Later that day, Ben got permission to take a stroll on the outside of Lash Noches. Aaroniero expressed concern for Ben, and spoke against it.
But everyone knew that to him, Ben was an all you can eat buffet.
But Apache, Mila-Rose, and Sun-Sun all said that Ben was more than capable of defending himself. And they acted rather hostile to Aaroniero, as they knew his true intentions.
But Aizen allowed Ben to go outside as he himself was certain that Ben was capable out there. Now Ben just needed to think of something to do. Las Noches was much too big for him to take a stroll without getting lost.
Unless of course he used Jet Ray. But right now, Ben found himself in the mood for thinking. He remembered the look of Szayel and Nnoitra's faces when they talked about someone with a power similar to Upchuck.
Deciding to think about it later, Ben activated the Ultimatrix and turned into Jet Ray. He soared into the sky until he reached the top of Las Noches. That way he could get a better view of Hueco Mundo. Sure enough, Jet Ray couldn't see anything for miles. He started to wonder if Las Noches was the only place in Hueco Mundo. If that was the case, how could he get home?
But then something caught Jet Ray's attention. Off in the far distance looked what appeared to be a giant dust cloud. Curiosity getting the better of him, Jet Ray flew off to see what the cause of it was. As he got closer to the cloud, Jet Ray flew more to the ground since the cloud prevented him from seeing whatever was causing it from the sky. Once he got lower however, his eyes went wide.
Running was what appeared to be a little bundle of greenish rags. But Jet Ray could see hands sticking out of the rags and could hear the cries of a little girl. She was being chased by three beings that weren't anything that Jet Ray had seen before. The first one was extremely skinny wearing purple clothes with white gloves and boots. His head was like that of an insect. The second one was big and roundish, wearing a yellowish outfit and had a head that looked like a Tikki mask. The third one looked like a gigantic purple worm with a human looking mouth. The three of them were making sinister laughs and bellows as they chased the poor girl.
"Looks like I need it, to save her," Jet Ray yelled. Although he didn't care about it, still seeing she is a small girl, he acted.
He fired neuroshock beams out of his eyes, striking the ground between the three monsters and the little girl. The three chasers skidded to a halt and looked up to see what was shooting at them. Once they saw Jet Ray, they began freaking out. Jet Ray flew down so that he was right in front of them.
"Not so tough when you're up against someone who can fight back," he said to them, angry that three big guys would try and pick on a little girl. But before he could say anything, a little voice yelled from behind him.
"Stop it! Leave dem alone!"
Confused, Jet Ray turned around. The little girl had thrown back her hood so now Jet Ray could see her face. She had green hair like her rags and she had what looked like a cracked skull on her head. On her forehead, Jet Ray could see a scar. She also had a strange red line across the center of her face.
"Leave dem alone!" the little girl cried with a lisp. "What we ever do to you?"
"But," a very confused Jet Ray said. "Weren't they hurting you?"
Suddenly the insect headed one and the Tikki mask one both bowed down to Jet Ray.
"We're so sorry," the insect one said. "We didn't mean for our game of Eternal Tag to cause any trouble."
Jet Ray wasn't sure that he heard that right. "Eternal Tag?" he asked.
"Yeah," the little girl said. "Dit's lots of fun. You should twy it."
"Out here in the desert," the Tikki mask one said. "There's not much out here to do, don't cha know?"
Jet Ray thought about it. It did make sense.
"Wait a second," he said. He looked at the girl. "Then why were you crying?"
The little girl gave Ben a toothy grin. "Nel's a maso-kiss, so it's no fun if Nel doesn't cry a lil'"
Jet Ray's eyes widened and his jaw dropped. Did that little girl just say…? Angrily, Jet Ray flew over to the other two guys and glared at them.
"Why would you teach a little girl words like that?" he demanded, while the other two guys backed away nervously
"Hi by the way," The little girl said. "I'm Nel Tu and these are my bwothers."
"Brothers?" Jet Ray asked.
"That's right," the insect guy said. "I'm Nel's older brother Pesche."
"I'm the oldest brother Dondochakka, don't cha know?" the Tikki one said.
"And this is our pet Bawabawa," Nel said, pointing to the giant worm. It bellowed in what Jet Ray guessed was happiness.
"Some family," Jet Ray commented.
"What are you anyway?" Nel asked. "You don't look like any Hollow Nel's seen."
"That's because I'm not," Jet Ray said. He turned back to normal. "I'm a human."
"EHHH?" Nel, Pesche, and Dondochakka all screamed. "A human? He is….da bad guy!" They pointed at Ben as if accusing him.
"Huh? No I'm not." Ben said, waving his hands in front of them.
"He's gonna hurt us!" Pesche cried out, holding his head as it shook like crazy. Nel was balling her eyes out and Dondochakka began yelling like a lunatic. The gigantic Bawabawa began thrashing his body while making some kind of noise that Ben could only suspect was wailing.
