Tatsumi continued. "We left in high spirits kind of like that. After that, we were attacked by night bandits and got separated."

"Oh dear." Aria's mother gasped.

"Yeah, that partly was my fault." Ben said and frowned. He turned his eyes away from looking at the family as the thought of the past came to mind. "I decided to head back a lake to check out something I thought I saw. By the time I got back, I was only able to catch up with Tatsumi."

"I told you that it's fine, Ben." Tatsumi said assuredly to his friend. "Those guys are strong so we shouldn't really worry."

"Yeah…I guess." Ben sighed. He felt a bit at ease of what Tatsumi said, and so turned to him. "But doesn't Ieyasu have a really bad sense of direction. I don't think he'll be able to make it to the Capital like we were supposed to meet."

"I see." Aria's father suddenly spoke. He had heard what the teenage boys had to say with all his mind before feeling the need to help them out. "I'll recommend you both to an acquaintance by the military and investigate those two as well."

"Thank you so much!" Tatsumi shouted.

"Yeah, thanks." Ben added. "But I'm not one for the army. The chief just thought I was the best to watch over them."

"Then it's settled." Aria stated. She had too heard everything and so decided to speak. "My intuition's good, you know. I think you'll see both of them before long."

"Aria-san…" Tatsumi blushed.

Things so far seemed to be working well for Ben and Tatsumi. Aria and her family were very supportive to them that it felt just too good for Ben to believe the world he was in is meant to be filled with corruption. So as a thank you to the family, both teens offered their services in return, which was accepted by Aria who wanted them to be part of her bodyguards.

So later that night, both Ben and Tatsumi got a room with two beds. It wasn't much for Ben's standards, but it was a very comfortable and good looking place to sleep in. Hence, after eating a snack, he entered the room again and found already in bed.

"About to sleep huh?" Ben asked.

"Not yet." Tatsumi answered. Unknown to Ben though, he had been thinking about the day and how he and the teen had gotten lucky to be found by a caring family. But it also didn't help that he was still worried about his two friends.

"Do you still blame yourself?" Tatsumi asked all of a sudden.

"Huh?" Ben responded. He got inside the room and closed the door behind him before sitting at the edge of the bed, facing Tatsumi.

"Ieyasu and Sayo." Tatsumi mentioned. "Do you still blame yourself for us getting separated?"

Ben sighed in response. It wasn't a hard one or one that held much weight that had to be released. But it was a thoughtful one that led him to lay his back on the bed. "Not so much." He answered. "Like you said, they're strong…Besides, Sayo is with him so they should be fine. If Aria's father can't find them then I'll use Wildmutt or some other ali - monster to find them,"

"Oh yeah." Tatsumi said and smiled. "Thank you for being here, Ben. If you weren't…I would be alone."

Ben smiled in response. He liked what he heard from Tatsumi as it made him feel good for just being around for him. So once he heard it, he sat back up and nodded. "Sure thing, dude." He said. "We sure are lucky to be found by Aria."

"I know right." Tatsumi agreed. "I know what I did was dumb…thank God we didn't get to face the cold outside."

"Yeah, I guess. But I probably would've made a campfire outside the woods to keep us up till morning."

"So you don't appreciate Aria?" Tatsumi asked. It occurred to him immediately that Ben may have a thing for the blond girl. Hence, he smirked teasingly. "even though you liiiike her."

Ben paused for a moment when he heard this. He didn't say why he did this nor did he seem too convincing that it was because of what Tatsumi was thinking. So it came as a bit of a surprise when he silently got underneath the blankets before speaking.

"I'm not really into her." He said calmly. "Aria is great, but I just got out of a relationship some weeks ago, so I'm not looking forward to any of that complication."

"Oh…" Tatsumi paused. "I didn't know.

"I can't blame you." Ben said with assurance. "Now let's go to sleep. Aria did say she was going shopping tomorrow morning."

"Oh yeah, I remember." Tatsumi nodded.

And so with that, both brown haired teens went off to sleep without anything else to say.

