Back with the three Espada, Szayel smiled.
"Now this is more like it." He said gleefully.
---
Apache laughed. "What in the world is that form supposed to do?"
Cannonbolt grinned at her. "You'll see."
He curled into a ball and shot at Apache before she could realize what was going on. Cannonbolt slammed her into the ground, then he uncurled himself to look at her.
"You okay?" he asked.
Apache snarled. "Do I look okay?" she yelled. "That was a cheap shot, Ben."
She threw her chakrams, only for Cannonbolt to curl into a ball and shoot at her again. This time Apache was ready and she dodged out of the way. She thought she had gotten the better of Cannonbolt, only to see him bounce into the air like an actual ball. Apache managed to dodge Cannonbolt landing on her, but the small shockwave he made after crashing sent her landing in the sand.
"My, my," Szayel said. "This new form of Cannonbolt certainly is something. A bit tricky to use from the looks of it, but Ben handles it like a master. I'm so jealous of you, Harribel."
Nnoitra snorted. Cannonbolt didn't catch his interest.
Apache growled as she picked herself up from the sand. Her temper was already flaring due to the fact that Mila-Rose was laughing at her.
"Good one, Ben. You have no idea how many times I wanted to do that."
"Oh shut up, Mila-Rose," Apache snarled. "Like you could do any better."
"A lot better than you," Mila-Rose replied smugly.
"Or maybe Ben is just too much for you to handle," Sun-Sun said.
"Stop complimenting him, Sun-Sun!" Apache yelled at her. "We don't need Ben getting an ego!"
"I thought we were training on how to work together," Cannonbolt wondered, scratching his head.
"We are," Sun-Sun told Cannonbolt. "Harribel wanted us to be familiar with your forms and powers, so that way we would be able to work alongside you better."
"We might as well take a short rest," Mila-Rose said as she sat down cross legged on the sand. "Then we can start on Ben's training with Bala and Cero."
Apache glared, but couldn't deny that they had a point. Ben had been putting up a good fight and she was tired. But she was too stubborn to admit that Ben was good. Besides, they hadn't even used their Resurreccion forms against him yet.
"Fine," she said stubbornly. "We'll rest."
Ben let out a sigh of relief as he transformed back to normal. His legs gave out and he collapsed on his butt.
"You're a pretty good fighter, Ben Tennyson," Mila-Rose complimented. "And not just because you can shape-shift."
"She's right," Sun-Sun agreed. "Many of the Arrancar here are overconfident and think they're invincible because of their powers."
Apache laughed. "Yeah, and Ben trampled five of them like nothing."
Ben looked around and noticed Harribel talking with Nnoitra and Szayel up on the balcony. He looked at his teammates.
"What's the deal with those two anyway?" he asked, indicating with his head over to where the three Espada were.
The girls looked. "Szayel is a scientist," Apache said. "He sees everyone as experiments. You had the pleasure of finding that out for yourself."
Ben nodded as he remembered the way Szayel would look at him whenever he transformed. And the way Szayel had been hoping to have Ben join his Fraccion.
"Nnoitra on the other hand is a combat junkie," Mila-Rose said. "He's always looking for fights and thinks that he's the strongest. He also believes men are superior and that women need to be in their "proper" place."
Ben frowned as he looked at Nnoitra again. He could already tell that this guy was a jerk, but he had no idea the guy was that big of a jerk.
"He's always bothering Harribel-sama and us," Sun-Sun told him. "Seeing us as inferior and always trying to find a way to provoke Harribel-sama into fighting him."
"Has he ever tried to hurt her?" Ben asked.
Now Apache and Mila-Rose threw back their heads with laughter while Sun-Sun looked like she was fighting back a giggle behind her long sleeve.
"As if anyone could lay a hand on Harribel-sama," Apache laughed so hard that she was holding her sides.
"Especially scum like Nnoitra," Mila-Rose agreed. Sun-Sun merely nodded.
Ben thought that they sounded a little overconfident themselves, but he was sure that Harribel didn't get her position because of her looks. He knew that she was no doubt good at fighting.
"But it is rather nice of you to care for Harribel-sama," Sun-Sun smiled at him. "You are a good man, Ben Tennyson."
"Alright," Apache got up and brushed herself off. "Break time's over."
Ben gaped at her. "Already? It's barely been five minutes!"
"That's life," Apache snapped at him. "You think the enemy would give you five minutes?"
"Come on, Apache," Mila-Rose said. "Ben has been working his butt off ever since he first came here. He deserves a break."
"Just a short one," Ben told her. "I'll be fine after that."
"See?" Apache said, slapping Ben on the back and making him topple over. "He can handle it."
"Not if you keep knocking him over like that," Mila-Rose replied Ben sat up straight. They all decided to rest there for a few minutes in complete silence.
"Alright, Ben," Apache said. "I think you've rested enough. Come on, we're gonna do Cero right now since you haven't seen that one yet."
Ben grinned at her. "And I know just the form to use."
He activated the Ultimatrix, switched to his chosen alien form and slammed the dial down. In a blinding flash of light, Ben transformed into a small brownish creature that had some resemblance to a woodchuck.
