Another fantastic story by guestsurprise, who owns Madison, Maxine, and Zambanza. Ben 10 belongs to Cartoon Network and Man of Action. I only own Rachel and gave guestsurprise full permission to use her. :)

Understanding What Lies Beneath

Zambanza was still getting used to being in a family and no one still knew her story. She was keeping it a secret from everyone because her background was so terrible.

"You have to let them know," Maxine said.

"No. I don't wanna talk about it," Zambanza said.

"But Madison and I are the only ones who know about it," Maxine said.

"I said don't worry about it," Zambanza said, now feeling flustered.

Meanwhile, Rachel was getting ready for a date night with Rook and she had just bought a brand new dress. She had been stressed out too and needed a night out. As she walked out, she saw Maxine and Zambanza still arguing.

"Hey, are you two okay?" She asked, now concerned.

"Everything's fine," Zambanza said, glancing at Maxine. Rachel gave them a disbelieving look.

"Hey…come on, it's me. Now tell me what's going on girls," Rachel coaxed.

"I promise I have it all under control." Zambanza said.

"Aha! So there is something going on," Rachel said, now coming forward.

"Well, she…," Maxine started.

"Don't say anything, Maxine! Nothing!" Zambanza snapped. Rachel knew that it was something important because Maxine looked like she wanted to burst.

"Zambanza, it wouldn't hurt to open up a little, honey," Rachel smiled. Zambanza blushed a bit. Hearing any kind of pet names made her feel nervous for some reason.

"I-I'm fine," Zambanza said, clearing her throat. Rachel heard Rook calling to her and was getting ready to head out when her dress got caught on a nail.

"W-Wait!" Zambanza called out.

"Honey, we'll talk later. I've got to go," Rachel said.

"Your dress! Wait!" Zambanza said, now trying to get it free, but she accidentally ripped it off! Rachel turned in horror at seeing her dress rip.

"Oh, no!" Rachel said. "I paid so much money for this dress."

"What happened, honey?!" Rook said, now coming around the corner and seeing Zambanza holding a part of this dress and Rachel looking like she wanted to cry.

"I-I didn't do it!" Zambanza said.

"Then why are you holding a piece of the dress?" Whampire said, now flying down after also hearing the commotion.

"Her dress got caught on the nail and I was trying to get it undone," Zambanza said. But her story did seem unbelievable since she had a large portion of the dress in her hand since Zambanza didn't know her own strength. Rachel was busy trying to cover her legs for modesty.

"We know that you didn't mean to," Whampire said gently.

"But I didn't do it!" she insisted.

No one exactly saw what happened so it was hard to believe her story. But even though they were trying to understand, Zambanza could tell it was a bit hard to believe that a small nail tore off so much of the dress.

"Never mind. I don't care if anyone believes me or not," she said, shrugging it off.

"Hey! Wait a moment! No one said we didn't believe you," Rachel said, now trying to not be upset because of her dress. Zambanza rolled her eyes, clearly agitated and her purple eyes glowed.

"Give me a moment," she said, now eyeing the dress and lifting her arms. She chanted a few words and soon the dress repaired itself as if nothing happened!

"Y-You fixed it!" Rachel said happily. She loved that dress and Zambanza knew it. But after a few moments, she could tell Zamabanza looked a little weak. Certain magic tricks wore her out. "Zambanza?"

"I'm fine!" the clown girl said, now lifting her arm and glancing at her watch. "Well, I've gotta go."

"Wait a moment. I have a feeling that this little matter is not finished," Whampire said, getting closer.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"You think we don't believe you from earlier." Rook said gently.

"Doesn't matter. Most people don't believe me. And why would they? I'm the biggest and baddest clown this side of the ocean," she said, now chuckling a devious chuckle.

"Zambanza…that's not what we meant," Rachel said gently.

"Don't worry about that. It's getting late and you all should go on your date." The clown girl smiled, now disappearing as Whampire tried to grab her.

"Why does she disappear so fast?!" He said.

"It seems she does when we start to show her we care. But she has been improving," Rachel said.

"Honey, why don't we go on our date and then wait for her to come back?" Rook suggested.

Rachel nodded, eager to spend some time with Rook. And their night was fantastic! They had a quiet dinner, rode the ferry, and took time to walk down the boardwalk together. Once they went back home, they saw that Maxine and Zambanza were gone!

"Where are they?!" Rachel asked in concern, now spotting Madison!

"They didn't run away! They decided to go and spend the night in town just for fun!" Madison said.

"Alone?! I really don't want them out there alone," Rachel said now concerned.

"I will find them." Whampire offered. But he noticed Madison step back and keep her eyes down. There were two aliens she and her sister avoided: Celestialsapiens and Vladats.

"Madison?" he asked.

"Yes," she said, trying to be brave.

"You wouldn't be afraid of me now would you?" Whampire smirked.

"No! I'm not afraid of anything," Madison said, but her eyes widened as she was being backed against the wall by Rook, Rachel, and Whampire.

"Maddy, will you tell us where they are?" Rachel grinned.

"But they didn't run away!" Madison said.

"We know, but we do want them to come back." Rook said.

"Yes, I need to speak to Zambanza alone," Rachel said.

"And if you won't tell us, we will get it out of you," Whampire smirked. Madison gulped, hoping she wouldn't crack!

Meanwhile…

"We are only spending the night here. Maddy won't tell where we are," Zambanza smiled.

"Yeah. I figured you needed some company from that dress incident." Maxine said.

"Eh, no worries. I can take care of myself," Zambanza said.

"But Zambanza, you don't have to," Maxine said.

"Listen, kiddo. I know that, but I prefer to watch my own back. That's the way things are. I'm still getting used to even having parents." Zambanza said.

"I understand." Maxine said, now laying back on the old rusty bed. "I'm just glad to rest here." But at that moment, Maxine saw a bat and gasped. She was freaked out by bats.

"You're afraid of a bat," Zambanza chuckled.

"Yes. Aren't you?" Maxine said.

"Not really." The tough clown girl replied. In reality, she didn't like them very much either but she wasn't one to show fear or emotion. But as she glanced at the sky, Maxine felt her phone vibrate. She looked down and her eyes widened. Madison was currently on the run and going to hide in the old house.

"Madison is hiding! They're trying to get her to tell them where we are," Maxine said in shock.

"Don't worry. They won't find us here. We are in an abandoned hotel and I know every nook and cranny of this place. Tell Madison to stay hidden. That way they won't find her or us," Zambanza said confidently. "By the way…why are you so scared of bats?"

"Well, Madison and I were attacked by a Vladat years ago and it bit me hard. I ended up having to shoot and kill it. As it died, it kept switching from bat to Vladat again," Maxine said sadly. Zambanza nodded and patted her back gently. She didn't want Maxine to be afraid, so she tried to stand by her side.

"Don't worry. We are all alone here and have time to be to ourselves," Zambanza said.

But what she didn't bank on was a very determined Rachel and family on their heels who didn't like members of their family being gone or being alone.

guestsurprise's words: Goldie, wanna do the sequel? :)

To guestsurprise: You bet, Amiga! :) Let me see what I can cook up. And you're right. Rachel and the aliens aren't going to give up finding them. :)

To everyone else: Please leave guestsurprise a review, but no flames!

GoldGuardian2418