A new day started as the Capital was once again lively. People could be seen walking about as they attended to their various activities in their respective ways. The same could be said for Aria, Tatsumi, Ben and some bodyguards as they assisted the girl in her shopping. But that wasn't to say that it was easy for those bodyguards.

"We're going to that shop next!" Aria shouted with glee.

"My Lady, please wait!" shouted her two bodyguards in unison. They were right behind her, stressing to moving with the large packages they had to carry.

Meanwhile, both Ben and Tatsumi were some feet away with another bodyguard with shocked looks on their faces. The amount of clothes the girl had to buy was outstanding even to their eyes. But not surprising though, this didn't have much of an effect on the bodyguard with them.

"It seems we're staying home this time…" He said quite calmly. He also had his arms crossed as he continued. "Her shopping is amazing, isn't it?" He asked rhetorically. "The amount is just getting silly now. It's just limited to her. All girls are like that."

"Is that so?" Tatsumi asked, turning to him.

"Yeah, they are." Ben confirmed. "I've met some girls and trust me, they shop like a lot. Except my cousin, that is. She's more invested in books."

The bodyguard chuckled in response. "Sounds like your cousin is fun to hang out with." He said. He didn't know much about Ben, much less about Tatsumi as he said that. But now that he was speaking to them, he looked up and said. "Anyway, look up."

"Huh?" Tatsumi said.

Ben just looked where the bodyguard motioned to.

"That's the center of the Capital." The bodyguard stated.

"THE PALACE!" Tatsumi shouted, taken aback. "Humongous! Is that where the Emperor who controls the country…"

"No." The bodyguard interjected.

Now this got Ben really attentive. He didn't care much about the structure of the palace mainly because he has been to different kingdoms and planets before. Sure, it was great looking, but when you've been in a ton of adventures like the ones the teen hero has experienced, some fascinating things tends to lose their flavor to him. So when the bodyguard drew his face closer to the duo, the teen was ready.

"It's a little different…" The man explained. "There's an Emperor, but he's a child right now. The one that controls that Emperor from the shadows is the Minister. The Minister is the ringleader that's rotting this country."

"No way!" Ben expressed in shock.

"Woah there!" The bodyguard warned. He pulled his head away from the teens and looked around before then speaking again but in a low voice. "Don't make any noise, all right? Heads will be rolling if you're heard."

"Oh…sorry." Ben apologized.

Now some things were beginning to make sense for the teenage hero. There was indeed a high level of corruption in this world that needed to be stopped. And though Ben didn't know how he could do it, he felt a good sense that he would have to at some point. But that wasn't to say the feeling was the same with Tatsumi, who tightened his fist in mild frustration.

"Then…" The teen spoke. "The reason my village is suffering from heavy taxes..o"

"It's the Capital's common sense." The bodyguard said. He could see the frustration plainly on Tatsumi's face despite him not facing him and so in a sense felt sorry for him. But then a thought came to him that led him to point a finger over his shoulder. "There are guys like that as well." He said.

"Night Raid." Tatsumi said.

The place which the bodyguard had pointed was a wall occupied with wanted posters. It had pictures of people that were highly wanted, with rewards for them dead or alive on it. Along with this, it had the name of the group they belonged to.

"It's the group of assassin that's rattling the whole Capital." The bodyguard explained. "Just as the name implies, they conduct nocturnal attacks on their targets. They mainly target high ranking or wealthy individuals in the Capital. Prepare yourself, just in case."

"Yes!" Tatsumi firmly replied.

However, Ben wasn't one to speak back about it. He instead had his eyes on the poster, before turning away silently with a thought in mind. 'Night Raid huh? Paradox never mentioned them...But then again he barely gave me enough since I was pumped to save another world…I guess I should blame myself for not listening.'

"Also…" The bodyguard suddenly said. He got both Ben and Tatsumi's attention before then pointing his finger at certain direction. "…go do something about that for now."

"Huh?"

Both teens looked where the man pointed with a few seconds of confusion. Then, when they did see, they were shocked at what they were seeing. Aria was skipping happily with a song she was humming while her two bodyguards were struggling to follow her while holding a huge package.

"What kind of training is that?!" Tatsumi shouted.

"That girl…" Ben could only murmured.

