Steelcode, who owns Sage, asked for this one. Here you go, Amigo! Enjoy! :)

Ben 10 belongs to Cartoon Network and Man of Action. Vamps belongs to guestsurprise. I only own Rachel, Sasha, Megan, and Vampiro.

A Wolf's Protective Nature

It was a couple nights before Halloween and everyone was asleep, tired from preparing for a party Rachel and Sasha had planned. Everything was ready and everyone was deep in dreamland, looking forward to a fun party.

Sage, the young man who could transform into a wolf, was trying to sleep, but was restless with the thunderstorm that was overhead. It was a bit loud and a miracle it didn't wake the household. He listened carefully and found the house very quiet.

Finally, he decided to sleep downstairs in the living room, leaving his room and checking on everyone before he headed downstairs. Seeing it was peaceful, he nodded and went to the living room, transforming to his wolf form and laying down by the fireplace. Though the fire had been put out before everyone had gone to bed, the hearth was still warm and made a cozy place for him to lay down and hopefully fall asleep.

It seemed that was just the trick and he was about to sleep when he smelled an unfamiliar scent and perked up, his ears twitching as he heard someone walking outside. His hackles rose and he slunk into the shadows, peering out cautiously to see who was outside the Mansion.

Lightning flashed brightly for a moment and Sage saw the person outside was a Vladat in red clothing, a Vladat that was very familiar. The wolf growled, recognizing the Vladat to be Lord Transyl, the evil Vladat who had tried to take over Anur Transyl sometime back and was stopped by Ben and some of the others.

Fearing that some of their enemies might try to enter the mansion and trick some of their family, Rachel had discussed with the other parents about telling the children about their enemies and showing them what their enemies looked like, so the children would be aware and wouldn't be tricked should those villains come around. It had been met with agreement and had helped many a time when a few enemies had tried to infiltrate the mansion.

He now heard something picking the lock and growled, seeing what Transyl was doing. "Not on this wolf's watch," he said to himself as he positioned himself in front of the door, hiding in the shadows and waiting patiently, muscles tense and senses alert as the door opened and Transyl entered the mansion.

"Ah, perfect," the Vladat said, trying to dry off. "Well, at least it was rain and not the sun."

Seeing the villain was distracted at the moment, Sage knew it was time and he watched as the Vladat took a step to go upstairs before he sprung at him, snarling as he tackled the evil Vladat to the floor, more snarls escaping him as the two began tussling.

"You mangy creature!" Transyl snarled, barely hiding a wince as Sage bit him.

Upstairs, Rachel was startled awake by the sound of something breaking and she grabbed her Proto-Tool. Rook, who had been sleeping beside her, also heard the noise and grabbed his Proto-Tool. "Sounds like we have an intruder," he said.

Snarling reached them too, snarling that sounded familiar. "Oh, my word! Sage!" Rachel exclaimed in worry, running out of the bedroom with Rook right behind her.

Whampire and Vamps woke up sharply at hearing Rachel's cry of horror and hearing snarling. Whampire's eyes widened as he recognized the snarling. "Sage!" He exclaimed in worry, flying out of the room fast. Vamps, growing worried as well, followed his brother quickly.

Megan gasped as she woke up and heard the familiar snarling too. Worried, she ran out of her room to find her family, coming to her grandfather's room first. She burst in and jumped up on the bed. "Grandpa! Grandpa, wake up!" She said urgently.

Vampiro jumped with a start. "What?" He asked, voice heavy with sleep, but he became alert when he heard snarling and then heard a voice that made his blood run cold.

Megan heard it too. "Sage is fighting that creepy Transyl!" She exclaimed.

The King of Anur Transyl jumped out of bed and headed out to the hallway where Rachel, Rook, Sasha, Whampire, and Vamps were already gathered at the head of the stairs, the owner of the Grant Mansion and her fiancée having their Proto-Tools out and ready to fire, but they held back as they saw Sage was fighting Transyl, who snarled and tried to get the wolf off him, but couldn't.

"Insolent mutt!" Transyl snarled and just managed to throw the wolf off of him and he quickly stood up, flying out the open door fast.

Sage, still in his wolf form, collapsed on the floor, panting heavily. "Sage!" Sasha said worriedly, running downstairs to her son's side, Whampire right behind her.

"Sage, are you alright, son?" The green-masked Vladat asked worriedly.

The boy transformed back to his human form, looking exhausted. Rachel and Rook, who were at the open door, saw Transyl trying to fly away in the rain. "He's too far away for us to get a shot," Rachel said.

Vamps, who was angry that the evil Vladat had not only broken into the Mansion but also had possibly injured his nephew, growled. "I'm going after him," he said.