"Bad Upchuck!" this new form yelled.
---
Up above, Nnoitra let out a laugh. "What is that? A toy? I think Ben's gotten a little cocky."
"Size does not matter," Harribel stated. "Echo Echo was proof of that."
---
Down below, Apache had a big ticked off mark on her forehead. "Ben, what is that? Are you making fun of me?"
"Ben chose this form for a reason, Apache," Mila-Rose said. "Maybe you should lighten up."
Apache looked like she was about to retort at Mila-Rose but Upchuck intervened. "Can we begin now?"
This got Apache's attention. She grinned at Upchuck. "You got it."
With that, Apache lowered her head so that her horn was pointing straight at Upchuck. He could see the red energy building up in a ball at her horn tip. Putting his feet firmly, Upchuck waited for the blast.
"Alright, Ben!" Apache yelled. "Show me what you can do!"
The energy ball shot as an energy beam, entirely different from the Bala technique that Yammy used. But Upchuck had battled energy blast foes before and wasn't bothered. As the Cero came closer, Upchuck opened his mouth. Much to the shock of everyone watching him, Upchuck managed to absorb the Cero into his mouth. Apache was left speechless. Then her eyes widened when Upchuck fired the Cero right back at her! She dodged it with Sonido, but what had taken place still surprised her.
"I had no idea you could do that," she muttered.
Back at the balcony, Szayel smiled as he watched what had taken place. "So this form has the ability to eat energy and shoot it back. Now doesn't that sound familiar eh, Nnoitra?"
Harribel looked at Nnoitra. For once, he had no emotion on his face. No sneer or arrogant attitude. He was merely looking at Upchuck as he and the girls talked with each other.
"It does," was all he replied.
After doing a few more rounds, Apache yelled that they were done.
"When you were put in charge, Apache?" Mila-Rose said annoyed. "I don't take orders from you."
Ben sighed. "Come on, no fighting. You're teammates. You're supposed to work together."
Both girls turned their heads to yell, but realized that it was Ben who had spoken to them. Usually this was the time when Sun-Sun would interrupt and insult both of them. And then it would be Harribel who stopped their fighting.
"Ignore them, Ben," Sun-Sun said. "They're hopeless so you shouldn't waste your time trying to help them."
"Shut up, Sun-Sun!" Apache and Mila-Rose yelled. "Nobody asked for your opinion!"
Ben rolled his eyes. The girls were all cool to hang out with, but the never ending fighting could drive a guy nuts. But he thoughts, how cute they will look, when they were fighting for who is going to first fucked by Ben.
"Well, Ben," Szayel's voice said behind him. "Looks like you're doing marvelous as usual."
Ben and the girls turned around to see Harribel, Szayel, and Nnoitra standing behind them. When did they get there?
"Those was quite an unusual form you just used, Ben," Szayel said with that sickening look in his eyes. "Would you mind telling me about them?"
"The first one is called Cannonbolt," Mila-Rose said. "Ben says he uses it as a demolition form."
"The second is called Upchuck," Apache said while glaring at Szayel. "Ben told us he could eat anything and turn it into energy blasts."
"And from what I saw," Szayel continued. "He can even eat someone else's energy attack and shoot it back at them. I never thought I'd see someone else with that ability."
Ben looked at him in confusion. "Huh?"
"Oh don't mind me, Ben," Szayel said with a chuckle. "Just thinking about the old days. However, if you're in the mood to show some more forms, I wouldn't mind at all."
Ben frowned. This guy was never going to leave him alone was he?
Harribel turned to look at Szayel. "I believe I made myself clear that Ben is part of my Fraccion, Szayel. He is off limits."
Nnoitra sneered at her. "You're very protective of him, Harribel. Was the loneliness too much for you? Did Ben keep you warm last night?"
Ben gave an interesting smile, while Apache, Mila-Rose, and Sun-Sun all glared at Nnoitra. Harribel merely looked at Nnoitra with no emotion.
"All of my Fraccion are important to me," she said to him. "I will allow no harm to come to any of them."
Nnoitra's sneer was now replaced with an annoyed frown on his face. Ben wasn't in the mood for fighting at the moment, so he decided to change topics.
"You said you met someone else with powers similar to Upchuck," he said to Szayel. "Who is he?"
Szayel put a hand on his glasses as he smiled. Ben also noticed Nnoitra make an expression as well. "That's not important right now," Szayel answered. "Instead, I was wondering if I could ask you some questions, Ben."
Ben frowned. If Szayel wanted to change the subject, why bother bringing it up in the first place?
"I always wanted to ask this," Szayel continued without waiting for Ben's answer. "But exactly how many forms can you turn into?"
Ben didn't know how to respond to that. He never liked Szayel merely because the guy was creepy.
"Loads," Ben said coolly with a grin.
Szayel frowned; disappointed that Ben didn't tell him. But he did know one thing. If Ben wasn't going to tell him how many forms he had, that meant that he probably had a good amount. Oh why did Ben have to be such a tease?