Just as morning had come and gone, night time took its place. The residents in Aria's parents' mansion were at peace with nothing much going on. Ben and Tatsumi were peacefully sleeping on their beds in what was nice and a bit irritating display with the latter due to Tatsumi's snot being in sync with his breathing. But then, something felt very wrong that made Tatsumi's eyes to snap open.

"What was that?" He sharply questioned and sat up.

Something really didn't feel right to him. It was still late in the night and already he knew something very bad was happening. But when he did recognize it a few seconds, he immediately grabbed on to his sword and got off the bed. "Blood thirst!" He shouted. "Ben, wake up!"

The brown haired teen knew he had to act fast as every second count. He also knew he had to wake up Ben in order to have a better chance with whatever was the source of the blood thirst he felt considering what the other teen can do. But when he tried shaking the teen hero, he simply groaned and turned his back at him.

"Damn it, Ben!" Tatsumi yelled frustrated. "And you criticize Ieyasu for oversleeping. But you know what…I'm going to stop whatever is going on! Yes, that's what I'll do!"

And so, with nothing else to say, the teen ran out and slammed the door behind him hard.

"Huh?" Ben mumbled.

The teen hero was now awake, sort of.

"What was that about…Tatsumi." He mumbled with a sleepy tone.

However, before he could reconsider going back to sleep, a flash of blue light shined in the room. It came really sudden as its light not only was bright but it made Ben to cover his eyes with his wrist and wince.

'Great…morning." He groaned. "Can't a hero get some sleep."

"That depends, Ben Tennyson…" said a familiar voice with a British accent.

"Wait…I know that voice."

"…if it's from an old friend." The person added.

"Paradox." Ben's eyes widened.

The realization then and there didn't hit him too hard than it should though. After all, the last he had heard from the guy was two weeks ago when he arrived in the world he was in. And now that he heard that voice, he immediately sat up and stared forward to see it was indeed Professor Paradox.

"Hello, Ben." The time travelling professor greeted. "My apologies for disturbing your slumber, but I thought now should be the time to drop in now that young Tatsumi isn't present."

"Tatsumi?" Ben questioned, confused. The last he had seen the boy was when he went to sleep, so where was he? He was definitely not in his bed when the teen turned to it. "Wait, where is he?" He asked.

"All in good time, my friend." Paradox assured him. "The last we met, I didn't get to finish explaining about this world."

"Oh…yeah." Ben said and paused. "Have I mentioned I'm sorry?"

"You have…I think." Paradox answered. "Time Travelling can be so confusing."

"Tell me about it." Ben said dryly. Though he doesn't use time traveling so often like the professor, he knew how much a headache it could be. "So are you going to fill me in about this place or not?" He asked.

"Ah yes." Paradox confirmed. "So as you remember from our last encounter, I told you about this world's corruption. But I failed to warn you about how it runs.."

"Yes, you did." Ben said. "You told me the place is ruled by an empire that's so corrupt that it reaches to the lowest level of society. There's no justice and blah blah blah."

"Hmm, I don't recall saying those last words." Paradox said in humor. "But anyway, that is beside the point. I'm not talking about that; I'm talking about the details of this world and how it will affect you, Ben. This place is reeking with murderers, some of which you've already encountered…"

"What?!" Ben shouted in shock. "Since when?"

"Since the time you met with Miss. Aria, of course." The Professor answered. "Now I know there are questions you wish to be answered, but please pay attention this time. The last we need is for you to get killed or something."

"Yeah…I guess you're right."

"Thank you." Paradox said. Then he dropped his smile. "Like I said, this world is reeking with murderers. It also has thieves, manipulators and the worse kind of people that may give even some of the villains you've faced a run for their money. And while you're here, your heroic spirit, your morals, and everything you believed in will be tested."

"Tested?" Ben questioned. "How?"

"I cannot tell you that. That is up for you to discover." Paradox stated.

Just then, the professor made a blue portal appear behind him before then turning his back at the teen hero and walking away. "Until we meet again, Benjamin. Good luck."

"Wait!" Ben shouted. "You never told me where Tatsumi is."