"I'll go with you, brother," Whampire said.

Ben, who had been woken up by the commotion and seen what had happened, came downstairs. "Count me in too," he said, turning his Omnitrix and pressing it, transforming into Jetray. "Let's kick Transyl back to Plumber HQ prison."

"I'll call HQ to let them know," Rook said.

"I'm going to check on the rest of the house," Rachel said, already running upstairs to check on her children along with her nieces and nephews.

"I'll help you, sis," Sasha said.

"Can I help too, Mommy?" Megan said.

"Yes. Get your uncle Frankenstrike. Your brother may be badly hurt."

The little seven-year-old ran to find her uncle while Vampiro kneeled beside Sage, looking at his sons and Ben. "Go," he said urgently. "Go teach that tyrant a lesson. I'll watch over Sage."

"Thank you, Father," Whampire said gratefully as he, Vamps, and Ben took off, tracking down Transyl and chasing after him.

Sage lifted up his head weakly to see his grandfather was beside him. "Grandpa?" He said weakly.

"Shh," Vampiro soothed him, taking off his cape and folding it into a pillow so the boy could rest his head on something soft. "Rest, Sage. Frankenstrike will be here shortly."

Said scientist alien came down the hall with Megan in his arms. "What happened?" He asked.

"Transyl happened," the King of Anur Transyl growled. "I'm afraid he might have hurt Sage."

Frankenstrike instantly got to work, giving the boy a checkup before looking grim. "We need to get him to my lab," he said.

Nodding, Vampiro gently picked up his grandson, who groaned a little, but didn't move otherwise as he was carried to Frankenstrike's lab. Megan followed her grandfather as they arrived and the scientist alien began doing x-rays to check Sage for internal damage. The little girl reached up for her grandfather's hand, holding it in both her own. "Grandpa, will Sage be okay?" She asked worriedly.

He picked her up and smiled gently. "He'll be alright, pumpkin," he said. "Your brother is a fighter and if it hadn't been for him, Transyl might have infiltrated the Mansion and hurt one of us."

Sage turned to them. "I couldn't sleep with the storm and went downstairs, but after I shifted to my wolf form, I heard that creep outside and wasn't about to let him succeed in whatever plan he had," he said.

"Good boy," Vampiro said, pride in his voice that his grandson had been thinking about his family and had defended the mansion from the tyrant.

Frankenstrike gave a sigh of relief and smiled. "Sage is very lucky," he said. "No internal injuries and only a few scratches. The only other thing I'm picking up on is fatigue, no doubt caused by Transyl trying to drain Sage's energy as they tusseled."

"Is that why I feel so tired right now?" The teenager asked.

"No doubt," the scientist alien said. "But you also put up quite a fight. If word gets around that Transyl got his butt kicked by a teenager, he'll never live it down."

Sage chuckled, as did Vampiro, while Megan giggled. "You beat back that big bully, big brother!" She cheered happily.

The teenage boy smiled again as Rachel and Rook came in, pleased to say that Transyl had been caught by Whampire, Vamps, and Ben. "Not only that, I sent the video of Sage making that creep retreat to the Plumbers," she said.

Sage's eyes widened. "Wait, you got it on film?" He asked.

She nodded. "As soon as Transyl entered, the hidden cameras turned on, sensing the door had been forced open," she said. She now smiled. "You really surprised him, Sage."

"And you kept him from getting upstairs to the rest of us," Rook said, also smiling. "We're very proud of you."

The boy shrugged modestly. "Just my protective side kicking in," he said softly.

Sasha came in, smiling. "That's our Sage," she said, hugging her son, who hugged her back.

Whampire, Vamps, and Ben returned not long after and praised Sage for protecting the mansion. "Transyl's now sitting in his cell in shame that he got bested by a boy more than half his age," Vamps said with a laugh.

"He'll never live that down," Ben said, smiling.

Whampire turned to Rachel. "Rachel, do you think we could have a copy of that video too?" He asked.

Smiling, she handed him a DVD. "I had a feeling you guys would want a copy too," she said.

Megan then yawned, something that caught everyone's attention. "Looks like someone is ready to go back to bed," Vampiro said with a gentle smile.

"That doesn't sound like a bad idea," Sage said before looking at Frankenstrike, who smiled.

"Lots of rest and I would suggest sleeping in tomorrow," the scientist said. "Doctor's orders."

"Yes, sir," the boy said with a smile.

Rachel nodded. "I'll get the alarms set again," she said, going to do so.

The others headed off to their rooms and back to bed while Sage did one more check on everyone before heading back to his room and falling into a well-deserved deep sleep as the storm stopped and the night became peaceful once again.

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GoldGuardian2418