"No, I'm not gonna hurt you." Ben said trying to calm the four down.
But at that moment, the ground shook violently.
"An earthquake?" Ben asked.
"We don't get earthquakes here, don't cha know?" Dondochakka said to him.
"You don't get earthquakes? Ben asked him. "Then what's…"
As if to answer Ben's unfinished question, a form began to rise out of the sand. At first Ben thought it was that sand guy he fought before, but what came out of the ground was a big hand with claws that looked more than able to cut through stone. The hand reached out and grabbed Nel.
"Nel!" Pesche and Dondochakka both screamed in horror. Bawabawa began bellowing for Nel. Before Ben could do anything, the body that the hand belonged to decided to come out of the ground. In Ben's eyes it looked like a giant mole with a grayish body and yellowish lines all over. Its face looked like a white mask with a sinister looking grin.
"Ah," the creature said in a voice that sounded like it had dirt in its mouth. "My first catch of the day. The little ones always make a good appetizer."
Poor Nel was screaming her little lungs out for her brothers.
"Put her down!" Pesche yelled at the mole creature.
The mole creature smiled at Pesche. "Now why would I let my meal go?" it asked.
"Cause if you don't," Ben said. "I'm gonna do this:" He activated the Ultimatrix.
Selecting his form, Ben slammed down the Ultimatrix. In the green flash of light, Ben had become what appeared to be a giant two legged armadillo in a metallic yellow armor. His arms were big and looked more than capable of packing a punch.
"Bad Armodrillo!" the new form cried out.
"EHH?" Nel, Pesche, and Dondochakka all cried out when they saw Armodrillo.
"Wha…what are you?" the mole creature practically yelled.
"Just a guy that doesn't like jerks who pick on little girls," Armodrillo said. Raising one of his massive fists, Armodrillo smashed it right into the mole creature's face. The blow sent the creature reeling backwards as it howled in pain. It dropped Nel as it tried to tend to its injured face. Nel screamed as she started to fall, but found herself caught in Armodrillo's hands. Shaking like a leaf, Nel looked at Armodrillo. He looked big and scary to her, but she noticed something.
"You…saved Nel?" she asked him, unable to believe such a thing.
"Of course," Armodrillo said to her. "I'm not gonna let that guy hurt you."
Nel's eyes widened as she looked up at Armodrillo. But then, he put her down gently.
"Excuse me while I go take care of this guy," Armodrillo said to her. He raised his fists as the mole creature started to regain its balance.
"I don't know what kind of creature you are," the mole creature said. "But no one makes a fool out of me and gets away with it!"
"Then I guess I'm the first," Armodrillo said smugly.
"You think you're funny?" the mole creature asked. "Ground is my domain! Once underneath, no one can touch me." Then it let out a laugh that sounded like it was trying to gurgle down rocks. With that, the mole creature dug into the ground.
"Sorry to disappoint you," Armodrillo said. "But two can play that game." And then he suddenly vanished underground too.
Pesche, Dondochakka, and Bawabawa were just left speechless. They had seen the whole thing and still couldn't believe it happened. Instantly they ran over to Nel, who was staring at the ground where Armodrillo had stood.
"Nel!" Dondochakka cried. "Are you alright?"
"We were worried about you," Pesche told her. Then he noticed that she was just staring. "Uh, Nel? Are you okay?"
"He saved Nel," Nel said in a quiet voice. "Why would he save Nel?"
"I don't know," Pesche admitted. "I never thought…a human could care for our kind."
That's when the ground began to shake violently. Pesche, Dondochakka, and Nel all held onto each other for dear life. Even Bawabawa wrapped himself protectively around them. While Pesche and Dondochakka were wondering if they were going to be okay, Nel found herself worrying about the human. Before anyone could say anything, the giant mole hollow shot out of the ground. At first, Nel and her brothers thought that Ben had lost. But then they saw that the mole Hollow was soaring through the air as if it had been hit. Then Armodrillo shot out of the ground, one of his fists outward as if he had punched something. It was easy to see that Ben definitely had the mole Hollow on the ropes.
"How dare you?" the mole Hollow roared. "I'll crush you."
Armodrillo scratched his head in mock thinking. "Haven't I heard that somewhere before?" he jokingly asked.
Angry beyond belief, the mole Hollow lunged forward. Armodrillo pulled both his fists back and gave the mole Hollow a double whammy special. It groaned in pain.
"Spare me," it said weakly. "Spare me."
Armodrillo looked down at the Hollow. "Go." He said. "And don't let me catch you harming these guys ever again."
With its wounded body and wounded pride, the mole Hollow began to burrow underground.
"Stay above ground where I can see you." Armodrillo said, raising his fists. The Hollow immediately complied, knowing that even if it tried to go underground, Armodrillo would find him anyway. The mole hollow scampered away. Once Armodrillo was no longer able to see the mole Hollow, he turned back to normal.