"Oh, that's simple." Paradox said and came to a stop. "He's fighting one of Night Raid's best assassins."

"Wait, like right now?!" Ben shouted in shock.

"Yes. Good luck."

So with nothing else to say, the portal engulfed Paradox and disappeared with him gone.

"HOLY SHIIIITT!" Ben shouted out loud. It just dwelled him that Tatsumi might be in danger. "Hold on, Tatsumi! I'm on my way!"

The teen hero now felt the urgency the other teenager had felt as he immediately out of bed. He made sure to quickly put on his shoes before then running out the door without haste. He didn't want to fail the boy especially at something he could prevent with the help of the Omnitrix.

Unfortunately, there was a problem. The teen hero had no idea where to go.

'I'm losssst!" He shouted in panic.

True to his words, he really was lost.

"Dammit, Tatsumi! Where are you?!"

The teen hero could feel his heart pounding as he ran through passages in search of Tatsumi or a sign of a bodyguard or the family he knew. He busted through doors, ran through corners and even tried yelling for anyone to answer him, which also didn't work.

"Damn…I guess I have to go hero then." Ben muttered to himself.

However, before he could get to it, he noticed someone walking through a passage in front of him. He also noticed as he drew closer that it was a woman with long purple hair in a purple dress, wearing what seemed to be glasses and wielding a giant pair of scissors.

"Wow, who is she?" Ben wondered.

At the point, the woman surprisingly hadn't noticed his presence despite his footsteps echoing through the hallway. Maybe she did know but decided to not pay attention to him. But then again, when Ben arrived at the passage, she still didn't turn to him.

"Hey! You!" Ben shouted. "Who the heck are you?!"

The woman came to a stop and said nothing. It wasn't known why she became silence like that, as all she did was stand there with her back at Ben with blood dripping on her hand and on her giant scissors. But then again, it was probably for the best that she did especially as Ben eyed the huge blood stain.

"What the…hell." Ben gasped.

"I'm sorry." The woman said. She didn't turn her back at him to say it. She just said spoke the words before continuing her walk away.

Now Ben was sure it was for the best she didn't turn to him. It hadn't taken him a few seconds later to realize that she was part of Night Raid despite not seeing her face since her figure kept walking away.

'Should I stop here?' Ben asked himself. He could still see her figure walking silently without a word to say as he reached his two fingers to faceplate of the Omnitrix. 'She's Night Raid…I have to stop her. But wait…if those blood is there then…I have to find Tatsumi…I have to find any survivor. If she's here, then the whole group will be here.'

So it was decided by Ben, he would leave her for the time being. He didn't know for sure if he would meet her again, and frankly couldn't be bothered any less about it. He just chose to turn away from her before going a different direction from the one she came from; knowing that a dead blood covered body was likely lying there.

But just when he thought he had seen enough, he was soon proven wrong. The reason for it, however, didn't reveal themselves to him until he came to a stop in another passage, by a window, where he then looked out and scowled at the figures he saw.

"Night Raid!" He scowled.

True to his eyes, it was indeed the group of assassin standing before his eyes. They seem to be standing in mid-air from what he could see, with presently four members standing in different poses as they looked down. They also didn't seem to notice him, which was something Ben was thankful for as he didn't want to fight them yet until he was sure Tatsumi was safe. Hence, it was the reason that he then ran off without a single word to them or a glare.

"That's it. No more playing around." Ben told himself. "I didn't want to change into any of my aliens because I didn't want to freak anybody out. But with Tatsumi in danger, I have no other choice. His friends and the chief are counting on me."

So with that said, Ben increased his speed as he entered another passage. This time, he began selecting through the hologram alien icons on the Omnitrix's faceplate before picking one that he thought was best. Then, with a single jump, he burst through a glass window at a dead end and slammed the watch.

Well that was fun. Did you find that great? Please let me know what you think. Also if you didn't know who the female Ben encountered, then I'll tell you. It's Sheele after she killed Aria's mother. I thought it would be fun for Ben to meet her even though they won't be much dialogue from her.

Anyway, please show your support for this story. I'm only writing it as a fun idea, so it would be nice if you let me know what you think.

Have a nice day/night!